by Ed Gentry
“Taennen,” Loraica called. She jogged toward him, her leather armor creaking as it tried to contain her mass through the jostling motion.
“Terir,” he said.
“Can we talk a moment, sir?” she said.
“Of course. Walk with me.”
“I’m concerned about you, Taen,” she said.
He stopped and looked at her. His oldest friend’s brow was creased, her eyes big and alert. “I’m all right, Lori.”
“Are you sure? You don’t seem all right. I saw what happened at the gate.”
“I was angry and ashamed. I’m dealing with it.”
“I’m glad,” Loraica said.
“What is it, Lori? There’s something else bothering you.” Taennen had shared more with her than anyone else in the world. Stories of his childhood, hopes for the future, bruises, blood, tears, and joys. There was likely little they could hide from one another.
“You just seem different on this mission,” she said.
Taennen thought about her words. “I suppose so. This is unlike any other mission we’ve been on, isn’t it?”
Loraica shrugged. “I guess, but … forgive me, but I’m not sure I trust the orir, and you’re spending more time with her than might be necessary,” she said, her body stiffening to stand at attention.
“I’m not sure what to say, Lori. I’m glad you said something, but I don’t think that’s the case. I trust her so far, but I hope you can trust me when I say that I’m being cautious.”
“I do, Taen. You know I do,” Loraica said, a smile overtaking her face. “Oh, speaking of the orir, she asked me to tell you that something’s come up in her ranks, so she’ll try to catch up with you later.”
“I see. Thank you. Can we break our fasts together on the morrow? I feel like we haven’t had much time to relax together since we got here.”
Loraica smiled. “You’re on, sir. See you then.”
Chapter Nine
Adeenya faced west, standing atop the wall, watching the vastness of the plains stretch out before her. She had asked Loraica to join her, but she could not guess what the Maquar woman would do.
When at last Loraica approached, Adeenya did not give any indication that she had heard the other woman coming near. They stood in silence for a few moments, both staring to the west. Adeenya turned to face the terir and, for the first time, appreciated Loraica’s true size. She stood at least two heads taller than Adeenya and was nearly twice as broad through the shoulders. Her skin was darker, her features less distinguishable in the soft light. A foe to be reckoned with, but now, she hoped, an ally.
“Thank you for coming,” Adeenya said. “I have a plan, but carrying it out requires your help.”
“Why me?” Loraica asked. Some would have asked what the plan was first.
Adeenya smiled. “I’ll be honest with you and admit that I had wished to convince Taennen to help me, but he seems …”
“Distracted,” Loraica finished, and Adeenya agreed. “And why not go straight to Jhoqo?”
Adeenya weighed her options and chose honesty. “The urir seems … less than pleased by my participation in serious decisions here,” Adeenya said.
Loraica looked to the west again and said nothing for a few moments. “What’s this plan, then?” the Maquar asked.
Adeenya hid her surprise at the woman’s lack of protest over her characterization of the Maquar leader. “Taennen was informed that someone inside the citadel, not an attacker, killed your wizard,” she said.
“Who?” Loraica said, stepping back, her face wrinkled in confusion.
“His source didn’t tell him,” Adeenya said. “But if it’s true, that person is helping the attackers and we must stop them,” Adeenya said.
Loraica arched an eyebrow and said, “And who is this source?”
“The formian,” Adeenya said, continuing to speak so as to cut off Loraica’s objections. “Yes, I know. It’s probably nothing. They’re probably just angling for their freedom. But what if he did see something? Isn’t it worth trying to find out? We could all be in grave danger.”
Loraica shook her head but said nothing.
Adeenya could not say the words she truly wanted to say: The Maquar, bastions of law and order that they were, could not see what Adeenya saw. It was only her perspective as an outsider that told her for sure that Guk was not lying. She didn’t think the beast capable of it, actually. In perhaps the biggest twist of irony she had ever seen in her life, Adeenya knew that the Maquar and the formians had a great deal in common. They both cherished law and hated disorder. But she doubted the Maquar would see it that way, so she painted her plan in a more hypothetical light.
“We need to lure that person out,” Adeenya said.
“Lure them out? Why not just interrogate the formian?” Loraica said.
Adeenya stared at the woman for a moment before saying, “Do you honestly believe that would help after having met the formian?”
Loraica shook her head. “But if there is no one, if the formian is lying, then how do you lure out someone who doesn’t exist?” Loraica said.
“Then we’re not luring them out. We’re proving Guk is lying and that Jhoqo is correct. And, if Jhoqo is right, then what harm does it do? We can’t do anything about a dead wizard who broke under torture, but we can do something if there is a traitor,” Adeenya said.
Loraica rolled her eyes and turned away, saying, “This is pointless. There is no traitor.”
Adeenya reached out to stop the Maquar woman and placed a hand on her shoulder. “There’s something else,” she said.
“What?” Loraica said, eyeing Adeenya’s grip on her.
“Something was stolen from me during the fight. Something no one should have known about,” Adeenya said.
“What was it, Orir?” Loraica said.
“A pendant.”
“Well, I’m sure it was valuable or held meaning for you, but—” Loraica began.
“No, no. It was magical. I used it to communicate to my commanders back in Durpar,” Adeenya said.
Loraica looked at her for a long moment and said, “Go on.”
“It was hidden away in my pocket, but they knew exactly where to look. They restrained me specifically to look for it,” Adeenya said.
Loraica nodded and said, “I’ve always been told that items like that give off some sort of aura if you know how to see them. They probably just saw that aura when they looked and decided to take it.”
“No,” Adeenya said, shaking her head. “They specifically came after me. They knew what they were looking for, I’m telling you.”
“Who else knew about this pendant?” Loraica asked, leaning in closer.
“Only a handful of my own soldiers and your wizard,” Adeenya said.
Loraica jerked back at the mention of her comrade. “Khatib? How?” the large woman said.
Adeenya shook her head. “I’m not really sure. He approached me shortly after I used it to contact Durpar. He made it clear he knew about it, but said nothing else.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Loraica said, easing herself against the wall.
“I agree, Terir. That’s why I need your help. I don’t believe any of my soldiers would have given out that information. Nor am I suggesting that Khatib betrayed us,” Adeenya added, cutting short Loraica’s objections. “But he knew about it and now he’s dead. Perhaps whoever killed him didn’t want him able to talk anymore.”
Loraica drew herself to her full height again and spoke. “If the formian is telling the truth, then who would be fool enough to show themselves as Khatib’s killer, regardless of what lure you use?” Loraica said.
Adeenya said, “I find foolishness is never in short supply.” Before Loraica could respond, Adeenya continued. “They’ll reveal themselves if they think we already know who they are. If we spread the word that the formian knows who did it, then Khatib’s killer either takes the chance that he or she won’t be discovered … or eliminates the
threat the formian’s knowledge represents,” Adeenya said.
Loraica shook her head. “No. Jhoqo would never allow it. We’re responsible for the prisoners and their safety.”
Adeenya agreed and said, “There’s no doubt that it’s risky, but if there is a traitor among us, isn’t it worth risking the life of a prisoner?”
Loraica continued shaking her head. “As a Maquar, a true soldier, we understand that the way we treat our prisoners indicates our own worth,” the large woman said, folding her arms across her chest.
Adeenya took a deep breath and released it, holding back her barbed retort, before saying, “We do not kill our prisoners, and many Durpari have died protecting their prisoners in the past, as I’m sure have many Maquar. But we’re talking about risking the formian for the safety of everyone in this citadel.”
“This plan is the same as murdering the formian. He would become a target for Khatib’s killer,” Loraica said.
“For the traitor,” Adeenya said. “Remember that. If there is a traitor among us, we need to lure him or her out before this goes any further. Before anyone else dies.” She paused, letting her words sit on Loraica’s mind. She wished she could make Loraica see what she saw, but knew it just wasn’t possible. Adeenya cherished freedom and righteousness but knew that sometimes, the rules needed to be bent to achieve them. That was something a Maquar could never see.
Adeenya continued. “We will do everything we can to protect the formian until the traitor reveals himself. What’s the other alternative? You agree we must reveal the traitor if there is one, yes?”
“Of course,” Loraica said, pushing herself away from the wall to stand upright.
“And it seems quite possible that there is one, given Khatib’s death, the attack, and my pendant, right?” Adeenya asked.
Loraica rolled her head from one shoulder to the other and ran a hand through her dark hair. Her lips curled and she asked, “And if we cannot protect the formian? If it dies?”
“Then we will have failed,” Adeenya said, pausing for a moment. “But we’ll have our traitor. It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? There is no traitor.” Adeenya grinned. “Right?”
Loraica’s face showed her struggle with the idea. Adeenya wanted no one to die, but she was willing to let the formian die if it meant revealing the traitor.
“What would I need to do?” Loraica asked at last.
“Just tell a few of your soldiers that one of the formians knows who killed Khatib. Word should spread easily enough from there. And, before you ask, I’m not suggesting that it was one of the Maquar,” Adeenya said.
“If the prisoner dies it will be on your head,” Loraica said before turning to leave.
Adeenya watched her go, wondering if she had made the right choice in sharing her plan with Loraica. Adeenya did not doubt that Taennen would also have disliked her plan, so her odds of succeeding were about the same either way. Adeenya sighed and walked the opposite direction along the wall, headed toward the stairs that would lead to her quarters. It had been a long day, and she looked forward to some dinner and a chance to set aside her troubles.
Adeenya exchanged pleasantries with the guard at the northwest corner before descending the stairs. The fading light of the setting sun and the soft glow of Lucha gleamed on the polished stones of the citadel walls. She emerged into the courtyard. A Durpari soldier named Obeidat passed her, offering a salute, which she returned. Her movement was interrupted when she heard a dull thud behind her and spun on her heel to find Obeidat lying on the ground, an arrow shaft erupting from an eye socket. She sucked in a breath to shout an alarm, but was cut off by another arrow passing within inches of her face. She threw herself to the ground and shouted an alert. Her eyes cast about, looking for the source of the attack. When she found it, any doubts about her plan to ferret out the traitor flew far from her mind, and her resolve firmed.
Taennen sprinted forward, dirt flying into the air under his swift feet. Bringing his left arm up to cover his face with his shield, he reached out to grab Adeenya’s belt. One arm would not carry her, but his momentum dragged her from her place out in the open courtyard just as an arrow struck the space. She continued to shout an alarm to the rest of the citadel.
Taennen dragged her several paces, stopped, and yelled for her to regain her feet. He looked over his shoulder to see the attackers, perhaps a dozen of the same masked invaders as before, in the middle of the courtyard. They carried long bows and loosed their arrows in every direction, showering the interior of the fortress with deadly shafts. They stood back to back in small groups, covering every direction, protecting one another from unseen reprisals. The invaders looked like statues in the garden of a wealthy merchant.
“Get down!” Adeenya knocked Taennen’s leg from underneath him, toppling him to the ground. An arrow struck the building nearby. The archers had spotted them.
“Move!” she shouted. He rolled to his feet, and they ducked into the cover of the nearest building.
Taennen peered through to the other side to find two of the enemy archers had fallen to bowshots from the defenders, but sprawled about the courtyard at least three times that many Maquar and Durpari were dead or injured. Taennen stood flat against the wall again and forced a deep breath. His eyes came to rest at the top of the northern wall where he saw Loraica positioning Maquar archers. He made hand signs indicating that he would try to make it to the western wall to muster more fire power from there. Loraica nodded at this communication and turned her attention back to the men with her.
“Get to the eastern wall. I’ll head for the western,” Taennen said to Adeenya.
Adeenya nodded. She patted his shoulder and ran east, leaving the safe cover of the structure. He watched her dash across the courtyard, arrows thunking into the dirt behind her as though she were dropping them as she ran to make a trail she could follow back.
Loraica’s archers loosed enough arrows to cover Taennen as he made his move to the western wall. He breathed a sigh of relief as his foot made the bottom step of the northwest stairwell. He scanned the area for ally troops and saw a pair of Durpari soldiers running toward him. Taennen waved the men on and ordered the two to follow him up the stairs.
When they reached the top of the wall, they found that more of the enemy bowmen had fallen, but over half a dozen still remained. Taennen ran along the wall, the Durpari soldiers following him. He stopped at a point from where the two soldiers with him would have clean shots to the center of the courtyard and barked the order for them to attack. Farther down the wall, several Maquar were already loosing their weapons at the invaders.
At least ten Durpari and Maquar soldiers were dead in the courtyard, having attempted to charge the enemy archers. An arrow sailed high toward the wall, and Taennen shouted for the two Durpari men to lie flat. The missile flew wide of its target and bounced off the wall behind him. The Durpari men found their feet, offering their thanks for his intervention, and set about firing at the invaders.
Two more enemies fell. Their attack would have to end soon. One of the invaders made a noise, an unintelligible shout to the others. Two of the archers shouted back and pulled arrows from their boots, firing the missiles perhaps twenty paces from their position, straight into the ground. The courtyard suddenly filled with an unnatural darkness, which covered a large portion of the interior of the fortress from the ground to halfway up the walls. The citadel defenders stopped firing, no longer able to see their targets within.
Many tense moments passed before the uncanny darkness dissipated. Taennen loosed a breath and felt his shoulders relax, though only a little. He looked to the two men with him. “That was excellent work, men. Well done,” Taennen said.
“Thank you, sir,” they said in unison.
Taennen took in the scene around him and shouted to all within the sound of his voice, “Hold the wall! Keep your eyes alert both inside and outside the citadel. We cannot be surprised again.”
Returned shouts of “Aye, s
ir!” came to him and he headed to the courtyard, offering more complimentary words to those he passed. Adeenya and Loraica were headed toward the courtyard from their perspective places on the wall as well, and each offered him a nod as they approached.
All around him in the courtyard were the bodies of his comrades and those left alive tending to them. He walked to where the attackers had been cloaked in their darkness and crouched to examine the ground.
“That was damned effective,” Loraica said, standing next to him.
“How in the hells are they doing this?” Adeenya asked. “The darkness is no real feat. Any arcanist worth his salt can do that. But how do they enter so easily?” Her voice dropped. “Do you think someone is letting them in?”
“Twice they’ve hit us here in the supposed security of our citadel,” Taennen said as he stood. He noticed a few other soldiers standing nearby had heard him and listened to his words. He raised his voice for more to hear. “Twice, they’ve invaded our safety. They will surely come again,” he said.
One of the nearby Durpari blurted out, “No! We can’t let that happen.”
Taennen nodded at the man. “He’s right. We can’t let them do that. We can’t do that to ourselves. We will figure this out. We will stop them,” he said.
Several heads nodded but a few muttered amongst themselves, their reservations clear.
“There is nothing we cannot do if we stay united, if we stand up to what appears to be hopeless,” Taennen said. “Trust in me and I will trust in you, friends. That trust will be a wall that these heathens will not break, will not pierce. They will assault it and be turned away by its strength.”
Subdued cheers came in response and more heads nodded. That was the most he could hope for. The coming night would be a long one as the dead were identified and sorted out. Hope would be important.
“Make sure shifts are changed every six bells. I can’t have anyone missing something because they’re exhausted,” Loraica said to a subordinate soldier as they both looked over a duty roster. Several more names had been crossed out.