through her records before talking to Yggur and Flydd. ‘I’ve found something strange,’ she said. ‘When Vithis draws heavily on the massive node at the Hornrace, a field near Morgadis dies down, as does another on the southern end of Lake Parnggi, and a third at Hardlar, on the coast of the Karama Malama. They must be linked in some way. And these nodes between Gnulp Landing and Gospett have completely failed.’
‘Will they regenerate?’ asked Yggur.
‘I have no idea.’
‘Anything else?’
‘A group of four nodes in the Tacnah Marches, here, seem to be affected by power you’re drawing in Fiz Gorgo.’
‘Is that so?’ said Yggur. ‘What about the lyrinx?’
‘Doubtless they’re affecting other nodes,’ said Tiaan, ‘but I don’t know enough to tell. Wait! I remember a node way down south that was fluctuating wildly.’
‘Where was that?’ said Flydd, who had a large leather satchel slung about his neck and was fiddling with the fastenings.
‘Near the Island of Noom, in the Kara Agel, in late spring. I could take another look at it, if you like,’ said Tiaan.
‘There isn’t time to go so far,’ said Flydd. ‘Klarm tells me that the enemy have made a great breakthrough.’
‘When did this intelligence come in?’ said Yggur. ‘And how does he know?’
‘He reported just a few minutes ago. I don’t know how he’s done it but Klarm even has spies within their cities. He believes they’re planning a massive strike in early spring, to overwhelm all our defences.’
‘What kind of breakthrough?’ said Yggur.
‘Klarm didn’t know, but they’ve made great strides in flesh-forming lately,’ said Flydd. ‘The nylatl they let loose last spring were just a trial, since perfected.’
‘Where did you hear that?’ said Yggur.
Opening the satchel, Flydd slid something onto the table. Tiaan screamed and leapt halfway across the room.
‘It’s dead!’ said Flydd. ‘Klarm sent it back from the city west of Thurkad.’
‘Sorry,’ she said, feeling shaky. ‘I still have nightmares about the nylatl.’ Tiaan peered at it from a distance. Nothing could have induced her to go up close. ‘It looks … different.’
‘They call it an uggnatl, I believe. The skull is flatter, the armour thinner, while the legs aren’t armoured at all. It’s leaner, longer, and much faster.’
‘It looks like a spiny, short-tailed rat,’ said Tiaan. ‘A rat the size of a small dog.’ The teeth were large, sharp and angled back. ‘Once it gets hold of you, it won’t let go. You’d have to cut it off.’
‘The nylatl were designed to take a lot of punishment, but it made them slower and less agile,’ said Flydd. ‘These little beasts have been formed for one purpose only: to inflict as much damage as they can. The venom is stronger and they’re as agile as a rabbit.’
‘Easy to kill,’ said Yggur.
‘But hard to hit,’ Flydd retorted. ‘Ten thousand of them would turn any battlefield into a slaughterhouse, and they’ll have a lot more than that by spring. Klarm believes they’re breeding them in all six cities.’
‘What can we do about them?’ said Yggur.
‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’
‘We don’t have any choice. We’ll have to attack first,’ said Flydd that night, when they were all gathered in Yggur’s workroom. ‘Soon; well before winter.’
‘How ready are your forces, Troist?’ called Yggur.
‘Borgistry’s army, and my own, have replaced most of our casualties. We number fifty-six thousand, more or less.’ Troist’s voice came from the farspeaker globe on the centre of the long table. ‘Plus a thousand from Clan Elienor, and the levees and volunteers from north, south and east. We didn’t get all we were promised but they’ve sent another twenty thousand. Though few have combat experience.’
‘That’s considerably less than the enemy can field in the west,’ muttered Flydd, ‘if they send all their fighters out at once. And they’re not wasted from hibernation now. They’re well-fed and fit.’
‘How do we stand on the east coast?’ asked Yggur.
‘They’re as prepared as they can be,’ said Troist. ‘Between them they can field one hundred and twenty thousand troops, and twenty-five thousand clankers. Formidable forces, but they’re a continent away and have their own enemies to fight.’
‘Roros has the thapter I sent to Crandor,’ said Flydd, ‘and the eastern manufactories have built dozens of air-floaters. And they have many farspeakers now, though the enemy numbers are vast.’
‘Wasn’t your overseer working on making more thapters?’ said Yggur.
‘Tuniz has had a manufactory given to her for that purpose,’ Flydd said. ‘But even with Mechanician M’lainte’s help, it’ll be at least six months before they can produce the first thapter. There’s too much to