“A toast!” Ramses said, raising a glass of blood wine towards Exador.
“A toast to finally finishing up a marathon session!” Exador agreed, clinking his glass to Ramses’.
“I don’t think I have put in that much continuous effort without a break in a millennium,” Ramses said, shaking his head.
“Agreed. That was a lot of work, but worth it to secure their assistance against Lenamare and the Council,” Exador said.
“Yes, about that. Are you not the least bit anxious about providing our allies with this magineering?” Ramses asked. “No fear of them using it against us someday?”
Exador chuckled. “Of course I am.”
Ramses tilted his head questioningly.
“A good part of my effort was in creating what I would call an escape hatch.” Exador pulled two amulets from his robe’s deep pocket, setting them on the table. “One for you, one for me, and I am going to have my people create some more for our other allies.”
“What exactly does it do?” Ramses asked, picking one up.
“The trick was to find something that was not an obvious defect in the system. This is not a defect, but rather the exploitation of a loophole. Without a deeper understanding of the spellcraft than any of their people possess, it is an undetectable loophole,” Exador said.
“So one wearing the amulet is not subject to the warding?” Ramses asked.
“Indeed; a get-out-of-jail-free card.” Exador chuckled.
“This will certainly work in Nysegard, should it be needed, but what if they should use this system against us in Freehold? We will have our demon armies; I am not enthused by the thought of losing all of mine permanently,” Ramses said.
“I know. We cannot give every demon an amulet, for one thing; that would be rather blatant. However, I am working on a spell version, a pentacle-based one. That should be ready before we move on Freehold. Actually, it will be ready before we give the go-ahead,” Exador said.
Ramses gave him a questioning look. “What, our demons simply walk into the pentacle?”
Exador grinned at him. “Exactly. Think of it as an exit pentacle.”
“Excellent.” Ramses raised his glass for another toast.
Exador responded with a smile.
Hilda watched the last wagon cross the east drawbridge into the citadel. They had been working all night to get the last of the stragglers in. It was a tremendous task, making sure they had everyone. The Rangers, Shield and Sky Wardens were relentlessly making multiple passes of the nearby regions, going from building to building and making sure everyone had gotten out.
They had actually been doing this around the clock since the horns had first sounded. This was all new to her. The scale of this operation was breathtaking — or would have been if she actually needed to breathe.
Rassnon, the Holy Lord Ranger of Torean upon Nysegard, came up to where she, Grob, Rasmeth and Timbly were watching the final preparations outside the walls.
“We believe we have everyone,” Rassnon informed them. “Elden’s wardens are reporting that the main forces are stopping for the day about a league away in all three land directions. This is consistent with what my Rangers are seeing. We are having periodic skirmishes with some of the advance parties; however, most of those have now retreated to join the main army.”
Grob nodded. “And from the sea? They run no lights on their ships, so my watchers have not been able to spot any of them. That should change as Atun rises…”
“Elden reports that there is a considerable flotilla approaching, both by sea and by air. However, exact location and numbers are difficult to estimate as we head into a new moon,” Rassnon said.
Hilda looked at them quizzically. “What is a new moon?”
The Nysegardians looked at her in surprise.
“How do you not know what a new moon is?” Grob asked.
“I’m from Astlan, remember? Your single moon system is a mystery to us. It seems extremely unstable,” Hilda replied.
“What do you mean, unstable? And how many moons does Astlan have?” Rassnon asked.
“In Astlan we have two moons, Uropia and Anuropia. Uropia traverses east to west and Anuropia circles the poles,” Hilda explained. “Uropia represents the female aspect, Anuropia the male aspect. Without balancing these two aspects, I can’t see how your single moon’s orbit would be stable.”
Rassnon shook his head. “Tarth, the moon, is female and Atun is male. The cool feminine moonlight of Tarth is balanced by the fiery maleness of Atun. It is very stable.”
“Yes, your system seems like a recipe for tidal instability,” Grob said.
Rasmeth shook his head. “No it’s highly stable. But in any event, what is a new moon? What makes it new?”
“A new moon is when Atun, Nysegard and Tarth are all aligned at the same latitude and the shadow of Nysegard covers Tarth and it is invisible in the night sky,” Rassnon told them. “It is a particularly inauspicious time, which is why the Unlife like to time things by it.”
“That makes sense. Your male and female aspects are in opposition, with Nysegard in the middle.” Hilda, Rasmeth and Timbly all nodded.
“In any event, we shall use the daylight to do a final pass to make sure we have everyone and everything of value,” Grob said.
“I will alert Dashgar and Inethya, and Timbly will alert Fassbindr and Delilah. They shall gather the others,” Hilda told them.
“The others?” Rassnon asked.
Hilda and Timbly grinned.
“Well, once the Attendant Archons and Prophets of Torean and Tiernon announced they were going to be here, at that point it became a competition,” Timbly said, chuckling.
“A competition?” Grob asked.
“We are going to send the Storm Lords packing once and for all!” Hilda smiled.
“Ashena Brightfeather and Molona Tramen will be here to represent Krinna,” Timbly told them.
“Garion Hearthhand and Seliana for Hendel,” Hilda said.
“And, of course, Eileen Sealegs and Jacquesparrow for Namora,” Timbly concluded.
Grob shook his head in amazement, “Jacquesparrow even? I… I…”
“Are speechless?” Rassnon asked. He looked at the saints. “Your Saintlinesses, we cannot thank and praise you enough!”
Hilda blinked to see tears leaking from Grob Darkness Slayer’s eyes. She looked away to save him the embarrassment.
“This is perhaps the greatest moment in the long history of the Citadel. All five Attending Archons, all five prophets, three saints and two apostles?” Rassnon was shaking his head. “Thirteen avatars and two apostles? The Storm Lords do not stand a chance!” He looked to Grob. “We shall be victorious! I cannot tell you how my heart sings. Before you showed up, we were fearful of our very survival. Now? Now we have a chance to strike at the very heart of darkness!”
Grob looked to the sky, spreading his arms wide, and shouted. “All praise be to the glory of the Five Siblings!”
Talarius stood on an ancient stone platform overlooking the practice fields, watching the D’Orcs’ war games. He had to admit it was more than a little intimidating. He would not want to be the opposing army. The D’Orcs were wielding insanely massive weapons that no mortal could even lift, let alone swing. He would not want to be hit by one of those things; the concussion alone would knock him halfway across the battlefield.
“Impressive, aren’t they?” someone asked beside him.
Talarius started. He’d been so engrossed in the war games, he had allowed a complete stranger to sneak up on him! His inner turmoil was clearly taking a toll on him, causing him to let his guard down. He looked over to the stranger.