Premer Shamal stopped walking and turned to face Lady Mystic. He frowned and shook his head.
“I do not wish to be rude, Lady Mystic,” the premer from Sudamar said, “but I have probably already revealed more than I should have. Were you not the Emperor’s daughter, I would fear that I had made a treasonous mistake. Do not bother to come to Sudamar. There will be no time to impress my mages with your talents. Stay here and earn your way back into your father’s grace.”
Premer Shamal turned abruptly and walked off. Lady Mystic’s mouth opened wide in a feigned display of shock at the treatment afforded her by Shamal.
“Do not take it personally,” Premer Cardijja said consolingly. “Shamal is under a great deal of pressure, as we all are. The fact is, our fleets will be long gone by next week. If you truly wanted to fight, you should have made your case some time ago. Our ships will be loaded tonight. Forgive Shamal for his rudeness.”
“I shall,” smiled Lady Mystic. “I know that you two are good friends, and I would not want anything disparaging said about either of you. You have both served my father well. Good luck on your voyage to Fakara. I hope Vand has given you the tools required to assure victory.”
“Three hundred thousand of them,” grinned Cardijja. “Fakara will be ours within the week.”
Lady Mystic waved as the premer walked towards the ship that would return him to Eldamar. As soon as he was onboard, she turned and hurried to the jungle clearing.
* * *
General Manitow stood on the roof of the Imperial Guard headquarters in Alamar. He gazed down at the ruined city and shook his head. The harbor was full of sunken ships and floating bodies. The beach was stained with blood, and the first two blocks of buildings were totally leveled to smoking piles of rubble. The Motangan soldiers were streaming onto the shore, abandoning their hundreds of small boats to float upon the water like flotsam.
There was fighting in every sector of the city, including around the Imperial Guard headquarters, and yet the Motangan catapults still rained fire upon the city. Alamar was officially lost.
“Get me updates on General Addley and General Romero,” Manitow snapped to his mages, “and prepare to sound the alarm to retreat.”
“General Addley reports inflicting heavy casualties on the Motangans,” answered one of the mages, “but he seeks permission to withdraw. The battle will soon be a test of numbers, and that is one that he cannot win.”
“General Romero is already retreating,” declared another mage. “He said that the Motangans landed before his men were in position.”
General Manitow cursed under his breath. “Tell Addley to withdraw,” he snapped, “and sound our own retreat. We cannot stand any longer with a flank exposed. It is time to leave Alamar to the victors.”
General Manitow gazed once more at the harbor as he waited for the mages to prepare to leave. Some of the empty ships that had been using their catapults to pound the city were moving out of the harbor to make way for ships filled with troops. Suddenly, a catapult load smashed into the roof of the building. The general and the mages were thrown to the floor of the roof as a whole section of the building collapsed. The general rose and surveyed the damage.
“You have to leave now,” shouted SilverEdge as he appeared on the roof. “We cannot hold this building any longer. There are just too many of them.”
SilverEdge was a huge Sakovan from StarCity. No one matched him in size or strength except for Goral, who was even larger and stronger. General Manitow nodded as he helped the mages to their feet.
“Head out the back,” shouted SilverEdge. “We will delay the Motangans out front for as long as we can, but I urge you to hurry.”
SilverEdge did not wait for a reply. He raced down the steps and out the front door. In the street in front of the Imperial Guard headquarters, a small band of Sakovans were battling the Motangans, buying time for the mages and the general to escape. Two streets intersected in front of the building, creating three possible approaches that had to be protected. HawkShadow and SkyDancer blocked the street to the north, while StormSong and DarkBlade blocked the south. Goral stood alone facing east, and SilverEdge rushed to join him.
“Just in time,” Goral said to his partner. “Here they come again.”
The Motangans rushed the eastern approach first, and the two giants started swinging their long two-handed swords. Goral’s first swing cut a Motangan soldier in two, while SilverEdge decapitated a man. Seconds later shouting red-clad soldiers rounded a corner and came running towards HawkShadow and SkyDancer. The two Sakovans danced lightly on their feet as they swung at the enemy. As if choreographed, the couple worked their way along the street killing Motangans with every swing. Whenever one’s back was exposed, the other covered it.
“Bring it back, HawkShadow,” shouted StormSong as Motangans charged the southern position. “We also have company.”
HawkShadow issued a curt command to SkyDancer, and the duo broke contact and ran back to their original positions before spinning around and reengaging the enemy that had followed them.
StormSong and DarkBlade performed no dance for the Motangans. They stood their ground and used their strength to slay the charging enemies. Many of the Motangans, surprised to see a female fighting, mistook StormSong for an easy opponent. The truth killed them, as the female Sakovan slashed into their ranks.
Motangan body parts piled up in front of the two giants as Goral and SilverEdge held their ground. Goral turned for a quick glance at the roof of the Imperial Guard headquarters and saw that it was empty.
“We are through here,” he shouted as he severed a Motangan’s arm and followed up with a decapitation. “Time to move out.”
All six Sakovans started slowly backing up towards the steps of the Imperial Guard headquarters. They continued to battle the Motangans with every step until all six of them were crowded on the steps.
“Love birds first,” shouted StormSong. “Use your stars.”
HawkShadow and SkyDancer turned and raced into the building. They immediately sheathed their swords and grabbed Sakovan Stars from their pouches. HawkShadow pointed to the Motangans just beyond StormSong and DarkBlade. SkyDancer nodded, and two Sakovan Stars flew through the doorway and impacted into the foreheads of two Motangan soldiers.
DarkBlade faced no opponent and dove through the doorway. HawkShadow and SkyDancer repeated the throwing of stars and killed two more Motangans, allowing StormSong to enter the building.
“Secure the rear exit,” commanded HawkShadow as he and SkyDancer fisted more stars.
DarkBlade and StormSong nodded and raced through the building to the rear door. They threw open the door and stepped into the alley, their swords ready for anything. The alley was empty, and they waited for their friends to arrive. Moments later, the two giants came running out the back of the building.
“We will secure the gate out of the city,” shouted Goral as they sped across the alleyway and through the ruins of a demolished building.
Less than a minute after the giants, HawkShadow and SkyDancer exited the building and ran past. StormSong slammed the door shut while DarkBlade shoved a burning timber in place to jam the door. They turned and ran after their friends as Motangans appeared at both ends of the alleyway.
StormSong saw other Sakovans racing for the exit from the city as she and DarkBlade dodged burning debris. Suddenly, an arrow raced past her head, and she knew that their retreat was cutting things a little close. The Motangan archers should not have been in the vanguard of the attack unless one of the flanking armies had managed to reach the city already. She wondered how many friends were still in the falling city. She immediately began running erratically to foil the archer’s aim. DarkBlade needed no encouragement to do likewise. They slowed down as they approached the gates to let other Sakovans who were ahead of them have time to get through. StormSong’s eyes focused on the gates as she continued to weave as she ran. She saw Goral slam one of the gates shut and prop something against it.