The Strength to Serve (Echoes of Imara Book 3)

by Claire Frank

  Daro glanced at the wreckage of his target and then back over his shoulder at the small crowd that had grown. “I’ll help make more.”

  Stoker chuckled and prepared another missile. “What are you going to hit? Your target is gone.”

  As Daro nocked the projectile and pulled back on the thick string, he turned and aimed for the target Kentan and Leng had been using. It was farther away, so he took in more energy and drew the string back harder, letting the limbs of the bow flex. He loosed, and the missile soared toward the target, while everyone watched in silence.

  The explosion rang out and the crowd of onlookers cheered, as the pieces of wood clattered to the ground. Daro couldn’t help but smile as he turned to Stoker. “Okay, one more.”

  ***

  Daro sat at a long table, surrounded by his company, as they took their morning meal. Glancing up and down, he wondered what the rest of the camp thought of their strange group. He sat with three towering Imarans, whose deep rumbling voices carried through the large mess hall; his wife and old companions, all dressed in an assortment of styles that made them look more like a band of travelers than soldiers; Pathius, the former prince of Halthas, now walking openly among them, his identity well-known; and four altered Wielders—Stoker, Shale, Dashal, and Blur—their surprising abilities the talk of the camp. Although Daro had felt out of place when they first arrived, since the Attalonian assault the other commanders had begun to look to him for direction and the soldiers treated him with a certain level of awe. He wasn’t certain he was comfortable with either, but he supposed it was better than being an outcast.

  Pathius was an addition Daro hadn’t anticipated. Despite Cecily’s initial reaction to his arrival, his presence didn’t seem to bother her now, although Daro had noticed her giving him a hard stare more than once. It put Daro in an awkward position. He knew what Pathius had done to her, but he’d seen inside the man and knew he wasn’t all bad. Damaged, for certain, but Daro had a lot of sympathy for what he’d been through, and still felt gratitude for how Pathius had helped him survive when they were both held captive. The rest of the camp had taken to him well, General Coryn especially. Daro had taken Pathius to see her personally, and she’d been so taken aback Daro wondered that she didn’t curtsy like a lady.

  The sharp note of a horn rang out, signaling the call to arms, and the room sprang into motion. Daro grabbed the last of his food and glanced at Cecily as the others stood from the table. “I guess Attalon is finally on the move again.”

  Cecily nodded and they followed the others out. The Attalonian camp had been deceptively quiet since the first assault. Even Daro’s Sight couldn’t tell them much about what had been happening. He could see concentrations of energy shift, but they were too far away for him to see anything in detail. He had spent time practicing with his longbow and crafting more projectiles, as well as working with Pathius and the other altered Wielders on strategies for using their abilities to defend the stronghold. Even busy as he was, the days stretched long and tension settled over the camp as everyone waited to see what Attalon would do next.

  The bustle of noise and shouted orders was something of a relief, as Daro and Cecily made their way to the interior of the stronghold. As far as he was concerned, the worst part of war was all the waiting. He didn’t relish another battle, but knowing one was coming was wearing the men down.

  Cecily helped him don his armor, a mix of boiled leather and chainmail that allowed him a good range of movement while still offering protection. He’d insisted on having armor crafted for Cecily as well, and he helped her with the straps before fastening on both of his swords and grabbing his longbow.

  They hurried up to the top of the wall to see what was happening. General Coryn stood between the parapets over the bridge, looking out with a spyglass. Daro moved farther down, finding an open space between groups of soldiers, and gazed out over the chasm.

  The Attalonians were indeed on the move, marching forward in a solid line the way they had before the previous assault. The great horned beasts pulled huge wagons, the tops of which would swing down to create a wall, providing cover for their archers. Larger siege weapons rolled behind, great catapults with huge arms, rumbling across the plain and leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

  The Halthians readied themselves to defend, the soldiers taking up their positions as Daro watched the army move forward. “They didn’t have those catapults before,” Daro said.

  “That must be what they’ve been doing all this time,” Cecily said.

  Daro nodded, continuing to watch as orders were shouted behind him. The army trudged forward, stopping well shy of the chasm. Silence settled over the stronghold, as if everyone held their breath. Daro could tell they were too far away to attack, even with their ranged weapons, and they didn’t deploy their mobile shield walls. Sharpening his sight, Daro could see the large pack animals snuffing and stomping in place, and the flow of energy changed. They’d stopped, and they didn’t appear to have any intention of moving closer.

  “Those catapults can’t clear the chasm from there, can they?” Cecily asked.

  “No, they can’t attack from there,” Daro said. He watched the Attalonians, the energy moving as if it was one great organism, and tried to determine what they were doing. “I think they’ve halted there, probably to unsettle us. We’ll be alert and ready for an attack now, but they’ll wait, trying to rattle our troops.”

  Daro’s prediction seemed correct as the day wore on and no attack came. Watches were switched, soldiers moved in and out of position, and General Coryn took brief walks along the wall, speaking to the men in what appeared to be attempts at encouragement. Daro did the same, crisscrossing the camp to talk with the other commanders and give nods and pats on the back to the men. Pathius joined him, nodding and speaking to the men as he went. The soldiers responded to him, most watching with awe on their faces as he walked by.

  As they made their way back up to the top of the wall, Cecily appeared. Without a word, Pathius turned and walked in the other direction, as if he had somewhere pressing to be.

  “Nora and the other Lyceum Wielders keep disappearing,” Cecily said. “I know they aren’t here to fight, but as we aren’t having much luck finding the artifact, it seems fair that they could pitch in.”

  There was an edge to Cecily’s voice and Daro could sense her frustration. A web of tension had settled over the entire camp, pulling tighter as darkness fell and they waited for some sign of what the Attalonians were planning. “There isn’t much you can do about that now. Maybe you should see if you can get some rest,” he said, running a hand down her arm. “It could be a long night.”

  Cecily shook her head. “I’m too restless.”

  Daro felt the same, although he wouldn’t say no to a hot meal. “We could go eat.”

  “Of course you could,” she said, with a shake of her head and a tired smile. “You can always eat.”

  They went in search of dinner as the last rays of the sun dimmed and the stars began to wink in the black sky. Daro smiled and nodded to the people they passed, hoping to project an aura of calm he didn’t particularly feel. They ate in silence, and when they had finished they decided to go back to the top of the stronghold to see if anything had changed.

  A horn blast split the air as they walked outside, and shouting rose from the wall. Cecily pointed, and Daro looked up to see a fiery rock soar over the top of the wall and crash into one of the outbuildings with a deafening boom.

  45. VOLLEY

  Grabbing Cecily’s wrist, Daro pulled her toward the stronghold as another flaming rock hurtled over the top of the wall and crashed into the camp. Shouts and screams ripped through the air as the entire encampment sprang to action, soldiers running to take their positions or put out flames. Daro led Cecily through the sudden chaos, into the interior of the stronghold and up to the top of the wall.

  After yelling for his company to form up around him, Daro took a quick look at the army across t
he chasm. They had moved their catapults into position, and a steady barrage of flaming masses flew toward the stronghold, most sailing over their heads into the main part of camp behind the wall. The orange streaks lit up the dark sky, leaving trails of falling sparks as they flew by.

  “Down!”

  Daro didn’t know whose voice it was, but he listened, ducking below the parapets as a barrage of arrows whizzed by, clattering to the ground around them. Cries of pain rose over shouted orders as soldiers were struck down, and the stronghold shuddered with each blast from the catapults. Risking a quick look, Daro peeked over the wall. The Attalonians held in a long line, but none of their forces were making for the bridge.

  With the others in Daro’s company crouched low around him, he relayed a quick round of orders, sending everyone to their positions. He sent Merrick below to take cover behind an arrow slit, while Shale and Griff went down to help with the catapults. Blur’s strongest ability was a fear Projection, but it wouldn’t carry over the wide chasm, so he took a position with a bow next to Serv. Dashal began to rouse the wind, using a parapet for cover, while Raed took the other two Imarans farther down the wall. Stoker arrived with an armful of projectiles, huddling to stay below the line of arrow fire.

  Pathius knelt on one knee behind the next parapet and watched Daro prepare his longbow. “I can help cover you,” Pathius said.

  Daro nodded as arrows and flaming rocks continued to fly. He wondered briefly what the Attalonians were using to make the rocks burn. It wouldn’t be Wielders. Another crash boomed behind him, and smoke swirled in the air.

  Cecily raised her voice above the clamor. “Pathius, can you do anything about the archers?”

  “The archers are too far away, but I can stop some of the arrows,” Pathius said. “You and I should be able to keep this area clear.”

  “Just don’t let Stoker and I get shot,” Daro said. He reached out and grabbed Cecily’s hand, filling her with energy. “Ready?”

  Cecily and Pathius nodded to each other and stood, flanking Daro. As he rose, quickly fitting a large missile to his bowstring, Daro saw the blue flashes of Cecily’s Wielding energy sweeping across the air, deflecting the shower of arrows that rushed toward them. Daro loosed and Stoker handed him another missile, topped with a glowing stone, as an entire block of arrows stopped midair, sparkling with a thin coating of frost as they fell harmlessly into the chasm.

  Daro aimed for the catapults, and the explosions echoed from the chasm walls, but the Attalonian assault continued without mercy. Cecily swept her arms outward and arrows veered to the side and downward, keeping the space in front of them clear. Dashal used great gusts of wind to blow more arrows off course farther down the wall and Pathius hummed with energy on the other side of Daro, Absorbing from the volleys as they came near. The Halthians answered the catapults with shots of their own, but it seemed for every one Halthian launch, three came screaming across the chasm from the other side, smashing into the stronghold or soaring above to crash into the camp.

  Pulling back on the thick string and letting the missiles fly across the chasm, Daro continued firing as fast as Stoker could supply him. A few arrows clattered nearby, but Cecily and Pathius kept most of the projectiles from coming close, clearing a wide stretch around Daro and several other archers.

  The air was thick with Attalonian arrows, and their catapults kept firing. Daro was certain he’d destroyed at least two of them, and fires burned along the enemy line, licking the surfaces of their mobile walls and leaping into the sky where one of their siege weapons burned. But arrows continued to fall like rain, and the catapult barrage began to take a toll.

  Daro fired another missile, the sound of the explosion lost in the tumult. Shouts rang out around him, as orders were relayed and soldiers were hit by the barrage. After loosing another missile, he glanced down at the bridge. The Attalonians had still made no move to cross it.

  As Daro reloaded his longbow, he looked up to see a bright orange rock hurtling toward him. His heart thundered in his chest as Cecily’s Reach struck it on one side and a curving line of energy raced toward Pathius on the other. The flames went out and the trajectory swung wide, sending the rock plummeting down to the base of the wall, where it tumbled into the chasm.

  Turning, Daro ducked down below the parapet and put his back to the wall. He was breathing hard, but his body felt no fatigue; the constant flow of energy aided his strength. Cecily, Pathius, and Stoker crowded around him.

  “We aren’t doing enough damage,” Daro said. Without Cecily and Pathius to deflect the volley, arrows whizzed above them, clattering to the other side of the wall.

  Pathius’s eyes shone in the darkness, as if lit from within. “I can’t do much more than keep the air clear unless that army gets closer.”

  “I don’t think they’re going to try for the bridge until they crush our defenses,” Daro said. “And if this keeps up, they’ll do so by dawn.”

  Daro blew out a breath in frustration. Jumping down to the bridge and running across would only get him killed. Even if all the other altered Wielders came with him, they couldn’t take on an entire army. His missiles were inflicting damage, but the sheer size of the Attalonian army meant they needed more men to launch them. Stoker could only charge rocks so quickly and their supply was running low. Several more flaming stones vaulted over their heads, crashing into the camp; the smoke in the air thickened.

  “How large of a stone can you charge?” Daro asked, turning toward Stoker.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Bigger ones take longer is all.”

  “What if we charge the stones in the catapults?” Daro said. “If one of those exploded, it would do ten times the damage of our missiles.”

  Pathius looked across at Cecily. “I’ll stay here and try to keep the air clear. You go with them and deflect anything that gets by me.”

  Cecily nodded in agreement and Pathius shouted, “Go!” as he stood to give them cover.

  Daro raced down the stairs, emerging into the chaos of the lower encampment. The volley of catapulted stones had smashed through many of the buildings and had flattened tents, causing blazing fires. Soldiers raced to keep the flames under control, while others worked the catapults under heavy attack from the Attalonians.

  They found Shale and Griff nearby, helping to load a stone into a catapult’s bucket. “Wait,” Daro said as they approached. He nodded to Cecily, who took up her position in front of the machine as Stoker moved around to the back. “We have an idea.”

  Stoker laid his hands on the stone and Daro could see, with his Imaran Sight, the energy flowing into it. Slowly, it began to glow, as if heat radiated out from its core, turning it a brilliant orange as Stoker held it. When it looked much like a coal in the center of a fire, Stoker stepped back.

  “Go,” Daro said, nodding to the other soldiers.

  They released the catapult and the glowing stone flew over the wall. Cecily’s Reach deflected a barrage of arrows, knocking them to the open ground in front of her as they all waited. Finally, the explosion rang out, an enormous boom that reverberated across the encampment.

  “Again,” Daro said to Stoker. Griff and Shale loaded another rock, and Stoker stepped up to the bucket.

  “I don’t know how many times I can do this,” Stoker said, but he placed his hands on the stone and soon it smoldered hot orange.

  Daro watched as Stoker worked, following the lines of energy as they flowed through him and into the stone. Stoker’s face was drawn and his shoulders slumped as the soldiers released the payload and readied the catapult for another turn.

  A young messenger darted toward them, stopping just shy of the machine. “Did you do that?” he asked between breaths. “The explosion?”

  As if on cue, another blast sounded across the chasm.

  “We did,” Daro said.

  “Keep doing it,” he said, still breathless. “General Coryn says do it again if you can.”

  Daro glanced at Stoker, who shru
gged his shoulders and waited for the soldiers to finish loading the bucket with another large rock. “Let me help,” Daro said.

  Feeding energy to Cecily had become almost second nature, and he knew he did so through their bond without being conscious of it, although it was more effective if he touched her. But could he do the same to someone else? Placing a hand on Stoker’s shoulder, he pushed energy into the other man, feeling it flow through him.

  Stoker’s eyes went wide and he looked down at his hands. “That should do it.” He moved beside the bucket and put his hands on the stone. Within seconds, the rock was glowing orange and Daro could see the waves of heat pouring from it.

  “Go,” Daro said, shouting to be heard above the noise of battle, once Stoker had moved clear. The soldiers released the catapult and the stone hurtled over the wall, trailing a streak of light across the sky.

  “We need to go down the line,” Daro said, pointing to the other catapults, spread out at intervals along the base of the wall.

  Stoker nodded once and Daro called to Cecily. She paused to signal to Pathius before following them to the next catapult.

  While Pathius and Cecily provided cover, Daro helped Stoker heat the rock on the next catapult. They didn’t wait for it to fly, but ran down the line to the next one as soon as the first was ready. Daro let energy pour through him and into Stoker, hoping this would be enough to turn the tide of the battle.

  They made their way down, stopping at each catapult and sending a blazing rock to explode among the Attalonian lines. Daro wished he could see what was happening across the chasm, but he couldn’t leave Stoker. Despite Daro’s infusions of energy, Stoker started to lag, and Daro began to feel the telltale signs of fatigue creeping through his own limbs as the night wore on and they moved from machine to machine.

  Daro’s sense of time was warped, and he didn’t know how long the battle had been raging; it felt like days. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he put his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths, trying not to cough from the tinge of smoke in the air. He felt as if lines of fire had ripped through him, searing him on the inside each time he fed Stoker more energy. Cecily had needed him to restore her energy as well, and his body felt depleted. His sight seemed to dim, the darkness growing thicker, and his limbs felt heavy as they walked to the next catapult. He didn’t know how many times they’d been up and down the line of siege engines, one blurring into the next as they kept up their barrage.