The Arcanist (45 page)

Chapter Forty Four

It was a beautiful summer’s day when the rock gnome's army struck and Edouard like several others was simply enjoying the warmth of the day. Stretched out in a deck chair in the garden, letting the sun bake him. And at first he didn't know what was happening. All he knew was that the silence of the morning was unexpectedly broken by the sounds of musket fire and men shouting echoing up from the town.

“What the –?”

Even as someone started to ask they all realised that none of them had an answer and the question died. Edouard quickly realised that there was only one way to find out. Without opening the gate and peering out and risking getting shot that was. He rose from the chair as quickly as he could and headed for the fort at a run. After that there were the stairs to the first floor and then many more stairs to the top of the lookout tower, all of which he took at a run. Many others had the same thought and he could hear their feet thumping on the stairs behind him.

Reaching the top of the tower and then collapsing breathlessly against the rail and looking down at the town Edouard could immediately see the cause of the commotion. The veiled soldiers were in Breakwater. Apparently they'd had enough of sitting in their camps and had invaded the town. Why he wasn't completely sure. But what he was sure of was that they were breaking down doors and marching into peoples' homes. And then they were marching the occupants out, rounding them up like sheep. Why?

Then he saw the chains and manacles and realised why. They were shackling up the townsfolk together as though they were taking them prisoner. But not prisoners. Slaves!

“They're emptying the town of men to work on that damned temple!”

Whichever of the women said it Edouard wasn't sure. But he was sure she was right. They'd all read the reports. Vesar's soldiers were abducting whole towns and villages, bringing them to the city and forcing them to work on his temple. Now apparently they'd decided that Breakwater was a good place to recruit more slaves. An enemy fort atop its hill and the presence of Tyrel's handmaidens was no longer enough to deter them.

It could not be allowed!

As he stood there watching, breathing a little heavily from his run up the stairs, Edouard knew that one thing above all else. These were his friends. This was his town, his home. This monstrous crime could not be borne. It was then that he turned around, pushed his way past the others who were all crowded around trying to see, and found the stairs down. On the way he grabbed two of the muskets hanging in their racks. It was time to act.

In the drawing room he quickly gathered two pistols as well and a powder horn and a bag of musket balls, before he marched out the front door to the gate. Then he turned the wheel that slid the gate open and marched out on to the road and headed for the town.

The others started yelling at him from the tower. He could hear the alarm in their voices as they realised what he was doing. He could hear the sound of feet on the stairs as they gave chase. But he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that this crime had to be stopped.

Two hundred paces down the road he judged that he was close enough, and raised the first musket to his shoulder. It was a surprisingly heavy weapon but just then it seemed uncommonly light in his hands. More than that though, the sound it made when he sighted his target and squeezed the trigger was almost musical. Of course the veiled soldier didn't think so as the musket ball tore right through him.

He just stood there, shocked perhaps as he looked down at his middle and the dark blood already drenching him, and then fell to the ground in a heap. The city guard's muskets might not be able to kill these soldiers in one shot but his could.

Satisfied with the result, Edouard sighted the next few veiled guards and sent them to their graves as well. It was so easy. Just aim and fire, aim and fire. And the rock gnomes didn't even seem to realise they were under attack. He'd emptied the second musket into their midst before they did and by then eight of their number were down; dead or too badly injured to give them any more trouble.

Of course they started screaming then. Yelling orders at one another as they spotted him up the road, and several started charging him. But that was a mistake. With scarcely a thought he sent a couple of fireballs their way and they began screaming for an entirely different reason. Most people found it difficult to concentrate on attacking an enemy when they were on fire. Most people found it difficult to do anything at all except scream and try desperately to put the flames out. The rock gnomes were no exception. He only wished he were a flame and capable of bathing all of them in fire.

Then of course he had to reload his muskets. The pistols weren't accurate enough at range, and it took many painfully long seconds to pour the powder into the barrels and then ram the balls home. Very long seconds during which he worried that they would be on him. But they weren't. Most couldn't seem to reach him as they charged him, the ward of misdirection still working, and when any of them got too close he tossed another fireball or two their way.

A minute later he once more had two fully loaded muskets in his hands and was taking sight when he heard the sound of more gunfire from beside him. He looked around to see Kyriel and a couple of the men standing there beside him with muskets in their hands. And he watched easily another dozen of the veiled guards fall to the ground.

It was then that things turned against him as the rock gnomes finally realised that if they couldn't reach them they could still shoot them. Musket balls would not be turned aside by Kyriel's ward. Funnily enough neither they nor him had even considered the idea. But then Edouard hadn't been thinking. He'd just been reacting.

Musket balls came flying at them, undeterred by Kyriel's ward and he suddenly realised he was exposed. Standing there in the middle of the road he had no cover. Meanwhile the rock gnomes were taking cover behind whatever houses and other structures they could find so that they could take careful aim before shooting at them.

More fireballs streaked out of nowhere and Edouard realised that Fergis had joined the fight, and unlike him he seemed to have thought the problem out. His fireballs were aimed at the buildings, and they were setting the town ablaze. That in turn was creating complete chaos in the town. People, men women and children, were running and screaming in panic, disturbing the rock gnomes as they tried to return fire and spoiling their aim. More importantly the town was filling with smoke, making it hard for them to see anything and so their shots were wide.

“The trees!”

Kyriel called out, telling them what they needed to do. She even began pulling Edouard to one side of the tree lined road when he was too slow to run. Realising she was right he finally ran with her to join the others behind the trees, and then used them as stands to hold the muskets as he sighted more of the enemy in the smoke filled streets.

After that the battle degenerated into a series of smaller skirmishes. The rock gnomes could barely see them through the smoke and were spreading out as they tried to surround them. To come at them from different angles. But of course the ward still left them confused and turned around. Meanwhile they in turn could barely see the enemy either and so the rate of firing slowed considerably. In time it became a series of sporadic musket shots as they each tried desperately to spot the others in the smoke. And all the while the people of Breakwater were running and screaming in panic, sewing their own brand of confusion.

But that worked to their advantage. As the pace of battle slowed and the enemy spread out wide, it gave them more time to reload their weapons. And his weapons had both greater range and accuracy meaning that they had the advantage even though they were outnumbered.

At some point Edouard felt the sting as something streaked by his cheek, but he paid it no mind and a few seconds later he watched as his next target fell down. Some of the others took wounds too, and he watched Mara helping one of the others back up the hill to the fort.

Then Gwen acted and the entire battle changed in a matter of heartbeats. There was a sound, a rumble in the ground under their feet, and suddenly huge sprays of water were jetting into the air throughout the town. The water of course made things difficult for those below as they had to contend with sodden weapons and clothing. It was a brilliant tactic. With wet powder the rock gnomes’ weapons failed to fire repeatedly, leaving them defenceless. It also cleared away much of the smoke giving them all targets to fire at. Naturally he took the opportunity – they all did – and suddenly the veiled soldiers were falling to the ground at an astonishing rate. All that practice with the weapons had clearly been worth it.

Soon the main street of the small town was littered with black clad bodies, and Edouard would have guessed that a hundred and fifty had fallen. But that didn't matter half as much as the fact that at the far end of the town he could see at least another fifty of them fleeing. Out of range of the muskets but still running fast. The battle was ending.

“Edouard!”

Fergis shouted at him and as Edouard looked across he could see him calling his magic and knew why. The rock gnomes were out of range of the muskets but not their fireballs. Better yet they were all bunched together, fleeing the town as a troop. There could be no better target.

Immediately he joined him and together they started hurling fireballs into their midst as fast as they could. And while they might both only be sparks, the inferno they created between them was surely worthy of a flame. Certainly as he watched the rock gnomes in their black veils catch fire and run screaming he guessed that not many would escape. They might not all die, but they would spend a long time under the care of their physicians. If they had physicians.

In time it was done. The battle was won. And although he stood there behind a tree, trying to catch sight of any enemy he could find, there weren't any. There was no one shooting either. There was only silence and a very long street filled with black clad bodies.

Still, he stood there for the longest time, his musket ready as he hunted for the enemy, and the others did likewise. It was only when the people of the town started wandering out of their houses or from behind whatever shelter they'd found that he let his weapon slump knowing there was no one left to shoot.

But there was still a problem. The guns had fallen silent. Both theirs and those of the rock gnomes. And the people had stopped screaming. That was good. But as the people emerged from their refuges there were new sounds. The sounds of people calling out for loved ones, of women crying and children panicking. The battle was ended but as with any fight there were casualties. Innocents caught up in the shooting.

To add to their misery Breakwater was in a bad way. Many of the buildings had been burnt out. Most of them had holes in them from the gun fire. A few had been completely destroyed. Breakwater would not be able to be a home to them for a long time to come.

But there was a worse problem. They had killed and injured between them maybe two hundred of the enemy. But there had been at least three hundred blockading the town. Which meant that there were still at least another hundred of the enemy out there. And even if the people somehow managed to survive in their town and try to restore their homes and their lives to how they had been, more rock gnomes would come. And when the reinforcements came it wouldn't just be a few hundred that entered the town. It might be a few thousand.

The people could not stay there any longer. And they couldn't leave. Not by the roads. Not when there were still enemy soldiers out there waiting for them.

Breakwater had to be abandoned.

“My Lady.” Edouard turned to face Kyriel who was standing beside him with a musket raised and ready as she searched for enemies. “How many people can you send through your portal and how quickly?”

She stared back at him, her expression thoughtful as she understood the question. “Enough.”

And that he knew had to be the answer.

“People!” Edouard stepped out from behind the tree and yelled as loudly as he could at the towns people. He had to yell it a few more times to get their attention and even then not all were listening. They had more important things to do than listen to a lord.

“Gather your things, food and valuables. Whatever you can carry. Gather up your loved ones and any wounded and head to the fort. Walk up the road towards me. Listen to my voice, and when you get near close your eyes and walk towards me.” If it had worked for Simon he figured, it would work for them. And he didn't want Kyriel to let the ward go. Not when there were still enemies out there and it had taken the best part of an hour for her to set it in the first place.