by Rosie Scott
“Kai!” Uriel pulled me in for a friendly hug. He smelled of salt and light sweat, and wisps of whitish-blonde hair brushed against my face from his lazy ponytail. “I missed you.”
Uriel and I hadn't seen each other since departing Tal over a half year before. I squeezed the Sentinel tight before finally letting him go. “It feels like forever.”
The healer chuckled and nodded, though he said, “The older I get, the quicker time goes.” He patted me on the arm before looking out over the grasslands of Monte with his light gray eyes. “I am so happy Calder pulled through for you.”
“He has pulled through for us,” I replied. “He looks forward to meeting you. The Alderi will be invaluable for our takeover of Olympia.”
“Cyrus told me of your idea,” Uriel commented.
“What do you think about it?”
“It worked in Hazarmaveth. It might work here. We'll talk through it. Work out the kinks.” Uriel grinned at me as I held my arms out, as if ready to take a crate.
“Let me help you unpack,” I offered.
“Says one who may blow away in the breeze,” the Sentinel joked, before turning back to the supplies. When he faced me again, he held out one fork.
I glared at him with jest. “Really?”
“It is all you can carry,” Uriel replied.
“Have I ever told you about the time I climbed a dwarven battleship?” I retorted playfully.
Uriel chuckled. “I was there. I was also unimpressed.”
Despite our playful bickering, Uriel and I eventually left his ship when the Sentinel was encouraged to by his own men. Uriel had always been unwilling to leave his men, even for mundane tasks like unpacking. I respected that, but his higher position meant that he was also needed in more critical areas. I'd found over the years that Uriel's insistence on working alongside his men sometimes tested the patience of the other Sentinels and the queen. As if further proving that to be true, Uriel was the last Sentinel to leave his ship on the coast. When we started to walk down the shoreline together, we found the others waiting for us.
The Sentinels, Seran Renegades, and Calder and Mirrikh all filed into the longhouse we'd used weeks ago after the introductions were made between those who hadn't yet met. We had waited long enough to establish a foothold in Pisces and Monte. Taking Olympia would be monumentally difficult, but it was also absolutely necessary.
The far end of the table which stretched from door to cooking spit was cluttered with fifteen people from all walks of life. Just across the table from me, Altan spoke first.
“All right. Olympia. Let's get this party started, ey?” The first Sentinel's red eyes found Azazel and me. “I know you two have a damn good plan, but does anyone else have ideas they'd like to share?”
A high-pitched cackling shuddered out from beside Calder just before Mirrikh spoke up. “Poison their water supply,” he suggested, his voice breathless with excitement. “Olympia has close access to a river and a lake. Give me a few weeks. I can have every person in that city dead before they know what hit them!” The bench beneath him rattled as he shook with nervous enthusiasm.
“I appreciate your idea, Mirrikh,” I offered, “but we don't want everyone dead.”
“Those are our orders,” Kirek argued from the far end of the table. “If he's saying he can do it in weeks and with no casualties from our end, I don't see any other option.”
I was honestly shocked that Kirek agreed with an Alderi no matter the idea. I was too flabbergasted to reply right away, but Dax decided to instead.
“The lake near Olympia was formed due to mountainous runoff,” Dax began, his rough voice grating over his words. “And the river is an outflow from the mountains to the sea. Poisoning the water there risks poisoning the land and ocean life. If we look to take Olympia, poisoning it will end up hurting us down the line.”
I found Dax's turquoise eyes from down the table and smiled softly. I was proud Kirek's protege had spoken against her support of the idea at all.
“Poison is not some permanent scourge,” Kirek argued. “You know life magic, Dax. You should know how to dilute its effects.”
“Not in water, I don't,” Dax replied. “I can cure poison in a body. This poison will be in the water. Affecting the land, its animals. Once that poison is carried by the river into the ocean, its reach will be far from me.”
“And it will be diluted,” Kirek insisted.
“Kirek...” Altan stared over at her. “Forget the poison. You've looked forward to this conquest in Hammerton. Allow yourself to enjoy it. Besides,” he turned back to the rest of us, “poisoning is not foolproof. The dwarves aren't stupid. They'll figure out what's happening and find the source. Warn the rest of Hammerton. I'd rather walk through the gates of Olympia with no intention of coming out until it's ours. I want to fight for it.”
“So do I,” I admitted.
Altan nodded toward me. “Tell us your plan, Kai.”
“I want Azazel and me to lead every illusionist we have between the underground army and my own men straight into Olympia,” I began. “We can use the Griswald Forest as cover.” I unfolded my personal map of Hammerton on the table before me, putting a fingertip on the sliver of land between the forest and the Border Mounts in the south. “We'll cross over here and move up the road behind the lake into Olympia's mines. Infiltrate the city from within. We know the dwarves use their mines like roads.” I jerked a thumb toward Altan. “Altan here found out just after Monte's takeover that there was a path leading to Boreas from through the mountains.”
“Did you close it down?” Cyrus asked the other Sentinel.
“Of course. Collapsed the damn thing,” Altan replied. “Didn't seem to be an often used path, but we can't have word spreading.”
“What does the path here have to do with Olympia?” Kirek questioned.
“The mine tunnels here gave us insight into how the dwarves consider their tunnels a method of travel,” I answered. “It leads me to believe that Olympia's mines will stretch through that mountain and lead to various places throughout the city. Which is the reason I want to use it as our path of infiltration. We have thousands of illusionists. To stay discreet, we'll need to spread apart. Not only that, but to cover the most ground and do the most damage we will all need to spread through that city like a plague.”
“What will our jobs be in Olympia?” Nyx asked.
“Discreetly killing soldiers, particularly high-ranking ones. Compromising siege weapons. Weakening the city in every way possible from the inside to prepare it for the attack.”
“So you'll be taking my soldiers all to yourself?” Calder asked with a chuckle.
“Many of them, yes. Give me your illusionists, Cal, but I'll put the rest of my soldiers under your command. You will lead the beastmen in my stead. If you have soldiers who are both, give them to me. I will have fewer men anyway, and they can transform once battle commences.”
“What about us?” Uriel asked.
“The rest of you should be separated into two groups,” I replied. “I want one force attacking Olympia from its harbor and another from its front gates. The naval force should be led by our battleships so they can deliver the giants straight onto the harbor. Since those ships require alteration magic to run properly, I'd ideally like Calder in charge of them with his beastmen. Maggie needs to be there. I'll leave my other Renegades to decide where they'd like to be, but I can't bring non-illusionists with me into Olympia.”
“You're bringing Azazel,” Nyx pointed out, “and he's no illusionist.”
“No, but I can handle giving him the spell, and he was so skilled at working in the shadows of Hazarmaveth that invisibility will only be a precaution.” I looked over at the other Sentinels. “As for the rest of you, one or two Sentinels need to work alongside Calder and bring the navies of galleons to the harbor. The other Sentinels will lead the rest of our forces to the southern edge of the Griswald Forest to prevent being seen until we can no longer control it. The
n you will attack Olympia from the northwest, moving up to its front gates.”
“There will need to be a time delay,” Altan commented. “Between the time your illusionists get there and we do. Otherwise, their cannons will bombard us. Their defenses there are as long-ranged as they get, Kai.”
I nodded. “That's fine. The group of Sentinels that attack from the front gate should give us at least a fortnight of a head start before they leave the shelter of the forest. That should give us enough time to travel the path south of the lake and infiltrate the city.”
“A fortnight?” Cerin stared over at me with concern. “That means you and your men will be without the support of everyone else for so long that even if something goes wrong and we are alerted, we will be too far to aid you.”
“That's a risk we'll have to take,” I replied, though I understood his issue. It had been hard enough being away from Cerin for a few days when we'd taken Hazarmaveth. “That's the time it takes to do this right, and I want it done right.”
“What about the navies?” Uriel asked me. “How will they know when to attack?”
“War horns,” I replied. “Once we've infiltrated Olympia, the battle will have already begun. Once we cause enough damage from within, I can send you the signal. Olympia is high up on its mountain and set up in a rocky cove; the sound will echo and travel far. The people most likely to hear its call will be on the ships.” I nodded toward Calder and Mirrikh. “That means the navies may be late to arrive since they'll have to wait far from the harbor to keep from being seen by Olympia's scouts, but that's okay. Once they do arrive, they will attract serious attention to the east. A mixture of giants and beastmen should shock the dwarves badly enough that it will give the rest of us relief.”
Altan glanced around at the other Sentinels. “Questions? Concerns? Unnecessary quips?”
I tensed as I waited for a protest from Kirek. Sure enough, she said, “What is your plan if the mines of Olympia are not connected as you surmise?”
“Learn and adapt,” I replied. “I've considered that I'm wrong about that. But in either case, we will be invisible. We will start our initial assault at night. Our infiltration will take days, of course, but given Olympia's location in the mountains, I doubt the sunlight ever directly hits the city, which means our magic won't be hit by light that often so we'll be less likely to be found out. Either way, I will sound the war horn when enough work has been completed. If it takes us days to find a different plan or route into the city, we will find it and use it.”
Kirek nodded, accepting of my answer. I was pleasantly surprised. She glanced over at the other Sentinels and said, “I'll be first to volunteer to attack the front gate. The last time we attacked Olympia's harbor, I saw that the city's walls were made of stone. I'll dissolve it.”
“Even if it is made out of metal, I have created a spell which will let you dissolve that as well,” I offered.
Kirek's sharp green eyes found mine. “Why didn't I hear of this in Mistral?”
“You were rarely around,” I replied. “You don't really make it a point to spend time with me.”
Kirek decided not to respond to that particular statement, though she finally said, “I'd like you to teach me this spell before we separate in the forest.”
“That's no problem at all,” I agreed.
Uriel spoke next. “I'd like to suggest that Cyrus, Dax, and myself join Calder on the seas. I think it's best to keep life and water mages on the sea and able to shield our ships just in case you miss some of their defenses.”
I nodded, though I also wondered if the healer was suggesting such a thing so he and Cyrus could spend more time with Calder learning of intel and developments.
“I am a healer,” Zephyr reminded him with a teasing smile brightening her face. “You didn't suggest me.”
Uriel shrugged. “Because I don't like you.” Zephyr laughed at the jest as the healer continued, “We will need more forces attacking on land. If you'd rather come with us, that's fine, but Dax really enjoys being on the sea. I know how much you avoid it.”
Zephyr looked thoughtful for a moment. “You're right. I'll go with the others.”
“So,” Altan began, “Calder, Cyrus, Uriel, and Dax will be on the seas. The Seran Renegades, Kirek, Zephyr, Leura, and I will travel through the forest. The only thing left to figure out is how long it'll take us to get to our respective locations. Ships travel much faster than feet, but the naval route isn't as direct.”
“I'll figure it out tonight,” Cyrus offered. “We'll probably end up staying in Monte for a couple of days after your group leaves, but we need to account for the possibility that we'll come across patrol ships on our way to Olympia.”
“Not the possibility,” Altan argued, “but the guarantee.” The Sentinel lifted both bronzed arms over the table before him and noisily cracked his knuckles. “Once we get that information settled, it looks like we'll be ready to march.”
Fifteen
69th of New Moon, 427
The trip through the Griswald Forest went impeccably. That wasn't to say we had no issues, only that we overcame the problems which arose. Dwarven traders and traveling civilians would sometimes wander too close to us, putting our entire mission at risk. Having the Alderi illusionists with us allowed this to be of little concern. Oftentimes, potential discoverers of our army were killed before they even knew what was happening. Once or twice we were seen just long enough for the corpses to have looks of surprise on their faces as they fell.
Alderi assassins were masters of their craft and hid the bodies of these unfortunate men and women, but nothing could be secret forever. By the time we traveled through this forest once more to go to Griswald, Eteri's presence in Hammerton would be discovered. Even if our attack of Olympia wasn't shouted from the rooftops, our tracks here would be found. All we could do was hope that we could secure Hammerton's prized city before our presence was known.
It was late afternoon on the 69th of New Moon, 427 when we reached the southern edge of the Griswald Forest. Azazel warned us of this just before encouraging our massive army back many yards to set up camp. I could not yet see Olympia due to the gigantic pines which stretched toward the sky, but the excitement building in my gut kept me aware of its presence. My army of illusionists would leave at nightfall so we could hurry across the stretch of open land leading to the mountains before the sunlight could cast over us and our magic like an alarm.
The Griswald Forest was beautiful at sunset. The air glowed in every color of the warm spectrum as the sun greedily threw its rays between each individual pine needle so it could reach toward the forest floor with thousands of arms. Dust slowly floated through sunshine. The smell of damp pine needles hung in the air. Our army had endured many heavy showers of rain in the three weeks of travel through the forest. The regular rainfall made the Alderi very happy, for the humidity kept their skin from flaking and the fungi rampant nearest the moist soil beneath the trees.
Azazel squatted beside a pine tree, harvesting a tiny cluster of deep brown mushrooms that poked their caps out curiously from between layered red pine needles. I watched him wrap the fungi carefully before putting them away in his satchel. He'd tried to teach me the many different mushrooms of the Griswald Forest on our trip here, but most fungi looked the same to me. I admired Azazel's ability to tell the difference, particularly since these were all new types to him. He had taken our stay in Monte as an opportunity to study alchemy books there, but he was so knowledgeable about the plant-life here already that it seemed he had grown up in Hammerton.
“Kai.” Of all the people to come up to me, Kirek was the last one I expected. I turned to the Sentinel, finding her standing with her arms at her sides as if she was open to a conversation for once.
“Kirek,” I greeted, my tone holding the element of surprise.
“Will you teach me your spell? The one which dissolves metal?” Her big green eyes watched me expectantly, unblinking.
“Sure. It w
orks just like you are dissolving earth or stone. Just switch the words. Tranferra la meta ti granula.”
Kirek frowned at me. “That doesn't make any sense. Other earth spells can affect metal by using terra.”
I nodded. “I know. It doesn't make any sense. But it works. I developed it in the underground. I figure maybe it works differently because that is one of the only spells which seeks to transform metal completely, and natural metal is rarely pure. Other earth spells create metal, but it is pure. Natural metals have contaminants. When I used it, the metal turned to sand, but so did its contaminants. Not because they are metal, because carbon is not a metal and cannot be affected by meta. But rather, because they were unsupported by the metal as it dissolved.”
Kirek was silent a moment. At first, I thought my explanation of the spell was unappreciated, but then she asked, “How in the world did you figure all of this out?”
“I was desperate at the time,” I admitted. “I had to break into the metal gate of the royal district of Quellden, and we had no siege weapons. I also had Anto with me then, who informed me that steel is not one hundred percent metal. He was a blacksmith, so his knowledge was helpful.”
“Anto was the orc,” Kirek stated, though it was more of a question.
My heart ached with both memories of Anto's death and Kirek's harsh words about it in Mistral. “He was. I'm surprised you remember.”
“Just because I do not discuss things with you doesn't mean I don't observe you,” Kirek said curtly.
“Should I find that flattering or concerning?” I asked, before an awkward chuckle.
“Neither,” she replied. “I remember Anto, Kai. I found him to be the most sympathetic of your group because he listened more than he spoke. The rest of you can be confusing and obnoxious.”
I chuckled despite myself. “Tell me how you really feel.”