Ella smiled and stood. Her finger smarted from where it had been scalded by the water. Yet it was just a minor burn.
"I'm fine," Ella said.
Ella continued her task, sinking the last five staves, and then Shani was in front of her, watching as Ella sank the fiftieth stave into the lake. As Ella finished activating the complex magic she had imbued the stave with, she looked up and saw Shani grinning.
"You need to work on the muscles in your arms," Shani said, pointing at the bicep of her own right arm. "You're struggling there."
"Perhaps you can do the big one then," Ella said.
Ella's escort merged with Shani's, and they rode along the lake until they came to the place at the lakeside where Torlac was at its closest, a small speck in the cleft of the crater high above.
Jehral and the prince stood holding the reins of their horses, with perhaps sixty desert warriors ranged behind them.
Shani looked up at Prince Ilathor. "Why so few?" she demanded.
Ella grabbed Shani's upper arm. "Look." She pointed.
"What?"
"The fissure in the crater's edge, in front of where Torlac is — see? It's much smaller than usual."
"I don't understand."
"The Hazarans have built an illusion around the cleft. Lord of the Sky, it's massive. I can't believe how many men must be hidden there."
"Every man I could spare," the prince said. "We will take the city quickly, so that the High Lord's men have little chance to react. My men have instructions to be swift, and to concentrate on those who lead the defences. The common people will be as safe from harm as I can make them without endangering my men."
Ella looked up at Prince Ilathor. "Thank you," she said. "Good luck today. Fight well."
He nodded, his dark eyes sending a familiar thrill through her. "Good luck to you also, Enchantress Ella. All of our hopes are with you."
"It's time," Ella said. "Bring it down!"
Ella turned back to the volcanic lake. In all directions she could see plumes rising from the hundred staves. She wondered what High Lord Haptut Alwar would make of them. She doubted he would expect what was to come.
Six men carried the huge, rune-covered stave down to the lake's edge. They hesitated as they reached the water — the pole was unwieldy, and none of them had any desire to see the flesh boiled from their ankles.
"It's fine," Ella said. They still looked fearful, so she stepped forward. "Watch."
Ella walked down to the water's edge, and, without dwelling too long on what she was about to do, she stepped into the water. Ella took two steps more, until the water of Lake Halapusa was up to her calves.
She turned around to face the stunned men carrying the stave. "It won't harm you," she said. "I need you to drive it in hard, out there, where the water is deep."
Ella felt a thrill to see the lore was working. Steam no longer rose from the lake itself; the water was actually cold, and felt like it was growing colder all the time.
The six men waded into the water until it came up to their waists. With a heave and a splash, they lifted the stave and drove the metal-bound shaft deep into the bed of the lake, until only half of its length poked above the water. Two men each hefted a sledgehammer and pounded at the top of the stave until Ella was satisfied.
Ella returned to Prince Ilathor. "Are you ready?" she asked.
"We're ready," he said.
On the path down from Torlac stretched the length of cord that she herself had made. Shani handed Ella the end, and Ella's eyes followed it up the path until she could no longer see it.
Ella pictured the other end of the cord. The end she carried was like the rest, a single woven piece; but high above, in Torlac, the line split into several strands. Each strand rested in a tank of cold, salted water.
Ella hoped the prince had remembered to evacuate the barracks.
With all eyes on her, Ella waded into the lake until she was beside the thick stave. Her eyes ran over the wood, decorated with as many tiny symbols as her enchantress's dress. Ella threaded the cord through a hoop on the side of the pole and tied the end.
"We should get back now," Ella said, returning to the shore. "Everyone, stand back!" she cried. She hardly needed to; the desert warriors were standing nervously beside their horses, far from the lake's edge. Even Shani took a few steps back, leaving only Ella standing next to the lake.
Ella lifted her arms, taking in a deep breath. Her voice came strong and certain as she chanted with a steady rhythm, activating the capabilities of the cord, and then calling forth the powerful conductive magic she had imbued the stave with.
The top of the shaft lit up, white and pure as the snow. The light travelled from the shaft to the cord and then continued along the cord, moving along the line with the speed of a bird in flight.
All eyes followed the light as it travelled up the slope, heading directly for the town of Torlac. In an instant the whole line glowed piercingly white, and Ella closed her eyes, praying the enchantment would work.
She again caught the eyes of Prince Ilathor. He regarded her with hope in his eyes.
Please, let it work.