“All right. Make sure you do. You’ve promised to teach me how to use a sword.”
As Mari turned to go, a Confederation captain walking along the battlement to pass on orders reeled from the punch of a crossbow bolt and fell. Mari ran to his side as healers followed, but the captain was already dead.
Throughout the assault, Imperial ballistae had continued to hurl flaming projectiles behind the wall. Only now, looking back, did Mari realize that fires were blazing all over the area the defenders would have to retreat through between the first and the second walls.
And with hoarse shouts the Imperials were coming at the wall again.
Chapter Seven
Alain went to the edge of the battlement, looking out to see a newly arrived siege tower rumbling toward the wall above the main gate. He could feel that some power still remained in the area behind him, so he called on all of that power that he could, imagining intense heat above his palm, then imagined that illusion into the illusion of a siege tower filled with Imperial legionaries.
It was much easier to think of them as shadows as the tower became a torch and legionaries fell, blazing, from the ruin. This was one of those times when Alain wished that he could still believe that others were not real. Feeling tired from the spell, but glad that he had used up power that now could not be employed by the Mages still loyal to the Guild, he turned to see Mari crouched by the dead captain who had just been slain by Imperial weapons, and put from his mind any concern for those attacking this city. He touched Mari’s shoulder. “They will not leave until we do,” he told her, nodding toward the soldiers defending the wall.
“All right.” Mari straightened up, Lieutenant Kaede standing right behind her with her banner, and waved to the defenders still in sight as the last light of day faded. “I’ll see you all on the second wall!”
They headed down the stairs to street level. Alain stayed at the rear so that Mari would not notice how tired he was. She would slow down if she saw that, refusing to leave him, not realizing that he would find the strength to move fast enough to keep up with her as long as she stayed ahead.
The sky above would normally be given over to the stars and the moon sitting low to the northwest, the light of the twins faintly visible as they continued their eternal pursuit of the moon. But the light of the fires ahead dimmed what little radiance pierced the clouds of smoke from burning buildings everywhere, further veiling the heavens. “It is as if the stars themselves do not wish to view this,” Alain murmured to himself.
Mari heard. “I don’t blame them.” She sounded worn out but her steps stayed steady. “We need to go by the wagon.”
She led the way to the wagon which had come from Pacta Servanda, reaching in to pull out several packs. “This is the remaining ammunition,” she told Lieutenant Kaede, handing two of the packs to Alain and shouldering three herself. Kaede grabbed two passing soldiers to carry the remaining four between them. Mari paused to frown at the packs. “This is too much. Alli sent a lot more ammo than she told us she had.”
“She would not have sent it if she could not spare it,” Alain said.
“If she didn’t think she could spare it,” Mari grumbled in a voice only he could hear. “I hope she was right.”
Leaving the wagon, the group joined a stream of retreating defenders moving through the neighborhoods behind the first wall, soldiers on foot mingled with a few mounted cavalry and many wagons. The horses danced with fear as the broad road ran between buildings burning and crumbling with fire on every hand, sparks and glowing wisps falling in strangely gentle showers on the men and women, horses and mules, heading south to the second wall as another part of Dorcastle burned around them. Coughing in the smoke that blew across the road, Alain looked behind, seeing the rear guard falling back as well, their movements highlighted by burning embers drifting down around them.
Alain, judging the feelings of those around him, was surprised to see that they were tired from the recent fight but still in good spirits. Some joked among themselves, others sang, and the sight of Lady Mari and her banner roused new cheers.
“Everyone knew we’d only hold the first wall for a short time,” Lieutenant Kaede said, sounding breathless. “It’s too close to the water, too easy for the attackers to hit with all their strength. The second wall is another matter. They won’t get through that so quickly.”
“How many times has this happened?” Mari asked in a low voice. “How many times have invaders taken the first wall while the defenders fell back to the second?”
“I don’t know, Lady. Five times, ten times, something like that. The legions come and hit us, the city suffers, but in the end the legions always retreat and the city remains.”
But always before, Alain thought but did not say, the Great Guilds had intervened to ensure that Dorcastle did not fall. Always before, the Great Guilds had wanted above all to keep things unchanging, to prevent the world from altering in any way that might weaken their control. An Empire that controlled too much of the world, that sought to control all of the world, could have challenged the Great Guilds. This time, faced with a threat they could not defeat with those old tactics, the Great Guilds had thrown their power behind that Empire.
Mari glanced back at him, her face lit by shifting patterns cast by the fires burning on either side, and he read in her eyes that she shared the same thoughts.
They finally reached the open area before the second wall, Lieutenant Kaede holding Mari’s banner high so that the fires could illuminate the blue and gold for all to see.
“Where are you from?” Alain asked the lieutenant.
She cast a startled glance at him, and he finally noticed a cut on her forehead. “Julesport, Sir Mage. Lieutenant Kaede of Julesport.”
“The city of the pirate Jules,” Alain observed.
“Yes.” Kaede cast a glance at Mari. “I grew up learning of Jules, and hearing of the daughter. We’d stopped believing she would ever come. But she did.”
Mari looked back at the burning buildings now behind them. “Maybe she shouldn’t have.”
“No, Lady. Don’t say that. We had nothing left. Nothing to live for, nothing to expect but a lifetime of serving masters who cared nothing for us. We follow you not because we must, but because you will bring us the new day in which the Great Guilds no longer rule everything.” Kaede followed Mari’s gaze. “Even if I don’t live to see that day, others will. These buildings burn, but we can replace them. We’ve replaced them before. The cost will be small when we finally gain our freedom.”
They went past ranks of defenders standing ready at the main gate, through the tunnel inside the wall, and out into the area behind it, already filled with the implements and the human cogs of the machine of war. Alain followed Mari up the stairs inside the wall, reaching a place above the gate where Lieutenant Kaede planted Mari’s banner once more. “I will return to headquarters now. The field marshal wanted me to tell you that he will stop by to discuss the defense of the city.”
“Thank you,” Mari said.
Alain leaned on the battlement of the second wall, gazing at the fires blazing in the buildings before them and the streams of defenders retreating to their next defensive position. “I see your Sergeant Kira,” he told Mari.
“You do?” Mari leaned on the stone next to him. “Yeah. Good. And there are the Tiae rifles that were at the gate. There are only eight of them, though.” She sighed sadly. “Blast. I wonder how many people we lost on the first wall?”
“The field marshal may be able to tell you,” Alain said.
“I’m not sure I want to know. When did Sergeant Kira become mine, by the way?”
Alain gestured toward Kira, hurrying along with the other members of the rear guard. “You are obviously fond of her, and she of you.”
“I like who she is,” Mari agreed. “I don’t know who she is seeing in me, though. Master Mechanic Mari of Caer Lyn? Or the daughter?”
“Perhaps both.”
“I kn
ow it’s the same for you, in a way. Do people look at you and see Alain, or do they see a Mage?”
“I am both. Thank you for showing me how to be a Mage that sees others as real.” Alain studied the ground before the second wall. “We will have to worry about Mage spells once more.”
“How much power is left out there?”
“One dragon. Some lesser spells.”
“Why would they try a dragon again?” Mari asked. “They don’t know that I’m out of dragon killers.”
“They will try a dragon again because the last two dragons failed,” Alain explained, seeing Mari’s instant skepticism. “You must think as someone who has never experienced such failure. When you hear of it, when you see it, do you believe it? Or do you discount it as a flaw in the illusion? The elders have been told that two dragons failed. They will not accept that. They will blame the Mages who created the dragons, say that those Mages produced flawed illusions of Mage creatures which failed because of those flaws, not because of what you or any other shadow did.”
“Didn’t Sergeant Kira kill at least one of those Mages?”
“There will be more Mages who can create dragons,” Alain said. “The elders will tell one of those to try next, to prove that the failure of the first two was the fault of the Mages who created them,” he repeated, “and does not reflect any flaw in the wisdom of the Guild.”
“Do you think word is getting around among those Mages about what happened in Danalee?” Mari asked.
“I will know if it is,” Alain said, sweeping his hand in a gesture across the burning city before them. “I can dimly sense many Mages beyond. If that number begins to fall enough that I can sense it, I will know that Mages are deserting the cause of the Guild.”
“Can you really spot Mages from this distance?” Mari asked, waving to Sergeant Kira as the rear guard entered the gate. The ranks of defenders outside the gate stayed firm, though, waiting on stragglers.
“Not individual Mages,” Alain said. “Not unless they cast a spell. But the others I can sense like…” He pointed to the nearest burning building. “A fire. A large blaze tells me many Mages are present. A smaller one would say their numbers have dwindled.”
“Like my bonfire?” Mari commented dryly. “I wonder what Mage Asha is sensing of me now.”
Alain looked south. “I wish we knew what has happened at Pacta Servanda. If the battle has yet been joined there, and what has occurred.”
Mari smiled, but Alain could see how forced it was. “I for one would not want to face Queen Sien in battle. Nor would I want to face whatever Alli came up with in the way of defenses.”
Sergeant Kira and the rest of the Third Regiment came up onto the battlement, looking tired but ready. Alain judged their numbers with his eyes, estimating the losses on the first wall.
He gazed down at the stones beneath his and Mari's feet, seeing a chilling similarity to those in his vision of her lying badly injured. But as on the first wall, these definitely were not the same stones as in the vision. He wished that meant she was safe here, but it only meant that on this spot she would not suffer the injury he had foreseen. Mari might still be badly hurt here, in a place not foreseen. As Mari had often complained to him, foresight rarely brought comfort.
Before he could say anything else, the staccato sound of rifle fire erupted behind them.
Mari stiffened. “The Mechanics Guild Hall. That’s where the shots are coming from. I should—"
“You should not,” Alain said. “The defenders will already be concerned by the sound of fighting behind them. If they see the daughter running from the wall, they will think the worst.”
“Blast! You’re right. I hope Field Marshal Klaus had enough reserves watching to handle the assassins.”
As the sound of rifles continued to echo through the night, Colonel Teodor came by. “Lady, this is something you expected?”
Alain heard the worry under the calm words and answered. “Lady Mari knew that the Mechanics in the Guild Hall would try to sortie out and disrupt the defense. She and Field Marshal Klaus prepared for such a thing. The sounds you hear are those of the Mechanics being defeated and driven back into their Guild Hall.”
Teodor smiled with relief. “I will pass that word along the wall, Sir Mage.”
Mari leaned close to him as she continued looking toward the sound of rifle fire. “Have you had some sort of vision that showed what you just told him about the Mechanics being defeated?” she murmured.
“No,” Alain said. “But I have…belief? In the field marshal.”
“Confidence in him, you mean.” Mari nodded, smiling without revealing any hint of worry as she listened to the fighting, even though Alain could hear the concern in her voice. “One thing is for sure, the battle isn’t moving toward the wall. It’s staying around the Mechanics Guild Hall.”
The sound of rifle shots dwindled into a few scattered bangs, then ceased.
“I hope they were all assassins,” Mari told Alain. “I hope they didn’t force any of the other Mechanics in that Hall to attack with them.”
Cheers came down the wall toward them. “We beat the Mechanics!” Alain heard.
The phrase was repeated until it reached them, then faltered as the soldiers looked at Mari. “It’s all right,” she said. “Those Mechanics sought to hurt and dominate you. Celebrate defeating them, but don’t forget there are other kinds of Mechanics. Like me.”
As the news passed them on down the wall, Mari looked at Alain. “How about the Mage Guild Hall?”
“All is quiet,” Alain said. “I sense only meditation. Those inside do not aid us, but neither do they attack. That elder spoke the truth to us.”
“It’s funny, but I never doubted her.” Mari gave Alain a sharp look. “Speaking of that elder, why did you want me to take off my jacket so badly? It has something to do with that vision, doesn’t it?”
Alain knew that he could not lie to her. “Yes. In the vision, you are wearing that jacket.”
Mari shook her head. “So if I take it off that will instantly cancel the possibility of the vision coming true?”
“I do not know,” Alain said.
“And if it did cancel it, might it be at the cost of us losing when we might have won, because the people defending Dorcastle could no longer easily tell the daughter was still in the fight?”
“That is possible,” Alain admitted.
“I said it before, Alain, and I still feel that way. If I’m going to die, I’m going to die wearing this jacket, not hiding and hoping no one notices me.” She stared out at the fires. “When I walk into what you call the next dream, no matter when that happens, I’m going to walk in wearing this jacket. I earned it. And despite everything I have learned about the Mechanics Guild I am still proud of it.”
A column of cavalry appeared out of the fires, riding hard. On their heels, legionaries streamed into the area before the second wall.
The cavalry raced through the gate, the defenders falling back inside after unleashing a volley of crossbow fire that staggered the legionary charge.
Alain heard the low boom of the heavy gate as it sealed and felt through the stone of the wall the impact of the main gate closing.
Field Marshal Klaus appeared soon afterwards, striding along with a ponderously confident gait. “Everyone is talking about the daughter,” he advised Mari with a smile. “How she held the main gate and cast down dragons with one blow.”
“They should be talking about everybody else who held that gate,” Mari insisted. “The defenders of Dorcastle are amazing.”
Vice President of War Eric was with Klaus once more, and smiled at her words. He wore a sword belt over his suit and looked haggard. “Your warning about the Mechanics Guild Hall served us well. Twenty-some Mechanics charged out, but halfway across the plaza were met with fire from crossbows positioned in the buildings and alleys around them.”
“About ten made it back inside the hall,” Klaus noted with a thin smile. “If they
had made it to the gate they were headed for, they could have caused enough disruption for the Imperials to have broken through.” The smile vanished. “The Imperials got through the secondary gate on the first wall using another one of those big Mechanic bomb wagons. How many more do they have, Lady?”
“I don’t know,” Mari said. “Probably not too many. The Senior Mechanics hated wasting money on things like excess ammunition that they couldn’t sell. There will be more of the smaller bombs, too.”
“Can you tell us anything of what the Mage Guild is up to, Sir Mage?” Klaus asked Alain.
Alain looked to the north before answering, straining his senses for any indications. “As I told Lady Mari, I expect another dragon tomorrow. That will leave little power for any other Mage spells. Tonight there may be attempts to force sally gates, but only a few because the Mage elders will want to preserve the power for the much larger dragon spell. I will warn if I detect such attempts. Ensure that those guarding such small places keep some always on alert. Any Mage who creates an opening in a gate will be standing before it. Crossbows will eliminate both Mage and opening if fired quickly and accurately enough.”
“Make sure that gets passed around,” Klaus told Lieutenant Bruno and Lieutenant Kaede. “Get word to every sally port and gate guard. Sir Mage, surely the Imperials would prefer forcing some gates in the night to the creation of another large and showy dragon, dangerous as dragons are.”
“It is not a matter of what the Imperials want,” Alain said. “It is a matter of the elders of the Mage Guild wanting to prove that they are right. They will not bend before Prince Maxim or any other.”
“Even when their control of the world is on the line,” Mari remarked, “the Great Guilds are still the Great Guilds, arrogant and set in their ways. General, has anything happened at the Mechanic rail yard? Have any Mechanics tried to enter it today?”
“No, Lady. I’ve received no such reports.”
“I may be able to set a trap there,” Mari said. “Just in case we can’t hold this wall.”