Seven Sorcerers(108)
Still we wait. Serene. A wedge of seven monoliths with Vireon at our head.
“Zyung!” Once again Vireon thunders at the unseen Conqueror. There is no telling which of the airships carries Zyung, yet it does not matter.
We will draw him out like a Serpent from its cave.
Sungui had expected the defenders of Uurz to come blazing through the air like ferocious meteors, blasting holes in dreadnoughts as Khama had done above the Jade Isles. Yet the armada had crossed the green plain with no sign of resistance, until the gold-green city came into view. There, like great pillars before the massive gates, stood the sorcerers Iardu had assembled.
Giants, all seven of them now, with the wind in their hair and defiance in their eyes.
Sungui stood on the foredeck of the Daystar with Gammir and Ianthe. Zyung remained hidden inside his council chamber, yet his awareness spread across the armada as a stifling pressure in the moist air. Now his mental command rang like a gong in their heads. The captains of the great ships began swinging their vessels into siege formation. The double wings of the Daystar flapped in unison with those on either side of her, and the aerial fleet spread itself about the city with practiced precision. The sky-ships fixed themselves between the golden towers and the blazing sun, casting bright Uurz into shadow.
Along the ramparts the ranks of northern Giants were assembled for a fresh slaughter. How eager these brutes were to throw away their lives. They had died in the thousands at Shar Dni, where the New Holy Mountain had absorbed their bones. The Men of the city were far greater in number. They had little choice in the matter of defense, for it was their city that would fall today. The Giants might easily run to their icy northland and leave these humans to their fate. Sungui admired the loyalty of Giants, if not their common sense. They would stay and perish alongside the Men of Uurz.
She expected Zyung to fall eventually beneath the power of Iardu’s band, as Ianthe’s plan had all but ensured. Yet before that moment came, Uurz would suffer and burn. A flood of death would drown the green plain, no matter who conquered this day. Like the stubborn navies who died in defense of Ongthaia, the defenders of Uurz were bound to enter death’s kingdom by the power of their own oaths, their vain pride, and the cruel honor shared by all warriors.
Let them die, Sungui mused. As long as Zyung falls with them.
She would help make it so.
Yet first Ianthe’s coven must continue the charade of serving the Almighty. Make a show of assaulting his enemies and razing this city. The bones that were scattered across the ruined steppe would not be raised into a Holy Mountain. They would be left to rot in the sun and drown in the mud, until the Land of the Five Cities had entirely forgotten them.
Sungui sighed. The last of the armada had assembled itself about the city, with the Daystar floating in the outermost ring. Great, golden birds of prey waiting to strike.
“The Son of Vod will challenge Zyung first,” said Ianthe. “His honor demands it.” Her hand lingered on Sungui’s shoulder. The Panther’s touch was a constant murmur of pleasure.
“Vireon is a fool,” Gammir said. “He believes that he owns the strength of Vod, and he will prove it by crossing blades with the God-King yet again. Yet even Vod could not stand against Zyung’s power.”
“And if you were Vireon?” Sungui asked. “What would you do?” Her eyes lingered on the seven patient Giants before the gates of Uurz.
Gammir’s lupine face regarded Sungui with contempt. His yellow eyes narrowed. “I would surrender and strike later, when my enemy least expected it.”
“Of course,” Sungui said. More likely you would run and hide like a viper in some deep-earth crevice. She looked forward to parting ways with the Wolf when today’s deed was done. She would miss Ianthe’s touch, but not the presence of her minion.
Vireon’s voice rattled the sky, and Zyung’s unspoken command echoed once more in the minds of Seraphim, Captains, and Manslayers. The firing tubes of the dreadnoughts emerged from their glistening hulls, pointed like a million accusing fingers at the city below. Sungui admired the expansive gardens and orchards, the marbled streets and plazas, the sheer beauty of the Uurzian palace. All of this would soon be no more.
As surely as Ongthaia had drowned, Uurz would burn.
She watched the impassive faces of the High Seraphim across the decks of nearby ships. How many would choose annihilation over revolt today?
A second mental command resounded, and the Seraphim floated from their ships into the air, converging above the gates of Uurz and its seven titans. Protective spheres of light blinked to life about each of their hovering bodies. Zyung had called forth his High Ones.