withdrawing to the Ruined Keep,” Stormbreaker murmured, sounding so weak Nic almost didn’t recognize his voice. “Stone’s last line of defense, and the last hope of those Stone protects.”
Stormbreaker gestured in the direction of the Lost Path, and Nic saw that the side gates were indeed open. From what he could see through the dense mists, Stone Brothers and Sisters were lining either side of the path, shepherding apprentices and their many charges into the dangers waiting in the clouds of the Deadfall.
“The trial,” he said, as much to himself as to Aron. “Every guild member knows the way, and knows the dangers of the path. Because of the trial, they know exactly what to do, and they don’t fear the Deadfall like everyone else.”
“And there are supplies, checked regularly and restocked,” Aron said, sounding awed and chagrined. “I never understood—but, yes, all the children and infirmed will fit inside the Ruined Keep, and the guild and other able adults will defend them. The mockers and manes and predators will be like an extra army, this time in the service of Stone.”
Nic held on to Aron as he stared into the valley.
He had heard that no army had ever successfully laid siege to the fortress at Triune—but what of two armies?
And if his visions of his mother and Mab’s forces were true, Stone would soon be contending with three massive forces, assuming they joined in the same aim and didn’t fall to fighting each other.
Nic reached out with his graal, careful to keep his search private, and estimated the positions of Lord Ross and Lord Cobb.
“The others are nearly in place,” he told Aron and Stormbreaker and Snakekiller. Then, to Aron, he said, “Do you sense Kate?”
Aron searched the ground below with new intensity, and Nic did what he could to share his graal strength with his friend, wondering if this might be the last time.
“There.” Aron pointed to a spot near the center of the main gate and keep. “I’ll get word to Dari and Lord Ross before we start down the hill.”
Nic thought he could make out a large covered carriage, and some red-robed figures surrounding it. A tiny flow of multicolored graal seemed to cling to the carriage. If he hadn’t been looking so closely, and sharing energy with Aron, Nic wouldn’t have noticed it at all. It was similar to Dari’s, yet different, and Nic supposed that even identical twins might have some differences.
The carriage and its protectors were located directly in the middle of the thickest part of the army, and Nic had no doubt the fighting would be brutal—which made his next words even more difficult. “I have to go, Aron. And I need Tek.”
Aron went stiff in his saddle, and didn’t even turn to confront Nic’s bold statement. Nic sensed Aron using his own mind-talents to assess the truth of Nic’s statement, and felt his friend sag forward when he found it.
For a long few moments, Aron didn’t move at all. As Nic well understood, knowing the truth and acting on it were two different struggles.
At last, wordless and wooden in his motions, Aron placed Tek’s reins on the talon’s neck. Snakekiller and Stormbreaker offered no argument, but Nic saw Snakekiller check the cinching on her stirrups and refasten the strap on her nearest scabbard.
“You can’t go with me,” he said.
“I will ride beside you,” came her response, absolute and unwavering. “If I can’t accompany you to your ultimate destination, I’ll see you as far as I can—or as far as I’m able.”
Nic weighed this as Aron slipped out of the saddle and landed nimbly on the ground. Nic slid himself forward and took Tek’s reins in his own hands, and he understood that Snakekiller would be going with him.
He hadn’t seen that in his visions, but he should have.
Snakekiller would never leave him unprotected, though when he reached the Mab army, she would have to turn back or seek shelter. Nic didn’t have time to weigh out what this would mean, or sort it out in his visions of the future.
All he knew was that when he came face-to-face with his mother again, when he at last stared down her madness and forced her to acknowledge him and the reality of her choices and actions, he would have to do so alone.
Nic paused only to give Aron time to mount Stormbreaker’s bull and secure himself behind his former guild master in the saddle.
“If I don’t come back—” he began, but Aron stopped