Last to Rise(43)

On two sides of the main plaza, a maze of spire-topped buildings that looked spun out of light and air, outlined by Glow-moths so they almost seemed on fire. On another side, nothing but space and the long drop – from there you could look down over the city if you were brave enough to get close to the edge, could see the dark smudge of it spreading beneath you like an oilstain, sticky and black.



On the last side, what had been the Home of the Goddess was now a sad pile of rubble, stripped of anything we could rip out to trade with the Mishans for food and raw materials. Wherever I go, I always like to make a lasting impression, and what I’d done to the Home of the Goddess was no different. She was going to have to find somewhere else to sleep.



It was nice being able to saunter past the Specials on the gate – well, nice for us. They looked like they’d been force-fed their own entrails, but they let us past with nothing more than a sour look. Still, no one was executing anyone up here today so I tried to stay jaunty. Got to take it while you can.



We found Perak at the true Top of the World, a circular platform that soared above everything else, seemingly over and above even the very tops of the mountains that looked far-off and yet very real from there. There wasn’t even a nice handrail to hang on to, and with that and the wind that whipped my coat out behind me, I got a bit watery around the courage bone. I sucked it up and put a face on it, because looking weak in front of your little brother, well, I just didn’t like to. Besides, Jake was here too, fresh from her little jaunt down the tunnel and looking like she’d loved every minute of it. I wasn’t about to look chickenshit in front of her. Pasha bit his lip to stop a grin, and had to turn away when I glared at him, but I made it without screaming or gibbering to where Perak stood, looking into a telescope he’d had set on to a tripod, and the tripod set into the stone right at the edge of the platform.



I kept my eyes on Perak rather than look at the drop – if I looked that way, it would all end in tears. Mine. Naturally, Perak’s first words made sure I had to sodding well look.



“Use the telescope, there where I’ve set it. Tell me what you think.”



I put my big boy’s pants on, held on to the tripod like it was a long-lost friend, and took a look. I’d thought I was going to see a bird’s-eye view of the shattered gates. That would have been bad enough. Instead I got an eyeful of the bulky shoulder of one of the mountains to the north, about on a level with Trade, where the buildings broke free of stone and the mountains receded into craggy spires to rival Top of the World. Across this bulky shoulder, a path had been carved. The pass that they said our city was founded on.



My knees went as watery as my courage bone. I think I may have sworn, quite nastily, because Pasha said, “What?” though he must have had an idea.



Luckily I was saved from answering in what would have been a rather squeaky little voice. I know doom when I see it.



“What Allit saw,” Perak said. “Whatever his precise talent, this is what he says he saw, what Jake confirmed for me as I’m sure she’s told you. And it’s coming. Sooner than we thought.”



Men, machines, mountains. I’d thought the Storad already at the gates were bad enough – they darkened the small valley that they’d camped in, left nothing but men and tents all across it. There were perhaps twice that number on the pass, maybe more. Not just men either. Oh no, that would be too easy. Machines they already had, one of which we’d totally scuppered, one they’d finally taken down the outer gates with. I could see two more of those on the pass, as well as one of the mutant machines, or whatever it was, from Allit’s vision. Allit had seen more than that, but the cavalcade at the other end of the telescope hadn’t finished coming around the cold shoulder of the mountain.



Pasha took his own look through the telescope, and when he’d finished he’d gone a pale shade of gutted – must have been different seeing it through his own eyes rather than someone else’s.



“What’s the plan, Perak?” I asked. “You do have a plan, right?”



Perak paced up and down, far too close to the edge for my liking, but he didn’t seem to notice the drop. Too busy thinking. “This changes things. A lot. But I’ve been thinking on it since Jake confirmed it. Taking advisement, from Jake, Malaki, Guinto even. Sadly some of the cardinals have suggested a thing or two but, well, let’s not talk about that except to say I’m not sending anyone against them unarmed, I don’t care if the Downsiders do want to shoot all the cardinals too. I want to shoot half of them.” He took a calming breath. “It’ll take the Storad time to get down to their camp. Those machines aren’t moving fast. Lise’s shield, if we can get that working… but still, the Storad already through will need dealing with.”