Chapter 40.
The Raven followed the Al-Arynaar out of the dome complex while the Xeteskians were still organising themselves. The elven warriors and mages split, heading for the ColdRoom casters. The Unknown brought The Raven to a halt on the steps to take stock.
The courtyard was in upheaval but the reason for the roar they'd heard beginning from inside Dystran's tower was high in the sky above the college. From the slit in the deep blue sky, white clouds billowed and jetted into Balaian space. It was mana, pouring in at a hugely increased rate. The temperature, already low, was dipping fast towards freezing and there was no doubting that the colouring of the cloud was ice crystals. Those crystals were warming just enough as they fell to drop as chill rain onto the combatants below.
Down on the ground, the Wesmen and Al-Arynaar were under a blistering attack. Reavers had stormed the ColdRoom shell with strike-strain clouds backing them. Karron were battering on the walls in a number of places and fighting to try and gain access through the sundered gates. So far, the two thousand Wesmen warriors were holding comfortably enough but they were suffering casualties. Hirad, still feeling bleary after his frightening contact with Ilkar, couldn't work out why but felt the scene didn't quite ring true.
'Is it just me or are the reavers quicker and stronger?' he asked.
'Definitely,' said Rebraal. 'Tell me what Ilkar told you.'
'He said they had broken into the spirit dimension. He said they were fighting but that they only have their belief to defend them and their links to us to sustain them and give them strength. We have to go and close off the demon power now or they'll be overwhelmed.'
Hirad set off down the steps.
'Hirad wait,' said The Unknown. 'I'm sorry but I don't see the connection.'
'And how did they break in?' asked Erienne. 'I understood that to be possible only if they broke either the elves or the Wesmen.'
Hirad rounded on them, feeling suddenly hot. 'Do you think we've got time to debate this? Look around you. The demons are pressing like never before. Isn't it obvious what's happened? We have to go or Ilkar will be lost and so will we.'
'Hirad wait,' said The Unknown. 'We have to approach Tessaya the right way. We have to be sure of our ground. We're about to use a centrepiece of his religion. He's hardly going to just wave us goodbye.'
'Well why not? We'll be saving his dead too. Gods drowning, why are you all being so cautious? Look!'
He pointed up into the sky. Reavers plunged on the Wesmen and Al-Arynaar. Tired warriors fought hard. From gaps in the shell elements, elven mages cast IceWind into the sky. He backed up the steps to stand with The Raven. So far, they had been ignored but it wouldn't last for long. Hirad could see the masters floating high above, directing battle. The noise was growing. The walls groaned under the battering of the karron. Abruptly, a five-yard section gave way, bringing down the parapet on a long stretch either side.
The karron stormed in. Or at least, they began as karron. These were striding into the ColdRooms apparently unhampered by the lack of mana within. And they were growing with every stride. Seven and eight feet high now and they weren't finished. Bodies filled out with new muscle. The hammer and spike limbs lengthened a little, weapons developing, building. Halfway down their torsos, under their arms, more limbs were sprouting. Sinuous, long and pincered. True monsters, facing which the Wesmen sang defiance and courage. Unwavering in the face of a new and deadly threat.
'Gods burning,' breathed The Unknown.
'Reckon we've got time to have a little chat now?' asked Hirad. 'Darrick died to get us all in here. Let's not waste what he gave us.'
'Right,' said The Unknown. 'Rebraal, Auum, we need their head Shaman. And find Eilaan. Raven, with me to Tessaya. Meeting at the barracks, that's where their shrine is. Go.'
The Raven ran down into the maelstrom. They took up their classic angled chevron but with Thraun at Hirad's right-hand side now Darrick was gone. The Unknown and Ark formed the forward muscle to the left. Behind them, both Denser and Erienne had blades in their hands. Al-Arynaar came to their sides, providing a flanking defence.
'Tessaya!' shouted Hirad. 'We need Tessaya.'
They could see the Paleon banner fluttering in the breeze towards the front of the line where the boosted karrons were engaging the Wesmen. Warriors turned to see The Raven approaching. Orders were shouted. Ahead of them, a path was created somewhat reluctantly.
Reavers dropped in front of The Raven. Strike-strain gathered overhead and dived.
'Keep moving, Raven!' called The Unknown.
'No problem,' said Hirad.
Holding his blade in both hands, he ran on. The first of the reavers were engulfed in a storm of Wesmen axes but others were heading in. Hirad, head cocked up, saw three coming in.
'Upwards, Unknown!'
Hirad ran on a pace, spun on his heel and whipped his sword in a circle above his head. The blade caught reaver feet, sawing through claw and bone. The demon screeched. It tried to regain some height but its momentum brought it on down. Thraun's blade chopped through its left wing, bringing it to the ground.
To the left, The Unknown had heeded Hirad's warning. The big warrior's mace dragged through reaver flesh and his sword took off its tail. Unbalanced, the creature crashed to the stone where Ark crushed its skull. The third flew in at a shallow angle, aiming for the mage targets. Hirad left Thraun to finish the first and moved fast.
'Erienne, down!'
She dropped to her haunches. Hirad's blade swept through, cutting to the reaver's spine. Gore flew and splattered. The reaver flew on a couple of beats and fell among the Wesmen.
'Moving on, Raven!' The Unknown's voice kept them focused.
Strike-strain rained down on them. More tenacious than they had been before but carrying no greater threat in reality. Hirad kept his sword up and forward, watching for reavers. He kept his free hand in front of his face, warding off the strike-strain trying to take out his eyes. Wesmen and Al-Arynaar closed in around them. He could see the Paleon standard at hand.
Scant yards ahead, the new karron were deep in the fight along an expanding front. They moved at frightening speed against an unmoving Wesmen wall. Lord Tessaya's voice sang out, giving his people strength. Axes rose and fell. Warriors screamed. Karron died.
Hirad saw through the crowds a glimpse of the power of the boosted demons. A Wesmen axe flashed into a karron face. It fell back but another was in so quickly. A pincer limb whipped out, grabbing the warrior's axe arm. The spike limb thrashed across his undefended body and his corpse was hurled aside.
'Hold!' said The Unknown.
The Raven stopped and formed up to defend. Ahead of them, Tessaya roared more orders. Hirad saw his axe take the head from his enemy. The Wesmen pushed forwards, halting the karron advance. Hirad could feel their pure ferocity like a shivering in the air. He dragged a strike-strain from his shoulder and crushed it under his heel. By the time he looked up, Tessaya was standing in front of them.
'You come to stand with the Wesmen?' he asked.
His face was cut and bleeding but his eyes shone with his determination and energy. Warriors around him took the strike-strain from the air near him much as the Al-Arynaar did for The Raven.
'No,' said Hirad. 'Our fight is elsewhere but we need your help and that of your Shaman.'
Tessaya frowned. 'I do not understand.'
'We'll explain but not here. Please, come with us to the barracks where your Shaman is waiting.'
'I will not leave the battle with the ul-karron,' he said. 'I must stand and fight with my warriors.'
Hirad watched him square his shoulders. His eyes had barely left the fight to his right.
'Just for a few moments,' said The Unknown. 'It concerns the future of us all.'
Tessaya sized them up. Hirad felt like he was in a bubble. He was aware of the fighting all around him. The desultory spells working across the shell and the sound of reaver and strike-strain attacks. The chants of the Wesmen as they drove hard at the ul-karron. But it seemed distant somehow. Almost unimportant compared to the workings of the mind of the man in front of them.
Tessaya turned and spoke quickly to his lieutenant. He nodded at Hirad.
'You have my attention,' he said. 'Don't waste it.'
Al-Arynaar and Wesmen rushed their charges to the barracks. The move had not gone unnoticed by the master demons and already the focus of reaver attacks was switched. It bought the Wesmen in the front line some respite but posed a new problem. Wesmen reserve were already organising themselves to ring the barracks building while Rebraal, standing at the door, was overseeing his people scaling the walls to stand on the flat roof.
They were ushered inside to the officers' quarters. Arnoan was already there and with him were Auum, Evunn, Pheone, Dystran and Vuldaroq. Eilaan stood in one corner, looking nervous. With The Raven, Rebraal and Tessaya completing the complement, the incense-heavy room was crowded and hot. Hirad felt a rush of nerves combined with a sense of excitement and history. In this room were the men, women and elves on whom the fate of the entire dimension rested.
Tessaya, his presence the single greatest in the room, laid his axe on a table by the door and strode across to Arnoan. He took in the assembled company and was clearly impressed despite himself.
'We have a battle to win outside these walls,' he said, speaking in eastern Balaian for the benefit of those around him. 'Explain to me what is proposed.'
Arnoan had the look of a haunted man close to panic. His hands were shaking and his face was grey with exhaustion. Tessaya gripped his shoulders and his expression softened.
'My Shaman, calm yourself,' he said. 'I understand we have more problems than those immediately without. What has happened?'
'I was on my way to find you, my Lord,' said Arnoan. 'The demons have broken into the Spirits' resting place. They fight but they have no real weapons. The attack is confirmed by the elves. We have to act or our ancestors will be lost to us. We cannot let this happen.'
'How can this have happened?' demanded Tessaya. 'The Spirits are inviolate.'
'The incursion is as yet small but it will grow,' said Arnoan. 'I fear one of our Shamen must have been taken by demons.'
'Then we will find him and rescue him. Close this breach and continue our fight against the enemy on our own terms.'
'That is not possible,' said Dystran. 'Xetesk is a big city. The demons control both it and all the surrounding lands. You can never hope to find him.'
'But there is another way,' said Hirad. 'The Raven's way.'
'The only way,' added The Unknown.
Tessaya's head swung round to The Raven. 'Speak,' he said.
Hirad nodded at Denser, best able to make the explanation.
'My Lord Tessaya, the demons attack us on multiple fronts. What we must do now was always a certainty but we are forced to act sooner than we would have wished. The only way to stop the enemy is to close the gap in the sky above the college. Cut off the flow of mana and the pathway to this dimension before the density of both enemies and mana becomes overwhelming.
'With the breach in the spirit dimension, that time has drawn much closer. You can already see the strength it has given them and that strength will only grow. We have to travel to the demons' dying home and shut off the power, close the gap. Force the demons to defeat. We had thought Xeteskian knowledge of dimensional magics would be able to send us there but it cannot. You can. Your religion and your Shaman's powers allow for travel to the heart of the demon lands. You must agree to send us. You must or we will all perish under the power of our enemies.'
Tessaya's doubt was evident in his expression and mirrored in his words. 'This is preposterous,' he said. 'The ceremony you speak of is the severest punishment we can hand down to a warrior. It is banishment and damnation without possibility of resting with the Spirits.' He shrugged. 'It is death alone without salvation.'
'Nevertheless, you must agree,' continued Denser. 'It is a gamble but one that we must take. It is the only thing which can save us.'
'And to take on this mighty responsibility, we send a few exhausted Easterners? If it is so important, then the Wesmen will undertake it. Why send a few when there is an army outside?'
'Because, my Lord, if your army travels, then Xetesk has no defence and will be overrun. Julatsa is abandoned, Dordover has fallen and Lystern must be close to failing too. If Balaian magic dies then it will not matter if we close the gap or not. The demons will rule Balaia.'
'The Wesmen will never bow to demons.'
'Damn you, Tessaya, but you remind me of me,' growled Hirad. 'If there is no magic there are no weapons. You cannot kill demons without it, and you know that. So stop the posturing and do the right thing.'
Tessaya's head snapped round. 'Never speak to me in that fashion, Raven. I am Tessaya, Lord of all the Wesmen.'
'I know,' said Hirad. 'And I admire and respect you. But you will be lord of an enslaved race if you do not let us attempt this.'
'What do you have to lose?' asked Erienne. 'If you don't believe us, so be it but don't stop us doing what we believe to be right. Listen to your Shaman, Lord Tessaya. Give the order.'
'Arnoan? Speak.'
'My Lord, I cannot say if they will succeed but I, like you, know where they will travel. No Wesman will go there willingly and to be forced to do so would weaken them. We cannot afford to take an army. We have to defend while they make this attempt. I would say let them go. And should they not come back, we will still be here to fight. The Wesmen will prevail.'
Tessaya considered again. On the roof above them, the Al-Arynaar fought reavers trying to gain access to their prizes. A demon fist smashed a hole in the roof, scattering tile and plaster.
Hirad indicated above his head. 'The demons know we are a threat. They may not know what we intend but they want our souls. While we live, they cannot win because the will of our country cannot be broken.'
Tessaya chuckled. 'Your arrogance matches my own,' he said. 'But you are asking me to agree to something in which I can see no benefit. I agree the demons think you a threat. So surely you should fight by me. Show enemies and allies alike that we are unbowed.'
'Not this time,' said The Unknown. 'The Raven have a different path. You are critical to the worth of it. You must hold the college. Keep magic alive.'
This time, Tessaya laughed out loud. 'Save that which I despise. That I should stand here and be forced to agree with such a sentiment.' He sobered. 'You really believe this to be our only hope?'
Hirad nodded. 'And we will not be alone. While we have no army of Wesmen, which I would welcome, we have allies who will travel the dimensions to safeguard our path. Dragons, Lord Tessaya. You know their power and you met only three. This time, I can call on thousands.'
'A powerful ally. Perhaps they should be here with us.'
'They are not because they know what must be done. Their battle will not be fought here.'
Tessaya turned from Hirad to the quartet of elves. 'And you?'
Auum inclined his head. 'There is but one solution. I travel with them.'
And finally he settled on Dystran. 'And you, my Lord Dystran. How do you see this folly?'
Dystran smiled. 'I have learned over the years that The Raven are seldom mistaken and always victorious. I do not pretend to understand the links between the living and the dead and will be fascinated to research them at a later date. But for now, I need to know I have a chance of living long enough to indulge myself in a world free of demons. If The Raven feel this is the way, I will not dissuade them.'
Tessaya nodded. 'Very well. Travel where you will with the help of my Shaman. You have my blessing and my hopes travel with you though I believe you travel to your deaths. It is a wasted opportunity. I would have welcomed the chance to see you fight by my side.'
'We also,' said Hirad, the relief at Tessaya's acquiescence warming his body.
'When you return, there may still be time,' said Tessaya.
'No,' said Thraun, quiet until now. Until the reality of their decision had to be faced. 'I think we all understand that while your Shaman can send us to the demon dimension, he cannot bring us back.'
There was a pause. None of them could look another in the eye but the determination remained.
'Raven?' said Hirad. 'Unknown, you have family.'
'That is precisely why I am here,' said The Unknown.
'None of us will turn,' said Denser. 'Isn't this the ultimate ride for The Raven?'
'All the way there,' said Hirad, not afraid. 'No coming back.'
'Then my grief for the loss of General Darrick extends to you all. May the Spirits welcome you to your rest.' Tessaya picked up his axe. 'Now, I have a battle to win or as I understand it, your sacrifice will be meaningless. And that would be unforgivable.'