Industry & Intrigue (69 page)

“
Officer Snar, have you ever
seen how agorids fight?”
asked Isaac.

Snar looked at him, his black
eyes, blinking as he thought on the question. “
No, I have not. I have never
met another agorid in my life. My father would not risk it. He did
not want what he called ‘my baser instincts’ rising to the surface.
He is no longer concerned about that as he believes I have matured
enough to resist them.”

By Varos
, what manner of man is this
Professor Bruce?
thought Isaac.
To raise an agorid child like this; as if he was
nothing more than science project. Snar does not even see it. He
has been ensnared by the man he considers as a father and does not
see how the man manipulates him.

Isaac folded his arms, the
white sleeves of his robes, crossing over each other.
“I cannot tell you
what to do and neither can your father. One of my favorite pieces
of wisdom from the Book of Varos says ‘Let no man rule unjustly
over another, nor let any one man take control of another’s own
fate’.

I can tell you respect your
father a great deal and you want to make him proud. But you also
have to be true to your own heart. If the watch is where you want
to be then stay. But if you need a
change than do so, whether it is
contributing to this war, or something else.”

Snar smiled, or at
l
east that’s
what it looked like. Isaac had a hard time telling on with his
ferocious bear-like face. “Thank you cleric. That is what I needed
to hear. I think a change is what I need. The watch will not be the
same without Sergeant Moreland and all the talk of this war has
stirred something inside me. I think like the rest of my people I
am inclined to combat. But if I do so, it will be for something
worth fighting for.” He stood up and the wooden pew creaked in
relief as his weight was taken off. “Good evening cleric, say a
prayer to Varos for me now and then. There may come a day when I
need him or the Creator to watch over me.”

After Snar
had left, Isaac pondered on his
final words. The agorid may not be a lost cause to the way of
Varos.
Ridiculous.
What would the church elders even think?
He already knew the
answer to that question. Though the church had leadership structure
in Alkos, it still ultimately answered to the Herald of the Grand
Church, which was located in the state of Delwick in the Kordate
Union.

The leadership over there was
far more conservative and reactionary. Not to mention deeply
enmeshed with
in the political structure of the Union. They did not abide
radical new ideas lightly. Isaac suspected they would take a dim
view of opening up church membership to an agorid by a minor
cleric.

He heard a noise
outside the
entrance of the church. He opened the doors and peered out. A light
drizzle could be seen falling in the light of the street lamps.
Then something smashed against the ground and he saw the shadow of
someone.

“
Help the agorid did
you?
” asked
Selim, as he moved into the light of the street lamp, where Isaac
could now see him.

Isaac could tell that
the elf was drunk.
His words slurred and he stumbled towards the church entrance. He
made his way down the steps and went to the elf. Selim held up his
hand.

“
Don’t trouble yourself cleric.
I jus’ came here to say my piece then I’ll be off.”
Selim sounded even
more inebriated than he first thought. “I’m done with this city for
now. First thing in the morning, I’m leaving for Longhaven and I’m
going to get that kitsune cunt and give her what she deserves.” He
held up his hand, looked to the night sky and said loudly, “For
Brenna.”

He looked back at Isaac and
hiccupped.
“I find anything that ties your boss to the drugs, I’ll be
coming back for him too. Stupid fucking clerics.”

Isaac ignored that comment. He
suspected Selim had m
eant it for High Cleric McSheora. He decided to
humor the elf. “By all means officer. If the high cleric had a hand
in it, no one more than I wants to see him brought to
justice.”

Selim stared at him intently
with his wil
d blue eyes and nodded slowly. “Good, thought you’d like to
know for when I return,” he said. He waved his hand clumsily and
turned and walked away from the church.

The elf may have been a
grieving fool, but at least someone in the watch had taken his
suspicions to heart, even if it wasn’t officially. He would do what
he could from his end, keep an eye on McSheor
a and find out how connected he
was to the tarcaine trade.

Chapter
69

Smoke and dust-clouds
d
rifted up
past the walls of Sethain. The Galrian armies had laid siege to the
city for a week and had yet to crack the stiff defenses of the city
walls and impressive gates. The Galrian artillery were barely able
to reach the top of the walls where the majority of the city’s
defenders were stationed and unable to do much damage before they
were driven off by a combination of gunfire, cannons and magic from
the garrison towers.

Zuri b
anked sharply, avoiding a large drift
of smoke from a heavy fire that had destroyed the tower on the left
of the southern gate. She came in to land next to her fellow
Scepters, about a dozen of them were doing their best to contain
the fire. The latest Galrian strike had been beaten back, but they
had managed to concentrate enough firepower on the towers on both
sides of the gate to destroy them. If the fires spread they could
cause severe damage to the defensive works.

“
Zuri
,” said Arnette, relief on the senior
mage’s face upon seeing her. “You made it back. I was beginning to
fear you had been struck down during that last assault.”

“
I’m fine
,” she replied. “I took one
last pass over the Pale Brothers defending the Galrian pullback. I
hit them with several fireballs. I don’t know how many I
incapacitated or killed, but they peeled off their attack on the
towers.”

“
You did well
Zuri,” said
Arnette. “If they had poured anymore energy spells on to the towers
the gate would have been compromised.”

S
he walked towards Arnette and stumbled,
her recent spell casting had taken a lot of energy, it was a wonder
she had managed to maintain the strength to fly back.

Arnette caught her before she
fell. “Take it easy mastermage, you need to regain your
strength.”
Arnette led her to the back of the wall and sat her
down.

“
Oh
,” she sighed in relief at being able
to sit down. “How can these Galrian mages have spells that can
reduce stone to melted slag?” she asked Arnette. “No one among the
Scepters or Warded Spirals has such powerful magic.”

“
I don’t know.
Maybe the Pale
Brotherhood made a deal with demons? We’re fortunate they’re not
greater in number or they would have breached the walls by now.
They’re more interested in targeting us.” Arnette’s head dropped in
a moment of grief. A number of Scepters had been killed in the
initial days of the siege and Arnette looked weighed down by the
deaths.

“
How many this time?”
asked Zuri. The
recent assault had been brutal and she was sure more of her
comrades had borne the brunt of the attack.

“
Nine dead, eleven critically
injured
,”
Arnette’s voice was tinged with bitterness. “We only barely held
on, a few more assaults like that could finish us off for
good.”

“
Shouldn’t there be
reinforcements coming to reli
eve the city?” The whole of the empire was
organizing for war and military units were being put on the trains
and headed south as fast as they could be formed. The government
was meant to be sending a fresh army to drive the Galrians away
from Sethain.

“
There was, but not anymore,”
answered Arnette.

“
What? Why not?”
she
asked.

“
Two
Galrian armies pushed through Araiin
and seized most of the smaller towns. Three more armies crossed the
border and are headed for Arketh. The sixth army is being diverted
to halt them. They also sabotaged the main south-west rail tracks.
The sixth army would have to fight through a significant number of
Galrian forces to reach us. For now, Sethain has to hold with what
we have.”

Arnette shoved food and water
into her hands. “Here, you need to regain your
stre
ngth. We
have no idea when the next attack will come.”

Zuri’s stomach growled at the
smell of the food and she quickly wolfed it down while
processi
ng
the news.

Galria had thrust everything
they had at Alkos. The walls of Sethain could take a lot of damage
and the city was well-stocked with supplies.
It was possible they could hold
out. The winters here were not as harsh as further north, but the
Galrian armies wouldn’t be able to withstand the cold as well as
the city’s defenders.

A bell sounded from the towers.
The Galrians were going to attack again; so soon after
the
ir last
attempt. She swallowed the bread in her mouth and washed it down
with water.

Arnette looked down over the
wall. “Damn bastards
,” she said. “They didn’t even give us a chance to
recover.”

“
Alright
,” Arnette called out to the mages
gathered in front of her, the differing colored robes of the
Scepters creating a rainbow-like crowd. “They’re going to attack
again. Those of you with hydromancy training, I want you to get
that fire under control before they hit again. If the gate is
compromised there’s only the infantry to hold them back. Anyone
that can use geomancy, continue repairing and re-bracing the walls
as they’re damaged. Everyone else, fire your offensive
spells.”

Zuri stretched out her arms and wings,
getting herself ready to take to the sky again.

Arnette looked over at
her
in
concern. “Are you sure you can go up again so soon?”

Loud gunfire snapped nearby.
The soldiers at the edge of the wall were firing
at the renewed
Galrian attack. The cannons in the nearest tower boomed and fired
down as well. In spite of her fatigue, Zuri couldn’t let the other
defenders down.

“
Yes
,” she said in a determined tone that
didn’t reveal to the Scepter deputy-chief how exhausted she was.
“You need me up there.”

“
If you’re up for
it
,” replied
Arnette, nodding.

Zuri uttered a brief
incantation
and her body became engulfed in darkened shadow. She would
still be visible to Arnette and the other Scepters, the spell
offered little protection close up in daylight. But high above the
battlefield all the enemy forces would see was a shadowy speck. She
flapped her wings and took off, leaving behind the other Scepters
to conduct their fight from the wall.

She soared over the wall,
soldiers all along its leng
th firing long-range rifles at the enemy. She
pushed herself higher by another hundred meters and past the edge
of the wall.

Looking down
, she could see the fast moving
forces of the Galrian armies on the fields in front of the city.
Their artillery units were pounding on the city walls and the
southern gates, creating massive clouds of smoke that would be
stifling for anyone on the ground.

A no
isy popping sound came from the spot
she had taken off from and she looked back. She smiled, Arnette had
created a large offensive spell with the other Scepters by
channeling their energy together. Such spells were costly for the
younger and less-experienced Scepters like herself. They would not
be able to cast any more spells for the rest of the day.

It did look impressive though.
Forty or so multi-colored spheres of light, roughly the diameter of
a tall drakon appear
ed above the mages. They held in place for a few moments
before suddenly moving, faster than Zuri had expected. The spheres
flickered with reds, blues, greens and yellows of all different
shades and hues as they sped through the air towards the main bulk
of the Galrian armies.

Zuri flew out further and
risked going lower, so she could get a better view of the ambitious
spell Arnette had cast.
Moments before the balls hit, one third of them
flared with white light and vanished. The Pale Brothers had managed
to counter a good number of them, but it was too late for them to
deal with the rest.

The spheres impacted
along the Galrian
lines and while she was too high to hear them, Zuri imagined that
the men down there were screaming in fear and pain. She had never
seen a spell of this magnitude cast before.

As she flew over
the Galrians she
could make out the damage. The effect of the spheres was determined
by the color they happened to be flashing at the moment of
impact.