Daegan watched as dark figures moved in the shadows beyond the perimeter of the wooden wall. Every few moments, a grenadier would hurl a gunpowder pouch off the battlements, a second later it would explode in a bright and deafening blast. The flash would illuminate the area where it landed. In those moments, Daegan caught glimpses of lithe figures moving about like demons. They moved quickly. As fast as Landryn’s bloodshedders with their stormstones.

Archers sent volleys of arrows into the darkness in hopes of taking one down, to Daegan it was a mystery how they could have any idea of where to shoot. He held out his own revolver and tried firing a few shots into the darkness but it was useless. There was no point in shooting blindly. Even if he could see them clearly, the revolver’s aim wasn’t nearly as accurate as the bows. His weapon was more suited to closer range.

One of the stonebreakers looked at him confused when he asked the man to fill the eradite in his revolver with metal. The runestone powered weapon was very much a luxury item than a practical one so the concept was lost on the man.

“It’s the size of the eradite,” Tanlor noted when Daegan returned to their position, “I think if we replace it with a bigger eradite it’ll have much better capacity. It’s quick to fill, the runes they’ve made on it look different to a standard topaz. They must help it fill faster. The thing’s probably meant to be wielded by a runewielder.” There was no insult in Tanlor’s remark and Daegan found that his throat didn’t close up at the comment.

“Wouldn’t someone with an eradite be able to just make their own projectiles, why would they need a gun?”

“Shaping’s hard,” Tanlor shrugged. “Learning to dissolve and fill an eradite is a relatively easy thing to pick up… but shaping a projectile, firing it and keeping it on course. Not a lot of people master that, even with years of training.”

“So it’s a lazy runewielders weapon, then?”

“Suppose it is,” Tanlor laughed. An actual laugh. Daegan wasn’t exactly sure what caused the change in Tanlor’s demeanour. Maybe he still has a concussion. But Daegan was grateful for the change in him.

“Anyway they probably didn’t anticipate someone like you using it,” Tanlor continued, “that’s only a fleck of eradite in there. I reckon if we add a decent sized one,” he held out his finger and thumb demonstrating the size of a coin, “about this big maybe. We can increase the hold on that thing to a hundred… maybe.”

“That would be decent,” Daegan replied, looking at the revolver in his hand. A hundred bullets in such a tiny thing.

“I didn’t realise most stonebreakers never learned shaping,” Daegan said, partly because he was nervous and wanted a distraction until the rak shadows moved closer into range and partly because he was curious. He’d always assumed that runewielding came easy to everyone else. He’d thought that it was gaps in wealth and access to runestones that kept most people from being master runewielders. Probably that too.

“I can shape… but it’s slow,” Tanlor replied, “far too slow to be of any use in battle. Rowan’s the same. Takes a lot of discipline and a good measure of natural talent from what I understand. We’re trained enough to hold our own against an enemy runewielder but our expertise lies more in our sword skills.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“‘I suppose you’ve had plenty of opportunity the past few weeks. There’s been no shortage of fighting,” Tanlor didn’t take his eyes off the moving shadows, the conversation with Daegan was simply an aside to his main focus.

“I’m sorry for that,” Daegan confessed. And he truly was, he’d spent so much of his life without any regard for the safety of those around him.

“Don’t be,” Tanlor fixed him then with a thoughtful look, “honestly… the past few weeks. This is what I’d always imagined my work would be like. Working for the Arch-Duke… my days aren’t particularly exciting.”

“Sentinel duty,” Daegan nodded. That’s what his own guards referred to it as.

“Aye,” Tanlor grinned, “fucking boring listening to you lot talk nonsense in meetings all day.”

“Us lot?”

“Highborn… and Keltin wants daily reports on who discusses what. Always with the schemes and politics between nobles, guildmasters and merchants,” Tanlor shook his head, “I don't know what kind of people enjoy that kind of thing but I don’t want it to be my story.”

“What do you want it to be?”

“I…” Tanlor looked out across the battlements, his shoulders squared as dark figures started appearing over the tops of the outer wooden wall. “This,” he said, resolutely. “They’re within range.”

Tanlor hefted a crossbow and took aim at one of the shadowy forms. At this distance they didn’t seem that large to Daegan but he remembered standing by that wall and looking up at the height of it, twice his size. Some of those figures looked like they could reach the top with an extended arm. They really are giants.

Tanlor let loose a bolt that fired towards a rak just beyond the wall. Daegan didn’t see if it landed and was busy aiming his revolver at another that had already cleared the wall and was dashing across the keep yard.

Daegan was just about to pull on the trigger when the rak threw a hand up into the air. A peel of crashing thunder sounded as a projectile thrown by a grenadier exploded mid-flight in a flash of bright light. A runewielder! Even with the illuminating flare of the blast the rak still appeared to be completely black, like he was made of darkness.

“Tanlor,” Daegan said, hurriedly pointing at the approaching rak, “he’s got a topaz.” Tanlor’s gaze—and the direction of his crossbow—whipped towards the rak Daegan indicated. A bolt was loosed towards him and again the rak threw up an outstretched arm and the bolt erupted in flame and turned to ash in fractions of a second.

“Impossible!” Tanlor gasped.

More of the dark shapes were clearing the walls now and Daegan felt fear mounting in him. He’d foolishly presumed that their superior numbers and the advantage of the battlements gave them an assured victory.

“Stonebreaker!” Tanlor called out across to the other side of the tower, catching the attention of a helmed man that was forming lengths of stone projectiles. “Take him down!” Tanlor pointed at the runewielder rak. The man looked to Tanlor and then to Commander Crann who was busy directing the archers and grenadiers at another set of oncoming rakmen. The stonebreaker nodded and then fired his projectile towards the rak.

The lithe black figure leapt aside and the stonespear crashed into the earth. The rak cleared a set of stakes in the ground and was fast approaching the main building. The stonebreaker began forming another stonespear and Tanlor kept on firing crossbow bolts in succession. Each bolt erupted in flames and ash before hitting their mark. Daegan tried to fire a few shots too but the accuracy of the revolver even at this distance was too poor. The riflemen on the battlements also didn’t seem to be having much luck taking down any of the oncoming rak.

This isn’t working.

“This is useless,” Tanlor spat, then cursed as the rak launched himself at the wall of the connecting building. He landed against it and he scaled up with astonishing speed. He was followed a second later by another pair of rakmen. He must have an eradite too, Daegan realised. The rak was climbing up forming handholds in the stone and his comrades were following in his wake.

Commander Crann was shouting for attention on the other side of the tower and Daegan realised with horror that on the other side there was another rak runewielder following the same path-forging tactic.

“Shit, this is too coordinated for rakmen,” Tanlor said, then aimed his crossbow at one of the trailing rakmen climbing the wall. He fired and bolt took the rak in back. The rak didn’t cry, falling soundlessly off the wall, hitting the ground in a heap.

“Finally,” Tanlor grunted, “got one of the bastards.” Daegan counted five in total that made it to the lower battlement. The front rak—the runewielder—was making quick work of the defenders on the roof. He moved through them, efficiently cutting them down one after another. The defenders looked like children fighting against him. Those that weren’t killed as he passed were taken down by the rakmen that followed in his wake.

Targeting the central roof was a bizarre tactic as it left the attackers pincered by the two towers that would rain down death on the attackers. In spite of this, the leading rak didn’t seem at all deterred. Arrows and crossbow bolts turned to ash soon after being loosed towards him, it was as though the rakman had a protective bubble around him. This close to the towers, the grenadiers didn’t risk throwing any more explosives at him and were now redirecting their efforts to the straggling attackers that hadn’t yet made it to the roof.

Now that the leading rak runewielder was within the range of his revolver, Daegan took aim and fired again. Bullets were a lot faster than a crossbow bolt and—hit! The rakman staggered. His sword was raised for a strike as Daegan’s bullet caught him in the shoulder.

It was only then that Daegan caught a good look at the creature's face. Up to this point, he’d thought that the rak weren’t much different to ordinary men—or maybe the Aeth at a stretch—but the face that glared up at him was as alien to him as anything he’d seen before. There were definitely some human-like features; eyes, nose and a mouth, all in the places they should be. But the mouth—curled in a snarl—showed a row of pointed teeth like a wolf’s. His nose was broad and flat and his eyes glistened with a striking blue, stark against the jet black of his skin.

Daegan and the rak held eye contact for a whisper of a moment and then the rak was darting towards the tower. In an incomprehensibly quick series of motions the rakman launched himself at the tower and disappeared within.

“Shit!” Tanlor cursed.

“Crann! They’ve breached the tower barricades!” Daegan heard the stonebreaker call out. Daegan knew there were a few soldiers stationed inside of the tower for such a possibility but he did not like that all that separated him from the rak runewielder was a few flights of stairs and a handful of guards.

Daegan glanced over to the other tower and saw now that the rakmen had also broken through the barricaded door and had split the attack force into taking both towers simultaneously. At a quick count, Daegan could see bodies of only three rakmen amongst the five armoured corpses of the Rubanians on the lower battlement. Another handful of dead rakmen were strewn about the yard, caught by either crossbow bolts or the runewielders.

“We descend into the tower!” Crann announced to the other men atop the tower, “the rak are big fuckers and they’ll be constrained fighting in the tower walkways. They’ve two runewielders. by the looks, leading this charge. Take them down and the rest will follow.”

“Sir!” one of the grenadiers spoke up, “what that rak’s doing, he’s burning arrows right out of the air… dozens of ‘em. That’s not possible!”

“You’d be surprised what some runewielders are capable of,” Tanlor said to the man, “he’s just a rak like all the others. A sword will kill him just the same.”

“The newcomer’s right,” Crann nodded, “we’ve still the advantage of numbers. Don’t let—”

He cut off as a blast sounded by the other tower. The top of it burst alight in an explosion of fire. Chunks of the battlement rained off into the yard below.

Rowan!

***

Rowan watched with mounting disapproval as the defenders continued to focus their efforts on the leading rak chief. All crossbow bolts and arrows fired uselessly towards him and even the stonebreakers were getting reckless in attempting to bring him down.

“Take down the others!” Rowan roared after it seemed no one was going to. They needed to thin the rak’s numbers first before focusing on the chief. Their chiefs were the most trained, and often were the only ones carrying runestones. This one was clearly trying to hold the attention of all the ranged attacks.

From this distance, Rowan could sense the rak’s edir. It was iron-strong and shot up decisively at arrows and crossbow bolts when let loose. There was a crack of gunfire and the rak chief halted for a brief moment before charging for the door to the other tower. He burst through it and disappeared within. The other rak cleared the remaining defenders and split; some breaking into Rowan’s tower, others following the chief.

“We hold here!” Grest called out to the other soldiers. Stupid fucking idea. They’d be better off trying face off against the rakmen inside the tower where their movements were limited by their size. Rowan knew better than to challenge the Captain, he was an officer to these men and Rowan understood that the chain of command needed to be upheld. Especially in a crisis. To contest him now would risk their entire defence. Rowan was an outsider, so he didn’t need to obey Grest but it was better to go with the tide than against it.

Within moments, the dozen men on the tower were positioned for an assault when the rak burst through the tower door. They waited, an apprehensive air hanging over them. The sounds of fighting inside the tower below echoed up. Then Rowan felt… something. It was subtle, but had the distinct feel of an edir. It was a strange edir, and not unlike the Reldoni he’d met before Urundock. His eyes met the other grenadier—Puck—who was looking about with a bewildered expression. He felt the edir probe stronger now, pulsing from below and Rowan’s eyes snapped to the pile of gunpowder-filled pouches bundled next to Puck.

“RU—” Rowan started to shout but it was too late.

The edir flooded over him. Rowan leapt out and a blinding white light covered his vision. He felt a surge of heat and pressure push him forward, flinging him off the battlement. He was blinded by the flash and deafened by the sound of the explosion. Wind rushed at him from all angles and for a moment he felt like he was soaring through the air like a bird.

But then something hard hit Rowan in the back knocking the air out of his lungs. He was falling again. The ground and sky flashing in his vision and spun about. Then another hit and he was rolling on the ground. The taste of earth filled Rowan’s mouth as he tried to gasp for breaths. After a few moments, he eventually came to a stop.

The ringing in Rowan’s ears didn’t subside and his vision swam with glaringly bright after-images. He was lying on his back, and instinctively tried to roll onto his side. He hacked and spluttered as he attempted to draw breath. The taste of coppery blood in his mouth. That’s not good. The thought drifted over Rowan’s mind as his vision faded to black.

***

Despite being tall and having the distinctive features of an Aeth, Ardy had always had the uncanny ability to slink away from detection when needed. Part of that was attributed to the Aeth’s natural ability to move lightly on their feet but it was also in the way that Ardy had mastered a slouched, unassuming posture that caused most people’s eyes to simply slide over him.

This wasn’t the first battle that Ardy had managed to slip past both defenders and attackers and flee, although he certainly hoped it was the last. That’s what he’d told himself in the Balfold five years ago, and in Nordock two decades before that. And, of course, there was the Altarean rebellion fifty years ago. That had been a really nasty one, but he had still managed to sneak onto a ship and flee the city before half of it burned to the ground.

The rak however had pretty good eyesight—even in the dark. They also moved faster than his people so he wasn’t sure if he could outrun one—even if he was in good shape and not half-drunk. He could try to feign a lack of allegiance to the humans if he was discovered by one. Ardy didn’t know what services he could possibly offer the rak, but it was better than being slaughtered.

Thankfully, most of the invading rakmen had already stormed the roof of the building and were breaking into the main towers, fighting their way up. This had provided Ardy with a chance to make a dash for the jetty where his iceraft was still docked. The jetty was within the perimeter of the of the wooden wall so Ardy didn’t have any major obstacles. He just needed to be quick and avoid detection. He scurried from one row of spiked blockades to the next, stopping to take a breath and survey the next patch of ground he needed to clear.

He was almost at the jetty when a light flared, followed half a second later with a loud blast. His head spun to the source and saw one of the towers erupting in a shell of fire. Debris rained down. He saw a man fall near him and roll down the slope before coming to a stop.

The top of the tower was a bonfire throwing light into the area and casting dancing shadows about the scene. Ardy froze at the sudden explosion. The light of the fire exposed the clear path to the jetty in plain view for anyone watching. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Ardy’s attention was drawn back to the man who’d fallen from the tower. He could make out the red hair of the man. Ardy watched as he stirred slightly, coughed and then passed out. Ardy shuffled to the man. As he approached, he recognised the man’s face and confirmed that it was one of Desmond’s bodyguards.

Robert if Ardy recalled it right… or maybe it was Robin? He was still breathing which was a shock considering the man had just been thrown from an exploding tower. Ardy glanced up at the distance to the jetty and back down at the man. It was a long way to drag him. But I don’t get paid if they’re dead… But then again, he couldn’t get paid if he was dead.

Ardy then reached for the man’s neck and fished his hand down the chainmail. Robin’s skin was clammy but in a few moments, Ardy’s hand clasped around a small warm stone hanging from a leather cord. Jackpot. Classic place to keep a runestone. Ardy pulled it off the man and stuffed it into his cloak pocket. That’s at least thirty silver. He thought happily. Should cover the cost of this fiasco. Always collect payment. It was his one rule.

Ardy then glanced around again for any nearby rakmen—which there were none as they had all stormed inside the towers and were busy killing the Rubanians. Once he was sure it was clear, Ardy sprinted for the jetty, not giving Robin or the burning tower a second look. He threw himself onto the iceraft and began furiously working on untying the ropes.

This was the second time in three days that he’d had to do this in a rush. Blasted Reldoni, always bringing trouble. Even though Desmond hadn’t seemed like a typical war-hungry Reldoni, he was certainly a magnet for trouble. Ardy didn’t feel an ounce of remorse as he pulled on levers and whipped the sail of the iceraft up. The sail caught the winds and began pulling the raft away from the damned place. The thought of waiting to see if Dessie or the blond prick were alive was never a consideration.

Not for all the gold in the world.