Abruptly the sounds of fighting stopped as the Kingdom forces withdrew. The Force Commander looked about and, still seeing no officer of greater rank, started shouting orders to ready the shield wall for another assault.
The Kingdom forces were slowly regrouping. They did not attack, but took up position opposite the Tsurani. The Force Commander waited, while his soldiers made ready the lines. On all sides Kingdom horsemen stood ready, but still they did not come.
Slowly the tension grew. The Force Commander ordered a platform raised. Four Tsurani grabbed a shield, he stood upon it, and they lifted him up. His eyes widened. “They have reinforcements.” Far to the south he could see the advancing columns of the South Pass Kingdom forces. They had been farther removed from the parley site and were only now reaching the battlefield.
A shout from the opposite direction caused him to look to the north: lines of the Kingdom infantry were advancing from the trees. Again he turned his attention southward and strained his eyes. In the distant haze he could see the signs of a large force of infantry following behind the cavalry. The officer ordered the shield lowered, and his Subcommander said, “What is it?”
“Their entire army is in the field.” He swallowed hard, the usual Tsurani impassivity broken. “Mother of gods! There must be thirty thousand of them.”
“Then we shall give them a battle worthy of a ballad before we die,” said the Subcommander.
The Force Commander looked about him. On all sides stood bleeding, wounded, and dazed soldiers. Of the Kingdom armies arrayed against them, only a third had fought. Fully twenty thousand rested soldiers approached four thousand Tsurani, half of them unable to fight at their normal efficiency.
The Force Commander shook his head. “There will be no fighting. We are cut off from home, perhaps for all time. There is no purpose.”
He stepped past his startled Subcommander and walked beyond the shield wall. Raising both hands above his head in the sign of parley, he walked toward Lyam, slowly, dreading the moment when he would be the first Tsurani officer in living memory to surrender his forces. It took only a matter of minutes to reach the Prince. He removed his helm and knelt.
He looked up at the tall, golden-haired Prince of the Kingdom and said, “Lord Lyam. Into your care I give my men. Will you accept surrender?”
Lyam nodded. “Yes, Kasumi. I will accept surrender.”
Darkness. Then a gathering greyness. Pug forced his heavy eyelids open. Above him was the familiar face of Kulgan.
The face of his old teacher split into a wide smile “It is good to see you are with us again. We did not know if you were really alive. Your body was so cold to the touch. Can you sit up?”
Pug took the offered arm and found that Meecham knelt next to him, aiding him to sit up. He could feel the cold leave his limbs as the bright sunlight warmed his body. He sat still for a moment, then said, “I think I will live.” As he said it, he could feel strength returning to him. After a moment he felt able to stand and did so.
Around him he could see the assembled armies of the Kingdom. “What has happened?”
Laurie said, “The rift is destroyed, and the Tsurani who remain have surrendered. The war is over.”
Pug felt too weak for emotion. He looked at the faces of those around him and could see deep relief in their eyes. Suddenly Kulgan engulfed him in a hug. “You risked your life to end this madness. It is your victory as much as any man’s.”
Pug stood quietly, then stepped away from his former master. “It is Macros who ended the war. Did he return?”
“No. Only you, and as soon as you were here, both of the staffs disappeared. There is no sign of him.”
Pug shook his head, clearing away the fogginess. “What now?”
Meecham looked over his shoulder. “It might be wise if you joined Lyam. There seems to be some commotion taking place.”
Laurie and Kulgan assisted Pug, for he was still weak from his ordeal within the rift. They walked to where Lyam, Arutha, Kasumi, and the assembled Kingdom nobles stood waiting. Across the field they could see the elves and dwarves approaching, with the northern Kingdom forces behind.
Pug was surprised to see the older son of the Shinzawai present, for he had thought him back on Kelewan. He looked a figure of deletion, standing without weapon or helm, and with head downcast, so he didn’t see Pug and the others arrive.
Pug turned his attention to the elves and dwarves. Four figures walked at their head. Two he recognized, Dolgan and Calin. There was another dwarf with them who was unknown to the magician. As the four reached a place before the Prince, Pug realized that the tall warrior in white and gold was his boyhood friend. He stood speechless, amazed at the change in Tomas, for his old friend was now a towering figure who resembled an elf as much as a human.
Lyam was too exhausted for outrage. He looked at the Warleader of Elvandar and said quietly, “What cause did you have to attack, Tomas?”