David Wells - Linkershim

“I know how to fight you now, Phane,” Isabel said, turning to face him.

“One battle does not win the war,” he said, motioning to Lacy and releasing her collar. “Next time, I’ll gag your little friend before I hand you over to Azugorath.”

He left the room, whistling a tune.

Alexander smiled when he saw the ruins of the Lancers’ forward operating base, still burning and spewing soot into the air. Plans in the west of Andalia were going well. The people remaining in the western province had taken to the Old Law with enthusiasm, then taken to the battlefield to defend it. Lancer fortifications were on fire all along the boundary between the western forest and the plains. Talia had leveraged two hundred Rangers and eight Sky Knights into an insurgent army of well over three thousand militiamen.

That small army had launched its first major offensive during the night, attacking every significant Lancer position along the border with fire, then withdrawing and regrouping, moving north to prepare for the primary objective.

Over the coming days the militia would move along the north coast, taking one seaport after another, but never attacking the shipwrights, instead offering them jobs farther west, then burning the docks, the shipyards and the port buildings before moving on.

Alexander set aside all of the other battles taking place around the world and focused on the coming minutes. He could see Mithel Dour looming in the distance, its thousand-foot semi-circular cliff cutting an unnatural face into the mountain range at the heart of the Andalian Isle. The palace cliff looming up behind it completed the other half of the circle, together defining the city’s boundaries.

The wyverns floated in well above the city, silent on the wind and invisible against the grey night sky. Alexander tapped Kiera on the thigh, pointing to Grant’s balcony. She nodded, leaning into her wyvern, tipping into a dive, and quickly losing several hundred feet of altitude before pulling into a shallow descent. The remaining seven Sky Knights held course for the palace.

Alexander saw the men positioned around the balcony and the yard, all of them hidden, but not to his sight. Easily fifty men, overseers, armed with clubs and armored in scale mail, hidden around the otherwise vacant Grant estate … all of them waiting.

The Babachenko knew he was coming.

It made perfect sense. He was a divination mage. Acquiring knowledge with magic was his stock in trade.

“Enemy,” Alexander shouted into Kiera’s ear. “Drop me quickly, then fall away and come back around.”

She nodded, smiling into the wind and guiding her wyvern with a combination of leg pressure and delicate tugging on the reins, bringing the beast into a flaring landing on the balcony, terrifying two men who were trying to hide behind the balcony railing, sending them scrambling for the stables.

The wyvern leaned forward, her snapping jaws just outside the stable doors, her bladed tail hovering over the side path leading toward the house along the balcony. Alexander pulled his lacing free and slid to the ground, linking his mind with Chloe before he hit. Several overseers seemed to appear out of the shadows. He ignored them, calculating the distance to his target. Chloe came into existence, spinning into view in a ball of light, bringing the Thinblade with her into the world of time and substance just moments before he reached it. His sword in hand, he assessed the situation and chose to flee.

But before he could, a club hit him in the back, knocking him to one knee, pain radiating from the point of impact. Men rushed in from all sides. He set the pain aside, drew the Thinblade and focused on the moment. Three men were closing in on him, all of them raising clubs that could put him out with a hit.

He slipped to the right, sweeping up with the Thinblade, taking one of the overseer’s hands, moving past him, putting the screaming man between himself and the other two overseers, giving him just enough time to sheathe the Thinblade and swing up behind Kiera.

“Hang on!” she shouted.

He was glad he obeyed. The wyvern bounded backward to avoid an all-out assault by ten men rushing toward them, then tipped sideways, falling into a steep dive with the cliff face at her belly before leveling out and gaining altitude, turning gradually back toward Mithel Dour. As they floated over the city streets, Alexander pointed out his target. Kiera nodded, taking the reins of her wyvern and guiding her into a gentle landing on the roof of the mining barracks.

“Thank you, Kiera,” Alexander said.

“I can still come with you.”

“I know, but I suspect that Talia is depending on you to help him carry out his plans against the shipyards.”

“Perhaps.”

“If I have need, I will call,” Alexander said, letting himself slide to the edge of the roof and then drop to the ground, orienting himself briefly before heading across the courtyard and into an office, listening for the wing beats of Kiera’s wyvern as he ran.

He was grateful that the place was vacant. Grant’s betrayal had caused an interruption in the mining business, but it wouldn’t last. The Babachenko probably already had people working on the problem.

Alexander opened the door to his Wizard’s Den and stepped inside, leaving it open and gesturing for everyone waiting inside to sit at the table. He went to his magic circle and sat down, meditating for several minutes while he scouted the way ahead. His reconnaissance complete, he closed the door to his Wizard’s Den and took his seat at the table.

“We have an opportunity. One that could turn the tide of this entire war …” he paused, looking down at the table.

“But …” Jack said.

“I have to keep certain details from you,” Alexander said.

“If that’s necessary, then so be it,” Jataan said.

“No … not so be it,” Anja said. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“I can’t tell you. I know it’s not fair, but it is necessary. I need you to trust me.”

“I don’t like this,” Anja said. “I’m willing to fight right beside you, but I want to know what I’m fighting for.”

“You’re fighting for the Old Law.”

“Not good enough,” Anja said.

“It’s the only thing that is good enough to fight for,” Alexander said.

Anja harrumphed.

“What can you tell us, Alexander?” Jack asked.

“I can tell you that the beings that built this city are still here … they’re dormant, and I know how to wake them up.”

“Beings? What beings?” Anja asked.

“They’re called Linkershim,” Alexander said. “And I think they can help us with the Andalians.”

“So it’s how you plan to revive them that you can’t tell us then,” Jack said.

“Stop guessing, Jack. I can’t tell you and you can’t write about it. If the wrong people discovered this, they could destroy everything … literally. The sovereigns were very insistent.”

Jack nodded, grudgingly accepting Alexander’s explanation. Anja’s frown deepened.

“I expect heavy fighting in the coming hours,” Alexander said. “We’ll be descending into a mine owned by Titus Grant, who just recently escaped from palace custody. He has a number of men in the tunnels we’ll be traveling through, and it’s possible that he’s taken refuge in the mines himself.

“Once we’re through the mines, we’ll enter a vast underground city that was built many millennia ago. The path will be treacherous and there’s no telling what lives down there.

“The Babachenko is aware of our presence in the city, so he’ll be sending soldiers. Our enemies are dangerous. We should avoid them if we can or kill them quickly if we can’t … our objective really has nothing to do with them, except that they’re in our way.”