A day later the first of the Steadfast's forces arrived at the Valley.
Scouts galloped into the clearing on horseback, their leader bearing a battle standard depicting the meteor fortress on the back of his armor. Even from a distance he stood out, the pole jutting out from behind him as the formation of twenty riders barreled across the grassy plains to meet us. He was the first to dismount, already giving us a crisp salute as his fellow riders fell in behind him.
"We come bearing good news," he said as he pulled a rolled up piece of parchment from a scroll carrier attached to his hip. Finally, I thought to myself. After all the crap we've been through lately we were due for our luck to turn around. Seeing as how there weren't any tables around, he opened the scroll and presented it to us so we could all see what was written on it.
It was a map of the area. To the north was a Kierhaian garrison, the Keep of the Stone Ape. "The Steadfast's troops are a few hours behind me. With luck they'll be here by midday with the materials to build a base camp, but we didn't have time to bring anything in the way of heavy artillery. We have a significant amount of black powder, but delivering it at range is going to be difficult without siege weapons." He pointed to the Keep. "We got a message to the garrison at the Keep, and they're sending soldiers as well. With luck they'll be here by nightfall. That should bring the total forces we have up to about five hundred soldiers."
My stomach did a little flip. "That's all we could spare?" How are we supposed to stop a monster like the Encroacher with so few soldiers?
The scout shook his head. "Normal soldiers wouldn't stand a chance against what we face. If the threat is as dire as we were told, we will suffice."
The soldiers in question were different from the ones I'd seen in Standing Stone and Blossom City. Their armor was silver and black, and a few of them bore green sashes or capes. Each of them bore an emblem of a winged wolf with its jaws open on their armor. These are not Noble Wolves. The heraldry is wrong. I never saw any of these men before.
Alverd, Sheena, and Monaco were there with m, and they also took notice. Monaco shook her head. "So. They really do have you Silent Sentinels all the way out here. Thought you were only in Margloom." If the scout was surprised that his emblem had been recognized, he hid it behind a scowl.
"I would be very interested to know how you learned of our name, but now's not the time. The Steadfast needs you brought up to speed before he arrives."
Alverd crossed his arms. "There's plenty of time before he gets here. You can spare a moment to explain who you are, and why that name is so significant. Unless you'd like to have her explain it to me. Potentially with a lot less respect for any need for secrecy."
Monaco flashed a facetious grin at the scout. "Oh, I will. I'll spill all the tea and then some."
He sighed irritably. "Very well. But what I tell you stays here between us." The scouts behind him eased their stances, and he relaxed his shoulders. "The Order of the Silent Sentinel has served the angel Sir Sirius since its creation after the War of the Five Kings. We work solely to prevent the Five Kings from ever being released. Our existence is well known in Shardin, where we are keepers of the peace, but as far as the rest of the world knows, we don't exist outside that country."
Monaco couldn't stifle a chuckle. "Except that isn't true. You've got eyes, ears, and hands in every nation in Selarune. I've met a few of you in Margloom. I believe one of your Justicars has quite a close friendship with my father." She grinned at us. "That's how I learned about them. Occasionally they need things funneled out of Margloom on the sly. I've even been on a few of those jobs myself."
"So is this man trustworthy or not?" Sheena questioned, her tone wary. The wolf beastwoman nodded.
"Yes, I'd say so. Silent Sentinels only care about stopping a world-ending apocalypse. They don't have time to bother with local politics or wars between countries."
She scowled. "So there might have been Silent Sentinels in Algrustos who could've helped prevent the coup?"
The scout bristled, his voice becoming defensive. "It isn't my decision, or any of ours. Our orders come from the Goddess Eternity herself, relayed through her ever loyal servant. We are not to embroil ourselves in anything that could force us to take sides against any of Her children."
That sounded… rehearsed. But, he's not helping himself if he's trying to come off as trustworthy. "So help us out here. You obviously have some agreement with Mingsheng, or you wouldn't be here. We're already up to our necks in this, so there's no point in you leaving us in the dark." I folded my arms and stared at the scout, trying to look as intimidating as I could.
He sighed in defeat. "Fine. Time is wasting." He motioned for his soldiers to attend to whatever duties they needed to, and they set out without delay. "My name is Observer Siyun. I have been part of the Order for more than ten years. Lord Mingsheng, like every Steadfast back to the founding of Standing Stone, is part of the Order as well." He gave us a curt bow. "Only now that one of the Five Kings is loose can we come out of the shadows to fight it. And fight it we shall."
Beside me, Monaco put her hands up, her tone mocking. "Well. That's all fine and dandy. But how do you plan to do that? Perhaps with some of that technology you kept asking my father to smuggle out of Margloom?" Again, Siyun's face scrunched up, although Monaco didn't let up. "Hey, I'm not my father. He might have been willing to do a favor for his friend, but I'm not about to let someone pull the rug out from under him. If he was moving black powder and weapons over the Margloomian border, I made sure to keep detailed records of those shipments." Then her smirk faded, and her expression turned downright murderous. "Just. In. Case."
Part of what she said went over my head, so I elbowed Sheena and dropped my voice low. "What's she talking about?"
She bent sideways to whisper into my ear. "She's saying she's ready to blackmail the Order unless she gets answers about what they want all those weapons for." Ohhhhhhhh. I guess that makes sense. I guess I need to learn a bit more about how all this "crime" stuff works.
Observer Siyun threw his hands in the air. "Alright, so we did move weapons and supplies out of Margloom. Those shipments were sent to other countries to bolster our defenses against the other Kings should they break free of their prisons. Part of the reason why Lord Mingsheng is lagging behind me is because they are bringing some of those weapons here, to use against the Encroacher. Some of Margloom's most up to date rifles and cannons. They might be our only real chance against it."
"Your Order was responsible for building the Repository, wasn't it?" Sheena said. "Kuro had to do something convoluted to contain the Encroacher the first time, but I think he mentioned the interior of the tower had machinery in it that was designed to keep him imprisoned." Most of what he had told me was hazy since it'd been the next morning after the attempted heist, and I had only been half awake at the time.
"Correct. The original Repository had to be reinforced with more magic, and then eventually technology from Margloom, to supplement the need for greater security. Eventually, the continued presence of so many laborers led to a small encampment springing up around the tower, which in time became a full city. Alas, we could not have foreseen such an event, so we had no choice but to allow it." Siyun patted the emblem of the wolf on his armor. "One of our abiding rules is that we are not to interfere with the progression of the people. For better or worse."
Alverd brought the conversation back to the here and now with a clearing of his throat. "We can have a history lesson later. What's the Steadfast's plan for stopping the Encroacher? What preparations can we make while we wait for the rest of his forces?"
Siyun gestured to the clearing we were standing in. "This is an ideal place to set up the cannons being brought. They can fire upon the Encroacher while it tries to squeeze through the narrow pass." He pointed at the opening in the rock face behind us. "The cannons will be loaded with incendiary explosives. The detonations will cause temporary harm to its body, and the resultant fire will hinder its regeneration. Once it is weakened enough, we can use the Hand of the Usurper to destroy it."
"Um, what's a cannon?" I asked. Siyun's face turned incredulous. "She's pulling my leg, right? Isn't she Ishmarian? Shouldn't she know what a cannon is?" Before I could say anything, Alverd stepped beside me and put his hand on my shoulder.
"She didn't fight in the invasion of Marevar, nor has she fought in any battles against the Forgeborn Army. But keep any other comments you have about her to yourself, if you could." If I had, I might not be here today. Still, Siyun sounded a little too condescending there for my taste.
Sheena leaned down again to speak to me. "It's a kind of siege weapon. A metal tube fitted with black powder that can launch a projectile at high speed over a long distance. Simply put, it's a larger version of the muskets Margloom produces." Then she fixed Siyun with her disapproving gaze. "Somehow I can't see Margloom too happy with the idea of their weaponry being sent out across the continent."
Shrugging, he rolled his eyes. "Like I said, I'm not in charge of decisions like that. Margloom owes a lot of what it is today to the beneficence of the Silent Sentinel himself, so if he sees fit to appropriate their weapons to keep a watchful eye on the Kings, I say let him." He gave the parchment scroll a slight smack with the back of his hand. "We're getting off track. My men have their instructions to mark locations for standard fortifications. If you can assist them I'd appreciate it. The more we have done before the reinforcements get here, the better."
After all that, I need a break. Too much of that conversation went over my head. Three of the Sentinels were pacing around in the area near the graves and the soldier's monument, inspecting the opening to the narrow Valley. Maybe they'll have something for me. Let Sheena and Alverd do the planning. "Anything I can do to help?"
The three Sentinels looked up from their work, and I got a good look at each of them. One was an elf man with grey eyes and sandy blond hair, his armor looking too big for his lithe frame. The second Sentinel was more ambiguous, his armor included a helmet styled in the fashion of the local Kierhaian form that favored full protection on all sides with a metal mask to cover the face. Although, he was tall and broad enough to make me think he had to be either a burly human or a beastman. The last in the group was a human woman with skin the same tone as mine with scars on her face and neck that had clearly had healed long ago. My attention was instantly drawn to her. "You. You're Ishmarian, like me." I couldn't hide the surprise in my voice.
She tilted her head. "Is that really so shocking?" Her tone was rough, but there was no hostility in it. "I left Ishmar a long time ago. Way before that idiot king decided to invade Marevar. Turns out there's a whole world outside my homeland, and plenty of people who were willing to hire me once they found out I was former Ishmarian military." While not as tall or built as the second man, she had enough muscle on her to fill out her armor and look more threatening than the elf. She had a two-handed claymore slung across her back, an odd choice for a scout.
Then she squinted at me. "Hey, you're a berserker." Despite her blunt statement, my hackles didn't raise, which was my usual response to being recognized as a threat. "I'll be damned. Never thought I'd see one of you out here. I've fought alongside a few of them before, and I'll never forget the way my hair stands on end when you guys are around." I was about to say something when she waved her hand. "I don't have any problem working with you, it's just I wasn't expecting it and all. I'm sure you know most of your kind don't leave Ishmar by choice."
Phew. For a second there I thought she was gonna say I looked familiar. I doubt anyone would truly know who I am, much less what I look like outside the royal family and their attendants, but with Eliza breathing down my neck I can't be too careful. "Yeah it's a long story. Probably like yours." I motioned to the Valley entrance. "What's going on over here? Any plans I can help with?"
The elf took out a piece of chalk from a satchel on his belt and started making marks on the canyon walls, drawing lines at intervals as he measured up from the ground. "Our intention is to use a controlled black powder detonation to cave in part of the cliff here. The Encroacher's body is like a liquid, so creating a conventional barricade would be useless."
On the other side of the opening, the taller Sentinel was scraping flakes of stone off the wall with some kind of chisel, then examining the shavings. "The heat from the explosions will cauterize its skin, limit its movement while it tries to regenerate itself. The stone here is brittle, and if we wedge some powder packages into some crevices we can create superheated shrapnel to damage its body." Removing a rock piton from his belt, he began chipping away at the wall, intent on making such an opening for later.
"To answer your question, yes you can help us. Line the wall inside the opening with small holes to place our charges, then find some loose stones to cover them back up." The Ishmarian woman handed me one of her pitons. I stood behind her, the two of us just inside the Valley's narrow mouth while the two men made holes in the outer wall as part of our trap. As I carved out a place to put the parcel of black powder I was given, the soldier spoke to me again. "How has it been, if you don't mind me asking? Being an Ishmarian outside of our homeland?"
Without turning from my task, I gave a straight answer. "It hasn't been easy, but I've got people who accepted me." If I didn't have Alverd and Kuro, I'd probably be wandering out in the Ishmarian wilds. Or dead. Most likely dead, since Eliza would've hunted me down. "I'm lucky that they were able to see that you can't judge everyone because of what their leaders do."
There was a short silence, then she spoke. "Me too. Believe it or not, after I left Ishmar I ended up in Irinholm for a little while. Nobody gave me a second thought. Had more food than I ever had back home and a cushy job hunting bandits. I really thought I could make a home for myself there."
"Then the invasion happened. I got swept up in it. When the refugees tried to get out of the city and flee south, an Ishmarian hunting party found us. The officer in charge outed me as one of them. He called me a deserter, and at that point it was either him or me. A six-on-one fight and I won, but not before taking a lot of nasty hits. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a triage tent in Elorik with a Margloomian medic treating me."
"So those refugees vouched for you?" I asked, incredulous.
She barked out a harsh laugh. "Oh, hell no. They wanted to make an example of me. They demanded I be turned over to the Forgeborn Army and charged with war crimes. But the Margloomians said I was a prisoner of war, so I had rights. That didn't sit well with the refugees, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. After I was treated, I was visited in my holding cell by some soldiers who said they might have an interesting opportunity for me."
Even I was smart enough to figure out where her tale was going. "They were Silent Sentinels, weren't they?" She laughed again.
"Yeah. Said the alternative was I could wait to see if I swung from a rope. I thought about how much those Marevarians hated me and it wasn't even a choice. But now, I can't help but feel like the reason I chose to accept the offer might've been for the reasons I thought it was."
"How do you figure?" I asked. "At the time, I knew the Marevarians wanted me dead. Didn't matter that I threw away my old life, as soon as they thought I was one of the enemy they saw me as one. I joined because of that. But I've been in the Order for a few years now and I think I've got a different answer. I serve the Order now because those Marevarians hate me, but I don't want them to think that all Ishmarians are like that." A pang in my chest made me catch my breath. So there are others like me. "Do you think there are others who feel the same way as you do?" I asked.
"Hell yeah there are. Too many Ishmarians join the army because they've got nowhere to go. They either starve in the street because the soldiers take their food or they turn on each other for scraps because it's either you or them. You ask me, the crown did more to keep the poor in their place than the mages ever did." She patted me on the shoulder, then handed me a small burlap sack filled with black powder.
I stuffed the sack into the opening I'd made, taking care when I put the stone I'd chiseled out of the way back over it. "Well, hopefully that will change someday. Sooner rather than later." I reached out my hand. "What's your name? I'm Alicia." The greeting was so natural that I didn't realize until after that there might be a chance my name would give away who I was. The woman didn't seem to know, though, as she took my hand and gave it a vigorous shake.
"Henrietta. But everyone around here just calls me Hen because all I ever do is get after them."
"Well, maybe if the men around here could be trusted with all the exploding stuff, they'd be the ones in here." I gave the two Sentinels at the Valley's mouth the side eye, and they scoffed at me. "That's what I'm always saying! Frankly I wouldn't trust those two with tweezers let alone their own swords. I'm always afraid they'll wake up one day and forget which side is the one they're supposed to hold and which side points at the enemy."
The elf made an irritated grunt. "We can hear you just fine, you know."
Hen grinned, her mouth stretching from ear to ear. "Yeah, I wanted you to. We're coming out." She smacked me on the shoulder. "Keep your chin up. All this plan stuff is way too big for me, but I don't mind. As long as I'm where I need to be and doing what I'm supposed to, things will work out. Little by little we'll show people we can get shit done, Alicia. Maybe one day when people talk about Ishmarians, the first thing they'll think of is that we can be relied on when shit gets tough."
I never would've imagined anyone from my homeland could be so positive. Hen can't speak for every Ishmarian, but I know one thing. One day, I want other Ishmarians to be able to live their lives the way she lives hers. If I'm to ever reclaim Ishmar, then whatever it becomes will be built on the backs of people like her. They will be the ones to have a voice, not the warmongers who threw them to die like meat to a dragon.
Admittedly, I had put the idea of how I would reform Ishmar aside while we had been dealing with all the world-ending drama over the past few weeks. Still, I'd had time to mull over some ideas, some wilder than others, during the periods of time when we were traveling. Hen's words gave weight to one of the more outlandish ideas I'd had.
Perhaps it's time for Ishmar's royal family to come to an end. Maybe if I kill Eliza and any other contenders for the throne, I should do away with the monarchy entirely and just form some kind of government where the people make their own choices. It sounded like utter chaos, but then again politics weren't my strong suit. Kuro and Sheena might have some insights. Of course, we'll have to survive this battle first.
As Hen squeezed back through the opening, she playfully cuffed the elf Sentinel over the head, putting him in a lighthearted headlock. He protested, but I could see the smile on his face as he waited for her to let him go. A world where we fight not because people hate us, but where we fight to change others' minds about who we can be. Doesn't sound bad.
The Steadfast's main force arrived earlier than expected, with sundown still in its early stages. In the failing light, his men set about placing the cannons he had brought. They were metal tubes mounted on wooden supports fitted with large wheels, although they had to be hastily assembled before they were pushed into place. In two hours, the Silent Sentinels put up their base camp, rudimentary fortifications around the Valley opening, and no fewer than five cannons placed about seventy feet back from the canyon itself.
Monaco, Sheena, Alverd and I were invited to the tent where Mingsheng was overlooking a map of the surrounding area. With him were Siyun and the commander sent from the Stone Ape garrison. When we took out places at the table, Mingsheng took a sip from a teacup he'd placed by his side before he began the meeting.
"By now you should be acquainted with the soldiers of the Order of the Silent Sentinel. Afford them the same respect and reverence as you would me. They are the experts here, and we will defer to their judgment on what is to be done regarding the Encroacher." He took out a slender case, black and covered in dozens of intricately drawn magical runes , and laid it on the table.
"It goes without saying that whoever wields the Hand of the Usurper in this battle carries an enormous responsibility. The danger it poses extends to its own wielder. You hold in your hand a sliver of Chaos itself, wrought by the Goddess Eternity into a weapon to slay divine beings." Sheepishly I raised my hand. Amused, Mingsheng gestured to me with his open palm. "Yes?"
"What kind of danger are we talking here?" A stupid question, because the obvious answer is death. I'd still like to know what I'm dealing with if I can.
Mingsheng gave me a chilling look. "The Hand contains the blood and ill intent of all the malign beings it slew during the War of the Five Kings. Even then, such power leaks from within it to corrupt the one who wields it. It will eat at your flesh, claw at your mind, and make you doubt whether what you see and hear are truly real."
No one said anything, although I could tell that Mingsheng's words weren't sitting well with Alverd. He was about to say something when Sheena reached her hand for the box. Alverd caught her wrist before she could touch it. "No, milady. You can't be serious." She fixed him with a determined scowl. "I can do it. Please put your faith in me, sir knight."
"You two are so precious. This is exactly why neither of you should be the ones to carry it." From the side of the table, Monaco had quietly slid the box over to herself, and had it tucked under her arm. "You can count on me to choose the right time to strike. I'm not here to impress anyone and I don't have any lingering feelings to interfere with my judgment. When the time comes to strike, I'll strike true."
What an obvious lie. Who does she think she's fooling? I was about to call her out when I saw the look in her eyes. There was something behind them, almost like barely contained anger. Takes one to know one. Only a fool steps towards a tarketan when she stands before her cubs. I don't know what Monaco is playing at, but I'm not in a mood to argue. I held up my hands. "I mean, if she wants to volunteer, I say let her."
Mingsheng hissed. "If we are done acting like children, we should attend to the matter of planning our strategy. I understand that the mage boy is luring the Encroacher here. I will not question how he is managing such a feat. Right now my concern is what we will do when the Encroacher arrives." He motioned to Sentinel Siyun.
"Right. Everyone gather round. We have a few hours before the Encroacher is believed to arrive, if the information I've been given is correct. So here's our plan of attack…"