The Prophesy: Book 2 - The Right Hand of Destiny

 

King Edward XXIV had listened to the Mage's report on the untimely recall by its maker of his predecessor without interrupting the unpleasant individual.

"I am more worried about these reports, Mage, than the consequences of an astronomical event influencing our destiny. I believe it is a mere coincidence for a comet to show up in the sky right at the onset of the Great Catastrophe, which marked the demise of the Ancients. Let us focus on what we can control. I do not dismiss your worries, astrologer, but, tell me, if it does affect us in any way, what can we do? Nothing. Let's deal with what we can and ignore the rest."

"Should we continue tracking things as best we can?"

"Astronomer, do as you see fit. If, by any chance, you can give us a fair warning, and we can do something about it, then it might be useful for us to know."

The astronomer did a courtesy and with a hand sign from the King, dismissed.

"As for you, Mage, what else can you tell us?"

"First, we had a spy in the College of Magic, but it got disposed of; it was highly placed, being the son of the Great Grand Master of the Light, Nestor. We have others, but they are of lesser importance and calibre than our spy was, so we bear little hope of finding out what he had discovered. His immediate supervisor had sent him on a long-range mission, but his reports had been skimpy at best, and far between. Our listeners had been monitoring the exchanges between him and Ferriday, but, suddenly, all reports have stopped. One of our low-level spies says the college has been under attack, and that, since then, both Nestor and Ferriday have been very reclusive."

"The College of Magic was attacked?"

"Yes, there were two successive explosions on the premises; one centred on Nestor's quarters, and the other on Ferriday's. We do not know in which order the attack occurred, but they were very close to each other, and powerful. Nonetheless, there is one result out of this that is clear, King: Ferriday has disappeared, and his study was a wreck; Nestor survived, but has kept very silent about the events. We think that Ferriday was taken by surprise and couldn't mount a defence, while Nestor had enough warning to withstand the assault."

"This is very worrisome. Is there anything else?"

"Well, yes. Before leaving for his ill-fated mission, Marlin, Nestor's son, had informed us of the nature of his mission: to track an anomaly in the magic field. We had been aware of it as well, and considered useless to send someone with Marlin. We counted on his reports to clarify the situation for us."

"Did it?"

"Yes and no. We learned of the reappearance of magic impediments, which we had long thought lost. We ordered Marlin to take control of them for our benefit, but he didn't succeed, apparently. All we know is that these instruments of magic are very powerful, and probably their users have the capacity to handle them. That has us worried."

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. We noticed an intense use of magic in the past few days of a magnitude we cannot even measure given its amplitude. We had to shield ourselves from the tsunami that use caused in the continuum. The propagation of the wave, as best we can see, seems to originate on the east coast of this continent, but that is as much as we can tell. Deformation of the continuum by magic is almost instantaneous, and we have few of our members capable to sense it effectively. It takes a careful noting of the time to be able to pinpoint the source."

"Then how did you do it?"

"Each of our members that thought of it noted the time at which each wave passed, and then we did some adjustments to take into account the difference in time from one point to another. There were some three hundred powerful waves. If some of us missed the first few, the repeated nature helped us fine-tune our measures. By the end of the train of waves, we had a good idea of where they originated, that is about where Marlin disappeared, along the east coast. We know he had been moving inland westward. He was following the movement of the target he had been assigned. He had reported catching up to them, and that they were now moving westward."

"So, that source was moving towards us?"

"Yes, but it would have to do a huge roundabout to get here. Remember the mountains east are impassable, because of the death zones that cover most if not all of it from the High North to the Deep South."

"This is interesting. They would have to pass either up north, or down south, but nowhere else. And both passages are very narrow and under my control."

"If you choose to believe that fable, King Edward, who am I to prove you wrong? They are under control of the orcs, who take their fair share of your citizenry as lunch in these areas."

"As do the priests right here, Mage. They are minor inconveniences."

"Ah yes, I almost forgot, but given you seem so interested in wolves, the mage, Marlin, reported that the caravan he had caught up with was led by a King of the Wolves. He did not elaborate, unfortunately."

"What was your previous leader doing when it met its untimely demise?"

"Sorceress Meagan? She was hunting for a group of animals she planned to use in experiments."

"Sorceress? Do you mean to tell me that a female led your order? No wonder it failed miserably in getting rid of the Order of the Light!"

"King, you are very lucky she is dead, very lucky indeed. She may have been a female, but she was the most powerful of our order, and she had to prove it every year in battle. She was the oldest of us, having battled great mages of the Light over millenniums, including Merlin himself, the Founder of the Order of the Light. She guided the forces of darkness over all these years with an iron fist. However deeply I hated Meagan, however hard I wished to see her gone, I feel nude without her, now that my deepest wish has been fulfilled. The battle she fought the day she succumbed was right at our doorstep, right in our most sacred room, and left all of us in a deep coma for a day due to its violence. None of us could help her, even if we had thought to do so, for the Battle of Shadows is one we had not mastered, save her. She tried to teach us the spell she had learned from Merlin while she was his student, but never succeeded."

"Therefore, there is another mage that knows that spell. Merlin?"

"He died of old age some years ago, King. When he had Meagan as student, he was already old, so old that Meagan could not help to laugh at him when he told her his age. We know he died, because it resonated in the continuum like a gong, and Meagan was jumping all over the place with joy. She had out-lived her worst enemy, or so she thought! I think Meagan missed the point: Marlin may have been dead, but he may have trained another mage, and it is he, or she, that dealt her the fatal blow. We know not who did it, King, so do not ask."

"What about the animals she was hunting? I was getting ready to go hunt when Shane and you caught me. I might like to hunt them too, and prove, at least to myself, that I can succeed where the great Meagan failed."

"Unfortunately, we know not where they are. The hunters she had hired were caught in a landslide and all died. All indications are that the landslide was the work of a mage. We believe this mage also attacked Meagan and won. He tracked her like a hound dog and destroyed her."

"Or like a wolf, Minotaur."

"Or like a wolf, as you say. The other problem is that the skull of power has disappeared. It is one of a few found on this planet, and is able to focalize magic energy to an intense, but infinitesimally small point. We are searching for it, and we think that the Mage that disposed so lightly of Meagan took it with him. If so, we hope to use it to find that Mage and attack him by surprise."

"I hope your hunt will be successful. I want to get rid of that Wolf King as much as you, and finally sleep peacefully."

"Did you ever sleep peacefully from the time you became conscious of things, King? You could fill a swimming pool from the blood of your opponents, and you have enough enemies to pave the city streets with their body. I doubt you will ever sleep peacefully, even after your death!"

"Nice repartee, Mage. Your immunity gives you a sharp tongue. Fortunately, not everyone is as immune as you are to my ire, or being king would not be fun anymore!"

"I will return to the Dungeons of Darkness. If anything new arises, expect me."

With that, the dark mage turned his back to the king, not awaiting dismissal, and walked out of the room, to the stunned looks of the King. As the doors closed on the back of the mage the king turned to his Dream Weaver and looked at him questioningly.

"Yes?"

"Well, what do you make of all these events?"

"Everything rotates around a Wolf. Now we know there is a king of Wolves, but we do not know where his kingdom is; we know he has mages, powerful enough to send our dark ones running for cover, even if Minotaur tries to play the bravado. We know it is coming towards us. How he plans to cross the Forbidden Lands, we do not know, but we need to get ready for that eventuality. We know his mages have dealt a fatal blow to the Order of the Light, but also, to the Order of the Dark. I can only see this to mean one thing: they want power at all costs and will go as far as needed to get it. There may be kingdoms between us and them, but if they can deal these two organizations such disabling blows, these kingdoms stand little chance of stopping them from becoming their rulers."

"And us?"

"If the passages in the mountains were open, I would say we stand as little chance as the others. It may take them time to find a way to cross the mountains, and that time, we must put to good use. I wish mage Marlin had told the Order of the Dark how he got to the other side; we could at least plug one hole!"

"Who said he didn't? After all Mage Minotaur is capable of lying as well as any of us! And we didn't ask either, so he just withheld that information."

"I think if he had known, he would have told us. He is in shock, and probably told us a lot more than he had intended when he came here."

"Whatever. Anyways, Shane, I am impressed by your analysis. I've decided to give you new responsibilities. From now on, you are Great Marshall of my Kingdom, and are tasked with the following things: Shore up my defences; establish a tight spy network both inside and outside my Kingdom; locate and infiltrate the two Orders' headquarters. We know that the Dark Order is on the Mount of Magic, they have made a show of it; but the Order of the Light has been a lot more discreet; so much, it could be residing under my throne and I might not even know it! Next, send out expeditions in order to find out all entries to my kingdom, and secure them. Finally, hunt down that Wolf King. I will not lay in wait for him to come knocking on my door. Recruit whoever you want, by whatever means necessary."

"As your command, King Edward, the hunt is on."

"What do you plan if you have any idea?"

"Three, no four points: One, track that Minotaur; I do not trust him. Second, get the economy on a war footing, including training every able-bodied male to fight. Third, inventory resources, map their distribution, map the kingdom from east to west, from north to south; and finally, build up our weapons and fortifications."

"With what money do you plan to pay for that ambitious plan, Shane?"

"Yours, that is, work or die."

"I like that! I also promote you to minister of Finances! How refreshing to be in company of that kind of thinking; however, Shane, do not over-estimate my good mood; if I ever hear you are using your new powers to undermine mine, your head will be on a spike faster than you can say no. Power has its inconvenience, Shane, and one of them is jealousy of those that have less. Remember that."

***

"So, Prince Regent Enron, when will we cross the Jordan into Edom and access Sodom?'

"I was thinking we could continue pummelling the river and lake banks until sunset, which should occur two hours or so after vespers, given how late in the year we are. At that moment, bombardment would be problematic at best, and the darn orcs will have weakened considerably. I have yet to figure out how to deal with the assault, and maintain the canal open long enough for our centuries to get across with minimum loss."

"I think the best will be a combination of wolves and horses patrolling along the side of the column, with legionnaires on call to deal with pockets of resistance or assault on our sides. That way, minimum losses, fast movement, and minimum disturbance of the current organization."

"Prince Paschal's suggestion is good, but what about the elves? We need to give them an occasion to put into practice their newly acquired competences in battle," objected King Samson.

"There, I have a suggestion," commented Harold, King of the Wolves.

"Go ahead, my friend, what is it?"

"We need to find the path of minimum resistance to progress as fast as possible towards our next objective. I suggest the elves apply the turtle technique the legionnaires taught them and progress on the run, backing off from direct high resistance fights and busting the butts of the weak points. That may not be the most direct route, but in the end, we would effectively isolate the core resistance into pockets and progress forward rapidly."

"Dad's idea is a good tactic, Samson. As I listened to it, I had a flashback of a similar tactic used by a general of old in similar situations. It led to a sweeping movement of encirclement, and brought a great nation on its knees fast. We do not plan to stay long, only doing the necessary to recover the population cornered by the orcs and crocodiles in the north western duchies. Once the cities are evacuated, we mass-teleport the cities near where we have placed Thebes."

"Prince Harp, are you aware of the mass involved?"

"Oh yes, I am. I plan to do a dirty trick too! I have given some thought about mass-transit of matter. Remember we discussed that magic can be found in every life form. I have an idea that will make the solar system resonate with magic, and give us all the necessary power we need. Just let me test a few more hours, and we'll be ready."

"Are you telling me you have been testing that secret hypothesis?"

"Yes, Sitar; I've used it to dump these last few hundred tons of gravel on the orcs."

"OK, Harp. We have about four hours before we start moving. When we move, I would like your full attention on the orcs movements and proximity defences."

"All right Enron. I should have finished my tests by then."

"I'd like to know one thing. We could teleport everyone and everything in each city to Lava Flows in one sweep. It would be safer, and we actually do not need the contribution of these additional legions to our very huge army."

"I've been considering the idea, Sitar. We may do it, but I would much like to have some way to communicate with the dukes and their barons so they can be ready. We have no way of sending a message across orc and crocodile lines. And there are the conscripts we need to deal with."

"Sorry to contradict you, but we do have the means. We can use a bird to carry a message. Remember what I did with the eagle. Nothing stops me from taking control of another one, bring him here to pick a message for the defenders, fly it to the duke's falconry to deliver the message," replied Enron.

"You have a point; after the Wolf Post, we have the Air Mail," replied Harold.

"As long as it's not the Air Male," Harp uttered.

"Harp, get your brain out of the gutter!" Sitar, Enron and Paschal replied simultaneously, as the adults busted into laughter.

"We agree, then, we dispatch birds of prey to each city, with instructions to prepare for mass evacuation. I will handle the postal services, after writing the Royal Decrees and Sealing them. How many must be made, Paschal?"

"Let me check the map."

After a few minutes of perusing the map, Paschal came up with the information.

"Enron, it depends on how you plan to evacuate the duchies, and how many you plan to evacuate."

"Edom, Ur and Baal are the most exposed for now, at least their most northern population centers. Already, Edom is partially evacuated and some of its population has moved into Aden; Ur must be completely vacated, and the upper reaches of Baal as well. What does that give?"

"Five cities and villages including Ur's and Edom's capitals must be vacated in the first phase, Enron. Baal's capital is further south and will wait some time later."

"So five decrees," replied Enron as he snapped his finger, materializing the paperwork and taking the royal seal out of its satchel, heating a bit of red wax with a mere glance at the candle.

"Show off!"

"Do I detect some jealousy, dad?"

"No, but I do wonder how the poor bird will get to fly with that piece of mail tied to its paws."

"There, I've outsmarted even Harp. I do not plan to use the bird to carry the mail, but only to give me a bird's-eye view of the ducal or barons' castle. Once the bird has flown into the building I will teleport the scroll and its containing satchel where the bird lands. In fact, we will use an owl, to deliver the mail. That way it will be able to fly at night, which is not the case of every bird of prey."

"But owls aren't very good long-distance flyers."

"Again, true. I plan to send the longest flyers off right away, during the day, using eagles. They fly fast, and should reach the proximity of our target cities before sundown. Once there, I'll keep them flying high in a circle, until we spot a night hunter; once that is done, I'll release the bird and take control of the owl or whatever other bird we have at hand."

"That seems a good plan, Enron. Can we help?"

"Well, yes, Duke Williams. I will need to maintain a grip on the mind of the night birds while I fly the other hawks or whatever birds to the other villages. Moreover, you can help by keeping them immobile and quiet while I do that. No flying required, just a constant monitoring of the environment through their senses."

"I see, I think I can do that, what about you, Dunbar?"

"Yes, I see no issue. How many birds must be under control?"

"The same as the number of cities and villages we plan to snatch under the nose of the orcs and crocodiles, five."

"That means Paschal and Harp will be required at some point."

"I would prefer Harp be left free to handle the magic field, and protect the troops; I would like Harold, Samson, and Paschal to complete the control, if only for brief periods, Dunbar."

The other royals looked at Enron and each one nodded his agreement to the idea.

«I have kept track of the exchange. The wolf pack has found the nests of four falcons and an eagle. Would that be useful?»

«Yes indeed, Duke Greywolf. I will pick the furthest nest and move it the furthest distance right away, to maximise the use of daylight. What kind of bird is it?»

«It is an eagle's nest.»

«Thank you. Who is keeping watch on the nest occupants?»

«It is me, prince »

Enron rapidly located the signature of the wolf, and, using its eyes, took control of the eagle, a female who was readying to vacate the nest, since her progeny raised. It took an hour and a half for the eagle to reach the northernmost city of Ur, Nineveh, located sixty miles from their current position, and thirty minutes to locate a boreal owl nesting in a conifer. Since it was still asleep, it was a breeze for Enron to take control of the animal and transfer it to Sitar.

The next bird picked up was also the furthest after the eagle, a falcon. The falcon's speed is considerable in flight, and it took it less then thirty minutes to reach the next target village, again in Ur, Tyre. As the day was progressing, spotting a barn owl was relatively easy, and Paschal took control of the bird before it left its nest.

The next target was the sister village of Byblos, located right across the Nile, facing Tyre, but on Baal's shores. As the evening was now closing in fast, and the sun setting down, the change from falcon to owl, done in mid-flight, almost cost the life of the poor owl. Fortunately, the owl landed in an open field rather than collide with a tree or a rock. Williams took control of the bird from Enron and held it still, hidden under a tree.

Yet another eagle, hijacked by Enron, flew quick and furious to reach the capital city of Ur, Babylon. The owls were now all out, and it was a problem spotting one under an overhang, but finally, the eagle's diminishing night vision found one; it fell under the charm of Enron quickly and then the control transferred to Dunbar.

It became apparent to Enron that he could not realistically use another eagle for the last mission so he began exploring the forest around the camp for an owl. Barn owls were out of the question, there being no barns, but a big owl happened to complain of the presence of the army on its hunting ground. It was the case where silence is of gold, and the bird did not know it! Enron quickly located its perch on a dead tree and took it under control.

«I have my last victim. Let us get this show underway. We have less then thirty minutes to complete the five deliveries.»

***

Enron began, again to take control of the bird, mimicking the flight of the bird of prey, and using the powerful night vision of the boreal owl to study the ground under him, he took to following the river northward from an altitude of five hundred feet, somewhat matching the height of the cliffs that encased the river. It took him fifteen minutes to reach the bridge leading into Sodom. The owl spiralled upward above the river, staying out of sight and out of mind of the orcs that were occupying the area. Another fifteen minutes of flight was required to reach Sodom's center, as the bird followed the lakeshore and the road parallel to it.

The fortifications loomed over the plain on which Sodom had been built, and the mass of orcs moving towards the city's defences was impressive. It was clear the orcs had decided this was the night of vengeance, and that they needed to replenish their larder with Sodom's population as fresh meat.

«Damn, the situation for Sodom is worsening by the hour. Start moving right away, we need to shore up Sodom's defences by creating a distraction or we will be interrupting an orc banquet! See what I see!»

«Agreed, Enron, we are ready. Prince Grand Master Dunbar, organize the movement of the Elvin army. Duke Yamato, Captain of the Royal Cavalry, in the lead; Duke Williams, you have the rear guard; Duke Greywolf, you have the left and right flank! Duke Bushtail Fox, inner flank, left and right, maintain the troops on the move. Duke Willie Coyote, center discipline; Harp, you are in charge of magic defence and offence. Samson, lead the second arrow assault unit! Move! Move! Move!» King Harold ordered.

As the huge army began to run on the road to Sodom, a stretch of forty miles of rough terrain, Enron began examining the ducal palace and fortification, trying to find a way to penetrate the building. Finding none in the lower parts, as each window seemed occupied by an archer, he decided to climb up and fly over the buildings. This turned to a fortunate idea as the flyby revealed the arrangements of different battlements and courtyards. An inner garden, all covered by trees in their fall colours, offered an occasion to rest the bird for a few minutes. Owls are not good at staying in flight for long periods, especially at their maximum sustainable speed. After a few minutes to give the bird some rest, Enron had it fly towards an open window that gave access to what seemed like a long hallway.

Enron had the bird slowly fly along the hallway, trying to figure out how this segment of the building was organized, and more importantly, where his courier was. As the bird reached the end of the hallway, it became apparent a door closed it. What could it do? Should he screech in frustration? Barely had the thought crossed Enron's mind that the owl let out a cry of frustration, both coming from the bird's frustration at being out of control of its own body and from Enron's inability to go any further. Amplified by Enron's magic, the owl's cry shattered the door to splinters, and shook the walls, creating a cascade of dust from mice feces and plaster!

«Damn, this castle hasn't been cleansed in seventeen thousand years! My courier will need a serious bath and preening of feathers after he is done!» Enron took off through the still falling debris and spiralled down in the darkened staircase silently, heading for what lay at the ground floor, two levels below.

The noise had attracted the attention of guards, which opened the door to look at the darkened stairway. Silently, Enron glided over their head as they peeked at the lower landing, passing unnoticed. The guards left the door open and began trying to light the torches in an effort to see what was happening. The draft coming from the upper window by which Enron had entered kept extinguishing the torches as the dust cascaded down on them. Coughing and sneezing violently, the guards finally decided to close the door and wait for the windstorm to calm down; however, closing the door was nearly impossible, as the violent draft would thus find itself deprived of its only exit.

Enron used the guards' discomfiture with the door and windy passage to fly off and head towards the back of the room and the double door that, if logic and previous battlement designs of the Atlanteans held, led to the ducal Throne room and the Council chambers. The noise and commotion of the guards fighting to close the side-door finally reached the other side of the pair of doors and the Chamberlain opened them to look and find out what the was causing all the fuss. That was what Enron had been waiting for and he dived from a crossbeam right over the Chamberlain's head; the old man, superstitious as he was, freaked badly at the sight of the bird of prey, surely, it was there to kill him. Panicked, the man tried to grab the bird, which instinctively let out a cry of defiance, again amplified by Enron's magic. The result was instantaneous, as all windows and crystals in the room vaporised, and the men of arms paralyzed!

The duke emerged from the Council room, where he had been in meeting with his strategists, to find his throne room in shambles, as if a tornado had entered it from one end to suck up every single piece of furniture and glass. As he looked around, overwhelmed by the extent of the damage, he failed to see the owl, perched on a cross-beam. He looked at his men, frozen stiff, and his Chamberlain's face, which was an image of the most abject fear apparent in his eyes that were so big they seemed to stick out of their sockets. The ducal councillors followed him out to view the disaster and left the door to the room open. That left the final passage open to Enron and he glided his bird to the Council room, and perched himself on the ducal seat's arm awaiting the return of the duke. He could hear some of the yelling and voices, but he lost most of the exchange as the hearing range of the owl geared for higher frequencies.

Finally, a page, sent to pick up some papers, noticed the bird and went to fetch the duke. The elf, being pragmatic, figured there was a reason why an owl was sitting on the right armrest of his council chair, and he walked slowly towards the end of the table from the left side, as he reasoned the bird might consider any quick movement as an act of aggression.

Enron held the owl under tight control and teleported the royal decree on the seat of the chair, 'tying' it to the right paw of the bird. As the duke walked to the chair, he spotted the satchel, the Royal Seal imprint in the red wax on the outside, and the nice, easy to untie knot. Too shocked by what he saw, he did not even consider that the bird would not have been able to fly with that tied to its leg. He slowly extended his hand, pulled on the string and untied the satchel to read the enclosed document.

As the duke got busy with the satchel to extract the enclosed documents, Enron took flight and brought the owl to the castle rafters in the attic, where it would find sustenance from mice and rats. He then released the bird, and began the process anew with the bird held in reserve for him by Dunbar for the delivery in his next target, the ducal Palace in Babylon.

***

Babylon's ducal palace, although built on a similar plan as the one found in Sodom, was of a somewhat smaller scale, and located on a rise giving a view of the river and the shores of the neighbouring duchy, Edom. As Enron rose with the wings of his owl, slowly spiralling upwards in the ever-cooler air, he noticed that the orcs had not yet set themselves to assault Ur's capital, staying in Edom. He knew from his previous scurrying that both orcs and crocodile priests severely tested the northern defences of Ur already and he wondered why Babylon was not under siege yet. Maybe a genial general in the orc army had realized that having Sodom on his army's back while attacking the crocodiles to cross the river and the defences of Ur at the same time would be a lost cause. If the orcs started thinking and planning further and consider military strategy in earnest, the Elves were in a dire situation to say the least. All he could see from the owl's eyes were orc patrols staying well in the dark. None certainly ventured in the open or close to the walls of the city. As he was spiralling upward, he saw an orc cross rapidly between two bushes and heard an arrow fly and hit the imprudent with deadly accuracy, as he heard the cough of death far below the owl's flight path. These bowmen were very accurate and Enron decided to take a wider birth, to stay out of view from the wall unwilling to lose his messenger to an overzealous archer.

Reaching above the first wall of the fort, Enron saw a group overlooking the wall into the night, and involved in what seemed to be an animated discussion; their clothing seemed to indicate high-ranking officials, and the presence of a metallic circlet on the head of one of those involved revealed the presence of the duke. Enron decided to deliver his decree there and then rather than to move inside the castle. He brought the owl silently down towards the group, and landed on the duke's right shoulder, immediately materializing the satchel and its tie-string as the bird gently came to rest on the duke.

The Duke stayed calm, much to his credit: he did not even flinch nor do any brisk movements as the bird came to rest on his chainmail; merely turning his head to look at the owl, and spotting the satchel as it came slapping to rest on his breastplate. As soon as the duke had taken hold of the satchel and released the bird, Enron had the owl fly away by taking a nosedive off the battlement and head for a well-deserved meal of mice off the city's night crawlers.

«Two delivered, three to go. How is it progressing?»

«Slow, Enron, the road is clear of orcs, but in pretty bad disrepair. The orcs have also fallen trees across it, which we have to axe or move out of the way before we can continue. I have a group of wood loggers with the advanced units, which use some of the horses pull some the trees out of the way, while the bigger ones are being sawed off. We will be unable to reach Sodom before morning if this continues.»

«Fine, thanks for the report, Dunbar; it is strange I did not see these obstacles when I flew over the road. »

«There is no blame to be had there, Enron; the fallen trees are systematically found within thick tree clusters that cover and overhanging the road. It would have been impossible to see them. »

«Are you telling me the orcs have an idea of our capacity to survey them from the air? This is very disturbing news.»

«I didn't say that, it may be that finding a big tree to fall is easier in tree thickets, and you were looking for orcs or crocodiles, not traces of fallen trees, especially since that fallen trees are a normal occurrence in woods of any size.»

«Ok. I will be back with you after I have finished the deliveries.»

***

Enron resumed his delivery service, focussing his mind on the bird still under the control of Williams, and destined to deliver the decree to Byblos. The baron in command of the fortress was sitting in a garden with his family, and no one noticed the owl glide in and perch itself on a bench. Materializing the decree on the bench, Enron let the owl attract attention by repeatedly hooting. One of the baron's boys took notice of the raucous noise. He was learning falconry from the baron's falconer and intrigued by the unnatural behaviour of the owl. He slowly moved towards the bird and noticed the attachment. The boy gently untied the ribbon from the paw and took the satchel to his dad, who looked at the satchel and the owl, surprised. Enron had the owl fly off majestically and head for the upper parts of the fort. Another done, thought Enron, as he quickly focussed on his next target.

***

As the night progressed, Enron handled his next target, Tyre, and the bird assigned to Paschal. It was late evening, nearing matins, and Tyre lay silent, with the guards patrolling the fortifications to the dim light of a moonless night, further darkened by clouds masking the poor light offered by the stars. The owl went from one entrance to another, hopping from one windowsill to another. However, the chilly night had its expected consequences: all windows closed, locked tight against the cold.

«Damn it! Every single window and door is closed in the baron's castle! I cannot get in and deliver the decree!»

«Have you tried the chimneys?» Samson suggested.

«I thought of it, but every single one of them is smoking, clearly indicating the presence of at least one fire below. I do not plan to roast the bird!»

«Even if there was a chimney that was not smoking, it wouldn't guarantee passage, Samson,» commented Harold.

«How is that so? I thought a chimney was a hole in the roof to let smoke get out, nothing more.»

«Well, two reasons actually. The first is that an unused chimney would let air escape and cool down a building considerably, so a well-designed one has a trap door to control airflow. To reduce the air loss and thus the loss of heat, it is closed. When a fire is burning, it is open to let air escape and create a draft to feed the fire.»

«Dad, remember when you tried to light the fire in my room and we had all that smoke? You were pissed because it would not start, and we had to run out of the room when it finally did!»

«Did you need to remind me of that, Enron? » Samson replied, his blush and embarrassment felt through the telepathic link.

After a bit of ribbing from the other royals, Samson remembered that Harold had mentioned two reasons and he wanted to know the other, if only to divert attention from his blunder!

«The second reason, Samson, is that in some human societies, richness is flaunted by the number of chimneys a home has. More fireplaces mean a bigger household, and the richer the person. I have seen homes with false chimneys, to give the impression of richness. I do not know if Elvin society suffers from the same syndrome, but for Enron's problem, there is a risk an unused smokestack could lead to a dead end.»

«That does not solve my problem.»

«True, Enron; how is the town?» Harp enquired.

«It is so silent a cemetery could take lessons from it!»

«Let's wake the place up, then. Be ready for a lot of noise!»

Barely had the idea reached Enron that every dog in town began howling like mad, barking their heads off, and running and scratching at doors to get them opened. Pandemonium broke loose, as everyone in town woke up, wondering what the problem was. The result was instantaneous: doors and windows slammed open everywhere in town, as people began yelling at the dogs and exchanging worried comments. Enron had all the openings he could dream of ever needing!

Suddenly, a rumour began: Animals sensed earthquakes! It spread in town faster than a wildfire in dried-up bushes! People ran out of their houses, some in their nightgowns, others nude, a few with pants, but without shoes! Groups started fires to fight the cold in the open areas of the city, as people congregated to the parks and other places far from potential collapsing walls.

Enron took a spiralling dive towards the double doors of the fortress, as they opened to the inner courtyard to let servants and nobles out. As everyone ran out, panicked, no one noticed the bird fly in and head straight for the baron's throne. The baron himself came down from his chambers, carrying his youngest son in one arm and his sword in the other, pushing his wife and other children in front of him in a mad rush for the exit.

Enron noticed the circlet and the sword as the man ran by the throne, pushing his family ahead of him. He let out a powerful hoot, amplified considerably by magic, which covered the noise and brought instant silence in the cavernous room. The baron halted, turned around, searched for the source of the sound and spotted the bird, barely visible in the darkened throne room. Another resounding hoot convinced the baron to go near the bird, as he transferred his youngest son to the care of his eldest one. Taking his sword with both hands, he marched towards the bird, and, as he got close to the seat, he noticed the satchel with the royal colours. Still weary, he kept the blade between himself and the owl, as he pulled on the knot to untie the ribbon. Once he had the satchel, the baron walked back to his family and followed them outside. Enron waited a few moments before guiding the owl to follow the baron out and fly off to feed itself on the ample supply of rodents found in any agglomeration of humans or elves.

***

Finally, Nineveh received its decree as Enron took the bird under Sitar's control. The process was a bit more complicated, as the night had progressed and even the guards were sleepy, if not asleep on duty! That made Enron furious, and he vowed to himself that he would personally see to an improvement of discipline! Lauds was icy, and it was not improving any as the night progressed. Enron decided to involve the dogs and equines of the city again, since it haw worked so nicely. However, he did not need to call upon Harp or his blood brothers to trigger the wakeup call! Just as he thought of doing so, a rumble was heard, and the ground shook violently, if briefly. The result was as before, a panic-stricken city as people ran out of their houses. A few shoddy buildings collapsed and trapped people, but, overall, the damage was minimal.

The baron, thrown out of bed by the tremor, quickly took to the streets to verify the extent of damage; that was where Enron found him, under escort by his soldiers. As the baron turned a corner to inspect a collapsed building, he found himself confronted by an owl carrying a satchel tied to a paw, waiting for him on the pavement. Although the lighting was poor, it was still sufficient for him to discern the royal seal. He dismounted, untied the ribbon and took the satchel to a torch stuck in the wall. Enron took the opportunity to guide the owl to a feast of disturbed city rats and left the animal to his hunt.

«I am done delivering decrees. Where are we?»

«We are nearing Sodom. The terrain and the road are terrible. We should reach it about an hour before prime, if the conditions remain the same.»

«Thank you, Dunbar. Do you think we can speed up, since I can finally focus on riding?»

«Not unless you want to have to teleport horses with broken legs!»

«Are the roads that bad?»

«Look at your feet, Enron. The roads were not been maintained for a year or more, the orcs seem to take pleasure in destroying everything they can, and rain has eroded the road base and widened the holes the orcs did in it. We have to navigate around pits so deep a horse could get lost in them! In many cases, we have to ford streams in the forest because the streams washed away the road. I wonder how the conditions will get further north!»

«Enron, I figure you already know this, but our forward units report that Sodom is encircled by a carpet of fire. It looks like the entire valley is occupied by orcs. The wolves have begun decimating their guards, but the progress is slow. They seem to be patrolling intensely along the edges of their encampments.»

«Thank you, Yamato. Harp, you mentioned you had a trick in mind, earlier. When do you plan to put it to work?»

«It depends on when the first regular units reach the valley edge. I will then move forward to join them and evaluate the situation. I need a clear view of the battlements so I can teleport on them safely.»

«Are you nuts? They are right in the middle of a battle, which must still be raging on!»

«This gives me even more reason to pop up in their midst. They will need me, and I think the orcs will be throwing all their forces at the city's defences. It may well be the best time to get involved with some cute little magic.»

«Given what I have seen you do, I doubt the orcs will see it in the same light!»

***

Half an hour before prime, Harp move to join Yamato's advanced cavalry unit, and studied the grounds before his eyes. A huge battle was going on, as he could clearly hear the ballistae throw rocks down on the orcs, crushing them like ants; however it was apparent the orcs were gaining, as some fighting could be seen on the fortifications. The orcs' agility at climbing had dispensed them of the need to build siege towers or ladders: they climbed on the walls much like any insect, using every single defect as a grip. Meanwhile the defenders were using all the tricks of the trade to repulse the attack, throwing everything they had on the climbers, from rocks to molten lead, from pitch to tar, immediately followed by torches that set the orcs on fire.

«Sitar, Harp, Enron, teleport to my position! We need to act quickly! Dad, Samson, Dunbar, Yamato, begin to move down and be ready to charge across the valley! We will not stop at Sodom! Be ready to crush any resistance!»

«All right Harp! You heard the price! Move! And I thought my son was bossy!»

«I heard that, Dad!» replied Enron.

«Damn! Me and my big mouth!»

A minute or so later the four princes were overlooking the lower valley, and watching the situation in Sodom.

"See the situation there? The orcs are slowly gaining a foothold on the section nearest the dam, we must move quickly!"

"What do you propose?" enquired Sitar.

"We all teleport to that tower, on the right, there, I see no orc tackling it yet, then Enron joins the duke and informs him of the impending intervention. Do not tell him anything about us not stopping at Sodom, he would not understand. Harp, Sitar, teleport the sick and those who can not be incorporated into our army behind our line of defences in Solon. That should take you about three hours, give or take thirty minutes. I plan to give the orcs some matter to think about; once you are done, Sitar, since you are the one with the knowledge in architecture, analyse the place to see what is important and what can be sacrificed in disposing of the orcs."

"I can already tell you that everything outside of the walls isn't of origin. The buildings are crumbling, the construction method is not ours and you could definitely use that material to do some serious damage."

"That's good to know. I will probably use every single piece of free debris as projectile. Once you have moved all those who cannot contribute to the army, look inside if we can do the same trick we did with Thebes."

«Should we come charging silently or with the whole drums, trumpets and ear blasters?»

«Wait until you make first contact with the orcs, dad. Then amplify the sound a few thousand-fold, to give the orcs the impression we are way bigger than we are. Scare tactics are always a good idea during an assault! To all canines! When you hear the drums and trumpets, add your howls! They too will be amplified!»

«Fine, Harp! Be safe, son!»

The four princes quickly teleported to the visible portion of the tower, and began their duties. Enron rapidly spotted the duke fighting off orcs, accompanied by a number of his knights. He quickly cleansed the wall of orcs by making the first twenty feet slippery from water. The rest got blown off by a hail of rocks that violated every law of physics: they came flying up from the ruins of the outer city, pummelling the orcs like a hail from hell. Once the wall was free of orcs, Enron joined the duke, using blasts of magic to throw the orcs off the battlements. Although the knights were a bit taken aback by the unexpected help, they quickly realized that the small ally was doing a carnage in their enemies.

Meanwhile Sitar and Paschal moved down into the inner city and, using a thundering voice, Paschal began calling for those that were sick and able to move to converge towards the plaza in front of the duke's castle. Sitar, on the other hand, using a wolf to anchor his teleport point, moved near Solon's capital.

It took Sitar fifteen minutes to get the baron to cooperate with his orders, in fact he had to incorporate his body in the city fortification for his successor to understand he was serious when he was asking for immediate readiness for a mass influx of refugees. Once the obstacle of administrative foot-dragging got resolved, he signified his readiness for teleportation.

Meanwhile, Harp began using the ruins to make the assault of the walls impossible for the orcs: even the rocks began to burn, and every piece of wood exploded in fire spontaneously. The orcs found themselves engulfed in flames, stuck in suddenly very hot but very soft tiles or pavements. Try running on red hot jelly! Boulders exploded everywhere, shattering into slithers of razor-sharp and pencil-thin slices that cut through flesh like piranhas through a meal.

The group led by the duke and supported by Enron's magic began moving along the battlement, cleaning their way and relieving the duke's hard-pushed forces of the pressure exerted by the orcs' assault. As each group was freed of its hand to hand battle, it resumed pummelling the orcs with catapults and ballistae. Harp's fire continued its devastation.

«You know, Harp, I'm beginning to think our comparison of orcs to cockroaches may be closer to the truth. I have heard that ants threw themselves on a fire to take it out!»

«I noticed! Maybe we could use that behaviour to our advantage. I'll talk to the Healer or dad about it. Anyway, back to work! The smell of burning flesh is difficult to ignore! As soon as you have cleared the tower you are headed for, tell me, I'll move there to study what I can set on fire!»

«There is one thing I like about orcs!»

«What is that?»

«They have a nice voice when they sing a funeral song, especially while roasting!»

«I wonder when dad or Samson will begin being noisy.»

Just then a thunderous roll could be heard over the roar of the fire, followed by the sounds of trumpets and horns, as if the doors of hell or heaven were opening.

«Does that answer your question, Harp?»

The royal armies began to push the orcs towards the burning city. Talk about getting stuck between a hammer and a fiery anvil. The front was made up of the cavalry and the horse armies, and the wings by the canines, with the wolves in the front and the foxes cleaning up behind. The drums resonated in the hills in step with the advancing horses; the trumpets were used to guide the movements of the armies, controlling its flow and direction.

The devastation brought on the rear units of the orcs by the ironed hoofs of the First and Second Horse Armies was compounded by Yamato's cavalry. As each unit collided with the orcs, the hole created in their ranks were immediately invaded by running Elves, which took the fabled turtle formation to push into the hard pressed ranks of the orcs, literally converting their steel lances into orc skewers. Those orcs who tried to escape by the flanks found themselves face to face with snapping wolves which seemed to target anything trying to run. The ground shook from the constant thunder of hoofs, and rocks as big as houses falling amongst the orc infantry. Lightning flashes set anything protruding on fire, fuelled by Harp's ever more powerful magic. Anyone who would have been able to look into his eyes would have seen fire and rage, hatred and glee as each piece of matter he looked at exploded violently, creating a circle of destruction the likes of which the world had not seen for six thousand years.

***

The hours passed and finally came the messages Harp had been waiting for. First from King Harold, immediately followed by Paschal and then Enron.

«Son, we are now very close to the firewall. It is impossible for our forces to get closer. We will hold position.»

«Fine dad; I need a marker so I do not hit our own troops and create friendly fire casualties. How about a reflective mirror-like shield? That would serve two purposes: I would know you are beyond the shield, and it would reflect the fire, completely converting the distance between the fire and it into an oven to finish roasting the orcs. Do make sure we have all our troops behind the wall, including wounded. »

«Harp, this is Paschal here. We have finished teleporting everyone that must be evacuated behind our lines in Solon. What are we to do next?»

«Take the time to study the architecture and see how it is organized. From what I have seen, it is typical Atlantean. Look at it globally, to get an idea of its dispositions. Please pay particular attention to the magic field. It is extremely strong and seems to be organized in a peculiar pattern.»

«I noticed. Give me a couple of hours to find the structure. I wish the duke could be here, he should know his city!»

«On a physical scale yes, but I doubt he has any idea of its magic underpinnings!»

«It still could be useful.»

«We have finished cleaning up the walls, Paschal, I will bring the duke to you.»

«This is a good idea Enron. Do you think you could convince him to regroup the city's defenders in the central plaza? It would ease teleportation to the king's army!»

«Who said I need to convince? I can order, Harp. I am prince regent!»

«Do you think he will obey a child?»

«He has seen what I have done to orcs; I doubt he wants to be wringed like a floor cloth, like he saw me do to some stubborn orcs that just refused to die. I wonder how the knights will get out of their armor, with the slippery stuff that seemed to come out of the orcs spraying all over the place. I suspect some have as much inside as they have outside! Quite a few were greener than rotten flesh!»

«You know, I think these guys are too used to blood and guts coming out of orifices they open, and never considered the skin could be porous! Dunbar? We need a clear space in the royal army for a mass teleport. As soon as the duke's men have been regrouped, Paschal will teleport them to the middle of the army, along with dogs and horses.»

«What will the size of that area be?»

«I do not know yet. We will know when everyone is regrouped. Enron, please link with Sitar, so you can teleport our wounded to his location for treatment.»

«What about the wounded orcs?»

«I have a nice orc oven running over the walls. We will honour our dead the usual way, by having them become falling stars. Regroup them down near the plaza, for identification. I know we lost quite a few in the outer city, and their bodies are not identifiable. Let us hope the duke had a good census policy. Dad, what are our casualties?»

«About fourteen centuries, Harp, roughly one thousand four hundred, mostly within the conscripts. I estimate the losses in the orc ranks to number near to a million. We used magic from our side to minimize casualties, mostly by shielding the advanced units. Our losses were from arrows flying over the movable field and falling within our ranks.»

«Harp there is one thing that worries me about this battle. Where are the crocodile priests?»

«I think they are looking at the battle from the lake and river, not intervening, because we are doing their work. They probably expect we will be very weakened by this and they will be able to overrun us when we are done. They are in for a surprise!»

***

The city of Sodom was empty of its inhabitants, the duke and his units moved by Paschal so they became incorporated into the royal army, conscripts added and compensating the losses sustained by the royal army. The three princes met in the plaza and created the falling stars from the bodies of the lost ones, as the royal scribe checked a list supplied by the military registry of the duke. Finally, the scribe was sent back to king Samson's side and the three princes held a quick conversation.

"This went well, Harp, but now, what will we do with Sodom?"

"Let me ask Paschal a series of questions. What did you find out about the magic field?"

"Well, it has a pattern, and a powerful source located right below the city. It reminds me of the patterns that so intrigued us in Kantor and Thebes. Even the battlements seem strange. Remember Thebes' and Kantar's anomalies, which we could not explain."

"Compare the two."

After a few minutes, Paschal looked at Harp. "The magic field seems to be similar. What else?"

"You are the architect. Move the two cities in space. Is there anything that sticks out?"

Paschal focused on what he remembered of the two cities, and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock!

"They seem to be built to join at one of the anomalies of Thebes! It's a three-dimensional puzzle! Even the magic fields align! How did you ever notice that, Harp?"

"I noticed the harmonics between the two fields. I am not much into visualizing three-dimensional objects, much less cities, so I figured you could do the task for me." Focusing to project his thoughts, Harp contacted Sitar.

«Sitar! Have you been following our discussion?»

«Yes. What do you want me to do?»

«Can you sense the beacon we left behind when we moved the other city? I want you to move there. Enron and Paschal will join you. I will teleport the city in a single block, but I need you to help me align it properly. Make sure you move in such a way as to create a triangle wide enough for me to differentiate your individual signatures, and far enough from the center of the materialization polygon not to be crushed!»

«I moved as soon as you asked. Ah, here is Paschal and Enron. Give us some time to find our places, say thirty minutes.»

«I noticed their jump. You guys are getting good. Not even the dust got disturbed here.»

«Are you sure you can move the entire mass, including the magic reserve? This is a lot more massive and we did not slice the city to manageable pieces!»

«Thank you for your worries, Enron; however, remember I told you all life form has a magic core? How did you think I managed to make that huge firewall? I used the magic core of the orcs, leaving them weak, which, in turn, helped our army. I plan to do the same trick, but with the crocodiles, which have a slightly bigger core; with luck quite a few will drown.»

«That is fantastic, Harp. We need to learn that trick, it might be useful, later! How did you find that one out?»

«I did a first test when we crossed that river, on a small scale. Then I did a full-scale test with the firewall. I have located the crocodiles in the lake and river. I am ready when you are. There is a powerful magic anomaly in the lake, but I do not have the time to investigate.»

«I am done positioning Enron and Sitar. I am also in position and I am using them to determine the alignment of the fields.»

A few minutes later, Paschal contacted Harp.

«Rotate Sodom by twenty-thee degrees forty-two minutes and thirteen seconds relative to the north magnetic axis. The distance between each of us is twenty miles, equilateral triangle, the base line for the triangle intersecting the current fortifications of Thebes will be defined by Sitar and I. Create a projection before teleporting, please so we may adjust!»

A shadow appeared above Thebes and gradually took the shape of a projection of Sodom on the ground.

«Close! Move the shadow fifteen feet west! Better! Move back by a foot! Now, twelve feet south! Sorry! I overshot. North by two feet! Let's do the fine adjustments now. Rotate one tenth of a degree left! No, the other left! Do not move, I will inspect the junction!»

After verifying the shadow projected perfectly in the groves visible in Thebes' battlements, Paschal moved back to his exact position.

«Altitude adjustment required! Drop the shadow twenty feet! Back up six inches. Materialize!»

Sodom materialized as the ground on which it would rest teleported to replace it in its old emplacement. The moment the city was gone, the firewall collapsed. The binding of the two puzzle pieces resonated in the magic field and the weakened magic field of Thebes suddenly radiated with energy, before settling into a hum.

«Harp? Where are you?»

«I am within Sodom, Paschal. I ported with the city. Let's go back to dad. I need to think about what we discovered and discuss it with him. We may have to revisit this city shortly.»

"Agreed, let's go back to the army. We have a lot to discuss while we move to our next objective.»

«And we have a mess to clean up, Enron. The outer city may have burned, but it's in our way!»

«I plan to use that garbage to erect an obstacle course for the crocodile priests!» Harp informed them.