Mention of the shadowweavers rocked Longshadow. I thought he would fly into one of his famed foamy-mouthed rages. Those strange little old men were a resource he dared not squander. It took a lifetime to train them. And we have taken care of a bunch of them over the years.
Longshadow sucked in a deep breath, held it, restrained his insanity. "My error. I should not have sent them. Have you any idea how our enemies could appear at a time so propitious to their cause?"
Nobody volunteered the news that we could hover over his shoulder any time the urge hit.
Longshadow observed, "This is not good. Each day they develop new resources. Each day ours dwindle." He glared at Singh. "What are we getting from these Deceivers?"
Mogaba replied. "They spy. Before long they will undertake selected assassinations. The enemy shows no awareness of that program. If their assassinations succeed the results will be of more value that anything but a decisive encounter on the battlefield."
Mogaba invited comment from Singh with his glance but Narayan held his tongue.
Mogaba said, "Unfortunately, the intelligence the Deceivers gather grows less reliable with each report. The enemy have enjoyed considerable success in their efforts to eliminate the cult."
Still no one else spoke.
Mogaba continued, "Lady and Croaker have become very aggressive against spies. I believe that indicates a major move is imminent."
"It's winter," Longshadow said. "And my enemies are in no hurry. They are content to nibble me to death. This so-called Liberator will never be satisfied that he has men and weapons enough."
He was right about that. Croaker never stopped going after more.
The Howler joined the group, stifling a scream as he did so. He husked, "The enemy labor battalions have completed the paved road linking Taglios and Stormgard. A similar road is almost complete from Stormgard to Shadowlight."
Shadowlight lies near the heart of the most populous and prosperous region of the Shadowlands. Shadowspinner had been overlord there. Nominally, the city and its environs still owed allegiance to Longshadow. Yet our soldiers were building a road in the area untroubled.
I wondered why. Croaker's strategic plan did not require it. He had no intention of besieging Shadowlight. That would tie up too many men for far too long.
Mogaba grumbled, "They press us everywhere. No day passes but that we hear of the fall of another town or village. Many places the locals no longer resist at all. And it would be folly to assume that Croaker and Lady will respect the season."
Longshadow turned his dread mask toward Mogaba, who flinched. "Have you done anything to make it difficult to sustain a major campaign, General?"
An army must live off the land if it ventures far from home. You cannot carry enough food and fodder to sustain it any length of time.
"Very little." Mogaba didn't show an ounce of contrition. "I have my orders. And our enemies know what those orders are.
"What?" Now Longshadow was testy.
"They expect me to sit still." Mogaba indicated Singh, who nodded agreement reluctantly. "Their strategy assumes that I will defend one fixed point. Because your orders constrain me to do just that they scatter their forces and attack everywhere. Blade cannot blunt their sword alone. The villages will not resist because the people know no help will come. I could defeat the fools in detail, in a short while, if our strategy changed suddenly."
I don't think so, I thought, floating there smug in the knowledge that we had Smoke.
"No!" Longshadow forced his quaking flesh to face southward. He glared at the plain of glittering stone. "We will discuss military matters in private only, General."
Howler delivered a horrible scream edged with mockery. Singh practically dove through the hatchway. His contempt for the Shadowmaster was obvious to everyone but Longshadow himself though it was likely Longshadow would not have cared. To the Shadowmaster the Strangler was little more than a useful termite. In his mind none of us were much more than pesky insects.
The child left last. She considered Longshadow coldly. Her eyes seemed as old and wicked as time itself. She was a scary little thing for sure.
I wondered what the Old Man thought when he saw her.
Or if he even dared look.
Longshadow said, "They don't think I know what I'm doing."
"My soldiers are wasted where they are," Mogaba replied. "They're losing what edge they had."
"You may be right. But to attack in any direction you will have to leave what protection I am able to afford you. Without my lost comrades I cannot reach nearly as far as once I did. Will you risk their sorcery without mine to support you?" Mogaba grunted. He glared at the glittering plain. "You believe I am a coward for fearing that, General?"
"I stipulate the danger. I grant the value of your protection. But there is much that I could do anyway. Blade has been allowed to act on a limited scale and has accomplished great things. For certain he has demonstrated repeatedly how these Taglians will collapse if you attack their weaknesses."
"You trust Blade?"
"More than most. Like me, he has nowhere else to run. But I trust no one completely. Our allies least of all. Neither Howler nor the Deceiver joined us out of love for our cause."
"Indeed." Apparently amused, Longshadow seemed to relax. "I must explain, General." Mogaba's surprise told me that this was an extraordinary eventuality. "I do not stay bottled up here because of the plain. I can leave Overlook for short periods. I will if I must. The Shadowgate wards are fresh and strong and reliable and entirely under my control. But if I do venture out I will have to so do by stealth." Mogaba grunted again.
"The reason I stay here is that there are some less obvious players in this game."
Mogaba frowned. Sounded like a crock to me, too.
"Howler springs from that clan once known as The Ten Who Were Taken."
"I know."
"Stormshadow matriculated from that slave school as well. Another graduate was Senjak's sister. They called her Soulcatcher."
"I believe we've met."
"Yes. She embarrassed you at Stormgard." Actually, that was Lady that time. Wasn't it?
Mogaba nodded. I was surprised. Time seemed to have given him the ability to manage his temper.
"Some years ago circumstances deceived Howler and I. We took Soulcatcher prisoner under the impression that we had captured her sister. She was masquerading as Senjak at the time so the mistake was more her fault than ours. She escaped during some confusion that arose later. Although we did not treat her severely she bears us a unreasonable ill will. She has done us mischief before now and awaits the opportunity to do us major harm."
"You think if you left Overlook she might invite herself inside and forget to leave the door unlocked?"
"Exactly."
Ha! Imagine hijacking that incredible fortress.
Mogaba sighed. "So whether I like it or not it will have to be decided on the Plain of Charandaprash."
"Yes. Will you win?"
"Yes." Mogaba never did lack confidence. "As long as Croaker remains the man I knew, scarred by that streak of softness."
"If?"
"He hides behind a hundred masks. His soft streak may be another of those."
"So this man concerns you despite your desire to discount him."
"We continue to play to his strengths, not to attack his weaknesses. We allow him time to think, to plan, to maneuver, so he does not need to be subtle. His forces advance everywhere. Along the frontier the people are more afraid of the Black Company than of you. For pure viciousness there is nothing to match his war against Singh's kind. The Croaker I remember would have taken prisoners. He would have pardoned Stranglers willing to abandon their religion."
Right, I thought sarcastically. Then I reconsidered. Mogaba might be correct. Croaker had been forgiving, once upon a time.