The runner flapped his wings and did a little dance to keep warm.
Kang blinked, rubbed the stinging snow from his eyes. “If First Squadron pulls back, it’ll put all the pressure on Second Squadron. That can’t be helped. Churz, go back and tell Gloth to retreat to the temple, then go to Yethik and tell him to do the same. The length of time it takes you to move between one and the other will cause a delay between the two. Keep the squadrons moving back in echelon.”
Yethik was new to the command of Second Squadron. He had taken command only two days before when a goblin arrow had pierced Irlihk’s eye, killing him instantly. They had lost nearly thirty draconians since setting out from Mount Celebundin. There were just over two hundred left in the regiment.
The runner nodded, repeated the orders to ensure he got them right. Kang slapped him on the back and sent him off.
One of the baaz in the Security Detail pitched forward on his face. Slith rolled him over. There was an arrow in his back, lodged beneath his wings, a patch which the armor couldn’t cover. Even as they watched, the body started to turn to stone.
Slith ran inside the temple. Kang left the baaz where he lay and entered the gates to the temple grounds. The rest of the baaz guards trooped in behind him. Inside it was eerily quiet. The wall kept out the wind. Maybe it would also keep out the goblins.
“Slith, make sure Support Squadron’s ready to handle the defense. Oh, and get fires going. We’re going to need heat. You four, fix me a post up on the second level where I can see the fighting. I want some torches brought up. Have Dremon report to me once you’re set up.”
The lead baaz saluted but hesitated before carrying out his orders. He looked back out to the body of his comrade. Snow was starting to pile up around it
“Yes, I know,” Kang said, answering the unspoken question. “If we win this battle, we’ll go back and retrieve him and bury him properly. Same with the rest of our dead, those that remain intact. If we lose, it won’t make much difference where he lies, will it?”
“No, sir. Sorry, sir.”
“Don’t apologize, Rog. We care for our own,” Kang replied. “No shame in that. Only credit. Now, off you go.”
The four baaz moved off to do their commander’s bidding.
Kang climbed the stairs, entered what had apparently been a living quarters for some of the clerics who served the temple. The room was small and exceptionally clean but completely bare. Only the bunks built into the walls remained.
Kang opened the shutters, looked out the window. The wind howled at him, but he could see First Squadron drawing near the temple grounds. Second Squadron was five hundred yards back. Neither was being pursued. He closed the shutters, sat down on one of the bunks.
A mistake. He would lie down, stretch out, take a nap. Just a short nap. He hadn’t slept much in these past few days. He hadn’t slept much in the past few months, or so it seemed. A nap wouldn’t hurt anything. He’d done everything he could, the matter was out of his hands, Slith could deal with. . with. .
“Sir! Support Squadron reporting, sir!” A draconian materialized in front of Kang, saluted.
Kang sighed and opened his eyes. He wearily returned the salute.
Dremon, another sivak draconian, had been promoted to Chief Supply Officer when Yethik had taken command of Second Squadron. Dremon was the best reconnaissance soldier in the regiment, meaning that he was the best assassin, but he had broken his shoulder during one of the last raids at Celebundin and had never healed properly. He couldn’t do the stealth work required of a reconnaissance soldier, but Kang had found other uses for him. He had put Dremon in charge of security for the young draconian females.
“How are the babies?” Kang asked.
Dremon shook his head. “There’s something wrong, sir.”
“What, damn it?” Kang was on his feet. Fear shriveled his heart.
“I don’t know, sir.” Dremon looked helpless. “I don’t know anything about kids. The only kid I ever saw was a little human and, well, sir, I killed it. That was on that raid on-”
“Never mind about the damn raid!” Kang thundered. “What about the babies?”
“They’re listless and they won’t eat. We tried to give them some of the raw meat we’ve been feeding them but they just turn their heads away.”
“Are they warm enough?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve got them tied up snug as a bug in the sacks. They’re fretful, sir. All they do is whimper and cry.”
“Are they sick?” Kang was sick himself, sick with worry.
“I don’t know, sir. I really think you should come-
“Sir!” One of Support Squadron entered the room. “Subcommander Slim said to tell you that the temple is not abandoned, as we first thought. We’ve found six humans, sir. Females. They were hiding in the cellar. They call themselves Sisters of Paladine, sir. The subcomman-der wants to know what to do with them.”
Kang groaned. Just one damn problem on top of another. Clerics of Paladine! All he needed. He hoped to the gods that weren’t anymore that they had lost their magical holy powers, just as he had lost his. If not. .
“Did they attack?” he asked grimly.
“They tried, sir.” The draconian grinned. “One of them-a real old and wrinkled-up one-shouted out the name of her cursed god and waved some sort of medallion at us. Nothing happened. The subcommander took the medallion away and told her to sit down and shut up. Her screeching was giving him a headache.”
“Where are they?”
“Still in the cellar, sir.”
“Sir!” Another soldier entered the room. “First and Second Squadron are inside the temple grounds, sir.”
“What about the enemy?”
“Taking up positions outside the temple, sir. Looks as if they’re preparing to attack.”
“Man the walls. I know goblins. Their first attack will come too fast, before they’re organized. Should be no trouble holding them off the first time. The second time’ll be more difficult. Officers report to me in ten minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” The runner dashed off.
“The female humans, sir?” said the soldier.
“The babies, sir?” said Dremon.
Kang put his hand to his forehead. Females and babies? Females and babies. .
“Females and babies!” he cried, triumphant. “That’s it! Don’t you get it?”
The two soldiers shook their heads.
“Females adore babies,” Kang explained. “It’s. . it’s born into them. Instinct.” He strode rapidly across the room. The soldiers ran along behind.
“Even draconian babies, sir?” Dremon asked, dubious.
“All babies,” Kang said firmly. “Baby lions, baby wolf cubs. Baby birds. Baby dragons. According to the bards, females-particularly human females-are always taking in baby animals and raising them. They can’t help themselves.”
“I hope the bards are right, sir!” Dremon said fervently.
So do I, Kang said to himself. So do I. All he said aloud was, “Bring the babies down to the cellar.”
After a hasty meeting with his officers, he left them to their work and hurried through the main temple building. It was empty except for an altar with the image of the god carved in marble. The god was portrayed as a platinum dragon, fearsome, wise, and benevolent. At least that’s how it must have appeared in the not-too-distant past. Now the statue of the dragon looked forlorn and slightly foolish. Or maybe bewildered, baffled. Kang gazed at it, experienced a moment of empathy. He knew how the beast felt. He himself was forlorn, bewildered, baffled. So much had happened in such a little space of time, so much had changed.
Kang patted the statue on the snout as he went by, not so much out of bravado, although the gesture would show his men that he wasn’t afraid of it, as out of a feeling of brotherhood. They’d both been abandoned, he and the statue.
The soldiers led him through the temple proper to a large outbuilding located behind the main building. Here were more living quarters and an enormous kitchen. Behind the kitchen, a large double door built into the ground stood open. They could hear voices coming from below the ground level. Kang clomped down the cellar stairs. The cellar was warm and dry and filled with food smells. The smells were ghosts, however. The cellar was, for the most part, empty. A single sack of flour remained, along with some wizened apples, a sack of potatoes.