" And one to your liking, I should think. Nowhere on this entire world is there a place so hospitable."
As they walked, Inyx came to believe Noratumi' s boast. The people greeted not only their leader but her as well. She even thought they would have been cheerful if she hadn' t been accompanied by Noratumi.
" How is it," she asked, hoping the question was phrased with proper politeness, " that the leader of Bron leaves his city to go hunting grey- clads in the desert?"
" This empire, this city, is a shadow of its former self," he answered obliquely. " It is because of the spiders in the mountains, the sorcerers in Wurnna, those damnable grey troopers. I rule this empire, and it is my responsibility to defend it."
" You thought you could reach Wurnna with a small, compact guerrilla force, attack from an unexpected direction, and stop Iron Tongue," she said.
" That was the best platoon of fighters I could muster." Noratumi laughed harshly and without humor. " A pitiful handful of fighters. Such has become the glory of Bron. I thought to reach Wurnna and force Iron Tongue into submission. It was a silly gesture. Remaining, keeping my forces to defend Bron from Claybore, that was the proper course. I see it now."
Inyx started to speak, then bit back the words. She hated to tell the embittered man that he was still wrong. It would be impossible to defend Bron much longer. The balance of power between spider, mage, and human had existed for eons on this world. Claybore introduced a new factor, an unsettling one. Simply retreating behind the walls of the city- state meant eventual defeat.
" What is wrong with attempting to parlay? Iron Tongue and the spiders must surely recognize the danger Claybore poses."
" Parlay? With them? Never."
Bullheadedness was nothing new for Inyx. She possessed a fair amount of the trait herself. " Is destruction preferable?" When Noratumi failed to answer, she rephrased the question. " Dying, losing all of Bron forever, cannot be as honorable as negotiating a peace with Iron Tongue to fight a common enemy."
" Allying with Wurnna is no different than petting a scorpion."
" That might be true, but if the scorpion is useful for a short time, use it."
" As it is used, so shall it try to use." The man made a sweeping gesture encompassing all of Bron. " No, this is the way I ought to have done it. Many wiser voices counseled me to fight from a position of strength rather than mounting a weak attack from the desert. They were ever so correct."
" I want to walk around the city- alone, please, Jacy."
He made a vague gesture with his hands, indicating she should do whatever pleased her. Inyx watched as the man walked away, shoulders slumped under the weight of responsibility. He had been different, more vital, alive, when attacking Claybore' s troops in Kea Dell. Now that he faced only defensive battles, Jacy Noratumi' s spirit was broken.
Inyx wiped at her nose and turned to hide her emotion. Noratumi could not comprehend the forces arrayed against him by Claybore. She looked over the mighty worked- stone battlements of Bron at the magical sheet barring them from the outside world. That magic provided a better siege than any army with engines of destruction. While the city- state might not be attacked through it, none left Bron.
A week? A month? A year? More? Inyx had no idea how long the citizens might hold out. And it hardly mattered. Claybore had them bottled up and out of the game. One third of the power on this world was immobilized. The spiders- another third- did not matter to the sorcerer. That meant full attention turned against Iron Tongue in Wurnna and the recapture of that precious tongue.
Claybore' s full power against a backwater mage already sapped of strength due to decades long warfare with neighbors- the picture turned bleaker by the moment. Inyx realized the only way of escaping a plight identical to that of the others around her was Lan Martak.
" Oh, Lan," she said softly. " I know you cannot hear me, but if you could, know I love you. Once you rescued me from the whiteness between worlds. I need you again to save me from this vile magical imprisonment."
She received no answer, nor had she expected one. Lan and Krek were making their way toward Bron through the mountains. Soon, within days, they would discover the city' s predicament and Lan would summon up magics beyond her understanding. Perhaps he might rely on new chants from the master mage' s grimoire he carried tucked away in his tunic; or perhaps a simple spell already in his arsenal might suffice.
She hoped he came soon. Already, the walls crushed in on her.
The rest of the day was spent talking with the people of Bron, trying to learn more of their ways, finding that their resolve was strong and that their resources dwindled daily. Simple attrition would bring an end to this once- great city in less than a month.
Inyx walked the battlements looking down into the valley. The river already waned, the industrious creatures building a new dam across the mouth to reform their placid lake. In another week the flow would be properly regulated and all would return to normal. The graves of a hundred or more greys might be exposed to the light of day, but that was small consolation.
Inyx' s path led her back to her luxurious quarters in the palace tower. She sat in a chair staring out into space, trying to decide on a course of action and only spinning her mental wheels. She needed divine inspiration.
It did not come.
" Lady, may I bring you some food? It has been hours since you last ate."
Inyx turned dulled eyes toward the servant. The man appeared concerned about her welfare. The least she could do was put his mind at rest.
" I' m not hungry, not now. If anything, the entire city should begin food rationing. With careful doling, we might survive another two months."
" Is it so readily apparent?" the man asked.
Startled, Inyx faced him and said, " I do not pretend to be an expert but I can count both people and supplies in warehouses."
" May I be impertinent, lady?"
She nodded, puzzled at the request.
" Why don' t you tell Lord Jacy?"
" He won' t listen. He thinks this city impervious to outside forces. In the past, it must have been. But no longer. Claybore is too great a sorcerer; he brings to bear powers learned on a score of other worlds."
She turned away from the servant and stared at the battlements. Those walls had been constructed four hundred years ago by master stonemasons, one woman had boasted to her. Not once in four entire centuries had they been breached. Inyx started to say something further to the servant, then stopped.
The stone walls surrounding the city began to glow a dull red.
" Look. Tell me what you see. Hurry!"
The servant rushed to her, then shook his head, muttering, " It can' t be. Th- that' s not possible!"
The entire wall now glowed red, but one spot near the base turned incandescent. In seconds, molten rock erupted, leaving behind a perfect circular tunnel, through the ten- yard- thick stone wall. Through the tunnel rode grey- clad soldiers, swords swinging and axes humming a death song.
Inyx witnessed the beginning of the end of Bron.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alberto Silvain stood in the peaceful green valley looking up at Bron. The magnificent pile of stone jutted against the sky, silently boastful of its strength. Silvain almost smiled at that ill- conceived vanity. The city would fall. Soon. He and Kiska k' Adesina had planned well for the moment.
" Will this be as easy as you claim, Commander?"
Silvain bowed his head and answered his master.
" Bron is a shell. It must be. The land surrounding it no longer produces foodstuffs to supply it. Water is plentiful but cannot give full sustenance."
" And," cut in k' Adesina, " their leader' s abortive attack into the desert proves their desperation."