Page 45 of Of Blood and Fire
She shook her head. “Long viewers are picking up regular metal projectiles being hauled toward them.”
“What are these here?” Garran asked, indicating the cluster of figures near the Ghost Forest.
“We presume troop movement, but they’re protected by a fog that’s moving down from the forest toward the marshlands.”
“It’s possible they’re moving the new war machines that were being constructed there,” Garran said, then glanced around as Jarin came running into the room.
“How bad is the attack?” he asked, stopping beside us and crisply saluting.
“Small to date, no real buildup of numbers within the Slit,” Neera replied.
Garran motioned to the figures sitting at the end of the Black Glass Mountain range just before it fell into Mareritten proper, and looked at Neera. “And these? Mareritt or rider? Do we know?”
“No. The watch station at Crooked Thumb reported seeing movement atop the Sheer, but they are too far away to ascertain with any certainty who they are,” she replied. The Sheer was a section of mountain that had broken away in some distant volcanic eruption, leaving a vertical rock face that was near impossible to climb.
“If they’re on top of the Sheer, then it’s likely to be gilded riders,” Jarin said. “They’ve been establishing supply and watch stations in the ranges beyond the Beak, we know that. This is likely just one more step in that process.”
Neera glanced at him. “They reported sighting birds flying in the vicinity, but it wasn’t birds they saw on the Sheer. Low-lying clouds now bind that entire region, unfortunately, but even if it is men rather than birds they saw, there’s no other means of getting up there aside from being flown.”
“Which may well be what they’re doing,” I said. “Given they’d planned to fly soldiers over the Blue Steel Mountains into Arleeon, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility they’re building up a force on the Sheer in order to fly them into Esan herself.”
“Not beyond,” Garran said, “but definitelynota wise military move, given how easily they could be picked off from the ground.”
“Unfortunately,” Jarin said, voice dry, “the riders appear to have thrown any military rule book out the window.”
“And that makes them unpredictable and even more dangerous,” I said.
“Yes, indeed.” Garran glanced at me. “Could you and your drakkons fly out there and investigate?”
“If investigate means destroy, the drakkons will be more than happy to do so.”
“Do remember that the riders have powerful mages in their midst, so it’s possible that what the watch station reported is not what is truly out there,” Damon said and motioned toward the Mareritten encampment. “The fog shields are a new magic for the Mareritt, and one they probably learned from the gilded riders, so we have to presume the riders have other types of concealment spells in their magical armory that theyhaven’tshared.”
“The drakkons are sensitive to magic,” I said. “If we have any sense of it, we’ll retreat.”
“Really?” Damon said, disbelief very evident.
I smiled. “Well, we might take a tiny look behind any magical veil they’ve raised if it doesn’t feel dangerous, but if what we find is legions of flighted birds, we’re out of there.”
“Hmm” was all he said to that.
“Which still leaves us with the two fog shields in Mareritten,” Garran said and glanced at Damon. “Is there any means you or your fellow blood witches can devise to counter their magic?”
“Depends on what you mean by counter. As Bryn has proven, if you can find and destroy their anchoring stones, any magic attached will come down. However, the shield near the forest is mobile, so it’s likely the anchors are mounted on wagons and stationed at multiple pointswithinthe fog rather than along the outer edges. Makes them harder to find and destroy without risking life and limb.”
“Is there no way to temporarily displace their magic to see beyond it?”
“Theoretically yes, but logistically it’s nearly impossible from so far awayandwithout knowing what type of magic is in use.” Damon hesitated. “There is an easier option, though—I go out and investigate.”
“Not alone,” I immediately said. “And certainly not before your mage strength returns. The whites of your eyes still bloom a bloody hue.”
“I will be fine once I eat,” he replied evenly, his gaze finding mine. Bedevilment danced in those bloody depths.
I rolled my eyes and did my best to ignore the immediate leap of my pulse rate.
“As much as I wish I could approve such an action,” Garran was saying, “any movement through the gate will be seen by the Mareritt.”
“He could create some sort of invisibility shield.” Jarin frowned across at Damon. “Your magic can do that, can’t it?”
