Tessaya poured him a drink, the two men sitting across a table in the shadows at the rear of the building.
‘You’re looking tired, Arnoan.’
‘It’s been a long day, my Lord.’
‘But over now, by the sounds of it.’ The noise of celebration was building.
‘How are your injuries?’ asked Arnoan.
‘I’ll live.’ Tessaya smiled, amused by Arnoan’s fatherly concern. The burn down his right forearm was sore and blistered but treated, clean and dressed. He had been quick in the dive as the FlameOrb had splashed, so had lived.
The cuts he sported on his face, chest and legs were merely trophies of fierce fighting. Still, at his age and influence, looks weren’t important and besides, he found himself tiring of the attentions of women. His line would survive the war; his sons ranged from babes in arms to muscled youths. And now their father had led the tribes to victory at Understone. Where next? It was a question clearly taxing Arnoan.
‘What will the morning bring?’ asked the Shaman.
‘Rest and building. I will not lose Understone Pass again,’ said Tessaya. His expression hardened. ‘Lord Taomi and the southern force should be with us in a day at most. Then we can plan the conquest of Korina.’
‘You really believe we can achieve that?’
Tessaya nodded. ‘They have no armies. Only city defence and reservists. We have ten thousand here, fifteen thousand within two days of the pass, another twenty-five thousand who crossed Triverne Inlet to attack the Colleges and whatever the south brings us. Who is going to stop us?’
‘My Lord, nobody disputes that the military advantage lies with us. But the mage strength of the Colleges is considerable. It would be a mistake to underestimate them.’ Arnoan leaned forward, his bony fingers knotted in front of him.
Tessaya hefted his burned arm. ‘Do you think I am in danger of doing that?’ He eyes narrowed. ‘Arnoan, I am the oldest tribal Lord, with the largest tribal Council under me. It is so because I have made a habit of never underestimating my enemy.
‘The mages are powerful and the Colleges will stand against us in strength. But a mage tires quickly and without a guard is quickly slain. Losing our magic was a blow but we were born to the sword, not the spell.
‘The Wesmen will rule Balaia and I will rule the Wesmen.’
No help would come to Tessaya from the south. The Wesmen were routed and running for Blackthorne Town while its namesake Baron rested high in the crags above the battlefield of his victory. With him were the concussed but otherwise happy Baron Gresse and around five hundred men and mages, all dreaming of a return to their homes.
But the euphoria of the victory at Varhawk Crags would soon wear off. Their situation remained parlous. All but a dozen or so mages had been killed by the white fire, the wounded outnumbered the able-bodied and the Wesmen’s defeat had everything to do with their confusion at losing the Wytch Lords’ magic. Blackthorne and Gresse had merely stoked the fires of panic. If the Wesmen chose to come back looking for them, a second victory would be hard won indeed.
Blackthorne, however, considered such a return very unlikely. In the confusion at the Crags, there was no telling what strength either side had and he knew if he were the Wesmen commander, he would retreat to Blackthorne, lick his wounds and plan his next strike while waiting for reinforcement from across the Bay of Gyernath.
The Baron came to the entrance of the overhang he’d taken as his command position. There was not much room for anything but a fire at the entrance and a few of his senior people inside. Gresse was there, propped up against a wall, his head, Blackthorne knew from experience, thudding wildly and inducing waves of nausea if he dared move.
In front of him, the crags stretched away north and south. Following the victory, he had brought his men and mages south, upwind of the stench of so much death. His fallen people had burned on pyres, the Wesmen dead were left to feed the scavengers. The overhang sat at the top of a gentle rise away from the treacherous edge and scree slopes of Varhawk. On the little plateaux and shallow slopes, his men rested under a warm but cloudy sky. Fires burned in a dozen places despite the Wesmen threat and Blackthorne’s perimeter guards were under strict instructions not to turn to the light until their watches were complete. In key positions, elven eyes pierced the night to give early warning of any attack and so calmed the nerves of the sleeping.
There was little noise now. The celebrations had given way to excited chatter, then a low hum of conversation, then fatigue as night fell. Blackthorne permitted himself a smile. To his right, a man cleared his throat.
‘My Lord?’ Blackthorne turned to face Luke, the nervous youth he had sent to count heads.
‘Speak up, lad.’ With an effort, the Baron softened his automatically stern demeanour and placed a fatherly hand on the youth’s shoulder. ‘Where are you from, Luke?’
‘A farm three miles north of Blackthorne, my Lord.’ His eyes scoured the ground at his feet. ‘I’ll be the man of the farm now. If there’s anything left of it.’
Blackthorne could see Luke, no more than sixteen, biting back tears, his long dark hair covering the sides of his face. The Baron squeezed his shoulder then let his hand drop.
‘We have all lost people we love, Luke,’ he said. ‘But what we can take back, we will, and those who stood with me and saved the East from the Wesmen will be known as heroes. The living and the dead.’ He stopped, lifted Luke’s chin so that the youth’s shining eyes met his.
‘Was it a good life on your farm?’ he asked. ‘Speak truthfully.’
‘Hard, my Lord,’ said Luke, the admiration burning in his face. ‘And not always happy, if I’m honest. The land isn’t kind every year and the Gods don’t always bless us with calves and lamb.’
Blackthorne nodded. ‘Then I have failed you and everyone like you. Yet you were still prepared to lay down your life for me. When we are masters of Blackthorne once again, we will talk at greater depth. But now, you have some information for me?’
‘Yes, my Lord.’ Luke hesitated. The Baron nodded for him to speak. ‘There are five hundred and thirty-two altogether, my Lord. Of these, eighteen are mages and five of them are too badly injured to cast. There are five hundred and fourteen men at arms and more than four hundred of them have some form of wound from battle. Of the worst, one hundred and five cannot fight. I have not counted those who will die by morning.’ Luke stopped. ‘My Lord,’ he added.
Blackthorne raised his eyebrows. ‘And what makes you so sure these men will die?’
‘Because I have seen it often enough on the farm, my Lord,’ said Luke his confidence finally growing. ‘We aren’t so different, people and animals, and I hear it in their breathing and see it in their eyes and the lie of their bodies. Inside, we know when our time is near; so do animals, and it shows.’
‘I’ll have to take your word,’ said Blackthorne, fascinated by the realisation that he had probably seen less death in his long life than the youngster in front of him. Though they had surely both seen enough in the last few days to last a lifetime, he had never studied it. To Luke though, death of livestock was an economic problem and a risk of his occupation. ‘We must talk more another time, Luke. Now, I suggest you find a place to lay your head. We face hard days and I need men like you at your best.’
‘Goodnight, my Lord.’
‘Goodnight, Luke.’ Blackthorne watched the young man walk away, his head a little higher, his stride a little longer. He shook his head gently, the smile returning to his face. So were the fates at birth. Another day, Luke the farmer’s son might have been born a Lord. Blackthorne was sure he would be equally at home in a Castle as a cowshed.
The Baron mulled over the numbers Luke had given him. Less than four hundred and fifty men able to fight, terribly short of mages and of those he could press into action, the overwhelming majority were hurt in some way. He guessed the Wesmen still outnumbered them two to one. And he had no idea how many were still in his Town, or at the beachhead, or on the road to Gyernath, or spread throughout the East. He bit his lip, quelling the sudden flutter in his heart. Hard days. And he had to be stronger than he had ever been.