darkened blade_ A fallen blade novel - Kelly McCullough Page 0,58
in the fight, including a former Signet who was one of the most powerful mages I’ve ever seen.”
Kelos nodded. “Aral’s right. We probably killed a couple hundred of them at Wall, but the we that did that included some damn fine battle mages, and, once they fell, we had no choice but to run or be overwhelmed. If the risen hadn’t gotten bogged down in fighting the entire population of that part of Wall they might well have caught up to us and finished the job. The risen are tough as hell—hard to kill, even with Namara’s swords—and strong and fast to boot.”
“We do have a few advantages,” said Siri. “The dead are none too bright, and the nature of the trail means they can’t come against us more than two or three at a time. That’s a narrower fighting front than we had at the inn.”
“I wouldn’t bet money on that,” I said. “The first time I met one of the Son’s breed of risen, it came up out of a five-story sewer shaft polished nice and slick. The second flung itself off a keep’s battlements at me right after scaling them. They can climb like insects, and they don’t mind falling substantial distances. If we stop to meet them in a canyon like this one, they’ll be dropping down on us from above within a matter of minutes.”
“A rain of the dead,” Jax said quietly. “That’s how the Kvani took the Dalridian fort at the base of the northern pass—flinging the risen over the walls with catapults. Aral’s right. I’d rather not reenact that particular defeat if we can avoid it.”
“Hadn’t thought of that,” said Siri. “Is there a place on the trail ahead where a few could defend the way against many, Kelos?”
“I don’t think so. Not the way the risen climb. They’ll flank us in minutes if we stand to fight, and there are only four of us with the weapons to kill them reliably. Magic will do the job, too, but even our best aren’t one fifth the mage Signet Toragana was, and they tore her limb from limb.”
“Well,” said Faran, “we can’t outrun them either. Even if we push all through the day tomorrow, we have to stop sometime. Exhaustion will finish us as surely as the restless dead. They can move faster than we can and do it far longer.”
“So, what can we do?” Jax asked.
No one answered her.
That is the question, isn’t it? Triss spoke into the silence of my mind. You’re in much better training and shape than you were when those two almost killed you back while you were helping Maylien, but without the kind of magical support we had from the Signet and the Storms at the inn, I don’t think you and I could take even half a dozen coming at us together. With only four true Blades, we’d have trouble handling much more than two score, and that with a good strategic position and excellent battle mages of our own.
I know, Triss. It’s . . . ugly. We need some way of killing a bunch of them from a distance. And . . . A thought occurred to me.
“We’ll have to use the mountains against them,” I said aloud.
“You have an idea?” asked Siri.
“Maybe. I’m thinking avalanche. It’s a classic, and human troops would know to be on the lookout for it, but it might take the dead by surprise where the living would see it coming.” I looked at Kelos. “Is there a place on the downward slopes where the trail runs along a ledge with cliffs above and a long fall below?”
“There are several,” he replied. “Let me think about whether any of them would be suitable. . . . It can’t be in among any of the switchbacks. An avalanche there might carry our own away, or wipe out the trail ahead—trapping us. There’s also the chance some of the risen will survive any fall and dig themselves out. We don’t want them getting ahead of us and coming in from two sides. What we need is a mountain shoulder above a valley that leads away from our line of travel. . . .”
While Kelos was mulling, I turned my attention to Siri. “You’re our resident magic expert. I want you to cook up some way to get a big chunk of mountainside moving all at once. Borrow Faran or anyone else if you think you can use them.”