Twixt Heaven And Hell (38 page)

Chapter Forty

When Darius entered the barracks, there were few of his men there to greet him. It was dusk, and most of the Gryphons had sought out food and song and merriment at the common rooms, or in some cases, their own homes. The few that remained were gambling around a table, with bits of sugared apple as their tokens. Pollis was among them, which Darius was glad for. Hunting a soldier down in his off-hours was often an insurmountable task. He motioned to his lieutenant that he needed a word.

Pollis nodded and rose from the game, then thought twice and leaning down, swept his remaining bits of sweet into his hand and deposited them into a small bag that hung from his belt – all the while giving the other men a mock-suspicious glare. The others laughed – Pollis's pile had been rather diminutive.

The smile on his face still fresh from his joke, Pollis moved to his Captain and saluted. "Sir?" His expression relaxed and grew serious quickly, though, when he saw Darius's face. The wizard carried two map scrolls underneath his arm, and his demeanor was entirely businesslike.

"Our respite is almost over, Pollis. We'll have work to do, soon," Darius said. His man nodded and awaited further explanation. Darius drew him over to another table and, with the flick of a hand, lit the lantern upon it. He withdrew one of the scrolls and laid it flat upon the table, revealing a map of the areas near Bastion, centered on the Patchwork Forest to the south.

"In three days," began Darius, "I want the Gryphons to leave the city and make for this clearing." Darius used a bit of charcoal to mark a spot within the forest, a little over halfway towards the border. "Take your time. You'll have five days to reach it, and I want the men rested when they arrive. Carry food, water, some warm clothing – everything we'll need for an extended campaign."

"For how long, sir?"

"As much as they can carry," Darius answered. "That's why you'll have so long to get there. Again, do not tax yourselves on the way. Soon after the fifth day from your departure, I will arrive with some other wizards." Darius looked his lieutenant in the eye. "You must camp near the treeline, far from the center of the glade. We will be arriving by spell – do not be alarmed."

Pollis gave no sign of unease at the announcement, and Darius went on. He set the other scroll down – on it was the map that had been prepared by Ethion, showing the maze of corridors and rooms.

"When you've reached the clearing, gather the men and acquaint them with this area," Darius said, and paused for a moment to study Pollis for some reaction. Again, there was none. "This is the place we'll be defending. This large room here will be our home for some time. We'll have barricades, anything we can construct with simple timbers and rope.

"How long, Pollis, do you think the Gryphons will be able to defend this place?" Darius asked.

Pollis stared long and hard at the drawing. Measurements had been added for the width of the corridors and the size of the rooms – even the number of stairs that lay down some hallways. Pollis looked back up at his captain with the ghost of a smile on his face. "Sir, unless the Enemy can afford to attack us day and night, we'll hold until the provisions run out."

"You think so?"

Pollis indicated the main corridors. "The widest of these is only enough for two men to walk abreast. The Gryphons are, man for man, a match for any soldier in Pyre. We've been working on the best ways for fighting in spaces like this for weeks, now. The Enemy could throw thousands at us. They'll run out of room to step over their own corpses before they break us."

Darius sighed, and his stern expression softened. "That is a fine thing to hear, lieutenant. Thank you. He rolled up the scrolls again, tying them with strings of leather, then handed them over to Pollis. "I've already ordered the gathering of supplies. You'll have two days to prepare, and you'll leave the next morning. Understood?"

Pollis saluted again, crisp and heartily. "Yes sir!"

"Good. One last thing," Darius leaned in closely. "If you are asked, the Gryphons are going out for a training march. That is all."

His Lieutenant simply nodded. "I understand, sir."

Darius left the barracks feeling buoyant – Pollis's assessment of their chances within Nebeth had lifted his spirits. No doubt his fellow conspirators would be happy to hear that their mission would not necessarily be a suicidal one after all.

***

Pollis sat back down at the table. The piles had not shifted much whilst he had been gone – no doubt the soldiers had been doing their best to eavesdrop on his conversation with the Captain. Pollis did not dig his 'tokens' back out. He met the gaze of each man at the table. All waited patiently and expectantly for the orders they knew were on the way.

"We have two more days in Bastion," he said. Most of the others nodded in acceptance – one, though, a man whom Pollis knew had a new girl somewhere in the city, shook his head in disappointment.

"We can't have one winter..." he mumbled.

"Enough," Pollis said quickly. "You know damn well that the Captain wouldn't have us about it if it weren't important."

"We're out of the city almost year-round," the man said, still shaking his head softly. "There are five other commands like the Gryphons, now. I hear they're doing splendidly. Let us have a bit of rest, for once."

There were a couple of sympathetic nods from around the table. Pollis was conflicted – on the one hand, Darius did not want the word about their mission to get out. On the other, one of the keys to the Gryphons' success was their superb morale. Especially with the mission they would be heading into, possibly ending up in a siege situation for a lengthy time, he needed all his men to be solidly behind the Captain. He leaned across the table, and dropped his voice – though there was no-one else in the room.

"The target is Nebeth," he said, spearing each man with an earnest glare. "Understand? I was stationed there for years, and I know those rooms. We're not leveling another border fort – we're taking back the key to the entire border. We, the Gryphons. Is that worth getting your feet cold?"

Pollis didn't wait for an answer, settling back into his chair and speaking normally. "There has been too much going on lately for us to rest on our laurels. There are still some things that only the Gryphons can do," Pollis said. He motioned towards the door with his head. "Go on. Drink, sing, say goodbye to your sweethearts. We leave in three days."

***

She shifted languidly in half-sleep, her motion dragging the covers away from one leg and exposing it to the cold air. The stove had burnt out while they slept, and the bedroom had a chill that was usually only present in the early hours of the morning. It woke her. The first thing she did was withdraw her leg back under the luxuriously thick covers. Seeing the sun in the sky reminded her that it was not morning, but rather closer to noon. She mentally scolded herself – there was little enough light these days, and here she was wasting the middle of the day. Her self-chastisement did not have the sting that it used to, though.

Braving the cold for a few moments, she threw off the covers and moved quickly to the stove, where she put on the heavy fur cloak that Pendrick had given her on their wedding night, grateful to find it had retained some of the late fire's heat. She opened the stove to see that even the coals had ceased to glow. Piling in more wood and preparing her tinder, she took flint and steel from their place and began to strike sparks.

On her second strike, the wood within the stove lit and began to burn merrily – and the tinder lay untouched before her. Glancing behind herself, she scowled at Pendrick, who lay looking at her with his head propped up on one arm.

"Wizards," she scoffed with a mock toss of her hair.

"You were taking too long," Pendrick returned. "Now come back to bed."

"No!" she protested laughingly. "It's after noon. I've been lazy enough today."

"You're the wife of a wizard!" Pendrick said, rolling onto his back. "You can be lazy as you please, now."

She crossed back over the floor, kneeling by the bed and speaking inches from his face.

"And that is why I am not," she said with a smirk, and kissed him. Then she straightened, and with a sudden jerk tore the coverings from the bed and from her husband. Pendrick yelped as the cold air hit him – hit
all
of him.

"Devil woman!" he said as he leapt from the bed and dressed with impressive speed. His laughter took the sting from the insult. Once he had shielded the more tender parts of himself with his robes, Pendrick embraced his wife, looking her in the eyes with the smile of a man entirely happy with his place in life. There was, however, something else in his expression...

She glanced once more to the sun. "I'll need to go soon. I promised to help my sister with her spinning today," she said.

"Your sister? You'll have to go clear across the city!" Pendrick said.

"There's hardly been any snow yet, my love. I will be fine."

Pendrick released her from his embrace and watched as she fetched clothing for herself. Not the fine dresses he had been getting her – and that he knew she loved – but the much simpler fare from her youth, cloth that was thick and warm if somewhat rougher. They were good, simple, working clothes.

"You really don't need to bustle about so much," Pendrick said with a bemused smile. "Not anymore."

"I like to bustle about! My sister has been stuck with twice the work since I married you, love. Besides, what else have I to do? I cannot wait in bed for you all day," she said, and laughed when he grinned and waggled his eyebrows, as if to suggest the opposite.

"Perhaps, when I have a child to look after, I will change my mind," she said as she stepped into her boots. "Soon, I hope."

"I as well," Pendrick agreed, and moved to embrace her again. "Though why you are so eager to go through all that, I cannot imagine. I remember poor Elissa a month ago, howling away as they carried her down the hill," Pendrick nearly cringed at the memory.

"Oh, it was not so bad. You men are so skittish," she scolded. "Besides, once you get to the Houses the Angels take all the pain away."

"Of course."

Once more that strangeness flitted across his face, and she threw her hands up in consternation.

"I cannot take it. What? What is it, Pendrick? You've been wanting to tell me something since you returned this morning. Out with it!"

His eyes had gone wide. "How did you know?"

"Because I am your wife, and it is my duty to know when you're being too silly to speak your mind," she said with exasperation. “So? What is it?”

Pendrick took a deep breath, and his expression grew somber. “I’m going to be leaving Bastion in a couple days,” he said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

Now it was her turn to be shocked. She stood with her mouth open, and slowly that look of worry which he’d seen before began to steal its way across her features.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I’ve only known for a little while, myself, and I didn’t want…” Pendrick trailed off, looking at his wife helplessly as she nodded along with his words, her entire demeanor changed.

“You’re being sent to the border?”

“No! It is a – a mission, of sorts. I’ll be with several other wizards, and good soldiers, and we’ll return as quickly as we are able,” he said. “And I’ll be careful, of course.”

She looked near to tears, which in turn made Pendrick want to cry as well. “Can a hero be careful?” she asked.

“I don’t want to be a hero anymore!” Pendrick exclaimed. It was something he had told her on one of the their first nights together, before they were married – before they had even known each other a month. His dreams of being a great wizard, a battlefield hero like Darius and a respected leader like Arric. He hadn’t noticed at the time the worry that had crossed her face, even then, when he spoke of going to the fight.

Even then it had been dreams, the last vestiges of youthful fantasy confessed to a lover on a starry night.

“I’ve told you that often enough, love. All I want now is you, to be with and near you. To raise a family with you,” Pendrick said, meaning every word.

He took her hands and looked deep into her eyes, wishing he could use magic to make her believe him, to comfort her. “This mission is important. It’s about what happened to Balkan and his family. We're going to make sure it never happens again.”

She had no quick retort for that. The horror of that night still lurked in the minds of the residents of the Crown.  The presence of the Demon had reduced both wizard and wife to quivering, crying wrecks in the few moments it was in Bastion. Pendrick had fared little better than she, despite having once encountered the feeling on the battlefield. He did not want to be a hero – but if he had to die to keep her from ever feeling such vileness again, he would gladly do so.

She broke their stare, pulling him close again. “You don’t know when you’ll be back?”

“No, dearest. As soon as possible, I promise,” he answered, and gave a halfhearted chuckle. “None of us want to be out in the cold any longer than we must.”

She humored him with a laugh of her own and pulled away, drying her eyes. Once more she looked out the window. “I must still go help my sister,” she said, now sounding mournful at the fact. “But I’ll return early. I’ll be back before sunset,” she promised.