Chapter 386 - The War of the Vampires part 9

Taking up our courage, taking up our weapons and banners, we marched for Uroboros.

It was perhaps a day or two too soon. There were still two outranging patrols that had yet to return, but my act of defiance, beheading the God King's majordomo, had enflamed the passions of the citizenry. Before, there had been the understanding that we must fight, even though the odds were stacked against us. Now there was a feeling that we could-- we would-- vanquish our enemies. That sudden shining optimism, the conviction that fate now smiled favorably upon us, had an irresistible momentum, and I was unwilling to let it pass.

The mortal denizens of Asharoth were delirious with excitement. The God King had haunted them all of their lives. His slavers had hounded them, his Masters had subjugated them and his minions had fed upon them like ravenous leeches, for generation after generation. And now we would challenge them. Now we would cast them down from their mountain. Now we would sweep away the shadow that had lain upon the world for as long as mortal man's recall.

We were going to bring it all to an end!

Our mortal brothers and sisters followed us from the city, singing our praises, casting flowers onto our path. They laughed and danced with us, shouting encouragement and blessings. A handful of mortal children, who were up way past their bedtime, raced beside us with their little bows and spears. Mortal men took up arms and fell into step at our side. Their wives dragged at their waists, pleading with them to stay, but they would not be turned from their intent, not by tears, not by curses, not by promises or threats. War had come, and though they had chosen to live their lives in the sun, they felt that they must fight. For their wives, who begged them not to go. For their children with their little bows and spears.

I marched at the head of this lunatic parade, pumping Edron's skull in the air like a drum major's baton. Even as I marched, my couriers went racing away with his Divided body. "Take the pieces to the ends of the earth," I told them. "I care not where you hide them, but choose the places well, and tell no one where you have hidden them!"

Zenzele marched at my side, wagging her arms energetically, eyes set on Uroboros. Vehnfear loped ahead of us, tail stiff with excitement. Our generals came and went as we summoned them to us and sent them away with fresh orders.

"Take your units north as soon as you are clear of the pass," I said to Rayna as she jogged alongside me. "I want you to cross up and around the great riverlands before heading to Fen'Dagher. Join with Tapas and his men if you can find them. Your only concern is the liberation of the Tanti. Get them away from Uroboros. If the God King has already disposed of them-- and I'm fairly certain he will-- then you are to liberate as many slaves as you can. Wreak havoc. Spare no one but the slave caste and any allies Irema may have found."

Rayna nodded briskly at each point.

"Show our enemies no mercy," I said to her. "This is the end, Rayna. It is us or them, our peace or their rule."

"No mercy," she said, and dashed away to join her squad.

I had little hope that Khronos would spare the Tanti. In striking down Master Edron, I had shown the God King that there would be no bargaining, no brokering for peace, and that made them useless to him. My only hope was that he would be so preoccupied readying his troops for battle that he forgot all about them. Slim hope, I know, but I clung stubbornly to it. I refused to give them up until I knew their fate for certain. So far Aioa had had no visions. And Zenzele could not use her Eye. Every time she sent it out, hoping to spy on our enemies, the God King immediately and ferociously rebuffed her.

We crossed the White Snake, leaping across its foaming cataracts. It was an awesome sight, hundreds of immortals taking to the air at once, soaring across the winding river in their vast numbers. The way they bound over the waterway was very fluid-like itself. It was as if one river were springing up over the other. I could not help but stop and stare. The sound of their passage was very fluid-like, too: the rumble of a great waterfall. It resounded in the air like a physical thing. I could feel it humming in my skin, making my teeth chatter.

What must Khronos be thinking, I wondered, to see this great mass of immortals coming to wage war on him? To know that this awesome host was united by a single ambition: his complete and utter destruction?

I know what I would be doing. I would be trying to decide which direction to run.

But that, I knew, was not what Khronos was doing.

He would be organizing his defenses, mobilizing his troops. He would be scheming and setting traps. So arrogant was he that it probably wouldn't even occur to him that he might lose this war.

I knew this as I knew my own heart. I had tasted his Blood. The tainted residue of his personality, and all of his memories, resided in my mind like a malicious spirit haunting a dark cave.

He would be just as contemptuous as ever.

And just as overconfident.

I wished I could see into Uroboros as Khronos could spy upon us. It would be good to know what defenses he was erecting, where he was placing his troops, how he planned to meet us in battle. But I would not ask Zenzele to send out her Eye again. Each time she did, Khronos sensed her invisible presence and lashed out viciously at her, and his mental powers were much more potent than hers. He had had twenty thousand years to hone them. Each attack left Zenzele visibly shaken, drained her of her vitality, and I needed her to be strong. I needed her to be fierce.

We will take it as it comes, I said to myself. Whatever tactics he chose to employ. Whatever deceptions he devised. We would meet them head on, and we would overcome them. Or we would fail and be destroyed.

Please, ancestors, look favorably upon me, I prayed. Give me your wisdom! Help me to defeat my enemies!

"The mortals have fallen behind," Zenzele said, looking over her shoulder. "They cannot keep up."

"I did not expect them to," I replied.

"They may become a hindrance to us."

"I know, but I will not order them to turn back. I doubt if they'd obey me even if I did. This is as much their fight as it is ours."

Though I did not speak it aloud, I was very proud of the mortal men and women who had decided to join us in battle. In truth, they were far braver than we immortals. All of them could die. Many of us could not. I felt it would be a great dishonor to deprive them of this moment, this chance to rid the world of the blight that was the God King.

"We could carry them," Zenzele suggested. "Help them to keep up."

"No," I answered. "Let them fall behind. Perhaps it will keep them out of harm's way. I respect their desire to join us in this fight, but we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by them. They live and die by their own resolve, the same as any of us."

She nodded.

We traversed the narrow western pass then, crossing into the broad flat grasslands of the Russian steppe. The air there was cool and crisp, the sky clear and the stars very bright and distinct. The moon, nearly full, looked close enough to reach out and pluck from the heavens, like a ripe fruit. We waited as the rest of our troops moved slowly through the pass, for it was something of a bottleneck, despite the fact that our soldiers could quite literally climb the walls. Many of them chose to scamper over the mountains, clinging to the near vertical surfaces like insects, rather than bunch up with the others on the ground. It slowed us down, but we used the time to rest and regroup.

I conferred with my generals as we waited for our army to come through the pass, going over our plans and debating contingency plans should those first plans be somehow thwarted.

"Above all, we must not underestimate Khronos," I said. "He may be arrogant, but he is also exceedingly cunning. We must expect deceit and trickery. We must be prepared for appalling brutality. He will be fighting for his life, and he will be utterly ruthless."

Rayna joined us, and Aioa, too.

"My units have come through the pass," she reported.

I nodded, reiterated her orders and directed her to depart immediately. "May your ancestors show you favor," I said.

"And you as well," she said. She embraced her maker Zenzele then. "Mother," she said. Zenzele kissed her on the cheek, an uncharacteristic display of affection, and then Rayna tromped briskly away, her golden plait swinging between her shoulders.

"I think the rest are very nearly through the pass," I said.

"Except for the mortals," Bhorg remarked.

"I expect they'll need to rest soon," I said. "We, however, will continue on. The mortals can catch up to us while we sleep through the day."

Aioa, who had stooped to pet Vehnfear, scowled and touched her brow. She knelt that way for a moment, brow wrinkled, as if she were trying to solve a particularly vexing problem.

I took note of her puzzled expression and broke off from consulting with Neolas. "Aioa, what is it?" I asked.

Her eyes bulged. "Oh, no!" she cried out. "Oh, no! No, please!"

"Tell me what you see!"

I went to her, raised her up by the arms. Blood tears streaked down her cheeks as she stared at me-- stared through me-- seeing through her sister's eyes. "Oh, grandfather!" she sobbed. "It is happening! They are slaughtering the Tanti!"

My heart clenched painfully in my chest. If your heart has ever broken, truly broken, you know the pain I am speaking of. It is a very real pain, a terrible, deep, overriding pain, but I tried to ignore it, tried to push past it. There would be plenty of time later to regret all the decisions I had made, all the loved ones I had sacrificed. All of eternity, in fact. For the moment, I needed information.

"Tell me what is happening," I said.

"The Uroborans are coming down from Fen'Dagher! So many of them, like angry hornets! Khronos is sending his warriors out to meet us. His men… they have taken some of the Tanti away, separated them, but the rest--! Irema, where is Meegan? Has she been spared? Where is my daughter?"

"Look at me!" I shouted.

Aioa recoiled from my shout, but her eyes focused on me. She looked at my face, which is what I had intended.

Speaking through her, using the link she shared with her sister, I addressed Irema: "Granddaughter, listen to me! We are coming! If you have made allies among the rebels, it is time for them to rise up! Give them the Blood, make as many blood drinkers as you can, convince them it is time to fight! We are coming, Irema!"

Before I could say anything else, Aioa let out a piercing shriek. It was the cry of all hope lost. "Meegan!" she wailed, and then she collapsed into my arms, sobbing inconsolably. "Oh, Meegan! Meegan!"

As she sobbed against my chest, saying her daughter's name over and over, Vehnfear raised his head and howled.