Silence swept across the room. Doubtful expressions crossed the faces of many. Only a few seemed to back the King’s decision.
Good, at least word has reached the Vallum already. I’ll leave today to see what legions the Granadians have. Now for the worse news. Now to tell them what they didn’t wish to hear. “A wise decision, Your Majesty. This army does indeed possess shadelings. Wraithwolves, darkwraiths and at least one daemon.”
“Blasphemy,” someone shouted.
“No one would dare, not after the War of the Remnants or the Shadowbearer War,” yelled another.
“They cannot be enough of them left after the wars to even matter!” shouted another voice.
“But you said, you never saw them,” countered Traushen.
“I said I didn’t see the army when they attacked the clanholds,” Ryne corrected. “But I fought a few of them on my way here.”
“You fought a daemon?” Traushen’s forehead creased with doubt.
“No, but I faced several wraithwolves. And there were more than a dozen darkwraiths. They’ve been ravaging farms in the countryside to supply their army. Every farm I passed has been stripped bare. In Carnas, I saw men, women, and children with their sela gone. You decide-”
“Oh gods, there’s an army approaching from the south,” a frantic voice yelled.
The chamber erupted into chaos.
CHAPTER 34
From her position at one of the tall windows on the topmost floor of the Streamean temple’s clock tower, Shin Galiana rolled the words in the letter through her mind again. Rain pattered a staccato rhythm on the roof as the wind howled outside, whipping the deluge sideways.
Shin Galiana, I am sorry to disappoint you and how you thought this would end. But I am under orders from the King.
Thank you for helping to show how your Tribunal would usurp every authority. At this point, Sendeth and its allies stand against you. You and your people are required to surrender Eldanhill to the rule of Sendeth and King Emory.
Shall you choose to not hand over the town within the next few days, we will take it by force.
Captain Giomar.
Foolish man. Through the looking glass, the army massed to the south of Eldanhill, its bannermen carrying tall lances bearing the standards of Sendeth, jumped into sight as if she stood a few feet from them. The rain lashing down did nothing to stop the blustery wind from sweeping the banners to flap into the air. The Charging Boar outnumbered the others. Flying the highest was the Sliver Spear. Then, there was the Bloody Lance of Descane, the Crossed Swords of Parisan, the Night Sky of Bardes, the Red Bull of Loreth, the Gray Wolf of New Paltz, the Mailed Fist, the Leaping Hound, the Hunter’s Bow, the Executioner’s Axe, and many more minor standards on display. Indeed, King Emory had summoned the strongest of his regiments from every major Sendethi town and city.
Three thousand feet outside Eldanhill’s southern exit wagons and drays by the score blocked the road. Gathered behind the makeshift blockade thousands of men and young boys toiled in the storm as thunder and lightning warred in the sky. They built spiked, wooden barricades to stretch through the fields on that side of town. Women and those too young or old for the strenuous labor of fortifying the town’s defenses ferried water and food to those who worked.
Rank upon rank of once retired soldiers and trainees, many in mismatched pieces of armor, stood at attention. Separated from them in several cohorts, their crimson armor spotless, were all the retired Dagodin Eldanhill could muster. Lined behind the Dagodin were over two dozen retired Ashishin who worked to lessen the effect of the raging storm. Galiana knew it was more the threat from the Matii that kept Sendeth’s forces at bay than anything else.
“I thought you said this Giomar would do as you wished?” Stefan stood next to Galiana with his half of the tall windowpane closed.
The mosaic imprint stained into the glass depicted one of Ilumni’s triumphs over Amuni. Maybe that is a sign for us, Galiana thought as she passed the looking glass to Stefan. “I used Manipulation on him. By all means, it should have worked.” Her frown betrayed her confident voice. How could her Forging not work? There were no signs to say differently. The patterns of essences in his mind had been clear and concise, and she pulled the correct strings to touch off his fears, his need, and his own beliefs. Failure should have been impossible.
Stefan’s thick eyebrows drew together. “You used Manipulation, and he was still able to defy you? A Buffer, maybe?” He put his eye to the looking glass and grunted.
“I was just thinking the same thought. But that would mean a High Ashishin within the Tribunal is making a play for power now rather than later. Who would betray them?”
Stefan slid the looking glass closed and gave her a sidelong glance. “You mean besides us and Jerem?’ He shrugged. “Take your pick.”
“Our reasons differ though,” Galiana protested. “How long did they expect people to stand idly by while they leeched life from the lands around them for their attempts at immortality? And then destroy those who brought their concerns before them?”
Stefan stroked his gray-streaked beard. “Yet, what we do to fight them hasn’t proved to be much different, Galiana. What makes what we do right?”
Galiana leaned on her staff, the scented incenses and the lightstones inserted at regular intervals along the walls reminding her of where she was and her purpose. “We have never killed a single person in Ilumni’s name. We were forced into this position. Seems the burden of what we do has made you forget. How could we fight near immortality without doing what we have done?”
“Saying we’ve never killed anyone is Ilumni’s name is stretching the truth just a little don’t you think? Even so, it doesn’t make what we do right.”
“Sometimes, it is not doing what is right that saves man, but what is necessary.”
Stefan gave a snorting chuckle. “I’m sure they would say the same.”
“What they’ve done to remain in power all these years is evil, dating back to what Nerian began with the Erastonians. What he forced upon you, the lives he snuffed out with his wars. Sometimes you have to fight shade with shade. Isn’t that what you once said to me?”
“I’m just weary of it all.” Stefan sighed. “All these centuries planning and waiting and to see light at the end of the tunnel, only to have things start to spiral out of control. If we allow what the Tribunal has done to continue, Denestia will be forever mired in darkness. They must go. The fact they've abused the Chronicles to choose the path they did only proves the point more. I want this to end already.”
“Patience. The Setian will be the spearhead of the war to come. The Chronicles do not lie,” Galiana said in an effort to soothe Stefan’s frustration. “We need to be strong for when the shade does come. If that means dealing with the Tribunal a little longer, then so be it.”
“Maybe. But you and Jerem keep so much hidden it’s hard to keep the faith.” Stefan pointed out toward the massing army. “I doubt it’s a coincidence they’re here at a time we may actually gain the upper hand. And who is to say what other allies they have? Barson, for sure. They’ve always made their hate for the Tribunal clear. Maybe Danindad or Calvar? Who knows? Then there’s the Dosteri. All signs from our agents point to them knowing the importance of our kinai.”
“When surrounded by enemies, choose a path no one expects,” Galiana quoted from the Disciplines.
Stefan shook his head and gave a wry smile. “Is there such a path? Crossing too far down the Kelvore leads to territory caught up in the battles between Doster and Sendeth. The mountains, as you well know, leads to the feuding clans. We could ask them for help, but why should they help us? Giomar’s failed attempt to demand their obedience to a King they don’t recognize may have ruined that chance. Going west would be to enter Barson, which is forbidden territory for us. Has Jillian sent eagles to the Iluminus?”