you,” I said, putting them at ease. “Now that Jerin is gone, Olet, your father will no doubt wish you to return to Tharsif. That being the case, I will not ask you to leave the walls with us. But the Fornish have catapults and may try to lob something over the walls. I hope you won’t mind burning whatever they send, using your blessing to protect people.”
They both stared at me, looking for deception, and I was content to bear it. Most of the lavaborn were still struggling into their armor anyway. Finally, Olet gave me the barest nod. “We will, Hearthfire.”
“My thanks.” I peered past her to lock eyes with La Mastik. “My apologies for earlier. My anger was…misdirected.”
She didn’t reply, only nodded acknowledgment, but that was good enough. I had a proper focus for my fire now. It was right outside the southern gate. The Fornish would be scrambling to do what damage they could before dawn even as we were scrambling to prevent them. We had traded a few casualties so far, but I looked forward to tipping the scales in our favor. The Fifth Kenning was meant to be burned by the First, and once we dealt with them, the Nentians would be routed just as before, and Baghra Khek would be secure.
—
Eschewing previous practice, Fintan did not dispel the seeming but put on another one, transforming directly into the greensleeve Nel Kit ben Sah.
I had to stifle a cry when I saw Rig Wel ben Lok and his siege crew combust, their screaming silhouettes outlined in fire. How had Gorin Mogen known we were creeping down the mountain? The grassgliders were making sure we moved in silence. Did this have anything to do with the huge fireball we’d seen rise into the sky near sunset after they’d stopped chopping down trees for the day? Something must have upset him, made him suspicious, eager to lash out.
I thought of recalling the attack, for the element of surprise was gone now and it simply wasn’t our season, but if I did that, the Nentians would have no support when they arrived. The Hathrim would huddle behind their walls and wait for them to get close enough to set aflame, and when it was over, they would be nearly impossible to uproot.
So I had to order everyone forward. Speed was our best chance of success now.
I sent Nef Tam ben Wat downhill to the other crews to relay my orders: run directly east, keeping to the trees and the darkness, and then go down to the southeast corner of the city where the clusters of thornhands waited. Mogen might be able to spy the lowest crews at first, but once out of his immediate line of sight, they’d disappear into the darkness and make no sound as they ran thanks to the grassgliders. I withdrew from the kenning of my own crew’s grassgliders so that I could be heard and called out for Vin Tai ben Dar, who was the greensleeve for the crew below mine. I doubted Mogen would hear me above the anguished cries of Rig Wel ben Lok’s crew.
“Would you accelerate the growth of the bantil plants at the south gate? He’s going to send out some houndsmen soon, and if we can clog that gate, it will buy us some time.”
“Aye, Champion,” he replied—a title I was still getting used to—and fell back with his crew so that he could send out his shoots safely and communicate with the bantil plants. I moved back into the sound bubble of my grassgliders, and together we picked up our pace until we were running at a full sprint, heading east on the mountain. The other crews below were doing the same thing, trying to keep themselves shrouded in darkness. Sometimes they tripped as a result, which I managed to do myself—a fine display of leadership. Any light we used from our glowing fungi bulbs could attract the Hearthfire’s attention or that of the spotters he no doubt would have watching soon, so we kept them covered.
Once we cleared the fire, we had to descend rapidly at dangerous speeds to get to the catapults in range. We wouldn’t be able to cover the entire city in spores anymore, but we could at least choke off the eastern gate and force the Hathrim to use only the southern gate if they wanted to get at us. And they would. The spores inside the eastern walls would prevent