Then-
- There sounded a muffled explosion, not a gunshot, as Nathan's bolt exploded with force enough to fell a large pine. The flyer's neck blew apart in gristle, cartilage, grey flesh and red ruin, and sent a spray of blood flying on the boulder plains. Completely severed from the neck, the head commenced a crimson-spraying cartwheel to earth, and as the neck collapsed downward and struck the stony ground, so the blanket-like body jackknifed and rose up, hurling the rider free. Behind him, even as he flew, almost three and a half tons of rubbery meat, membrane and alveolate bone crashed down shuddering and raised a cloud of dust. The beast had been a small one of its kind. Meanwhile:
The other flyer had settled to earth and its rider had dismounted. He came at a run, but ducking, weaving, aware now that the group of people on the boulder plains weren't typical Sunsiders. Behind a rocky outcrop, he helped his fellow lieutenant to his feet. The man was shaken but not seriously hurt; metamorphic vampire flesh shrugged off minor cuts and bruises without regard.
But on high - almost as high as an aerie itself and disguised amidst the clouds - a third manta shape rode the night thermals, and its rider was different again. Nor was he alone. Behind him, mantle fluttering and propulsive orifices sputtering, an aerial nightmare pulsed like a monster octopus against the stars: a warrior, accompanying Gorvi the Guile and his men on their way to Sunside. But Gorvi was Gorvi, and having detected strangers on the boulder plains, he'd sent his lieutenants to investigate while he stood off. Now ... he heard the chatter of gunfire, saw the flickering fire of the guns and sensed the shock and astonishment in the minds of his lieutenants.
Gorvi knew something was very much amiss, but the height was too great even for his vampire eyes to make out anything in detail. So now he sent: Destroy all opposition. Take prisoners. See to it! Then, having made contact, he at once received news from one of his men on the ground: a series of frantic, chaotic mind-pictures which brought the entire thing into something of perspective:
A flyer had been downed, crippled or dead ... His lieutenants faced human beings, but not Szgany! . .. There were men and one woman on the ground, pale creatures who appeared weak, but they were armed with incredible weapons ... Even now Gorvi's men were under fire!
All sorts of ideas ranged through the Guile's mind:
Despite what his man had said, Gorvi suspected that this
could only be a party of Travellers (Szgany Lidesci, probably, if their weapons were anything to judge by) on their way over the boulder plains to make a surprise attack on the last aerie. They would know that at sundown Wrathstack was empty of all but thralls and mindless guardian creatures. With their new weapons they would attempt to destroy Gorvi's earthbound guardian warriors in the scree and rubble at the foot of the stack, enter Guilesump and poison his wells, and so forth. Maybe they could break into Mad-manse and destroy the Killglance twins' gaslings in their chambers, and so bring down the entire stack with a mighty explosion! It had been done before, as witness all the toppled aeries of the Old Wamphyri. Indeed, in an age immemorial, it had even been tried in Turgosheim.
And yet ... only a handful of them? No, even with their superior weapons their task was impossible; unless they were a suicide squad - and Gorvi wouldn't put that past the Lidescis, either!
Or perhaps they had simply come to discover the lie of the land for some future invasion. With the rest of the Lords (and the bitch Wratha, of course) already raiding on Sunside, the way had been clear for a covert expeditionary force to make its way unseen over the boulder plains, and so discover a safe route for later use. It had long been a matter of some concern to Gorvi that Guilesump was open to attack from the bottoms ...
... He was brought rudely back from his musing by his man's urgent mind-call: Master, what now?
And: Attack' Gorvi ordered at once. Send in my familiar bats to flush them out and your flyer to crush them. What, do you call yourself a lieutenant? Use your head, man - or lose it! For all their weapons, these people are only human -/odder! So be about your work and never fear. For I, Gorvi, am coming.
And to his warrior: Down! he sent. Down onto the plains. Deflate your bladders and descend. Prepare to create your most powerful exhaust stenches, with which to sicken them
III