Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 46

“There is no more time,” Zimmer announced, and everyone in Cliffwall knew he was right. More D’Haran scouts had returned with the expected news that the marching army was already crossing the fertile valley and leaving devastation in their wake.

“No doubt about it, sir,” said the dust-covered young man who ran up to issue his report. “General Utros is heading straight for these canyons.” He wiped sweat from his forehead. “They intend to take Cliffwall.”

“Ava told them exactly where to find us,” Verna said, her nostrils flaring.

Nathan had gone without sleep since the first emergency meeting, and he suspected it would be a long time before he got a good night’s rest again. He turned to Verna. “It’s time to evacuate the families and scholars to safety, while some of us remain to make a last stand. With our layers of new defenses, maybe we can save Cliffwall.”

Throughout the sheltered canyon, the ungifted workers had packed whatever possessions they could carry. Many complained at having to abandon everything they had worked so hard to create.

“We can’t just leave it all behind,” said one shepherd trying to chase his flock to the end of the box canyon, where steep paths wound upward to the high plateau.

Nathan shook his head. “Save your family. You will have to rebuild, but you can’t rebuild if you’re not alive.” The shepherd stubbornly kept chasing his sheep.

Nathan walked along, touching the ornate sword at his hip. From the Cliffwall stores he had found new garments, acquiring a deep blue vest that matched the azure of his eyes. He even found a fine traveling cape that he thought matched his demeanor as an adventurer.

Men and women climbed down the stone steps or wooden ladders from the cliff alcoves, moving with a sense of urgency and sadness. Parents led their children up the canyon to the winding paths by which they could reach the highlands. Thorn and Lyesse accompanied them as watchful guardians.

The D’Haran soldiers drilled constantly and developed pragmatic ways to hold the bottleneck opening to the canyon. General Zimmer and the wizards were still confident they could stop the enemy. Trenchers dug pits, erected spiked barricades, and laid down numerous hidden traps. Soldiers scaled the cliffs and set up caches of stones that they could hurl down on the ancient army from above.

Ava’s spirit was seen, flitting into the canyon, spying on them, but Olgya had worked with countless gifted apprentices, teaching them distortion spells, masking spells, even raising fog banks to confuse the surveillance of the evil spirit.

Perri, the gifted shaper, followed some of the agile soldiers up the cliff above the bottleneck opening, and she manipulated the stone to form perfect handholds and footholds. Ten D’Haran soldiers stationed themselves in hiding places for an ambush from high above, each man carrying a bow and a basket of arrows. They would rain down deadly projectiles as soon as the invaders approached the sheer cliffs that blocked the entrance. Oron, Olgya, and Leo discussed ways in which they could use their magic to fight back.

As she and Nathan watched the preparations, the prelate drew her mouth into a tight frown. “If your handful of defenders can keep the canyon safe, then I will be relieved.” She sighed. “And completely surprised. If you should fail, Nathan, I am fully prepared to bring down the cliffs and obliterate this dangerous library. I have studied how to use the Weeping Stone spell. That will seal off the entire archive to make sure the knowledge never, ever falls into enemy hands.”

He shuddered at the metal in her gaze. “Be very careful, my dear prelate. We’ve seen how powerful magic can burn like a wildfire out of control.”

She gave him a skeptical frown. “You mean Elbert and the ruined prophecy building? We saw what happened when an untrained novice got out of his depth. I have a bit more experience than that.” Verna softened her expression, reached out to touch Nathan’s shoulder. “But yes, I will be careful.”

They climbed the narrow stone path to the large primary archive. Inside the buildings and tunnels, scholars were frantically sorting the most important documents, while memmers opened the chosen volumes and scanned them, impressing more and more words upon their memories.

Franklin could not decide which volumes to salvage, because there were so many. “We have to leave soon, but what am I to do? We have only cataloged a fraction of the books. How do we even know which are the best ones?” He ran both hands through his brown hair. “When Simon was killed, I became the scholar-archivist, but I never knew I would face a decision like this. Historical chronicles will record my name as the man who let Cliffwall be destroyed. What was it all for?”

“We’re doing it to save the world,” Verna said. “It is not a useless gesture.”

Nathan forced a bright tone in his words. “If we can deflect that gigantic army, then we won’t have to destroy the archive, and all the people can return home to a happy celebration.”

Prelate Verna snorted. She joined the eight Sisters of the Light who pored over the segregated books of dangerous magic, hoping to learn new spells they could use to attack General Utros. They had already discovered several techniques they wanted to try, but time was running out.

Young Amber looked flushed and overwhelmed. She stared at several books spread out in front of her, but couldn’t decide which one to read first. “Now I know what my brother felt when his commander left him behind to defend Renda Bay. He only had fifty soldiers, too.”

“He had more than that, my dear,” Nathan said, trying to calm her. “He had ingenuity, and the people of Renda Bay were motivated to fight back against the Norukai. We’re also fighting back.” He wrapped his new cape around his shoulders, feeling the fine fabric. “Admittedly, Utros’s army is a lot larger than any raid the Norukai ever sent against Renda Bay.…”

Amber nodded. “If Norcross could do it, then so can I. I miss my brother. Do you think we’ll ever see him again?”

Nathan gave her a reassuring smile. “Of course we will.”

“Provided we survive the next two days,” Verna corrected.

“Always the pessimist.” Nathan sniffed.

She was not amused. “As I’ve said many times before, I am a realist. For today, our main effort is to ensure that all of these people get to safety. Only the fighters—the soldiers and the gifted—shall remain behind.”

“We will make our best defense,” Nathan said. “Do you need to study your Weeping Stone spell, or are you confident you have every aspect memorized?”

“I am confident, and I have the sorcerer’s sand,” Verna said. “If your defenses do fail, then—and only then—I will use the spell to bring down the cliffside.” She gave him a hard smile. “I promise I will wait until the last moment, but if I do need to trigger the spell, I’ll also be sure to wipe out as many of those soldiers as I can.”