The crowd affirmed that they did, indeed, know that was why they were gathered. It took a while for the approbation to die down, since the commander's words needed to be repeated for the farther reaches to hear. Cheers came back at him, delayed by the distance.
"This war was hundreds of years in the making," Devoth claimed. "Hundreds of years. Think how fortunate you are! You will be remembered for it-whether you live or die. You will be remembered and envied for the things you are going to see and deeds you are going to do. You will be legends. Do you doubt it? Who but the heroes of legend would dare to march into the great north? Who but legends would kick white bears and ice maidens out of their paths and tread across frozen water, walk above a fathomless sea, through biting wind and snow, across tundra and over mountains? Who but conquerors would dare face all that just to reach their enemies? Tell me that doesn't sound like legend!"
Judging by the shout that answered his prompt, they rather liked the notion.
He knows how to work a crowd, Rialus thought.
"Yes." Devoth paced back and forth across the platform, hand cupped beside his ear, pulling the cacophony in as if it were personal praise, eating it with his grin. "Yes."
For a time, Rialus lost the flow of Devoth's discourse. It was hard not to just gape at the throng of warriors and beasts: antoks pawing the ground; kwedeirs rolling their shoulders, cracking their jaws as if they might snatch up a snack from all the morsels around them; the masses rolling back their enthusiasm in delayed waves. The passing moments made none of it less horrifying. When the cheering suddenly faded, however, Rialus knew he had better listen more carefully.
"So how could we not offer you a great reward? Divine children, could we not honor you? Tell me, what would you like to have most in the world?"
Devoth leaned forward, awaiting a response. Only, there was no answering sound. The enormous army stood hushed. Even the antoks cocked their massive heads and listened to the eerie silence of thousands of breathing beings. The Auldek smiled and nudged one another knowingly, but the masses behind them seemed genuinely baffled.
What exactly is going on? Rialus wondered.
"You don't know?" Devoth asked. "Let me suggest something, then. I know you will come on this journey and fight this war with us because you are loyal and you are proud and this, more than anything in your lives yet, is what you were created for. But if you help us gain this-when we conquer the Acacians like the warriors we once were; when we of the Auldek race are fertile again and can make our own children; when we give up the souls inside us and live only the span of a single life once more; when we are mortal again; when we have all these things that we most want-then we will free you."
The hush that remained was more shocking than sound would have been.
"You will be free to do whatever you wish. Slay the Acacians, if you will. Enslave them, if you care to. Make war or peace as suits your souls. We will not hinder you." Devoth grinned. He curved his arm back, bicep bulging, and tapped his fingers against his chest. "If it pleases you, mass an army and make war on us. That would be great fun, yes?"
Still the crowd held its breath. The divine children stared up at Devoth, rapt, so many faces stunned and disbelieving. This made Devoth laugh.
"Lvin, Kulish Kra, Shivith, Kern, Anet-all Auldek clans, lend me your voices. Let them know what I say is true."
From one section of the Auldek ranks and then another, shouts rose in affirmation. Each group called its name, testifying, confirming. Senior members turned and nodded, pointing at Devoth to verify that he spoke for them all.
"Now, hear me once more and answer me!" Devoth bellowed above them. "Do you want freedom? If so, you have only to say so and then to fight for it. Answer me!"
It took a moment, but this time the masses did. They cried for their freedom.
"Good. I am glad you do not disappoint. I knew you wouldn't. I know this also: for this battle we take everything with us. For this battle, we fly as we haven't for centuries. We call upon old friends, mounts that have not allowed riders for years now. Mounts that we have promised carnage." He turned and shouted back the way they had approached. "Old friends, come to me!"
Rialus snapped around, not knowing what to expect but ready to be surprised again. He was. He did not hear the flapping of wings, though he would dream that he did for many nights to come. He saw them first as moving forms that were almost ghostly against the light blue of the sky. They rose up. One and then two more and then others. Winged, they flew. They flew fast, taking on size as they grew nearer, slicing in and out among one another, at times dark crescents of motion, in other instances slivers of shapes almost invisible.
At least, that was true until they landed. Some dropped onto columns beside the army. Some fell right among the crowd, which fled, leaving landing areas for them. A few flanked Devoth on the platform. One alit on the steps in front of him, between him and the ranked masses. This one landed on all fours. It stayed like that for a moment, as if adjusting the burden of its own muscular weight, and then it reared up, wings outstretched, massive, larger even than the kwedeirs, built differently. The creature was hairless and slick, its musculature more humanoid than those batlike creatures, more like a being meant to walk upright. Its back and upper wings were a blue so dark it neared black, but its belly, face, and the front half of its legs were a smoky white. Its head was like a hairless ape's, with a protruding jaw full of visible teeth and large eyes that took in the scene with a confident, intelligent malevolence.
Rialus forgot to breathe. When he recognized the burning in his chest for what it was, he tried to inhale and could not remember how.
Devoth turned and glanced at Rialus, blinked. "I mentioned freketes, didn't I? I see you are impressed. Watch this."
With that, he bounded down the stone steps toward the winged creature. The beast turned and followed his progress, eyes dilating, nostrils flaring with an audible inhalation of air. Its jaws opened, and for a moment Rialus was certain the creature was going to devour him. Instead, it tossed its head back and roared, an incredible sound that shredded the air.
Rialus slammed his hands against his ears. The beast half turned away from Devoth. It moved one of its wings and offered him a bulging thigh that Devoth leaped on. With a few deft movements the Auldek had climbed onto its back and slammed his feet into the stirrups of the slight frame wrapped around its body.
He had barely grasped hold of the straps when the creature surged up into the air, Devoth clinging tightly. As it reached the height of its leap, the frekete beat its wings and skimmed away over the awed heads of the throng. People ducked as it passed, flattening themselves on the ground. Then they rose with bellowing and shouting, a cacophony to which the antoks and kwedeirs and the other freketes added. A great noise. An army announcing itself.
Rialus pulled his hands away from his ears and instead placed a finger to his lips. He whispered, with no faith that he would be answered, "Giver protect us."
CHAPTER FIFTY
They had to work fast. They had a day or two to accomplish their objective, Dariel figured. No longer. That was why he pushed the Lothan Aklun vessel to such amazing speeds. It smacked, smacked, smacked against the green swells, sparkling beneath the light of a midmorning sun. The prow cut the waves around the rocky southern tip of Lithram Len and then turned back to race up its ragged eastern shoreline. They might be spotted, yes, but delay was not something they could afford.
It was true that the league had been struck a blow when Calrach rebuffed them. Sire Neen-Dariel could not help but chuckle thinking about him. The memory seemed more manageable now that he was free in the world. Tunnel and several others clinging to the rocking deck nearby looked quizzically at the prince as he laughed. That just made him guffaw all the more. "Rather changed your view of the world didn't it?" he shouted. "Getting your head lopped off, I mean." The others just stared.