Eira closed her eyes again, forming the word on the deck:Close?
Another tap.
“Yes, they are,” Eira reported.
“Good. It will take you two days, likely three to get to Risen from here. I presume you’ll need an extra day to get into the city…” Vi stroked her chin in thought. “In five days’ time, we launch our attack on Risen. The Solaris armada will join Qwint’s, and whatever forces Adela might be willing to spare.”
Before relaxing her connection, Eira wrote one more message:Three days. Parth. Vi. Five days. Risen.
There was a much longer pause, then, a single tap.
“I can’t speak for Adela’s assistance, but I can say that she’ll aid the Solaris armada in getting to Parth in three days.” Eira relaxed her connection, for now.
“Are you some kind of new sorcerer?” Alyss whispered in awe.
“I feel like it some days,” Eira admitted.
“Then that’s it. In five days, we will retake Risen,” Vi proclaimed.
33
It took them nearly four full days to cross the distance from Hokoh to Risen. The city first came into view as they crested a ridge. The valley of the main river of Meru had completely changed from when they had last seen it.
“They…destroyed it.” Yonlin’s words quivered from horror or rage, likely both.
“Not all of it.” Alyss tried to be optimistic, but the sentiment rang hollow, given what lay before them.
“Someone want to explain?” Ducot asked.
Eira described the sight for his benefit—the blackened husks of entire swaths of the city left like carcasses to rot. The vacant patches that were the outlines of buildings. Every scar on the once glorious city that led to the vast pit of rubble where the castle once stood.
“That castle had been there for thousands of years.” Olivin gripped the reins of his mount with white knuckles and a quivering fist. “It was a testament to Meru’s history, and our future.”
“The castle is gone, but the Archives are more glorious than ever,” Eira said, somewhat still for Ducot’s benefit. The houses and districts that led to the Archives were the most intact.Walls had been erected up the hill that the Archives stood atop, glowing in the new “Flame of Yargen” that ringed them. She had no doubt there was some kind of checkpoint at each wall and only the most trusted were allowed to reside closest to Ulvarth and his unholy seat.
“City gates?” Ducot murmured.
“Closed and guarded,” Olivin reported. He’d scouted ahead.
“So, Frostiness-in-Training, are we going in like Hokoh and freezing the whole damn place?” Ducot directed the question to Eira.
“As much as I wish…no.”Not right away at least. “Olivin, Ducot, do either of you know of a second way in?” They’d treat this like Hokoh and go in quietly, getting as much information as they needed to make an informed strike. The only difference here was Eira’s patience. She wasn’t going to waste the one shot she had.
“I know of tunnels,” Ducot said. “But they’re likely monitored or collapsed. The Pillars knew the central operations for the Shadows.”
“Given what Lorn said, I’m sure Ducot is right,” Olivin chimed in. “But I think I know another way that the Pillars wouldn’t be aware of.”
“You do?”
“Follow me.” Olivin led them off the main road and down to a rocky bluff. There, they abandoned their horses and continued on foot around the side of the city, toward where Risen met the great bay of Meru.
Down along the stony shoreline, they came to a halt before a flat slab of rock. It didn’t seem any more significant than the others. But Olivin stopped directly in front of it.
“Alyss, can you move this?” Olivin pointed.
“Sure.” She seemed as confused as Eira felt, but did so anyway. The slab revealed a cobbled tunnel, so small they’d have to crawl through. It was thick with algae and muck.
“What is this?” Eira demanded to know.
