Chapter 32

Corec waited impatiently, checking the fit of the new cuirass he was wearing. It was comforting to feel the full weight of heavy armor once more, even if it wasn’t quite so heavy as before. He was wearing a mail shirt and cuirass from the armory, but he’d had to pair that with the remnants of his old armor—the helmet, gauntlets, greaves, and vambraces. It looked odd with the mix of styles and metals, but it seemed functional enough.

None of the full suits of plate in the armory had fit him, and he’d tried each one. It had taken nearly an hour, even with Nedley’s help, since all the straps had rotted away. When the people had abandoned the place, they’d apparently taken most of the full suits of armor, leaving only the smallest and largest sizes, and the large ones were too big even for Corec. Luckily, there was a full range of sizes available for the separate cuirasses and mail.

One of the small suits of plate would fit Nedley, but Corec had convinced him it would take too long to learn to fight in it. Boktar had promised to teach him, but there wasn’t enough time before the enemy arrived. For now, Nedley, too, was wearing a new chain shirt and cuirass in place of his old red-eye brigandine.

They’d taken the time to test the new armor to make sure it was real and not ceremonial. Despite being half the weight Corec was used to, it had held up well against their weapons. Neither Nedley’s old steel sword nor his new one, made of the Ancient’s darker metal, could pierce it, and the attempt had chipped a section of the old blade. Boktar’s warhammer had fared better, denting the metal if he applied enough strength, but the armor plating held up better than steel would have. Only Corec’s enchanted sword had been able to penetrate the metal, and doing so had required several powerful, well-aimed strokes at the exact same spot.

Sarette had decided to keep her old mail. She wasn’t sure whether the new metal would affect her abilities, and wanted more time to experiment with it before using it in a fight.

She was standing nearby, along with the others who would be helping Corec hold off the oncoming group. Leena was positioned in a building two blocks to the north, hoping to attract the Seeker’s attention. If he led the enemy forces toward her position, they would most likely follow one of the two streets that led straight there from the south. Given how narrow the streets were, Corec suspected they might take both. He and his friends were hidden on a cross-street between the two. Once the enemy had committed to the approach, Corec and Sarette planned to block off the intersection to the west and Boktar and Razai would guard the one to the east, hopefully bottlenecking their opponents and making sure their greater numbers couldn’t come to bear. Treya and Josip would support whichever pair needed them the most. The entrances to the nearest structures lining the approach had been blocked off with boulders and fallen stone blocks, so their opponents wouldn’t be able to use them for cover.

Corec poked his head around the corner of the building to check the street again, finally finding Razai running his way. She’d been out scouting the oncoming forces, since Corec’s group was positioned too far back in the ruins to see their opponents approach amongst all the buildings. It was inconvenient, but it also meant their enemies couldn’t see them. Not yet, at least.

Corec’s biggest worry was whether their enemies had a crafty commander. They had to know their arrival wasn’t a secret. If they were smart, they’d treat the entire area as enemy territory. To be cautious, they might send a small scouting party toward the decoy building to find out where everyone was located. If the scouts were attacked, their archers could retaliate from a distance, and then the rest of the forces could follow a different route before Corec could reposition his own people.

The only way he could think of to counter that was to remain hidden until the bulk of the enemy forces had been deployed. The buildings near Corec’s position had entrances along the cross street, so if a scouting party came by, he and his friends could take cover in those without being observed.

Whether the enemy sent a scouting party or not, Corec was hoping the rest of their forces would commit to the approach before anyone reached Leena’s position. If she was attacked, she’d Travel to a secondary location and try again, but it would mean Corec and his friends would have a harder time trying to block off the route.

“Well?” Corec asked Razai as she darted into the cross street, out of view of anyone who might be following her.

“They’re all mixed together,” she said. “The archers, the armsmen, the ones with the knives. They’re headed for Leena’s position and they’re watching for us, but they’re not organized at all.”

“The mercenaries must not be taking the threat seriously,” Corec said. “Or they think we’re farther away. If they’re still like that when they reach us, it’ll be difficult to take out their archers, but it’ll also be difficult for their archers to target us. Could you tell which route they’ll take?”

“They haven’t reached the spot yet where they’ll need to decide, and I couldn’t stay any longer and still get back in time. I think we should stay here. Once they hit the plaza, these are the only two streets that lead directly to Leena.”

Corec nodded. He’d considered facing their opponents in the plaza they’d found in the center of the ruins, where Shavala’s spells might have greater effect, but the wide open location would have allowed the enemy to overwhelm them with their greater numbers. These two narrow streets would offer a better chance for a small number of people to hold off a larger force.

He went over the plan again in his head, worried he’d missed something. Finally, he said, “Nedley, let Shavala and Katrin know about the archers, then stay there like we discussed. Josip, can you get to Ellerie and back in time?”

“Yes,” Josip replied. The two men took off, Josip heading to the building overlooking the western intersection, where Ellerie was hidden on the top floor. Her role was to target the archers—and the wizard, if she could find him. Her arrow shield would extend to cover Corec’s intersection, but it wouldn’t reach as far as Boktar’s.

To balance that, Shavala and Katrin were in a different building on the east side. Shavala’s spells could, in theory, hit more targets at once than Ellerie’s, and Katrin could affect multiple people as long as they could hear her. Boktar’s armor and shield would protect him from arrows. Corec was more worried about Razai, who didn’t wear armor, but she hadn’t shown any concern.

Treya touched his shoulder and concentrated for a moment. “This should protect you from fire and lightning magic.”

“What about something like Ellerie’s spells?” he asked as she moved on to Boktar.

“I’m still trying to figure that one out. I’m sorry.”

Corec nodded. It was better than nothing, but hopefully Ellerie or Shavala would be able to find the wizard quickly. Treya finished with the others, then cast the spell on Josip once he returned.

While Boktar and Razai headed to the eastern end of the cross street, Corec joined Sarette at the western end, near the intersection the two of them would be guarding. She was using one of her small signal mirrors to peer around the corner.

“They’re coming,” she murmured. “Still all bunched up. No advance scouts.”

Corec used hand signals to let Boktar know. Razai faded from view, then returned a moment later and repeated Corec’s signals. Their opponents were coming down both streets. And hopefully only those two streets, since those were the only routes Corec and his friends were guarding.

Treya and Josip, who’d been standing near the center of the cross street until they knew where they were needed, split up. Treya joined Boktar and Razai, and Josip came over to Corec’s side.

“Don’t get too close,” Corec said to him. “I don’t want to risk hitting you.” He needed plenty of space to swing his sword. Sarette was used to fighting near him, and she wore armor that would protect her from a stray swing, but Josip didn’t.

The guide nodded, and drew his hand axe and pickaxe from his belt.

Sarette rapped the butt of her spear on the ground, charging it with lightning magic—she was using one of the enchanted staff-spears for the battle, since the charge didn’t fade. Corec detached his sword harness and slid the blade out, leaving the harness and scabbard leaning up against a stone wall. He cast his combat spells in preparation.

“At least we’re not the ones getting ambushed for once,” he muttered, then nodded to Sarette and charged into the intersection, crashing into the first man to arrive—a mercenary with a mace and a shield—and knocking him to the ground.

Before Sarette could join him, Corec whipped his sword around in an arc, slicing the side of another man’s face, and then lodging in the ribs of one of the archers—who was up in front of the advance for some reason. Corec pulled his blade free, then swung down at the man he’d knocked over. The fellow was wearing armor, but as he’d climbed back up to his hands and knees, he’d exposed a gap between his helmet and mail. Corec struck him there, cutting into his neck.

Two more men saw Corec’s glowing sword and attempted to turn and run, but the press of bodies pushed them forward instead. Sarette reached the intersection and tapped a mercenary’s brigandine armor with the blade of her staff-spear, discharging the lightning magic into his body. She quickly charged the weapon again, and took a position at Corec’s back.

A few archers had managed to group together farther down the street, but before they could take aim, one of Ellerie’s beam spells hit the middle one in the chest. The other two scrambled away, but several darts of light followed, hitting the second one in the back.

And then there was no time to think about anything other than the ebb and flow of the battle.

“Miss Shavala,” Nedley was saying, “Razai says the archers are mixed in with the others. Corec says if they stay that way, they’ll be harder for you to pick out.”

Shavala nodded. Regardless of the circumstances, she was supposed to do whatever she judged would have the most impact on the battle, but it was still helpful to know in advance. “Did he tell you what to do?” she asked.

Nedley frowned. “I’m supposed to stay here. Can’t I go back down?”

“Don’t be so eager to jump into the middle of a fight,” Katrin said.

“I’m older now than Corec was when he left the knights!” the boy protested. He’d turned seventeen a few days earlier.

“When he left the knights before completing his training, you mean. And that was after he’d been training constantly for six years. And Boktar’s been fighting for decades. What about you?”

“But what if they need help?”

“If they need help down there, we’ll need help here too.”

“Stay with us, Ned,” Bobo said. “We’ll make sure no one sneaks up on the ladies while they’re busy. You can watch the stairs.”

Nedley looked down and sighed, but then nodded, moving over to stand in front of the stairwell. He’d been coming out of his shell over the past few weeks, finally expressing himself more, but Shavala agreed with the decision to keep him away from the fighting. He could handle himself against poorly trained opponents, but a few months of training with Rusol’s mercenary army and a few months more with Corec and Boktar didn’t make him a soldier. Seventeen was just so young.

Of course, to Shavala, even Corec seemed dreadfully young. On the nights she shared his bed, she had to remind herself that humans aged at different rates than elves. Sometimes she considered staying away from his tent until he turned one hundred and eleven, the elven age of majority. That might actually be possible with what they knew about the warden bond. But then she would decide she was just being silly, and join him anyway.

“You’re stringing your bow?” Katrin asked her. “Corec wants us to stay out of sight.” They were hoping to avoid attracting the attention of the enemy archers and wizard.

“I just want it ready if I need it.” Even if she wasn’t intending to use it, it would have been strange to go into a fight without her bow close at hand. Shavala had been an archer for forty years, much longer than she’d been training as a druid. The unfortunate truth was that she simply wasn’t strong enough for her arrows to pierce armor. The new arrows were better in that regard, especially the darker-tipped ones, but they still weren’t enough. She could make incredible shots when she needed to, mostly while hunting, but it was harder in the middle of a battle, with her opponents swirling around the field. To be effective, she’d practically need to know where her targets were planning to move before they knew it themselves.

She finished with her bow and propped it up against the wall, near her quiver and the strange tershaya staff she’d found below the mountain.