"But now? When the world is falling on us?" Ivy panted.
"Keep moving!" Mumchance shouted over the rumbling of the earth beneath their feet. "Come on, Kid. Run, you little goat, run!"
Kid sprinted toward them.
"Told you," said Ivy. "He's fast."
Dust was spilling out of cracks in the wall, running down the stone in threads of gray like streams before a flood. The ground before Archlis was also starting to crack and cave in. The magelord had fallen to his knees, but he was still howling out his spell and waving the Moaning Diamond over his head.
Kid raced back toward the Siegebreakers, leaping lightly on his small hooves over the widening fissures in the ground, zipping around holes, holding the magelord's purse over his head and waving it.
As he neared them, he dug into the purse, pulled out a thick object, and held it overhead, laughing and waving his arms. When he reached Ivy's side, Kid waved the object at. It was Toram's spellbook.
"Don't stop," shouted the dwarf again. "Keep moving!"
Kid raced along at Ivy's side, his upturned face one wide grin.
"A book? You went back for a book?" Zuzzara thundered. The half-orc reached out, grabbed her sister's wrist, and rushed away. Gunderal's feet barely touched the ground. Her hair whipped around her head and across her face, enamel pins dropping like rain behind her.
"Let me go," she shrieked, "I want to see what Archlis is doing."
Zuzzara shouted, "He's bringing down that wall. Want to watch while it falls on you?"
The group was almost halfway across the field when Mumchance called a halt.
They stopped, bumping into each other, then turned around. The two bugbears were racing away in the opposite direction, Norimgic obviously limping from the recent landing in the field. The sun glittered on Sanval's former breastplate as Osteroric followed his brother away from the magelord.
"Look at that!" exclaimed Mumchance.
The wall was twisting now, and the goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and barbarian archers were falling forward-a rain of timbers and screaming soldiers. A deep note sounded, the voice of stone twisted out of the earth, smothering even the ululations of the Moaning Diamond.
The ground completely crumbled beneath Archlis as the wall tilted out and rained stones and a shrieking Fottergrim down upon the screaming magelord. Archlis tried to roll out of the way, throwing one arm over his head. His other hand, extended and clinging to the Moaning Diamond, held the gem up as though he thought it would protect him.
Archlis dropped down through the widening hole in the ground, down to the twisting tunnels and the flooded levels of the ancient city. His robes whipping around him, and the last they saw of him was his sleeves fluttering above his upraised hands, and a quick flash of light. They heard a shrill scream that could have been Archlis or could have been the Moaning Diamond returning to its underground crypt.
A great roar shook the watchers as the ground in front of the wall caved in. The entire fortifications collapsed on the magelord. An enormous cloud of dust belched out of the fissure, a spiral of smoke twisted up to the sky, and then silence. Then there was another distinct popping sound, and a huge jet of water plumed into the sky and fell back to earth.
For a moment the Siegebreakers stood speechless, staring in shock. The water cascaded in high arches, like jets in a splendid castle fountain, then ran in spreading circles and grew from a pond into a lake.
"Not quite how I'd planned to bring that wall down," Ivy muttered.
"Shh," said Sanval, holding a finger to his lips. "I would not tell anyone that. It might make it harder to collect your fee." Then he smiled at her.
"Good plan," said Ivy with an answering smile.
"Told you that we would get a small lake on that side," said Mumchance with satisfaction. Gunderal smiled and nodded. Then she turned to look at her sister, lifting one delicate eyebrow in inquiry.
With a belly-deep orc laugh, Zuzzara shouted, "You're the best magic show in town, little sister!"
A shout sounded from the line of Procampur's army on the wooded hillside. Now the rumble of hooves shook the ground as Enguerrand's cavalry swept past them. More men went running after them, lines of mercenaries yelling as they swept over the rubble of the western wall and plunged into Tsurlagol.
Ivy shaded her eyes from the midday sun and looked toward Enguerrand's troops. She could see rubble and cavalry and foot soldiers, and in the swirl of dust she glimpsed goblins and the surviving barbarian archers disappearing between the ruins beyond the wall. They were running low, obviously hoping to hide before Enguerrand found them. As quickly as they had appeared, they were gone, and if she knew anything at all, she knew Enguerrand would never find them. But it was not her problem. Somebody had to lose. But today, it was not her.
The Siegebreakers looked at each other, very pleased. They had accomplished their mission.
"Just let the Thultyrl try to wiggle out of paying," said Ivy. Something like a contented purr underlaid her hoarse voice.
As the army of Procampur thundered past them to drive Fottergrim's troops out of Tsurlagol, Sanval looked after them longingly.
"You don't have a horse. And you're missing most of your armor," Ivy chided him, but she did it very gently. He appeared so very forlorn standing there in a torn, smoke-smudged shirt, rust-smeared breeches, and indescribably dirty boots, watching someone else ride off to glorious battle. Even his hair was standing up in every which way, dust and rust streaking his dark curls. Of course, Ivy thought he looked wonderful. After all, he was breathing, and he wasn't bleeding. And that was worth paying a temple a visit and giving thanks to any gods who wanted to listen. However, right now she needed to convince Sanval that this was a very good day for them all. "Look, you are with us," she said. "And when the dust clears, we are going to be the biggest heroes around here. After all, we tumbled the walls of Tsurlagol."
"Actually, it was Archlis who-" started Zuzzara.
"He didn't have a contract with the Thultyrl. And he was on the losing side," Ivy reminded her.
"And we are the winners," said Zuzzara. Gunderal giggled at her sister and patted her lovingly on the back.
"Oh yes," said Ivy, looking around and realizing that despite all the odds against it, they were all there, even Wiggles. "It has been a good day…"
Mumchance chimed in, "We were not standing under that wall…"
"When it fell down!" finished the others with a happy shout.
Then Ivy remembered a promise that she had made to herself, down in the dark. "And now I am going to find the handsomest healer that I can."
"But we must report to the Thultyrl," said Sanval. "And there are certain prayers and sacrifices that I should make at my family shrine. To give thanks to the gods." He gave a deep, gut-wrenching sigh. "And then I am going to have to go back to my tent and explain to Godolfin about my boots." He brightened up a little. "And get a clean shirt, and a bath."
"Good ideas," said Ivy. "And I have a couple more ideas that I may want to discuss with you later. Tell me. The gods attached to Procampur-are they fussy about attendance to proper times of worship and all that? Or are they just pleased to see you whenever you happen to stop by?"
"We have many gods and goddesses beneath the black-roof tiles," said Sanval, looking a little puzzled. "Some for a household, some for an occupation, some for the protection of a district. There are appropriate and inappropriate days to enter the temples, if that is what you are asking."
"And every black-roof Procampur temple probably has long lists of rules and regulations about what else is appropriate and inappropriate," guessed Ivy.
"Certainly. There is a proper order to such things, after all."
"Hmm. I may need to find some place a little less organized. Maybe over there," she said, glancing back over her shoulder at the fighters swarming over the broken wall of Tsurlagol.