The Flames of Dragons (23 page)

Iren awoke to bright sun and a seagull on his face.

“Bah!” he shouted as he leapt into a seated position. The bird flew away with an indignant squawk.

A high-pitched cackle came from the helm. “Did you have a peaceful sleep?” Rondel asked. “That gull sure seemed to think so.”

“At least he didn’t leave me any nasty surprises,” Iren replied. He climbed to his feet and checked himself anyway. “What’s our situation?”

“The storm’s moved off to the northeast, and I don’t see any others. I wouldn’t expect to either. The storms are so powerful they blow everything else out of the way. There usually aren’t two close together.”

“So we’re safe.”

Rondel shrugged. “More or less. We survived; how’s that?”

“Good enough for now,” Iren said. “We’re still moving. That’s better than I expected with just two sails.”

Rondel’s fake grin sprouted. “Oh, it’s not the sails. I thought I could get the remaining ones working while you slept, but this ship’s just too heavy.”

Iren’s brow furrowed. “Then how are we moving?”

“Look off the bow.”

Iren walked to the front of the ship. He whistled.

Rondel had released all the ropes from the surviving battens and tied them together into multiple strands. Those in turn tied off at different points near the ship’s bow and led down into the water.

And there, tugging the ship along with the ropes gripped in its mouth, was a whale.

Iren faced Rondel. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “I take it that’s no random whale.”

Rondel raised a mischievous eyebrow. “Well, I was planning some joke about how we roped it into helping us.”

Ouch. It was better not to even entertain that bad of a pun. “Minawë sure has come a long way since Ziorsecth,” Iren said instead. “She gave me magic last night, and she still had enough to transform into a whale this morning?”

“That girl is stronger than us both,” Rondel replied. Her eyes looked past Iren to the horizon. A softness Iren wasn’t used to seeing in the fierce old woman appeared on her face.

Then Rondel seemed to realize she’d spoken aloud. She flushed. “Don’t tell Minawë I said that.”

Iren couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

Elyssa Orianna lowered her spyglass. “Who could they be?” she asked. “No city uses purple banners.”

“Maybe it’s Ceere,” Dirio replied. “Perhaps they heard about the negotiations and have come to join.”

“Who would have told them?” Balear put in. “Besides, hardly anyone’s left in Ceere. There’s no way they could gather an army that large.”

“What about Tacumsah?” Elyssa asked. “We’ve continued to trade with them. Word of the civil war will have spread across the islands by now. They might have decided to take advantage of our weakness and invade. They could land easily at the Bay of Ceere.”

Balear didn’t look convinced. “Lady Orianna, hand me the spyglass.”

Elyssa gave it to him without hesitation. Balear had that scary, determined expression on his face. The man knew who these invaders were; he just wanted to be certain before he said it aloud.

The general raised the spyglass and scanned the approaching army. “They aren’t Tacumsahens,” he said. “The islanders have dark skin. These newcomers are as fair as Lodians.”

“So who are they?” Elyssa asked.

Balear’s scowl deepened. “Those banners carry a symbol of a mountain. I’ve never seen such a mark. Whoever they are, they must think themselves royalty to fly purple.”

The general surveyed the approaching force a moment longer. Then, without warning, he released the spyglass. It fell to the stone, and the lenses shattered.

Elyssa glared at Balear. “That was my finest spyglass!” she shouted. “What did you drop it for?”

The man didn’t answer. He stood transfixed, as though someone in that distant army had reached out and removed his heart. His lone hand quivered at his face. He seemed not to realize he’d let go of the spyglass.

“No . . .” he murmured, “no, it can’t be . . .”

“Balear?” Dirio asked. He gripped the general’s shoulder. “What is it? Did you figure out where that army comes from?”

Balear was ashen. “I don’t know where they’re from,” he said, “but I know who they are. They’re Maantecs. I also know who leads them. I saw her face clearly. It was Hana.”

Dirio’s brow furrowed a moment. Then he said, “Isn’t that the girl who came with you and Iren to Veliaf last year?”

“Yeah,” Balear said. “She’s also the Stone Dragon Knight.”

Elyssa jumped in front of him. “Wait a second! You’re saying they have another like you leading them?”

Balear didn’t even look at her. His gaze remained on the approaching force. “I’m nothing like Hana,” he said. “She can kill me and everyone in this city without breathing hard.”

“What do we do?” Elyssa demanded.

Balear said nothing. He seemed to have lost his wits.

Dirio took charge. “Get a messenger to the other mayors,” he told Elyssa. “Have them bring their forces inside the city. That army’s at least as large as the one the three cities brought with them. But if the enemy is made up of Maantecs—of Lefts—then the men outside will stand no chance against them. Our best hope is to attack from the safety of the city walls and this plateau with archers and catapults.”

Elyssa didn’t like taking orders from some provincial miner, but the man was right. “What about you and Balear?” she asked.

“We’ll rally Kataile’s soldiers. You convince the other mayors to find sanctuary here. Tell them not to dawdle! That army will be on us in a matter of hours!”

Elyssa didn’t waste time. She ran.

*   *   *

As the sun reached its peak, General Balear Platarch watched the Maantecs approach from beside one of his new catapults. The siege weapon’s team had loaded their first stone and readied the machine to launch it. Balear hoped they wouldn’t have to.

He was still in disbelief. Hana was here. He knew he’d seen her in Kataile earlier this year.

But where had this army of Maantecs come from? Why was she leading them?

And were they friend or foe?

Balear would find out soon enough. Most of the western Lodian soldiers had heeded Elyssa’s warning and retreated to the city. Two thousand archers from Kataile, Terkou, and Caardit now lined the plateau alongside the catapults.

One city, though, had chosen not to withdraw. Kras and the men of Orcsthia remained outside.

“Fool,” Balear spat as he shifted his gaze to the Orcsthian force. If the Maantecs had come for a fight, it was now too late for Kras to escape.

The Orcsthian army looked puny compared with the Maantecs’. Hana had easily brought five thousand men with her, and while they had only foot soldiers, that meant little. They were Maantecs. Balear knew what they could do.

A group on horseback galloped from Orcsthia’s position toward the new army. Balear focused on them, and he spotted Kras’s armor and horse. The cavalryman next to him carried a white truce banner, not that the Maantecs would know or care what it meant.

“Fool,” Balear repeated. Now he saw Kras’s strategy. The man intended to betray them. He knew he couldn’t win the throne through the Succession Council. If he could persuade this new force to join him and attack Kataile together, though, he might still become king.

That was Kras’s plan, but it didn’t go the way he wanted. As the horses neared, Hana stepped forward. She swept her hand across her, and stone spikes shot from the ground. Balear gripped his chest. Kras and his cavalry never saw what impaled them.

So that was it then. Hana had shown her army’s intention. They weren’t here to talk. They were here to kill.

Balear made up his mind. “We have to support the Orcsthians,” he told the catapult team. “We need to give them time to reach the city. At this range the catapults should make it over the Orcsthians and into the invaders. Fire at will.”

The men blanched, but they nodded. The first shot launched.

It didn’t get far. Halfway through its arc, the boulder halted in midair. A second later, it dropped straight to the ground without even reaching the Orcsthian line.

Balear was already dashing to the next catapult to spread the attack command, but he stopped in midstride. He should have known. Hana was the Stone Dragon Knight. These rocks were her toys.

It didn’t matter. He ran on and yelled to the catapult teams to attack. More shots launched, but Hana made each fall short.

In a lucky burst, three stones lifted at once. It still wasn’t enough. One almost reached the Maantecs, but at the last second, it halted a few dozen feet off the ground. It then hurtled sideways and into the ocean.

Balear swore. He’d planned Kataile’s defense around human foes. They weren’t prepared to handle magic.

The Maantecs closed on the Orcsthians. The westerners had broken and fled after watching their leader impaled, but their efforts were useless. Humans couldn’t outrun Maantecs.

As the slaughter commenced, Balear left the catapults behind. He found Riac and told him to take command of the siege weapons. Balear’s place was at the front, on the beach. That was where the enemy would come.

“Archers!” Balear shouted as he ran along the plateau. “Those from other cities, stay up here and shoot the Lefts as soon as they come in range. Katailans, you’re with me. This is what we trained for. Take up your assigned defensive positions inside the city. Shoot any who come past the beach!”

He didn’t bother waiting for a reply. He heard Riac bellowing orders behind him, and he heard the rushing feet. That was enough. What the other cities’ men would do was unknown, but for the Katailans at least, Balear knew they would follow his commands. They would fight to the death for their city.

Balear raced down Kataile’s steep stairs as quickly as he dared. The Orcsthians were likely all but wiped out by now. If he didn’t get to the city entrance soon, it would be too late to set up any kind of blockade.

He arrived on the beach and came around the side of the plateau just in time to witness the last Orcsthians fall. Balear had to struggle to keep his feet. Hana wasn’t like this. She wouldn’t bring such butchery even to people she hated.

“Stay strong, General!” a voice beside Balear called. “We’re with you!”

Balear looked over at the man who’d spoken and almost laughed aloud. It was Pito, the teenager he’d attacked with the Auryozaki. The boy had come with his squad to stand at the vanguard with their general.

The young man looked transformed from the snot-nosed kid of a few months ago. He carried a long spear and boiled leather armor. His eyes glittered with the blend of excitement and fear of someone who had never been in battle before. Pito had to know this position was suicide, but if Balear was willing to face it, then he and his squad would do the same.

The Maantec army shifted and headed toward the plateau. More catapult stones launched, but they were as useless as they’d ever been.

The archers might have a better chance. As the Maantecs came within range, the bowmen atop the plateau unleashed a volley. Balear smiled. Riac had gotten the men working together quickly. Hana might be able to stop stones, but this many arrows were beyond her.

They weren’t beyond her army though. As the volley approached the Maantecs, the men in the front line raised their hands. Flames shot from each soldier in a column fifty feet high. As the arrows passed through the inferno, the shafts burned away. The arrowheads fell harmlessly against the Maantecs’ armor.

Balear gaped. What could they do against that? It was bad enough that Hana had a dragon at her command, but even her soldiers had some magical abilities.

He forced himself to calm down. That magic had to have limits. Those Maantecs weren’t Dragon Knights, so using a spell that large would drain their energy in a few minutes. The men on the plateau had plenty of arrows, and they were all but untouchable up there. If Balear, Pito, and the archers here on ground level could keep the Maantecs out of the city, the men on the plateau might still win the day.

Unfortunately, Balear wasn’t up there to tell them that. A few more arrows shot, but the barrage was nothing like the first volley. Riac must be having trouble keeping the men disciplined.

Assuming, of course, that Riac himself hadn’t fled at the sight of those flames.

Balear needed to do something. His men needed confidence. They needed to know they could keep fighting, that they had a chance of winning even against this vastly superior foe.

But what could he do? He couldn’t abandon his post here. If he sent Pito or any of his squad, no one would listen to them. They were kids.

As Balear struggled to decide, Hana stepped in front of her fire mages. She raised her hands. From up on the plateau came a horrendous cracking sound.

Then came the screams. Massive chunks of the plateau, dozens of feet across, ripped free. They crashed to the ground, carrying catapults and archers alike with them. Pito and his boys wailed in horror. Even Balear felt like he might be sick.

New cracks like thunder issued above Balear. He looked up and saw a section of plateau break off above him. He leapt back and shielded his eyes.

A second later the enormous rock smashed into the beach. It missed him by less than ten feet. Sand erupted from the impact.

Balear wiped his eyes clear and gaped at the boulder. It was taller and wider than he was. Had he been standing beneath it, there would have been nothing left of him.

There was something weird about it though. The rock was terrifying for sure, and even though it hadn’t hurt anyone, it had still devastated Balear’s front line. Pito and all his boys were on the ground crying.

And yet, something wasn’t right about it. Hana had perfect control of her magic. She had grabbed catapult stones from midair and flung them wherever she chose. There was no way she should have missed Balear and his men.

Then he understood. He knew what he had to do.

“Pito,” he said, his voice carefully controlled, “I need you to do something for me. Go up to the plateau and tell them they can still win. Magic has a limit. Those fires won’t last. When the Maantecs come again, the archers need to fight with everything they have. Understand?”

“Sir, do you really think they’ll listen to me?”

“No,” Balear replied. “Find Riac. Tell him I sent you. He’ll listen and spread the word.”

“And what are you going to do? Hold them here by yourself?”

The corner of Balear’s mouth curled up. “Something like that. I’m going out there. I’m going to stop their leader, the one making the rocks fall. That way the archers will be able to attack from the plateau without risk.”

Pito’s eyes were huge. “You can’t! You saw what she did! You’ll die!”

Balear put his back to the boy. Pito had a long way to go, but he had the makings of a good man. Balear hoped the young officer lived through today.

Balear stepped around the boulder Hana had dropped. Hana threw her arm to the side, and her advancing soldiers halted. Everyone on both sides seemed to hold their breath as Balear stepped into no-man’s land.

Hana left her army. She walked onto the sand and headed down the beach toward Balear.

As they approached each other, Balear couldn’t help but feel a touch of nostalgia. How long had it been since they’d spoken? A year, at least. Hana led an army that wanted to kill them all, yet Balear couldn’t bring himself to hate her. He could still feel her finger on his nose, her tears on his hand as she mourned the loss of his arm.