for whoever holds her. But here’s the key: that hill right there makes a valley right behind it where they’ll lose sight of us before we climb back up to Cannon Island. When we get into that valley, six of us don the blue clothes as camouflage, and we skirt around the back of the blue bane out of sight. The rest of you go on and save Cannon Island. We go in the opposite direction and stab them in the back.”
They immediately froze up. There was one impossibility to her plan. It involved them leaving the White. They were Blackguards.
“No, she’s right,” Gill Greyling said, speaking up for the first time. “Sometimes the best way to protect your ward is to leave her.”
Commander Fisk rapidly picked out six Blackguards—all fast, and rather than picking massive, wide-bodied men, he picked only those with more slender body types, who’d be harder to spot among the forest of blue crystal trees. He made himself the seventh choice.
“Seven?” she asked.
“Lucky number,” he said.
As for that, she herself and Grinwoody would actually make it a pagan nine, which might well be the wights’ lucky number—but now wasn’t the time to quibble.
“Our goal is the seed crystal,” Karris told her people in case she died before the job was finished. “Killing the Mot is secondary. When we kill the seed crystal, the entire bane-island will turn to dust. So when you feel that blue crystal go, get ready to swim.”
‘When,’ she’d said, not ‘if.’
Chapter 127
“We don’t defend,” Kip said. “We attack.” He was already back in the mirror array. “I’ll slave a light to each of you with superviolet. They might not check until too late. You’ll maybe get one chance to draft—just one. You reach up with your will, and you’ll get lit up with your color, as much as you can use, and all the wights around you will be drowned in the worst colors for them. The bane will react. They’ll shut you down within seconds, so only use this as a last resort, and then empty yourself with black or you will die, got it?”
They didn’t ask stupid questions.
Kip looked around at them quickly. Dammit, but Kip could really use Teia’s skills now. He really could use Cruxer’s, too—but there was no time to think about that. You use what you’ve got.
“Ferkudi,” Kip said. Ferkudi was a blue/green bichrome and thus susceptible to control from either of those colors. “Go kill the red bane. The Dagnu wears the seed crystal on a necklace. You kill the god, smash the crystal. The bane will fall apart and everyone’ll be able to draft red again.”
Big Leo was a sub-red and red. “Big Leo, you go to the blue. There’s a squad there that’s about to need help badly. Smash the blue seed crystal.
“Winsen, green is yours. Try stealth. The seed crystal’s hidden at the top of the highest tree-thing. The Atirat’s important, but it’s a distant second.”
Ben-hadad was a blue/green/yellow polychrome. “Ben, I killed the Molokh, but a new one’s stepping up. Destroy the orange seed crystal. Wait—on second thought, orange and sub-red both have new masters. It’ll take a few minutes for us to figure out how adept they are with their new powers. You make your own call once you get down to Big Jasper.”
“Got it,” Ben-hadad said. Of all the Mighty, Kip knew he could trust Ben to figure out the best strategy while weighing his own and the others’ capabilities.
Einin was an orange/red/sub-red polychrome, which meant Kip couldn’t send his newest Mighty against either of the softer targets. “Einin, you’re on yellow. That one might be the most likely to be a one-way trip. You up for that?”
“With all due respect, milord, fuck off. I pull my weight,” she said. She didn’t raise her voice; she was just done with being the new kid.
Kip said, “Glad to hear it. I’m signaling High General Danavis to give all of you a distraction as soon as possible. May help, may not. I’ve already signaled for backup from the Cwn y Wawr. They may come, may not. Things are hot down there.”
He slaved mirrors to each of them, and a red one to Danavis, too, for good measure.
“This is what we need to do? You’re sure?” Big Leo asked. He wanted to fight Kip, wanted to say he should stay by his side, but he also trusted him to lead.
Cruxer would’ve never left, no matter what. But Cruxer was a pain in