The Hidden City

‘I’m never going to let you out of my sight again,’ he told her in a thick voice. Sephrenia took his face between her hands and kissed him. ‘You’ll hurt yourself.’
    ‘Hush Vanion,’ she told him, embracing his head and holding his face fiercely against her body.
    Aphrael’s huge eyes were luminous with tears. Then she seemed to shake off the sudden emotion. ‘Let’s get started,’ she said crisply. ‘A great deal has happened since the last time we were all together like this.’
    ‘And all of it bad,’ Itagne added in a gloomy voice.
    ‘Not entirely,’ she said. ‘The worst of it is that Klael ambushed the Church Knights in the mountains of Zemoch. He had those strange soldiers with him, and our friends lost almost half their number in killed and wounded.’
    ‘Good God.’ Itagne groaned.
    Since Sparhawk already knew the details of recent events, he decided to clear up the mystery of Klael’s soldiers once and for all. He touched his fingertips to the bulge under his tunic. ‘Blue Rose,’ he said in the silence of his mind.
    ‘I hear thee, Anakha.’
    ‘Our friends have encountered Klael again. He hath brought warriors here from some other place.’
    ‘It was not unexpected. Klael is unsuited to direct engagement with humans by reason of his size.’
    ‘We are like mice in his eyes?’ Sparhawk surmised.
    ‘Thou dost wrong thyself, Anakha.’
    ‘Perhaps. These soldiers are not of this world, methinks. Their blood is yellow and their faces are much like Klael’s face.’
    ‘Ah,’ the voice said. ‘Thou wilt recall that I once told thee that it is customary for Klael and me to contest with each other for possession of the various worlds I have caused to be?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘It pains me to admit this, Anakha, but I have not always prevailed in these contests. Klael hath wrested some of my worlds from me. It is from one of those worlds—Arcera would be my surmise—that he hath brought these creatures which thou and thy companions have met.’
    ‘They are fearsome, Blue Rose, but not invincible. We have noted some evidence of distress in them during prolonged sojourns here.’
    ‘I would be surprised hadst thou not. The air of Arcera would sear thy lungs shouldst thou take but one breath of it. The air of this world is so sweet and wholesome that it may be most simply assimilated by thy kind and other creatures here. The creatures of Arcera are not so fortunate. Their means of assimilating the noxious miasmas of their home are far more complex than thy simple means of suspiration. Moreover, that which would be lethal to thee hath become necessary for them. I am certain that they find thine air thin and unsatisfying by comparison.’
    ‘And deadly?’ Sparhawk pressed.
    ‘In time, most certainly.’
    ‘Wouldst thou venture a surmise as to how much time it might take our air to kill them?’
    ‘Thou art savage, Anakha.’
    ‘I am outnumbered, Blue Rose. The warriors of Klael put our cause in direst peril. We must know how long they can survive here.’
    ‘That will vary from warrior to warrior. No more than a day, certainly, and exertion will hasten the process.’
    ‘I thank thee, Blue Rose. My companions and I will devise tactics to use this information to best advantage.’
    ‘Pay attention, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael told him.
    ‘Sorry,’ he apologized. ‘I was conferring with our friend.’ He patted the bulge at his front. He looked at Vanion. ‘I picked up some more information about the weakness of Klael’s soldiers,’ he said. ‘You and I need to work out some tactics.’
    Vanion nodded.
    ‘Are you sure Berit and Khalad are all right?’ Sephrenia asked the little girl.
    Aphrael nodded. ‘Zalasta doesn’t want us to know that he’s found out that we were deceiving him. He’s given orders to everyone to behave as if nothing’s happened.’ She thought a moment. ‘I guess that’s about all,’ she said. ‘Bergsten’s coming across the steppes, Kalten, Bevier, and Caalador are already in Natayos, and Ulath, Tynian and their pet Troll will be there before long.’
    ‘Can you get word to the Emperor?’ Itagne asked her. ‘He should know that the King of Arjuna’s in league with Scarpa.’
    ‘I’ll take care of it,’ she promised. Then she frowned slightly ‘Sephrenia,’ she said, ‘have you been giving Stragen instruction in the secrets?’
    ‘No, why?’
    ‘He cast the spell of the secret summoning. He didn’t do it very well, but he got my