The Sword of Retribution

Pargonn - Part 5

     As soon as they were gone, everyone in the room breathed a huge sigh of relief and the window shutters were opened again, letting the sunlight back in. “Phew!” said Keller feelingly, blinking while his eyes adjusted to the light. “That was quite an experience. Do you think he was telling the truth when he said they could wipe us all out any time they wanted to?”

     “No,” replied Resalintas. “Oh, there’s no doubt they could cause great destruction and loss of life if they wanted to. No-one doubts that they wield great power, but they tend to exaggerate and make extravagant claims for themselves. No, he was just trying to frighten us.”

     “He succeeded,” said the Sergeant. “Those creatures are fundamentally evil, right down to their very hearts, the fell men too. Thank the Gods they’ll never want to conquer the surface.”

     As soon as everyone had quieted down, Lanaris stood again. “I’d like to get the council properly underway now, if I may," he said. "I think the best thing to do is for everyone here to stand up and tell us exactly what the situation is in their own countries. Would the delegates from Callinia like to begin?”

     Colonel Tuska stood and introduced himself to the other delegates, and Resalintas noticed a tightness around his eyes that betrayed the use of accelerated sleep, in which the prayers of a priest enabled whole armies to remain awake for days or weeks at a time with only the occasional ten minute nap to refresh them. It was no substitute for real sleep, though, and if it was continued for too long it ran the risk of driving good soldiers to violent outbursts, along with the loss of control and good judgement. The tell tale signs of it on the Colonel’s face told Resalintas that the defenders of Callinia were already nearing the end of their tolerance.

     “The situation in Callinia is extremely grave,” said Tuska expressionlessly, another sign of the use of accelerated sleep. “With the exception of a few fortress cities around the perimeter, virtually the whole country has been overrun by those foul monsters. Almost our entire population has fled the country, some south to Ilandia, some north to Sidon, and some into the mountains, where they’ve been granted shelter by the trogs of Za-Kora.” He nodded gratefully to the trog delegates, who nodded gravely back.

     “How long can your fortress cities hold out?” asked Lanaris.

     “Not long,” replied Tuska. “Food and fresh water aren’t a problem. We have stocks laid in to last us for many years, but they know that and so aren’t wasting any time trying to starve us out. Instead, they’re throwing everything they’ve got at us. Whole armies of zombies and skeletons, including our own dead. Dragons, giants, wizards. They hammer us relentlessly. There are so many of them that they can attack in shifts, taking turns to rest while others continue the assault, while we must defend continually. We can hold them so long as we can stand and fight, but it has been days since we got any real sleep. Fatigue is their great ally, and it is fatigue that will defeat us before many more days have passed. We will fight for as long as we can stand and we will make them pay in blood for every inch of territory, but Callinia cannot stand.”

     A dread silence settled over the table. Most of the delegates came from lands hundreds or thousands of miles from Callinia, and until now the war had been only a distant rumour, but something in the Colonel’s deadpan voice and the lack of expression in his face alarmed them and caused a cold chill to settle over their hearts. It was if the man's soul had already fled his body and they were being addressed by nothing more than an animated mannequin. What was happening to Callinia now would happen everywhere sooner or later, unless some miracle gave them the power to stop the Shadowhosts and drive them back to where they'd come from.

     “What are the chances of reinforcements from Belthar arriving to relieve them?” the priest, Pronias, asked the Beltharan delegates.

     “No chance at all,” replied the General. “Five divisions arrived in Callinia a few days before the attack came, but we can’t send any more because the eastern ends of the mountain passes are held by the enemy, who are attacking the fortresses that guard them. If they capture an entire mountain pass, they’ll be in Belthar itself, in the very heartland of the Empire, so we’re too busy defending ourselves to honour our obligations to the provinces. It breaks my heart to say this, but it wouldn’t do any good to deny it.”