‘Don’t make it too easy, Waylander,’ he whispered. ‘Do not disappoint me.’
12
When Karnak entered the council chamber, the twenty officers stood and saluted. Waving them to their seats, the general moved to the head of the table and removed his cloak, draping it over the chair behind him.
‘Purdol is ready to fall,’ he declared, his blue eyes scanning the grim faces around the table. ‘Gan Degas is old, tired and ready to crack. There are no Source priests at Purdol and the Gan has received no news for more than a month. He believes he is alone.’
Karnak waited, allowing the news to sink in and gauging the rising tension. He watched Gellan, noting the sustained absence of emotion. Not so young Sarvaj, who had leaned back with disappointment etched into his features. Jonat was whispering to Gellan, and Karnak knew what he was saying; he was harping on past mistakes. Young Dundas waited expectantly, his belief in Karnak total. The general glanced around the table. He knew every man present, their weaknesses and their strengths – the officers prone to melancholy and those whose reckless courage was more dangerous than cowardice.
‘I am going to Purdol,’ he said, judging the moment. A gasp went up from the men and he lifted his hand for silence. ‘There are three armies ranged against us, with Purdol taking the lion’s share. If the fortress falls it will release 40,000 men to invade Skultik. We cannot stand against such a force. So I am going there.’
‘You will never get in,’ said one officer, a bearded Legion warrior named Emden. ‘The gates are sealed.’
‘There is another way,’ said Karnak. ‘Over the mountains.’
‘Sathuli lands,’ muttered Jonat. ‘I’ve been there. Treacherous passes, ice-covered ledges – it is impassable.’
‘No,’ said Dundas, rising to his feet. ‘Not impassable – we have more than fifty men working to clear the way.’
‘But the mountains do not lead into the fortress,’ protested Gellan. There is a sheer cliff rising from the back of Purdol. It would be impossible to climb down.’
‘We are not going over the mountain,’ said Karnak. ‘We are going through it. There is a deep honeycomb of caves and tunnels and one tunnel leads through to the dungeons below the main Keep; at the moment it is blocked, but we will clear it. Jonat is right: the way is difficult and there will be no room for horses. I intend to take a thousand men, each bearing sixty pounds of supplies. Then we will hold until Egel breaks out of Skultik …’
‘But what if he doesn’t?’ demanded Jonat.
‘Then we retreat through the mountains and disperse into small raiding groups.’
Sarvaj raised his hand. ‘One question only, general. According to the fortress specifications, Purdol should be manned by 10,000 men. Even if we get through, we will only raise the defenders to a sixty-per-cent complement. Can we thus hold?’
‘Only architects and bureaucrats work in numbers, Sarvaj. The first wall at Purdol has already fallen, which means that the harbour and the docks are already held by the Vagrians and allowing them to ship in supplies and troops. The second wall has only two gates and they are holding firm. The third wall has but one gate – and after that there is the Keep. A strong force could hold Purdol for at least three months; we will not need more than that.’
Gellan cleared his throat. ‘Have we any idea,’ he said, ‘as to losses at Purdol?’
Karnak nodded. ‘Eight hundred men. Six hundred dead, the rest too badly wounded to fight.’
‘And what of Skarta?’ asked Jonat. ‘There are Drenai families here depending on us for protection.’
Karnak rubbed at his eyes and let the silence grow. This was the question he had feared.
‘There is a time for hard decisions, and we have reached it. Our presence here may give the people hope, but it is false hope. Skarta is indefensible. Egel knows it, I know it – and that is why he raids the west, to keep the Vagrians on the move, to disconcert them and hopefully to prevent a large-scale invasion here. But we are pinning down troops desperately needed elsewhere. We will leave a token force of some 200 men … but that is all.’