David Gemmell - Echoes of the Great Song

The first Almec army arrived before the walls of Pagaru just before dusk. Across the bay Rael watched the message from the flashing lanterns high on Pagaru's eastern watchtower. 'Four thousand men,' said his aide Cation, reading the lights. 'But no siege towers or other weapons in sight. They are making camp just out of zhi-bow range.' On the south side of the river there was no sign yet of the enemy. 'The Lady Mejana is coming, sir,' said Cation.

Rael turned and offered the Vagar woman a slight bow. She was wearing a heavy cloak against the evening winds and she looked older, more tired than Rael had seen her. 'I received your message,' she said.

'Best not to speak of it, for the reasons I wrote in my letter.'

She nodded. 'There are two thousand militia men to call upon in this district,' she told him. 'I have assigned runners to every two hundred yards of the wall. If any of your officers need reinforcements the runners will fetch them.'

'You have worked well and efficiently, Mejana. I commend you,' said Rael absently. Once more he was staring out at the low-lying hills.

Mejana leaned against the battlements and closed her eyes in exhaustion. For the first time Rael saw her not as the leader of the murderous Pajists, but as a woman, weary and bereaved, doing her best in an impossible situation.

Taking a crystal from his pouch he reached out to her. She opened her eyes and backed away. 'I don't want your damned magic!' she said.

Rael sighed. 'I understand. But you will need all your wits about you, lady, in the hours and days ahead.'

'That might be so, Rael. But I will do my best in this frail, aching body. It is mine. Its strength is mine and its weakness also. All mine. But I thank you for your offer, and hope you will excuse my sharpness of tone.'

Her words surprised him. He leaned forward, placing his hand on her shoulder. 'Perhaps the coming excitement will help to revitalize you. But, failing that, I suggest you go home and sleep for a couple of hours.

Even when they come it will take time to set up their battle lines and their weapons. I shall send a messenger for you.'

'No,' she said. 'Already I am feeling a little better. Would you mind if I wait?'

'Not at all.' Turning away from her he slipped the crystal back into his pouch. He caught Cation's eye and knew the officer had picked up the emanations from the crystal use. Rael smiled at his aide. The signal lights flashed again from Pagaru. Rael missed the first part of the message but caught it when it was repeated moments later. From their vantage point across the estuary the Pagaru defenders could see the army approaching Egaru.

'Many wagons,' said Cation. 'Mounted bronze? What does that mean?'

'Bronze weapons are mounted on the wagons,' said Rael. 'Signal back. Ask how many they can see.'

Cation moved away. Mejana touched Rael's arm and pointed to the east. The first line of marching men could be seen silhouetted against the skyline. Mejana glanced along the wall then looked back at Rael. 'You cannot hold a two-mile wall with two thousand men.'

'No, I cannot,' he agreed. 'But they cannot destroy the whole wall. Where they breach it is where the hard fighting will be.'

Hearing movement behind him Rael turned to see Caprishan climbing to the ramparts. The fat man was breathing heavily and his face was sweat-drenched. 'Did you get through to Anu?' asked Rael.

Caprishan nodded, then took a moment to catch his breath. 'We shouldn't have,' he said at last. 'We were seen by a group of Almecs. A large group, maybe two hundred strong. I thought we would all be killed. But they drew back, offering us no harm. What do you make of that, Rael? It makes no sense to me.'

'Nor me,' said Mejana.

'It makes perfect sense,' said Rael bitterly. 'Think of what Anu is doing. He is recreating the White Pyramid.

It will draw power from the sun and feed all our crystals. As Sofarita has told us, the Crystal Queen has an insatiable hunger. A great need. Once the pyramid is complete she will feed from that.'

'Then we must stop Anu,' said Mejana. 'He must not complete it.'

'I couldn't stop Anu even if I wanted to,' said Rael. 'But there will be no more supplies to him now and no way to contact him. That is why he requested the second chest. He will feed his workers with crystal power. He is cut off from us, Mejana. We can only hope to defeat the Almecs before he completes the pyramid.'

'There is other news, cousin,' said Caprishan.

'Good news, I hope.'

Caprishan shrugged. 'The king of the Mud People has fled the city. He requested a horse for a ride through the parks. Then he fled. Is that good or bad news?'

'Neither. There is no time to rally the tribes. We stand alone.'

Caprishan gazed over the battlements at the advancing lines of men. In the dying light they looked inhuman, moving in harmony. From this distance they could have been a line of ants. Caprishan shivered. He did not like to think of insects. It made him itch. 'Well-trained soldiers,' he said. 'Look at the way they move. Perfect discipline.'

Behind the defenders the sun dipped low into a blood-red sea.

And Serpent Seven slid from view over the horizon.

Methras had insisted that Talaban stay in his old quarters and the Avatar had accepted gratefully. Now he stood on the small deck of the captain's cabin and gazed back at the towers of Egaru. They were bathed in the light of the dying sun. He felt a shiver run through him as the city faded into the distance, a brooding sense of farewell that he could not shake. Talaban had few friends among his Avatar comrades, but this did not mean that he disliked them. There were some people he had known for almost 200 years, men and women he respected, or admired. Above all else they were family. Almost all the Avatars who had survived the fall of the world were related.

Now he was leaving them to their fate.

It did not matter that his mission was to save them. At this moment it felt like desertion.

'Yet it is not,' said Sofarita. Talaban turned slowly. She was standing by the desk, a goblet of water in her slender hand, a blue robe covering her exquisite form. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and her neck was sleek and joyous to behold.

'Eavesdropping is said to be rude,' he told her.

'I cannot always control the power,' she told him.

'Especially when the emotions of people close to me are raised.'

'When you say close…?' He looked at her and smiled.

'I mean in close proximity,' she replied, a blush coming to her cheeks.

'Since you have read my mind you know my feelings for you. Do they cause you concern?'

Now it was her turn to smile. 'No. It is sometimes pleasant to be… held in such high regard. What is it you desire about me, Talaban? My body? My talent? Both?'

He took her hand and kissed it. 'I wish I could tell you,' he said. 'I wish I could find the words. But the first moment I saw you it was as if lightning had flashed in my mind. Since then you are always in my thoughts.'

Gently she withdrew her hand. 'We cannot be lovers,' she told him. He thought he sensed regret in her voice.

'My powers are growing daily. If I made love to you I think you would die. It is not only the crystals which I draw upon. I am beginning to…' she faltered. 'Let us not speak of that.' She walked out onto the small deck.

Egaru was almost out of sight now. Moving behind her he placed his hands on her shoulders. She shivered at the touch. 'Do not fall in love with me, Talaban,' she warned him.

He laughed then. 'As if I had a choice.'

'We all have choices,' she said, turning her back to the rail. He started to step in closer. She raised a hand and he felt a pressure on his chest pushing him back, even though she was some feet from him. 'Think about what you are doing,' she advised him. 'You see a woman, but I am no longer fully flesh and blood. I am turning to crystal. Slowly, it is true. But crystal nonetheless. Did you learn nothing from loving Chryssa?'