Sara Douglass – The Axis Trilogy 2 – Enchanter

“A siege then,” Magariz remarked.

Axis sighed. “Yes, a siege.” Axis had ridden through Arcen on his way north to Smyrton almost two years earlier. The city had high walls, thick battlements and a good militia.

Axis knew he had to be very, very careful with Arcen. Sieges always tended to drag out over months, and Axis could not afford to encamp himself and his army outside Arcen for the next six months. Neither could he afford to ride by and open his rear to possible attack from Burdel sometime in the future. Arcen would have to be conquered.

Azhure walked up. “Can you send the Strike Force after Burdel as he flees across the plains towards Arcen?”

Axis glanced at her. Azhure had left Caelum with Rivkah in the camp and walked only with Sicarius as company. She looked slim and fit in her grey and white uniform, the Wolven slung over her shoulder, her hair tied back into a plait rolled in the nape of her neck.

In the two weeks since Axis had visited Faraday’s childhood home relations between him and Azhure had been, if not cool, then slightly businesslike. Even their lovemaking, on those few nights when there had been the time or the privacy, had lacked the usual laughter and had become intense, almost fierce. Both felt Faraday’s closing presence keenly.

“No.” Axis turned back to the Ranges. “Most of the Strike Force are too tired. They have been on the wing for close to five hours now, and I want them to remain above the passes to watch for stray remnants of Burdel’s force. To send them flying after Burdel as he flees across the plains towards his home base would drive them dangerously close to exhaustion.” And expose them to the watching eyes and itchy tongues of countless peasants and townsfolk, Axis thought. The last thing he wanted was to have half the population of Arcness watch as the Icarii rained death down on Burdel. It would simply confirm their worst fears about the Forbidden and the Seneschal’s teachings.

“No,” he repeated, contemplating the siege ahead. “Let’s go. By the time we get this army on the move the Strike Force should have cleared the passes.”

He forced the problem of the siege to the back of his mind and smiled at Azhure.

“Come,” he took her hand, “we have a pleasant ride through the hills before us.”

“You did well, FarSight,” Axis said, reining Belaguez to a halt before the exhausted birdman.

Most of the Strike Force were now on the ground in the passes, although several dozen circled far overhead, keeping a watch over Burdel’s retreat. It was early afternoon, and the Icarii had been flying and fighting for almost twelve hours.

FarSight looked up. His dark face was lined and there were pouches of weariness under his eyes, but the expression on his face was one of quiet pride. His force had done a fine job, and he knew it. That dark day in Talon Spike when Axis had painfully outlined each and every flaw within the Icarii Strike Force seemed several lifetimes ago. FarSight now headed an elite fighting force. “BurdeFs men did not fight well, but they fought tenaciously. It took an hour longer than I had calculated to flush them out of their rocks.”

Axis dismounted and sat down beside FarSight. “And those of the Strike Force who were struck by arrows?”

FarSight shook his head with relief. “Two will not fly for some time, but the other three were only slightly hurt. A week’s rest and they will be fighting fit again.”

“EvenSong?” Axis’ sister had returned to the Strike Force for fighting duty for this attack.

“Fought well, as did SpikeFeather. I think, when the opportunity arises, I shall give him a Crest to command. He is too valuable now to waste on a Wing. His experience with the Gryphon, and his somewhat unconventional recovery, seems to have hardened him.” “Axis!”

Axis jerked his head up. It was StarDrifter, alighting on a nearby rock. His face was flushed with excitement, and his great silver and white wings fluttered behind him. He hopped down and strode over. “Axis, I know I should not be here, but I could not help myself. Do you know how close we are to Fernbrake Lake from here? Only several hours’ flight, if that!” “No,” Axis said. “We can’t afford to have any Icarii flying about the Bracken Ranges without any protection and vulnerable to whatever stray forces Burdel or Borneheld has inthese hills.”

StarDrifter’s face coloured in anger and his body stiffened. “The Icarii have waited a thousand years to return to their homeland and the sacred sites lost to them, Axis,” he said.

“Then another few weeks or months won’t make any difference,” Axis snapped. “Curse your impulsive nature, StarDrifter. It is too dangerous for you to fly off on a whim to view Fernbrake Lake. I cannot afford the Icarii to guard you. Don’t you realise how exhausted FarSight and his Strike Force are? They need days to recover, and in a few days’ time we will be long gone from the Bracken Ranges. Think, Star-Drifter, damn you!”

StarDrifter star-ed at his son, then FarSight, seeing clearly how fatigued the birdman was.

“StarDrifter,” Axis continued, “we head south. We will undoubtedly ride straight through the Ancient Barrows and by the Silent Woman Woods. You cannot see every sacred site you have lost in a week. You have your lifetime ahead of you to recover your heritage. Have patience. First I have to win this land for you.”

StarDrifter hesitated, then nodded. “I apologise Axis, Far-Sight. I did not think. Two years ago I never thought that one day I would have the opportunity to see the lost sites of Tencendor again. Now that we are so close …” His voice drifted away.

Axis relaxed, knowing -what StarDrifter was trying to say. StarDrifter and MorningStar, as all other Enchanters, were beginning the arduous task of recovering the lost sites of the Icarii people – the Ancient Barrows, tombs of the twenty-six Enchanter-Talons, Star Gate, buried beneath the barrows, the Silent Woman Woods, their Keep and the Cauldron Lake, Spiredore and the Island of Mist and Memory. That last Axis knew the Icarii yearned after almost as much as the Star Gate, yet it might well prove the hardest to win for them. In any case, they had some bitter fighting to conduct before the Icarii could recover it. As StarDrifter wandered off, Axis watched as the first units of his army wound their way through the passes.

Burdel succeeded in retreating to his capital, and by the time Axis and his army reached the city of Arcen, it was shuttered and bolted tightly.

Axis focused on the eagle soaring above the battlements of the city a league away. People scurried back and forth atop the walls, pointing nervously at the approaching army. Axis thought he even saw Burdel himself, a tall and spare man, almost ascetic, standing still and silent as he shaded his eyes against the sun and stared at the approaching black stain across the Plains of Arcness. Axis had taken pains to keep the Icarii well back, and most were still resting in the lower reaches of the Bracken Ranges. The main part of the Strike Force would join Axis’ army later that night, when the people of Arcen would be blinded by the darkness.

Belaguez stamped impatiently and rattled the bit in his mouth. Axis smiled and patted the horse’s neck, then turned and waved Belial, Magariz and Ho’Demi forward.

“Well?” he demanded as they drew their horses to either side of Belaguez. “How would you solve this problem?”

“I have no experience in sieges,” Ho’Demi said. “The closest I have come is waiting for an kebear to emerge from his snow cavern in the morning. Me? I would sit cross-legged before the gates, spear in my lap, arid simply wait for someone to come out.” He waved the problem over to Magariz.

Magariz shrugged. “It is difficult, Axis. You have no siege engines and Burdel has, in all probability, planned and provisioned for a siege.”

“We could sit here and simply wait them out,” Belial said, then winced at the expression on Axis’ face. “And wait, and wait, and wait. We could be here for years.”

You do not know the extent of it, Axis thought, his eyes tracing the flight of the eagle overhead. We are now past mid-Rose-month and I have only three and a half months left to fulfil my contract to the GateKeeper. I can waste but a week or two here at the longest.

Axis was silent, his eyes focused on the tiny figure of Burdel. shall have to rely on some sweet words to open those gates, he thought. That and a litde enchantment.

Axis swung his gaze back to his three most senior commanders. “Here is what I want you to do.”