Hierarchy (Book Four of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Seven: Fate Not Forgotten

Lemur was a usually quiet port. Most of the noise came from the waves crashing against the docks and the boats held within, or the murmur of traders.

Today it was even quieter. No boats were docked though they were visible in the distance, anchored or floating aimlessly. They were a testament to the unease of the fighters hidden behind mock palisades and barriers created from furniture.

Every household had helped in the creation of Lemur's defenses, and they were still a pitiful thing.

The sun beat down across the dry landscape. It was colder than usual, but not nearly as cold as the northern parts of Luminya became, nor as wet. In the distance, the glinting of red armor was an unavoidable sight.

They had all known it was coming, but no one had believed their eyes when it actually arrived. It was immense, and sobering. Now the army waited, as if allowing the townspeople time to fret. There were two hundred able fighters in Lemur. There had been soldiers stationed here before, but they had left some time ago to join their comrades. So it was down to two hundred men, and all the tricks they could muster, to save the port city.

No one manned the gate. Instead, the defenders stood well behind it with many barricades between. The only thing that guarded the gates was twenty barrels of seawater, strung up with hoists and pulleys. But they were not simply filled with water. The alchemists had tampered with the water, turning it into a substance that looked and smelled of salt, but one that caused terrible burns when it came into contact with heat and light.

No one but the alchemists knew how it had been done, and no one asked. Most were afraid to ponder and even more terrified to ask what it would do to their attackers.

There was the sharp sound of a horn in the distance, and the two hundred defenders moved in a ripple in response. Some were anxious, others angry, but most were just resigned.

Lemur was one of the oldest cities on Luminya. Its sandstone and expensive timber buildings held generations of culture and family that no one could dispute. The salt mines were instrumental to the spice trade, and as such, most who lived here were hardy and marginally rich. But whether they wore silk or linen, they stood together today, passing water back and forth as the final respite before doom.

Another horn note pierced the air, and a cry came out from the wall.

The march was advancing.

Orders ripped through Lemur like a midday breeze, and everyone took to their positions, hidden as well as they could be.

The noise of five thousand feet halted when it reached Lemur's gates. Every soul within the city waited for the order to surrender, or the posturing of some pompous commander to begin. But there was no such thing. Shouts were heard, and without equipment, Hearth-Home's soldiers began breaking down the gates.

Sandstone was resilient, but not nearly so strong as the magic of several hundred mages. Within minutes the gates burst inward and showered stone across Lemur's hidden fighters.

The enemy marched in a formation six men wide with their weapons forward, their faces covered and unimaginable behind glistening crimson helmets. A distorted and magically enhanced cry of "Advance!" washed over the men and women of Lemur. As the soldiers came through the gates, there was a quiet snap, only heard by the defenders because they had waited so long to hear it.

The barrels of altered sea water just inside the city's entrance opened with a dull thud and splashed upon the advancing soldiers without care. It poured down from the inside of the gates like a wave. The dripping of water was all that could be heard for a moment. Curious soldiers and worried scouts alike peeked their heads from hiding places to behold a terrible sight.