Then more came.
And then more.
Groans of dismay rippled among the spectators on the high walls as they watched the Ixax falter against the overwhelming resistance. Nathan unconsciously wrapped an arm around Elsa’s shoulder, folding her closer to him. Even as the gray dragon circled over Ildakar under some kind of command from General Utros, Nathan watched the vast army switch tactics and close in on the two juggernauts, oblivious to their own casualties. “Dear spirits, they are like locusts.”
“More like wasps,” Elsa said, “swarming to sting their enemy.”
At the city’s high point, the gray dragon circled, blasting fire in the air, and Nathan suddenly recognized Brom from the ancient graveyard of dragons. Nicci stood in her black dress, challenging him from the ruins of the pyramid.
Out on the battlefield, the Ixax warriors kept slaughtering company after company of the half-stone warriors, but as the numbers turned against the two titans, Nathan’s hope began to dwindle. Enemy soldiers threw themselves upon the giants in an endless wave. They piled more and more upon the bodies of their own comrades and then began to overwhelm the two Ixax, covering them with sheer numbers.
Fleshmancer Andre had claimed that his Ixax could each single-handedly slay a thousand or more of the enemy, and these two had done far better than that. Ten thousand, possibly even twenty thousand lay massacred. But it wasn’t enough.
Utros’s army hacked at them with their weapons, swarming, climbing, fighting, dragging. Finally, they brought down the inhuman fighters like great lumbering beasts. The two crashed, still struggling, unable to move. The maddened ancient warriors swarmed over them, eventually pulled them to the ground, and chopped them to pieces, a thousand cuts at a time.
Trembling on the battlements as he watched in horror, Nathan whispered, “I am so sorry for what was done to you.” His azure eyes filled with tears as he watched their end. “I hope you can find peace now. You did better than anyone could have asked.”
His army did exactly what the general expected them to do. The soldiers surrendered their lives without question for the cause of Emperor Kurgan and for Utros himself. First Commander Enoch unleashed their combined strength, which proved invincible, as always.
Utros turned now to face the impregnable city walls, wanting to see Ildakar burn under the attack from the dragon. Brom had unleashed fire as he flew above the buildings, and seeing smoke in the air, Utros knew that some parts of Ildakar were ablaze.
But not enough. The city should be an inferno by now.
Next to him, Ava and Ruva both collapsed backward as if stabbed with invisible knives. They clutched their chests, their hearts, and Utros felt the thread of magic that bound Brom to him suddenly severed. Shortly after the army toppled both Ixax warriors, the dragon came surging back to the battlefield.
The enormous gray beast soared toward their army. Utros braced himself, feeling disbelief build within him. “The dragon is free now. How did he break free?” He whirled to his sorceresses. “Get him back! I need that dragon.”
Ava and Ruva frantically tried to restore their magic, but they could not. Ava said, “Your scar was only enough to create the one bond, and because Brom was not the dragon who injured you, the hold was tenuous from the start.”
Ruva said, “Someone broke the bond.” They looked at each other, and said simultaneously, “Nicci. The sorceress Nicci must have done it.”
The angry dragon thundered toward the huge besieging army. With beating wings that looked like axe blades in the air, Brom swooped away from Ildakar and cruised low on an attack flight. He unleashed a river of fire upon the scattering ranks of the general’s army. Columns of half-petrified soldiers turned into smoking debris. Entire companies were flattened as if by a giant hot cudgel.
Utros had already withdrawn toward his headquarters, planning to activate the blood lens so he could announce his victory to Iron Fang in the underworld. But now the gray dragon came for them.
Brom flew over the giant knot of soldiers who had converged to bring down the Ixax warriors. With blasts of acid flame, the monster ignited countless screaming men, demonstrating his might and punishing Utros and the sorceresses for what they had done.
The dragon angled up into the air again, filling his lungs so he could dive down and unleash another incinerating assault. He was searching for Utros in particular, but because the bond was now broken, all the human forms down below looked the same. The dragon blasted rows of tents, exploding shacks and storehouses, searing the blood-soaked ground.
The general stood near the tall oval lens crafted with the blood of innocent children. “We can’t let him damage this!” Utros yelled. “Ava, Ruva, protect it!”
Brom swept closer, opening his jaws wide. Spotting Utros and the blood lens, he dove and unleashed a powerful gout of flame directly at the general. With a shriek, Ava and Ruva clasped each other’s hands and raised a protective wall, shaping the air into an impenetrable shield around the three of them as well as the lens. Flames washed over them, and Utros felt the searing heat in spite of his mostly numb skin.
The invisible shield diverted the fire to either side. Behind them, the command structure erupted in flames, the wooden walls crumbling to ash within seconds. The magical shield held, though, and they were spared. The lens to the underworld remained intact.
The dragon flew past, gushing out more fire before Brom exhausted his anger and vengeance. The ancient gray dragon had made his point.
Utros collapsed backward to the ground. The smell of burning wood, grass, and flesh rose all around him. He stared into the sky as Brom bellowed his defiance one last time, flew high into the air, and turned north toward the mountains and Kuloth Vale.
CHAPTER 66
Beyond the walls of Ildakar, the siege forces reeled from the devastation. Nicci could see that the Ixax warriors and the gray dragon had struck a ringing blow to the confident enemy army, and for the first time, General Utros tasted the bitter and very real possibility of defeat.
Returning to the ramparts near the towering main gate, Nicci looked out at the scorched enemy camp. She saw rivers of blackened soil where soldiers had been obliterated by Brom’s fire, the mounds of bodies slain by the Ixax warriors. She doubted Utros could recover from this.
“Now is the time to press our case and demand that the general end this siege,” she said.
Nathan stroked his chin. “I agree, although with such a defeat, he may not be in a mood for a gentlemanly discussion.”
High Captain Stuart, standing with them on the top of the wall, was glad to see the vast army in turmoil. “As captain of the city guard, I will ride out and deliver a message to General Utros. I will insist that he negotiate an end to these useless hostilities.”
Damon and Quentin were pleased with the suggestion, though Oron seemed skeptical. “I’d rather just kill the general once and for all. Will we be able to trust him, whatever he negotiates?”
“We have to try, at least,” Elsa said. Olgya agreed.
Stuart’s eyes were flintier after the surprise nighttime attack in which so many of his city guard had been killed, but now he had hope again. He took a horse, and the duma members wished him good luck as they opened one of the small gates. Sitting tall in the saddle, the high captain rode out to the enemy army, and Nicci watched as several of the half-stone soldiers met him and escorted him deeper into the damaged camp.
Quentin said, “While we wait, let us discuss what terms we might suggest. We have to be prepared when General Utros responds.”