Gulda raised her eyebrows. ‘An admirably brief account,’ she said. ‘Yengar, Olvric, have you anything to add?’
The two Goraidin shook their heads. ‘No,’ Yengar said. ‘The place still gives me the creeps, but apart from finding the road, the whole journey was as the Ffyrst has said, uneventful.’
‘Road?’ Gulda said.
‘It was new,’ Yengar continued. ‘It wound down out of the mountains and off across the plains, but we saw no one using it. I presume it’s the one that Hawklan and the others saw after they’d ridden north from Lord Evison’s. The one serving the mines. It’s a considerable feat of engineering, whoever built it.’
Gulda frowned. ‘Slaves will have built it, Goraidin, slaves. It’ll be a tombstone for many of them,’ she said, her frown deepening. ‘We’re already far too late for many poor souls.’
She was silent for a moment, then she turned to Oslang. ‘What did you learn, Cadwanwr?’ she asked.
Oslang scowled and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. ‘I learned what I already knew,’ he said. ‘That I’m scarcely a horseman, let alone a Muster rider.’ His rueful manner caused some amusement, but Gulda gave him a beady look and he shrugged apologetically. ‘There’s an awful presence pervading the place,’ he said, more seriously. ‘His presence, beyond a doubt. But it was… passive… indifferent to us, almost. As if we counted for nothing. It wasn’t what I’d expected.’
Atelon looked at him. ‘Did you use the Old Power at all?’ he asked.
‘No,’ Oslang replied. ‘I would have done had need arisen. We were prepared all the time for sudden attacks and for Dan-Tor to come riding out to meet us, but to be honest I was too afraid to use it unnecessarily.’
Atelon nodded understandingly and sank back into his chair.
The discussion moved on to practical matters.
‘We need to find out where Oklar has gone,’ Arinndier said. ‘If he’s lurking somewhere in the west, he could move in behind us, cut off our lines of supply, and attack us in the rear.’
‘Or move down into Fyorlund and Orthlund while we’re wandering round in the mists,’ Hreldar said.
Other voices began to speak.
Loman raised his hand for silence hastily. ‘My friends,’ he said. ‘There are endless alternatives that our enemy might adopt and all of them are beyond our calculating at this stage. It seems that He’s quite willing for us to move into Narsindal, but whether it’s to surround us, wear us down by fighting a defensive war, face us in one set piece action, by-pass us and attack the lands to the south… ’ He held out his arms. ‘How can we possibly know?’
He leaned forward. ‘Hawklan’s advice was that we be open and straightforward, because we can’t begin to oppose Sumeral, the arch-schemer, with cunning and craft. We must not look to fight Him with weapons which are so much His own.’
‘We can’t not debate what might happen,’ Eldric said. ‘We must have contingency plans prepared.’
‘Of course,’ Loman said. ‘But our intention here is to march on Derras Ustramel and destroy both it and its occupant and anyone else who chooses to fight at His side. A straight thrust at our enemy’s heart. We must have that foremost in our minds at all times.’ Eldric looked anxious.
Loman turned to Urthryn. ‘Ffyrst, Sylvriss tells me that she’s set squadrons to patrolling the Pass. Can your people hold it against a large army?’
Urthryn pursed his lips. ‘I see no reason why not,’ he said. ‘Though if any of the Uhriel attacked also… ’
‘The Cadwanol have laid many defences along the Pass of late,’ Oslang said. ‘It’s better protected from the Uhriel than we are here.’
‘Then is Riddin as safe as it can be made?’ Loman asked.
The two men nodded, though uneasily, and Loman turned back to Eldric. ‘Can a large army move into Fyorlund over the mountains, Lord?’
‘You moved over the mountains into Riddin when need arose,’ Eldric replied tersely, a little put out still by Loman’s apparent hastiness. ‘And Mandroc raids into the northern estates are not uncommon.’
‘Not to mention the attack on Evison’s,’ Arinndier added.
Loman let out a long breath. ‘You know your own country, Lords,’ he said patiently. ‘Let me cut through the conjecture. What is the least that must be done to prevent a large force moving through the mountains at a place of its own choosing?’
‘The repair of the Watch Hall,’ Darek declared be-fore Eldric could speak again. ‘That at least would enable us to detect such an army. What would be needed to stop it would depend on the size, obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ Loman echoed thoughtfully. ‘Otaff, how is work on the Watch Hall proceeding?’
Otaff was the most senior member of the Carver’s Guild at the meeting. ‘We’re making steady progress,’ he said. ‘And the Cadwanwr are being very helpful. To be honest I think we’d be far more use working up there now than we are here, listening to you and the others talking logistics and tactics.’
Loman agreed and Otaff left, together with Atelon and other Orthlundyn and Cadwanwr.
Loman turned back to Eldric. ‘If this work is done, then Fyorlund too will be as safe as we can make it,’ he said. ‘And will we have eliminated some of our more terrifying contingencies?’
Eldric nodded. ‘It’s a hasty Gathering, Loman, but yes,’ he conceded.
Loman continued. ‘This done then, I think that we should prepare to march north as quickly as we can, and protect our rear by a string of manned forts, patrols and post-horse messengers.’
He glanced quickly round his listeners to see what response this suggestion provoked.
‘If we’re going to thrust directly for His heart then I’d rather we used the army as a spear that we can withdraw than an arrow which we can fire only once,’ said Darek. ‘But I foresee a problem in manning all these forts. Leaving a duty garrison here, and who knows how many companies spread out across a hostile countryside in forts may leave us precious few at the front.’
‘That will need serious, detailed, thought,’ Loman conceded. ‘But whatever we decide now, we can change our dispositions as the Goraidin and Helyadin obtain information about the enemy’s strength.’
He paused and looked round at his audience again, then he stood up and began walking among them. ‘I know we have a massive army here but, for what it’s worth, I have a feeling that we’ll find ourselves heavily outnumbered whatever form this conflict eventually takes. I think we must accept that now, and remember that numbers alone are not necessarily critical.’ He paused briefly. ‘Even with a cavalry force that was far too small, tactics and discipline gave us the greater part of the day against the far more numerous Morlider. Equally importantly, they brought us away with virtually no casualties.’ He tapped out his conclusion on the pate of a carved eagle that decorated one of the chairs. ‘And, all things being equal, it will be tactics and discipline that give us victory, not numbers.’
‘But will they be equal?’ someone said, amid the sage head nodding that greeted this remark. The speaker was Urthryn’s adviser, Hiron, and his question voiced a recurrent doubt. ‘The Cadwanwr can perhaps bind the Uhriel, but who will bind Him, Loman? Can we be certain that Hawklan and the others will find and waken Ethriss in time?’
Loman turned to him. ‘No,’ he said, simply, and without hesitation. ‘But it makes no difference to what we must do. If Ethriss is there, then he’ll assail Sumeral in whatever manner such beings assail one another; the Cadwanwr will resist the Uhriel; and we’ll pit ourselves against whatever mortal army He’s collected about Him. And we must all prevail. If Ethriss is not there, then we and the Cadwanwr will hold as long as we can, and do what hurt we can, in the hope that, as in times past, it may stem His advance and give others, elsewhere in the world, a chance to prepare to face Him.’ He bent close to Hiron. ‘We have no other choice,’ he said slowly, looking at him intently. ‘For reasons beyond us, the creature is risen and come to great strength. He’s brought death to all our lands already, and beyond-the Drienvolk, the Morlider. If He’s not opposed now, then He’ll return again, again and again, to corrupt and destroy all of us, one way or another.’