Amara wearily called Cirrus to bend light, and she watched the taken for a moment. "They're cutting trees," she reported quietly. "Working with the wood somehow. It's difficult to tell through the rain. I'm not sure what their aim is."
"They're making long spears," Bernard said quietly.
"Why would they do that?"
"The gargant is too much of a threat to them," he said. "They're making the spears so that they can kill him without paying as dearly to do it."
Amara lowered her hands and glanced back at Doroga and Walker. "But… they're not even proper spears. Surely they won't be effective."
Bernard shook his head. "All they need to do is carve sharp points. The taken are strong enough to drive them home if Walker doesn't close with them. If he does, they'll set the spears and let him do the work."
They stood watching the rain for a time. Then Bernard said quietly, "No one is coming to help us."
Amara said quietly, "Probably not."
"Why?" Bernard said, one fist clenched, his voice frustrated. "Surely the First Lord sees how dangerous this could be."
"There are any number of reasons," Amara said. "Emergencies elsewhere, for one. Logistics issues delaying the departure of any of the Legions." She grimaced. "Or it could be a problem in communications."
"Yes. No help has come," Bernard said. "Which means that Gaius never got the word. Which means that my sister is dead. Nothing else would stop her."
"That is only one possibility, Bernard," Amara said. "Isana is capable. Serai is extremely resourceful. We can't know for certain."
Doroga stepped up to stand beside them. He squinted at the taken, and said, quietly, "They are making spears."
Bernard nodded grimly.
Doroga's eyes flashed with anger. "Then this is almost over. Walker will not hide in the cave and let them stab him to death, and I will not leave him alone."
"They'll kill you," Amara said quietly.
Doroga shrugged. "That is what enemies do. We will go out to them. See how many of them we can take with us." He looked up at the clouds. "Wish it wasn't raining."
"Why not?" Amara asked.
"When I fall, I would like The One to look on." He shook his head. "Bernard, I need a shield so I can bring Walker some water."
"Certainly," Bernard said. "Ask Giraldi."
"My thanks." Doroga left them at the mouth of the cave.
Thunder rolled. Rain whispered.
Amara said, "We'll be lucky to have three squads, now."
"I know."
"The men will tire faster. Less time to rest and recover."
"Yes," he said.
"How many arrows did your Knights Flora recover?"
"Two each," he said.
Amara nodded. "Without Walker and Doroga, we can't hold them."
"I know," Bernard said. "That's why I've decided that I have to do it."
Amara shook her head. "Do what?"
"I led these men here, Amara. They're my responsibility." He squinted outside. "If we are to die… I don't want it to be for nothing. I owe them that. And I owe Doroga too much to let him go out there alone."
Amara stopped and looked at him. "You mean…"
"The queen," Bernard said quietly. "If the queen survives, it won't matter how many taken we've killed. She'll be able to start another nest. We must prevent that. At any cost."
Amara closed her eyes. "You mean to go out to them."
"Yes," Bernard said. "Doroga and Walker are going anyway. I'm going with them, along with any man who can walk and hold a weapon and is willing. We'll head for the queen and kill her."
"Outside the cave, we won't last long."
Bernard gave her a bleak smile. "I'm not so sure that's a bad thing."
She frowned and looked away from him. "It will be difficult to force our way through them without any Knights Terra left to us."
"Walker can do it," Bernard said.
"Can we reach her before they kill us?"
"Probably not," Bernard confessed. "I put an arrow right through that thing's neck, and all it did was startle her away. I saw how hard you hit it." He shook his head. "It's so fast. And with all those taken around it, it's unlikely that we'll have the time to land a killing blow. But we have no choice. If we don't kill the queen, everyone who gave his life has died for nothing."
Amara swallowed and nodded. "I… I think you're right. When?"
"I'll give the men a few moments more to breathe," Bernard said. "Then call for volunteers." He reached out to her and squeezed her hand. "You don't have to go with me."
She squeezed back as tightly as she could and felt tears blur her eyes. "Of course I do," she said quietly. "I'll not leave your side, my lord husband."
"I could order you to," he said quietly.
"I'll not leave your side. No matter how idiotic you are."
He smiled at her and drew her against him. She stood there in the circle of his arms for a moment, her eyes closed, breathing in his scent. Moments went by. Then Bernard said, "It's time. I'll be right back."
Thunder and rain filled the world outside, and Amara's head and her face hurt horribly. She was afraid, though so tired that it hardly seemed to matter. Bernard spoke quietly to the legionares.
Amara stood staring up the hill at the implacable enemy intent on tearing them all to pieces, and prepared to go out to meet them.
Chapter 47
The nearest Cane reached down, seized the front of Tavi's tunic, and hauled him up close to its muzzle. It sniffed at him once, twice, drool and blood dripping from its fangs.
And then the Cane simply dropped him.
It ignored him and continued on into the guardroom.
Its companions followed suit.
Tavi stared in utter confusion as the Canim simply ignored his presence, but gritted his teeth and kicked himself into motion, darting between a pair of the enormous wolf-warriors and back into the guardroom, where Miles still fought against the cloaked creature, the vord queen. There was blood dripping from his left elbow, but his face was smooth and utterly expressionless as he fought, his battle with the queen one of constant, flowing grace and technique pitted against raw power and speed.
Nearer him stood another Cane, facing Kitai, while Fade hovered nervously in the background. Evidently, the two of them had immediately run to try to reach Tavi when the queen had thrown him out of the room, but the Cane had blocked their path. Even as Tavi watched, the Cane swept its sword in an overhand arch intended to split Kitai in half down the middle. The Marat girl crossed the blades of her swords and caught the blow upon them, sliding it to one side with a dancer's grace and struck out with one of her blades, drawing a flash of blood from the Cane's abdomen. The Cane didn't fall, but Tavi could see several other similar wounds upon it-painful but not debilitating.
Fade let out a hooting sound when he saw Tavi. The slave held up a second spear and flung it at Tavi. Tavi sidestepped and caught the spear in flight, set his grip, and spun to drive the weapon hard at the back of the vord queen.
The steel head of the spear penetrated the queen's green-black hide only modestly-that had not been Tavi's intent. The strike inflicted little injury upon the vord queen, but the force of the blow drove her forward and off-balance, if only for an instant.
It was all the time Sir Miles needed.
The captain snarled in sudden exultation, and his fluid retreat reversed itself in a heartbeat. His blade whipped in two savage slashes, each one scattering droplets of strange, dark blood, and the vord queen shrieked, the sound metallic, high-pitched, and deafening, filled with pain. Miles followed up, sword flashing through a whirling web of cold steel, striking the queen twice more, driving the creature into a corner.