Outside in the open square, as dawn washed away the gloom, the frenetic people disappeared like beetles scattering from beneath an overturned rock. They rushed to different buildings and ducked inside the dark interiors. As she fought to break free, she heard doors slam around the plaza, the heavy thunk of crossbars sealing them inside. The attacking mob dissipated like smoke in a heavy wind.
The grip on her arms and legs was like iron as her captors rushed her through the arched doorway into the building. She was engulfed by shadows. Forging her anger into strength, Nicci fought with renewed vigor, scratching, punching. “Don’t make me kill you!”
“Come with us!”
Feeling wet blood in her hair from where she’d been struck on the head, Nicci could no longer afford mercy. She crashed the people away with a surge of magic, and dropped to the floor in the enclosed foyer, free. Lurching to her feet, she called a more powerful weapon, a sphere of wizard’s fire, which she tossed into the crowded corridor just inside the entrance. She had to get these people away from her. Deadly flames carved through eight attackers, and she smelled roasting flesh and burning hair. The charred corpses slammed against the wall and crumpled onto the floor. Fires from burning bodies illuminated the shadows inside the palace entry.
Nicci tore herself free from the last clinging hands and turned to rush back into the open plaza, but one old woman in a gray robe scuttled forward, blocking her way. Her wrinkled face held a beseeching expression. Her words were heavily accented, but understandable. “Stop! We’re trying to save you!” Nicci’s blue eyes flared with angry questions, but the woman urged, “Don’t go out there. You’ll die. We’ll all die. Please!”
Outside, a golden sunrise lit the city of Orogang. Razor-edged shadows spread across the ground, and the distorted silhouette of the General Utros statue stretched over the flagstones. The ancient city again looked entirely abandoned. Nicci knew that if she got outside, these people couldn’t pursue her. For some reason, they were terrified of the sun.
She faced them by the door, breathing hard from the effort she had expended. “I don’t know who you are or what you mean to do. Why did you attack me?”
“We were saving you!” The old woman clutched her hands together. “It was for your own protection.”
Other drab figures staggered forward, ignoring the still-burning corpses of their fallen comrades. “The zhiss are coming! You have to stay inside.”
“We’ll kill you before we let them have you.”
“Who am I to you?” Nicci demanded. “What are you talking about?”
The old woman approached more guardedly. “Watch from the safe shadows, but we must bolt the door. If we let the zhiss have you, if we let them feed on fresh blood…” Her words trailed off, as if completing her sentence was too terrifying to imagine.
The pale people fell into quiet muttering, covered by a blanket of fear. Nicci realized they were not afraid of her, and she found that quite disturbing. She turned to face the brightening day, saw the empty city.
Outside, following the golden morning light as if summoned by the rising sun, an ominous black mist rolled in like a living thing. Hugging the ground, it was made of thousands of flecks, tiny shards of darkness, like a swarm of ebony locusts. The black miasma flickered and sparkled with inky shadows, extending tendrils and exploring as it crept into the ruins of Orogang.
Nicci felt an evil danger that vibrated to her bones. “By the Keeper, what is that?”
“The zhiss,” said the old woman.
The expanding black cloud crawled into Orogang like a deadly plague, and the hidden people shuddered in terror.
CHAPTER 7
“We can do only so much,” Nathan said, “but, dear spirits, we can do something.”
The group had retreated deeper into the forest, where they continued to monitor the enormous enemy army.
Sitting on a moss-covered log, Prelate Verna looked determined, as if she had worked a spell on herself. Her blouse and travel skirts were frayed and dirty after her long journey. She turned to the Sisters of the Light and the Cliffwall scholars who accompanied them. “When the enemy looks too large, focus on small victories, and we will defeat General Utros one step at a time.”
The two morazeth flashed each other a determined grin. Thorn said, “Each skirmish is an opportunity for us to pick off more of them.”
Lyesse nodded. “A hundred at a time, then another hundred, then a thousand. Eventually we will make a difference.”
“I applaud your confidence, ladies,” Nathan said. “You are as deadly as you are attractive.”
“We work hard at both,” Thorn said with a sniff. She had short black hair, heavy eyebrows, and rich brown eyes. Nathan saw very little softness about her, not that he expected to.
He brushed a fly from his silk sleeve, then looked at the band of defenders. “You all saw it. The soldiers we killed were fully human, not half stone. If the petrification spell has worn off, they will be easier for us to kill.”
“And, they will be hungry,” General Zimmer pointed out. “With Ildakar gone, they cannot raid the city for supplies. More than a hundred thousand soldiers, entirely cut off. Therefore, they will have to raid every village and town they can find.”
“We can’t leave those places defenseless!” Amber said in alarm.
“We have to seek out and warn any nearby villages, prepare them for what’s coming.” Nathan raised his chin and gestured to the group. “We can move faster than any scouting expeditions.”
The wizard Renn came up to them, fidgeting. “From old records we, uh, have a basic idea of the towns in the area, though few gifted nobles ever explored beyond the city walls.” After so many days out in the wilderness, he looked like a horse that had been left out in the rain without being tended. “We didn’t pay much attention to poor, primitive villages when we had all of Ildakar.”
“Utros will want whatever towns he can find,” Zimmer said. “He will strip them bare. It is the obvious move.”
Captain Trevor glanced at his remaining city guards, who stood together under the tall, dark pines. Their uniforms were tattered and frayed, but they remained loyal to a city that no longer existed. “Once the shroud of eternity came down years ago, Wizard Commander Maxim dispatched scouting parties. He wanted to know about the outside world. I remember reviewing the reports. I can recall some of the nearest towns, so we can find them before Utros does.” Trevor bent to scrape forest mulch from a patch of flat dirt, then used the point of his belt dagger to sketch out the general landforms around Ildakar, marking where the prominent towns would be.
Zimmer stood over the map, getting his bearings. “We should split up into several parties in order to spread the word as swiftly as possible.”
Verna added, “Utros has thousands of mouths to feed and no resources. Starvation might kill more of them than swords would.”
“I like killing them with my blade,” Thorn said, touching the hilt of her short sword.
“You’ll have ample opportunity, my dear,” Nathan replied. “Don’t worry.”
Once the separate groups chose which settlements to track down, the defenders split up and departed from their hiding place in the forest. Renn asked to accompany Nathan, and the two gifted wizards set out in search of a town called Hanavir.
Beneath his gold-trimmed white robe, Nathan still wore black travel pants, a white ruffled shirt, and black leather boots. He considered himself both a wizard and an adventurer. He carried his ornate sword, should he find himself in a more traditional battle.
Renn walked beside him through the forests and over the hills. He had shaggy brown hair that he had once kept in well-maintained ringlets; his chin was covered with stubble and his eyes were red. Despite the harrowing retreat from Ildakar, Nathan still made a point of maintaining his own appearance, using a sharp knife to shave his chin and taking advantage of his gift, or just stream water, to scrub stains from his silk robes. Renn, though, was broken and weary, no longer interested in how he looked. Sadness had knocked him off his feet.