Every shot had to count.
Yon, Evin, and the Wooden Soldiers dismounted, stringing their bows as well. They carried full warded quivers, with more arrows on their mounts. All were expert shots, but even their skill was useless in the smoke and darkness.
Arlen sketched wards of sound, making his voice carry all along the border. ‘Asking folk to trust me. Need to kill the flame demons out there before they choke us to death.’
He paused. ‘And that means stepping off the greatward and into the smoke. Everyone make sure your mind wards are in place, and your best arrows nocked.’
‘No ripping way!’ one man cried. Most of the Haveners echoed his sentiment. Their collective aura flared with fear.
Surprisingly, it was Gared who stepped in. ‘Din’t have no greatward in the Battle of Cutter’s Hollow!’ the giant Cutter boomed. ‘We start hidin’ behind them now, Hollow’s already lost. You want to fight for your homes, it means steppin’ out into the naked night! Otherwise, go hide in yur beds and wait to get et!’
Arlen smiled as the fear in the crowd’s aura began a shift to determination. He looked to Gared, filled with fanatical trust in Arlen. ‘Thank you, General. Couldn’t have said it better myself.’ Gared’s aura … blushed.
‘Need you to lead them out, Gar,’ he said. ‘I’ve a card up my sleeve, but ironically, I need to be standing on the greatward to play it.’
‘I-what-ically?’ Gared asked. Then he shook his head, the confusion in his aura vanishing. ‘Dun’t matter. You say march into the Core, I’ll do it double-time.’
He clapped a hand on Gared’s shoulder. ‘The flame demons are still a ways off in the woods. Need to get in close and take them by surprise. Ent got time nor arrows to waste.’
Gared coughed. ‘Bows ent gonna be much good in all that smoke. How are we supposed to see what we’re shootin’?’
Arlen slipped down from his own saddle, feeling the thrum of the greatward beneath his bare feet. ‘When you’re in place I’ll show you your targets. Make sure no one fires till I give the word.’
Gared nodded, leading the rest of the scouts and the best archers of Newhaven out into the gloom. They hadn’t gone far before, one by one, they vanished into the smoke.
Arlen breathed deeply and Drew more power than he had ever dared, pulling on the Hollow’s entire wardnet. He felt his insides burning with the power, and knew he could not contain it long without being consumed.
‘Brace yourselves,’ he told the Hollowers, his voice carrying to every ear. Then he lifted two fingers and wrote wards of heat and air, giving shape to the energy as he released it. A huge blast of wind sprang forth, sweeping the smoke away and huffing out the flames like born-day candles.
He felt dizzy as the magic swept through his body and left, but there was no time to waste. He Drew on the greatward again, this time drawing wards to cast brilliant white light into the air, momentarily turning night into day. There, revealed in the light, were the flame demons, eyes and mouths glowing as they stood frozen, frightened by the sudden glare.
This time when the magic left him, Arlen staggered. Renna was there in an instant, grabbing one of his arms. A moment later Rojer caught the other.
Arlen let them steady him, Drawing a touch more power to send his voice carrying to the archers.
‘Fire.’
23
333 AR Autumn
First Night of New Moon
Rojer heard the collective hum of bowstrings and the cries of the flame demons as the Hollowers exterminated them.
Rojer was still getting used to the wardsight his mask imparted, but a moment earlier he had seen Arlen glowing as bright as the sun. Now he was dim. Dimmer even than normal folk.
‘Back to the greatward,’ Arlen commanded after a moment. ‘Now.’ The light he conjured began to fail, and he slumped further, suddenly putting his full weight on Renna and Rojer. Rojer stumbled, but Renna tugged them both back upright as effortlessly as she might a small child. Quick as a cat, Rojer had his feet back under him.
He glanced up and saw the first of the Haveners returning, a triumphant look on their faces.
‘Pull yourself together,’ he said through his teeth. ‘I don’t know what that did to you, but these people need to see you on your feet.’
‘Don’t you tell him …!’ Renna began, but Arlen cut her off.
‘No, he’s right,’ Arlen said. ‘I just need a moment to …’ The luminescent mist at his feet began to rush into him, restoring his glow. He stood again, pulling free of their support. ‘There.’
The Haveners took their positions around the border once more, and Gared and the rest of the scouting party returned to where Arlen, Renna, and Rojer stood, oblivious to his moment of weakness. In the distance, the crashing sound of falling trees and ground-shaking rumble of torn stone continued unabated.
‘What in the Core are they doing?’ Gared shouted above the din.
‘It’s a trap,’ Rojer said. ‘Trying to lure us out farther.’
Arlen shook his head. ‘Why make so much noise if it’s a trap? They’re doing something. Bet my stones on it.’
‘What do we do?’ Gared asked.
‘We aren’t going to do anything,’ Arlen said. ‘I am going out to have a look.’
Renna shook her head. ‘We are going for a look.’
Arlen looked at her, and she shot him a hard glare in return. ‘Arlen Bales, don’t you think for one second I’m letting you go out there alone.’
‘Sure as spit ent asking anyone else to,’ Arlen said. ‘Drones can’t hurt me, Ren. I’ll be fine.’
‘That mimic demon hurt you,’ Renna said. ‘And the mind did worse.’
‘Ay, but now I know how to hurt ’em right back,’ Arlen said.
‘You hurt one of them,’ Renna reminded him, ‘and only after I snuck up in your warded cloak and stabbed it in the back. Who knows how many are out there tonight?’
‘Maybe it’s not a trap for us,’ Rojer said. ‘I think maybe it’s a trap for you.’
Arlen looked at him blankly.
‘He’s right,’ Renna said. ‘Second you step off the greatward, you’ll stand out like a lantern in the dark. They’ll be on you in an instant.’
Rojer bit his lip. Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it.
‘I’ll go,’ he said, and cursed himself. Everyone looked at him in surprise, and Rojer couldn’t blame them. He was not known for his bravery, but there was no other way. He was proud of the power he had brought back to the world with the Song of Waning, but after seeing what Arlen had just done, there was no doubt which of them was more expendable.
Arlen shook his head. ‘Don’t know your power will even work on a mind demon. Can get a cat to chase a bit of reflected light all afternoon, and drones ent much smarter, but you don’t try that trick on people.’
Rojer shrugged. ‘Even people can be blinded when you shine a light in their eyes. And didn’t I just hear Renna say Leesha’s cloak fooled it?’ He grabbed the hem of his warded motley cloak, turning a spin to let it spread out.
‘Rojer, I can’t let you-’ Arlen began.
‘No, I can’t let you,’ Rojer said. ‘I may not be able to put out forest fires with a wave of my hand, but I can do this.’
‘We can do this,’ Gared said, coming over to stand beside him. ‘Goin’ with you. Cloak Darsy made me ent as fine as yurs, but it ent ever failed me.’
‘That’s because you rarely ever use it.’ Rojer shook his head. ‘Your place is with your troops, General.’
Gared spat at his feet. ‘You may be a right little prick sometimes, Rojer, but I’ll be corespawned before I let you go out there alone.’
Rojer felt his throat tighten, but swallowed the feeling behind his Jongleur’s mask. He wanted to argue further, but in truth he felt safer with Gared than he’d ever admit.