"They're like powerstones," Snaff said avidly, "but tied to the life force of Kralkatorrik." He plucked an emerald leaf from the tree. "Do you know what I can do with these?"
Glint seemed almost to smile. "What?"
"That one golem I mentioned-Sandy-was made out of billions of grains of sand and thousands of powerstone chips. I controlled Sandy with a powerstone laurel, which sent thoughts from my brain into tiny gemstones within him."
"But you don't have time to build a golem," Logan objected.
"I don't need to build one. With these crystallized drops of blood-thousands of them-I could take hold of your former master."
Glint's eyes grew wide.
"We'll pack these blood droplets into exploding arrowheads, and each one that pierces his hide will fill him with thousands of powerstone fragments. They'll be salted through him by the time I need to take over his mind."
Glint shook her head. "You cannot match the will of an Elder Dragon."
Zojja set her hands on her hips. "He stared down Jormag. He can stare down this one, too."
"He can do it," Eir assured Glint, "but we're going to need more than powerstone arrows. We need to get more of these emeralds attached to the dragon sooner." She snapped her fingers. "Those laurels you make, Snaff-could you make something like that for the dragon?"
Snaff's eyes lit. "Yes. Yes, I could! It'll take a rib out of the cockpit of my Big, but I could fashion a powerstone piece-maybe a yoke or torc-that could clamp onto the dragon."
"And Glint," Eir said, "could you fasten the yoke about Kralkatorrik?"
"He would not submit to that."
Eir strode toward her. "Then battle him. For millennia, you have wanted to stop your master. Now, you can do it. Battle him in the skies and place on him a powerstone laurel-a yoke that will give us access to his mind."
Glint's eyes narrowed as if she saw the fight in the sky. "It will take time. You will be overrun by his minions before I can place the laurel."
"Trench works!" Eir said. "U-shaped fortifications in the sand. There are three colonnades-three entrances to this sanctuary. We'll dig a deep trench before each one-"
"And fill them with enspelled dragon-blood stones," Zojja said.
All eyes turned on her.
"I can make them stick to minions," she said. "I can make them embed themselves, and then Snaff can take over their minds. He can use the minions against each other-keep back the tide until you have placed the dragon laurel."
"Perfect idea," Eir said, giving Zojja a rare nod. "And when Snaff must shift his mind from the minions to the master, we all will guard the three doors, keeping him safe until Rytlock can deliver the killing blow."
"How can you keep back thousands of giant monsters?" Glint asked.
"Garm and I can hold one gate, Caithe and Logan can hold another, and Big Zojja can hold the third."
SIEGE AND STORM
Though a besieging army of charr camped on the plains to the north of Ebonhawke, the fortress itself was decked for celebration. The royal banners of Kryta hung beside the emblems of Ebonhawke, and trumpeters lined the curtain walls. In the courtyard below, the Ebon Vanguard stood at attention in their dress uniforms, every inch of black armor polished. Their dark figures were outshone by the 144 white-garbed Seraph who stood at attention around their queen.
Queen Jennah had traveled to Ebonhawke not via the treacherous Shiverpeaks but via the restored asura gate. For years, the gate between Ebonhawke and Kryta had been unreliable, not maintained by the xenophobic human outpost or the last human monarch that could aid it. Years of neglect, though, had been undone by recent treaties. With the defeat of the Destroyer of Life, the asura had sent their best minds to repair and improve the ancient asura gate between Ebonhawke and Divinity's Reach.
Today, Queen Jennah was officially declaring the renewed asura gate open. She stood before the assembled might of Ebonhawke and gestured to the glimmering gate behind them.
Her majestic figure was projected by a mesmeric aura above the crowd, and she spoke to them all. "With this gate, you are no longer alone in the wilderness. With this gate, Ebonhawke is connected to the heart of Divinity's Reach. The asura will maintain it, and it will not fall into disrepair again. Through this gate, supplies will come to you-food and weapons and armor and medicines. Through this gate, reinforcements will come-new recruits and seasoned veterans and even, in time of great need, these white-garbed warriors."
That brought applause from some, but murmurs of uncertainty from others: "We don't need Seraph."
"They're better for parades than battlements."
"She sends them, she'll send orders."
The queen went on, "Through this gate, you will go on leave, out of a land of constant war and into a city of eternal peace, out of the rigors of battle and into the splendors of the greatest city on Tyria. Through this gate, your wounded will go to Vanguard Hospital in the heart of Divinity's Reach, to be cared for as all heroes should."
The warriors cheered that thought, but their celebration was interrupted by the distant rumble of thunder. A few of the trumpeters on the wall turned to gaze north, where a black cloud was boiling up.
"From this day forward, except at time of imminent danger, this gate will remain open-a road between humanity's bravest outpost and its brightest city."
The Seraph applauded these closing words, and the Vanguard joined in. But another peal of thunder-louder and nearer-interrupted the ovation. The trumpeters turned again to see a black cloud eating up the sky.
The queen signaled for the Krytan Fanfare.
Only a few horns began it, but others joined in, swelling the refrain.
A voice spoke in Queen Jennah's ear: "We must get you to safety." It was Countess Anise, a Shining Blade exemplar who was always beside the queen. Anise grasped the queen's arm and impelled her down from the platform.
Dylan Thackeray met the queen on the steps. "My queen, a storm threatens."
Jennah glanced between her bodyguards. "Since when have I feared rain?"
"It's more than rain." Dylan fell in step beside the queen and Anise. "Something stirs the sky, my queen."
The Krytan Fanfare faltered.
Dylan halted, drawing his sword and looking to the wall.
Trumpeters quit midsong and turned toward the stairs. They rushed down while warriors rushed up.
The black cloud was spreading with preternatural speed. In heartbeats, it engulfed the sky. Waves of dark magic riled through the belly of the cloud, and red lightning flickered horribly. In the far west, a strange golden beam tore down from the cloud to rake the horizon.
"I'm going up to see," Dylan told the queen. "Countess Anise, get the queen to the keep, to an inner chamber, and let no one and nothing through to her."
The countess scowled. "Do not tell me my duty, Captain Thackeray. She will be safe."
Anise and two other guardians led Queen Jennah toward the keep of Ebonhawke.
Dylan watched them go. Those Shining Blade always surrounded Queen Jennah, pretending to be greater protectors than he. Let them prove it now. The best way for Dylan to guard the queen was to learn what this storm was.
He rushed up the stairs along the curtain wall. The walkway at the top had long since been vacated by trumpeters, but the Ebon Vanguard remained, staring out.
The sky was black, and the storm overhead convulsed like a living thing. All around the ravenous cloud, dust devils ripped up the ground. Sandstorms boiled, and siroccos screamed.
"The charr'll have a hard time of it," Dylan muttered with satisfaction.
He looked down on the brutes' encampment on the northern plain. Their tents were ranked in even rows surrounded by great iron siege engines. The charr had closed off the eastern and western roads, and their sappers had dug zigzag trenches approaching the walls. Though the charr had besieged Ebonhawke for years, they seemed serious about bringing down the fortress this time-serious about shutting down the asura gate. By the look of the earthworks and war wagons, they were only a month from bringing their siege to storm.