various furnishings left behind by the evacuated populace. Tiles were scraped from roofs to lay bare the timbers, and every spare stick of wood from the houses of the second tier was transported to the lower, whilst coal was piled in liberal quantities on every street corner. With this done, Varij set to work, using his gift to pull down carefully selected buildings at various junctions in order to create choke points. He proved tireless in his labour, staggering a little as he crumbled the foundations of the last house, the entire structure subliming into a dense pile of brick and wood.
“More?” he asked Vaelin, using a rag to wipe away the copious blood leaking from his nose and eyes.
“I think that will suffice,” Vaelin assured him. “Best if you go and stand with your mistress. She’ll need your protection when it starts.”
The young Gifted gave a weary but grateful nod and started towards the second tier, pausing to add, “Many times I’ve used this gift so the Darkblade could conquer a place. It feels good to use it to save one.” He gave a tired smile and moved in a determined but somewhat uneven trot.
The contents of every intact structure were then liberally doused in oil, and additional clay pots brimming with fuel were placed at the choke points, ready to be shattered when the time came. Despite the discipline and energy with which the Merchant soldiery went about the task, Vaelin was grateful for the long summer sun, which kept the Darkblade’s towers at bay until the last oil had been thrown and the bulk of the troops withdrawn to the second wall.
The towers began their slow approach to the outer wall just as the sun began to dip towards the earth. Vaelin assumed Kehlbrand, or some keen mind under his thrall, had calculated the precise moment for the towers to lower their ramps onto the battlements just as darkness fell. They were no longer drawn by oxen, but pushed by people. A long narrow column of Redeemed extended from the rear of each tower’s base, pushing on beams sprouting from a pole some two hundred paces in length. They chanted as they pushed, heaving the massive constructions forward in time to their rhythmic battle prayers. Behind the pushers marched a great mass of Redeemed and dismounted Stahlhast. They halted before coming into bowshot of the walls whilst the towers kept on. Vaelin assumed the infantry would rush forward to scale the towers once they reached the wall and lowered their ramps.
“Crossbows forward!” he barked. Whilst the bulk of the nearest tower concealed the pushers from direct assault, they could still be assailed from the flanks. He moved to the forefront of the western bastion, standing alongside the crossbowmen as they loosed their bolts. Several Redeemed fell at the first volley, mostly those near the end of the pole, but dozens of their comrades sprinted forward to take their place, and the cadence of the chant barely faltered.
“You know the plan!” Vaelin called to the surrounding crossbowmen. “When you’re down to your last two bolts, run for the second tier! Do not linger!”
He ducked as an arrow arced down from the top of the nearest tower, the steel head striking a spark as it careened off a stone buttress. The summit of each tower featured a dozen Stahlhast archers. Fortunately the hail of bolts forced them to bob up from cover only intermittently, preventing a clear view of how thinly held the walls were this night. Some ten thousand soldiers had been spread around the battlements as the day wore on, ordered to keep marching back and forth under different banners to create the illusion that Sho Tsai had chosen to contest the outer wall with his full strength. All had orders to retire at speed to the second tier when the towers came within ten yards of the wall.
Vaelin found Ellese and Jihla waiting at the top of the stairwell, the Skulls thronging the steps below. Kihlen waited with the Red Scouts near the eastern gate whilst Eresa, whose sparks could ignite an oil-soaked timber as well as any flame, was positioned to the south with Nortah and a group of hand-picked soldiers.
“It won’t be long now,” Vaelin assured the young Gifted, receiving a forced, wavering smile in response. What she had done the night before clearly still weighed heavily, but he found himself impressed by her refusal to succumb to it.