ECHOES OF THE GREAT SONG by David A. Gemmell

‘Plenty skill. Bet you glad see me.’

‘I’m glad I gave you that axe.’ Returning his attention to Methras he said: ‘We need to get back to Egaru as fast as possible. The Almec army marches tomorrow. They will be at the city in less than five days.’

‘The Questor General knows. There are three armies marching. Close to eight thousand men.’

‘Big number,’ said Touchstone. ‘We lose maybe.’

Talaban grunted as he rose from the bed. ‘I need to rest,’ he said. ‘Where is my cabin?’

‘This is your cabin,’ said Methras.

‘No, not any longer.’

Methras smiled. ‘I shall be spending most of the night in the control room. Rest here. I will wake you when we reach Egaru.’

Too weary to argue, Talaban stretched out on the familiar bed.

As Touchstone made to leave Talaban reached out and took his arm. ‘You are going home, my friend. To Suryet.’

Then he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dream­less sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Four

For Rael the events of the last month had been unremit­tingly bleak. Nothing seemed to have been right since the day Questor Ro returned with those four fully-charged chests of power. It was as if, at the point of greatest hope, the Source had turned against them.

Now three disciplined and deadly armies were marching on the twin cities, the Vagars were waiting to take control of their own destinies and the witch woman was growing in power daily. Rael was weary. Taking a white crystal from his pouch he held it to his brow. Cool, invigorating energy swept through him. He sighed, and his thoughts returned to Sofarita. Whenever he saw her Rael had to leave his crystals behind. Close proximity to her drained them. As a result he no longer invited her to the Council Chamber, but instead visited her at Ro’s home.

Rael sat at his desk, staring down at the mass of paper there.

Lifting the first, he read of the food situation. From the day he had learned of the Almecs he had ordered massive imports of food and the grain stores of the twin cities were now bulging. Even so a prolonged siege would see the populations begin to starve within three weeks. Rationing would have to begin tomorrow.

Moving to his window he looked out over the bay. The Serpent was at anchor there, with some fifty smaller Vagar vessels. They had been supplying the city for days, but now there was nowhere for them to sail. The grain villages along the Luan were deserted, the people fled or slain.

Returning to his desk he shuffled through the papers, coming at last to the report from the Crystal Treasury. Caprishan had taken a second chest to Anu, as requested. The third was in use now, re-powering zhi-bows. The last chest remained in the heart of the Serpent. Soon Rael would need to have it removed. Then the Serpent would sail no more.

In some ways Serpent Seven was like the Avatar -powerful but doomed.

Short of power, and short of men, Rael was in a grim mood. Talaban had called him the greatest strategist alive. Rael believed it. But there was little point in being a fine strategist if one did not have the means to execute those strategies.

Ideally Rael would have sent out several strong units to harry the advancing armies, cutting off their supplies, wearing them down. But with fewer than 200 fighting Avatars he could not afford such a move. And sending out lightly armed Vagars against the fire-clubs of the Almecs would have proved suicidal. Therefore the advancing armies could move at their own pace, dictating the course of the war.

The one advantage Rael possessed lay in the deadliness of the Almecs. Had their invasion been less bloody they could have used the captive population to keep them in supplies. As it was, they would need to take the cities with speed.

Rael pondered this. Pagaru’s walls were not strong. They had been built fast in the early days of conquest. They would be breached, he was sure. Egaru, with a smaller perimeter, could be held far more effectively. With this in mind he decided to despatch more Avatars to Pagaru.