Industry & Intrigue (64 page)

Cyrus’s voice was getting
louder, eve
ryone in the dining hall would be able to hear him. “Well
their time is done! It’s our turn to define civilization. The Alkon
emperor is dead and done. Nothing to be done about it now. The
Alkons will curse and scream, nothing but the cries of mewling
children shitting themselves. They’ve feared us, ever since we
united our people and now is the time to show them why they were
right to do so!”

The rest of the room
clapped and yelled
in support of the king’s speech.

Ulas slumped back
into his chair in
defeat. He hoped his face wasn’t flushed red with the embarrassment
the king had put him through. He felt several drops of wine splash
onto his cheek as Cyrus returned to his meal.

As he wiped them off, he
noticed Marat looking over at him
intently. The crown prince didn’t get
along with either of his parents, Ulas wondered if he disagreed
with the king about this war. He would have to explore it later,
when the feast was done.

No matter
wha
t the
king said, he knew Cyrus was wrong. The Alkons were not weak or
timid. They had forged the greatest empire in the world. The sneak
attack would only strengthen their resolve and give them cause to
unleash everything they had on Galria. Ulas was no longer certain
his nation could survive the reign of King Cyrus even if it
survived war with Alkos.

Chapter
63

One w
ouldn’t know from looking that
Sethain was a city about to face a siege. Everywhere Zuri could
see, folk were going about their everyday business as if there was
no war. Even where she could see the imperial soldiers and city
militia preparing for the siege; arming the walls, stockpiling
supplies and training for battle, they were doing it in a calm and
methodical way.

She shouldn’t have been
surprised
.
Sethain was the capital of Araiin province, the last piece of
mainland Maceon to join the empire. The region still maintained an
independent streak and had cultural influences from Galria and Enz.
Araiin was famous for its spicy cuisine, its Galrian-style beer and
its fur trading. The city had been the focal of many battles in its
history due to its location on a ‘multicultural fault line’ as one
historian had labeled it.

Sethain had stood
strong against
sieges in the Azure Blade Rebellion, the Southern Conquest and all
the way back to Minakayan Invasion of the sixth century. Its people
were well-practiced at preparing for sieges; they were simply
another part of the city’s history and traditions.

Zuri was in the central
garrison building where the Scepters were currently stationed.
She
was
leaning on the cold, stone barrier of a balcony that overlooked the
main road leading to the southern gates. From here she could see
over the southern half of the city.

Beyond that thick, stone walls towered
above every other building, casting a shadow on the outer suburbs.
Looking up at the walls, Zuri could understand the calmness of the
city’s residents in response to the expected siege.

The walls were an impressive sight. They
stood at one hundred and fifty meters and even at their thinnest
parts were several meters of solid granite. All along the walls
stood defense towers with powerful cannons and sharpshooters in
them.

The top
of the walls were large enough
to hold entire regiments and half of the Third Army, with its large
contingent of Eshal cannons, was in position up there. The Eshal
was the most accurate firing field gun made by Typhon Armaments,
boasting a two meter length, could fire a up to two kilometers with
four kilogram shells that could decimate a diameter of five
meters.

Th
e huge gates in the wall were made
from reinforced steel and backed up with an extensive system of
giant metal bars. Looking at the defenses, Zuri was ready to
believe the Araiinish claim that their capital had never been
breached.

However
, the largest concern of the city’s
defenders and the army commanders was Galria’s Pale Brotherhood-the
secretive and fanatical worshipers of Kralov. There was little
known about them. They did not reveal their secrets to outsiders
and answered only to the pagan church of their mountain
god.

“
What is so fascinating out
there?” asked Arnette. Zuri stepped off the balcony and back inside
the large room. This was the headquarters for the Scepters and it
was being used as a battle planning room. The Scepter Deputy-chief
had her hands on the hips of her rainbow colored robes. It was a
sign of impatience. Zuri realized she had let herself get
distracted again.

“
I’m sorry. This is my
f
irst time
in Sethain, I was taking it all in. We need to know the city if we
want to be able to defend it,” she said.

“
That’s
all well and good,” replied Arnette.
“But we have plenty of maps of the city with all of the strategic
points and troop placements. Being a Scepter means being part of
team, we all have to do our duty.”

Zuri felt
shame
d. She
had been struggling to adjust to her new role in the Scepters; she
was used to being far more independent and autonomous. But she
wanted to prove to herself and Arnette that she could be one of
them. “You’re right of course.”

She walked over to Arnette and joined
her at the nearest table with a map of the city. “Where are we
at?”

“
The third army has its
artillery concentrated here, here and here
,” said Arnette and she pointed to
several places along the city walls. “They will be crucial for
softening up the Galrian armies and targeting their siege weapons.
My primary concern is that the Pale Brothers will target these
concentrations with their geomancy and metallic magic. They could
wreak havoc on them and give the Galrian siege weapons a chance to
breach the gates.

We’ll be on the walls with the
army, but I only have enough defensive mages for
t
wo of us to
be at each artillery concentration. Our offensive mages will be
spread out in order to compliment the fire power from the defense
towers while the remaining mages will be stationed at this point,”
and again she pointed, “so they can be mobile for wherever they’re
needed most.” Arnette folded her arms and looked Zuri in the eyes.
“I’ll need you to fulfill an important role.”

“
Whatever you need me
for
,” she
said in a determined tone.

Arnet
te nodded in approval. “I’m fortunate
to have you. Your unique natural abilities and magical expertise
are exactly what is needed for this. As a skylord you’ll be able to
move above the walls and the siege with ease. I want you to be our
eyes and ears above us.”

Zuri had thought that this
would
come
up. Skylords in the Alkon military were often employed in scouting
and observation roles for their flying capabilities.

“
I need you to find the
positions of the Pale Brother
s as they reveal themselves with their spell
casting,” Arnette explained. “You’ll then relay their positions to
me and I’ll coordinate our offensive moves against
them.”

“
And my shadomancy will be able
to impair the enemies ability to see me while I can use my
pyromancy help you take out specific targets,” she
replied.

“
Ye
s, but don’t try to take on targets
by yourself. You need to wait and send your fireballs at the same
time as our attacks.” Arnette folded her arms and grimaced. “The
Pale Brothers are powerful. If you make moves against them alone,
there’s a chance they could detect you and hit back. At least if
you’re acting in tandem with the rest of us on the ground, they
will be hindered in determining your location.”

Zuri started to counter,
“But-”

“
No buts
, Scepter Abeliah. As I said, we’re a
team and we fight as a team. Follow your orders and you’ll get
through this, and help keep the rest of us through it. Working
together keeps us strong in a battle and ensures the least chance
of casualties.” Arnette’s usage of her official title showed that
she was serious.

“
With all due respect
deputy-chief but
this is war, there are going to be casualties,” she
said.

“
I’m well aware of that. This
isn’t the first time I’
ve been through this,” Arnette replied coldly.
“It’s true, the plans we make could come undone. In the heat of
battle, nothing is predictable. But having a clear set of orders
and a plan at least gives us something follow. Do as you’re ordered
and you may come through this alive.”

Arnette and Chief Shonna were
concerned about the
Galrian mages, but she thought they were being overly
cautious.

Arnette answered her
thoughts before she
could voice them, “I know I sound worried, but we have no idea of
the battle magic capability of the Pale Brotherhood. I want to make
sure you’re prepared for whatever they throw at us.”

“
Fair enough
,” replied Zuri, deferring to
the veteran battle-mage’s wisdom.

The doors opened and several
more Scepters entered the room. They were each dressed in a
different colored robe for their magic specialty. They were the
commanders of each of the contingents of Scepters.
They took their
places at the tables, waiting for Arnette to address
them.

“
You defeated Feyton which is
impressive. But dueling a single mage is far different from a
full-scale battle. You will be distracted every single-moment by
the sounds and sights. It makes it harder to concentrate on your
casting.”

Zuri nodded,
accepti
ng
her commander’s advice and went to take her place at the tables
while Arnette addressed them and outlined the battle
plans.

The deputy-chief stood in the
center of the room, the tables in a circle around her.
“All of you are
experienced mages,” said Arnette. “But let me assure you that no
matter what you may think, none of you have taken part in a battle
like this before. Even I have no idea what the Pale Brothers are
capable of, we must be careful. Examine the maps and you will find
your assigned positions.”

They all took a glance at the
maps in front of them. Zuri
could see that her initial position was with the
main reserve group commanded by Arnette. She wouldn’t be there long
if she was to take to the air.

“
You need to
h
ave the
entire layout memorized so you can accurately aim your spells,
whether they be defensive or offensive. All of you are well-trained
and talented, but trusting in your fellow Scepters will get us
through this.” The Scepter commanders all took a moment to look
around at each other, taking stock of the comrades.

Before Arnette could say
anything else, there was a loud sound of ringing bells. Arnette
turned towards the balcony and looked out. Zuri followed her gaze.
At the top of the city walls,
the signal fires were lit and she could make out
the soldiers on the top, running about and getting into position.
Her wings fluttered in nervousness. The armies of Galria were
outside the city walls.

Chapter
64

The sound of his
armaments
factory running at full capacity was music to Luthais’
ears. His entire work force capacity was present and along with the
machinery could produce up to three hundred cannon balls per day.
Tegan’s lobbying and pushing for the Alkos Imperial Army to
purchase Typhon cannons several years ago was finally paying
off.

His
manager’s office was situated on the
fourth floor, well above the steam, smoke and heat generated by the
plant. Standing at the large wall-sized window gave him a fish-bowl
view of the factory layout; from the incoming raw materials and
smelting operations to the finished shells being loaded with powder
and packed into tight holding crates.

Tara Gordon, the manager of the
plant sat at the large oak desk that dominated the office.
Luthais turned away
from the plant to address her. “Excellent work Tara. You have
everything running smoothly.”

“
Thank you Mr. Mordain,” she
replied. She was dressed in a conservative black dress, a white
blouse and a dark green jacket with patches of dirt in places. Tara
was a manager that liked to get right into the plant to inspect
production for herself, so she dressed in clothes that she didn’t
mind getting dirty. Her light brown hair was tied back from her
face and she wore a set of thick glasses with yellow frames. They
dominated her face and contrasted with the large metal earrings she
wore. Tara didn’t have much of a sense for style, not that he
cared. She was brilliant as a manager and that was all he needed
her to be.

When he had first taken over
the armaments division
five years ago, the plant had been run by a craggy
old northman named Gray. The plant was inefficient and half of the
equipment was rusting. It had barely been able to keep up with the
demand from the armed forces operating in Naikos.