All along Nightmare Ridge, the Kingdom Army struggled with the invader, a slaughter unmatched since the Riftwar. Erik looked around as he found himself in a relative lull. The wounded and dead were being dragged away by their comrades, and others quickly drank from water buckets carried by the boys from the baggage trains.
Jadow came running along. Sergeant Harper behind him. ‘They’ve turned our northern flank,’ said Harper, blood splattered across his face. ‘Jerome is dead, and his entire company with him. Duko’s got men on our side of the ridge and they’re pushing us to the south.’
‘Damn!’ said Erik. He turned to a runner and said, ‘Orders to the Flying Company -’
Jadow interrupted. ‘There is no Flying Company. I sent them in as soon as Harper reached me. They’re up there right now.’
Erik rubbed his face, feeling as if fatigue were ground into his skin like grit. His thoughts were chaotic from lack of sleep and constant fighting over the last two days. ‘All right,’ he said to the two sergeants. ‘Take every third man from here, and bolster the north. If you can’t hold, pull back, and when you get to the first defensible position on our side of the ridge, facing north, dig in. You hold them there, and if they turn east and go down the mountain, they’re the Army of the East’s problem.’ He turned to the messenger and said, ‘Go to Darkmoor. Tell Prince Patrick we have a turned flank on the north and are trying to dig in. We need reinforcements. Got it?’
The young soldier said, ‘Yes, sir!’ saluted, and ran to his horse.
Erik turned to see Jadow and Harper already pulling every third man off the ridge and leading them northward. He saw Dash standing a short way off, his sword drawn and blood all over his well-cut tunic and trousers, and he said, ‘I thought I told you to read dispatches.’
Dash smiled. ‘There’s nothing in there that can’t wait, and it seemed an extra sword was needed.’
Erik nodded. ‘You have that right.’
Suddenly the enemy was pushing over the ridge again, and Erik became embroiled in the struggle.
Tomas said, ‘Something is coming!’
Pug said, ‘I can feel it, too.’ He paused, then said, ‘I recognize that presence. It’s Jakan!’
Nakor said, ‘Sho Pi, you and the good Abbot must hide.’
Sho Pi said, ‘I will stay with you, Master.’
Nakor grabbed the younger man and propelled him toward a hole in the wall. It was the dusty underground remnants of the last battle that took place in the ancient city created by the Valheru, beneath the destroyed city of Sethanon. ‘My protection trick could hide us from the Nameless One’s hearing, but it can’t stop an angry demon who wants to come here! In there!’ insisted Nakor. ‘Hide in that hole, for what is coming may destroy us all, but at least the rest of us have some means to protect ourselves!’ The broken masonry was the result of the titanic battle between the dragon Ryath, whose sleeping body was now occupied by the Oracle of Aal, and a Dreadlord, used by Nalar as a distraction as the spirits of the Valheru attempted to reenter Midkemia. ‘Get down and stay out of sight.’
Nakor hurried back to stand next to Miranda, while Pug and Tomas took up stations on either side of Calls. Miranda said, ‘Can you protect yourself?’
‘I’m tougher than I look,’ said Nakor, but his grin was gone.
Calis was lost within the dismantling of the Lifestone, his face a mix of rapture and calm. His eyes were now fixed upon a spot at the center of the stone, which was growing smaller as more and more shreds of the life energy flew from it.
Miranda said, ‘Whatever he’s doing, it’s making me feel good.’
‘If we weren’t facing the coming rage of a Demon King, I think we’d be enjoying this.’
Miranda felt a large speck of the green life force pass through her stomach; and her eyes widened and she said, ‘Oh!’
Nakor giggled. ‘That looked interesting.’
‘It felt interesting,’ she said. She ran her hand over her stomach. With a look of mixed apprehension and uncertainty, Miranda said, ‘Something’s going on.’
Nakor looked around the hall, which was now almost universally illuminated in green light, and he said, ‘The life structure of this world is being set right. It’s a healing, a rejuvenation. Ancient souls trapped in that thing for centuries are being freed to return to the universe, as they were intended to do.’ He glanced at Miranda. ‘Some of the side-effects might prove very unexpected.’
Miranda said, ‘I don’t doubt it.’
Tomas’s eyes narrowed and he tilted his head, as if listening to something. ‘It’s coming.’
‘What is?’ asked Miranda.
‘Jakan,’ said Pug. ‘It can be the only thing on this world to disturb the harmony of life to the point where we can sense its approach.’
Tomas held his sword. ‘I think soon. Within the next hour, two at the latest.’
Pug glanced at Calis, who was still consumed by his task. ‘Will he be finished?’
Tomas said, ‘I do not know.’
They waited.