‘To a certain extent, we will be driven by the tower guards. Should they see us quickly, the whole process will happen that much faster. If not, we will hold our attack until the alarm is raised. At this time, a dozen mages will FlameOrb the tower and both North and South Gates will be opened. Archers and the balance of mages will be sent to the ramparts while my entire College and city Guard force will get outside.
‘Their job is to cause as much damage as possible to Senedai’s defences and guard posts before the balance of his army arrives. At this time, they will fall back, the gates will close and be strengthened by craftsmen and WardLock and the siege can begin again.
‘Finally, I’ve hand-picked a dozen men to attempt to find and free the prisoners. It’s all in the cause of creating confusion. Any questions? ’ Kard leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. Around the table, nods greeted his summary.
‘We can augment the Communion by having the casting take place in the Heart,’ said Vilif.
‘Non-Council and senior circle members are expressly forbidden to enter the Heart,’ remarked Endorr. Kerela chuckled.
‘And you so young,’ she said. ‘I might have expected such an utterance from Torvis, but not you. I am pleased you seek so fervently to uphold our traditions and laws.’
‘Though this is not the time to do so,’ added Torvis.
‘My feelings exactly. Unless there is further dissent, I approve the use of the Heart for this emergency,’ said Kerela.
Barras nodded his support and looked over at Endorr. The young mage scowled but said nothing. Barras had certain sympathy with him. His work, diligence and genius had brought him to the Council and its privileges. It must be hard to see them so easily eroded, whatever the situation.
‘How will your men know when to fall back?’ asked Seldane.
‘Once the tower is empty of Wesmen, I will post ShadowWinged mages, three should be sufficient, above the city to gauge the build-up. I’m really only looking to bite at the guard force of Wesmen, not the army. I will not burn Julatsa to free us; there is no time and I don’t believe it will be an effective tactic. If we do fall to fighting in the streets, it will benefit us as the smaller force, to fight them in smaller, tighter spaces.
‘Once the flying mages see forces strong enough to potentially overwhelm us outside of the gates, we will fall back. They know what to look for and the signals have been learned.’
‘Why risk your men in such an action at all?’ asked Vilif. ‘Better surely to keep them fresh and on the walls.’
Kard shook his head. ‘I disagree. I don’t expect us to be outside for long and the action will have two effects. Most importantly, if we strike first blood, it gives us confidence. I can assure you that standing on the ramparts watching an army advance is, pardon the expression, soul-destroying. Second, if we can wreak small havoc it might knock their confidence just that little bit. That, plus our opening spell barrage, could just serve to weaken their resolve.’
‘Hardly,’ said Vilif. ‘They outnumber us almost ten to one.’
‘But theirs is a fragile morale. And when the rear of their line is also struck, well, we can only guess at their reaction.’
Barras raised his eyebrows. Yes, he could guess at the reaction of the Wesmen. Slaughter. But there was no way out. Even if they hid behind the Shroud for a hundred days it would still end in failure. Ultimately, their food would dwindle, more souls would be taken to fuel the Shroud and open revolt would ensue inside the grounds.
‘What in hell’s name did we think we were doing raising the Shroud in the first place?’ he said, a feeling of desperation sweeping suddenly across his body like dead leaves over stone. There was a moment’s quiet in the chamber. Kerela placed a hand on his arm as it rested on the table. It was Kard who spoke.
‘Buying ourselves time,’ he said gently. ‘We all knew that from the start, our brave friend Deale included. And stopping the Wesmen from simply overwhelming us in the rout. For all our brave words and assertions, we have all been hoping for the same thing, to see an army breasting the hills to save us, our city and our College. But now, twelve days later, we have to accept that’s not going to happen, at least while the Shroud remains, and it’s no longer acceptable to watch the murder of our people. In a way, it would be easier to see them put to the sword, disembowelled even. At least then they would retain their souls. But in the Shroud . . . Gods in the sky, we can only imagine their torment.’
‘So, should we sully their sacrifice by surrendering meekly now?’ asked Endorr.
Kard’s eyes flashed but Barras stared him out of his anger. The General’s voice remained calm.
‘It is too late to do anything for those lost in the DemonShroud. But it isn’t too late to save those still alive out there. Endorr, my naïve young mage, there is to be no meek surrender. Indeed, I expect you to play your full part in ensuring the Wesmen forever fear Julatsa. And if, in our battle, we all die but just one child from within these walls escapes the clutches of the Wesmen, I will deem it a victory worth the fight.
‘Do I have your permission to begin?’ Kard asked of the entire Council. One by one, its members nodded and said ‘aye’.
‘Then it is done,’ said Kard. ‘An hour before first light tomorrow, I will visit you here to request you disperse the DemonShroud. From that moment, I will command all forces of the Julatsan city and College, mage and soldier, man and woman. Do I have this authority?’
‘Yes, General Kard, you do,’ said Kerela. ‘And you have the backing, the blessing and the prayers of all of us. Save our College. Stop our people dying.’
Kard smiled. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Sha-Kaan’s entry into the Broodlands had none of the triumph of his previous return. He slipped through the mists all but unnoticed, announcing his arrival to a ministering Vestare only as he landed. Dispensing with the usual formalities of welcome, he enquired about the use of the Melde Hall, stilled his body and switched straight inside.
There, lying flat on his flank, neck and tail both stretched out, was Elu-Kaan, all manner of cuts and scores evident on his head and neck. One wing was unfurled, its membrane marked and dry but mercifully unbroken. But it was his breathing which worried Sha-Kaan. Rapid and ragged as if his lungs had lost capacity and his every inhalation dragged their surface over teeth of stone.
Though tired, stiff and in considerable pain after his battle and bone-wearying flight to Teras, he immediately ordered his ministering Vestare to tend to Elu-Kaan. He moved his great bulk out of their way, sat down and snaked his head to the ground by Elu-Kaan’s.
He hardly had to ask the question. The reason Elu was damaged had to be an encounter with the Arakhe and the reason he was not in the flow of interdimensional space was because he had clearly not found a way through to his Dragonene inside Julatsa.
Close to, Elu-Kaan’s muzzle was covered in myriad scratches from the claws and teeth of the Arakhe. All but impervious to Dragonfire, they were a dangerous foe but seldom ventured from their dimension to trouble the huge animals whose souls they dare not take. But this DemonShroud penetrated the sanctity of inter-dimensional space and Elu-Kaan had stumbled into their innate fury and had almost paid the ultimate price.
There was no formal contact between the two races. For all that dragons were hard to negotiate with, Arakhe would not talk at all. Theirs was a simple doctrine that assumed all other races in all other dimensions were inferior to them, to be used and destroyed as necessary. Sha-Kaan, who had only one encounter with them in his long history, would concede that in most cases, they had reason to believe so. But dragons and now humans and elves had learned to either use them or deal with them effectively and this made them more unpredictable still.