Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3)(174)

Marcus frowned and chewed over the thought. "That's one crow of a motivation, " he finally admitted. "But I don't see how that plays to us."

"Because they aren't a united force," he said. "They're not used to operating against us in numbers this large. They don't trust their leaders. They don't like the current chain of command. They're bound to be angry at Sari for trapping them here. With that many fractures in the foundation, anything they build on it will be unstable. I think that if we can force them to react to a series of things, quickly, they're going to have real trouble maintaining solid positions."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Draw them out. Then we hit them in concentration."

"That's the core of it, yes. "

"You might have noticed we have plenty of fish in this bunch. Nothing says we'll be able to maintain the kind of discipline we'd need to do it."

"Maybe not," Tavi said. "But we aren't exactly spoiled for choice."

The First Spear grunted. "Assuming we pull it off, we'll cut them up pretty good. But it won't kill them all."

"No. But if we can break Sari's hold on them, we might be able to convince the rest to turn away."

"Break his hold. You mean kill him?"

Tavi shook his head. "That won't be enough. If we kill Sari, one of his lieutenants will step up in his place. We've got to see his power broken, prove he was wrong to come here, that there's nothing but death where he's trying to lead his army-and we have to do it in front of the warriors."

"To what end?"

"Canim warriors respect fidelity, skill, and courage," Tavi said. "If we break Sari, it might force them to withdraw, at least temporarily. They might go looking for an easier target. But even if they don't, it could at least buy us time to prepare better, maybe get reinforcements."

Marcus exhaled slowly, and looked around the interior of the too-small tent with tired eyes. "If it doesn't work?"

"I think it's our only chance."

"But if it doesn't work?"

Tavi frowned at him and said, "Then we destroy the Elinarch."

Marcus grunted. "First Lord isn't going to like that."

"But he isn't here, is he," Tavi said. "I'll take full responsibility."

"Engineers already looked at it," Marcus said. "The bridge is as furycrafted as any causeway. It's strong, almost impossible to crack, and the stone repairs damage to itself. We don't have enough earthcrafters to do the job quickly. It will take days to tear it down."

"Let me worry about the earthcrafters," Tavi said. "I know where we can get some."

The First Spear squinted at Tavi. "Are you sure, kid?"

"I'm sure that if Sari isn't stopped here, he'll run rampant over every stead-holt between here and Ceres just to get enough food to survive."

Marcus tilted his head to one side. "And you think you're the best one to stop him?"

Tavi rose and met his eyes. "I honestly don't know. But I'll promise you this, Marcus. I'll be at the front and in the center the whole way. I won't ask any le-gionare to do what I won't."

The First Spear stared at him, and his eyes suddenly went very wide. "Bloody crows " he whispered.

"There's not much time, First Spear, and we can't afford confusion or delays." Tavi offered him his hand. "So I need to know, right now. Are you with me?"