Because they noticed Llino’s failure? That doesn’t make sense.
“What do you mean?”
Shar-Lumen pointed up. “They tried to stop us. This was their attempt to stop the attack on Gracia. I am surprised they would kill so many, instead of striking at only the warriors. They need to be taught a lesson about that.”
“You expected this?”
Shar-Lumen started walking back towards the main building. “Sooner or later, I expected they would try to stop me.”
He followed, completely lost to his curiosity. “How long have the Magi been shielding us?”
Shar-Lumen stopped and looked at him. “No Magi at all. I built that shield six hundred years ago. I protect my own.”
“You’ve been expecting the Gods to attack you for six hundred years?”
Shar-Lumen resumed walking away. “Of course.”
Electra looked at the bloody battlefield on the displays. The crabs were all destroyed and laying in pieces. The Nhia-Samri were cleaning up the dead, both their own and the crabs.
We lost. Vesta and Arkady did everything they could, and we lost.
Vesta and Arkady reviewed their data pads. Vesta spoke first. “Well, we have cut their numbers down by nearly sixty-five percent. There are only 1,263 warriors remaining of the original 3,613.”
Arkady shook his head. “They are not ignorant savages. They adapted to our attacks with a speed I didn’t think possible. Also, I don’t think we have done much for Gracia. The remaining warriors are the best they have there.”
Electra played with the dials and found what she was looking for. General Hiri-Rula was working along with the warriors, helping to clean things up. “Hiri-Rula survived.”
Vesta looked over. “That’s good. There is something about her I like.”
Arkady looked around. “Now, what? We can’t launch any of our enforcers. They’ll be spotted.”
Vesta looked at Arkady. “I’m not sure. Let’s gather our data and see. Perhaps Gracia can withstand a smaller attack. Besides, with Shar-Lumen dead in Hisuru Amajoo, there might not be an attack.”
Arkady stood. “No. How could they?”
Vesta looked at him. Electra leaned back in her chair, relaxing.
I don’t care. This has been a horrible night. We have killed, and yet, we have lost. I can’t see how I could feel worse.
Arkady was standing in front of the display that showed the remains of Hisuru Amajoo. “The dust should be a lot thicker. This is odd. It is clearing.”
The smoke and clouds were starting to clear, to reveal the valley with its city lights.
Wait, what?
Electra stood and ran over to stand next to Arkady, Vesta already there.
Before them, the dust and clouds cleared, showing the valley of Hisuru Amajoo still had glowing city lights. Large fires were burning on top of the outer wall, and the towers of the fortress still stood as if untouched by Arkady’s attack.
How is that possible?
Arkady hit the display hard, “Okay, now I’m mad! I go through all that soul searching, and do what I need to, for no results! Look at that,” he said. “Zero damage.”
Dohma had been up early to spar with Orahda and Cundia before heading over to the temporary office he had been given in the military command building.
Every other Assembly member has an office attached to their chambers. Only I was given a chamber without an office. It probably looks suspicious, but there is nothing else we can do about it.
When they got to the command building, they went to the war room.
Why am I liking the name of this room more and more?
The general was already there, drinking from an oversized mug that had a sipping lid on it.
I wonder how much arit he consumes. He is sipping from the thing all day, and I know his secretary keeps topping it off.
Orahda looked at the maps, and then left to begin his day of touring and inspections.
This will be the first day I don’t have to deal with escape topics. I can enjoy the diplomatic luncheon and get to know my fellow rulers better.
He sat down next to the table and grabbed some of the sweet cakes from the sideboard. Looking at a new map that had been added overnight, he noticed that it was of the palace and had a number of red dots.
“What’s this?”
A colonel looked over. “That is the fire bomb plan for the palace. If we set one off, they will all go off. Burning curtains or furniture will act as fuses. Of course, the palace won’t burn—just the contents. But we have been adding a lot of wood furniture to it. The Imperial regent has insisted on placing certain works of art in rooms that won’t get touched by fire.”
Dohma examined it. “What are we putting the jellyfire in?”
The colonel shrugged. “Many different things. Couldn’t be too obvious. Most of them are wooden jewelry boxes or display boxes, so all we have to do is smash one.”
Dohma started adding the locations to the stacks of other locations he was trying to remember.
Now I need to tour the palace again and make sure I can identify these things.
“How long before the citizens will see it clearly enough to know they should run?”
“Smash one, and it should make a roaring pile of smoke visible throughout the city in about twenty minutes. If we can smash about six in different locations, we think it will take five minutes, max.”
A corps sergeant came bursting into the room. “An attack alarm has been sounded from the western wall!”
Several officers bolted through different doors. The general looked at Dohma and waved for him to follow. “Let’s go have a look. We might need to evacuate early.”
“But the western wall? Why not the gate into the Assembly?”
The general was already in the hall, moving with considerable speed for the outer door. “Damned if I know. We can only react at the moment.”
As they crossed the palace grounds, heading for the western side, Orahda and Cundia bolted out from between two buildings. Cundia smiled. “See, I told you he would be running towards the danger.”
Orahda harrumphed. “I didn’t disagree.”
They reached the palace walls and started climbing. Everyone but Orahda was breathing hard by the time they reached the top.
I have to admit, I’m impressed the general made it this fast. He is in marvelous shape for his age.
As they climbed, a thrumming sound came through the air. When they crested the wall, the sound resolved itself into a pulsing drum beat, coming from the advancing army. “They’re organized. They have drummers and probably buglers.”
The general commandeered three field glasses. “You’re probably right. Let’s take a closer look,” he said, handing one to Dohma, one to Orahda, and keeping the third for himself. They all looked to the west over the top of the far city wall.
A pit grew in his stomach as he looked. Lords and Ladies, that is a large force!
An army was marching on the city, and the army was larger than any army he had ever heard of. He tried to count them. It was spread out for more than a half mile in tight ranks, and the dust from the front made only a dozen more ranks behind visible.
The general yelled, “Take this down, ranks are nine by nine.” He slowly scanned left to right calling out numbers, “Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, and five. Add that up. What’s the count?”
Some men and women were scribbling on pads. They cross-checked with each other and nodded. “General, that makes a front line of 765.”
The general kept looking. “They have more than 30 rows of that rank. Double that and give me a count.”
Again, the men and women scribbled on papers and then cross-checked. “Forty-five thousand, nine hundred.”
His heart jumped to his throat. “My Lords, where the hell did that army come from? Are they Nhia-Samri?”
The general put down his field glasses. “Can’t tell yet. At least, the regents have closed the city and activated th
e defenses.”
Dohma looked down with his field glasses and saw that the steel plate gates were rising as some people scrambled either in or out. The city walls were rising, and the port gates were swinging shut.
“Now, what?”
The general looked at him and started back towards the stairs. “Now, we go talk with the regent. That army will have to build siege engines to get in. There are enough of them to blockade the city. We need to consider a long siege.”
Dohma had started to follow the general when Orahda called out. “Wait.”
They turned around, and Orahda was stilling looking with his field glasses. He pointed, smiling. “I think we can open the gates.”
The general’s eyes bulged. “Are you mad?”
Orahda held the general’s abandoned field glasses out to him. “No. Take a close look at the center of the front line.”
Dohma and the general stepped back to the wall and started searching the center. Finally, Dohma saw what Orahda was talking about. There were a dozen officers, nobles, and cavalry mounted on horses. But one horse was not a horse. “That’s Duke!”
The general leaned further over the edge. “Where?”
“With the officers in the center, between the nobles in blue and red. He looks a little like a horse, but doesn’t move like a horse. No rider, either.”
The general stared for a minute. “Damn it, I think you’re right.” He turned and yelled. “Get our horses now.” The command was echoed down the wall by other guards.
They rushed down the stairs. Before they had made it halfway down, messenger horses were being brought by grooms at a dead run. Together, they mounted at the base of the wall. The general didn’t wait. He dug his heals into his horse, turning it with the ease of a master horseman, and galloped the whole way to the outer wall, maneuvering his horse through the panicked people in the streets. The general’s guards, as well as Dohma, Cundia, and Orahda, had a hard time keeping up. They reached the gate in only a mark.
I thought he was old, but I am feeling tired, trying to keep up with him.
The gate was still closed. The general signaled, and the city guards used mirrors to reflect the sun back towards the palace.
That is ingenious! I wonder how much of a signal you can get through.
Orahda seemed to read his thoughts. “It is an old code, milord. I can teach it to you. It is also not secure.”
The silver gate dropped open before them. As soon as it was low enough, the general kicked his horse again, making it jump up on the descending gate top, and gallop across it, out of the city. Dohma was ready this time and stayed close to the general.
As they got closer to the approaching army, Dohma sucked in his breath. He could see every warrior was a Dagger. At the center of the front column was Duke, with the nobles and officers.
Oh, my Lord! Those aren’t nobles! Those are the Dagger commanders, Elades and Sundar! Wow! How they have changed since I last saw them!
Duke stopped chatting with Elades and Sundar to call out, “HALT.”
The buglers sounded across the field. Their calls synchronized, so they all stopped together. The drums and Daggers stopped in perfect time to the end of the buglers’ signal with a dramatic double beat of drums and feet.
The general rode up to face Duke. He looked right and left at the Daggers, all standing at attention. Duke sat down. “Hello, Neyon. Anything interesting happen lately?”
The general looked at Duke and frowned. “You are forbidden from having an army by the Covenant, and you know that!”
Duke looked around, pretending to be surprised. “Army? Army? Elades, did you see an army anywhere?”
Elades smiled. “No, sir.”
Duke called out, “Are any of you in an army?”
Thousands of voices called out, “NO, SIR!”
Duke shrugged. “Sorry, General. No army here.”
The general turned red-faced. “Duke, you can’t play games like this.”
Duke smiled. “Look, I felt a little threatened by the Nhia-Samri, so I hired some personal guards.”
The general huffed, then looked at Duke. “Personal guards? You hired some personal guards? How many personal guards do you have?”
Duke looked up as if thinking. “Well, I believe the last payroll showed roughly 65,420 personal guards, and 9,632 support staff, butlers, groomers, cooks, maids, clothiers, armorers, smiths… You know, the basics.”
The general sat back in his saddle, trying to absorb it all. He mumbled, “Not an army.”
Duke stood and stepped over to him. “Look, I can prove it.”
The general looked at him. “You can prove it?”
“Sure.” Duke looked at the ranks of Daggers and yelled out, “Are you soldiers?”
Sixty-five thousand voices answered back, “NO, SIR!”
“What are you?”
“DAGGERS, SIR!”
Duke nodded and looked at the general. “You see, everyone knows Daggers are mercenaries for hire. Not an army. Nope. Perfectly legal.”
“By a dog’s hair!”
Duke looked at the general, wounded. “A wolf’s hair, if you please.”
The general sat back as he shifted to a more relaxed position in his saddle. “Okay, you win. And Duke?”
The wolf looked over. “Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Duke nodded and winked. Then he looked over at Dohma. “Your Excellency, I trust you are enjoying being away from all the bureaucracy.”
CLIFFHANGERS
LIKE A KNIFE TO THE HEART!
I have a love-hate relationship with cliffhangers. I love and appreciate cliffhangers. I hate when I suddenly run out of words and have to wait for the next book to get published. I also hate when I finish a book with a cliffhanger, and I haven’t written the next book, because I, too, want to see the rest! I admit I have prodded my favorite authors to hurry up from time to time. If the next book isn’t available yet, trust me, I am slaving over the keyboard to get it neatly wrapped up for you. Feel free to prod me to move faster! If the next book is just about ready for publication, you can find the first chapter or two on my web site (www.LArtra.com). If the next book is already out, you can use my website or go to most eBook sales sites and use their “Look Inside” or “Preview” feature to get at the first chapter or two. You can also find more information about this series at the official Facebook Golden Threads page: www.Facebook.com/GoldenThreadsTrilogy.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leeland Artra lives in the Emerald City (Seattle, Washington) with his wonderful wife and idea-inspiring kids. He spent the first half of his life as an avid science-fiction/fantasy reader while becoming a US Navy-trained computer scientist and self-taught table-top gamer. After twenty years of thinking he should publish, he finally got serious, pulling out all the notes and ideas he had stored, and set down to learn how to be a professional writer. He soon discovered he got as much joy from writing fiction as he did from reading it. His goal is to transition to full-time writing someday. In the meantime, he works as a software engineer and architect at Expedia. In short, by day, he helps people take fabulous vacations, and at night, he helps people take even more fantastic trips of the imagination, which he finds to be very symmetric.
A PERSONAL NOTE FROM LEELAND
I hope you enjoyed reading this book and found the deeper, more complex world history hinted at fun to try to unravel. I spend a lot of time engineering the history and mechanics of my stories. If you enjoyed this book, please leave positive feedback at the eBook retailer where you purchased it or Goodreads.com (or both). If you write a blog review about it, please send me a link. The more positive feedback I get, the more time I can spend writing the next story! I love interacting with my readers, so if you feel like chatting with me about this story or others, please visit me. You can find me at:
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LEBUIN’S LEXICON
LEBUIN’S LEXICON - LANDS/PEOPLES
Circumveni Desert: A vast wasteland of unforgiving desert which spans the entire Duianna continent, from east to west, along the southern edge of the Halias-Ne Mountains. No known safe path exists across this desert, and it is plagued with strange, deadly creatures.
Dulgruim: A dwarven kingdom on the southern tip of the Duianna continent, bordered on the north by Karakia. Capital: Or-Anithi-Umta. Abbreviation: DU.
Karakia: A mixed nation of tribes spanning the central part of the South Duianna continent from the Darain Ocean on the east to the Occiduis Ocean on the west. The northern border is the Circumveni Desert and on the south, the Dulgrium Nation. Capital: None. Abbreviation: KA.
Laeusia: A human kingdom which lies between the Duianna Empire and the Kingdom of Yalthum.
Nae-Rae: An elven kingdom spanning the eastern third of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the White Ocean, the south by the Burga Mountains, the east by the Darain Ocean, and the west by the Duianna Empire. Capital Rea-Na-Rey. Abbreviation: NR.
Nasur: A human kingdom on the southeastern edge of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the Onasa Channel, the south by the Halias-Ne Mountains, the east by the Sea Princes’ Kingdom of Aelargo, and the west by the Western Burga Spine Mountains. Capital: Thilis. Abbreviation: NA. Known to be friendly with the Nhia-Samri.
Niya-Yur: The world. The elves called the world Nhia in ancient times. The dwarves called the world Garduan-ka-Gadriel (loosely translated means Gadriel’s Flesh).
Oslald: A human kingdom on the southeastern edge of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the Burga Mountains, the south by the Sea Princes’ Kingdom of Aelargo, the east by the Onasa Channel, and the west by the Darain Ocean. Capital: Stegen. Abbreviation: OS. Strong supporter of the Duianna Covenant.
Thread Strands (Golden Threads Trilogy) Page 40