Chapter 58

  Hitasa sat by herself in a chair made of the all-purpose gel, using the same configuration from the night when Dalex gave the gel to her. She was in the Batulan-bar central square, where the statue to the dragon Drakko watched over the city and where she had first tried to hand out the fliers with the manifesto. The square was crowded with hundreds of citizens gathered around one of the “sustenance distribution centers,” some retrieving food and others watching the object with suspicion.

  Hitasa had positioned herself at the edge of the square to watch, the back of her chair against the wall of an inner-city house. On the opposite side of the square, the mayor of Batulan-bar—a sheep-eared beastkin by the name of Meytey—occupied a raised wooden platform along with a few city guards and his secretary. Meytey had spent most of the morning since the boxes first started to fall into the city in great numbers explaining the situation to the populace and addressing their concerns.

  The people of the city closed in around the edge of the mayor’s platform, shouting questions, “Is there really a siege of the city? Are we under attack? Who is Dalex of the Expedition Seven? Are we going to fight back?”

  “Yes, the city is under some kind of government quarantine. No, I don’t know if the Wolf Brigade will attack. I haven’t met this Dalex person personally. No, I don’t plan to form a city militia. I encourage you to stay calm and go about your day as usual. If you are running low on rations, the meals being provided by Dalex of the Expedition Seven’s boxes are safe to eat. A few of your fellow citizens have provided recipes that the boxes will now cook. Otherwise, just ask for what you want to eat and the box will take care of everything.”

  For those that were not satisfied with the mayor’s reluctance to form a militia, Metsa, Staja, and Dava stood next to the platform with a wooden board on a post scratched with the words: If you want to fight, speak to us. The mayor didn’t protest their presence, so their movement was implicitly supported by the city.

  Two-dozen elves and a few beastkin were listening to Metsa. She didn’t speak as loudly as the mayor, so Hitasa didn’t know for sure what she was saying, but the general idea was clear. The time to resist was now. The Wolf Brigade was displeased with the city, but elves had gained a powerful new ally.

  But while Hitasa could not hear Metsa, she was privy to the conversations of those nearby.

  From an open window on the second story of the house behind her came a damekin’s voice. “I’m afraid.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about, darling,” her husband assured her. “It’s probably just a trade dispute. A new human in town means the lords are shaking things up. This kind of thing doesn’t really affect us, though when it’s over, I might be able to find better work at the docks.”

  “You think so?” the damekin asked, her voice a little brighter now.

  “Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you no matter what.”

  A pair of elves dressed in Hunters’ Lodge uniforms walked away from Metsa’s congregation. Hitasa heard a snippet of their conversation as they passed her.

  “This is it,” one said to the other. “This is what I’ve been talking about.”

  His companion shushed him. “Keep quiet. Don’t let anyone think you’re taking their sap seriously.”

  “You heard what she said. You’ve seen what this Dalex human is up to. It’s different this time. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to fight.”

  The two elves left the square, continuing their conversation out of Hitasa’s earshot. A pair of male beastkin—one with dog ears and another with cat ears—watched them go.

  “Did you hear that?” the dog-eared beastkin asked.

  “I did,” the cat-eared beastkin said. “What do you think? Is there really going to be rebellion?”

  “If an elf is talking about it in the open, something is happening.”

  “Should we follow them; find out where they live?”

  The dog-eared beastkin shook his head. “No chance we could collect on any reward for reporting them. The Brigade will have people all over this crowd. When this is over, everyone here will get a visit.”

  “Us too?”

  “Probably.”

  Hitasa watched the pair carefully, considering if she should say anything. The dog-eared one shot her a look and then gestured to his companion. They both walked away, leaving the square without approaching either the mayor’s camp or Metsa’s.

  “You picked an interesting spot,” a deep voice said from the opposite direction.

  Hitasa’s eyes went wide. She took hold of her chair’s arms and turned her head to find Lodge Mother Sarnai standing just a few paces away, staring at her. For such a big damekin, she moved quietly.

  “Lodge Mother,” Hitasa said. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

  “Were you listening to them?” Sarnai said, indicating the departing dog and cat.

  Hitasa nodded. “I am sure there are many like them in the city.”

  “And many who are not.”

  Hitasa studied her more closely. “What do you think this means?” she asked. “What do you want it to mean?”

  Aside from being an influential figure as leader of a large hunters’ lodge, there was a good chance Sarnai was one of the most publicized beastkin in the region. Even in Telman, Hitasa had been asked to read publications about Sarnai and magnify her powers. For humans and dragons, most elves were required to read their publications. For hunters, it was more of a request. Hitasa had not minded becoming Lodge Mother Sarnai’s believer.

  And whatever she said, the hunters of Batulan-bar would do.

  “I care about my hunters,” Sarnai said. “I care about Dava, and Oyuun, and Staja. And while Metsa worries me, I care about her too.” She paused. “After them, and only after them, do I care about your people. I see your plight. I know what the elves go through, and while they try to hide it, I know what the dragons have planned for you. But I do not know which is more dangerous, the dragons or the mutts.”

  Hitasa nodded; the mutts had always scared her, and that was before Dalex had let her in on the truth. She knew what Sarnai referred to. While no one could be certain, the dragons probably wanted to exterminate all elves within the next hundred years. The mutts might exterminate all life on Gaia Eta by the end of the week, if they wanted.

  “You know this Dalex of the Expedition Seven?” Sarnai asked.

  “I do,” Hitasa said. “Maybe even well.”

  “What does he think of the mutts?”

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  Hitasa grinned. “He’s actually fighting them right now.”

  “Oh?” Sarnai said, sounding a little skeptical. “In what way?”

  “Directly,” Hitasa said. “At this very moment. He discovered a large pack moving toward Batulan-bar and went to confront them.”

  “When you say large pack…”

  “Did Dava tell you what we found in that den by the river?”

  Sarnai nodded.

  “Something like that,” Hitasa said. “Only I’m afraid it might be even bigger. It’s taking Dalex a long time to clean it up.”

  This did not seem to put Sarnai at ease. “If that is the case, why are we wasting our time quarreling with the Wolf Brigade and Ulenbeter? We should be preparing to meet a mutt invasion.”

  “Dalex says he’s taking care of it.”

  “And you believe him?” Sarnai asked.

  “I do.”

  Sarnai stared at her for several seconds, her eyes probing Hitasa, looking for weakness and deception beneath the surface. Finally, a satisfied grin touched her lips.

  “Very well. I will trust that you are right. But if a swarm of mutts overruns the city, I will save you last.”

  Hitasa laughed. “I can accept that deal.”

  “By the way,” Sarnai said. “What are you sitting on?”

  Hitasa glanced down at the chair of all-purpose gel. Before she could answer, a voice rang out across the square. “DAVA! Dava, a flare! They launched a flare to the west!”

  Oyuun came running through the square, making directly for Metsa and Dava’s camp. Hitasa had not seen the deer-eared hunter in several days. While Dava seemed deeply connected to Metsa’s resistance, Oyuun’s involvement hadn’t been obvious to Hitasa.

  Sarnai’s attention focused on the younger hunter. “Let us see what this is about.”

  “Agreed,” Hitasa said, standing up. As soon as she was one her feet, the chair dissolved into the gel and returned to its invisible perch above her head. Sarnai raised an eyebrow, but did not comment on the phenomenon.

  When they reached Metsa, Dava, and the others, Oyuun was out of breath, trying to deliver her news.

  “Flare… forest to the west… Wolf Brigade signal… means attack…”

  “Why would they attack now?” Dava asked. “This siege only just began.”

  “Perhaps they know what Dalex has done,” Sarnai said. “If they still have eyes and ears in the city, which they do, they know the blockade has already failed.”

  Hitasa looked up at Ring, “Send a message to Dalex. The Wolf Brigade is here.”

  “Message sent,” Ring said.

  Hitasa faced the others. “I will go up and have a look. You should prepare to defend the city, just in case.”

  “But Dalex will come, right?” Dava asked.

  “He will,” Hitasa said. “He can be here in an instant.” Though, it had taken him a few minutes to respond the last time she sent a message. “I still want to see what we’re dealing with, and we should still be prepared.”

  It was Staja that nodded in agreement before anyone else. “We’ll arrange what we can on the ground. You go have a look.”

  Hitasa formed the all-purpose gel into the flying machine and took hold of one of the handles. Lodge Mother Sarnai watched the mass of gel closely as it worked and then, while the others were busy talking about preparation, waited patiently to see what Hitasa would do. Hitasa met her eyes and smiled, then took off, floating up until she was several hundred feet above the city.

  She looked west first, down the canyon to a point where it widened and a forest surrounded the river. A wisp of smoke hung in the air a few miles outside the city, perhaps the remnants of a signal flare. She didn’t see any signs of an army or besieging force. Before Oyuun had come crashing into the square with news of the flare, she and the others hadn’t even been sure the Wolf Brigade would approach the city.

  They had been na?ve.

  A red light sparked into existence over the forested region to the west. It soared into the sky and then hung for several seconds, lingering so that others could see.

  “There’s more to the north and south,” a voice behind her said.

  Hitasa almost let go of her handhold in surprise. She managed to keep her grip and spun around, once again finding Sarnai right next to her. The lodge mother stood at the top of an extremely tall column of earth that jutted from the ground far below.

  “Stay focused, girl,” Sarnai said.

  Hitasa nodded. She pivoted to look toward the south and then the north. Sure enough, there were flares bracketing the city from everywhere but the east. That meant at least three different Wolf Brigade armies were communicating with each other at a distance.

  “The red flare is indeed usually a signal for attack,” Sarnai explained. “It’s what we use in the Hunters’ Lodge, and the Wolf Brigade started mimicking us after they saw us use it to good effect.” She paused. “Where is your friend? You said he could arrive in an instant.”

  “He’ll be here,” Hitasa said, though it was strange she hadn’t heard anything from him yet.

  A few minutes passed and there was movement under the flare. A long line of dark shapes appeared at the edge of the forest and moved toward the city. They were too far for Hitasa to see in detail.

  “Soldiers on horseback,” Sarnai said.

  Hitasa almost asked how she knew, but then she remembered reading a publication brief giving Sarnai extremely powerful eyesight.

  “They are riding hard for the city,” the lodge mother continued, then looked toward the other flare locations. “I can’t see what might be happening to the north, but the south is on the move as well. This is starting to look like a battle.”

  Hitasa couldn’t help but grind her teeth. Surely, Dalex wouldn’t let her down? After all the impressive things he had done and all the promises he made, he would show up to defend the city. The resistance wasn’t ready to defend itself on its own.

  “Signal received from the defense network,” Ring suddenly announced. “Engaging.”

  “What does that—?” Hitasa began.

  The approaching lines of the Wolf Brigade were suddenly sprinkled with explosive puffs of smoke and debris. The ground all across the formation to the west was churned up and turned over, mixing the beastkin soldiers with the crust of Gaia Eta. A moment later, Hitasa heard a crackling sound, like oil popping on a hot pan. Small flashes of light fell from the sky over the army and slammed into the ground, blowing away beastkin and horses. Streams of fire and lightning shot out of the formation as the soldiers in the formation with publicized words of power lashed out at an enemy they couldn’t see.

  And then a tiny black object dropped down from the clouds and struck the center of the now ragtag group of attackers. They disappeared in an explosion that would vaporize a large hill.

  Similar scenes played out all around the outskirts of the city. At a dozen different points, fire from the sky destroyed Wolf Brigade armies approaching Batulan-bar. After several minutes, the fighting stopped. The area surrounding the city went quiet. Several small objects zoomed down from the sky and circled around what was left of the armies. Occasionally, they let loose one of their explosive shots, but mostly, nothing more happened.

  “Message incoming from Operator Dalex,” Ring finally announced. “Playing recording now.”

  “Sorry it took me so long,” Dalex said. “The mutts are occupying most of my attention, and Balgoth is… well… I know what demon music is about now. I haven’t quite processed it yet. Anyway, I’m aware of the Wolf Brigade. Let me know if any of them make it past my familiars.”

  “Huh,” Hitasa grunted. “I—"

  She started to say more but stopped. The words to describe what she was feeling weren’t coming.

  Sarnai wore a concerned expression. “That was Dalex of the Expedition Seven’s work?”

  Hitasa nodded.

  “And he’s still not actually anywhere near the city, is he?” Sarnai went on.

  “No, he is hundreds of miles to the east.”

  “Huh,” was Sarnai’s only response.

  They were both silent for a moment, Hitasa floating in the air and Sarnai standing on her column of earth.

  “Should we be worried about him?” Sarnai asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Hitasa said. “I’m sure he’s on our side.”

  “You might want to be careful, nonetheless. What he just did is…” she trailed off and then said, “I don’t think there’s a single human being capable of taking on the entire Wolf Brigade by himself, especially not while he’s so far away.”

  “I know.”

  At this point, Hitasa finally knew the truth. Dalex was not of Gaia Eta, nor of any other Gaia world. He really was an outsider, not even human by her own understanding. It sent a shiver down her spine, but then a thrill of excitement followed.

  They were really going to overthrow the dragons. It wouldn’t be as easy as what Dalex had done today. The dragons, especially as a combined force, were far stronger than any human army. But it was possible.

  To the west, where the first flare had shot into the sky, all that remained was a crater. A small spherical object orbited the area, patrolling for Wolf Brigade stragglers. Hitasa realized it was the same sphere that had come out of the pit in the mutt den with Dalex. It had been watching the city the entire time.

  Hitasa knew she should feel at least a little alarm after witnessing another of Dalex’s feats of strength. So much raw power was inherently scary, but she only felt safe.

  And then a pillar of fire like a tornado shot up from the ground several miles farther to the west. It consumed the sphere in a blaze so hot it turned blue. When the fire cleared, the sphere was gone. Hitasa was not sure if it had been shot out of the sky or if it had simply been vaporized in the intense heat.

  Other similar displays played out all around Batulan-bar. Those of Dalex’s machines that were in sight were struck by some kind of magical attack from the ground. Whether they were destroyed or not, Hitasa could not tell.

  “Oh my,” Sarnai said. “That is troubling.”

  “What? What was that?”

  The pillar of flame had reminded Hitasa of Castreier’s jetflame, but she didn’t think he could produce a fire that size.

  “Those were draconic gifts,” Sarnai said. “I’ve only seen them once before, when I was called to Ulenbeter and climbed the mountain.”

  Hitasa stared at her, not sure what she was saying.

  “Drakko’s Mountain Guard, girl,” Sarnai explained. “Apparently, the Winged Inferno’s own army was out there, and the Wolf Brigade was their bait.”

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