'How so?' asked Darrick.
'We are not of one accord regarding our field positions to await Xetesk's expected attack,' said Izack.
'What's not to agree? We're in position aren't we?' Darrick let his shoulders slump. 'You'd better explain.'
'It's another reason the Baron has joined the Lysternan lines,' said Izack. 'We've been in discussions with Dordover's military command for days now and reached an impasse very early on. It all rests on where Xetesk will focus their breakout.'
'The north gate, presumably,' said The Unknown.
'Exactly. And defended by Dordovans, as is the west gate. And so far there has been little activity there by the way - no probing, no attempts to get scouts into the field, Cloaked or otherwise. The Dordovans feel their forces at the north gate are going to be hit hard if not routed when Xetesk tries to break for Julatsa and it's hard to disagree with them.'
'So what are they proposing?' asked Darrick, voice a little weary.
'That the siege is lifted and we make battlefield preparations north of Xetesk. Take them head-on, all of us,' said Izack.
Darrick was shaking his head. 'When?'
'General?' queried Izack, slipping easily back into his old place in the chain of command.
'When are they planning to start dismantling their camps and shifting their forces to wherever this mythical battlefield is? And, might I add, I can think of few places where we could use our possibly - and I repeat, possibly - superior numbers to our advantage. '
Izack shifted on his seat. 'Well, as soon as we apprise them that the elves are going in to raid.'
'Gods burning, they are more stupid than I thought,' said Darrick.
'But they could be slaughtered,' said Izack.
'So what?' snapped Darrick. 'This is a war. Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. We cannot risk Julatsa's demise. If we lose them, balance is lost forever. Don't they understand that?'
'They understand they are in the front line,' said Blackthorne. 'They are just men.'
'In war, no one is just a man,' said Darrick. 'He can be greater than his dreams or another passive victim of the conflict.' The Unknown felt a slap on his arm. 'You understand.'
'Yes I do,' said The Unknown. 'But we are no longer dealing with soldiers here. Or not just soldiers.'
'I appreciate that.'
'Do you, Darrick?' The Unknown raised his eyebrows. 'I don't think you do. Many of the men out there have had their spades, rakes and brushes taken from them and swords thrust in their hands. They aren't soldiers. They will fight but they will fear. They aren't like us. We are born to fight. These men will bake your bread tomorrow. Do you see?'
'I see they are defending their freedom.'
'But understand they see it through different eyes than ours,' said Blackthorne. 'Heap responsibility on them as high as you like but one man in every two facing both HellFire and Protectors outside that north gate was not a soldier even a season ago.'
Darrick was silent for a while. Beneath his lank curls, his face creased while he fought to get his thoughts into order. It was clear he was struggling.
'It makes no difference,' he said. 'They have a role to fulfil. And that role is stopping Xetesk marching an army north for as long as they can. To the last man if they have to. And before you break in, there are two factors here.
'Firstly, I can't believe the Dordovan command believes it has a better chance of marshalling its bakers' boys out in the open field in a battle line a mile long than it does here - with or without Lysternan assistance.
'Second, the moment they pull back from the walls, they announce their intentions good and loud to Xetesk. They hand the Dark College the initiative and sentence all of us inside at the time to death - let's not fool ourselves. Dystran is clever and well advised. He'll know what we're attempting and all attempt at secrecy will be lost.
'And remember, when the soldiers pull back, they ease pressure at two gates, allowing reinforcement of the others, probable resultant victories east and south, and therefore a lessening of our strength.'
'Assuming we don't pull back with them,' said Blackthorne.
Darrick ignored him, standing and pacing.
'What are they thinking of? Keeping Dystran's forces split is the only way. The consequences of defeat in open field are staggering. He would march unopposed all the way to Julatsa. And that would be just the start.'
'They are thinking of self-preservation,' said Blackthorne gently.
'By abandoning their most defensible positions? By dismantling siege coordination? They are panicking. If it were Lystern, we would stand and face them, outnumbered or not.'
'But it isn't Lystern,' said Blackthorne. 'And that is the point.'
'I should talk to them,' said Darrick. 'They have to see sense.'
'Sit down, Ry,' said The Unknown. 'You're under sentence of death, remember?'
Darrick paused in his pacing. 'But there's-'
'No,' said The Unknown. 'You are not the man to negotiate. You're Raven now. Sit down.'
Darrick sat reluctantly, unused to taking orders but unwilling to challenge The Unknown's authority.
'We're trying the same arguments,' said Izack. 'All they can see is their north gate forces being overrun and Xetesk still having a clear run north.'
'What can be done?' asked Blackthorne. 'This is no longer purely a military decision. Politics is involved and relative strengths of surviving college forces. No college will leave themselves open to future attack at their own gates. Nor should they.'
'I know, I know,' said Darrick, waving a hand in a resigned gesture. 'Remember when we were all together against the Wesmen? That's the template and it kept us alive. Right.'
Darrick lapsed into thought. Around him, the triumvirate of senior Balaian warriors watched on in silence. He wasn't long in reaching a conclusion.
'All we can do is appease the Dordovans. What we can't do is let Xetesk know we're anticipating a breakout - and that's what a reformation to the north will do. It will also leave them with no doubt in their minds. They will attack and hope to end it there and then. Effectively win the war for Balaia at a stroke.
'Here's what I suggest. And it's a risk worth taking. We strip all the reserves from the south and east gates and move them north, leaving just a skeleton Lysternan fighting force here, supported by Baron Blackthorne's men and the Al-Arynaar now they've had a day's rest. We can do that quietly and over the course of the night. Izack, you know how it's done so I won't lecture.
'Baron, I think it's down to you to talk to the Dordovan command and make our case. They will respect you and, most importantly, if you can take an idea of numbers to them, it'll mean that Lystern and Dordover are truly standing together to counter Xetesk. You have to make it stick, my Lord.'
Blackthorne smiled. 'I can be very persuasive.'
'We're all counting on it,' said Darrick. 'Meanwhile, the sooner we can get in and get out of Xetesk, the more chance we have. I suggest we don't waste time.'
'No doubt the TaiGethen will agree with you. Right, are we all set and clear?' The Unknown looked around the fire, saw the nods in response. 'Baron, Izack, do the best you can. Darrick, let's go.'
The quartet stood up and shook hands, wishing each other luck and strength. The Unknown walked over to The Raven, sitting together at the edge of the firelight. All had been watching and listening intently.
Hirad stood up as he approached and strapped his sword belt around his waist. The talking, the resting, the frustrating watch of the day's battle was done.
'Our turn now,' he said.
The Unknown nodded. He'd felt like a caged animal all day, anxious to get over the walls but knowing he had to wait his time to begin the process of protecting his family, hundreds of miles to the south across the Southern Ocean.
'Everyone's clear about everything, aren't they,' he said.
'We could be little else,' said Denser. 'But however tight our plan, I can't stress enough how dangerous the college will be. Dystran is not stupid. The Protectors may all be outside but he'll have considerable defence in there.'
The raiding party was gathering as dusk gave way to night. The TaiGethen had been resting and praying all day. Four cells of the elite elven warriors would be taking part, along with Rebraal and six Al-Arynaar mages to supply shield and offensive support. ClawBound pairs were approaching the city to assess the strength on the walls, using the cloud cover that had prematurely darkened the sky. They would direct the elven warriors where to scale the walls and provide what diversion was needed.
'There's something else,' said Denser. 'Though I may be speaking to the deaf in the case of the TaiGethen. And that is that we aren't looking to destroy Xetesk and its mages tonight. We need them in the future if there is to be any balance.'
'I'm not running in there just circling my fists,' said Hirad. 'It was bad enough in Lystern.'
'That's not what I'm saying,' said Denser. 'And I will spare no one who threatens our lives. Just nothing indiscriminate, that's all I ask. Xetesk is still my college.'
'A college that would see you dead in a heartbeat,' said The Unknown Warrior. 'As they would all of us.' His face was grim in the firelight. 'Don't expect mercy from me.'
The big man checked the edges of his long sword and daggers yet again, walked slowly to Thraun and Erienne while he rebound the weapons in their sheaths. 'Erienne? You're quiet. Tell me.'
'I'm scared,' she said, her eyes confirming it.
'So you should be,' said The Unknown. 'We're about to break into the Dark College.'
'No, it's not that . . . well, it is but that fear I can deal with. It's what's inside me. Every day I have to fight to stop it dominating me and it's tiring. Consuming. Because one day I might fail.'
'But the Al-Drechar help, don't they?'
'Without them, the power would swamp me,' admitted Erienne. 'But they're so weak. Only one can help me block the One's force while the other rests. What if one of them dies. Or both?' She shuddered.
The Unknown frowned. 'But it will ease, won't it?'
'It gets harder and harder to believe that,' said Erienne. 'Right now, the One is a barely contained power in an uneducated mind and body. I have so much to learn. Dordover awakened the One prematurely in my daughter and all of us may still pay the price of that stupidity. If the Al-Drechar can't teach me how to restrain the One on my own before they die, I dread to think of the consequences. '
'Shouldn't you be with them, then? The Al-Drechar, I mean.'
A smile touched Erienne's lips. 'And be away from the only people who keep me believing there's an end to it? Look, Unknown, the Al-Drechar do what they can before I fall asleep, before I get up, and they talk to me in my dreams. It's enough. It'll have to be. Anyway, The Raven never work apart.'
'Music to my ears,' said Hirad from across the fire. 'Glad someone listens to me.'
'We rarely have a choice,' said Denser. 'That voice could knock holes in solid rock.'
Erienne put a hand on The Unknown's arm.
'I'll be all right,' she said. 'I can suppress the One and cast Dordovan magic. I won't let us down.'
'I never doubted you would,' said the Unknown.
'They will have watched,' said Thraun abruptly. 'They will know we're coming.'
'Not The Raven, the elves maybe,' said Hirad. 'We've thought of that.'
'No.' Thraun growled. 'Beware.'
Around the periphery, the TaiGethen were waiting for them. Two figures moved into the firelight.
'Are you ready?' asked Rebraal. 'We need to leave as soon as we can. The cloud cover is breaking to the south already.'
'You are sure you must come?' Auum had been unconvinced of The Raven's participation all day. Despite his rather grudging respect for them, he hadn't changed his opinion that they would be a liability, particularly in climbing the walls.
'Yes,' said The Unknown. 'With us, you are stronger.'
'And we have business to attend to inside,' said Hirad.
Denser chuckled. 'A couple of trifling matters, that's all.'
Darrick cleared his throat. 'It's not a laughing matter.'
'Ilkar wouldn't have agreed with you,' said Hirad.
'No,' said Darrick. He smiled quickly, embarrassed.
'Come on Raven, time to go,' said The Unknown.
The Raven moved to join the elven raiding party. Hirad paused by Blackthorne.
'Glad you dropped by, Baron.'
'This conflict threatens us all now, Hirad,' he said, eyebrows casting his eyes into deep shadow. 'There is no strength in neutrality. Not any more. Any of us strong enough must fight to stop Xetesk achieving dominion.'
'Remember there is more than one side fighting Xetesk,' said Hirad.
'I'll continue to forgo the considerable bounty on your head if that's what you mean.'
The two old friends clasped arms.
'Be lucky,' said Hirad.
'Be careful,' responded Blackthorne.
'Hirad, move it.' The Unknown's voice came from the gloom.
'Duty calls.'
Hirad trotted out of the camp. Ahead of him, the TaiGethen had broken into their cells of three. All but Auum's cell were disappearing fast into the night, making no sound, leaving no clue as to where they had just been. Hirad couldn't help but be impressed by their grace and speed. And when he turned to Auum, Duele and Evunn, he caught in their eyes exactly why they were so extraordinary, even among the ranks of exceptional elven hunter warriors like Rebraal.
From their black-and-green painted faces burned belief and determination, mixed with supreme confidence. Their faith in their Gods and in their own abilities precluded the notion of failure. And tonight, the Al-Arynaar and The Raven were similarly masked, all pale flesh covered in dark paint. But there the similarity ended.
'Your weapons are secure?' asked Auum, his accent thick, his command of the language uncertain.