Aiden sighed and then nodded to the well-dressed man. “I…don’t want to. I want to go charging off on the Betsy, but…I need to listen to you. If I don’t, a lot of people are going to die. They might even be dying already.”
“Yes, but as I said before; life isn’t fair. It isn’t. It never has been and never will be. We can only go through it trying to make the best decisions we can. Truthfully, Aiden, I envy those people that simply live in the moment and either shrug or cry at whatever consequences happen to come along. That is not me, however. Nor is it you.” Romald patted his arm and shrugged. “We cannot help but try to plan out those futures and are ever painfully aware that our decisions have consequence. The most important thing to remember is to make those decisions and not let them paralyze you.”
Aiden frowned but nodded, listening silently as Romald spoke. He was aware that the slight man was leading him away from the Betsy but chose not to fight it. He knew he couldn’t just go charging off and abandon all of those soldiers to their deaths, especially after he’d met some of them.
“As far as the Ambassador is concerned, injuring her or even terrifying Dame Tenadine would not serve Ambassador Carsh at all. To him, this is just some stunt designed to manipulate people to do what he wants. He believes, wrongly, that he shall just return to port somewhere and make his apologies, then retreat to Caitrel for a while and let it all blow over.”
“How can he even think to get away with that?” Aiden said softly.
“Blindness and stupidity,” Romald said, turning to Aiden and stopping for a moment. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes and his face, usually cultured and considering, was suddenly dangerous. “It has caught up with him this time, Aiden. Caitrel will not save him, cannot save him, this time. I promise you. We will get your mother, and we will make him pay for his arrogance.
But,” Romald paused, squeezing his arm as they continued walking, “that is what is important. We will do this, not you alone. None of the rest of us can save the Caitrel soldiers, but many of us can help track down your mother. Someone gave the Ambassador false information. They led him to think that we were purposefully withholding our support from his Duchy so he would do this act. It was artfully done to distract you at exactly this moment, which almost worked. But it won’t, will it? Duchess Ahnarad and I will not only find them, but we can and will find the Ambassador. Does that help with your decision?”
Aiden could feel himself rebelling for a moment, his mind twisting around the problem trying to find some flaw in what Romald had said, but in the end, he could not and sighed deeply. It was the right thing to do. He’d already wasted enough time running off into the darkness like a child, and that had lowered the number of Naiaden soldiers he might bring to the front lines. How many people might die from his foolishness? He hadn’t even told anyone about it yet!
“Yes. And I’ve completely forgotten to tell anyone what has been going on! We’ve got to get back! There are giant monsters about to attack the wall in Caitrel!”
Romald’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded. “Gavin gave us a quick report, Aiden. Carol is off right now getting troops ready. They didn’t know how many you can take. We will meet them in the main yard beyond the gates, but it will take some minutes to organize what will be needed. We have some time yet. Monsters you say? Were they like the ones that are attacking out of the ocean?”
“No. That is what I thought at first, too, but these are apparently different. We didn’t see any, but the scouts apparently say they are larger than the walls and Caitrel’s troops are retreating. They think the swamp will stop them.”
Romald cursed and began to quicken his pace. “They can’t fall, Aiden. Truthfully, with the strange plague that is wracking their Dukedom, if they don’t hold that fort they won’t last more than a month against Norpon’s pikemen, must less some monsters. No wonder they are trying to distract you away from Caitrel. This smacks of the Mourning Lords. I wonder what other monstrosities they plan to loose on our world.”
Romald and Aiden made it to the area where the Exemplars were forming into war bands. Many were carrying odd devices. Some were similar to what they’d used in Riften; large boxy contraptions that looked to have some cone sticking out of the front. Others were holding what were clearly weapons of some sort, but nothing like what Aiden had ever seen before.
Gavin, Carol, and Ahnarad were standing off to the side, speaking urgently to Oya Dihya. When they turned, seeing Romald and Aiden, Ahnarad had tears in her eyes, and she gave Aiden a motherly hug.
“I am so sorry, Aiden. I promise you; we will find your mother and keep her safe. I swear, I am going to go to the blacksmith’s and borrow his most scarred pair of pliers, and then Carsh and I are going to have a talk!” Ahnarad said fiercely.
Gavin was right next to his mother, nodding vehemently. “I’m leaving right now on the Betsy, Aiden. I will find their ship. Once I do, I’ll contact you and you can,” he wiggled his fingers in the air like he was summoning something, “do your thing and join us. I promise we won’t make a move without you.”
Aiden didn’t smile, but he gave first Ahnarad a hug and then Gavin. “Do that, Gavin. I think I want to have a talk with Carsh myself. At least before your mother does because I don’t think much will be left when she’s done.”
Gavin smiled fiercely at Aiden before giving his mother a hug and running off towards the skimmer. Aiden watched him go before turning towards Ahnarad and Carol. “Okay, let’s get this started. I don’t know how many I can take at once, but I’ll be careful with the first group.” He began to move off towards the Naiadens with Oya Dihya.
He didn’t know how many he could take, but he’d feel it out before breaking the barrier. The first time would probably take longer because of it, but he felt he had to get as many Naiadens as possible there before the Norpon army hit the wall.
He had sat down and was just about to close his eyes when Romald leaned down, clapping him on the shoulder. “Good luck, Aiden, but do not risk yourself overly. No matter how many men are fighting over there, I feel like you are our most potent weapon in this fight; losing you could lose us this world. Also, when you have time, you will have to tell me who Glowby is.”
Aiden’s eyes shot open, staring at the diminutive spymaster for a long moment. Romald just held a finger up to his lips, but his nose was twitching dramatically. Again. Aiden looked over at Glowby and saw his friend sunk towards the tiled grounds, blinking a mournful blue.
Dammit, he couldn’t worry about that now. Closing his eyes, Aiden began to concentrate, forcing himself to bring as many Naiadens as possible to Caitrel. He just hoped he would be in time.
Chapter 23
Aiden’s first trip took longer than he anticipated, but in the end, he managed to take nineteen Naiadens with him. He could feel the strain as he moved people, but when he passed through to the strange healing realm, he felt much better, and his head didn’t hurt at all.
“Are those the floaters you were speaking of?” Oya Dihya asked, looking at one of the distant creatures. Aiden had made sure to clear them out from the immediate area before he’d gone back to Reid, and apparently, the creatures had begun to get the hint and hadn’t returned to the front of the Caitrel fort.
At this point, he suspected the floaters had no more than animal intelligence, but he couldn’t be sure. Something kept them away from the Norpon soldiers, and he hadn’t seen any evidence yet of what it could be.
“Yes,” Aiden said, frowning at the ones he could see off in the distance. “I’ve managed to clear the immediate area, and they seem to be staying away but I don’t know for how long.”
“We could leave some Naiadens here to keep them back,” Oya Dihya said, looking around at the muddy ground and wooden walls but Aiden could tell she didn’t seem too enthusiastic.
Looking around at the other Naiadens, he agreed with their leader. Leaving them here might be too much of a risk. What if something happened to him? There would be no one to retrie
ve the Exemplars, and there was no telling what else was in this realm. “I think we’ll need as many of your warriors as we can get, Oya Dihya. Do you think your weapons will be effective?”
“Unknown, Aiden.” Oya Dihya said softly. “It entirely depends on a great many things we won’t know until we see them.” The four-meter warrior sighed softly, looking down at Aiden. “The Mourning Lords are not ignorant or foolish. The Locust Crab they deployed along your coast was an excellent tactic. We cannot reach them easily, and we cannot ignore them. These things they are sending at us are marching overland. My warriors can fight them directly, which tells me not to take them for granted. Something will be unexpected about them. I can feel it.”
Aiden agreed. He was worried and didn’t think it was only the threat of the coming battle. The Mourning Lords had seen what the Naiadens were capable of in Riften as well as how quickly they had gotten there. They had to have guessed that the Naiadens could move quickly and covertly.
“I am going to send some of this group to scout out the enemy, Aiden.” Oya Dihya said. She signaled to two of her warriors, using some hand signals that Aiden had no clue what they meant, but the Exemplars did. They immediately loped towards the walls, taking steps up the ramps before scaling the walls and dropping themselves over the sides. It was strange to see all the Caitrel warriors ignoring the two massive Exemplars, but Aiden knew they couldn’t see them until they left this other dimension.
“Will they be back soon?” Aiden asked, worry lacing his voice as he stared at the section of walls the two warriors had scaled.
Oya Dihya nodded. “Yes. No more than half an hour. If the enemy is close, they will reach them quickly especially if they do not have to worry about being seen. It will tell us more about what we will face today.” The tall warrior paused, then looked over at a small gathering of men sitting at camp chairs and a table that had been set up near where they would be appearing. “Are these the men we will be meeting with and fighting by?”
Aiden could see Captain Jackob sitting amongst the group with Stitch next to him, along with what looked some other junior officers. All of the men looked haggard and tired, but not yet beaten. “Yes, that’s Captain Jackob and Stitch, the man who kidnapped my friends and me. I don’t know who the others are.”
Oya Dihya nodded as Aiden talked. “They look like solid warriors though clearly affected by these floating creatures. I wonder how long it will take them to recover if they are no longer afflicted. Hopefully, we get a chance to find out.”
Aiden just nodded, agreeing with the Naiaden before signaling that he was ready to take them across into the normal world. Unlike Gavin and Markam, the Naiadens didn’t stare around themselves like tourists but simply got themselves ready. He was always amazed at their discipline though he figured if he’d been alive as long as they had, not much would surprise him, either.
As they appeared and despite Aiden having called ahead to warn them, Captain Jackob and the others near him jerked at the sudden appearance of the massive Naiaden warriors. One man coughed, spitting up some of the water he had been drinking.
“By the Seven, Stitch, you weren’t kidding,” Jackob said in awe, slowly standing and walking around the table towards Aiden. “I expected this not to be real, even after watching Aiden disappear.” He reached out, grasping Aiden’s forearm in his calloused hand and giving him a long, purposeful nod. “Thank you. No matter what happens today, you’ve at least given us hope.”
As Oya Dihya came to stand beside Aiden, the Caitrel soldier turned his attention respectfully to the Naiaden as she addressed him. “Captain Jackob, my name is Oya Dihya Ge’ez. I will be leading the Naiadens who have come today to fight. May we meet with your officers and scouts as soon as possible to begin planning? No doubt you’ve seen some of our odd weaponry. I will need to meet with you and your staff to inform you of their capabilities.”
“Of course,” Captain Jackob said, turning to lead her back towards the table that had been set up. There was not a chair big enough for the Naiaden to sit, but Aiden doubted that would bother Oya Dihya. “I’ve had scouts out all morning, but few have returned. They are having trouble getting close to the advancing line, but it’s not hard to see their pet monsters. If it wasn’t for this haze, we could probably see them now even if they’re over two hours away.”
“I have some of my warriors scouting.” Oya Dihya said softly, walking up to the table and kneeling down so she wasn’t looming over them all quite so much. “They will return when Aiden brings the next group through and then we’ll know more of what we face. If they are two hours away, then that should let Aiden bring at least three more groups through, bringing my troops up to at least eighty.” She paused, frowning at the half-deserted camp and the lines of Caitrel troops marching away in the distance. “How many men do you have, Captain?”
“Three hundred and fifty troops remain under my command,” Captain Jackob said, pursing his lips together. “It would be more, but we’ve suffered from desertions. I can’t blame them. With the entire army retreating, much less what we’ve been experiencing over the past year, I’m amazed I have this many. I don’t think we’d be able to push back a regular attack without your help, much less a full offense.”
“Yet some remain, Captain,” Oya Dihya said, putting her huge hand on his shoulder. “We will fight with you today, and no matter what Duke Norpon throws at us, he will not pass us easily.” She turned to Aiden, giving him a nod. “Go quickly, Aiden, so that when my scouts return we will have more information to share.”
Aiden nodded and returned to his seat at the old campfire. The transition back to Reid was faster and by the time he was bringing the second group of warriors across, the scouts had returned. Their faces were troubled, but he didn’t want to waste time finding out what they had seen, transitioning everyone and letting them put their heads together with Oya Dihya and the Caitrel officers.
Instead, he simply went back for more troops.
After he’d made his third trip, Oya Dihya was waiting for him with a concerned look on her face. He also noticed that there were more regular soldiers on the wall than there had been earlier. Raising his eyebrow at his teacher, she merely grunted and motioned for him to walk with her.
“You will no doubt notice that there are more of the Caitrel and even some Banum soldiers on the wall.” Oya Dihya said somberly. At Aiden’s nod, she continued. “We sent runners out, and forced some of their troops back here to join us.”
“They couldn’t have been happy with that?” Aiden said slowly, watching as some of the men on the wall looking around fearfully, obviously not willing to be there.
“What they are happy with,” Oya Dihya answered evenly, “does not concern me, but we required more bodies. Norpon is sending thousands of troops intent on breaking through once and for all. Even without the Drogue Walkers, they would be difficult to push back without us.”
“Drogue Walkers?” Aiden asked, looking at Oya Dihya curiously. “Is that the name of the creatures?”
Oya Dihya nodded. “Yes, and they are not native to this world, just like the Locust Crabs.” Aiden watched as Oya Dihya’s jaw set; the Exemplar suddenly looked very angry. “They are massive beasts, but they are not normally aggressive. I remember seeing pictures of them on their native planet. It was not uncommon for some of them to have buildings on their backs as they moved through the massive tangle vine fields of their home planet.”
“Why are they attacking us, then? Is there any way to drive them off? Are they afraid of anything?”
“Not that I know of, Aiden. Even our weapons will have a very hard time doing anything to discourage them, much less kill them. Their skin is covered by massive plates of hard material which would be a problem for us even if they didn’t have defenses against our missiles. Even driving them away might be impossible. What is worse is they cannot even eat most things on this planet, Aiden. If they escaped their handlers, they would most likely die within a few weeks, even if the
y ate all the leaves in a forest. It is a crime of the highest caliber.”
“What can we do, then?” Aiden asked, despair threatening to overwhelm him. “Did I just bring you all to your deaths?”
Oya Dihya stopped and caught Aiden’s eye, making him look up into her intense stare. “No. You bought these people hope, Aiden. No matter what happens here today, this will not go as planned for the Norpon army. Besides, you should know by now my people do not pass easily.” She paused, holding out a box to Aiden. “When you return to Reid, take this to Carol. It holds my thoughts and battle plans, as well as a full recounting of what we are going to face. Even if we fall here today, they will need this information. After you make your next trip, I want you to take two of my people and observe the battle from this other realm we have been traveling through.”
Aiden looked up at Oya Dihya, frowning at the Exemplar. “You mean for me to stay safe while the rest of you risk your lives, is that it?”
“Yes,” Oya Dihya said simply. “I know you don’t need me to explain why, Aiden.”
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 85