It took Verdan a little while to find the right route to get his construct over to join the rest of them. It turned out that there were several of the large hubs around the underground network, but there was also a more lengthy tunnel that circumvented them.
Whoever had designed all of this had been careful to plan for damage and had placed in several redundancies. It was impressive work.
Unfortunately, Verdan barely had time to sit down after making it back before a runner arrived from Elder Vanarr.
The Cyth were getting very close to an entrance that couldn’t be easily blocked, and the Elder was pulling together a strike force.
Unsurprisingly, Vanarr wanted them to be a part of it.
Turning to the others, Verdan held one hand up questioningly.
“We’re with you,” Gwen said, getting to her feet as she spoke. “These people have done enough already, if we can help, we should.”
“Agreed,” Verdan said, glad they were of the same mind. Turning back to the runner, he gestured off into the distance. “We don’t know our way around, so you’ll have to guide us to wherever the Elder is gathering people.”
“Of course,” the runner said, looking relieved that they’d agreed. “I’ll show you the way.”
-**-
The mustering point for the Elder’s strike force turned out to be a large storage space that was partially filled with sacks of dried food.
Even as Sorcerers and guards were gathering and preparing for battle, civilian refugees were helping to cart the food deeper into the tunnels.
“This storage area connects to a half-dozen access points,” their guide said as he saw Verdan watching the process. “So it’s been an easy place to keep things together.”
“It also makes it a critical position to hold,” Kai said softly, gesturing to the far wall of the large chamber, which held a trio of tunnels. Each tunnel had a pile of crates and wooden slats next to it, ready for emergency barricades.
Verdan remembered Vanarr’s warning of how bad things would be if the Cyth got into the tunnels. If a key area like this was being threatened, that explained the large response.
“Wizard Blacke, thank you for coming,” Ada said, emerging from the group to greet them, a trio of other Steel Custodians at her back. “I appreciate that you’ve only just arrived, but we need as much help as we can muster.”
“Of course, what’s the situation?”
“A band of Cyth caught wind of one of our scavenging groups and was able to track them back to a tunnel entrance. We have groups on hand to deal with that, but even though those Cyth were killed, more were drawn to the area.”
“So you’re worried this new group will find the entrance?”
“We were hoping that they’d give up the search, but instead the Cyth have concentrated in the area. At this point, it is only a matter of time.”
“How many Cyth are we talking about?” Kai asked, looking over the rest of the assembled force with a frown. “How many more defenders are coming as well?”
“We have around thirteen hundred people, but that includes everyone with any training, even the walking wounded. I have two hundred here, and more are on the way, but we’re looking at hundreds of Cyth, with maybe two to three thousand still in the city.”
Verdan did his best to hide his wince at how many people were left who could fight. Vanarr’s portion of the alliance army had been around four thousand strong when it left.
Ada was including the city guard in her numbers, which sent a chill down Verdan’s spine. So many people had died here, more than they’d even had in the north.
“We can do a lot, but if the Cyth are coming in force, will this be enough?” Gwen asked, glancing at the ceiling with a frown. “For that matter, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be down here. I’ll need to be closer to the surface to really use my magic.”
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“I believe we can hold the Cyth off with your aid. There are quite a few Sorcerers still combat capable, and the Elder has faith in your ability to help us.”
“How many could you kill if you used as much power as you could as quickly as you could?” Verdan asked Gwen thoughtfully.
“Several hundred, maybe more, it depends on how tightly packed they are and how many Cyth Bayne are there to protect them.”
Verdan nodded and turned back to Ada. “We have an opportunity here. Commander Silver is coming and Elder Vaijon is in position nearby. If we take the fight to the Cyth, it will draw them together, allowing us to destroy them all as a single group.”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but my people are weary,” Ada said, pitching her voice low enough to keep her words from carrying. “We can hold the line, but what you’re asking might be too much.”
“I don’t want a full assault, just get us to the surface and hold that entrance. We can do our part from there,” Verdan said before turning to Macha. “Can you see where the rest of the army is and how close they are?”
“Not from down here,” Macha said with obvious reluctance. “My crows are all destroyed or decayed. I’ll need to get to the surface to conjure new ones. Once I do, it won’t take long to find out, though.”
“The decision is yours,” Verdan said, turning back to Ada. “But if the Cyth are breaking in anyway, why not take the fight to them?”
Ada was silent for a few long moments before she slowly nodded. “Alright, I’m onboard. We’ll head forward with what we have now, and I’ll leave some of my people here to direct reinforcements through to us as they arrive.”
“What about other entrances?” One of the accompanying Sorcerers asked.
“We’ll send two squads to each one. Enough to keep watch and report if anything goes wrong. Ideally, the Cyth will be drawn toward the fighting and miss the other tunnels.”
“Understood, I’ll get them moving now,” the Sorcerer said, bracing to attention before hurrying away and calling out orders.
“Is there anything you need before we do this?” Ada asked, turning back to Verdan. “We don’t have much, but if there’s anything specific, I can send a runner for it.”
Verdan glanced over at the others before confirming that they were good to go.
“In that case,” Ada said as metal flowed down into her hand and formed a helmet that she slipped on. “Follow me.”
It was easy to forget that the Steel Custodians were just as much Sorcerers as any other Sect. They just happened to wear heavy armour.
While Ada led them toward one of the far tunnels, the other Steel Custodians that had accompanied her spread the word of what was happening.
By the time they reached the entrance, the strike force that Vanarr had called together was ready to move.
Verdan could see the determination in the eyes of those present, but the atmosphere around them was concerning.
These were the survivors of a brutal series of battles, and from their grim expressions, they had little expectation of surviving the coming fight.
Their dedication and drive was impressive, but Verdan had no intention of allowing that to happen. He knew he couldn’t save them all, but he’d do his best.
Taking a deep breath, Verdan cleared his mind and focused on the coming fight. Most of the potential plans he had would depend on their surroundings, but he could prepare a few spells that would work regardless of what they found.
“This tunnel leads up to a small warehouse, which is centrally placed in the eastern part of the city,” Ada said as they made their way up the sloping tunnel. “There are a few other nearby entrances, but this is the main one. Ideally, the warehouse will be empty, but we won’t know for sure until we get there.”
“Not a problem, I’ll deal with that,” Cullan said, flashing them a grin as he trudged along. “Anything to get out of these tunnels and stretch. My people weren’t made for this kind of thing.”
“Alright then, Cullan and Kai can clear the area while the rest of us work to establish defences and prepare for the Cyth,” Verdan said, absently wishing that he had some of the Fwyn or Brecan with them.
Then again, the Brecan could well be around the city already. They travelled slowly, but could go for weeks without sleep.
Deciding it was worth a try, Verdan put a hand on the wall and sent out a pulse of Aether with a request for help. If any Brecan were nearby, hopefully they would respond.
“If any large stone people come out of the walls, don’t panic, they’re on our side,” Verdan said, getting confused looks from the Sorcerers in response.
Amusingly, though the retainers and guards also had no idea what he was talking about, they just went with it. No doubt they were used to odd magics by this point.
“The entrance isn’t far now, we should come across the guards soon,” Ada said a few moments later as the passage began to bend to the left.
As with the rest of the underground network, the passage was lined with flickering torches that drove back the darkness and dimly lit the surroundings.
As best Verdan could tell, the torches were burning something other than wood. There just wasn’t enough smoke for this much wood being burnt, not to mention how he’d yet to see anyone replacing the torches.
Whatever was being burnt was long-lasting, which was interesting.
His attention on the torches, Verdan only caught the edge of the subtle glimmer of pale wood in the light as something moved in the shadows.
Ada held up her free hand as she drew her sword, but Verdan was already lifting his hand to point at the movement. “Disir bel.”
Three glowing orbs of light formed around Verdan’s hand and shot out into the darkness, striking the wall and ceiling in the area he’d pointed.
Each orb was a minor light spell in itself, and the three together illuminated the passage for twenty paces in each direction, revealing the things hidden in the shadows.
Three long-limbed creatures formed of pale wood with an oddly bone-like texture clung to the walls of the passage and screeched in anger at the sudden light.
“Wyrchwrought!” Verdan shouted the warning as the trio of monsters charged forward in a blur.
