Page 51 of Triplets for the Barbarians

Sarin smiles broadly. “It is my pleasure to announce that we have two hundred of them, not the originally anticipated one hundred.”

“Oh, how’d that happen?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “The people here never struck me as the warrior types.”

“They’re anything but. Yet they are determined to protect their home and their way of life,” Neya chimes in. “We asked who would join the guards and the Kreek soldiers in this endeavor. We didn’t wish to force anyone into it, even though we were ready to do so if the enthusiasm was less than we hoped for. They came through better than I had imagined.”

“They are quite young, though. Some of them are only fourteen,” Leela says. “But they wouldn’t stay back. And in these troubled times, we figured the more hands on deck, the better.”

“You thought right,” Fadai says. “What of the civilians? Will they be ready to make their way into the escape tunnels if they have to?”

The widows nod simultaneously. “Yes. There were some objections to the whole operation, but they understood the gravity of the situation. It’s been the talk of the town for long enough for reality to have sunk in.” Leela exhales sharply. “There are times when I wish we’d stayed ignorant and under Solomon’s rule, but that wasn’t right, either.”

“It wasn’t. It was cruel and delusional. You had no idea what you’d be up against if Shaytan figured out Solomon’s game. And you know he would have sooner or later,” I reply. “Solomon’s dream was madness from the very beginning.”

I still can’t believe he’s the one who practically started everything. He created the viral strain that all but wiped out his entire species and plunged his world back into the dark ages. He fooled his people into thinking they were the only survivors while the civil war raged on beyond the Opal City labyrinth.

I shudder to think what would’ve happened to these people if Alicia and the Tallas men hadn’t stumbled into their midst. Solomon had already lost his mind and was drunk on his own power and authority, ruthlessly executing anyone who dared to disobey him. He’d become an authoritarian madman who would’ve led his people to their doom.

“We cannot promise you victory,” Yossul tells the widows. “But we can promise you that we’ll do everything in our power to keep your people safe. We’ve yet to see Sky Tribe troops headed our way so that counts for something.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Leela mumbles.

“The same cannot be said about Sapphire City,” I reply bluntly. “My friends still won’t leave, but they did send the kids into hiding, at least.”

Sarin gives me a worried look. “Where to?”

“We don’t know yet. But it’s not here. As long as we have the long-range lasers here, we’re subject to violent and deadly retaliation from the Sky Tribe. It would be too risky to send the children to us.”

Fadai raises a curious eyebrow. “I think they sent them farther down the shoreline. There’s a small town about fifty miles south that could serve as a decent shelter. It used to be a fisherman’s haven, and there are plenty of boats that could be used to take the kids deeper south, away from the land. The Sky Tribe jets rarely venture far out above the Crimson Sea.”

Yes, I remember because of the storms. The sea itself is rather choppy by nature, but when one of the eastern storms hits with heatwaves and thundering yellow clouds, it becomes too dangerous to fly anything through there. I only hope the children will be safe.

“Where do we stand in our defenses?” I ask the widows. “Weapons-wise, what’s the news from the royal guards? Will we have enough ammunition to fight invaders?”

I don’t like the widows’ expressions.

“We have plenty, but I don’t think ‘enough’ is a term we could use,” Sarin says. “Solomon never paid much attention to this aspect. We never had people coming in, and the ones who tried died in the labyrinth. A lot of the ammunition we did keep stored in the halls beneath the city hall has expired, I’m afraid.”

“What do the guards think? Could they take on a thousand men?” I reply.

“A thousand, yes. More may be a problem,” Sarin says.

“Then we’ll have to rely on the long-range shooters and on finding the starship,” I tell Yossul and Fadai. “If we can figure out where it is, we can take it down, one way or another. And then it’ll be over, more or less. Morale will drop, and the Sky Tribe fighters will lack the motivation to keep killing in Shaytan’s name.”

“I’ll reach out to our scouts,” Yossul says. “Perhaps there are some intel avenues we’ve yet to explore. A bribe here, a favor there. We may have to promise a high-ranking position within the future government to those willing to turn against Shaytan now.”

“So be it,” I growl. “The new world will weed the weaklings out quickly. Even if we do grant them a role within the governing structure, they’ll have to work in order to keep it. And then it’ll be their fault if they fail. To the future former Sky Tribe affiliates, they’ll be considered spineless traitors. Even if they do attempt to hurt us, they won’t have the support they’d need for a coup. And for everyone else, they’ll always be the turncoats. Nobody will trust them. For now, however, yes, promise them high-ranking positions if it gets us the intelligence we need.”

Yossul and Fadai look at me with a blend of astonishment and admiration, subtle smiles stretching across their lips. They both nod in agreement while Solomon’s widows move closer to the map, their eyes darting from one set of military figurines to another.

“What do you think?” I ask them.

Leela points to the southern gate. “Perhaps we could send a few more of the new recruits down there. The gates may be strong, but the labyrinth’s mechanisms are scarcer on the south side. Solomon designed it with a focus on the northern and eastern areas since that’s where invaders were most likely to come from. I’m afraid Shaytan Hull might get a bit more creative.”

“You may be right,” I concede with genuine appreciation. “We’ll fortify positions on the southern gate, then. A couple of dozen of the new boys for sure.”

“You know, in the olden days, before the laser weapons and whatnot, our ancestors used all sorts of tricks to keep soldiers from climbing the city walls,” Sarin says. “I remember reading about it when I was a child.”

Neya gasps, her eyes widening with excitement. “Yes, you’re right! Molten tar, boiling water, that kind of thing. There was a story about one of Opal City’s original founders having dug an underground channel through which lava could pour out directly from below the volcano. I think we still have a map of the original pipes and stone tunnels that relied on the lava to keep the city’s water reserves warm. We could use that, couldn’t we?”

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