The way he said it made Allavin want to lay down and sleep for three days straight. Convincing him would be a banned waste of time. His eyes burned with fatigue, his stomach grumbled, and his patience withered. “You are if you don’t listen to common sense, General. I’ve been with the Shae long enough to know…”
Shearmur’s breath hissed out sharply. “You’ve been with them so banned long that you might as well swear by all the Rules of Forbiddance. I appreciate your insight, Devers, but Ballinaire is not going to divide his forces. Not in the face of a superior one…especially the knights of Owen Draw. There is a debt that only blood will be the coin for. He would be stark raving mad if he divided his army right now.”
Allavin shook his head and sighed. A bedroll, a flask of wine, and a meal. Some warm wheat bread with honey butter drizzled over the slices.
“How long has it been since you slept?”
Allavin chuckled. “I take a little here and there when I can. Post a rearguard, General. Just in case.”
Shearmur nodded. “Already did. It’s good advice, even if I don’t believe you. I’ve studied Ballinaire’s tactics since I was old enough to read. I’ve talked to the old ones of Owen Draw…I’m talking the men with whiskers down to their boots. The half-blind old crows who fought with him during the Purge Wars. He’s kept us all dodging right and left because we can’t outthink him. Now you’re telling me that a greenling Shae who has hid in the oaks of Avisahn has?” He snorted.
Allavin scratched his elbow and sighed. “You’re wrong about Ballinaire, General. You may think you know the man, but the seasons have changed. I’ve been down here in the Shoreland for weeks now, watching them.” He looked Shearmur in the eyes. “I was close enough to him once to put an arrow through his greaves. My Shae friends nearly did. The Bandits turned something loose on us worse than a Sleepwalker. I know you’ve seen a Druid-priest’s magic, Shearmur.”
The General nodded and massaged his stump. “I have. I don’t understand it, but I have. They say that the Shae work the magic as well.”
“What I’m saying is that only Shae magic can stop Ballinaire now. You say that Amberdian and Sypher are coming down. I’m saying it doesn’t matter a sack of chickpeas. I’ve fought the Kiran Thall since I was twelve. But if I put an arrow in one now, they come back awake. They fall and bleed, but then their eyes roll back and they come back alive again. They’re killers, General. And they hate us.”
“Oh, I think we share those feelings, Devers. You’ve said to trust that Shae magic will save us. It seems like they’ve truly roused themselves from Avisahn this time, which surprises me. But if they don’t want to make a Pax with Dos-Aralon in this war, what am I supposed to do? Beg for one? Retreat and let them fight Ballinaire?” He shook his head and turned. The gaze he gave Allavin was cunning. “You don’t think they’ve made a Pax with the Rebellion, do you?”
Allavin laughed. “No, General. That one’s easy. The Bandits are using Forbidden magic. That’s why Avisahn is joining the fight. I can’t say that I understand anything about the court, but Thealos knows more about that than I do. I’ve never even been there.”
“Don’t soil yourself, Devers, but not many have. At least you speak Silvan. If we run into Wolfsmen or regular army, I’ll want you around to talk to them for us.”
“I will. Right now I think I might find a kettle simmering with some…”
The stars in the southern sky vanished under a pall of blackness rising like a shroud. Booms of thunder split the air, shaking the earth and making the mounts skittish.
“What in Achrolese’s name…” Shearmur muttered.
Sharp winds gusted through the camp, spraying clouds of cinders into the air like a thousand fireflies. Allavin’s cloak flapped in the gale and he squinted, staring at the expanding darkness that blotted out the stars, looming and lowering from the south.
“This isn’t any storm I’ve ever seen,” Allavin said over the keening sound.
Shearmur nodded and whistled for his adjutant. “I want everyone awake and ready for action. No one sleeps tonight. Tell my battle commanders.”
“Aye, General.” The adjutant nodded and hurried away, brushing dust from his eyes.
Shearmur stared at the clouds and swore. Orange lights burst in pinpricks of color in the seething mass of darkness, as if a thousand torches had swirled up in some wind eddies that high.
“Sweet Hate!” Allavin said, amazed.
The General turned to him. “It’s coming from Castun, Devers. Ban it!” He rubbed his mouth with his good hand. “Take the Sleepwalker with you. Find out what’s happening down there.”
Allavin chuckled. “Thealos is hardly a Sleepwalker, General.”
“I suppose you’ll say next that every Shae lad in Avisahn can take down twenty Kiran Thall.” He smirked. “Especially the kind that won’t die. Get down there. I need to know what’s happening. We’ll be ready to ride. Be quick about it.”
“Aye, Sir.”
Allavin paused to string his bow, test its pull, and then he stormed through the encampment for Thealos.
The Shae met him before he got there.