The Hidden City

up abruptly. ‘Good hunting,’ he growled, turned and went back to join his fellows and the still terrified Trolls.
    ‘We still have to proceed as if things were normal,’ Vanion told them as they gathered near the fire a couple of hours past noon. The sun, Sparhawk noted, was already going down. ‘Klael can probably appear at any time and any place. We can’t plan for him—any more than we can plan for a blizzard or a hurricane. If you can’t plan for something, about the only thing you can do is take a few precautions and then ignore it.’
    ‘Well spoken,’ Queen Betuana approved. Betuana and Vanion were getting along well.
    ‘What do we do then, friend Vanion?’ Tikume asked.
    ‘We’re soldiers, friend Tikume,’ Vanion replied. ‘We do what soldiers do. We get ready to fight armies, not Gods. Scarpa’s coming up out of the jungles of Arjuna, and I’d expect another thrust to come out of Cynesga. The Trolls will probably hamper Scarpa, but they can only move out a short way from those mountains in southern Tamul Proper because of the climate.
    ‘After the initial shock of encountering Trolls, Scarpa will probably try to go around them.’ Vanion consulted his map. ‘We’ll have to have forces in place to respond either to Scarpa or to an army coming out of Cynesga. I’d say that Samar would be the best location.’
    ‘Sama,’ Betuana disagreed.
    ‘Both,’ Ulath countered. ‘Forces in Samar could cover everything from the southern edge of the Atan Mountains to the Sea of Arjuna and be in position to strike eastward to the southern Tamul Mountains if Scarpa evades the Trolls. Forces in Sama could block the invasion route through the Atan mountains.’
    ‘His point’s well taken,’ Bevier said. ‘It divides our forces, but we don’t have much choice.’
    ‘We could put the knights and the Peloi in Samar and the Atan infantry in Sama,’ Tynian added. ‘The lower valley of the River Sarna’s ideal for mounted operations, and the mountains around Sama itself are natural for Atans.’
    ‘Both positions are defensive,’ Engessa objected. ‘Wars aren’t won from defensive positions.’
    Sparhawk and Vanion exchanged a long look. ‘Invade Cynesga?’ Sparhawk asked dubiously.
    ‘Not yet,’ Vanion decided. ‘Let’s wait until the Church Knights get here from Eosia before we do that. When Komier and the others cross into Cynesga from the west, that’s when we’ll want to come at the place from the east. We’ll put Cyrgon in a vice. With that sort of force coming at him from both sides, he can raise every Cyrgai whore ever lived, and he’ll still lose.’
    ‘Right up until the moment he unleashes Klael,’ Aphrael added moodily.
    ‘No, Divine One,’ Sparhawk told her. ‘Bhelliom wants Cyrgon to send Klael against us. If we do it this way, we’ll force the issue in a place and time that we choose. We’ll pick the spot Cyrgon will unleash Klael, and I’ll unleash Bhelliom. Then all we have to do is sit back and watch.’
    ‘We’ll go to the top of the wall the same way the Trolls went, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Engessa said the following morning. ‘We can climb as well as they can.’
    ‘It might take us a little longer,’ Tikume added. ‘We’ll have to push boulders out of the way to get our horses up that slope.’
    ‘We will help you, Tikume-Domi,’ Engessa promised.
    ‘That’s it, then,’ Tynian summed up. ‘The Atans and the Peloi will go south from here to take up positions in Sarna and Samar. We’ll take the knights back to the coast, and Sorgi will ferry us back to Matherion. We’ll go overland from there.’
    ‘It’s the ferrying that concerns me,’ Sparhawk said. ‘Sorgi’s going to have to make at least a half-dozen trips.’
    Khalad sighed and rolled his eyes upward.
    ‘I gather you’re going to embarrass me in public again,’ Sparhawk said. ‘What am I overlooking?’
    ‘The rafts, Sparhawk,’ Khalad said in a weary voice. ‘Sorgi’s gathering up the rafts to take them south to the timber markets. He’s going to lash them all together into a long log-boom. Put the knights in the ships, the horses on the boom, and we can all make it to Matherion in one trip.’
    ‘I forgot about the rafts,’ Sparhawk admitted sheepishly.
    ‘That log-boom won’t move very fast,’ Ulath pointed out.
    Xanetia had been listening to their plans intently. She looked at Khalad and spoke diffidently, almost shyly. ‘Might a steady wind behind thy logs