“Let’s seal the gates Neph. I contacted Jail and he says he will let Sovann know when he is ready to come back. He is hunting at the moment,” Jala said quietly. Dismounting from her horse she moved up to stand beside Neph and blended her magic with his for the casting. At their command stone began to form in the opening archway of the massive gate. Neph guided the magic building layer after layer, until the opening was fully sealed.
“A mage can dispel it, if they can manage to find a mage stronger than the two of us together. I don’t think they will have much luck with that while the Barrier is up. Nonetheless …” Neph’s voice trailed off as he raised a hand toward the stone and glyphs began to appear in the smooth sides. “We will leave a few traps and a few alarms. If anyone does try to breach it, I will know.”
“Now all we have to do is worry about them climbing the damn wall,” Finn grumbled, his eyes roving the massive walls that lined the district.
“I put wards up on them that should make that a rather difficult job,” Sovann said from near Wisp. Jala looked over at the mage in surprise and blinked stupidly. She hadn’t even noticed him approach and he was barely five feet away from her.
No wonder you couldn’t spot me, Marrow said with a snicker.
“Will the alarms be enough or should we post guards as well?” Jala asked, looking around to all of her companions for opinions.
“Leave it at just alarms for now. I don’t know that we have any outside this circle that I would trust to guard me,” Finn answered and the others nodded their agreement. “For now, let’s get back to the house and make arrangements for getting Wisp and Valor out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Valor said firmly, his voice cold and firm.
Finn turned and regarded his friend with a frown. “Val, you have to,” he insisted.
“Let’s get back home before we argue about this. No need to let prying ears overhear how much we all fight with each other,” Neph suggested and turned his horse toward the stable.
“I agree with Neph on this. Let’s get to safety and we can discuss things,” Jala said with a nod and remounted her gelding. She motioned to Finn to join her on the horse.
“We aren’t done with this,” he said to Valor and climbed into the saddle behind her.
“I’m not leaving until I see them dead,” Valor replied grimly.
None of them needed to ask who. It was obvious by the grief written on the knight’s face that he meant those that had murdered his sister. Jala lowered her head as they rode back to the stable and wondered if Finn could have done the job better alone. Her method had cost so many lives. The images of tangled, bloody bodies filled her mind and she let out a long sigh. It was good that she was used to nightmares. She had no doubts that her actions from today would haunt her dreams tonight.
Chapter 26
Fionahold
Symphony watched the preparations around her with a heavy heart. The courtyard of the Fionahold was filled with warriors. With every barked command from Lutheron, her dream of a bloodless victory grew fainter. Of course with Sanctuary under the Barrier there was no hope of calling a vote. Even if she could have called for one, though, three of the High Lords she was depending on were unable to leave their lands.
The last word they had received from Glis and Arovan had described a living nightmare, and now Faydwar was infested with the Blights as well. It wouldn’t be long before they moved into the Firym lands, and still they had no way of knowing how to stop the creatures.
Shade’s attack on Eldagar had been the only true victory they had to speak of, and that was not a victory they could repeat. It had only worked because the creatures were infesting a city. On open ground such an attack would be pointless.
“What’s wrong?” Remedy asked her quietly. She turned to look back at him and smiled faintly. It was nice to hear him actually talking. Lutheron had brought him back days ago, but this was one of the few times she could remember him actually speaking to her since his return. She wasn’t sure if she had done something wrong, or if it was from his capture, but he certainly wasn’t behaving normal.
“I feel like I’m watching the end of everything,” she said sadly, turning her gaze back to the warriors in the courtyard. Lutheron was working on dividing them into strike forces now, and the courtyard had been broken into four groups. She didn’t know any details of the plan other than they were going to retake the city of Sanctuary. Lutheron said they had a contact in the city helping, but he wouldn’t say who, or how they were helping. Such things were becoming far too common in the Fionaveir. It was as if no one trusted anyone anymore. First, it had been Shade and Charm refusing to share their plan, and now Lutheron was doing the same.
“They are retaking the city. It has to be done, Sym,” Remedy said and moved to stand beside her. “We have allies that are trapped in there as well as the children of our allies out here. We can’t just leave them to rot.”
“It will be the first battle in the war I have been trying to avoid,” Symphony replied. She watched Vaze move forward from the crowd to stand by Lutheron. He stood taller than Lutheron and had a deadly reputation as a fighter. Yet he still treated Lutheron with utmost respect, despite the fact that he was a council member himself. Vaze leaned over to whisper in Lutheron’s ear and she wondered if even he knew the plan. Lutheron had named Vaze one of the strike leaders so surely he must. She watched Lutheron nod in response and then return to his task of dividing the forces.
No one asked her opinion on anything. They hadn’t even consulted her about retaking the city. All of them claimed it was to secure her power so she could lead, but she was beginning to wonder. If they didn’t consult her now, how would they treat her later? Would she simply be a figurehead to them?