‘And thou wilt once more banish him?’
‘That is never certain, Anakha. I do assure thee, however, that I will strive to mine utmost to cast Klael out—even as Klael will strive to cast me out. The contest between us doth lie in the future, and as I have oft told thee, the future is concealed. I will approach the contest with confidence, however, for doubt doth weaken resolve, and timorous uncertainty doth weigh down the spirit. Battle should be joined with a light heart and joyous demeanor.’
‘You can be very sententious sometimes, World-Maker,’ Aphrael said with just a hint of spitefulness.
‘Be nice,’ Bhelliom chided mildly.
‘Anakha.’ It was Ghworg, the God of Kill. The huge presence came across the frosty meadow, plowing a dark path through the silver-sheathed grass.
‘I will hear the words of Ghworg,’ Sparhawk replied.
‘Have you summoned Klael? Is it your thought that Klael will aid us in causing hurt to Cyrgon? it is not good if you have. Let Klael go back.’
‘It was not my doing, Ghworg. Neither was it the Flower-Gem’s doing. It is our thought that it was Cyrgon who summoned Klael to cause hurt to us.’
‘Can the Flower-Gem cause hurt to Klael?’
‘That is not certain. The might of Klael is even as the might of the Flower-Gem.’
The God of Kill squatted on the frozen turf, scratching at his shaggy face with one huge paw. ‘Cyrgon is as nothing, Anakha,’ he rumbled in an almost colloquial form of speech. ‘We can cause hurt to Cyrgon tomorrow—or some time by-and-by. We must cause hurt to Klael now. We cannot wait for by-and-by.’
Sparhawk dropped to one knee on the frozen turf. ‘Your words are wise, Ghworg.’
Ghworg’s lips pulled back in a hideous approximation of a grin. ‘The word you use is not common among us, Anakha. If Khwaj said, “Ghworg is wise”, I would cause hurt to him.’
‘I did not say it to cause you anger, Ghworg.’
‘You are not a Troll, Anakha. You do not know our ways. We must cause hurt to Klael so that he will go away. How can we do this?’
‘We cannot cause hurt to him. Only the Flower-Gem can make him go away.’
Ghworg smashed his fist against the frozen ground with a hideous snarl.
Sparhawk held up one hand. ‘Cyrgon has called Klael,’ he said. ‘Klael has joined Cyrgon to cause hurt to us. Let us cause hurt to Cyrgon now, not by-and-by. If we cause hurt to Cyrgon, he will fear to aid Klael when the Flower-Gem goes to cause hurt to Klael and make him go away.’
Ghworg puzzled his way through that. ‘Your words are good, Anakha,’ he said finally. ‘How might we best cause hurt to Cyrgon now?’
Sparhawk considered it. ‘The mind of Cyrgon is not like your mind, Ghworg, nor is it like mine. Our minds are direct. Cyrgon’s is guileful. He threw your children against our friends here in the lands of winter to make us come here to fight them. But your children were not his main force.
‘Cyrgon’s main force will come from the lands of the sun to attack our friends in the city that shines.’
‘I have seen that place. The Child Goddess spoke first with us there.’
Sparhawk frowned, trying to remember the details of Vanion’s map. ‘There are high places here and to the south,’ he said.
Ghworg nodded.
‘Then, even further south, the high places grow low and then they become flat.’
‘I see it,’ Ghworg said. ‘You describe it well, Anakha.’ That startled Sparhawk. Evidently Ghworg could visualize the entire continent.
‘In the middle of that flat place is another high place that the man-things call the Tamul Mountains.’
Ghworg nodded in agreement.
‘The main force of Cyrgon’s children will pass that high place to reach the city that shines. The high place will be cool, so your children will not suffer from the sun there.’
‘I see which way your thought goes, Anakha,’ Ghworg said. We will take our children to that high place and wait there for Cyrgon’s children. Our children will not eat Aphrael’s children. They will eat Cyrgon’s children instead.’
‘That will cause hurt to Cyrgon and his servants, Ghworg.’
‘Then we will do it.’ Ghworg turned and pointed toward the landslide. ‘Our children will climb Klael’s stairway. Then Ghnomb will make time stop. Our children will be in the high place before the sun goes to sleep this night.’ He stood up abruptly. ‘Good hunting,’ he growled, turned and went back to join his fellows and the still terrified Trolls.
‘We still have to proceed as if things were normal,’ Vanion told them as they gathered near the fire a couple of hours past noon. The sun, Sparhawk noted, was already going down. ‘Klael can probably appear at any time and any place. We can’t plan for him—any more than we can plan for a blizzard or a hurricane. If you can’t plan for something, about the only thing you can do is take a few precautions and then ignore it.’
‘Well spoken,’ Queen Betuana approved. Betuana and Vanion were getting along well.
‘What do we do then, friend Vanion?’ Tikume asked.
‘We’re soldiers, friend Tikume,’ Vanion replied. ‘We do what soldiers do. We get ready to fight armies, not Gods. Scarpa’s coming up out of the jungles of Arjuna, and I’d expect another thrust to come out of Cynesga. The Trolls will probably hamper Scarpa, but they can only move out a short way from those mountains in southern Tamul Proper because of the climate.
‘After the initial shock of encountering Trolls, Scarpa will probably try to go around them.’ Vanion consulted his map. ‘We’ll have to have forces in place to respond either to Scarpa or to an army coming out of Cynesga. I’d say that Samar would be the best location.’
‘Sama,’ Betuana disagreed.
‘Both,’ Ulath countered. ‘Forces in Samar could cover everything from the southern edge of the Atan Mountains to the Sea of Arjuna and be in position to strike eastward to the southern Tamul Mountains if Scarpa evades the Trolls. Forces in Sama could block the invasion route through the Atan mountains.’
‘His point’s well taken,’ Bevier said. ‘It divides our forces, but we don’t have much choice.’
‘We could put the knights and the Peloi in Samar and the Atan infantry in Sama,’ Tynian added. ‘The lower valley of the River Sarna’s ideal for mounted operations, and the mountains around Sama itself are natural for Atans.’
‘Both positions are defensive,’ Engessa objected. ‘Wars aren’t won from defensive positions.’
Sparhawk and Vanion exchanged a long look. ‘Invade Cynesga?’ Sparhawk asked dubiously.
‘Not yet,’ Vanion decided. ‘Let’s wait until the Church Knights get here from Eosia before we do that. When Komier and the others cross into Cynesga from the west, that’s when we’ll want to come at the place from the east. We’ll put Cyrgon in a vice. With that sort of force coming at him from both sides, he can raise every Cyrgai whore ever lived, and he’ll still lose.’
‘Right up until the moment he unleashes Klael,’ Aphrael added moodily.
‘No, Divine One,’ Sparhawk told her. ‘Bhelliom wants Cyrgon to send Klael against us. If we do it this way, we’ll force the issue in a place and time that we choose. We’ll pick the spot Cyrgon will unleash Klael, and I’ll unleash Bhelliom. Then all we have to do is sit back and watch.’
‘We’ll go to the top of the wall the same way the Trolls went, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Engessa said the following morning. ‘We can climb as well as they can.’
‘It might take us a little longer,’ Tikume added. ‘We’ll have to push boulders out of the way to get our horses up that slope.’
‘We will help you, Tikume-Domi,’ Engessa promised.
‘That’s it, then,’ Tynian summed up. ‘The Atans and the Peloi will go south from here to take up positions in Sarna and Samar. We’ll take the knights back to the coast, and Sorgi will ferry us back to Matherion. We’ll go overland from there.’
‘It’s the ferrying that concerns me,’ Sparhawk said. ‘Sorgi’s going to have to make at least a half-dozen trips.’