Throughout the long night the silent retreat continued. Wounded men were carried on stretchers, medical supplies loaded on to hand-carts and personal belongings packed hastily into kitbags. The more seriously injured had long since been removed to the Musif field hospital, and Eldibar barracks had been little used since the siege began.
By dawn's first ghostly light the last of the men entered the postern gates at Musif and climbed the long winding stairways to the battlements. Then began the work of rolling boulders and rubble on to the stairs to block the entrances. Men heaved and toiled as the light grew stronger. Finally, sacks of mortar powder were poured onto the rubble and then packed solid into the gaps. Other men with buckets of water doused the mixtures.
"Given a day," said Marie the Builder, "that mass will be almost immovable."
"Nothing is immovable," said his companion. "But it will take them weeks to make it passable, and even then the stairways were designed to be defensible."
"One way or the other, I shall not see it," said Marie. "I leave today."
"You are early, surely?" said his friend. "Marrissa and I also plan to leave. But not until the fourth wall falls."
"First wall, fourth wall, what is the difference? All the more time to put distance between myself and this war. Ventria has need of builders. And their army is strong enough to hold the Nadir for years."
"Perhaps. But I will wait."
"Don't wait too long, my friend," said Marie.
* * *
Back at the Keep, Rek lay staring at the ornate ceiling. The bed was comfortable and Virae's naked form nestled into him, her head resting on his shoulder. The meeting had finished two hours since and he could not sleep. His mind was alive with plans, counter-plans and all the myriad problems of a city under siege. The debate had been acrimonious, and pinning down any of those politicians was like threading a needle under water. The consensus opinion was that Delnoch should surrender.
Only the red-faced Lentrian, Malphar, had backed Rek. That oily serpent, Shinell, had offered to lead a "delegation to Ulric personally. And what of Beric, who felt himself tricked by fate in that his bloodline had been rulers of Delnoch for centuries, yet he had lost out by being a second son? Bitterness was deep within him. The lawyer, Backda, had said little, but his words were acid when they came.
"You seek to stop the sea with a leaking bucket."
Rek had struggled to hold his temper. He had not seen any of them standing on the battlements with sword in hand. Nor would they. Horeb had a saying that matched these men:
"In any broth, the scum always rises to the top."
He had thanked them for their counsel and agreed to meet in five days' time to answer their proposals.
Virae stirred beside him. Her arm moved the coverlet, exposing a rounded breast. Rek smiled, and for the first time in days thought about something other than war.
* * *
Bowman and a thousand archers stood on the ramparts of Eldibar watching the Nadir mass for the charge. Arrows were loosely notched to the string, hats tilted at a jaunty angle to keep the right eye in shadow against the rising sun.
The horde screamed their hatred and surged forward.
Bowman waited. He licked his dry lips.
"Now!" he yelled, smoothly drawing back the string to touch his right cheek. The arrow leapt free with a thousand others, to be lost within the surging mass below. Again and again they fired until their quivers were empty. Finally Caessa leapt to the battlements and fired her last arrow straight down at a man pushing a ladder against the wall. The shaft entered at the top of the shoulder and sheared through his leather jerkin, lancing through his lung and lodging in his belly. He dropped without a sound.
Grappling-irons clattered to the ramparts.
"Back!" yelled Bowman, and began to run across the open ground, across the fire-gully bridges and the trench of oil-soaked brush. Ropes were lowered and the archers swiftly scaled them. Back at Eldibar the first of the Nadir had gained the wall. For long moments they milled in confusion before they spotted the archers clambering to safety. Within minutes the tribesmen had gathered several thousand strong. They hauled their ladders over Eldibar and advanced on Musif. Then arrows of fire arced over the open ground to vanish within the oil-soaked brush. Instantly thick smoke welled from the gully, closely followed by roaring flames twice the height of a man.
The Nadir fell back. The Drenai cheered.
The brush blazed for over an hour, and the four thousand warriors manning Musif were stood down. Some lay in groups on the grass; others wandered to the three mess halls for a second breakfast. Many sat in the shade of the rampart towers.
Druss strolled among the men, swopping jests here and there; accepting a chunk of black bread from one man, an orange from another. He saw Rek and Virae sitting alone near the eastern cliff and wandered across to join them.
"So far, so good!" he said, easing his huge frame to the grass. "They're not sure what to do now. Their orders were to take the wall, and they've accomplished that."
"What next, do you think?" asked Rek.
"The old boy himself," answered Druss. "He will come. And he'll want to talk."
"Should I go down?" asked Rek.
"Better if I do. The Nadir know me. 'Death-walker.' I'm part of their legends. They think I'm an ancient god of death stalking the world."
"Are they wrong, I wonder?" said Rek, smiling.
"Maybe not. I never wanted it, you know. All I wanted was to get my wife back. Had slavers not taken her I would have been a farmer. Of that I am sure — though Rowena doubted it. There are times when I do not much like what I am."
"I'm sorry, Druss. It was a jest," said Rek. "I do not see you as a death-god. You are a man and a warrior. But most of all, a man."
"It's not you, boy; your words only echo what I already feel. I shall die soon… Here at this Dros. And what will I have achieved in my life? I have no sons nor daughters. No living kin… Few friends. They will say, "Here lies Druss. He killed many and birthed none." "
"They will say more than that," said Virae suddenly. "They'll say, 'Here lies Druss the Legend, who was never mean, petty, nor needlessly cruel. Here was a man who never gave in, never compromised his ideals, never betrayed a friend, never despoiled a woman and never used his strength against the weak.' They'll say 'He had no sons, but many a woman asleep with her babes slept more soundly for knowing Druss stood with the Drenai.' They'll say many things, whiteboard. Through many generations they will say them, and men with no strength will find strength when they hear them."
"That would be pleasant," said the old man, smiling.
The morning drifted by and the Dros shone in the warm sunlight. One of the soldiers produced a flute and began to play a lilting springtime melody that echoed down the valley, a song of joy in a time of death.
At midday Rek and Druss were summoned to the ramparts. The Nadir had fallen back to Eldibar, but at the centre of the killing ground was a man seated on a huge purple rug. He was eating a meal of dates and cheese, and sipping wine from a golden goblet. Thrust into the ground behind him was a standard sporting a wolfs head.
"He's certainly got style," said Rek, admiring the man instantly.
"I ought to go down before he finishes the food," said Druss. "We lose face as we wait."
"Be careful!" urged Rek.
"There are only a couple of thousand of them," answered Druss with a broad wink.
Hand over hand, he lowered himself to the Eldibar ground below and strolled towards the diner.
"I am a stranger in your camp," he said.
The man looked up. His face was broad and clean-cut, the jaw firm. The eyes were violet and slanted beneath dark brows; they were eyes of power.
"Welcome, stranger, and eat," said the man. Druss sat cross-legged opposite him. Slowly the man unbuckled his lacquered black breastplate and removed it, laying it carefully at his side. Then he removed his black greaves and forearm straps. Druss noted the powerful muscles of the man's arms and the smooth, catlike movements. A warrior born, thought the old man.
"I am Ulric of the Wolfshead."
"I am Druss of the Axe."
"Well met! Eat."
Druss took a handful of dates from the silver platter before him and ate slowly. He followed this with goat's milk cheese and washed it down with a mouthful of red wine. His eyebrows rose.
"Lentrian Red," said Ulric, "Without poison."
Druss grinned. "I'm a hard man to kill. It's a talent."
"You did well. I am glad for you."
"I was grieved to hear of your son. I have no sons, but I know how hard it is for a man to lose a loved one."
"It was a cruel blow," said Ulric. "He was a good boy. But then all life is cruel, is it not? A man must rise above grief."
Druss was silent, helping himself to more dates.
"You are a great man, Druss. I am sorry you are to die here."
"Yes. It would be nice to live for ever. On the other hand, I am beginning to slow down. Some of your men have been getting damn close to marking me — it's an embarrassment."
"There is a prize for the man who kills you. One hundred horses, picked from my own stable."
"How does the man prove to you that he slew me?"
"He brings me your head and two witnesses to the blow."
"Don't allow that information to reach my men. They will do it for fifty horses."
"I think not! You have done well. How is the new Earl settling in?"
"He would have preferred a less noisy welcome, but I think he is enjoying himself. He fights well."
"As do you all. It will not be enough, however."
"We shall see," said Druss. "These dates are very good."
"Do you believe you can stop me? Tell me truly, Deathwalker."
"I would like to have served under you," said Druss. "I have admired you for years. I have served many kings. Some were weak, others wilful. Many were fine men, but you… you have the mark of greatness. I think you will get what you want eventually. But not while I live."
"You will not live long, Druss," said Ulric gently. "We have a shaman who knows these things. He told me that he saw you standing at the gates of Wall Four — Sumitos, I believe it is called — and the grinning skull of Death floated above your shoulders."
Druss laughed aloud. "Death always floats where I stand, Ulric! I am he who walks with death. Does your shaman not know your own legends? I may choose to die at Sumitos. I may choose to die at Musif. But wherever I choose to die, know this: as I walk into the Valley of Shadows I will take with me more than a few Nadir for company on the road."
"They will be proud to walk with you. Go in peace."
Bloody day followed bloody day, an endless succession of hacking, slaying and dying; skirmishes carrying groups of Nadir warriors out on to the killing ground before Musif, and threatening to trap the Drenai army on the walls. But always they were beaten back and the line held. Slowly, as Serbitar had predicted, the strong were separated from the weak. It was easy to tell the difference. By the sixth week only the strong survived. Three thousand Drenai warriors were either dead or had been removed from the battle with horrifying injuries.
Druss strode like a giant along the ramparts day after day, defying all advice to rest, daring his weary body to betray him, drawing on hidden reserves of strength from his warrior's soul. Rek also was building a name, though he cared not. Twice his baresark attacks had dismayed the Nadir and shattered their line. Orrin still fought with the remnants of Karnak, now only eighteen strong. Gilad fought beside him on the right and on his left was Bregan, still using the captured axe. Hogun had gathered fifty of the Legion about him and stood back from the rampart line, ready to fill in any gap that developed.
The days were full of agony and the screams of the dying. And the list in the Hall of the Dead grew longer at every sunrise. Dun Pinar fell, his throat torn apart by a jagged dagger. Bar Britan was found under a mound of Nadir bodies, a broken lance jutting from his chest. Tall Antaheim of The Thirty was struck by a javelin in the back. Elicas of the Legion was trapped by the rampart towers as he hurled himself at the Nadir screaming defiance and fell beneath a score of blades. Jorak, the huge outlaw, had his brains dashed out by a club — and, dying, grabbed two Nadir warriors and threw himself from the battlements, dragging them screaming to their deaths on the rocks below.
Amid the chaos of slashing swords many deeds of individual heroism passed unseen. One young soldier battling back to back with Druss saw an enemy lancer bearing down on the old man. Unthinking he threw himself in the way of the flashing steel point, to die writhing among the other broken bodies on the ramparts. Another soldier, an officer named Portitac, leapt into the breach near the gate tower and stepped on to the ramparts, where he seized the top of a ladder and flung himself forward, pulling the ladder out from the wall. Twenty Nadir near the top died with him on the rocks and five others broke limbs. Many were such tales of bravery.
And still the battles raged. Rek now sported a slanting scar from eyebrow to chin, gleaming red as he battled on. Orrin had lost three fingers from his left hand, but after only two days behind the lines had joined his men once more on the wall.
From the capital at Drenan the messages came endlessly:
Hold on. Give Woundweaver time. Just one more month.
And the defenders knew they could not hold.
But still they fought on.
* * *
Twice the Nadir tried night attacks, but on both occasions Serbitar warned the defenders and the assailants paid dearly for their efforts. At night handholds were difficult to find and the long climb to the battlements was fraught with peril. Hundreds of tribesmen died without need for the touch of Drenai steel or a black-shafted arrow.
Now the nights were silent and in some ways as bad as the days. For the peace and tranquillity of the moon darkness acted as a weird counterpoint to the crimson agonies of the sunlight. Men had time to think: to dream of wives, children, farms, and even more potently of a future that might have been.
Hogun and Bowman had taken to walking together on the battlements at night, the grim Legion general and the bright witty outlaw. Hogun found that in Bowman's company he could forget the loss of Elicas; he could even laugh again. For his part, Bowman felt a kinship with the Gan, for he too had a serious side although he kept it well hidden.
But on this particular night Bowman was in a more melancholy mood and his eyes were distant.
"What ails you, man?" asked Hogun.
"Memories," answered the archer, leaning over the ramparts to stare at the Nadir camp-fires below.
"They must be either very bad or very good to touch you so."
"These are very bad, my friend. Do you believe in gods?"
"Sometimes. Usually when my back is against a wall and the enemy surrounds me," said Hogun.
