The Ragged Man Part 40

From the city below he detected a vibration in the afternoon air: a subtle, gentle stroke of magic, soaring up like the first notes of a symphony. It was joined by others, though most lacking the finesse of the first, a few exceeding it for power, and each a variation on a common theme.

One of their mages knows what he's about, Styrax thought approvingly, pus.h.i.+ng briefly on the wyvern's neck to send it into a long, shallow dive. You could have taught the Farlan boy a thing or two; the elements are to be cajoled, not compelled. A mortal makes demands at their peril. You could have taught the Farlan boy a thing or two; the elements are to be cajoled, not compelled. A mortal makes demands at their peril.

He could almost taste the thin streams of magic rising above the city. The air whipped past his face until the wyvern banked of its own accord and the buffeting lessened. A sparkle of energy tingled over his skin, adding renewed vigour to the breeze and sending a familiar frisson frisson down Styrax's neck. down Styrax's neck.

Styrax peered down at the defences below as a few hopeful archers fired up at him, but their arrows fell hopelessly short. Now the wyvern had carried him down, closer to the city, he could pick out where the enemy mages were located.

I could pluck out your hearts right now, burst them like overripe fruit and leave you dead on the ground as a warning to the rest, he thought grimly. From the lower plain he surveyed the staggered defences of the causeway: earthworks flanking a long stone building that was built around a central archway straddling the road. A pair of guard-towers were set behind the earthworks, but they were small, barely big enough to hold more than two squads, and the Tollkeeper's Arch itself would prove little more of an inconvenience.

The causeway defences had been built for commerce, not war. Further back, strung between buildings, was a hastily built defensive wall - it was feeble enough to show they didn't really believe anyone would make it that far. On either side of the road the ground was broken up by angled ditches, and at one point between the wall and arch, a small ca.n.a.l allowed shallow-hulled scows to pa.s.s between the lakes. Though the two bridges across the ca.n.a.l had been dismantled, it was small, and anyway, the Menin Army had their own bridges to hand.

It would be a slaughter ground if the artillery barges were allowed free reign, but with a little help from Aroth's mages, those would be dealt with before the troops arrived.

Didn't you hear? Styrax asked the distant mages below, Styrax asked the distant mages below, I've already conquered Ilit's chosen people. The wind is mine to command now. I've already conquered Ilit's chosen people. The wind is mine to command now.

He turned in a long circle, following the perimeter wall of the city and noting what he could of the defences. The bulk of their soldiers were mustered in ordered blocks in the southwest of the city, where the ground was most open. From the air Aroth looked kidney-shaped, with a mile-long jetty protruding into Lake Apatorn. From here it was impossible to make out the delineation between the part built on stilts hammered into the lakebed and where the foundations were dry ground. But soon enough that wouldn't matter.

Guiding the wyvern lower Styrax placed his unarmoured hand against the Crystal Skull in the centre of his cuira.s.s, the one named Destruction. He'd found the differences between them were small, like the minuscule flaws that made each of a dozen gems unique.

Styrax could name each of his Crystal Skulls solely by the way it caught the light, but from his experiments he believed the only one markedly different was the last; Ruling. That one would be a handful to use in battle, he suspected, but the rest had only slight tendencies towards certain magics - tendencies that made Destruction less effort to use now.

He drew energy into a ball around the Skull and heard the thump of his heart echo through the magic. The b.l.o.o.d.y stains underneath his fingernails seemed to lighten and come alive as a smooth lattice of red-tinted light formed around the magic-scarred hand. Even as his heartbeat quickened, Styrax felt a calmness descend as the magic washed all emotion from his mind.

Up above the clouds rolled in, coiling like a threatened snake above his head. He felt his ears pop as the pressure started to fall and the wind streaming past turned cool. Styrax looked down to gauge the distance to the yellow mud-brick walls of Aroth below. Still out of bowshot, he reined the wyvern back a little and it arced neatly up, head stretched out and watching the scuttling food beneath.

At the end of the wall was the nearer tower, an enormous construction that, with its mate on the larger lake, dominated the entire city. The tower was round, and two hundred feet high, with wooden platforms attached to the outside and a mess of timber on top that at first glance looked like a collapsed roof.

Styrax leaned out from his saddle, twitching the reins to correct the wyvern's flight as it adjusted to the s.h.i.+ft in weight. The energy around his fist was coalescing and growing hotter with every moment, tiny licks of flame beginning to drift from one strand of the skein to another. Styrax grimaced as the heat stung his more sensitive hand, the ragged swirls of scar becoming dark shadows against the white before it was obscured entirely by the magic.

They reached the tower and Styrax wrenched the wyvern over, tilting it to glide with one wing pointing at the wall below. At the same time he tore his hand away from the Skull and released the strands of magic engulfing it. He watched them leap away like a net cast behind a boat. Holding tight to his saddle with his right hand, Styrax guided the wyvern around in a tight spiral, swinging dangerously low over the city to avoid its slender tail catching on the trail of magic.

As they pa.s.sed, the net of magic snagged on the tower's wall and latched on. The remaining energies unravelling from his hand were violently jerked clear and the unfolding net dropped down over the contraption on the tower roof. It caught two thirds of the entire roof surface, a close-knit blanket of fire that sagged off the weapon's protruding edges and ran like molten iron down its sides.

This close he saw the faces of the gunners manning the fire-thrower, staring up in horror at the descending threads of light. The quickest few ducked under the wooden arm of the thrower, but the threads burst into flame as soon as they touched wood or flesh. As the first started screaming, Styrax pulled the wyvern up into a climb. He had no need to hear the cries of pain as the threads cut through flesh and bone. He knew none would survive. The trailing threads had caught it squarely enough to set the entire tower alight.

The wyvern flapped heavily in the suddenly close, heavy air, struggling for a moment to climb before rising above the handful of artillery boats stationed on the Hound Lake and pus.h.i.+ng on to the Menin Army beyond. Styrax turned and sensed the calls to the sky renewed with fearful vigour, the magic becoming ragged with haste. Before his eyes the clouds darkened and turned threatening.

'Most obliging of you,' he murmured. He looked towards his own army and saw the troops had begun to advance to the edge of the artillery barges' range. 'Now see how the winds come to your aid,' he shouted.

Beyn charged up the wooden stair, his boots drumming a hollow tattoo that warned those in his way to move. The Tollhouse was an odd-shaped building, the guard platforms at the top a mere afterthought of construction. He ducked his head through the doorway and blinked away the gloom of inside, heading straight towards General Aladorn, who stood at the thin horizontal window on the eastern wall.

'General, the fire-thrower's almost entirely destroyed,' Beyn blurted out, not bothering with formality now. 'It's inoperable, even if we could replace the gunners quickly.'

'But why,' asked the general, still squinting out of the window, though Beyn knew the old man's eyes were not good enough to see the enemy. 'Why destroy that one in particular?'

'Because he intends to attack that flank,' blurted out Suzerain Etharain, standing next to the general. He was the ruler of the region west of Aroth, and second chair of the Honour Council, but he was an inexperienced soldier.

'Bah, too obvious for this one. Beyn, any reports of the other legions moving?'

The King's Man shook his head. 'They're holding position beyond artillery range.'

The Menin Army had split into three groups to surround the city, each digging defensive encampments to ward off Narkang sorties. Worryingly, one of the armies was composed mainly of Chetse legions, which suggested the invasion force had increased in size since crossing the Waste.

'Daily runs?' Aladorn said, c.o.c.king his head at Beyn. 'He waits for the weather to clear and takes out the next - before long his troops have a free run at the walls, eh?'

'It gives us time to repair,' Beyn pointed out. 'The sky looks ugly now, might take days to clear, and the man's in a hurry - sooner he takes Aroth, the less time he gives the king to prepare.'

Aladorn shook his head. 'Only a fool would plan it so - to try and win the war at a stroke is to forget to win the battle. Let them try to take the city in a day; I would welcome it!' The old man had a defiant look in his eyes, as though daring Beyn to argue.

The King's Man looked away, realising he wasn't going to win any arguments here. Before the silence could stretch out further the first fat raindrops began to fall on the flat tarred roof of the guardroom. Etharain raised an eyebrow as the rain increased rapidly in the next few moments and a rumble of thunder echoed from the heavens. In less than a minute the rain had developed into a deluge.

'The mages know their work,' he commented. The suzerain was a fit-looking man of forty-odd winters. His father had been a trusted captain of General Aladorn's during the conquest of the Three Cities and he had made sure his son knew how to use the sword he carried, but like so many of Narkang's soldiers he'd never been tested in battle. 'G.o.ds, look at it out there. The ground'll be hard going for anyone marching on our walls.'

'Don't rejoice yet,' Beyn said, looking out. The suzerain was right, the mages had done well and a furious rainstorm now battered the city. 'It cuts our visibility, makes life tough for our artillery - Karkarn's iron b.a.l.l.s, I reckon they've overshot this time!'

Deafening peals of thunder crashed out across the plain. A great gust of wind flung a curtain of rain across their view, briefly obscuring everything apart from the dull yellow of the Tollkeeper's Arch ahead. The wind continued to strengthen, becoming a great fist of rain sweeping across the Land. Beyn could just make out the inelegant shapes of the artillery barges, lurching on the lakes.

'Hastars?' General Aladorn snapped, turning to glare at the mage behind him. 'Order them to desist!'

The mage blanched at Aladorn's wrinkled face, despite the fact he was more than a foot taller than the general, bigger even than Beyn. 'This is not the work of the coterie,' Hastars yelped in protest. 'They broke off before he returned!' he added, pointing at Beyn.

'This isn't natural,' Beyn said, advancing towards the mage. 'Look at it.'

Hastars closed his eyes, mouthing a few words then pausing, as though listening to a voice inside his head. The man was modestly gifted, but he was knowledgeable, and able at least to communicate from afar with the two dozen others sitting with linked hands in a nearby warehouse. There were only two battle-mages, but this coterie in unison would most likely serve a more useful purpose against the Menin's overwhelming strength anyway.

Hastars gasped and staggered back, hands clutching his head. A grizzled marshal grabbed him before he fell, but Hastars still looked dazed when he opened his eyes. 'G.o.ds preserve us!' he moaned, 'the storm is being fuelled - The Menin, they are pouring energies into the sky!'

The mage sank to his knees, gulping down air. 'Such power, such power! I barely reached out and . . .' he tailed off, shaking uncontrollably.

Beyn scowled as the rest of the room fluttered round the mage, returning to the view with a growing sense of trepidation. Outside the weather was worsening, grey trails dancing and whirling through the air with increasing fury. Two bursts of thunder boomed out in quick succession, then another as a lance of lightning flashed down to strike the Tollkeeper's Arch.

Oh G.o.ds.

On the surface of the lake something rose up from the water. Though they were indistinct, the grey-blue shapes were far from human. Beyn felt his guts turn ice-cold as the figures reached up to the heavens and began to grow, drifting over the water to form a circle. All around them the storm slashed at the lake and ripped furrows through the surface, churning and spinning into ever-tightening spirals. The figures twisted and danced, writhing with frenetic energy as the lake became increasingly choppy.

'Oh G.o.ds,' came a distant voice, muted against the howl of the wind through the gaps in the wooden walls. Beyn found Suzerain Etharain beside him, face white with horror as he too realised what was happening.

The artillery barges and their attendant boats were rocking violently; Beyn caught sight of one smaller craft just as it was smashed against a ma.s.sive catapult platform. A great spinning column of water heaved up from the surface on the furthest part of Lake Apatorn, and a terrible, unnatural shriek pierced the air.

Around the tower's base danced half a dozen water elementals, the spirits of the lake, whipped into a frenzy of power, while the wind heaved and thrashed around them. Malviebrat were known for their savage, remorseless nature, and now they were being fed power by a grief-stricken white-eye.

The clouds reached down to embrace the huge waterspout, enveloping it with dark, nebulous hands. Thunder continued to crash all around as the storm surged. A sheet of water washed across the narrow window and Beyn and Etharain both flinched back. The King's Man realised he was digging his fingernails into the wooden sill. With a great groan the waterspout lurched abruptly forward and Etharain moaned with dismay as it started for the barges.

The smaller craft started away from its terrible path, only to be hunted down by the tornado's savage outriders. Standing tall on the water, twice the height of any man, the water elementals smashed and pummelled at men and boats alike, battering both into broken pieces while the waterspout roared on. With one final lurch it caught the first of the artillery barges and ripped the arm from its catapult.

The great wooden beam was tossed high in the air, discarded like a broken match. The rest of the weapon soon followed, then the entire barge was flipped on its side with careless ease and hurled end-over-end to carve a path of destruction through the remaining scows.

The tornado charged inexorably for the next, driven by a vicious will, and ripped it apart, plank by plank. One, then two, then four, all of them torn apart like the toys of an enraged G.o.dchild, while the Malviebrat danced and wors.h.i.+pped at its base, the shrieking wind a fitting prayer for their monstrous fervour. In seconds the artillery barges had been reduced to kindling, and now the waterspout lurched again, changing direction to rip a path over the stony sh.o.r.e of the causeway. The air filled with dirt and the tornado took on a darker hue as it gathered weapons to smash the remaining flotilla on the Hound Lake, already abandoned by its terrified crews.

'Summon the troops,' Beyn whispered hoa.r.s.ely, his throat suddenly dry. 'They're coming up the causeway. p.i.s.s and daemons, they'll punch straight into the city unless we stop them at the wall!'

'Move you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!' the sergeant roared as wardrums sounded from the back of the legion.

The heavy beat rolled over the thousand soldiers who moved off, spear-points high. Behind them the scarred savages of the Chetse Lion Guard bellowed, axes raised high as they screamed their berserk rage at the distant enemy. The rain continued to beat down, smearing the blue painted symbols adorning their segmented bronze breastplates.

The Chetse warriors wore bronze helms sporting Lord Styrax's Fanged Skull emblem, with gauntlets and greaves all built to be used as additional weapons. Every other man carried a heavy s.h.i.+eld on his back, for when arrows were raining down or they were about to charge a wall of spear-points.

Lord Styrax nudged his wyvern forward and looked down the line of troops. The ma.s.sive creature huffed and waddled forward, unused to walking with its wings furled but obeying. The flight had temporarily drained its eagerness for battle, he was glad to note, not intending to use the creature further. For the first time his Chetse allies and own heavy infantry would fight side by side. He wanted to be in the midst of them, leading from the front and reminding them all why they followed him.

A bolt of lightning arced down from the heavens with an ear-splitting crash, striking the smoking tower Styrax had already attacked, adding to the ruin. From his position atop the wyvern he could see the wreckage of boats and barges on the two lakes. His arm was outstretched toward the Hound Lake, fist half-closed, as he contained and controlled the power of the waterspout. It was smaller now, its energy bleeding up into the ever-darkening clouds above as the storm howled with increasing fury, driven on by Styrax's steady release of the magic until it was safe to let free.

The Menin troops were undaunted. With two regiments out in front they tramped with grim purpose towards the causeway, tight ranks of steel-clad infantry forcing their way through the deepening mud.

Styrax dismounted and beckoned over a messenger. 'Tell General Gaur he has the command,' Styrax roared over the shrieking wind. Once he was stuck in the thick of the fighting, Styrax knew he'd be in no position to issue tactical commands.

The messenger's reply was lost in the tumult, but his salute indicated he'd heard the white-eye's order. Gaur was stationed with the rearguard, waiting to give the order to the flanking divisions to march on the city, a.s.suming there were no surprises waiting.

As the messenger hurried away Styrax waited for the legion to move ahead and his bodyguard to fall into position beside him. A regiment of Bloodsworn knights, much of their heavy black armour stripped down so they could march on foot, quickly took up their positions around him. The fanatical Menin elite numbered only five hundred in total: a mix of young n.o.bles and experienced soldiers, the match of any troops in the Land. It was rare to see them on foot - they were normally the heart of a Menin cavalry charge - but their horses would be no use here.

The troops on the road made good progress, una.s.sailed by defenders on land or water, and within minutes they were at the Tollkeeper's Arch. The long stone building had been abandoned by the city's defenders, and although regiments of archers were stationed behind the shallow ca.n.a.l, a hundred yards from the Tollkeeper's Arch, the wind and rain took their toll.

The leading regiments barely noticed the falling arrows as they swarmed over the yellowstone building, and when the remaining legions reached the arch and began to negotiate the ditches flanking it, the archers and crossbowmen gave up entirely and scampered back towards their lines, leaving the Menin free to reform their ranks at leisure on the causeway.

Styrax made his way to the long central hall of the Tollkeeper's Arch, past the abandoned stations where goods were checked and taxed before entering the city. At the other end he stared out at Aroth. On his right the rain, funnelled by some quirk of the roof, formed a sheet of falling water that almost entirely obscured his view of the larger lake. He took a long breath and tasted the air; the rain had washed away all other scents, leaving the morning air clean. Under the deluge Aroth seemed smaller, diminished somehow. Its sandstone towers took on an aged and decrepit mien, like long-abandoned watchtowers on an unused frontier.

'My Lord,' called a man behind him, and Styrax turned to see Army Messenger Karapin standing to attention, a rare fervour in the man's grey eyes. Karapin had volunteered to follow him into battle, his ceremonial bra.s.s vambraces and a broadsword his only protection as he waited to carry his lord's orders. He had been born less than fifty miles from Styrax's home village, and he considered the risk to be the greatest honour of his life.

'All ready?' Styrax asked.

'The legions are in position,' Karapin confirmed with a bow.

'Drummers, sound the attack.' Styrax heard the hunger in his own voice, the red rage straining to be released. If Karapin noticed, he made no sign as he stepped out into the rain and signalled the nearest regimental drummer. In moments the call was taken up and the Menin troops roared their approval.

Amidst the tumult he could still make out the thousands of Chetse voices bellowing l.u.s.tily, ready to follow him to war. Styrax stepped out from the arch, surveying his men as he drew his fanged broadsword. The clamour increased a notch as the first ranks set off, within them units of engineers who carried the temporary bridges for the ca.n.a.l.

The Bloodsworn knights gathered around him and one unfurled Styrax's stark black and red banner. Styrax reached over and plucked the tall standard from the man's hands, raising it and turning to the troops behind him, both Menin and Chetse.

'Tell them!' he shouted over the tramp of feet and the pouring rain, 'raise your voices and tell them we're coming! Tell them even the G.o.ds themselves should fear us!'

The thousands of soldiers howled in response and hammered weapons on their s.h.i.+elds. The sound boomed out across the Land in rising waves, almost drowning out the thunder that crashed over the city. Legion after legion lifted their heads and roared a warning to the skies. In the distance the towers of Aroth reverberated, shuddering behind the curtain of rain.

Beyn ran forward, beating at the disordered mob and screaming himself hoa.r.s.e in an effort to get them to move. Frightened faces turned his way, uncomprehending, until those in the lead finally set off again.

'You! Captain! Look at me, you f.u.c.k!' Beyn yelled, lurching to the left as he spotted another regiment of pikemen appearing around the corner of a building. It was only when Beyn fought his way over and grabbed the captain by the throat that he caught his attention. 'You, what's your name?'

The young man looked at him in blind panic for a moment, struggling in vain to free himself. The soldiers around him started forward, then shrank back as they saw the golden bees on Beyn's armour, the mark of the king.

Beyn shook him like a terrier, and screamed for the third time, 'Your name, soldier!'

'Dapplin,' the young captain croaked shakily, 'Captain Dapplin of the First City Legion.'

'Congratulations, Captain,' Beyn shouted, 'you've got a mission.' He gestured at the ground between them and the makes.h.i.+ft wall they'd constructed across a bottleneck of loading stations at the wharf. In the centre stood the Tollhouse, the semi-fortified building where the customs-tolls were kept before being moved to the city treasury. General Aladorn and his cohorts had been evacuated and replaced with archers. Behind the wall was a line of troops, three-deep at the moment, with officers frantically trying to drive more in behind. Thought they looked formidable, they were raw troops holding spears in trembling hands, and the Menin had more than just minotaurs to breach the line.

'Grab another regiment from your lot and form up in squad blocks behind the main line of archers.' He gave the captain another shake. 'Don't get sucked in until your job's done, and don't, for pity's sake, get in the way of the reinforcement troops!'

'You don't want us to fight?' Dapplin yelled back, recovering his senses. 'The order was to send every last man on the streets to the wall.'

'You get a s.h.i.+ttier job,' Beyn said. 'They'll use the Reavers to breach the line; your job's to stick those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds full of steel before they get that chance!'

'Reavers?' Dapplin gasped, the colour draining from his face.

'Aye, Reavers - now you just shut that f.u.c.king mouth before I shove my fist down it! They'll be coming a handful at a time, so each squad surrounds 'em and works together. Do it as soon as they land and you'll have a better day than the rest of us.' Beyn grabbed the captain by the arm and shoved him towards the ma.s.s of soldiers. 'Move it!'

Once Dapplin had started to lead his men away, Beyn surveyed the chaotic ma.s.s of soldiers. The line was forming as well as he could hope, and tight knots of archers were grouping behind, waiting for the order to fire. What state their weapons would be in was anyone's guess.

The ground either side of the road was sodden, so at least the Menin would have to struggle through a sucking swamp to reach them, it was a poor blessing when the storm was soaking bowstrings and blowing away range-finding arrows like dandelion seeds.

'Cober,' he shouted, looking around blindly until he found the white-eye most recently in the employ of Count Pellisorn. Since the count had been packed off to command the defence of the north wall, Cober had been following Beyn around like a puppy - albeit a puppy carrying a very large axe. Like Daken, King Emin's newest pet, the white-eye was actually an inch shorter than Beyn, but he was far more powerful - and unlike Daken, Cober seemed happy enough to follow Beyn's orders, trusting there would be a fight at the end of it.

'Come on,' Beyn beckoned, leading Cober towards the wall. 'We've work to do.' They gathered every man holding a weapon they could and handed them over to one of the officers commanding the wall, who squeezed them into the defensive line. It was untidy, but Beyn knew they weren't going to win this battle on the straightness of their columns. Their only - slim - chance was to hold on weight of numbers, and that meant pressing into service every man who could hold a spear, and keeping such a press of bodies there that the Menin couldn't break through.

Before he reached the wall warning cries began to come from the front rank. Beyn craned his head until he could just make out the line of spear-points advancing on the wall.

'Down on one knee,' he snapped at Cober.

The white-eye didn't question him, but dropped immediately, as ordered, and Beyn pulled himself onto Cober's substantial thigh, balancing himself with a hand on his shoulder, to raise himself above the defenders. The Menin were close, less than a hundred yards from the wall.

'Archers!' he bellowed, waving frantically, 'Fire, as low as you dare!'

The order was relayed quickly. Half of the raised troops were farmers and citizens, conscripted into service, and useful for little more than wielding a spear and swelling the ranks, but amongst the professionals, there were hundreds of fair archers, and Beyn had seeded the units with as many experienced soldiers as he could spare.

Now they took over, screaming themselves hoa.r.s.e and leading by example. Though the first volley was ragged, the second was an improvement as the bowmen started to get a feel for the cross-wind.

Beyn left them to it and went to shout with the sergeants in the line bellowing for the troops to hold their ground. More men appeared, running to join the rear ranks, waiting for their time of need.

A deep roar rang out: the sound of a thousand voices, foreign voices and more, shouting as they charged. Beyn felt the impact through his feet as much as he heard it, and he was tugging his axes from his belt as the first screams came.