It was a long, uncomfortable journey, taking forever to cover a short distance, with far too much ‘up and down’ rather than ‘moving forward’. Even when Stathis used her wings to carry them over a particularly sharp series of ravines, it didn’t carry them far forward, mostly just up, although Semari enjoyed it. The sphere was still bitterly cold to the touch, freezing to skin if it ever touched. Vrintar’s fur had frozen solid and hard, almost as painful to touch as the orb itself.

As dawn broke, the light made their movement a bit easier, it now being possible to see handholds. Not that Semari seemed to care, pulling herself up the sheerest of rockfaces without any sign of effort, impatiently waiting for Stathis and Vrintar to catch up. Well, mostly Stathis – Vrintar was indefatigable and used to the terrain, guiding the way and helping Stathis up, often hauling her bodily up the final stretch of each climb, then hurrying off as Stathis tried to gather her breath.

They were on a tiny track atop the mountains around the valley. From here, she could see the castle, the massed numbers of undead now blocking the road in both directions. Behind what could be seen from the castle were even more blocks of undead, slowly shambling forward and getting into position to press the attack. Stathis sighed and kept trudging on, body aching and stiff. The dawn bought an attack, the undead moving forward, arrows shooting back from the walls. An icestorm thundered into existence, breaking apart a large block of attackers, breaking up a shielded formation.

From this high up, it seemed strangely dry and dispassionate, despite the danger to those involved. Stathis’ power was drained from getting this far, so she couldn’t fly the rest of the way. A dome of darkness bloomed above zombies carrying a battering ram, momentum slowing as they fell prey to ice and acid.

Semari jumped down next to her, annoyingly perky. ‘Thought you’d be, like, moving faster, wanting to get back.’

‘I’m bloody trying! Just because you’re half goat or something, I can’t keep up.’

‘Hey, don’t be mean. Goats are creepy and weird, and these cliffs aren’t that bad. Just gotta pay attention.’

‘I saw you run up a cliff face. I can’t do that, even Vrintar has to climb! I hope there’s an easier way down, I don’t know if I can face that much more climbing.’ She’d be glad to take her armour off, although that might not be for a while still, with the siege still going on.

Vrintar pointed at a tree, growing out of the side of a cliff, marked with a symbol similar to her tattoos. There was another tiny, hardscrabble path there, at least this time heading downwards.

It took them most of the morning, skidding and bouncing down slopes, almost dropping off cliffs several times, slowly winding their way downwards. The battles continued, although more slowly, the attackers trying to drain the strength and morale of the defenders, but not risking too many of their own forces. They seemed strangely cautious, considering their forces were undead – maybe they only had limited numbers and wanted to preserve them, and so any that were lost without getting repaired were gone. That made their numerical advantage less terrifying, although there were still far too many of them, fifty or more for every defender. The necromancers still hadn’t shown their own faces, presumably worried about taking damage personally.

Stathis stumbled, losing her footing and skidding and tripping down the scree slope, trying to stop herself without success, before Vrintar grabbed at her, jerking her backwards, stopping her slide. ‘Thanks! Are we almost there?’ Vrintar nodded. ‘Thank the gods for that! I’ll be glad to get onto vaguely solid ground.’

Vrintar turned out to have rather different ideas of ‘almost’ than Stathis, it being several more hours, the sun almost directly above them in the sky, before they were back onto flat, solid ground for more than a few paces. Another attack was being repulsed, battlecries from the castle contrasting with the utter silence of the undead.

Semari ran ahead, jumping forward and climbing up the wall with ease, a surprised soldier stabbing at her, attack easily evaded and disarmed. A few minutes later, a rope was thrown down, and they were able to climb up, Stathis having to fumble awkwardly between the rope and the orb, feeling the icy-burning chill biting through her armour.

Up on the walls, the soldiers saluted, then saw the orb and stepped smartly back. The sounds of combat had gone, the air now quiet except for the sounds of gear being repaired, soldiers grabbing food. A few had arranged themselves in corners, managing to grab some sleep while they could.

Stathis led the way through the castle, walking as quickly as she could without running, wanting to put the damn orb down and save herself from the prickling, burning cold. A sudden floral scent was all the warning she had as Janaxia stepped out from a doorway, almost bumping into her. Her chainmail was even more obviously styled than before, the dark metal gleaming with an ebon shine, spikes atop the shoulders, a cloak flaring out behind her. Although the cleavage window had returned, showing off the edge off the tattoo, and an open invitation to any archer. The chains hanging from her horns now bore a crimson lustre, the gold looking like it had been run through fresh blood, rubies glinting with a disconcerting inner light.

She smiled when she saw them, a touch predatory, lash starting to glow. ‘High Colonel Stathis, it appears your mission was successful.’ She reached out – were the nails on her hand longer now? They certainly hadn’t been that red before, had they? When she flicked the orb, there was a quiet, glassy “chink”, purple energy flaring out. ‘Although you should have been more careful, it appears damaged. Hakara will be most upset. See?’

She gestured at a barely-visible hairline crack in the sphere. When Stathis moved her hand over it, she could feel that the cold was more intense there. ‘Shit, is it dangerous?’ As Janaxia moved her hand back, a faint shimmer of purple energy followed, before fading away.

‘A conduit to the negative energy plane? Such a thing is scarcely conducive to lengthy life, but limited exposure should prevent few issues. Hakara seems well versed in the underlying principles and should be able to affect the necessary protections. Now, I believe you will wish to hear how the siege is progressing? It seems quite invigorating so far; the frisson of danger is quite appealing, although I suppose it may pall soon enough.’

Stathis looked at Janaxia again – she looked slightly fevered, skin flushed, a mildly manic grin. Was she starting to fall into battle mania? She seemed unlikely to go into a frothing frenzy and charge into combat, at least while wearing the chainmail and struggling to move properly, but seeing her so enthusiastic was odd. There didn’t seem to be anything ancient here, so it might just be Janaxia being odd, or some delayed after-effect from something else. Or just being stuck in a siege – normally it took longer before people started to snap and fray, but this was Janaxia’s first time against a proper army, and some people .

Janaxia led the way, her short cloak billowing dramatically as she strode ahead, having acclimatised enough to the armour to maintain a rigid posture, managing a surprisingly decent job of looking like she knew what she was doing. ‘How was the combat? I saw some of it from above, your darkness spells did a good job blocking the enemy advances.’

‘Well, one does try, of course. I can see how it might pall after a while, but it is certainly rather different being able to see the enemy advance, rather than stumbling around in the dark and hoping not to be ambushed. Something with a little more vitality would be nice though – this is simply target practice, something that objects to being attacked would be better sport and a little more fun. A target should at least beg for mercy or suchlike, to simply soundlessly suffer injuries and expire is rather tiresome after a while.’

They walked past an arrowslit, sunlight casting bright and angled shadows. Janaxia’s was wreathed in horns and spikes, curling tendrils of blackness that bore no relationship to her physical shape. Stathis increased her pace, hoping no-one else had noticed, before they came to the briefing room.

‘Janaxia, you need to go and rest, prepare your spells for the next wave.’

‘I believe I can endure for a little longer, but if you insist.’ It was probably for the best that her laziness was even more intense than whatever weird spirit-stuff was going on with her, as she turned and walked away, glossy black military boots shining brightly. As long as she didn’t try and eat anyone’s soul until this was after, when she could hopefully be contained! Stathis knocked and then entered.

The map had been changed, now a close focus on the castle and immediate surrounds. The black blocks had multiplied significantly, set into massed ranks and sealing them in, a large disc being used to mark the enemy camp.

‘Major Colobra, Knight Stathis reporting.’ Stathis saluted. ‘Our mission was a success.’ She tried finding somewhere to put the sphere down that wouldn’t result in the bitterly cold ice and condensation damaging documents or freezing and destroying wood, settling for dropping it into a discarded helmet, enchanted glass knocking against metal.

Herith nodded. ‘We noticed a disruption in their lines during the night, I assume that was related? Very good. Anything else to report?’

Semari poked the sphere, having to shake her hand to detach it, the cold intense enough to freeze it to her flesh. ‘They’ve got a big bastard. Like, a giant, I think?’

Stathis nodded. ‘We took a leg out, but they can probably patch it up. It’s going to be resistant to most ranged attacks and taking the field against it with everything else there will be a problem. We fought and probably killed one of the wizards, but I have no idea of how many there are. I counted at least eight wagons, but it was dark and we couldn’t see much. Semari, Vrintar, you scouted more; either of you get a decent count?’

Vrintar held up both hands, all fingers extended, then closed both fists, opening up one and keeping the other closed.

‘So, about fifteen? Depending on how squashed up they are, that means there’s potentially quite a few of them. I’d guess at least one wizard per wagon as a minimum.’

Herith nodded. ‘Thank you. There has been no sign of magicians aiding the assaults thus far, although we have seen some of the, uh, defeated begin to heal and pull themselves away, presumably to get patched up in the backlines. It’s too dangerous to open the gates to send anyone out to destroy them, and I’d rather not waste our ammunition.’ She moved over to the orb, carefully touching it with a dagger, cold visibly conducting itself along the blade. ‘So, what can be done with this?’

Stathis shrugged. ‘No idea. It gave them power or something, so it’s probably better that they don’t have it. Are any of the specialists available? This is more their domain than mine. We lost track of Parth as well – she’s probably hidden in the wilderness, but we should keep an eye out in case she needs help.’

Herith shook her head. ‘Thrice-Queen Parthenelle will have to fend for herself. We don’t have the forces to risk a full sally forth. But she seems skilled enough to endure.’

The specialists were called, Hakara accompanying them. While Janaxia was perky and sprightly, Hakara looked tired and drained, but she still moved towards the sphere, carefully examining it without touching it. Runic circles hovering near it, their neat and precise shapes fading into ill-defined glowing shapes.

She turned to the others, talking in hushed tones, a few whispered phrases barely audible – “inverted energy polarities”, “coalesced inherent nexus point” and the like. Stathis whispered to Herith. ‘Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?’

Herith paused before answering, weighing her words. ‘Only a little. I didn’t have the time for more than the introductory magecraft elective, and I mostly crammed that before the exam. It sounds as though this thing is quite powerful, so we can’t just smash it. How badly did you damage the giant?’

‘Wrecked a leg, so it’ll be limping. But it’s most of the height of the walls and could probably bring the gate down with a few smashes. I’m hoping it’s just the one!’

‘Any sign of the flyer?’

‘Sorry, we didn’t get much chance to investigate. They didn’t seem to have watchers others than more necromancers though, there was no watch or mercenaries or anything, just undead.’

‘Good. That means if we can get through to them, then we have a chance to end this.’

Stathis glanced over, checking the wizards weren’t listening. ‘There’s a lot more of them. Up on the peaks, I could see that there’s more blocks of them moving up from behind.’

‘So it’s defeat the summoners or bust? So much for an easy first command! Some heavy cavalry would be fantastic right now, break through and make a direct attack. Although if Semari, Parth and Vrintar can catch any of them, that should be a quick fight.’

‘Yup. I’m hoping Parth is going to be distracting them from doing anything too obvious. An arrow to the head stops most spellcasting, I find.’

The cluster of wizards broke apart, Kelnara stepping forward. ‘We have come to a conclusion, Major Colobra. That device is too powerful to be safely destroyed, but we can contain it here. Mercenary-specialist Trevant believes she can contain it’s power somewhat, severing it from this realm and weakening the creatures linked to it, but it will take much of her focus and limit her from battlefield engagement roles.’

Herith nodded, tapping the table. ‘To what degree? Those ice storms have been invaluable for breaking up attacking formations. Specialist Trevant?’

‘It will be a continual strain – once the initial effect is created, then it can be transferred to a certain degree, but the bearer will be largely incapable of casting more advanced spells, or adequately resting to restore their magic.’ She pulled out a piece of paper, scribbled and barely legible calculations filling it. ‘We have attempted to calculate how long each of us could bear the strain for, before needing to transfer it. I can probably manage for approximately a day and a half, Kelnara for half a day, and the others less by various degrees.’

‘And Specialist Janaxia?’

Hakara glanced over at Stathis, looking for backup. ‘Ah, I believe she would not be an acceptable subject. There are, um, unfavourable magical resonances that could cause a sympathy feedback cascade that would likely have negative ramifications. Both to Janaxia, and most of the surrounding area, likely to a distance of several miles.’

Stathis nodded, trying to look like she knew what was being talked about. ‘Janaxia uses strange magic, but that does mean that she doesn’t need a full night of rest to function, no matter what she says. Get her a room near the walls, tell her it’s super-fancy and rotate her in and out regularly. She can also see in the dark, so she’s good on the night watch. But she probably shouldn’t be used to focus dark magic or anything, it’ll do strange stuff to her own powers. I think?’

Hakara gave her a smile of thanks. ‘Yes, precisely. What are your orders, Major Colobra?’

Herith considered. ‘What are the effects of draining it’s power likely to be?’

There was another flurry of highly complex conversation, Herith and Stathis sharing a look of mutual confusion until Hakara spoke. ‘I believe it would lessen the range of their command – while they would be able to order their forces forward, their behaviour would be easier to predict, unless they were to move their own casters forward.’

‘Do it. We need those casters somewhere we can get to them. They probably won’t come within bowshot, but if we get them in charge range, we have a chance, and there’s always the chance they’ll screw up.’

‘Very well.’

One of the other wizards cast a spell, a sphere of energy appearing around the orb and lifting it into the air. The magic immediately began to turn dark purple, water condensing around it in the empty air. ‘We will be in the specialist’s chamber. Please try to avoid interrupting us unless it’s urgent.’

‘Understood. Let me know when the task is done.’

The wizards let in a group, already discussing their task.

Herith rubbed her eyes, tired already. ‘Gods, let this work. We could do with some victory, and something to draw the bastards out. Although I don’t like having a thing like that in the castle. It puts a clock on us though, if our mages are having to rotate in and out, and can’t properly rest most of the time. Having Hakara on the walls would be preferable, but it’s more important to keep that thing bound. Puts a lot of weight on Janaxia though. If she turns traitor…’

Stathis shook her head. ‘She won’t. She’s got her problems, but she’s never shown any particular loyalty to her family. Well, none of the living ones, at least. If she was going to do something, she’s had long enough to do it already. As long as there’s not a chance to slack off for some fancy clothing, food, wine or sex, she’ll be quite focused.’

‘Right. I really hope you’re right, if she goes evil or kill-crazy, then we’re all doomed. Aren’t those demon’s horns on her head? What did she do, kill something and turn them into a hat?’

‘Something like that, yes. That was at Redcastle, the whole thing was a bit of a mess. But the worst thing she’s likely to do is steal any nice booze or stiff you on a food tab. Anyway, may I be dismissed? Wake me if there’s an attack, but at least some time out of armour would be nice!’

‘Very well. You are dismissed, Knight Stathis. Go rest.’

‘Thank you, Major.’

Stathis made an exit, trying to ignore the shivering, chill-frost searing at her soul, like sitting next to an open window in a blizzard. What the hell were they doing to the orb? She managed to make it back to the cottage, making sure to be seen that she had returned, before crashing out into bed, swiftly falling asleep, despite the shivering cold trying to stab at her soul.