Blades of the Banished - Robert Ryan Page 0,71

Spring Games. Here many of the ancient stone benches had been ripped up, broken, and cast down. Lathmai’s heart would have broken to see it now. Perhaps death had saved her from the sight.

Looking at the destruction of the city around him was like a knife in his heart. He thought that he should have felt rage, but he did not. Instead, despair settled over him: cold, bleak, and inescapable. All things would end, and he among them. Whether it was in the next few minutes, or tonight, or in fifty years, he too would go the way of Esgallien. Was there anything worth living for?

The army thickened. All about them rank after rank of the enemy came to a standstill. Aranloth whipped his staff against the shoulder of an elug, and the crowd parted for him. Lanrik and Erlissa followed close.

It was hard to tell where they were, with the smoke in the air and the massed ranks of the enemy blotting out the view around them, but he knew when they pressed close to Conhain Court. For some reason there was a pause in the fighting, and the sound of arms ceased. But the drums coming up from behind only grew louder.

They passed through the milling elugs. At length, they came to the front of the ranks. There was no fighting. But ahead, separated by a small gap, was Conhain Court. In its vast space the army of Esgallien had assembled, all who had made it here from the wall.

Piled in the gap between the armies were the corpses of the slain. Most were elugs, but there were many men also. Ahead, he saw the Lindrath and some of the generals, but now the moment of greatest danger was come. How to reach them without getting an arrow in the back?

Aranloth did not hesitate. He walked into the open space between the armies. Lanrik and Erlissa followed.

Yet the lòhren knew this was dangerous too. He held up one hand, palm out. And his voice, aided by lòhrengai, hissed across the gap.

“I would speak with your leader,” he said.

The Lindrath stepped a few paces forward. Two generals hesitated and then joined him. They were not alone. A troop of archers set arrows to their bowstrings and shuffled closer as well.

A silence fell over both armies. Lanrik kept walking, his heartbeat suddenly loud.

They reached within a dozen paces.

“Hold!” cried the Lindrath. “That’s close enough. “Speak, and be done. We have no trust for you.”

Aranloth tilted his head. But said nothing.

Lanrik stepped to his side. The arrow points followed him. He did not speak either, but behind them noise grew and there was some sort of commotion.

Lanrik lowered his sword, but with his left hand made the sign of the fox, the sign that only a Raithlin would know.

For a moment, the Lindrath did not see it. When he did, his eyes widened, and Lanrik tilted his head so that his hood fell a little to the side. It was enough; the Lindrath recognized him.

Behind came a series of yells, and then an elùgroth strode forward.

“Wait!” the sorcerer cried.

The Lindrath did not hesitate. “Let them through!” he shouted to the archers. The generals looked at him in confusion.

But the archers did shoot. The elùgroth raced forward, wych-wood staff ablaze, and the arrows loosed upon him sizzled and smoked, turning to ash in the air. None touched him.

The ruse was revealed. Lanrik cast down his cloak, and Erlissa did likewise. They raced toward Esgallien’s army.

Aranloth turned and faced the elùgroth. He too cast aside his disguise. He threw the walnut staff to Erlissa as she passed him, and then swung his staff through the air. The blackness upon it was flung off like drops of water until the wood gleamed white, as did his robes.

The elùgroth halted. He lifted his staff and a bolt of red fire sizzled at Aranloth.

The lòhren stood tall. White fire answered, and Conhain Court thundered. Glass shattered in several of the nearby buildings.

The elùgroth reeled back, but he was not done. Yet he had no chance to attack again. With a mighty thrust, Aranloth stamped the end of his staff against the street. The earth shook. Buildings groaned. A great rumble went through the ground and the cobbles beneath thousands of boots buckled like a wave of water.

Nearby, houses collapsed. The elùgroth retreated. Where he had stood, a massive building tumbled in a ruin of stone and choking dust.

A barrier now lay between Esgallien’s soldiers in Conhain