Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

him back, anyway, with Lily in danger. But we need him."
    Toby sniffed, nodded, and stood as straight as a nine-year-old body could. "Okay. I'll see you later, too, Grandpa." That was said defiantly.
    Isen laid his hand on Toby's head. "You will. And whether you believe such promises or not, I promise it. Go with Sybil now."
    The child tender led Toby away. He would wait with her at the Center, with other children whose fathers went to battle tonight.
    That was a small number. Only those with charms to guard them from mind-magic would fight, and even going without sleep, the Rhej had been able to make only ten of those in the twenty-six hours since Lily and Cynna were taken. She'd used a spell from the memories to make those charms... a spell lost to the rest of the world since before the founding of Rome. A spell that been used in the Great War, and not since.
    Those charms should protect against the Chimei - but they didn't know how much. Lupi had never fought against Chimei. They wouldn't know how well the charms worked against this particular enemy until they faced her.
    But though only a dozen would fight tonight, in a few moments, all of Nokolai would be at war. If neither Rule nor his father came back from tonight's battle, Benedict would be Nokolai's Rho - and he would continue the war.
    This, for lupi, was the meaning of war: it didn't end until the enemy was defeated. There might be lulls, but there were no truces.
    All lupi had been at war with one enemy - their Lady's enemy - for more than three thousand years. That she had been far from their realm and untouchable for most of that time changed nothing. They remained at war with the Great Bitch, and would until she was dead or forever defeated.
    Isen gathered his two living sons with a glance. The three of them strode into the waiting throng.
    The crowd of lupi fell silent. Waiting.
    When the three men reached the center of the field, they halted. Rule and Benedict stationed themselves to either side of their Rho and a couple paces back.
    Isen raised his arms and his voice. "Nokolai! You have heard of our enemies. You know what they have done. Twice they attacked one of ours - at a baby party, and at the hospital. Twice they failed. And now they have stolen our Chosen, touched by the Lady - "
    Growls erupted from more than three hundred throats not designed for growling.
    "They have stolen her, and our Rhej's apprentice. You know Cynna. You know she is with child, carrying a clan babe, a lupus babe. They threaten her. They threaten the baby."
    The growls were louder this time. A few of the younger men lost control and Changed.
    "But Cynna is more than a mother, precious as that is. They have stolen she who will carry the clan's memories! She who will bring the Lady among us! Lady-touched, both of them - Chosen and Rhej-to-be, both taken!"
    Now they howled - human and lupine throats alike.
    "Our enemies are powerful. Make no doubt of that. One - the Chimei - is ancient and canny, and cannot be killed. She can control the perceptions of hundreds at a time. She feeds on fear. I am told that if she is allowed to fully manifest herself, she will be more powerful than any who have walked this earth since the Great War. Her sorcerer has power, too, and spells we can't guess at, and he shares some of her immunity to damage, so he will be hard to kill. And together they have allies, human gangs. This is no small thing we do, going against such foes."
    The answering growls were low, and to Rule's ears said clearly, "Who cares?"
    "But we have a sorcerer, too. And allies of our own - some here, some elsewhere." Isen waved - and a huge black shape descended from the sky to land at the far end of the field. He had riders, two human shapes who bestrode his shoulders near the base of the neck. One was female, and old. One was male and recovering from a heart wound - and very good with fire.
    "Nokolai." Now Isen's voice dropped to a normal level. Every man and wolf on the field fell silent, straining to hear. "Our Rhej has spoken to me - because the Lady has spoken to her."
    Utter silence. There was no shifted foot, no slightest rustle of clothing, no quickly indrawn breath.
    "The Lady gave our Rhej one word." His voice was quiet now, conversational. Only lupus hearing enabled those at the edges of the crowd to hear. "One word." He waited, then boomed, "Nokolai - I cry war!"

 
    THIRTY-SEVEN

    The glowing lightbulbs didn't turn off. It was hard to tell time in a