“You are absolutely certain that Ilmarec has access to these Elder World weapons, my Lord,” asked Asea. Azaar shook his head.
“We only have Esteril’s words and he may be lying or deceived. But I have some of our people talking with the prisoners, and the new recruits, and most of them confirm the story. Just the possibility of it is worrying. If so large a force was destroyed by sorcery we need to know how. I will not risk the destruction of my command. Do you have anything you wish to say, Lady Asea?”
“We found the ruins of a Serpent Man settlement in the woods today.”
“The Serpent Men have been dead these last several millennia, milady,” said Colonel Xeno in his clipped dry voice. “You are not suggesting that Ilmarec has allied with them surely?” He laughed at his own witticism. A few of the other officers joined in. The wiser ones kept quiet till they heard Asea’s reply.
“No, but the place was definitely the site of powerful sorcery recently. Last night, in fact.”
“What sort of sorcery?” Azaar asked.
“I am not sure. Its nature is dissimilar to our own magic so I cannot even hazard a guess.”
“Is this the place our three messengers discovered last night?” Xeno asked. Asea nodded.
“Have they been disturbing things best left undisturbed again?” Xeno knew all about the business at Achenar. Not all of those present did. The matter had been hushed up quite comprehensively, but it could not be kept from the regiment’s own Colonel.
Asea pursed her lips. “I don’t think so. I think they may simply have happened on it.”
“Is this magic any threat to the army?” Azaar asked. The room fell silent as they waited for her answer.
“Whatever it is, I do not think it is fully functioning,” Asea said. “What I detected were mostly residual energies.”
“Mostly?” said Azaar.
“I think the site is part of a huge pattern. My guess would be that it is centred on the Serpent Tower itself. If Ilmarec has been working great sorcery there, it would leave traces on any pattern connected to it.”
“Why would there be a part of a pattern out here?” asked Xeno.
“Patterns are made for many reasons,” said Asea. “Some of them to feed energy into a central locus. Some of them because they are essential to define the boundaries of a ward or a permanent scrying spell.”
“You think we may be within the boundaries of such a spell,” asked Azaar.
“Almost certainly, or we will be if we pass the ruins.”
“Perhaps Esteril was right,” said Azaar. He sounded thoughtful.
“It’s a rather worrying thought that one of the Serpent Men’s weapons might be used against us,” said Colonel Ascogne of the 17 ^ ^th Hussars. He crinkled his handsome brow and stroked his pencil thin cavalryman’s moustache to show exactly how worried he was. “I am sure none of us have forgotten what happened at Ssaharoc.”
Ssaharoc had been one of the Terrarchs greatest defeats in this world. They had lost an entire fleet to the Serpent Men of the Southern Continent. Sardec’s own train of thoughts were on his recent encounter with Uran Ultar and his slave race, the Ultari. He remembered Asea’s theory that it was no accident either. Could there be a connection? He wondered whether he should bring this up, but decided to keep his own council. If the witch wanted to bring this up now, she could do it herself. If she didn’t want to discuss it, he would only look foolish doing so.
Azaar spoke; “Our main problem would still appear to be Ilmarec. Even without these putative weapons the Tower of the Serpent is a near impregnable fortress. As far as we know not even dragonfire can scorch its walls and it is protected against sorcery by enchantments of awesome power. Is that not so, Lady Asea?”
She nodded. “They are charms of a range and strength we cannot duplicate now. I would not like to try a spell against them. I suspect there would be backlash.”
“If these rumours are true then the future Queen of Kharadrea is imprisoned in an impregnable fortress guarded by a malignant sorcerer. Our cause seems lost before we even begin to fight,” said Xeno sourly. “Truly this is a cursed land.”
Sardec remembered Xeno has lost a brother here fighting against Koth. He detested the place and he was not scared to let it show even in the presence of his commanding officers. All eyes focused on Azaar. Everyone wanted to know what he had to say. When he spoke his voice was calm and filled with confidence.
“We do not know whether any of this is true. Much is merely rumour and speculation. We need to know whether Ilmarec is really against us, whether he has Kathea, whether he has these Elder World weapons. Once we have established the facts of the matter we can come up with a plan for victory.”
“Victory, Lord Azaar?” Xeno asked.
“Victory, Colonel. There must be things Ilmarec wants and he must know that he cannot defy the will of Queen Arielle forever. The facts of geography are on our side. His lands are much closer to our borders than those of the Dark Empire’s. We can bring enormous force to bear if need be. And there are more ways of taking a tower than by storm.”
Some of the officers were nodding agreement. There were always some who would, Sardec thought. They doubtless thought currying favour with the commander was the quickest way to promotion and power. Xeno was not so easily daunted.
“I doubt Lord Ilmarec is less familiar with the facts of geography than we are, my Lord,” he said. “He is probably placing more faith in chronography. He does not have to hold us off forever, only until Khaldarus is on the throne and the Dark Empire throws its full force against us. We have fought that war before, sir, and this time there is no Koth to stand as a buffer between us and them.”
“You are correct, Colonel,” said Azaar. “Time presses so we should be about our business. I wish to send Lieutenant Sardec as an emissary to Lord Ilmarec to open negotiations with him.”
“With your permission, I would like to accompany the Lieutenant,” said Lady Asea. “I know Lord Ilmarec. We were friends once. And I would like to study the Tower. There is something odd going on with the flows of magic in this area, and I suspect it is the nexus of the problem.”
Azaar looked at her for a moment, and Sardec knew he was considering the risks. Asea was the most powerful sorcerer in his army. Losing her would be as big a blow as losing a battery of artillery.
“Are you sure you will be safe?” he asked.
“I will have a strong escort I am sure. Lieutenant Sardec and I have been through some dangerous situations before and I have every faith in him.”
Sardec just looked at her. The last time he had been in a dangerous situation with Lady Asea he had lost his hand, and damn near his life.
“Very well,” said Lord Azaar. “We shall discuss the details later.”
What was the witch up to this time, Sardec wondered? He wondered until the staff meeting ended.
Rik watched the new recruits being sworn in. They stood in a long line in front of the table before which the Sergeant Major stood, and one by one advanced, placed their hand on a stone carved with Fyel, the Elder Sign of Faith, swore the oath and took the Queen’s silver. Their names were inscribed in the regimental register and they marched off. This evening they were soldiers in the army they had been fighting this morning.
“Most of those bastards will probably desert afore they hear their first shot fired in anger,” said the Barbarian.
“True,” said Rik. “But some of them won’t. Some of them will stay and make good soldiers. Anyway, it’s not our problem, is it?”
“Never a truer word spoken, Halfbreed,” said Weasel.
“Wonder when we will be heading on to Morven?” said Barbarian. “I could do with seeing a proper town and the inside of a proper tavern.”
“No idea,” said Weasel. “You’d think it’d be soon, but I heard Lord Ilmarec has turned against us and that Dark Empire troops are already in town.”
“Something is going on,” said Handsome Jan, breaking off from studying his profile in his little shard of mirror. “Nobody expected to be fighting so soon, did they? How did the bloody Purples get here so fast, that’s what I’d like to know.”