The Ivory Star

Chapter 19

"You summoned me, my lord?" the young man asked, stepping into Valerion's sitting room. The lad was clad entirely in leather and buckskin, and his eyes mirrored a wise maturity that reached far beyond his meager years.

"Aye, lad, I did," Valerion said, looking up from his maps. "I am told that you know the fastest route to Lord Obereth's estate."

"I know the Frontier like my own palm, my lord," the young fellow replied. "I grew up on the plains of the Frontier, trapping small animals with my father since I was old enough to walk and sit astride a horse. I know the way well."

"Excellent. I would have you bear Obereth a message."

The lad nodded.

"Tell him that Dynorr had been sacked by Slayers, and now the Slayers may be coming for him. Tell him he must gather an army and prepare for war. The One has come. Answer any of his questions as best you can. I will be in further contact with him. Tell him all this, and if he believes you not, give him this." Valerion pulled a short, wide-bladed dagger from his belt. Its hilt was worn with heavy use, its blade notched from countless battles, and pitted with age.

Valerion said, "This is Andorus's dagger. Obereth will recognize it."

The messenger reverently took the dagger from Valerion's scarred hand and slipped it into his belt, his eyes proclaiming that he would not dare lose it.

Valerion commanded, "Now, go! And make haste! The fate of Armond may ride on your horse's hooves."

The young man whisked from the room like a dust devil. Valerion hoped Obereth survived long enough to receive the message and act upon it.

With Forstaff now in charge of all defense construction, work was moving quickly on the additional catapults and ballistae to be mounted on the towers and walls. Stones for the catapults were gathered and piled along the walls. Fresh pitch, stiff and sluggish from the cold, was brought from the tar pits north of Crystal Lake. The bridges spanning the water between the islands were modified so they could be collapsed at the pull of a rope. On the mainland, crews worked to dig wide, deep trenches circling wooden palisade. The trenches were arranged in concentric half-circles from the wall of Lakeside. The bottoms of some of the trenches were lined with carefully sharpened, fire-hardened spikes. Any siege engines, such as catapults, trebuchets, springals, or siege towers would be unable to pass until the trenches were somehow bridged.

The days passed, and the people grew restless in their vigilance, waiting for the attack yet to come. Valerion wondered what had happened to the legion of Slayers that had destroyed the Eagle Knights' Sanctuary. Where had they gone? What was their next target? He could only assume it was Lakeside.

The messenger he'd sent to Skaand finally returned, horse lathered and shivering in the winter cold. Valerion took Skaand's letter from the young messenger. "Saw you any Slayers?"

The puffing lad replied. "Nay, my lord. Nary a one."

Valerion took Skaand's reply to his council room, where he broke the seal and read the letter.

"My dear friend Valerion,

I am alarmed and angered by the news of the sack of Dynorr. It would be my duty and privilege to aid you in your war against Uhr. But, alas, I must tell you that my own people must come first. Winter is here, and it is much harder on my rough land than on yours. My place is here, at least for now. I can only hope that you will understand my plight, as one leader of men to another. But, should worse fall to worst, as I pray it shall not, I will throw the full weight of my own country upon Uhr's back, as I would know you would do for me. My thanks, dear friend.