Page 97 of Of Blood and Fire
“Fuck.” Damon said aloud what I was thinking.
I scrambled out of bed and raced into the bathing area to grab clothes and boots, Damon two steps behind me. We hurriedly dressed, pulled on boots and weapons, then headed out, running around to the stairs and then down into the chaos of the war room. I rose on my toes and spotted Jarin and Neera at the main troop placement board but couldn’t immediately see Garran.
“This way.” Damon grabbed my hand and guided me through the crowd.
Garran was in front of the quill tablet table, giving verbal replies to the various messages as they came through.
“They’ve hit the gate and its surrounds with acid,” he said, casting a brief but grim look our way. “We’ve an air mage on the battlement above the gate casting a mini rainstorm above it, and it’s helping—but for how long is unknown if they keep up with this bombardment.”
“Hasn’t the gate been strengthened against it?” Damon asked, frowning. “I would have thought that would be the first to be done.”
“The arch and the tunnel have been, but the gate is a mix of wood and metal, and the latter cannot be fortified by either earth or air mage.”
And if they did break through the main gate, the portcullis wouldn’t hold up for too long against the acid, either, as metal melted faster than stone. Even the murder slits in the ceiling, which would greet any Mareritt in the long tunnel with boiling liquid, wouldn’t really help because of the length of time it took to maneuver replacement pots of liquid into position. Before the Mareritt had gotten hold of the acid, that hadn’t been a problem.
“Which is why,” Garran was continuing, “we’ve earth mages creating a couple of trenches in the tunnel and smoothing their sides so they can’t clamber back out so easily.”
“Good in theory,” Damon said. “But past experience has told us they’re more than happy to create human ladders while they’re waiting for the regular ones.”
“The first trench will be very deep. The second will be filled with water. That will stop them, if nothing else.”
It had in the past, but I wouldn’t put it past the riders to have provided the Mareritt with some means around that, too. “Are they using the regular tubes? Because given how close they need to be with those, surely we can?—”
“They’re not using regular tubes,” he cut in. “These ones are much, much bigger, and mounted on wheels.”
“The same type they were making in the camp we rescued you from?” I asked.
He nodded grimly. “Two of the things appeared out of the fog line last night, along with a cartload of bladders we believe hold their version of the acid.”
“Iknewwe should have hit that fucking thing straight away.”
“And if you had,” he replied in the same sharp tone, “Zephrine might well be on its knees now.”
Maybe it was lingering anger at Aric, but I couldn’t help but think better Zephrine than us. “Are they targeting any other section of the wall?”
“Not with the tube cannons. They’ve rigged up a version of the orbs, using what looks to be corked doliums. They’ve blown up one trebuchet already, though. That stuff isnotstable.”
Doliums were basically large round earthenware pots many of our trading partners used to transport goods such as grain.
“Where’s the Prioress and her people?” Damon asked.
Garran glanced at him. “In the exit tunnel creating a barrier in case they do get past the trench and the water.”
“Then I’ll go down and assist.” He touched my arm. “Be careful up there.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I rather suspect assisting them is not truly what you intend. You have something else planned.”
A tight smile touched his lips. “We blood witches may not be able to kill the Mareritt, but we can certainly provide a means of trapping and herding them toward the walls so that others can.”
“I do like the sound of that,” Garran said.
Damon’s smile grew, though there was little more than cold anticipation in his face. “Send out a message to the wall commanders and inform them of the plan.”
Garran glanced at the soldiers manning the tablets and motioned them to do so.
Damon turned and strode away. I crossed my arms and studied the lines of tablets for a second. While we no longer had the advantage of being able to see what was happening, we weren’t lacking for information. “How much larger is the Mareritten encampment now?”
“Doubled in size. They remain out of our firing range, and at this point I don’t want to risk using our remaining air mages to hit them just in case riders remain on the Sheer.” He glanced at me. “It’s time to bring in the drakkons, if you’re up to it.”
