The Ghost's Crusade

XVI: Akkali

It took a moment for Akkali to stifle her laughter at the receding cloth-covered haunches of Tiernan's horse. What he thought he could do to get Wessinberg's army to cease attacking their lifelong enemies was anyone's guess, but she knew that the man would probably be spending the night locked away somewhere in the commander's camp.

No military leader was stupid enough to kill a member of the Inquisition, much less a ranking member of the Inquisition. At least not when a full regiment of their holy wrath was within striking distance. The commander of the army would likely stuff the Inquisitor in a tent in the rears and keep him under guard until his objective was complete. It was a good way to avoid the irritation of having the man preaching to him how sinful it was to be shooting cannons at people that weren't going to shoot back. Every commander she had seen liked to revel in that fact, not repent. Wessinberg wasn't going to cease using its cannons just because Baedorn had nothing of the like to bring to bear-they were going to howl and dance in joy at having finally one-upped their nemesis.

Looking back at the Inferi she said, "Does this mean he's letting you keep the Inquisition's horse?"

Drystan eyed the mare curiously, then looked down the street where Tiernan had taken off at a gallop as he climbed into the saddle and adjusted his feet comfortably. The man was long gone. "I suppose? I mean, if they wanted her back they'd have claimed her already, right?"

Shrugging, Akkali motioned for Jansa to follow her and the dog sprung up with a happy bark and a playful headbutt to her shin. "Let's get out of here. I'm betting that west gate is nice and unguarded."

The Inferi offered her his hand and she jumped into the saddle behind him, ignoring the screaming masses that were just starting to reach them wailing about the attack. She doubted Wessinberg would slaughter everyone-it would be a serious hindrance to their tax returns following their takeover of the city. Instead they would probably strip the city-state of its outer walls to make it completely vulnerable and thus utterly reliant on its conqueror for defense. In the long run it would prove the stupidest idea they had ever had, but the walls were something of a source of pride for Baedorn and their rivals seemed very keen on stripping them of every bit of that. If they had wanted to kill the entire population they would have already sent in cavalry to plow through everyone in the streets. From what she could see they were just firing away at the northern bulwark as though it were some sort of artillery drill.

The west gate was indeed unwatched, and most of the city's inhabitants who happened to live near the walls were fleeing in the direction of the Grand Gate in frantic terror, leaving the side streets they followed deserted. Just as they reached the portcullis the rain stopped entirely and the clouds slowly started to break apart, revealing a vermilion sunset peeking over the trees ahead of them. It gave everything a bloody tint that seemed to mesh well with the screaming chaos infecting what was left of the city's population. If the rains had left people deaf and dumb as to what was going on they had no excuse not to notice the invading army now.

They were well on their way out, able to see the three cannons firing methodically in the north just at the limits of the treeline there, when Akkali caught sight of something misshapen and rather large loping through the forest near the road leading out to the mine. Yanking on Drystan's collar she pointed to the top-heavy shape as it bobbed in and out of the shadows of the twilight woods, never visible for more than a few seconds at a time despite its massive size.

Drystan reigned the horse towards the mines and spurred her into a slow trot. "How many do you think there are?"

Narrowing her eyes she stared at the treeline and waited for something unnatural to move. There were at least two hunchbacked things loping through the shadows on feet and knuckles, but beyond that was difficult to see through the highland mist mixing with the cannon smoke. What she could tell with certainty was that they were humongous, likely big enough to toss a horse like a child's toy. "No idea. But the two I see are twice, maybe even three times as big as the ones we found in the warrens. They look like fairytale trolls."