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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4397403" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 79</p><p></p><p>READINESS</p><p></p><p></p><p>In the predawn gloom, most of the town of Highbluff was cloaked in deep shadows. The fortress looming over the town on the raised bluff that gave the place its name was dark, its towers rising up like black fingers in the night. </p><p></p><p>But in the town’s large open square, which faced up against the foot of the bluff which supported the citadel, the night was dispelled by a riot of light and color. It appeared that the entire population of the town was gathered there, men, women, and children, clad in raiment as assorted and different as the faces of the citizens themselves. There were soldiers, too, dozens of them, clad in the uniforms and armor of the legions, or the City Watch of Camar, or the livery of the baron of Highbluff, or simply in the mismatched garb of quasi-professional mercenaries. There had to be almost three thousand people in the square, crowded together into a space that had been designed to accommodate perhaps a quarter that number. </p><p></p><p>The light came not from torches or lanterns, although a few of those burned fitfully around the perimeter of the square. Rather, it was the people themselves who glowed, their bodies shedding a pale and vague radiance that built as it gathered, until the entire square and its contents glimmered like a reflection of the moon that occasionally peeked through the shifting clouds above as it descended toward the horizon in anticipation of the coming day. </p><p></p><p>The gathering was surprisingly quiet, and a somber hush lingered over the square, as though those who had come together here were afraid to violate the solemnity of the hour. Every now and then a faint hint of voices drifted through the square, but they seemed vague and distant, as though they were an echo of words spoken elsewhere.</p><p></p><p>From atop the battlements of the old castle, Corath Dar looked down at the gathering in the town square. He had the look of a man who had not slept in some time. He was flanked by several others, men and women dressed warmly against the morning chill, with cowls drawn up to shield their faces from view. One of those stepped forward from the deeper shadows farther back from the edge of the wall, and took up a position watching not far from Dar. </p><p></p><p>“You don’t have to be here,” Dar said to him. “In fact, you probably shouldn’t be.”</p><p></p><p>The robed figure turned slightly toward him. “I understand the logic of your orders, general,” Setarcos said. “But I’d really prefer to see what happens myself. Plus, I doubt that the life that clings yet to these bones would much sate the beast.”</p><p></p><p>Dar murmured something, but his attention remained focused on the town square. The glow rising from below cast his features into stark relief, giving him a grim appearance. His hands, resting on the weathered stone of the battlement, kept wanting to form into fists, but each time he clenched them, he forced himself to take a deep breath and loosen his grip. </p><p></p><p>“It will come when it comes,” Mehlaraine said. “The guardian said we would sense it coming; there is little use in our standing here to wait. It has been sixteen hours since they began the ritual. You need to rest.”</p><p></p><p>“They cannot rest,” Dar said without turning. “You would sleep while your kinsman is down there?”</p><p></p><p>The elf woman did not flinch from his hard words. “Selanthas is resting now, as I did earlier this night. Those supporting Sultheros work in shifts to attend him, and grant him their strength... as I believe that the servants of your sun god are doing for Allera. What good do you do them up here, watching?”</p><p></p><p>“I am doing all that I can do,” Dar admitted. He arched his back, stretching tired muscles. “What of your friend there?” he said, nodding toward the robed figure lingering against the far battlement, the one facing inward into the castle yard. </p><p></p><p>“Callyse would prefer to attend upon her master,” Mehlaraine said. “But she has her orders, and will obey them.” The apprentice mage inclined her head slightly, but otherwise it was as if she were a part of the stonework. </p><p></p><p>Dar bent his head back, looking up into the sky. It was still too dark to see Letellia and her friends, but he knew that they were up there. The sorceress had been true to her word, returning with her allies from the Mind’s Eye to confront the Ravager one last time. In addition to the diminutive alienist and lillend arcane archer that had fought beside her above Rappan Athuk, she had recruited two additional companions, a pair of half-dragon war mages who appeared identical as far as Dar could tell. The two creatures, whose names sounded like stones being crushed by a millstone, were almost as big as ogres, but Letellia had acknowledged that their magical abilities were not even close to the talent that she or Sultheros possessed. But they had joined her in the air, their magic augmenting the power of their broad coppery wings in keeping them aloft. They had all been up there since the ritual had begun, coming down from the skies in shifts to take brief rests. The five of them—he thought of Letellia as much of an outsider as the others, now—made for an unusual coterie of allies, but at least they were offering aid. Before, he would have been worried right now about their commitment to what they were facing. </p><p></p><p>But... <em>before</em>, he’d been wrong about a lot of things. </p><p></p><p>His gaze dropped, until it rested on the black stones beneath his feet. He thought of the figure sitting bound inside the keep’s main hall, alone in a dark and empty space made cavernous by the absence of even a single soul for company. He still wondered if that had been a mistake. Aerim would get free, eventually; that had been the whole point. Dar hadn’t wanted to leave any man, even the Duke, to await death in a cell buried deep under the earth. The Duke was a dangerous man, all the more so for the dark magic that lay buried yet within him, muted but not destroyed by the intervention of Allera’s healing powers. He’d gone over to the side of darkness and shadow, and spent centuries serving the dread master of Rappan Athuk. Maybe Allera was right, and he’d been the victim of events beyond his control. Or maybe he’d brought his fate upon himself. Dar hadn’t been there, and he didn’t care enough to judge. Aerim wasn’t the man he’d been, perhaps. But neither was Corath Dar the same person who’d been thrust ill-equipped and damned into the Dungeon of Graves twelve years ago. And so the Duke waited like the rest of them to learn the course of their fate.</p><p></p><p>Someone emerged from the covered stair that led back down to the castle gatehouse. The clank of metal armor and slight tap of his polearm upon the stone of the battlement as he walked announced Aldos before he got close enough to be identified in the darkness. The knight ignored everyone but Dar, coming to attention a few paces from him, offering a salute that he could hear but not see. Dar did not look up, but said, “Report.”</p><p></p><p>“The situation remains unchanged below, general,” the Dragon Knight replied. </p><p></p><p>Dar pushed off from the battlement and rose to his full height before shifting to face him. For all that the general was a large man, Aldos only gave up a few inches to him. Yet the difference in their personal presence was considerable. The knight had lost his life for a second time in the battle with the Ravager outside Rappan Athuk, killed in the explosion of their hilltop entrenchments when the monster had burrowed up out of its prison directly under them. Allera had <em>raised</em> him a few days later, but while he had still not fully recovered from that ordeal, the loyalty that Aldos and the other knights bore to Camar remained unquestioned. Dar had suggested to Kiron that neither Aldos nor Petronia had needed to remain here, but the young Knight Commander had not needed to ask his lieutenants what they thought; they would remain until the end, and if need be, pay the ultimate price. </p><p></p><p>Repeatedly, if necessary.</p><p></p><p>“Kiron would not have sent you up here if he didn’t have a purpose,” Dar said to him. “So spill it, knight.”</p><p></p><p>Aldos glanced at the elves, but Mehlaraine had retreated to the far battlement to speak quietly with Callyse. Dar growled something impatient, and the knight turned back to him. “The Knight Commander... he is not sure how much longer the elf mage... and the others... can continue the ritual.”</p><p></p><p>“They will continue as long as it is necessary,” Dar said. He turned back toward the town, and thrust his fists into the cold stone of the battlement. </p><p></p><p>“Yes, sir...” the knight said, trailing off. </p><p></p><p>“Speak,” Dar said, without turning. </p><p></p><p>“I have seen spellcasting, sir... but this... it’s <em>doing</em> something to them...”</p><p></p><p>“This is not something that we can interrupt and then continue later, knight. We only have one shot at this.” </p><p></p><p>“Perhaps if you came down and saw for yourself...”</p><p></p><p>Dar sprang up so quickly that Aldos nearly jumped back. He held his ground as Dar thrust himself almost into the other man’s face. “And do what? Do you not think that I would stop this, <em>want</em> to stop this? Do you think I don’t understand the cost?” </p><p></p><p>A hand rested on his shoulder; Mehlaraine stood there in support, but said nothing. After a moment Dar turned and strode away, past Setarcos, who simply stood there quietly in the shadows, observing without comment. For a moment it looked as though he was heading for the far tower, to leave them, but after a few long paces he turned and started back. </p><p></p><p>“Tell Kiron,” he began, but he did not get a chance to finish, as a bright flare of light from below drew the attention of all of them to the town square below. </p><p></p><p>They could all see the change in the glow that rose off of the gathered townsfolk; the inner light that suffused them flickered, dancing in unsteady pulses of energy that caused the shadows around the square to twist and writhe. Over it all they could see the brilliant white globe of a <em>daylight</em> spell, the signal that had drawn their focus. </p><p></p><p>“It’s time,” Dar said. A glance at the elves, but Callyse was already unrolling a long parchment scroll taken from her pouch. Mehlaraine recovered her pike, the long shaft looking almost fragile in her hands. But Dar knew that the elf warrior’s mettle belied her appearance. </p><p></p><p>The fighter’s expression was a sculpture of intensity as he tore of his gauntlets, and placed his bare hands flat on the top of the battlement. The others were quiet as he stood there, silent, listening, and feeling. </p><p></p><p>Dar frowned. “No tremors,” Aldos said. “Shouldn’t we feel it coming?”</p><p></p><p>Dar waved him to silence. He looked down at the town, where the flickers of light coming from those gathered continued to build, faster, more erratic. He stared at them for a long second, and then his eyes drew up, to the dark night sky. His eyes widened in sudden realization. </p><p></p><p>“It’s flying!” he yelled, even as his eyes were drawn to the black shape that detached from the clouds above, a massive dark form that descended upon them like a shade of Death itself.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4397403, member: 143"] Chapter 79 READINESS In the predawn gloom, most of the town of Highbluff was cloaked in deep shadows. The fortress looming over the town on the raised bluff that gave the place its name was dark, its towers rising up like black fingers in the night. But in the town’s large open square, which faced up against the foot of the bluff which supported the citadel, the night was dispelled by a riot of light and color. It appeared that the entire population of the town was gathered there, men, women, and children, clad in raiment as assorted and different as the faces of the citizens themselves. There were soldiers, too, dozens of them, clad in the uniforms and armor of the legions, or the City Watch of Camar, or the livery of the baron of Highbluff, or simply in the mismatched garb of quasi-professional mercenaries. There had to be almost three thousand people in the square, crowded together into a space that had been designed to accommodate perhaps a quarter that number. The light came not from torches or lanterns, although a few of those burned fitfully around the perimeter of the square. Rather, it was the people themselves who glowed, their bodies shedding a pale and vague radiance that built as it gathered, until the entire square and its contents glimmered like a reflection of the moon that occasionally peeked through the shifting clouds above as it descended toward the horizon in anticipation of the coming day. The gathering was surprisingly quiet, and a somber hush lingered over the square, as though those who had come together here were afraid to violate the solemnity of the hour. Every now and then a faint hint of voices drifted through the square, but they seemed vague and distant, as though they were an echo of words spoken elsewhere. From atop the battlements of the old castle, Corath Dar looked down at the gathering in the town square. He had the look of a man who had not slept in some time. He was flanked by several others, men and women dressed warmly against the morning chill, with cowls drawn up to shield their faces from view. One of those stepped forward from the deeper shadows farther back from the edge of the wall, and took up a position watching not far from Dar. “You don’t have to be here,” Dar said to him. “In fact, you probably shouldn’t be.” The robed figure turned slightly toward him. “I understand the logic of your orders, general,” Setarcos said. “But I’d really prefer to see what happens myself. Plus, I doubt that the life that clings yet to these bones would much sate the beast.” Dar murmured something, but his attention remained focused on the town square. The glow rising from below cast his features into stark relief, giving him a grim appearance. His hands, resting on the weathered stone of the battlement, kept wanting to form into fists, but each time he clenched them, he forced himself to take a deep breath and loosen his grip. “It will come when it comes,” Mehlaraine said. “The guardian said we would sense it coming; there is little use in our standing here to wait. It has been sixteen hours since they began the ritual. You need to rest.” “They cannot rest,” Dar said without turning. “You would sleep while your kinsman is down there?” The elf woman did not flinch from his hard words. “Selanthas is resting now, as I did earlier this night. Those supporting Sultheros work in shifts to attend him, and grant him their strength... as I believe that the servants of your sun god are doing for Allera. What good do you do them up here, watching?” “I am doing all that I can do,” Dar admitted. He arched his back, stretching tired muscles. “What of your friend there?” he said, nodding toward the robed figure lingering against the far battlement, the one facing inward into the castle yard. “Callyse would prefer to attend upon her master,” Mehlaraine said. “But she has her orders, and will obey them.” The apprentice mage inclined her head slightly, but otherwise it was as if she were a part of the stonework. Dar bent his head back, looking up into the sky. It was still too dark to see Letellia and her friends, but he knew that they were up there. The sorceress had been true to her word, returning with her allies from the Mind’s Eye to confront the Ravager one last time. In addition to the diminutive alienist and lillend arcane archer that had fought beside her above Rappan Athuk, she had recruited two additional companions, a pair of half-dragon war mages who appeared identical as far as Dar could tell. The two creatures, whose names sounded like stones being crushed by a millstone, were almost as big as ogres, but Letellia had acknowledged that their magical abilities were not even close to the talent that she or Sultheros possessed. But they had joined her in the air, their magic augmenting the power of their broad coppery wings in keeping them aloft. They had all been up there since the ritual had begun, coming down from the skies in shifts to take brief rests. The five of them—he thought of Letellia as much of an outsider as the others, now—made for an unusual coterie of allies, but at least they were offering aid. Before, he would have been worried right now about their commitment to what they were facing. But... [i]before[/i], he’d been wrong about a lot of things. His gaze dropped, until it rested on the black stones beneath his feet. He thought of the figure sitting bound inside the keep’s main hall, alone in a dark and empty space made cavernous by the absence of even a single soul for company. He still wondered if that had been a mistake. Aerim would get free, eventually; that had been the whole point. Dar hadn’t wanted to leave any man, even the Duke, to await death in a cell buried deep under the earth. The Duke was a dangerous man, all the more so for the dark magic that lay buried yet within him, muted but not destroyed by the intervention of Allera’s healing powers. He’d gone over to the side of darkness and shadow, and spent centuries serving the dread master of Rappan Athuk. Maybe Allera was right, and he’d been the victim of events beyond his control. Or maybe he’d brought his fate upon himself. Dar hadn’t been there, and he didn’t care enough to judge. Aerim wasn’t the man he’d been, perhaps. But neither was Corath Dar the same person who’d been thrust ill-equipped and damned into the Dungeon of Graves twelve years ago. And so the Duke waited like the rest of them to learn the course of their fate. Someone emerged from the covered stair that led back down to the castle gatehouse. The clank of metal armor and slight tap of his polearm upon the stone of the battlement as he walked announced Aldos before he got close enough to be identified in the darkness. The knight ignored everyone but Dar, coming to attention a few paces from him, offering a salute that he could hear but not see. Dar did not look up, but said, “Report.” “The situation remains unchanged below, general,” the Dragon Knight replied. Dar pushed off from the battlement and rose to his full height before shifting to face him. For all that the general was a large man, Aldos only gave up a few inches to him. Yet the difference in their personal presence was considerable. The knight had lost his life for a second time in the battle with the Ravager outside Rappan Athuk, killed in the explosion of their hilltop entrenchments when the monster had burrowed up out of its prison directly under them. Allera had [i]raised[/i] him a few days later, but while he had still not fully recovered from that ordeal, the loyalty that Aldos and the other knights bore to Camar remained unquestioned. Dar had suggested to Kiron that neither Aldos nor Petronia had needed to remain here, but the young Knight Commander had not needed to ask his lieutenants what they thought; they would remain until the end, and if need be, pay the ultimate price. Repeatedly, if necessary. “Kiron would not have sent you up here if he didn’t have a purpose,” Dar said to him. “So spill it, knight.” Aldos glanced at the elves, but Mehlaraine had retreated to the far battlement to speak quietly with Callyse. Dar growled something impatient, and the knight turned back to him. “The Knight Commander... he is not sure how much longer the elf mage... and the others... can continue the ritual.” “They will continue as long as it is necessary,” Dar said. He turned back toward the town, and thrust his fists into the cold stone of the battlement. “Yes, sir...” the knight said, trailing off. “Speak,” Dar said, without turning. “I have seen spellcasting, sir... but this... it’s [i]doing[/i] something to them...” “This is not something that we can interrupt and then continue later, knight. We only have one shot at this.” “Perhaps if you came down and saw for yourself...” Dar sprang up so quickly that Aldos nearly jumped back. He held his ground as Dar thrust himself almost into the other man’s face. “And do what? Do you not think that I would stop this, [i]want[/i] to stop this? Do you think I don’t understand the cost?” A hand rested on his shoulder; Mehlaraine stood there in support, but said nothing. After a moment Dar turned and strode away, past Setarcos, who simply stood there quietly in the shadows, observing without comment. For a moment it looked as though he was heading for the far tower, to leave them, but after a few long paces he turned and started back. “Tell Kiron,” he began, but he did not get a chance to finish, as a bright flare of light from below drew the attention of all of them to the town square below. They could all see the change in the glow that rose off of the gathered townsfolk; the inner light that suffused them flickered, dancing in unsteady pulses of energy that caused the shadows around the square to twist and writhe. Over it all they could see the brilliant white globe of a [i]daylight[/i] spell, the signal that had drawn their focus. “It’s time,” Dar said. A glance at the elves, but Callyse was already unrolling a long parchment scroll taken from her pouch. Mehlaraine recovered her pike, the long shaft looking almost fragile in her hands. But Dar knew that the elf warrior’s mettle belied her appearance. The fighter’s expression was a sculpture of intensity as he tore of his gauntlets, and placed his bare hands flat on the top of the battlement. The others were quiet as he stood there, silent, listening, and feeling. Dar frowned. “No tremors,” Aldos said. “Shouldn’t we feel it coming?” Dar waved him to silence. He looked down at the town, where the flickers of light coming from those gathered continued to build, faster, more erratic. He stared at them for a long second, and then his eyes drew up, to the dark night sky. His eyes widened in sudden realization. “It’s flying!” he yelled, even as his eyes were drawn to the black shape that detached from the clouds above, a massive dark form that descended upon them like a shade of Death itself. [/QUOTE]
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