"I cannot see them at this distance," he said.
Duirsar offered him a lens of clear crystal, held in a small gold hoop and said, "You'll need this."
Seiveril held the magic lens to his eye and looked again. The hillsides and forests blurred, and Seiveril found himself gazing on the daemonfey army as if they were only a few hundred yards away. As he expected, the vanguard was a huge, disorganized rabble of orcs, ogres, goblins, and giants, with a handful of stranger beasts mixed among them. Then came a great marching mass of horrors and abominations spawned in the darkest hells: hulking insectlike mezzoloths, prowling canoloths, hopping hezrou-demons and skeletal pal-rethees and babaus. Winged demons, mostly vrocks, soared over the vile horde, flapping this way and that. He also glimpsed the marching ranks of the daemonfey, slender and quick. Many of those were in the air as well, but others, too heavily burdened with arms and armor to fly easily, simply marched in orderly legions behind their rabble and their demons. More humanoids-goblin slaves, it seemed-dragged the army's train, such as it was, behind the warriors.
"At their current pace, they'll reach the mouth of the Rillvale in two days," Duirsar said. "The pass is difficult, and I think it will take them another two days to bring their main body all the way to the top."
Seiveril took the lens from his eye, turned to face Duirsar, and asked, "Do you have the strength to stop them?"
"We did before the phaerimm war," the Hill Elder said. "Now, I am not so sure. We lost almost the whole of the Tomb Guard, most of the Vale Guard, and better than half of the Swords of Evereska. We managed to preserve our mythal, but it was virtually destroyed before we restored it, and it is still weak."
"Well, if the Seldarine smile on us, I should be able to bring you a thousand swords, staves, and bows by sunset tomorrow, and as many as four thousand more within three to four days of that."
"Lord Rhaellen will be greatly cheered by that news. He despairs of defending the city." Duirsar glanced at Vesilde Gaerth, who stood a short distance away speaking with the watchpost's guards, and lowered his voice. "But will Amlaruil really allow you to march?"
"Amlaruil will not hinder us," Seiveril said. "However, I am concerned about other nobles of Evermeet, which is one reason why I want to march as soon as possible."
Duirsar said, "I am sorry that Evereska has need of help again, so soon after Evermeet gave so generously to assist us in the war against the phaerimm. Maybe it would be wiser to consider Retreat."
"Lord Duirsar, I have come to the conclusion that the Retreat was a terrible mistake. When we abandoned Cor-manthor, we surrendered our first line of defense against the perils of a Faerun dominated by other, younger races. Kymil Nimesin's attack on Evermeet convinced me of that." Seiveril studied the weary Elder. "Your desire to fight for your home is not misguided, Duirsar. Do not let anyone else try to convince you that it is."
Vesilde Gaerth joined them, shading his eyes with his hand as he studied the terrain over which the approaching army would have to march.
"Lord Duirsar," Vesilde asked, "have you contested this horde's approach?"
"No, we haven't met them yet, though we've watched their march for better than a tenday now. At first we thought they would continue south down the Delimbiyr and fall on Llorkh and Loudwater in the Gray Vale, but then they crossed from the Delimbiyr Vale to the desert verge above the Fallen Lands. Much as I would have liked to harry their march, especially through such inhospitable country, we simply don't have the strength to risk anything more than a few scouts against an enemy more than a few miles from our doorstep."
"Where do you think we should try to stop them?" Seiveril asked Duirsar.
"I would like to fight here, at the top of Sentinel Pass. The way is narrow, and we could inflict great damage with a company of archers and some mages. However, I am concerned by the number of fliers in that army. Almost half its strength, including all the daemonfey, are winged. If I send out a small force to contest the pass, the fliers will go over our soldiers to attack them from behind, and we will lose whomever we send here. If I send a large force, then I risk the possibility that the fliers will ignore Sentinel Pass all together and strike directly at Evereska."
"Where else, then?"
"The next good place of defense would be the Sunset Gate, which lies between the West Cwm and the Vine Vale. But there again we risk being bypassed by demons and daemonfey who fly."
Vesilde Gaerth thought carefully, then said, "Maybe we should invite the attempt. If we offered a strong army to hold the pass or the gate, the daemonfey might choose to split their forces, leaving their foot troops to try a very difficult defense while their fliers strike at the city. At least we might keep the non-fliers away from Evereska itself."
"A dangerous gamble," Duirsar observed. "Soldiers in the pass might face attack on both sides, including from hundreds of demons and sorcerers. You will need powerful magic to defend yourselves if the daemonfey decide to surround and eliminate your force, and you will be well outside the mythal."
"The only other alternative I see is adding our army to yours inside the walls of Evereska, and surrendering the Shaeradim and the Vine Vale to your foes," Seiveril said. He gazed at the distant army, crawling up into the mountains. "I hesitate to retreat behind Evereska's wards and invite a siege."
"What other choice do we have? We can't meet so many demons and sorcerers outside the mythal," said Duirsar. "It would be as bad as fighting the phaerimm."
"That worries me too," Gaerth said to Seiveril. He turned away from the vale. "I've fought demons before. Their physical power is bad enough, but they also possess innate magical ability that's the equal of a potent sorcerer, and many of them are virtually immune to the bite of normal steel. A whole company of archers might not be able to even scratch something like a mezzoloth or vrock before it tore them to pieces or incinerated them with its hellborn sorcery. Worse yet, many of the damned things can simply teleport from one spot to another with a simple act of will. The idea of trying to form something like a defensive line against any number of demons is laughable. And of course, there are more than a thousand of those winged daemonfey, many of whom seem to be capable sorcerers, too." The knight-commander hesitated, then added, uWe have to prepare ourselves for a fight like we've never imagined."
"Elves have fought against armies of demons before," Seiveril said.
"Yes, but the last time I know of was in the Weeping War that brought about the fall of Myth Drannor. We lost that one." Gaerth looked over at the Hill Elder and asked, "Lord Duirsar, does the mythal ward have any special powers against demons and such creatures?"
"Yes. They cannot teleport into or out of it."
"So we still have to worry about them flying past us to get at the city, but at least they won't simply transport themselves there in the blink of an eye," Seiveril said. "That's something, anyway. Come, Lord Gaerth. We have to get back to Elion and consider what we've seen today."
Elven armies had stood against demons before. Somehow he would find a way to do it again.
CHAPTER 11
2 °Ches, the Year of Lightning Storms
The sea winds blustered against the stone and battlements of Tower Reilloch, chill and damp despite the brightness of the day. Fir and spruce trees surrounding the tower sighed and creaked in the wind. Araevin looked up at the tower's stark strength, surprised that he felt as if he were returning home. He'd been away so much over the years that it didn't seem that Reilloch should feel that way to him.
Ilsevele watched him. Simply setting foot back on Evermeet seemed to have filled her with a tangible radiance that almost showed through her pale skin and green eyes. She set a hand on his arm and offered a rueful smile.