“Thank you.” Saryn took the small square of paper and read Ryba’s precise script.
Commander-
Arthanos will reach the pass at the end of the valley no later than noon tomorrow. So far, he has lost almost two companies of cavalry.
Under the words was Ryba’s seal.
Saryn could only hope that she didn’t have to deal with another thunderstorm, especially at the time when the Gallosians finally reached the valley.
XXXVI
Saryn woke just after first light, cold, stiff, and sore. Her head still throbbed, if faintly, and her uniform was damp. The sky was as much gray as green-blue. Thankfully, Klarisa had detailed one of the guards to bring up the coals into a small fire. As she stood close to the flames, Saryn silently thanked the squad leader for the warmth. Three others from fourth squad stood around the fire, none close to the arms-commander.
Although it had not frosted, Saryn suspected that it had been almost that cold. The brisk wind out of the west made the air seem even more chill, though summer was almost upon the Roof of the World. But then, full summer wasn’t all that warm on a mesa top in the heights of the Westhorns. With a west wind, Saryn reflected, they were less likely to get a thunderstorm, but the valley below would be warm by afternoon, possibly almost hot-at least by angel standards, cold as it was before sunrise.
“Ser,” Hoilya ventured, “how long will it be before the Gallosians reach us?”
“I’d guess today. It might be as late as tomorrow.”
“Just as soon they get here,” murmured one of the others. “Colder up here than doing picket duty at the stables…”
Not as cold as it will be if we don’t get more quarters built and get people out of the stables. With that thought, Saryn turned from the fire to look down-slope at a rider she had just sensed, a guard pushing her mount as much as possible. That urgency suggested the guard bore news of Arthanos. Saryn waited, since the rider could cover the remaining distance far faster than could Saryn.
“…wager she’s going to tell us the Gallosian bastards are on the way…”
Saryn wouldn’t have bet against the guard’s aside.
When the rider finally neared, Saryn stepped away from the fire and walked several yards to meet her. “Greetings.”
“Ser, the Marshal sent me. The Gallosians were less than ten kays from the east end of the valley when they made camp last night. They should reach the valley by late morning or midday. The Marshal requests that you be ready to act on her command by midmorning.”
“Thank you. Once you’ve rested a moment, you can leave your mount and take one of our spares. You can tell the Marshal we will be ready for her command.”
Saryn turned to call for Klarisa, but the squad leader was already hurrying toward Saryn.
“We’re to expect the Gallosians by midmorning. If you’d show the messenger which spare mount she can take to return to the Marshal, and then muster your squad up at the weapons. We need to lower the penetrators and set the fuses.”
“Yes, ser.”
Saryn turned and ran, if carefully, up toward the top of the mesa, then toward the northern edge, stopping when she could see the east end of the valley. The sun was beginning to clear the peaks to the east, and she had to squint to scan the thin line of brown that was the road, but there were no riders in sight, and she didn’t see dust farther to the east. The thunderstorm of the afternoon before hadn’t lasted that long, only enough to dampen the top of the ground, and the Gallosian army would raise some dust.
She doubted that the Gallosians were that close, since most commanders wouldn’t begin a day’s march through mountains in total darkness, and Arthanos would have had to start in darkness to reach the valley by sunrise. Even so, she and fourth squad couldn’t waste time.
Why can’t anything be easy? She shook her head. If they’d already placed the weapons the day before, the storm would have soaked them and the fuses. By avoiding that problem, they faced the difficulty of having to lower and position the penetrators on short notice. That didn’t take into account the various ailments she had from having to protect the weapons from lightning. At least all the ropes and harnesses were ready to go. She took a last look at the eastern end of the valley, still in shadow, then hurried to the weapons cache. The last members of the squad slipped into the formation before the still-covered penetrators as she neared.
“Ser, fourth squad stands ready,” Klarisa reported.
“Good. First, have them move the weapons to the marked staging points on the edges near the crevice. We’ll move them all before we lower any into place.”
“Yes, ser.” Klarisa turned. “Uncover the weapons. Stack the waterproofs. Divona, Hoilya, Shenda, you take the first weapon. Agala, Yulia, and Rheala, you get the second one…”
Saryn walked swiftly toward the third marked location. That was a critical point. She had decided that two of the weapons were necessary there, one on each side of a slight bulge in the crevice wall. Lowering the second one into position on the west side of the bulge would be difficult because some two yards above where Saryn wanted to position the penetrator, the crevice narrowed to a point where it was only a few handspans broader than the weapon. She eased herself to the edge of the crevice and looked down, but it was hard to see in the early light. From what she sensed, no rocks or debris had fallen to block lowering the weapons. She straightened and headed back to the cache. She could carry ropes and harnesses.
By the time Saryn had the ropes and harness for the first two weapons in place, the rest of fourth squad had the weapons in the positions she’d marked with rocks and charcoal grease, and the guards were carrying the remaining ropes and harnesses into position. Saryn took several moments to check the valley. Still no sign of the Gallosians, for which she was grateful.
Once the harnesses were fastened around the weapons, the ropes tied to the harnesses, and all ready to be lowered into place, Saryn had Klarisa gather fourth squad. When everyone was there, she made her speech brief.
“We’re going to lower the two weapons for the third position first, then those on the second, then the fourth, the first, and the fifth and sixth last. I’ll be near the edge, and the squad leader will relay my instructions. Make sure you let the weapons down slowly…very slowly. One guard will have to hold and feed the fuse, and once the weapon is positioned, the ropes will have to be secured to the heavy stakes.” She nodded to Klarisa. “That’s all.”
“You heard the commander. Let’s go.”
Saryn flattened herself on the uneven and rocky surface slightly east of where the guards would lower the weapon. Two guards eased the first of the two heavy penetrators out over the edge of the crevice drop-out, then positioned themselves to feed the thick rope and keep it from being cut by the stone as four guards behind them bore most of the weight of the weapon.
“A little more toward me!” Saryn watched the penetrator creep downward. “Good…a little slower now…hold it! Move it away from me, just a bit…That’s it. Now, ease it down…”
Even though she wasn’t the one lowering the weight and struggling with the ropes, and despite the cool breeze, Saryn was sweating by the time the first penetrator was lowered and secured. The second one took longer, with all the maneuvering around the narrow spaces above where she wanted it placed, but it, too, was in place before that long. The next four weapons were lowered into place and secured relatively quickly, all with the fuses set in place and held by stones until they were ready to be lit off.
With one to go and midmorning approaching, Saryn could definitely see a pall of dust rising from the road leading down into the east end of the valley. “Last one!” she called.