Now, Dila'heth's voice sounded once more and IceWind delivered appalling damage to the still-advancing flanks. Flesh sloughed from bodies, eyes were frozen and voices were stilled in throats. Karron fell shattering to the ground, dark bodies scorched blue and hairless by the cold. Strike-strain fell like fruit from a tree in a gale, cracking on the ground. A terrible wailing was taken up across the battlefield. It was demon rage and it struck at the heart.
Darrick turned his head. The second wagon pair was moving into range, and would fill the space in between the lead pair, bringing with it the respite of a replacement ColdRoom.
'Advance!' he roared.
Dila'heth and Pheone brought their mages back from the mana spectrum and they split left and right, running back along the sides
of the train. The Al-Arynaar and Raven moved forwards towards the demon lines and the ColdRoom covered them once more.
It had been a devastating blow and Darrick was tempted to let the mages strike again. But stamina was finite and the Gods alone knew when they would next be able to replenish. Looking forward through the clearing smoke, he could see the rents they had torn in the demon force. But even now it was beginning to reform and if they were to break through and reach Xetesk, it had to be now.
Chapter 33
I can't do it, Cleress, I can't.
Oh my child of course you can. Tou are a most able student.
Don't bloody patronise me. Want me to start calling you (old woman'? Tou weren't there. Tou weren't in my mind. That casting should have worked exactly the way of the first. The fact that it didn't means I cannot be trusted to do this right every time and if I don't, my friends will die.
If you don't try they will die anyway.
Erienne had a sensation of movement but nothing more. Her awareness was otherwise limited to the roar of the One magic force surging around her mind and body and the attempted calming of the frail and distant Al-Drechar elf. Erienne was not dead and therefore The Raven must have made it to the Julatsan carriages. She was, she presumed, aboard one of them. And if she concentrated very hard, she felt a comforting strength nearby. She knew who it would be.
And you think my giving them false hope will make it better?
Don't be stupid, Erienne. Tours is not a false hope. The power you oversee can be the difference. All you have to do is understand where you went wrong. Explain what happened.
Erienne bit back her retort. It would have made her precisely the schoolgirl she had been about to deny.
I didn't go wrong, Cleress, I didn't. I had worked out the gauge of the casting so well and it worked exactly as I had planned. Tou would have been proud. I mapped the mana trails, plotted the link lines to the demons and removed the linkage that held their blood vessels together. It was perfect. But when I did it again in just the same way, there was some form of surge within me and although the casting began, I had to shut down but I wasn't ever in complete control of that decision. It was
like my body sensed the danger before my mind did. What happened? Why can't I repeat? I have to be able to repeat, it's all we have.
Erienne felt her anxiety rising and the One power bore down on her. As ever she fought the entity, imagining it was a spider whose legs she had to pry from her mind to stop them crushing her. Abruptly, the pressure eased and Cleress's presence pushed the power aside.
Calm, Erienne. It knows your fear and it feeds off it. Remember what we showed you.
It's so hard, Cleress. I'm so tired.
I know. But listen to me. Tou pose so many questions yet the answers are there before you. I am proud of the casting you made. It shows true understanding of the potential of the One and demonstrated your control over the entity.
But—
Please, let me finish. Tou are the one who always felt the entity had more sentience than it actually possesses in reality. It was we who explained to you that it is your mind that gives it this virtual life. What you imagine, it can become. That is why you need to control your mind so closely when you release the power.
Tou're saying I caused the problem with the second casting?
We have all of us done the same. Tou crossed a waypoint in your understanding though I know it feels like failure to you at the moment. What you realise is that it is as we have always said. Casting with the One is essentially very simple but it is the feeding of power that is the complex part of the equation. I would stake my life that all you did the second time around was relax just that iota, as if you couldn't quite believe how easy it was.
Erienne thought to reply but Cleress wasn't finished.
Think before you respond. Recall what went through your mind as you prepared the second casting and saw how easily it all slotted into place. Examine your process. If at any moment you felt that it was too easy, that would have been enough. That would have relaxed the muscles of your mind to let the wrong gauge of power out. The One became what you imagined, just that little bit slack. And in a One casting, that can spell disaster.
She was right. She was absolutely dead right.
So what should I do? Next time there may not be a sanctuary.
Tou do nothing but believe in yourself, as Fm sure your friends have been telling you all along. The good part of this is that your body is now so attuned to the power flow within you that if it detects a flaw, it will close off. And it won't always leave you unconscious, either.
I'm just so scared of failing.
Then don't. Tou are equipped with all you need to know. Tou do trust me, don't you, Erienne?
Tes.
Good. Then trust what I say. Believe what I say. Tou must not doubt yourself. Focus on all the castings you have made that have been perfect. They far outweigh those which were not. Remember the tautness of your concentration.
It all sounds so straightforward when you say it, Cleress. But when I open my eyes, what will I find, I wonder?
Remember you are everything you think you can be. Tou are the One mage.
I am when you are with me.
Cleress laughed but it was a tired sound. Tou don't need my strength. Tou have a surfeit of your own.
If only I knew where to find it.
Tou know where it lies, child.
And you must be tired, old woman.
I am. So if you will excuse me I will rest. Bring yourself round. Gain from the contact of The Raven. Tou are each other's best chance.
Thank you, Cleress.
Sharyr knew he was screaming but he had no desire to stop. He thought perhaps Brynel and Suarav were doing the same and if they weren't, they ought to be. They were moving as one, he leading, shouting commands between his screams and keeping them simple. One thing he couldn't afford was for he and Brynel to pull in opposite directions. It would leave Suarav a dead man.
'Left!'
And they flew left, feeling the wind as a pack of strike-strain missed them to the right. They turned back in towards the shell. The sky lit up with a Julatsan barrage. Sharyr exulted. What a sight.
'Straight in. Trim those wings, Brynel.'
The mages adjusted their wings for raw speed and immediately
began to lose height, Suarav's weight dragging them down. Sharyr heard Suarav shout in shock as the speed struck them. This was a final approach. They wouldn't get another chance. In front of them, the wagons had started to move but there were those who had detached and were heading towards the edge of the shell where they were aiming to break through.
Their way was blocked by strike-strain and reavers, floating in the air ahead of them. Sharyr looked briefly below. They were no more than twenty feet in the air now and still sinking. They had nowhere to go.