“I wanted a chance to talk to you,” Renn said as they followed a game path. Nathan lifted a low branch, and the other wizard ducked under it without noticing. “When I left Ildakar to find Cliffwall, Lani was still just a statue.” He heaved a deep breath, looking down at the ground. “She was so beautiful, even in stone. I would come into the ruling tower when it was empty just so I could look at her.” He held out his hand, wistfully studying it. “Sometimes I’d stroke her cold, hard face and remember kissing her.”
Nathan had been impressed by Lani, too, for the brief time he had known her. “I know she loved you. I recall how determined she was.”
Renn let out a sigh. “I wish I’d been there at her brave end. I could have protected her.”
Nathan placed a hand on the other wizard’s shoulder. “I know you think that, my friend, but I was there, as were Quentin and dear Elsa. Ava and Ruva turned the scrying magic against Lani so fast that she was dead before we could do anything.”
Tears brimmed in Renn’s bloodshot eyes. “I still should have been there. At least I could have held her one last time.”
Nathan felt a lump in his throat, feeling a similar pain. “Elsa used her last magic to fling me and the rest of us to a safe distance before she activated her spell. I couldn’t save her either.” He set his shoulders. “But there’s one thing we can do to make up for it. We can do our part to save the rest of the world.”
After hours of moving through the trackless hills, they stumbled upon a wagon road. With a lighter step, the two wizards picked up their pace. Soon, they saw outlying dwellings, grazing sheep, old apple orchards. A larger cluster of homes, barns, and shops formed a bustling town. Nathan spotted grain silos, storage sheds, smokehouses. People tended gardens in the yards; a man rode in a mule-drawn wagon.
“That must be Hanavir,” Renn said.
The townspeople greeted them, not at all shy about strangers. Nathan called out, “We come to deliver a warning. This town is a target. A great army is coming to strip you of all your supplies, possibly kill your people. You need to prepare.”
An old man came forward, walking with a limp. He had a square face and thick gray hair matched by a thick gray beard. “That is quite an odd way to introduce yourselves, gentlemen. I am the mayor of Hanavir.”
“We, uh, thought you’d appreciate the warning,” Renn said. “The army of General Utros has awakened. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are about to sweep across the Old World.”
“And they need supplies,” Nathan continued. “They’ve dispatched raiding parties, and they will find Hanavir. They’ll take everything you have.”
“But we have very little.” The mayor looked more confused than alarmed.
Nathan snorted. “With full bellies and quiet lives, you may not realize how much you have. This town has plenty to plunder.”
“But we’ve never been troubled before,” said a cartwright who stood in front of his shop.
“There’s always a first time,” Nathan said.
The mayor politely suggested they gather for a large meal to discuss the matter further. Though his mouth watered at the thought of well-prepared food, Nathan felt impatient with the casual attitude. He looked around, noting the granaries, the storehouses, the butcher shop, the smokehouse. “We need to get started right away. Take your supplies to caches in caves or bury them in the forest where no one can find them. Move your sheep from the meadows. Otherwise the raiders will take everything.”
The mayor clucked his tongue as he hobbled along. “We need to call a meeting so we can discuss this disruption. Do you have any proof that this great army is coming here? We shouldn’t be too hasty.”
Exasperated, Renn held his hands up in the air. “By the Keeper’s beard, Ildakar is gone, and General Utros is on the move! That’s why we came to warn you.”
Nathan saw that Hanavir had been complacent for too long, never expecting any crisis. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to convince the people before hoofbeats pounded along the wagon road leading into town. A raiding party of several hundred soldiers came forward, raising a cloud of dust. They were clad in antique armor that bore the flame symbol of Emperor Kurgan. As the raiders galloped into town, the mayor and his people let out a chorus of alarm. Panicked parents grabbed their children and ran to lock themselves in their houses, while others hurried to seize any weapon.
Nathan recognized First Commander Enoch leading the soldiers. The old veteran sat tall in his saddle, and one of the twin sorceresses rode on a bay mare beside him, her body covered with swirls of black and crimson paint. She was exotic, beautiful, and deadly.
As the fearful townspeople watched, Enoch raised his voice. “In the name of General Utros, we require your food and supplies. We will confiscate your grain, your flocks, your meat, your bread. We will take your wagons for transport.”
“We’ll starve!” cried the mayor.
“And we will not,” Enoch said. “Our soldiers need it more than you do.”
Beside him the sorceress curled her lips in a thin smile.
The two wizards worked their way through the crowded townspeople, coming into view. Nathan felt his gift rising inside, ready to be released. “I’m afraid we’ll have to stop you, First Commander.”
Enoch recognized the wizard from their very first parley with General Utros. Next to him, with a look of delight and hunger, the sorceress laughed out loud. “I know you, old man. Nathan, isn’t it?”
“I may have lived a thousand years, but I am not old,” he retorted. “Which one are you, Ava or Ruva? I thought you twins were inseparable.”
“We were separated by a knife when we were young,” she said, unconsciously touching a long scar on the outside of her bare leg, “but we are still connected. I am Ruva.”
Renn’s face twisted in anger as he called on his gift. “You killed Lani!” He stretched out his fingers and hurled a lightning bolt at the sorceress. The jagged lance of energy made a searing pop, but Ruva deflected the bolt with a shield, and the whistling explosion struck the ground near her mare’s front hooves. The horse reared, but the woman knotted her fingers in the mane to hold on.
She retaliated with a rippling wave of hot air, and Nathan barely raised his own shield in time. Her attack was ragged, and scattered fringes of heat knocked down the limping old mayor and several townspeople. Five hundred soldiers rode into the town behind Enoch, and outriders chased the surprised villagers, who screamed and fled. The situation quickly got out of hand.
Renn hurled walls of air against the ancient soldiers, but Nathan focused on his main opponent, the sorceress. He crafted a ball of wizard’s fire and raised it to hurl at Ruva.
First Commander Enoch sat tall in his saddle and bellowed, “Stop, Wizard—I command you!”
Nathan shifted the ball of wizard’s fire and turned to the scarred veteran. “Since I can incinerate you in an instant, it is time for you to surrender. Tell your soldiers to back off.”
Enoch didn’t flinch. “On the contrary, you will cease your resistance.” He raised his voice even louder and skewered Nathan with his steely eyes. “Or I will have my soldiers kill every last one of these villagers, and then we’ll take the supplies anyway. I have five hundred soldiers. You can fight us, even kill many of us, but I’m confident we can slay every family in this town before you stop us all—and you know I can do it.” His tone changed, sounding more reasonable. “Right now, we only want the supplies, but it could easily turn into a massacre, if you force my hand.”