She has turned west," Shauntil informed Yatol Bardoh when the news arrived from Jacintha in the morning.
"The mountains were her last refuge," the Yatol reasoned. ?Now that we have found her once more, she is out of room. She runs for home."
The Yatol turned to face the warrior and chuckled wickedly. ?Swing the line to block all passes into To-gai."
The Chezhou-Lei warrior put on a confused expression. ?We cannot hope to pace the To-gai-ru, with their fine steeds."
"We will trail," the Yatol explained. ?Send those we already have in the west to block the passes.
Have them set their great ballistae in defensible positions in case the dragon makes an appearance."
Shauntil's expression did not change. ?The only forces we have close enough to the plateau divide are those you sent north to Dharyan, Yatol."
The man nodded.
"If they swing east, it will leave the city undefended."
"And so the Dragon of To-gai may get her last victory," Yatol Bardoh said. ?And then we will have her, and all of her forces, bottled up and wait-ing to be destroyed. Do not consider me in such a manner!" he scolded when Shauntil's expression grew even more doubting. ?We must look upon that which will achieve the greater good. If Dharyan is sacked once more, it will be rebuilt, but once we destroy the Dragon of To-gai, there will be no one to replace her."
The Chezhou-Lei warrior snapped to attention. ?Yes, Yatol," he said, and he found that he was beginning to see the wisdom of Bardoh's thinking. Indeed, if they could finally be rid of the Dragon of To-gai, then the price of Dharyan would not seem so great a thing.
"If they catch me with a Ru servant, they will tear the flesh from my body," Merwan Ma said excitedly, addressing a group of soldiers at Dahdah Oasis. The place was crawling with the Jacintha garrison, another several thousand marching down the western road to link up with Yatol Bardoh and Shauntil for the final defeat of the Dragon of To-gai.
Behind the Shepherd, Pagonel kept his head bowed and his hands, f bound much more loosely than they appeared, in close to his torso. [ ?You should give your servant over to us, here and now,"
one of the guards remarked, and he turned to his friends, laughing, then continued, ?that we might launch him by catapult into the midst of our enemies!"
They all broke out in laughter then, including Merwan Ma, though the Shepherd certainly wasn't pleased at the grim reminder of that horrible sight.
A couple of the soldiers moved toward Pagonel.
"No!" Merwan Ma shouted at them, and they did stop, and turned to stare at him hard.
"He is needed for the service of the Chezru Chieftain," the soldier stand-ing before the Shepherd declared angrily. ?You would deny us?"
"I am a Chezru Shepherd!" Merwan Ma replied. ?Once attendant to Chezru Yakim Douan."
"So you say!"
"Would you dare to guess that I am wrong?" Merwan Ma shot back, not backing down a bit. ?I can name for you every member of Chezru within Chom Deiru! I am only now returned from the retaking of Dharyan, with word from Governor Carwan Pestle, my peer and my friend. So would you challenge my word, soldier? Would you risk the wrath of Chezru Douan and his Chezhou-Lei?"
The man blanched and fell back a step, and Merwan Ma, scowling with every stride, led Pagonel by the group and across the oasis, heading out again down the eastern road toward Jacintha.
All that day, they passed columns of soldiers, marching to partake of the end of the Dragon of To-gai.
"You took a great chance for me this day," Pagonel remarked to Merwan Ma when they were alone that night.
"I took no chance for you," the Shepherd declared.
"You could have turned me in to them and been done with me then and there," the mystic reasoned. ?And you might even have redeemed yourself in the eyes of the Chezru Chieftain if you had."
"Redeemed myself?" the man echoed with a snort. ?I am not even sure where such redemption should come from anymore. We decided upon the plan to walk through Dahdah, and I gave to you my word."
"To many men, their salvation is worth the price of that word, particu-larly to an enemy who holds them captive."
"Is that what you are?"
The mystic shrugged.
"If I chose to walk away from you now, would you stop me?" Merwan Ma asked.
"No."
Point made, the Shepherd rested back.
"But you will not walk away, Merwan Ma," Pagonel went on. ?You have come to see the truth of this, and this journey to Jacintha is as much your quest as it is mine."
"More," the shepherd said, his voice as grim and determined as Pagonel had ever heard, indeed, as grim and determined as it had ever been. ?You speak of salvation, and that was the promise of Yatol. But what is that promise if all else is a lie?"
"You do not know that all else is a lie."
"I know that Transcendence is the miracle that binds the Chezru reli-gion," the Shepherd explained. ?Those who witness the miracle of the fully conscious and knowing child are forever affected. They go to their graves happy, because they know that Yatol is all-powerful and looking over them."
Pagonel noted a bit of a tremor growing in the man's voice as he continued.
"But if the Chezru Chieftain himself, the God-Voice of Yatol, cannot trust in that, then how can we? And without that miracle, then where is the binding force of Yatol? ?
Pagonel had no answers, no words at all to comfort the man. For if their guess was correct, if the Chezru Chieftain now was merely the same spirit, taking the corporeal forms of unborn children down through the centuries, then what argument was to be made?
"When we are done with this, come to the Walk of Clouds, my friend," he did offer. ?There you will learn the truth of who you are. There you will come to understand the fleeting nature of the body and the eternal energy of the soul."
Merwan Ma did smile, but he snorted again, as well. ?We will not be done with this, my friend," he said, and it was the first time he had addressed Pagonel in that manner. ?We will walk into the fortress that is Chom Deiru. We will not walk back out."
Again, the mystic found that he could offer little argument against that logical statement.
"Then we will break through their pitiful lines!" declared Tanalk Grenk with his typically imposing tones.
"To be slowed, stung, and pursued," another remarked, and so it went, all about the campfire where Brynn and her commanders had gathered. The reports from the scouts had come in for the last three days, making it apparent that the Behrenese knew exactly where Brynn's force was, and where they were heading. Now the Behrenese seemed to be forcing a fight, breaking their great army into three groups, the smallest to the east - though reports told of another great force marching down the road from Jacintha - the largest to the south and moving swiftly, trying to keep pace w'ith Brynn, and one to the west, setting defensive positions along the base of the plateau divide and blocking all known passes.
"We can run straight west and use the dragon to get onto the steppes," one of the woman leaders remarked.
"But many would be caught before the dragon could lift them," argued Grenk, who was obviously itching for a major fight. ?The enemy is too close and too determined."
"Most would get away," the woman commander countered. ?The others, myself among them, would turn and fight the Behrenese to the last!"
Many nods accompanied those strong and determined words, but Brynn's was not among them. She had spent another night arguing with Agradele-?s, with the wurm growing more agitated by the day, as eager as was Tanalk Grenk to do battle, but for very different reasons, obviously. Agradeleous had long ago grown tired of this retreating action, and Brynn doubted that he would cooperate in a maneuver designed solely to run away. More likely, they would run to the base of the plateau divide and Agradeleous would force them to turn and fight the pursuing Behrenese, then and there, what-ever the outcome.
"To the steppes, and then where?" the ranger asked them all. ?Even if we dodge them this time, to what gain?"
"Then fight them!" Tanalk Grenk growled. ?Here and now!"
"Or from a defensible position, where we at least will have a chance to inflict tremendous damage upon them," Brynn reasoned.
"I will send scouts at once to find such an area!" the excited man replied.
"I already know of one," said the ranger, and all eyes turned her way and all held quiet, waiting for her to explain.
She looked to the southwest, her expression grim. ?We could fight them from behind the wall of Dharielle."
"You mean Dharyan."
"No," said Brynn, her gaze locked, her face tight, her voice perfectly even and steady. ?I mean Dharielle."
The very next day, the city was in sight and the To-gai-ru formed their ranks on the high ground just to the east and north of the place.
"The Dragon has returned," said Pauche, the new garrison commander of Dharyan, as he and Governor Carwan Pestle stood on the wall, looking up to the northeast, where the line of enemy soldiers could be seen.
"Where is Yatol Bardoh?" Pestle replied. ?Where is Chezhou-Lei Shauntil?"
"Several days away," Pauche answered. ?We will hold until they arrive!"
"We will be overrun in a single day," Carwan Pestle remarked with all certainty. ?The Dragon of To-gai will visit us this very night, do not doubt, raining fire and death, and in the morning, we will have little resistance against the charge of the horde." Carwan Pestle closed his eyes and recalled the first defeat of Dharyan, remembering how easily the Dragon of Tb-gai had overrun the place once the Jacintha twenty squares had been lured out to their deaths. With soldiers pulled to block the western passes into To-gai Pestle's garrison now was not even as strong as it had been then! And all re-ports indicated that the Dragon of To-gai's army was twice the size of the one that had overrun Dharyan.
"Prepare a horse for me," Pestle ordered.
Pauche did not move, just stood staring curiously at the man.
"Now," Pestle prompted. ?A swift horse and a flag of truce."
"You will go and bargain with her?"
"I will go and try to save us all."
Still the man did not move, and his stare shifted from curiosity to a sim-mering anger.
"Now!" Pestle ordered. ?I am the governor of Dharyan. The decision of how to conduct this is mine alone. Now, fetch me a horse and a flag of truce, or I will have you relieved!"
"Governor Shepherd Pestle," Pauche said, dipping a tight bow. ?We can fight them. We can hold the walls until Yatol Bardoh arrives with his legions."
"You do not understand the power of the dragon. The beast will set Dharyan ablaze in a single night, and destroy our defenses. And then we will die. All of us." As he finished, he couldn't help but remember the image of Yatol Grysh, hanging below the eastern gate, and he imagined himself in the man's place, as surely he would be.
He rode through that gate soon after, galloping his horse hard to the dis-tant line of enemies.
"I would speak with the Dragon of To-gai," Carwan Pestle addressed them with as much courage and strength as he could muster.
A small woman stepped her muscled brown-and-white pinto pony out from the line, walking it to stand before Pestle's taller horse. ?We meet again," said Brynn. ?You were the attendant of Yatol Grysh, were you not?"
Carwan Pestle sucked in his breath. ?I am Shepherd Carwan Pestle, now governor of Dharyan."
"Dharielle," Brynn corrected. ?And I have appointed no governor."
Pestle felt the sweat beading on his forward. He knew he was trembling, and knew that it would show in his voice. He took a deep breath and tried to hold his response as steady as possible. ?Chezru Chieftain Douan has re-claimed the city. It was he who appointed me as governor."
"After the unfortunate death of Merwan Ma, no doubt," said the woman, and Pestle's eyes widened.
How could she have known that?
"So, you claim the city for your Chezru Chieftain," Brynn went on a mo-ment later. ?And will you deny me entrance in his name?"
"I have come to negotiate a compromise."
"A surrender, you mean?"
Carwan Pestle shifted uncomfortably on his horse. ?I request some conditions."
"Concerning your neck?"
Pestle paused and took another deep and steadying breath, and then an-other. ?I, we, do not wish to battle you again," he said.
"Then surrender," came Brynn's uncompromising response.
"I will have guarantees for the safety of my people," said Carwan Pestle, and he felt stronger suddenly, recognizing that he really had nothing to lose there, that he had, in effect, lost everything already.
Behind Brynn, the To-gai-ru warriors began many conversations, with many voices raised in anger. The woman held up her hand and soon enough all chatter stopped.
"And if I allow you and your warriors to walk free, then you will no doubt turn around and wage battle back against me, once your friends have arrived," Brynn reasoned. ?Is that not so?"
"We will not."
That proclamation brought a renewal of the doubting and cynical discus-sions, but Brynn cut them short once again, lifting her hand.
"I cannot trust in that," she said. ?All of your old and young may leave, and if we are allowed to occupy Dharielle unopposed, then you and your warriors will be considered as prisoners, and treated humanely. My city has a jail, does it not? ?
"A large one," said Pestle. ?Enough to hold the two hundred garrison of the city."
"Then ride back and throw wide your gates," said Brynn. ?And be warned, Pestle, if this is a trick, I will slaughter every man, woman, and child in Dharielle, and will let your body dangle as did the body of Yatol Grysh!"
The man bowed his head, then turned his mount and rode back to the city. Soon after, a line of refugees began to wind their way out of the city.
Brynn led her force into the place, declaring it as Dharielle once more. The eight thousand warriors she brought in went to work immediately, sepa-rating potential combatants from obvious civilians among the remaining cap-tives, imprisoning the former and escorting the latter through the eastern gate. Then they began defensive preparations: repairing catapults and bal-listae; bringing oil to the wall, to be heated and dropped on attackers; and setting up caches of many, many arrows.
Brynn and Agradeleous watched it all with grim determination.
"Fight as long as you desire, then fly to your mountain home," the woman told the dragon.
"You promised me bards with many tales, and a line of treasure," the dragon reminded.
"And I shall fulfil that promise, if I am able."
Agradeleous snorted, little puffs of flame escaping his nostrils.
"You can leave now, if you prefer," said Brynn.
"I could have left whenever I chose. But I chose to stay, and so I choose to stay now. This promises to be the grandest fight of all, the one of which the bards will long sing. Better that I am a part of it, to make the songs more enjoyable to those who will hear them centuries hence!"
The dragon's sudden enthusiasm brought a smile to Brynn's face. ?I will not command you in the battle," she said. ?I trust that you will find the best spots in the enemy line to attack."
Agradeleous growled and grinned, seeming quite pleased.
Four days later, all the horizon about Dharielle darkened with the march of the legions of Yatol Bardoh and Shauntil.
"They outnumber us nearly four to one," one commander observed, as the To-gai-ru leaders assembled at the main gate tower to survey the on-coming storm.
Brynn's answer was direct and to the point. ?Then kill five."
The bombardment of Dharielle began that very night, with lines of cata-pults launching balls of burning pitch through the night sky, to splatter within the city, lighting ablaze everything nearby.
The To-gai-ru responded with their own shots, but the steppe nomads were not trained with such weapons and their target was much less substantial, and so they did little damage in return.
Agradeleous did fly out and attack, but then he returned, stuck with a thousand arrows, it seemed.
Brynn watched it all with deep trepidation. The Behrenese were ready for her this time. She could not shape the battlefield.
Her dream would end there, and it would take To-gai many years to re-cover from the loss of so many.
But so be it, she decided, remembering the words of Pagonel. The legend of this fight would live on, to feed the seeds of resistance sometime in the future. For now, Brynn meant to make this battle a costly one for the Behrenese.
She worked right alongside her warriors, battling the fires and trying to keep them all prepared for the charge that would likely come soon after the next dawn.