They meandered through winding tunnels in the near darkness, only the light circling Kerris to give them sight. The sewage ran ankle deep in most places, though the occasional step sent them plunging into it up to their knees. Here and there angled passages deposited more filth from the streets above, run off from the roads or houses in the vicinity.
They were at ground level, Jarod realized. The city above was built on top the sewers, rather than having been dug down into the waterlogged ground beside the river. It meant that in most places, the city rose above the river by a dozen feet or more. Despite being above ground, the walls wept on either side of them, both from accumulated sewage and water seeping in from the ground beyond.
He tried to keep his bearings with each turn, but Jarod soon grew lost. Long sweeping passages contained subtle curves, throwing off his sense of direction. It seemed to him they were heading east, but he had no way of knowing for sure.
After a long time they stopped. Kerris gestured, and the light circling him held still, drifting slowly through the wet and cloying air to hang beside a section of wall that had crumbled away. Jarod blinked. Not crumbled, but deliberately mined away.
Rubble lay strewn everywhere beside a hole chiseled into the stone that formed the walls of the sewer passage. Beyond it, Jarod could see that the mining had angled downward, heading below ground level and further under the city. They had to be near the outer wall, Jarod guessed, though it was hard to say. Kerris turned back to them, his face bright and cheery, his conjured light casting harsh angular shadows across his face.
"Now you will see that you live in lies," Kerris grinned. "We tread into the realm that was home to the earliest of man. It was not coincidence that one of the oldest cities man has ever built was placed here. Even now, they still whisper to us, guiding us."
Jarod shared a look with Aiden, thoroughly confused. Before he could say anything, Kerris stepped into the descending passageway, and sharp prods into their back urged the captives after.
Chapter 20.
"Is that it?" Daron asked, surveying the crowd that had assembled near the eastern gate. It was underwhelming when viewed as a whole. Perhaps just over five hundred men and women were assembled in a loose cluster, filling the wide roadway from building to building. Less than half that Kerris was bringing to do battle with. Most hadn't anything beyond a cursory training with a blade or firearm. They were a symbolic force, meant to keep the citizenry in line, not fight a war.
Near the front of the group were civilians, milling about with a heavy look of uncertainty and fear. Runners had been sent to start evacuating people from near the eastern gate, trying to move them further into the city and away from the fighting. A handful had elected to stay and fight, though they looked to be regretting that decision at the moment. There were barely a score of them. Daron shook his head, the reality of the situation bearing down on him. This wasn't going to be a battle. It would be a massacre.
"I'm sorry it's not to your liking, Lord Justice," Captain Dax said evenly. "Perhaps you have an army secreted away in a pocket we could use?"
"Hilarious," Daron muttered, running a hand through his short-cropped hair.
"We make do with what we have," Dax said, softer. The heat bled out of his voice. "Gods willing, it'll be enough."
"And if it isn't?"
"It's not worth worrying about, now. Worry won't change the circumstances, Justice. I don't see any reason to waste effort thinking on maybes and ifs. Focus on what we have."
Daron grunted, but said nothing else. The surly guard that had refused to listen to Daron had returned with his small patrol, confirming what Daron had told the captain. The approaching army moved slower than they'd expected, but as the sun was drifting down towards the western gate, they'd finally arrived. Not that he could even see the sun through the blasted rain.
Martin waved at him, beckoning Daron closer. He and Brynn were hunkered down under the awning of a building that was marked as a general goods store, though it now lay abandoned as the proprietor and staff had been ushered to the inner city. Martin held a large sheet of paper in one hand, confusing marks drawn upon it in charcoal. Likely he'd pilfered it from the store, but given the circumstances, Daron didn't care if they looted half the store if it helped with the oncoming battle.
Lightning flashed above again, the roll of thunder soon catching up to it. Martin glanced up, smiling into the rain.
"Something interest you up there?" Daron asked as he approached.
"Quite so," Martin replied without glancing down. "I have an idea of something to try during the fight."
"Involving sorcery?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Martin said. His voice was eager, almost blissfully child-like. He turned his gaze to Daron, a great smile cracking his face. How the historian could be so giddy with impending doom forming ranks a hundred yards from the wall, he couldn't guess, but at least someone seemed optimistic.
He waved the document in Daron's direction, but all the Justice could see was a drawing of a long pole, and scribbled notations around it. It looked like a diagram out of one of his text books from the academy, and had been equally as indecipherable to him.
"Do whatever you need," Daron said, sighing. "Just be back here for the battle. We could use someone with your particular talents."
"Won't be much to pull energy from, up on the wall," Martin said, his grin fading. "It means I'll have to pull from people, weakening them. I don't like doing that."
"If you can torch a few dozen before they get up the walls, it's worth it."
"You overestimate my abilities," Martin said, and then grinned again. "But not by much. I'll return as soon as I've found the materials I need." The historian scampered off down the now empty thoroughfare.
"Did you understand any of that?" Daron asked Brynn. She rose and shook her head ruefully.
"It was all a bunch of gibberish to me," she said. "My talents lie in stabbing things, not reading sorceror-speak."
Daron grunted. Despite the chill, he was sweating in anticipation. What had started as a deceptively simple information gathering task had turned into a fairly grim looking situation. How long had Martin said the mercenaries would take to get there? Half a day? That was, of course, if they even bothered to accept the contract at all. He pushed that thought away, trying to heed Dax's advice. He could worry later, in the Eternal Hall.
"Where's Leah?" he asked, glancing around. He couldn't see her in the throng of assembled defenders, though she'd been right by him a few minutes before.
"On the wall, keeping an eye on the army," Brynn said. "So far, they just seem to be waiting." She cocked her head slightly to one side, pulling her long braid around to her front and running fingers along its length.
"You're nervous," Daron said, smiling slightly. Some things never changed. She dropped the braid abruptly, glowering.
"Not particularly," she sniffed. She honestly sounded like she meant it. "I've studied plenty of historical battles. We have the advantage."
"I'm sure archival texts of five thousand year old battles are still relevant today," Daron said dryly.
"The technology hasn't really changed much," she argued. "Warfare is warfare."
"Studying it in a book is a slight bit different than experiencing it," Daron replied, trying to keep his voice steady. How could he convince her to take Dax's advice and try to not worry, when he himself felt his stomach knotting in anticipation?
Brynn paused, regarding him intently. Something flashed across her features, too quick for Daron to make out. Sadness, perhaps? Most likely fear. Not that he could blame her. This would go a lot easier with Jarod and Aiden here. One of them would know the right things to say and do. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but instead she gave him one, patting his shoulder before turning to the assembled defenders and leaving him alone.
A thin whine pierced the air. Daron swiveled, and watched the glass on an adjoining building's window detonate inwards. A moment later a chunk of plaster blasted off the side of the same building as a second bullet slammed into it. Dax roared an order to duck, but those on the wall had already dropped below the stone lip.
In the distance, Daron could hear dozens of pops as the army fired another salvo of bullets. More windows and awnings, brick and wood, were blasted at by the assault. Daron loped over to Dax, who was climbing a ladder to the narrow ledge of the wall. Daron scrambled up after him, keeping himself low behind the stone.
"Amateurs," Dax muttered. Daron noted that he still crouched behind the crenelations on the wall as he peered out across the open plain, squinting through the rain. Amateurs or not, a bullet was still just as lethal. "They're unlikely to hit anyone at this distance."
"The more shots they waste now, the happier I am," Daron said.
"That's the gods' own truth," Dax laughed. "Still, I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish."
"They want us to keep our heads down," Daron reasoned. "Maybe there's something out there they don't want us seeing."
Dax pondered the thought for a moment, and gave a terse nod. Carefully he eased himself up, glancing over the lip again. He watched for a long minute, ignoring the random shots that whistled through the air about him, some striking the wall scant inches from where they crouched.
"There's movement in the trees, a bit further west," Dax confirmed, frowning. "Additional troops perhaps. I can't quite make them out, but they're moving oddly." He slid back down behind the barricade, his face startlingly sober. "If those are additional troops, we could be in for a rougher time than I thought. Two to one isn't good odds to begin with."
"I didn't have a lot of time to count," Daron said, feeling chagrined. If he'd spent a moment or two getting an accurate count, would it have made much of a difference? One thousand or fifteen hundred, did it matter all that much?
Daron peeked over the wall. Sure enough, he could see something shambling through the edge of the forest a bit further west than the main body of the army. He frowned. They looked like people, but they moved with slow, jerking steps. A cold chill seeped into his spine, though he couldn't say why.
Two figures detached from the assembled mass of armed men and women, strolling boldly across the rain-soaked field. The shots from the army ceased. Dax looked at Daron, shrugged, and stood. A moment later, Daron followed suit, watching the two figures approach until they were perhaps a dozen yards from the wall.
"Citizens of Upper Terrin," one man called. He had a crop of bright red hair, hands tucked into his belt. He looked almost jovial, unconcerned about his proximity to return fire. Kerris, perhaps? "Your brothers and sisters have arrived!
"You suffer under a great burden," the man continued. To his left the second figure stood, a step back, covered in a long leather coat, sleeves pushed back to his elbows. He held his arms extended downward, the fingers of both his hands interlocked as if he were cracking his knuckles, though he held the pose while the leader spoke.
"We have come to free you. To cast off the yoke the Order has saddled you with. Open your gates, and allow us to strengthen you. When the Order comes, we will stand, shoulder to shoulder, and take the first steps into a new world."
Dax sighed, and gestured with one hand. A long rifle was passed up to him. The captain held it below the edge of the wall for a moment, eyes narrowed as he gauged the distance and wind. With frightening speed, he snapped the rifle up to one shoulder, squeezing the trigger. The gun barked, filling the air with acrid blue smoke.
The bullet skipped off something about a foot before the pair, careening off at an angle up and away. Daron's jaw dropped. The red-haired man's amusement grew even further as additional shots were taken by a few on the wall with hand pistols, each effortlessly stopped or redirected before they could cause any harm.
"Damn," Dax sighed, leaning the rifle against the wall and shaking his head in disgust. Beyond the wall, the duo faded away, withdrawing back to their army.
"Alright, that was impressive," Daron conceded. "I bet Martin could do something like that. That could come in handy."
"Bet you a silver noble he says it's impossible," Brynn said. "Half the answers he gives seem to be that."
"Deal," Daron said. Dax looked between the two and sighed in exasperation.
"They'll be coming soon," Dax said. "Probably a light force to test our defenses first." They stared out together through the downpour, trying vainly to ignore the seeping cold. A thousand armed men and women formed up into rigid formations in eerie silence, while vague and uneasy forms continued to writhe just out of sight within the forest. Dax turned to Daron, fixing the Justice with a worn and weary expression.
"Now, we wait."
Chapter 21.
The attack didn't come then, nor while the light was still with them. Daron wiped the water out of his eyes. The sun was nearly set, though with the storm clouds releasing their fury on the city below, he could barely tell it. Thick twilight set in about them as he paced irritably across the narrow expanse of the wall, a dozen feet up from the ground. At least the dwindling light meant that it would be hard for the massing army to snipe a few shots off at him. He hoped.
Brynn approached from his left, walking gracefully across the walkway that mounted the wall. Below, behind the wall and safe, a small squad of three hundred men and women waited anxiously, ready to scale the wall should their opponents decide to attack. A much smaller group had been stationed at the western wall, but it seemed pointless. The army massed a hundred yards away south of his position, so most of the reinforcements waited there.
"Quit pacing," Brynn whispered. "You're making the city guard nervous."
"Them?" Dax snapped. "I'm liable to kick him over the edge and let him lead the advance assault if he doesn't stop."
He glanced down at the squad, who waited anxiously for the impending battle. How had he let Tel talk him into being with the main defensive group? Still, he took a deep breath and tried to relax his tensed muscles. She was right, of course. If he was anxious, so would the others. He grinned at her sheepishly.
"Just relax," she said. "They're going to do all the serious work here, and already know what to do. Just keep an eye on our new friends out there and let them do their job."
"How can you be so calm?" he said, leaning forward and gripping the edge of the wall. It only came to his waist, a scant offering of protection should they start shooting again, though after the announcement from their leader, they'd refrained from firing at the city. He tried to force his mind away from the thoughts of being shot.
"I trust in the gods more than you," she quipped, flashing him with a smile.
"I'd trust them more if they hadn't put us in this position," he grumbled.
"Don't let Aiden hear you say that," she said. "He might take that the wrong way."
Aiden. His friend was out there, somewhere, along with Jarod. They hadn't seen any sign of the captive men, though it was much too far distant to be able to make out any faces. Something seemed off about the situation. Why would they wait? Darkness benefited no one. Why not simply attack while they had the advantage?
"Do you think we can pull through this?" he asked quietly, hoping the assembled guards couldn't hear the fear in his voice.
Brynn watched him for a moment, head tilted slightly to one side.
"It doesn't seem likely," she said softly. "If we can hold for the next few hours until Arix Company arrives, and then maybe. If they arrive."
Dax sighed loudly. "Do you two think you could be a little less maudlin?"
Tel had sent out the messages by bird hours ago. Five hours, if they were lucky and if the mercenary company agreed to the terms. An army a thousand strong seemed shockingly small, but once they took the wall, there would be little the defenders could do.
Daron's eyes wandered to his right. Further along the wall Leah stood watch, gaze locked on the arrayed army, though it was too dark to see anything. He watched her for a long moment.
Brynn stirred beside him. When he glanced back to her, she was frowning off into the distance, her eyes unfocused. Absently she tugged her long braid around to her front, running fingers over its tight weave.
"I'm going to check on Martin," she said distractedly, not meeting his face. "He's returned with his contraption."
"What do you think of him?"
"He's quite interesting," she said guardedly. He gave a knowing smile to the darkness.
"The only person I've met that likely spends more time with his nose crammed into books than you."
"There's that as well," she agreed. "He's educated and well spoken. Very good traits in my opinion."
Daron gave a low laugh. "I've seen the way you look at him," he said. Even in the faded light, he could see her blush.
"Have you now?" she asked, her voice taking the slightest edge. "And what of it?"
He held up his hands in defeat. "Nothing at all," he replied with a chuckle. "He looks at you the same way."
Her fingers stopped caressing her braid. "And somehow you noticed all this?"
"I'm not blind," he said. "Anyone can see the sort of signals you're giving off."
"You notice this but somehow you..." She sighed and shook her head. "You should go talk to her."
Daron blinked. "Leah?"
"I'm not blind either," Brynn said smoothly. She gave him a soft punch to the shoulder. "We have no idea what the gods have in store for us next, Daron. Just go talk to her." She flashed him an impish grin and descended the ladder to find Martin. He was somewhere near the gate, doing only the gods knew what with whatever it was he'd built. Hopefully his abilities could help even the scales when the time for battle came, though he had no idea the sort of limits it might have.