estimate, Warmaster Lararl of the Range of Shuar had something like a quarter of a million of them.
And they weren't what had frightened him.
The plains at the base of the plateau, all of them, all of them, for as far as the eye could see... glowed softly green.
They were covered in the croach.
And the croach was covered in Vord.
There was no way for him to count them. Simply no way. There were too many. It was like staring down at an uprooted anthill. Black forms moved everywhere, seething over the landscape below, rushing and flowing in organized channels that reminded Tavi uncomfortably of a network of veins pulsing with dark blood. They spread from horizon to horizon, all moving forward, an inexorable pressure being exerted upon the massive Shuaran fortifications.
The Canim fought. They had already piled chitinous black corpses into miniature mountains, but still the Vord came on.
And the world behind them was nothing but dark, alien shadows and eerie green light.
Varg stared down on the land below with an expression and posture Tavi had never seen on any Cane. His ears had simply slumped, falling limply in slightly different directions. The dark fur not covered by his armor almost seemed to go flat against his skin. He stared for long, silent moments before he finally said, in a whisper, "Tarsh in command of Molvar. Molvar, the mighty fortress. Built to defend Shuar against my people."
Max made a hissing sound of sympathetic pain.
Tavi bowed his head.
Varg turned flat, dull eyes to Anag. "When?"
"Almost two years ago," Anag said. He looked from the battle back to the rest of them. "Narash was only the first to fall, Warmaster. The other ranges are gone. They're all gone."
"Gone?" Varg said.
Anag looked back down to the battle, his manner weary. "Only Shuar remains."
Chapter 17~18
Chapter 17
"Suddenly," Max said, "I feel very small. And as though I have been somewhat arrogant."
"Um," Crassus said. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Yes."
Durias stared out at the sight below them, his craggy face bleak.
"Now we know why Sarl decided to abandon Canea and invade Alera," Tavi murmured, thinking aloud. "He must have seen it beginning and guessed where it would lead."
Kitai turned her green eyes toward Tavi and stared at him intently.
So did everyone else.
Bloody crows, Tavi thought. They're all looking at me.
Tavi surveyed the massive struggle raging below once more, careful to keep his face calm and relaxed, nodded once as if it had told him something, though he had no idea at all-yet-what that might be, and turned to Anag. "I'd say that we have matters to discuss with your Warmaster. Let's waste no time."
Anag inclined his head slightly to one side and immediately turned his taurg and began riding back to rejoin his column.
Tavi and the others set out after him, but when Tavi noticed that Varg had not moved, Tavi drew his mount up short. He gestured for the others to keep going, and rode back to Varg's side.
The Cane stared down at the battle below with dull, unfocused eyes.
"Varg," Tavi said.
The Cane did not respond.
"Varg," he said, louder.
There was no response.
Tavi glanced after the others. The freezing rain had come on thicker, and combined with the dark they were out of sight, as was the battle below. He and the Cane were alone.
For the first time since mounting the beast, Tavi took his taurg prod from where it hung on its saddle hook. It weighed as much as a smith's hammer, at the end of a three-foot handle to boot. He debated reaching down through the taurg to the earth below for strength but decided against it. He had enough raw muscle, barely, to control the heavy tool.
Tavi whirled it once and slammed it as hard as he could into Varg's chest.
The ball of the prod thudded against the Cane's armored chest, and sent Varg sprawling back, nearly knocking him out of the taurg's saddle entirely. The taurga immediately bellowed at one another, butting heads and ramming shoulders for half a minute before they backed away, settling down again.
Varg stared at Tavi in shock, then bared his fangs and reached for his sword.
Tavi smiled at him, showing teeth, and put the prod back on its hook. "I have work to do. I have a duty to my people back at Molvar." He turned his mount back toward the column, adding, over his shoulder, "So do you."
Tavi wasn't sure how Varg was going to react to what he had just done. Physical violence among the