Fall of Angels (The Saga of Recluce #6)(183)

"Hardly," answered Ayrlyn. "Some in the small towns, places without names, spat at us. Some towns closed their shutters. But we must have traveled through ten towns." She shrugged. "Figure two women a town and every tenth herder's woman, and those who gave were generous. We had to keep ahead of reports that would have sent a large force of armsmen after us. The locals wouldn't dare."

"Any other word on Lord Sillek?" asked Ryba.

Dyliess murmured, and Nylan patted her back.

"There are plenty of rumors. He's hired score ten mercenaries from someplace called Lydiar. He's raised score fifty armsmen in levies. Lord Karthanos is sending score forty armsmen and siege engines. The Jeranyi women will ride against the evil angels-"

"Forget that one," Ryba suggested. "There won't be a woman in those forces. Not a one."

"-a dozen wizards will join Lord Sillek. Not a single wizard will oppose the angels. For almost every rumor, there's one on the other side."

"Wizards? They can be nasty," pointed out Saryn, "especially if there are a lot with this Lord Sillek."

"According to Relyn," Nylan pointed out, "good wizards are rare. One thing that's kept all of Sillek's enemies from overwhelming him has been the fact that he had three. One we killed. That leaves two. I'd guess we'll face both, and I doubt anyone else will risk lending their wizards."

"Two wizards, and up to two thousand troops. We've got sixty bodies-not guards, just warm bodies, one sort of wizard"-Fierral nods toward Nylan-"a few gadgets, and one laser good for a very short time. I can't say any objective assessment of our situation would give us much of a chance."

Ryba's glance turned to Nylan. "How is your work coming?"

"The pikes have been the hard part, even without iron tips. Tomorrow we should finish the first line up on the ridge. Two more days should see the second line done. The laser emplacement walls are complete, and we can have the laser in place almost in moments."

"What exactly are your defensive surprises?" asked Fierral. "You only test them when it's raining or in the darkness."

"That's because of something Relyn said. Narliat mentioned it earlier. I'd forgotten, though. Ryba knows." Nylan looked at the marshal.

She shrugged.

"These wizards seem to know a lot. Relyn says that some have a special mirrorlike glass and that they can see events through it. They can't do it well in the dark or through running water. Rain is running water." He cleared his throat and patted Dyliess again. "What's up there are what I'd call automatic pikes. When I pull a cord, they'll snap up into place."

"That means someone will have to be up there," pointed out Fierral.

"That's one reason why there are two lines," answered Nylan. "There's about thirty cubits from the rise to the first row. I checked the line of sight, and you can't see the posts until you pass the crest. Now, if they charge quickly, then a bunch of them are going to get spitted. If they go slowly, they'll have to stop, and that should make them good targets for arrows." He shrugged. "I know it means four to eight guards will be exposed, but they can lie flat behind the posts until they trigger them. After that, I really don't think, if they hurry back to the second line and trigger those, that anyone will be paying attention to them."

"How well do these work?"

"So far, every time." Nylan gave a sardonic smile. "That means something will go wrong when it counts. Even if one or two don't work, it's going to slow them down a lot and allow you to pump a lot more shafts into them."

Fierral nodded. "I can see that. I hope that we can get maximum impact from everything."

"When will they get here?" asked Saryn.

"Sometime in the next three to five days, I'd guess," answered Ryba. "Unlike the bandits, or Gerlich, this won't be a sneak attack. They'll attempt to move in mass and not get picked off piece by piece."

"Why?" questioned Saryn.

"Because they don't have high-tech communications. Everything's line of sight or sound."

"What are we going to do?" asked Nylan.

"That's simple," snapped Fierral. "Shoot a lot of arrows from cover as they advance. That's so they stay bunched up and use those little shields. Then we'll form up out of their bow range and try to delay them so the entire attacking force is concentrated on the tower side of the ridge. After that, we hope you and the laser, and anything else you can come up with, can incinerate most of them. Otherwise, we're dead, and so is Westwind."

"I think Fierral has stated our basic strategy clearly," said Ryba. "Is there anything else?"

After a long silence, she stood.

Ayrlyn looked at Nylan, giving him the faintest of headshakes. He offered a small nod in return.

As the silence continued, punctuated by the crickets, the others rose, Nylan the last of all as he eased off the bench slowly, trying not to wake Dyliess.

Nylan and Ryba walked up to the top level of the tower without speaking. Ryba closed the door, and Nylan eased Dyliess out of the carrypack and into the cradle.

Later, in the darkness, as he rocked the cradle gently, Nylan asked, "Even if we win-"

"We will win," Ryba snapped, "if we just do what we can."