Riders sped by, tattered, bleeding, scared soldiers of the Kingdom, obviously in full rout. James whispered to those nearby, ‘We have to find another way. Whoever’s chasing them will be here in a moment.’
As they retreated down the entrance to their below-ground hideout, James’s words proved prophetic: a thundering squad of Saaur riders came pounding hard after. It was James’s first sight of the lizardmen and he said, ‘Gods, Calis’s reports didn’t do them justice.’
The entire company made it back into the refuge without being discovered, and when they were safely into the sub-basement, Lysle said, ‘Now what?’
‘What’s the only other sewer exit likely to be unguarded?’ asked James.
‘North gate outfall, but that puts us north of the city, not east,’ Lysle replied.
‘True,’ said James, moving toward the loading ramp that led down to the sewer, ‘but we have less than an hour, and that gate is a half-hour’s walk from here. I’d rather be outside the city when it blows up than inside worrying about who’s out there. If we can get into the woods to the north of Krondor, we might be able to find a way eastward.’
He looked at the thirty soldiers and dozen thieves and knew it was probably futile.
But you must try.
James looked at Gamina. ‘Yes, we must try.’
He led them off through the sewer.
Lord Vykor’s eyes widened in astonishment. The creature seemed to appear out of nowhere, striding across the burning decks of the enemy fleet. Along the way to Krondor they had caught fifty ships on the beach, and fast-running cutters with men throwing bottles of oil, or larger ships with ballista or catapult had burned all of them. Nearly twenty had been boarded, captured or sunk, so that with the destruction of the ships in the harbor, more than half the enemy’s fleet was destroyed. By rough count he assumed another hundred and fifty to two hundred ships were strung out along the northern coast of the Bitter Sea or already engaged with Captain Reeves’s flotilla.
Now suddenly out of the inferno that was Krondor’s harbor a demon walked purposefully toward him, striding across the decks of burning ships. Calmly the Admiral drew his sword and said, ‘I think the creature means to board us, Mr Devorak.’
‘Fire!’ shouted the captain, and ballista and bowfire were unleashed on the creature.
Some damage was done, and the creature howled as the arrows struck his fifteen-foot-tall body, but he walked on through the fire and seemed more irritated than injured.
‘Veer off, Mr Devorak.’
‘Aye, aye. Admiral.’
The fleet was withdrawing, but Vykor’s flagship, the Royal Glory, was closest to the burning fleet. The creature reached the outer railing of the last ship burning in the harbor, and stood up on the railing. With a prodigious leap and a scream of anger, the beast unfolded its huge wings and sailed across the gulf between the damaged fleet and Vykor’s ship.
‘Signal to fleet,’ said Vykor as his personal doom sailed down upon his ship. ‘Make best speed!’
He never knew if the message got off, for Jakan, self-elected Demon King of the armies of Novindus, glided down upon him, scooping him up and crushing his spine as he bit off half his head. The Admiral had the brief satisfaction of driving his sword deep into the creature’s side as it neared, but never heard the howls of pain, for he was dead before Jakan felt the wound.
Captain Devorak struck out with his blade and for his troubles had his head snatched from his shoulders. The bowmen above fired down upon the creature, to little effect, while the less brave among the crew dove over the side.
The two leading commanders in the Royal Navy were now dead, and each captain would have to make a decision on his own, seeking instruction from the seniormost among them until a command structure could be reformed, but at least the bulk of the invaders’ fleet was destroyed.
Jakan killed and ate every man he could find, until he realized the ship had drifted to the northwest of the city. He hated the touch of seawater - it sucked energy from him - though he could abide it for a while. He abandoned the ship and launched himself into the air, attempting to glide back toward the inferno that was his fleet and city. Fire caused no pain for him, though it was a terrible waste of life energy and meat.
And something called to him. Something unspoken said he could not just start destroying this army that he had seized, but he must use it, must move to the east, must find this thing that called to him.
And from some dark source, across a vast distance, came a word, a place, a destination: Sethanon.
James saw the leading guard hold up his hand. Everyone stopped. They had passed others along the way, refugees and invaders. No one seemed eager to press an attack in the dark sewers, yet. But James knew that if the invaders were flushing out those hiding below ground, the city was now theirs.