Night Calls the Raven (Book 2 of The Master of the Tane) (62 page)

His heart also sorrowed for Chtey. Thane knew what was coming. He knew that retreat would not be an option once Zadok’s army reached the city. He had convinced Jne of the same and both had just come from the stables where they had gathered their mounts and released them with the escaping townspeople. They would have a much better chance of survival on the plains then trapped behind the walls of the city.

There was no way of knowing how long the earth would hold back the wolgs or the rest of the army, if it was, in fact, still holding them back at all. It was something completely new to him, what he’d done with his TehChao Tane to defend against the attacking wolg pack. It wasn’t the same as using any of his other gifts. With the wind he felt he had some control over what happened, where it blew, how fast it went. And with fire it was almost just point and call it forth, though it required the most out of him. With his TehChao Tane he had asked, like Gelfin had instructed, but he had no control over the response. He had not directed the hands where to fall, or even knew that was what would be manifest. It was, however, something he would not hesitate to use again. He only wished he had the time to investigate Gelfin’s other counsel that it was easier to pull water than fire.

“I know what you would ask me,” Jne suddenly said, pulling him out of his thoughts. “But first, I must confess my dishonor of not having fulfilled my promise.”

He looked at her while searching his memory. “What promise?”

She turned toward him, her deep blue eyes taking him in. “The
svaj
,” she said simply. “I promised that I would return with one for you, but I have failed.”

He suddenly felt uneasy, remembering his conversation with Jack. Smiling weakly he said, “There is no dishonor, Jne. We can worry about that later; after the war.”

Jne shook her head. “I made a promise and did not keep it.”

He felt like he was on the top of a very small precipice and the wind was picking up in strength. “What about the rest of the
Rena’ja
?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

He thought, for a moment, that she might try and force the other issue but then she just suddenly turned away. It sent a chill through his heart to see her act so. He had always leaned on her strength and determination and now all that seemed to crumble away.

“I do not know what happened to them,” she finally said, just barely louder than the pressing wind. “I went to our village but nothing was there. No one was there. There was no trace of anyone. I found many tracks leading away from the area in all directions but did not have time to follow any. It was as if they had just suddenly gone mad and run off.

He put a hesitant hand on her shoulder and to his surprise she reached up and grabbed it. It was warm. He felt its warmth filling his whole body and he had the sudden sensation of never wanting to move again; he wanted to just stand there and let life wash over them.

“There is more,” she said, gripping his hand tightly now—almost painfully. “The ground was eaten away in places. Large patches of ground seemed…well…seemed like they had…melted.”

“What?”

She turned, releasing his hand, to his chagrin, and stared at him as if daring him to question her sanity. “I can’t explain it.” Her voice almost quivered, sending a chill up his spine. Never had he ever seen her look so…exposed. Her voice strengthened. “Something deadly and evil happened there. I know it. Not one body remained to mark a battle, but I can feel it in my bones that one took place. I fear my people may be no more,” she ended in a whisper.

Thane grabbed her shoulders forcing her to look at him. “You don’t know that. You said yourself that there were many trails leading away from the area. Whatever happened there, it would seem to me, from what you said, that many escaped.”

Jne shook her head. “That is what worries me the most. My people do not run. They would have all died fighting.”

He was terrified to guess what
Jne’s story might mean. He felt he might have an idea but did not want to imagine that it could be true. It couldn’t. He felt his heart beating fast and hard in his chest, the sound of it pounding in his ears. Then he realized that what he heard was not his heart at all, but the banging of distant drums.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The alarm had been sounded and all available soldiers had been summoned to the walls. The east gates had been shut, closing in half the city’s occupants who had not been swift enough or who had been bogged down in the rush to quit the city. They stood by the gates now, many demanding that they be let out not caring that the enemy was already upon them. A hundred soldiers had to be dispatched to the area to keep the people from rioting.

“They should consider themselves lucky,” Dainz commented to Jack, who had offered his help with the evacuation. “Many of those who left may not get very far if the enemy overtakes them.”

“At least they’ll have a chance at getting away,” Jack replied. “The rest of us are trapped like livestock waiting to be slaughtered and eaten.”

“But what can we do?” Dainz shot back. “To let them out would only bring them certain death while opening the door for the enemy to come in. We can’t risk either.”
              Jack pulled at his beard gazing at the crowd without really seeing them.
How do we get them out
? No longer were they there to defend the city from breech. Everyone knew that the city would eventually be overrun. But they needed to hold back the enemy as long as possible so the innocent could escape. Their war had been turned into a rescue mission.

Do we all ride out together and take our chances
? For a moment, that seemed to be the best answer but Jack shook it from his mind.
That might work if everyone were mounted
.
Those without a horse would just slow the rest down and all then would be goblin fodder
.
There must be another way
. Then it came to him. “The tunnel!”

“What?” Dainz stared at him as if not comprehending what he’d said. Then it hit him.
“The king’s road?”

Jack nodded. “Yes. Get your men on it right away. I want these people filing into the tunnel in ten minutes.”

Dainz grabbed his arm. “But that road is for the king’s use only; you know that.”

Jack shot him a withering look. “If the king had not been such a pompous idiot to begin with, we wouldn’t need to soil his precious road with commoner’s feet now would we? Just get on it. We don’t have much time, unless you’d rather just turn them over to the enemy now and be done with it, because there is no way we will have the strength to hold off the force that comes. Do it! The sooner we get them down there and on their way, the sooner we can follow and possibly save our own lives.”

Dainz nodded slowly, knowing all too well what they faced having barely escaped the battle at the wall. Jack was right, and he knew it. Calling to his lieutenants they got the crowd turned and then walking in single file to the city center and the colonel’s office where the metal plated hole and ladder waited—the king’s road.

All the major cities and fortresses had a hole like it somewhere in the city. They had been dug centuries before to allow the king and the royal family to escape should they ever come under attack. The hole and ladder dropped into a catacomb of tunnels that spilt off into many different directions meant to mislead any who might follow.

“Always stay to the center.” The guard called out as he helped people down through the opening in the floor. “Stay to the center tunnel or you’ll be lost for sure.”

“But where does it come out?” one lady clutching a child asked, the tremble in her voice revealing her terror.

The soldier shrugged. “Don’t rightly know miss, exceptin’ that it be a good distance from here. You just stay to the center tunnel and you’ll get away just fine.”

Jack and the captain left the evacuation work to his lieutenants and rushed through the emptying streets toward the west gates where the enemy was certain to attack first. Jack shook his head at some of the town’s people who were still boarding up their shops or packing carts with their wares as if they thought to return. They had no idea that their town would no longer exist, as well as their lives forfeit if they didn’t hurry up and make it to the line to get out. He and Dainz yelled at many to go but only received rude gestures in return. It was no good trying to convince some people that their lives were worth more than the things they left behind.

Reaching the gate, they ascended the stairs to the wall and met with Ranse, Jace, Dor and Tam who had already joined Thane and Jne on their watch. Colonel Braxton remained on the ground giving last minute instructions to the men defending the gate. The clouds still kissed the ground shrouding the whole area in misty cover but were beginning to loosen their grip allowing the defendants at the wall to see further out. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle but was still enough to keep everything soaked. Tam lifted her nose to the wind testing its scent and quickly determined that it would continue well into the night. She hoped that that would turn to their advantage.

The drums continued to grow louder but were now coming from the right and the left as well as straight on giving everyone a sense of the sheer size of the army they faced. Thane could sense the anxiety in the soldiers closest to him. There was a feeling in the air of hopeless resolve. They knew that they would not make it out of the city alive. Thane only hoped that they used that knowledge to make certain their deaths were noble and for the good of those now trying to get away.

He forced back the sadness that threatened to overcome him. He knew that it was all for naught, but still he would do all in his power to protect his people against the wave of evil coming at them. Should it mean he waste away while giving every ounce of energy in using his gifts, he would do it. He looked at Tam and Dor, strangely happy that they would all be together when they perished. He didn’t fear death, knowing that life was only a short stop along the road through eternity.

“They’re surrounding us,” Dor’s voice suddenly broke through the silence that shrouded the wall.

“He’s right,” Ranse said. “The drums at the center remain stationary while the ones on the right and left are fading.

Dainz looked back over his shoulder. “May Seless protect those who escaped through the eastern gate,” he whispered, knowing in his heart that many would be cut down before their flight to get away ever really began.

“We’re lost,” Jack said. “Before the battle even begins, we’re lost. We don’t have the manpower to cover the walls all around the city. Not against an army this size.”

They waited through the long hours of the night as the drums continued to beat, their constant banging growing louder at the gate and then fading away to the right and left as the army continued to fill the area surrounding Haykon. Braxton had spread his men out along the wall as best he could but knew that they were too weak to maintain it against siege towers or a massive rush of ladders and hooks.

An hour before dawn, Dainz reported to his superior that the last of the townspeople had escaped through the king’s road save for a group of stragglers who refused to leave their shops and goods. Braxton merely nodded his understanding. There were always those few who refused to accept the truth, placing greater value on external things than life itself. Their possessions would be destroyed with them.

The drums continued all night, their thudding growing louder as more and more joined the constant thumping. Sleep was all but impossible as the city’s defenders awaited their fate. A mixture of anxiety, rain and the constant drumming keeping eyes from staying closed for very long. At least the clouds had risen near midnight clearing the field for eyes to see though the enemy kept back and out of sight, even for the sharp eyes of the Chufa. The rain did not cease though, leaving everything and everyone thoroughly soaked as the gray light of dawn began stretching out from the east.