Erik stood, wobbly, and said, ‘Of course.’ As much as he might like to sit for a while, he knew that the alternative to moving was being left behind.
Erik looked around. Then his eyes narrowed and he counted. Thirteen men stood on the rocks. Looking at faces, he turned to Biggo and said, ‘Luis?’
‘Out there,’ said Biggo, with an inclination of his head toward the river.
‘Sweet gods,’ said Erik. Thirty-two men had gone into the river, and only thirteen had made it across.
Sho Pi was nearby and he said, ‘Perhaps some of them are washed up at different places on the shore.’
Erik nodded. But he knew it was more likely they were swept out to sea or drowned in the river.
Erik saw they were out on the tip of the southern harbor breakwater, a long finger of rocks built up to prevent tidal flow interfering with shipping in the harbor. Calis motioned and each man fell into line. They moved carefully along the heavy rocks piled high to form the breakwater. In the darkness the footing was dangerous. After about a half hour of moving slowly, they reached a flat road formed across the top of the stones. Nakor whispered, ‘They must pack dirt on it so they can bring more rocks out in wagons if they need to repair the breakwater after a storm.’
Calis nodded and motioned for silence. He pointed to a tiny light in the distance. There was a small building located a few hundred yards ahead, where the stone breakwater turned into a proper jetty. It was certain to be defended.
Glancing toward the harbor mouth, Erik felt his stomach contract. ‘Captain!’ he whispered.
‘I’ve seen,’ came the answer.
Erik looked back and saw the others had followed his gaze and were now looking at the harbor. Three ships had been sunk in the harbor mouth, to ensure no raiders from the invading fleet could enter the harbor; and, nestled like chicks against a mother hen, a flotilla of ships hugged the docks. But none of them looked to be of shallow enough draft to get past the hulks blocking the harbor.
The pair of guards in the watch building were vigilantly watching across the river, so they were taken without knowing that Calis had slipped up behind. Using only his hands. Calis quickly disabled both men and lowered them to the floor of the hut.
Motioning for the men to gather around. Calis said, ‘The orders are simple.
‘We wait until the sounds of battle in the morning. The Emerald Queen may try to slip some small boats around the jetty, so there may be a few defenders heading this way, but most of the city’s army will be on the northern walls, protecting the landward side of the city. Then we move straight up this jetty, head off left toward the shipbuilders’ estuary, and fire everything in sight. If anyone tries to stop you, kill him.
‘Then we head back to the main docks, steal a boat of as shallow draft as we can find, and try to get out of this mess. If you can’t get back to the harbor, try to get out of the city on the northeastern side, and make overland to the City of the Serpent River.’ He glanced from face to face. ‘It’s every man for himself, lads. No one is to linger for a comrade. If no one gets back to Krondor, then this has all been for naught. If most of us are going to die, let’s make it worth something.’
Grim nods of agreement were the only reply he received. The men took what shelter they could around the small hut and waited.
Erik shivered. He dozed, but the throbbing in his head made sleep impossible. He couldn’t believe how tired he felt. And the throbbing in his nose drained him like no pain he had known before.
‘It’s broken,’ said Roo.
‘What?’ said Erik, turning and discovering his friend could be seen in the predawn gloom.
‘Your nose. It’s a mess. Want me to reset it?’
Erik knew he should say no, but he simply nodded. Roo had been through enough street fights to know what he was doing. Roo put his hands on either side of Erik’s nose and, with a swift move, pushed the pieces into place.
The pain shot through Erik’s head like hot iron spikes. His eyes watered and he thought he would faint; then suddenly the pain drained away. The throbbing that had bothered him all night lessened, and he felt as if his face might not fall off after all.
‘Thanks,’ he said, wiping away tears.
A loud roar precluded any reply. It was as if the skies parted and a thousand dragons vented their rage. There came a hollow rush of sound like creation’s largest waterfall echoing through a gorge, and a wind sprang up from the far shore.
‘Oh, my!’ said Nakor. ‘This is some trick!’
Across the river a giant light of brilliant white, edged in pale green, sprang up and arched across the river, slowly spreading and fanning out as it climbed into the sky. Men and Saaur riders moved tentatively upon it, then kicked their balky mounts forward. The horses moved slowly, following the rising bridge of light.
Nakor said, ‘Now we know why they massed near the mouth of the river across from Maharta – why no bridges. They’re using the priests’ spells to get the army across.’
Calis said, ‘We leave now!’
He rose and moved down the jetty. They reached the main dock area without incident, ignored by those on the dock, who were transfixed by the sight of the rising bridge in the sky across the river. Erik forced himself to pay attention to his leader, and pushed more than one man after Calis.
They ran through a series of narrow streets, along a thin neck of land, between bodies of water. Erik had no sense of where he was, but he thought he might find his way back the way they had come.
Then they were moving left, down a major boulevard. A company of horsemen dashed past, dressed in white tunics and trousers, with red turbans and black vests. Another man similarly dressed reined in next to Calis a moment later and shouted, ‘Where are you going?’
‘We have our orders!’ Calis shouted back. ‘The estuary is at risk!’
The man seemed confused by the answer, but the incredible sight of a bridge of light rising across the river unnerved him enough that he accepted Calis’s story and rode on.
They reached another street, which crossed the top of the one they were on, and Erik halted. Ahead was a dry dock. It loomed high into the sky, and upon it was the keel of a great ship pulled up for hull scraping. The wooden frame stretched back for what Erik judged a full four hundred feet, and the rear of the ship protruded out beyond that. He looked beyond it and saw the estuary, a mighty lake adjacent to the main harbor. The estuary was ringed by construction yards like this, forming a nearly perfect three-quarter circle around it. Either end was more than a quarter mile off.
De Loungville said, ‘Take some men and go that way.’ He pointed off to the right. ‘Go to the far end, and start burning everything in sight as you come back. Try to get back to the harbor. But remember, it’s every man for himself!’ At the last, he reached out and put his hand on Erik’s arm and squeezed briefly, then he was off running to the left.
Erik said, ‘You three,’ indicating Roo, Sho Pi, and Nakor, the men nearest him, ‘come with me.’
As he ran, his head thundered, and he tried to ignore the pain. His knees were wobbly, but his heart pounded and his nerves were taut, and after a few moments he felt his head clear a bit.
Riders came speeding past, heading back the way Erik’s men had come. He barely got out of the way of one man, who seemed willing to ride him down rather than control his horse. The expression on the guard’s face told Erik this was no movement of soldiers under orders, but men put to flight by terror.
Glancing skyward, Erik couldn’t blame the men. The bridge now reached a quarter of the way across the river, and upon it stood thousands of Saaur, their battle cries carrying across the distance like a thunder peal without end.
Erik