The gate was maintained by forces none but Takaar understood and which would collapse should he pass through it. And while a collapse would stall the Garonin, it would maroon a huge number of elves too.
The moment’s calm was undermined by the fear of the civilians below. What was coming was as inevitable as it was unstoppable. The Garonin machines began to pound the door of the keep. Auum spun round at the sound of running feet below them, at the base of the spiral stair.
‘No! Katyett, they’re trying to get back down the tunnels.’ Auum leaned over to shout his warning. ‘You’re going the wrong way. Take the ladder down the bore!’
‘Al-Arynaar. Twenty detail. Get down there. Keep the people going down the ladder,’ ordered Pelyn. ‘Methian. You’re leading. Move!’
The barrage on the door reached a deafening clamour. From below, the shrieks of terrified elves echoed up. It sounded like a stampede down there. No one who faced the door spoke. Huge dents had been beaten in the four-inch-thick steel. Like great fists were striking again and again. The fists of gods. The first tear appeared dead centre of the door. Daylight streamed in. Immediately, the barrage focused on the weak point.
‘Not long now,’ said Olmaat.
Behind them, panic deepened. A sheet of light fled up the bore. A second followed it and lastly a series of sharp flickers. Auum’s heart skipped a beat. An Al-Arynaar appeared in front of Katyett and Pelyn.
‘The gateway is failing. Takaar ran through and now it’s coming apart.’
Katyett stared at Pelyn and at her warriors. Auum could see it in her eyes. They had lost. Projectiles fell like an avalanche on the door. The tear had become a hole an elf could walk through upright. A large missile flew through and slammed into the far wall, smashing stone and causing a fall of beams and rubble.
Katyett swallowed. She nodded.
‘It is done,’ she said. ‘Warriors of Hausolis. We can do no more than sacrifice our lives to no avail. The Garonin machines will kill us at distance. Your choice. Go to your peoples and stand until they come for you. Or go through the gateway now and live to fight the day the Garonin find us again. Travel to Calaius and help the elves of Hausolis build anew. My advice: live today. Orderly descent. Go.’
Olmaat wrapped an arm around Auum’s shoulder.
‘I will not leave you behind,’ he said.
Auum and Olmaat ran together. Down the spiral stairs and onto the floor around the bore. Other Tai and Al-Arynaar ran to the panicking, fleeing elves to try and turn them around, to guide them to safety. Auum stared at them while the light from the gateway flickered and faded.
‘Run! Go!’
Warrior elves, many with civilians in tow, swarmed down the ladder. More crowded the head, desperate for a foot on the first rung. Elves urged those on the ladder to move faster. More and more crowded on, pushing down on those below.
‘Ease the pressure!’ shouted Katyett.
With a rending wail, the great steel door gave way. A torrent of heavy footsteps could be heard. Garonin in the keep. All pretence at order dissolved. Elves surged onto the rungs. They climbed over each other or packed into the tunnels to escape back into the forests of Hausolis.
Auum released himself from Olmaat.
‘We have to buy more time,’ he said and trotted back towards the spiral stair. ‘TaiGethen!’
A hundred elves turned and packed back towards the Garonin. The first enemy soldiers were descending. Weapons fire rattled down the stairs. Olmaat raced past Auum, clubbing his sword into the lower leg of an enemy. The Garonin pitched down the stairs. TaiGethen finished him. More filled the space. The density of fire increased. TaiGethen were blown aside. Garonin jumped down from the hall, feet slamming onto the ground by the bore.
Auum ducked. A Garonin weapon butt missed him by a hair. Auum threw himself forward, grappling the Garonin’s legs. The soldier fell back. Auum crawled up his body and plunged a short blade through his eye slit. A weapon rang out. Something smashed into Auum’s side spinning him over. Olmaat was by him. His blades whispered in the air above Auum’s head. A Garonin body pitched over the balustrade and dropped onto the packed floor, hitting friend and foe alike.
‘Time for you to leave, my friend.’
Olmaat grabbed his left arm and pulled. Pain filled Auum’s body. He gasped but did not let go. TaiGethen blades were all around them. Weapons fire clanged and sparked against metal, thumped into defenceless bodies and ripped away limb and head.
‘Go!’ yelled Olmaat. ‘All of you. Go!’
The TaiGethen disengaged. Down on the ladder, elves fought to descend. The weak and unlucky fell. All around the edge of the bore, TaiGethen shunned the ladder and climbed down the walls.
‘Can you do that?’ asked Olmaat.
His free hand whipped out, his blade ran through a Garonin side and up under his ribs. Olmaat kicked him aside. They reached the edge of the bore. Garonin were everywhere.
‘I’ll be fine,’ said Auum.
Olmaat released him. He almost fell. He took a shuddering breath and hauled himself into the bore. TaiGethen were pouring down the walls now. Garonin fire chased down after them, raked the ladder. Elves juddered and fell. The survivors pressed harder. Al-Arynaar and TaiGethen fought around the lip. Garonin fell, tumbling to smash into the floor of the gateway chamber. Too many warriors joined them.
All the while, the light of the gateway guttered and spat, sending lurid shadows up the bore. Like all the Tais, Auum went head first. The bore was rough cut. Handholds were easy. He kept his body flat against the rock, letting his clothes supply friction to slow his descent. His side ached. Blood flowed from both of his wounds.
Auum began to feel light-headed. He resisted the temptation to speed up. Two TaiGethen came to his sides. Another dropped in front of him.
‘Just keep moving, brother,’ said one.
Moments later, weapons fire took her from the walls and thrust her to the ground. Auum cried out. His arms shook and his mind clouded.
‘Go on,’ he said. ‘Leave me, save yourselves.’
The other two ignored him and he was too relieved to thank them. He followed the hand- and footholds of the Tai in front of him all the way to the ground. Ahead the gateway wavered violently, steadied and then shimmered.
‘Run! Run! Get inside.’
Auum was half carried across the floor. It was full of running elves. At the face, a line stood to keep back the Garonin.
‘Let me stand,’ he said. ‘I can still fight.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Olmaat, next to him once more.
He took Auum from his charges and ran him through the gate. The last thing he heard was the sound of weapons fire, the shrieks of elves and the calm orders of warriors facing certain death.
‘Shorth, embrace your souls.’ Auum knew what Takaar was thinking. Or what a sane Takaar would have been thinking. There was no dodging who had triggered the rout.
‘With me standing, we might have stood for hours more,’ Takaar whispered eventually. ‘Think how many more thousands might have been saved.’
‘Maybe,’ said Auum.
But he knew the whole truth.
Takaar’s eyes narrowed and he gestured angrily over his shoulder.
‘I might have known you’d chirp up about now. Don’t you ever tire of reminding me?’
‘Takaar,’ said Auum.
‘No, I thought not. And I will not do it. You think if I haven’t found the courage in ten years I might suddenly do so now? Your wheedling voice cannot make me do anything I don’t care to do. We’ll need to bring some poisons I’ve been perfecting.’
Takaar stared at Auum. The young TaiGethen blinked.
‘What’s he saying?’ he hedged.