Imdyr/Lachlei hesitated. “What do you mean, Kieran?”
“I’m tired of this charade!” he snapped, drawing his sword. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re not Lachlei!”
“What are you saying, Kieran?” a Lochvaur commander named Rivalan spoke. He glanced at Imdyr/Lachlei. “Have you lost your mind? Of course, she’s Lachlei!”
Kieran pointed his blade at her throat. “Are you?” he demanded. “Your game’s up, sorceress! I know the queen of the Lochvaur, and you’re not her!”
Imdyr laughed. “Very good, Kieran,” she said, resuming her form as an Eltar. The Lochvaur soldiers gasped. “But it’s too late for you.”
Kieran raised his sword to strike her, but she vanished in the wind. Rivalan stared. “What does this mean?” he asked.
Kieran frowned. “It means we’ve been led out of Caer Lochvaren and have left the city defenseless…”
Rivalan turned to speak, but his mouth hung open in shock. Arrows rained down onto the Lochvaur troops. Before he could shout his orders for retreat, an arrow penetrated his gorget and he fell. His last vision was of a hundred thousand Braesan charging towards them.
Cara reined her horse and looked down at the Braesan as they charged towards the Lochvaur army. She rode beside Conlan at the head of the Elesil army. The king of the Elesil looked grim as they watched the charge. Cara glanced at the Elesil troops. Forty thousand strong, but they could not possibly withstand the Braesan’s full might. She compared the two armies.
“Gods,” Haukel exclaimed, “Cara, there must be…”
Cara raised her hand for silence. Haukel glanced at her, but did not continue. He did not have to. Cara knew what he was thinking. The same thoughts were on Conlan’s face as well. A hundred thousand Braesan were more than the Elesil expected. Even with the Lochvaur army, they were still outnumbered.
“What do we do, Commander?” Haukel asked at length.
Cara stared at the army as it advanced. “We’re outnumbered, but with the Lochvaur, we might be able to trap Areyn’s army between the two.” “If the Lochvaur don’t turn on us,” Conlan said.
“Do you have any better ideas?” Cara asked.
Conlan shook his head. “The Wyrd shows me nothing.”
Cara smiled grimly. “I don’t see anything either. I wish Ni’yah were here.”
“The wolf-god?” Conlan asked. “That old trickster? Why wish him here?”
Cara made no reply. Instead, she gazed at the army. “Trickster,” she murmured. “That’s it, Conlan.”
Conlan considered her. “What?”
“We trick them. Make the Braesan think we’re bigger than we are,” Cara said. “You know any illusions?”
“Battle illusions? Some, but they’re not very good.”
“Mine aren’t either, but maybe together…”
Conlan smiled, comprehending her plan. “Do you think we could do it?”
Cara shrugged. “It’s better than nothing.”
63
“To me! To me!” Kieran shouted. The old Chi’lan warrior brandished his sword to rally the troops in the confusion that followed. Although most were not Chi’lan, they were still trained soldiers and quickly sought order in the battle’s confusion.
The enemy looked like Lochvaur, but Kieran had never seen soldiers such as these. They were deathly pale and their silver eyes glowed with a red cast. Nor did they wear the red and gold colors of Rhyn’athel, but the black and red of Areyn Sehduk. Yet they fought like Chi’lan, and when killed their bodies disintegrated on the wind.
It’s like they’re not alive, Kieran thought. He cleaved through several before his horse was taken from under him. Forced to fight on foot, Kieran led the retreat.
A battle-horn rang out. Kieran saw several of the Braesan make a charge. Two of the Undead warriors stood out. One was a great warrior who rode through the Lochvaur army, swinging a great Sword of Power. The other was Fialan.
Kieran stared. “Fialan?” he gasped. He parried a blow from a Braesan and turned to see the dead Lochvaur king ride towards him. “My king?”
Fialan reined his horse; pain twisting his features. “Kieran!” he spoke through locked teeth. “Get the Lochvaur out of here!”
“How? How can this be you?”
A powerful force snapped Fialan’s head around and his eyes glowed red as he looked on Kieran. “I am dead. We are all dead—all Braesan. Areyn controls us now.”
“Areyn—Areyn Sehduk?” Kieran stared. Another Braesan attacked, and Kieran was forced to retreat. If this were true, he wondered, how could they escape? They were not far from the Elesil lands—perhaps they could head deeper into the Darkling Plain and lose the Undead in its rolling hills. He grasped the reins of a riderless horse as it ran past him and swung into the saddle. At that moment, another battle-horn rang across the fields.
Kieran looked towards the east and a large army appeared. But even as he hoped it might be the Chi’lan, he fell into despair. The warriors who charged wore the blue and silver of the Silren and Elesil. The army was huge—a hundred thousand warriors or more—standing amid an ethereal mist that swirled around them. The battle-horns rang in earnest now and the Braesan paused.
Kieran stared and his heart sank. “Rhyn’athel,” he muttered. “May I die well.”
Areyn gazed hungrily at the open gates of Caer Lochvaren. A few thousand soldiers were all that was left. He would feed tonight; relish in the final deaths of the Lochvaur. When they had destroyed Caer Lochvaren and razed it to the ground, he would turn on the Chi’lan and Laddel army and feed from them. And there would be nothing Rhyn’athel could do to stop him. His Braesan would finish the Lochvaur army. Imdyr was gathering his Eltar army. He would then turn on the other Eleion and eventually the Ansgar, finally destroying Rhyn’athel’s hold on Elren.
What do you want us to do, my lord? Flayer asked. They are unprotected.
Areyn considered the arch-demon in amusement. “Raze the city. Put everyone to the sword.” He paused. “But bring me Laewynd. Alive.”
Wynne fled as quickly as her wolf legs could carry her. She did not stay to see the Lochvaur’s army obliteration nor did she pause until she entered Caer Lochvaren. Heedless of the guards who tried to stop her from entering in wolf form, she fled through the lower town and halted only when she entered an alleyway near the merchant shops. Wynne waited as the soldiers ran past and transmuted into her Laddel form. She continued past the main gates and into the great hall. The few Chi’lan who had stayed behind to guard Lachlei’s son were drinking and playing games.
“Wynne!” Kerri said, spying the Laddel woman. “Where have you been?”
“We have no time,” Wynne said. “The army is being destroyed as we speak. Caer Lochvaren is defenseless—we must leave now!”