Firehurler (Twinborn Trilogy) (27 page)

Jinzan grasped hold of the chain and looked askance of
K’k’rt.

[Go ahead and pull. Quick tug. Not too hard, it was
made for my kind to use. Do not break it,] K’k’rt instructed, miming a tugging
action.

Jinzan pulled the chain and heard a scraping,
metal-on-metal
snick
from within the box. When he let go, the chain
pulled itself back to its original length. Jinzan did not perceive any aether
at work and was not sure how they had managed that unless they had developed
some sort of spring-return mechanism on their own. Jinzan carefully avoided
turning to look at K’k’rt, but he was starting to wonder if perhaps he should
have taken a slower approach and taught his own people how to make the cannons.
It might have been a decade before they got it right, but he was starting to
question the wisdom of giving these clever creatures a head start on
technology.

“Excellent work,” he said quietly.

Then Jinzan walked over to the other carts. There were
twelve cannon in all, and several more carts bearing cannon shot and black
powder. He kept a careful distance from the latter, as even in the dream world,
the storage and handling of black powder was a twitchy thing. These goblins
were new to the stuff and were much more tolerant of risk-taking than most
humans were. If they had not had a safer design for the cannon figured out in
time, they would have certainly just made do with the initial design. Abandoning
the project out of concern for the newly appointed goblin cannoneers would not
have occurred to them.

*
* * * * * * *

By the following morning, the cannons were in place on
the hilltop. The trees that were in the line of fire were half cut, ready to be
brought down by the sorcerers when the signal was made to begin the battle.

When G’thk gave that signal, the sorcerers gave a
great blast of wind, toppling the trees away from the direction of the camp. In
a riot of reds and oranges and yellows, the fall colors of the canopy rushed to
the ground in front of them. The powerful aether-driven winds stripped the
leaves from the fallen trees as well and sent them swirling off in the
direction of Illard’s Glen.

With the view of the city now exposed, Jinzan and the
commanders of the army could see the massive goblin force closing on the city.
Armed only with spears, the goblin infantry rushed forward toward the walls of
the town. It would be several minutes before they covered the prairie between
the hilltop and the wall, and they carried no easy means of surmounting the
wall. That task would be left to the cannon, and if that failed, the
sorcerers—particularly Jinzan—would have to clear up the mess.

The Kadrin forces that defended Illard’s Glen had been
oblivious to the goblin presence in the forested hills around their town, but
the goblin sorcerers had given up wasting aether on illusions, and the crack of
dozens of falling trees could be heard even from town. Within seconds of the
toppling of their tree cover, Jinzan and the goblins heard the watch bells
ringing frantically from Illard’s Glen, and they saw the north facing gate
being closed.

Jinzan moved in directly behind the cannon. All twelve
were trained on the city walls, their crews awaiting the order to fire. They
were dressed as the common soldiers were, with one exception. Each was fitted
with a leather helmet, thickly padded inside where it covered their ears, and a
pair of goggles. It had not taken the goblin artisans long to realize the noise
and smoke their new creations caused, and to devise methods of protecting their
crews.

As their hearing was muffled, the signal G’thk gave
was simply to point to the cannoneers, then to the wall. The crews turned from
their leader to the chains of the cannon, and in remarkable unison, pulled the
chains.

Kthooom
! Kthooom!
Kthooom! Kthooom!

The concussion was thunderous. All the goblins not
wearing protective helmets grabbed for their ears, even those well away from
the cannon. The ground hammered on their feet from the shock wave, sending a
few stumbling. The cannoneers scrambled as the recoil from their siege engines
sent them backward into their midst.

Jinzan just smiled. His ears rang from the blast, but
he had stood his ground and barely flinched. The cannon’s report was like music
to him. He felt like a young boy, always barred from the tavern on nights when
bards were playing, listening to muted notes that the wall allowed through.
Now, finally, he was allowed to hear the music in all its glory.

Seconds later, the cannon balls hit. Two plumes of
rocky dust exploded from the wall. The rest either overshot or undershot their
mark. The disoriented crews had seen the two plumes as well and realized that
ten of the cannon had missed their marks. They gestured frantically amongst
themselves as they struggled to push the cannon back into position and reload.
There was clearly a disagreement over which had been aimed properly.

Jinzan was paying closer attention, though. He strode
over to the cannoneers and pointed emphatically to one, then to another, then
motioned for the nearest goblin to remove his helmet. The goblin complied
hastily.

[That two hit. This one, up three tick.] Jinzan
pointed to a third cannon. [That one, up two tick.]

Jinzan ran through the rest of the cannon as best he
could estimate how much they were off and giving instruction as to how to
adjust the ratcheted mechanism the goblins had added to the cannons to adjust
and hold their aim. The aiming device was an excellent idea, but he was
unfamiliar with just how much each “tick” actually represented. Since Jinzan
had only seen where a few of the shot had impacted, aside from the two that hit
the wall, he was largely guessing at the adjustments anyway.

[You see this time. I no see all time for you.] Jinzan’s
voice was already growing hoarse from speaking goblin.

The one he had instructed quickly relayed his commands
to the rest, and they began trying to heft the cannon back into position. They
had wheels, but in the soft dirt, the blast had driven them into the ground a
little, meaning they were pushing uphill, if only slightly.

“Haru bedaessi leoki kwatuan gelora.”

Jinzan set the cannon back roughly where they had
started as the startled goblins—who could not hear his spell—scrambled to get
back to work loading.

The loading process was amusing to watch. What would
have taken a couple humans just muscle power, the goblins had developed a whole
process for. There were stepladders, small carts, and a two-goblin cradle for
carrying the shot. Jinzan was not any sort of physical specimen, but he could
still lift one of the cannonballs in one hand, with some difficulty.

The second volley was less chaotic than the first. The
commanders and sorcerers who remained on the hill knew to plug their ears as
the command was given to fire. The crews kept out of the way from the recoil.
Goblin sorcerers were ready to lift the cannon back into position as soon as
they fired. And nine of the twelve hit the wall, and the ones who had not made
adjustments of their own.

A third volley was much the same, and the town wall
was breached in several spots. A cheer went up from the goblins on the hilltop,
as the first of the infantry reached the wall and found passage through. Arrows
and grapeshot rained down among the swarming masses of the goblin invaders, but
so great were their numbers that they hardly slowed.

The cannoneers began to stow their equipment and
prepared to move down to the town. It would be in goblin hands long before they
arrived.

*
* * * * * * *

Small footfalls echoed in the vast cavern. Gkt’Lr
could have moved more quietly, but it would have been irreverent to attempt
stealth, given the circumstances. The only other sounds were the faint
crackling of the torches along the walls and a steady sound like a bellows.

Gkt’Lr approached the center of the cavern, where
there was a promontory overlooking the shadowy depths of the lower portion of
the great chamber. The torches had been placed such that their light did not
reach down below. As he reached the edge, he glanced down. Seeing nothing, he
let his vision delve into the aetherial realm. He saw a wash of aether flowing
from a single, vast Source.

[Great Ni’Hash’Tk, I bring important news.]

Gkt’Lr carefully pronounced the difficult name so as
not to cause offense. He swallowed hard, nervous as he had been only once
before in the last several winters, which happened to be the reason for his
audience. He waited for a response.

There was a great stirring below. A great creaking of
leather and sinew gave way to a scratching of massive claws on stone, and the
Source closed the distance to Gkt’Lr. As it grew very near, he brought his
vision back to reality and saw the face of his goddess.

The enormous reptilian head of the dragon was covered
in steel-hard greenish-brown scales, framing a pair of glowing yellowed eyes
with slits like a cat’s and a parted jaw filled with teeth longer than Gkt’Lr
was tall. A tongue darted out quickly, tasting the air near the assassin.

[Your name is known to me. You are Master of Eternal
Night; you have the esteem of my attendants. I do not think you are one who
would dare waste my time on a petty matter. Speak,] Ni’Hash’Tk ordered, her
deep voice rumbling throughout the cavern.

Gkt’Lr could smell the carrion on her breath. The
assassin was no expert on meats, but he knew it was probably caribou meat he
was smelling, from the herds raised just to satiate the dragon’s appetite for
her favorite meal.

[The plan to secure your whelp’s lair is in jeopardy.
The humans have allied themselves with a demon.] Gkt’Lr did not want to waste
the dragon’s time by dancing around the real reason for his urgency.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed. [Explain.]

[Your Holiness, the scouting parties ran into an
unusually strong resistance from a small force of humans. One strike force was
lost almost entirely, and the humans were nearly wiped out as well. The few
survivors fled, and I was sent to make sure they were not able to reach help
and raise an alarm against us. I found them easily but was ambushed by the
demon, who claimed the humans were under his protection. The demon toyed with
me and let me flee. I came here to warn you.] Gkt’Lr hoped that would be
sufficient but suspected not.

[So you have failed?] the dragon asked.

That was the topic he had sincerely hoped the dragon
would overlook.

[Yes, Your Holiness.] Gkt’Lr bowed his head in
contrition. [If I had persisted despite the demon’s warning, I still would have
failed, and none would have known of the demon’s presence with the humans. I
wished to relay a warning.]

[How are you sure that it is a demon? What did it look
like?] Ni’Hash’Tk asked.

Gkt’Lr was not sure if the dragon believed him, and
offered a silent prayer to Ni’Hash’Tk that he be spared. It was a brief moment,
but Gkt’Lr almost laughed when he realized his logical error.

[It looks human, though small for one of their kind,
with white hair. It looks young, but not child-like. I knew it was a demon
because of my aether-sight. The demon sheds no aether,] the assassin explained.

[Perhaps it is a fault in your aether-vision, then?]

[Your pardon, Holiness, but I do not believe so. In my
aether-vision, you are a vast shining beacon of life, and all lesser creatures
are smaller lights. I use my aether-sight to help track my prey, and I assure
you, this demon was the farthest opposite of you. In the aether-sight, he is a
ghost. I can see his body with my eyes, but there is no Source to be seen. He
is not alive, but he is powerful. Is that not the definition of a demon?]

[In my lifetime, I have not seen a demon, but all you
say of this one strikes true to the tales of them. There are sorcerers among
the army gone to claim my Ruuk’Pt’Kaan his lair, but none that I would trust to
stand against a demon.

[I will go, and I will see that this demon does not
spoil the conquest of the human settlement that Ruuk’Pt’Kaan will take for his
new home,] Ni’Hash’Tk said. [Attendants!] the mighty dragon bellowed, shaking
the walls and causing the torches to flicker.

A maelstrom of activity ensued, with scores of goblins
in brown robes flocking to their goddess’s call. They swarmed the promontory
and filled the area behind Gkt’Lr, barring his path out, though that
consideration was far from their thoughts.

[Prepare me for battle. I will go to war,] Ni’Hash’Tk
growled. [And lore-keeper, let it show that Gkt’Lr has performed admirably.
There will be no mark of failure upon his record.]

The dragon-priests in attendance sprang into action,
for there was much to be done before the vainglorious dragon-goddess would deem
herself fit to fight. There were oils to be rubbed into her leathery wings.
Teeth and claws to be filed and sharpened. Scales would be checked for cracks
and chips, and cleaned of debris. The headdress of gold and silks that
Ni’Hash’Tk wore when venturing out from her lair would be cleaned and refitted
to the dragon’s ever-growing head—she had not worn it in ages. Then there was
an entourage to assemble; no infantry to slow Ni’Hash’Tk’s passage, but
swift-mounted riders from among her loyal attendants. Ni’Hash’Tk would not fly
to battle, but walk among her retainers—a swift pace to be sure, but it would
not do for her to outdistance her servants by taking to the air.