142 March

Roland followed Duncan through the Darkness at a steady rate. Each division of soldiers was led by torches through the oppressive blackness. It was enough for the men to follow, but not enough to light the ground so they could watch their steps.

Even so, the Rhone had extensive experience navigating this world, and traversed it with a practiced caution. Roland was impressed by the enormity of the task; coordinating an army so hampered by sight and sound had to be a near-impossible endeavor.

His father was silent next to him, so Roland did not speak. On his other side was the aide that Duncan had assigned to him, a young soldier named Ezra. Marching through the Darkness, Roland was anxious to sneak away and get to the meeting place.

He knew the opportunity was unlikely to come before the army left the Darkness. While he could open a portal, doing so would draw too much attention. He also needed Ezra to come with him, and he hadn't had a chance to talk to the young soldier to see whether he would obey Roland's order without question.

If he wanted to, Ezra could raise a fuss about abandoning the battle before it began. Once they were back in their proper world, Roland could talk with him more easily and hopefully the two could leave quickly.

Growing nervous as they approached a stopping point, Roland looked back at the soldiers around him. Save the wolf attack that had almost ended his life, he had never been in a battle. He wondered how many of these soldiers had. The villages they had attacked probably rarely put up much of a fight.

Almost in unison, the men he could see raised their face coverings. He did the same. The Darkness was no place for great, motivational pre-battle speeches; even with a torch the sound would hardly carry far enough to reach even half of the men.

Duncan raised the light he carried. The other torchbearers followed suit; the signal of solidarity and unity made the men stand taller and collectively take a deep breath. It was almost time. Roland realized in alarm that here, in the staging area for the battle, large ballistae were assembled. He grimly wondered what other instruments of war might be ready to destroy his home.

The heir to the throne took a last look at his son with a complicated expression. Roland nodded slightly, and the older man closed his eyes, almost as if in prayer, and then opened them as he raised his own face covering.

He threw his torch to the ground and stomped out the flame. Those possessing the implements immediately began opening portals into the world as the rest of the torches were put out. They did not want to be visible as they approached Klain, and torches would all but announce their numbers and invasion.

Though the sun had just set, anything was brighter than the Darkness, and the portals were easily visible from this side. The troops began flooding out, led by Prince Duncan.

The light of the stars, for there was no moon tonight, was their only guide. Still, it was plenty to eyes that were used to groping blankly into the inky black of a dark world. The soldiers ghosted forward, and Roland could see other portals opening in the surrounding area. The signal had reached far, and thousands of Rhone now ran silently toward a gaping hole in Klain's wall.

They spread wide, then narrowed as they came close. Few noticed the younger prince and his aide slip away, and no one said a word. Silence was all but law during an attack.

________________

Riley was agitated. After he and Phillip had helped Finn free the spy, the two men had hidden until the pursuing guard had realized something was wrong and gone back to his post. He would be in enormous trouble for allowing Rhone's most dangerous spy to escape, but Riley hoped to smooth that over later. He didn't want the innocent man to be punished for something he'd helped with.

Mayra had spent the time hurriedly setting up the magical barrier. She had needed to get the General's orders for permission to get up on the wall, and waited until she was sure Finn and the spy had escaped with Jimmy before completing it. All these things done, the siblings and their neighbor met up back at the Shermans' house. Seeing that the main part of the house was now full of injured soldiers, they had stashed Phillip in the barn until he could change into more Klain-like clothing.

Riley left it to Mayra to explain everything, get Phillip some less conspicuous clothes, and help Dr. Sherman with the nursing.

Having had no subsequent assignment after his search of the catacombs and tunnels, Riley felt he should report to the General for duty. He had no idea where he would be needed most. He doubted the man would be at his residence, so he walked to the breach in the wall.

The amount of activity would be frantic if it weren't so well-regimented. The wounded had long been taken away, and now the dead were being removed as a stopgap barrier was erected. The existing stones were being moved as best they were able to do so on such short notice, and hastily constructed wooden palisades were being placed in the larger gaps that could not be readily closed by rearranging the stones. Regiments of mounted soldiers stood across the river, facing out and protecting the breach until it could be adequately repaired.

Spotting the General, he made his way over to the man in the fading light, maybe an hour or two before sundown. The commanding officer of the army looked fierce and formidable, lending the force of his courage to everyone who saw him. Riley wondered fleetingly whether the man was secretly as horrified by the carnage as everyone else.

Striding up near the General, Riley waited as he gave instructions to others for completing the temporary defenses to get the city through the night. There was not much building that could go on in the dark, and too many lamps would simply highlight the area for attack by an enemy.

Sending the men away, the General spotted Riley and gestured him over.

"How goes the search?" He asked wearily as Riley saluted him.

"It was successful, we think, although parts of the tunnel system collapsed and we had to dig our way out. Finn took the information we got and left the city to try to implement the solution and, hopefully, pave the way for Rhone to withdraw their hostilities." Riley gave the older man a brief, hopeful smile as he reported.

"I'm going to skip the part where I ask how she left the city," The General passed his hand over his face, "and move on to how quickly this solution can be accomplished."

"I'm not sure," Riley admitted. "She'll work as quickly as she can."

"Will there be some sign that it has worked?" The General asked. He didn't dare put too much hope in the young woman. Though she seemed far from ordinary, stopping a war was an almost impossible task for anyone.

Riley's bewildered shrug was the only reply, and the General sighed.

"All right. Off with you, then. The sun's almost set and we need as many men as we can get to guard the breach. The watchmen are spread thin on the walls as a result. I dread that another attack like this one might break us."

"I do have some good news on that front," Riley smiled. "The Fae's barrier should be fully in place by now, meaning no magic or magical attacks will be effective against Klain within the wall."

The look of intense relief that flickered across the General's face was almost startling.

"There is hope, then." He said.

"There is always hope," Riley replied, perplexed. How had the General kept everyone so calm and motivated while he, himself, had been hopeless?

"Of course, but now there is more." The General spared him a brief smile and clapped Riley on the shoulder, "And that may explain why the strange bags of herbs that were found among the restocked emergency food stores of the city seemed to have had no detrimental effect. I wonder..."

Shaking his head, he gestured to Riley, sending him off to join the troops standing in a neat line, closing the gap from one side of the breach to the other.

"Recall the soldiers across the river! I want everyone within the the wall by sundown!" He called as Riley walked away.

The hole in the wall was wide, but the men were determined to let nothing through. Now that the wolves wouldn't come near them, the main fear was soldiers. The wave of pretend-warriors that had been so easily struck down gave confidence to the younger soldiers, but most knew better than to take that as any indication of the skill of the Rhone.

There would be little sleep in Klain tonight. Even those soldiers not on first shift would be too on edge to find any rest, waiting for the almost inevitable moment when the horn of alarm would blow.

The General took a deep breath and called over his aide, who had finished giving the order for the mounted troops to come inside the city where the magical barrier would shield them. The young man lurched forward.

"Sir?"

"Send a few of the soldiers who cannot fight, but can walk. Have them explore the available tunnels with a map and mark the collapsed areas. If we need to evacuate the women and children out of the city and into the mountains, we need to know what tunnels are traversable."

"Yes, sir." The aide saluted and rushed off to do the will of the General. Retreat out of Klain was unthinkable, but war would have been so as well before today.