City of the Lords

By Bryan Lee Gregory

After a harrowing flight from a final assault by the Bladesmen hordes, Kenton and the last remaining humans find themselves refugees in a new world. Despite their successful escape and incredible technological advances, the existing inhabitants of this foreign place aren't willing to let the human City have the peace they crave. Caught between untrusted allies and overpowering foes, Councilor Kenton finds himself forced to choose between his people and his wife as the last humans fight for their right to survive.

This sequel to Lord of the City follows the exploits of the City and its people on a new world stuck in an endless cycle of war and destruction. Driven to extreme measures, Kenton and his children must challenge the one untouchable power that even Bladesmen Lords fear to cross - the peerless might of the City of the Lords.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryan Lee Gregory
• Release date: Oct 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310753268

Bryan Lee Gregory

About BryanBryan Lee Gregory is an author of fiction that blurs the lines between high fantasy and steampunk. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Beaverton, Oregon with his wife and son. Bryan has been creating new ideas for stories from a young age and has been turning those ideas into novels since 2009.When not writing, Bryan works professionally in the software development industry. He graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 1999.Bryan has written the first two novels in his Bladesmen Lords series and is about to release the third. Lord of the City and City of the Lords are both available now as eBooks or trade paperbacks, while Worlds of the Lords will be available in October, 2014.Bryan can be contacted via email at [e-mail] out what he's up to at http://bryangregory.blogspot.com!

Book preview

Book 1

~ Kenton ~

Chapter 1 – The Border

I no longer had any doubt that a war was coming. We could see it in the uneasy tension of our enemies a mile away across the barren scrubland. Those of us with magical senses tensed up whenever their Lords probed our defenses with their powers, knowing that an attack could come as fast as thought. A line of torchlight spread for a hundred miles each night, illuminating the no-man’s-land between the two borders so that no spies or infiltrators could make it through.

I wish they’d just get on with it and start the fight, a voice muttered next to me. I looked over at the short but heavily muscled woman standing next to me in the tall wooden watchtower and nodded. I’d fought next to Captain Regan in the past and had grown to respect her gruff pronouncements.

We’re all tired of this waiting, I agreed. We’ve had three years to settle here, but I doubt we’ll get another three months before we have to deal with Rainshye.

I thought we were leaving that behind when we escaped before, a soldier replied from somewhere nearby, a deep bitterness in his voice. Why can’t we just have some peace for a while?

Regan put her hand on his shoulder for a moment. It looks like we’ve gotten about all the peace we’re going to have. She turned to me with her scarred face and continued, Is Viala coming out to reinforce the border soon?

I nodded. Yes, but I don’t know how much longer she can keep traveling like this. She’s due in six weeks, and even though she likes to pretend it doesn’t affect her, I can tell that she's feeling more tired these days.

I never told you congratulations on that, by the way, Regan said with a rare smile. Are you ready to become a father?

Not hardly, I replied with a laugh. Hell of a time for it, but that’s how it goes. With the whole City looking out for us, we’ll be all right.

Your child will only know this world, she continued in a quieter tone. I hope they'll get more used to it than we have.

Me too, I said with a sigh. For the small remnant that remained of our race, this world remained alien and uncomfortable. There was no single element that explained our homesickness. It wasn’t just that the smell was still unpleasant in the mornings, or that the shorter days made my body feel it was never quite late enough to go to sleep, or that the violet sky still surprised me every time I went outside. I knew that the world we’d left behind was overrun by our enemies and that there was no going back.

No matter how hard I tried, though, things just didn’t feel right here. Even with the best of intentions, everyone in the City had less patience than I remembered before we’d been driven off our home world by the Bladesmen. The children were the only ones who seemed unaffected – indeed, many of the youngest barely remembered what it was like to be unable to look directly at the sun because it was so bright or how the rain would fall for weeks at a time in the spring.

The familiar drone of an airship brought me back to the present. Sounds like your ride’s here, Regan said. Give my regards to General Sanato when you get back to the City. I’ll rotate out once Viala has a chance to bring our defenses back up to strength.

I said my farewells to the squad in the tower and climbed down to the ground below. A short distance away the Instinct came to a hover about ten feet off the ground, her crew already tossing a rope ladder over the side. Lanterns shone from the prow and the stern, giving enough light to illuminate its sleek lines. Only thirty feet from end to end, it could carry a squad of soldiers nearly half again as fast as our original ship designs. I climbed up the side and headed to the stern, where a curved glass visor protected the pilot from the worst of the wind.

Gregor! I cried out with a smile. This is a surprise! I didn’t know you were back yet.

The original inventor of our flying armada was well past forty now but hadn’t slowed down at all. He gave me a wide grin as he pushed the throttle forward and the ship leapt up into the air like a swallow taking flight. Good to see you too, Kenton, he replied. Some of the stuff that those Bladesmen have… well, they’re a piece of work. The ones from this world make Ather’s crew seem almost human.

Just over a year ago, Gregor had gone off with one of our skiffs of a similar design to the Instinct to explore. He had gone first to Plesath, the nation of Bladesmen to the north whom we’d signed a treaty with not long before. Lord Ather, a Bladesman from our homeworld who had escaped persecution by his own people, had sent some of his small group of rebels to translate for Gregor and find out what they could of their lost kin.

Are they going to help us if Rainshye attacks? I asked.

He frowned. Yes and no. They think they’re going to get hit first. They’re a two-Lord country and Rainshye has four. The way they think over here… it’s like armies of soldiers don’t mean a thing. The only reason they allied with us in the first place was because of Lord Ather. I got the impression they think humans are useless. Even with Ather helping out, they don’t expect to win. I guess that’s how they’ve always fought wars over here – usually the group with the most Lords wins. They just use the regular troops for holding ground and keeping people in check. And dying. They do lots of that too.

We’ll have to show them that we’re worth more than that, I said grimly. Even if they discount the rest of us, nobody’s going to tell Viala that she’s useless.

Oh, I heard about your kid. Nice work there. Glad you two got married first, at least.

I rolled my eyes. You’re so very tactful as always, Gregor.

He let out a loud laugh, nearly lost in the wind as our speed crept upwards. You’re the Councilor, not me. I can tell people what I mean to their face. You wouldn’t get me in one of those fancy seats in a million years – you can keep the politics and careful talk.

I smiled and looked out through the windscreen. I could still make out the line of towers at the border to my left. Lights dotted the ground here and there in the darkness below, individual homes and farmsteads getting ready to sleep. Miles ahead I could see the blaze that was the City – where nearly a hundred thousand people lived, all that was left of humanity.

The wind whipped past us and I shivered a little, focusing for a moment to pull an eddy of warm air around Gregor and myself with my mind. He nodded in thanks and pulled at the controls, eking a bit more speed out of the airship.

We reached the City in minutes. The farms continued up until the abrupt edge where a circle of our world had been transported into this one. It was still a sharp division, though some of the native plants were slowly starting to creep onto our soil. Perhaps in a decade the line would be softer, I thought to myself.

Before long Gregor turned the skiff over to another crew for nighttime patrols along the border. We walked together from the landing pad built in the central plaza towards my house. Gregor whistled as it came into view, illuminated brightly by lamps on the front. Impressive, he said. You showed me the plans before I left, but … this is amazing, Kenton. You should have been an architect.

I shrugged modestly, trying to hide the swell of pride I felt from his compliment. The house was built of the pitch-black timber native to this world, one of the few built primarily of wood in the City. Before our narrow escape three years ago, lumber had been far too scarce to contemplate using on a building – instead, everything had been laboriously constructed from the pale granite quarried a short distance away. Over the last few years our people had relearned the arts of carpentry from the Bladesmen we’d brought along with us, forging new friendships and a growing sense of familiarity along the way.

Viala was waiting for us with the door open, her visibly pregnant figure giving her an awkward posture. I paused for moment to admire her - the sight of her beautiful face and dark red hair still gave me shivers, and I could never quite believe how this tiny, amazing woman had given her heart to me. She greeted me with a passionate kiss, then gave Gregor as much of a hug as her condition allowed. I’m glad you’re back, she said, her smile as breathtaking as always.

The engineer grinned in response. I still think Kenton’s the luckiest man in the City, he replied. I bet half the young men around are jealous of him. He cleared his throat, looking around the wide entrance hall. This is quite a place you two have built for yourselves.

I laughed. We cheated… a lot. Most of the heavy lifting was done with magic. That’s the only way we got it done this quickly, and I’ll still owe favors to a dozen different crafting guilds for the next ten years.

Nonsense, Viala replied to me while I took Gregor’s well-patched leather flying jacket and hung it in a closet. You’re still the City’s favorite hero. Gregor, you missed the election – Kenton won enough votes to take the Head Councilor position this year, but he declined.

You two have done well for yourselves. He looked around, hesitating for a moment, and when he spoke again his tone was more reserved. Let’s sit down for a few minutes and talk. There’s a few things I learned that you should know about, and I’d rather let you know the more important parts before I make my report to the full Council.

We went to the nearby sitting room and Viala brought some fresh fruit from the pantry wafting into our hands borne on currents of air. Sorry about that, she said, but I’m not in much of a condition to go running back and forth to be a good hostess these days. It’s much easier this way.

Gregor laughed. Doesn’t bother me. I’ve been around your sort too much in the last few years. He shrugged, eyeing the orange, then started peeling. I’ve missed some of our homegrown things. The Bladesmen here have some foods that just don’t taste quite right, no matter how filling they might be. He waited a moment, then switched topics. How well defended is the border?

Viala’s doing what she can to keep some magical defenses up, with Dural and I helping out where we can. Ather’s doing some Bladesmen magics that I still don’t quite understand. One of the new apprentices, Ressial, is to the point where she can assist, but most of the other City mages are either too weak, too untrained, or too busy doing other things to contribute much to border security.

He shook his head. That’s not enough. What are you going to do when our Archmagess here is out of action for a few months? No disrespect intended, Viala, but…

She frowned. I don’t intend to let my delivery keep me away from my duties, Gregor. I’ll keep the defenses up when it’s needed.

Gregor put his half-peeled orange down on a table and stood up, pacing back and forth across the room. I don’t think you know how close this war is, he said. I’d never heard him sound so worried, even when we were facing down an army of Bladesmen intent on killing us all back on our home world. When I was out talking to our allies, it became clear that they know Rainshye will hit us within weeks, if not days. Plesath claims they’ll offer help, but I think they’re just hoping we slow our common enemies down a bit and Ather lives to help them out after the City is destroyed.

Viala looked as though she were about to jump to her feet, her eyes blazing, but I stopped her with a raised hand. Doesn’t Plesath have any other allies? Surely we can’t be the only ones they’re counting on to help?

Gregor shook his head. None that they’d expect to assist. It’s a cutthroat world out there, Kenton – their other supposed ‘allies’ are just waiting to stab them in the back if Rainshye weakens them enough. The only reason they don’t expect that of us is that they think we’re too insignificant to pose any threat. Remember, at the time they gave us this land to colonize, Councilor Jerana said she thought it was only because they had it firmly in mind that they could put us down at any time if we got uppity. Two Lords to our one – that’s the only calculation that matters to them.

But we’ve got- Viala began, but was cut off by Gregor.

We all know we won’t go down without a fight, Viala, you don’t need to tell that to me. And it’s true that we’ve survived an attack by more than Rainshye's four Lords. But it’s also true that we didn’t win that fight. We fled it. We’ve never actually faced down a group of Lords and won, and no matter how confident we are in what we’ve got, we can’t stand against all of these hungry Bladesmen nations forever if they decided to squash us. We’d be right back in the same situation we were back home, trapped and barely surviving for another hundred years.

I’d never heard these bitter tones in Gregor’s voice. Clearly, he’d seen things on his travels through this world that had soured his opinion on it. Is there nobody else we could work with? Rainshye wouldn’t accept a parlay of some sort?

There’s talk of a city where Bladesmen Lords go to retire once they decide they’re bored of politics. But when I asked whether Plesath could hire some of those retired Lords to help, I was laughed at – the Lords there pledge to never again interfere in the world. Apparently each nation pays them tribute to make sure they stay out of politics. It’s the only truly neutral place in this whole blasted world.

Viala frowned, lost in thought. Are we sure we couldn’t get some of them to assist? We never agreed to leave them alone, and we don’t pay any tribute.

The other nations would team up to destroy any Lord who comes out of there to rejoin the politics of the world. It’s pretty clear that they’re deathly afraid of whoever lives in that place. Think about it, though – you’ve got dozens of Lords who are old enough to have done everything they wanted to with running these countries. Not only that, they’re powerful enough to have survived the process. I’m not sure that we’d want any of them returning to the fray, either – a handful of them might decide to take over the City from our Council, and there’d be very little we could do about it.

I sighed. Without some sort of help, we’re going to have a lot of trouble ahead of us, I said. Did you bring back any good news?

Gregor gave an evil grin, one that I recognized from years before. Maybe I did. I’m pretty sure that all Rainshye knows about us is that we have only one Lord. As far as they’re concerned, that’s all they need to know. What they don’t know is how we wage war, or what our Archmagess here can do, not to mention the rest of our mages.

That gives us an edge, Viala said, leaning her head back to think. Especially if they discount our regular mages. We’ve shown that the best way to defeat a Lord is to attack them from several ways at once. Aside from myself and Ather, none of our mages can stand up to a Lord individually – but if they all hit with lesser spells from different directions, there’s a limit to how many a single Lord can stop. It doesn’t matter if they deflect all the sledgehammer blows if one arrow gets through at the right time.

I nodded. We’ve had a lot more practical experience since the last war. If we pull everyone off their other projects, we could get a dozen combat mages ready in a week if you include Dural and I.

And when they’re mounted on airships, we can do things with regular soldiers that they’ve never faced before, Gregor said in agreement. I heard that the Alliance is in flight trials. That gives us four full-sized ships and sixteen skiffs – quite an armada.

Seventeen, I corrected. Memory finished her refit a month ahead of schedule.

He grinned. Excellent. I’ve had a new idea for a Fuel-tipped ballista bolt in mind. I’d like to see a Lord take a few of those to the face and survive.

Viala suddenly turned pale and put her hand to her stomach. Oh, damn – I need to be done for the evening, she said. Excuse me. Gregor, it’s been great to see you – we’ll talk more at the Council meeting tomorrow.

After seeing Gregor out, I went down the hallway and climbed into bed with my wife. As we waited for sleep to find us, Viala sighed and said sleepily, I’m worried about bringing our child into this world, Kenton. I don't want to fight another war.

I could find no comforting words to say in response.

Chapter 2 – Prisoner of War

Three days later I accompanied Viala back to the border aboard the Alliance, our newest full-size zeppelin. Driven by four powerful engines and kept in the air by a huge balloon deep in the interior of the dark wooden hull, it stretched two hundred feet end to end and mounted a dozen ballista. In terms of design, it was a leap ahead of the original line of airships started with the Lord of the City. While the Lord had been destroyed in the battle to save the City years before, parts of her hull were salvaged and incorporated into the Harmony and the City’s Saviour, both of the same design.

I never tired of flying on one of our mighty airships, and the Alliance was an engineering masterpiece. Chemists had designed a way to concentrate the lifting gases produced by the engines, allowing for much thicker armor designed to survive magical attacks far better than its predecessors. Its living quarters were noticeably more comfortable than the Lord’s had been, even though we had no plans to send it on long journeys at the present time. The Alliance had been designed to send a message to the Bladesmen nations who might see us as weak – it was a deterrent as much as a weapon of war. Or so we hoped. This was the ship’s first trip to the border, and it would patrol up and down the lines for the next week as a show of force to our enemies. If we were lucky, it would give Rainshye pause and force them to rethink their plans.

It is a beautiful day, is it not? spoke a familiar voice from my left. I turned and saw that Lord Ather had come up next to me, looking out over the countryside slipping away slowly below us. The Bladesman wore plain black clothing with ties to hold the sleeves in place below the wickedly sharp bone blades curving from his forearms and shins. Small bony protrusions spiked out in a circle around his narrow face, as much a mark of his heritage as his natural weaponry. He, like me, was in his mid-twenties and despite his fearsome appearance had become one of my closest friends. Lord Ather and his group of three thousand Bladesmen had joined our cause back on the human homeworld, rebelling against the enforced slavery of their own kind by the other Lords in that world.

Many humans had expected Lord Ather and his group of rebels to leave the City and join their long-lost kin now that they had retuned to their ancestral land, but instead we had found a shared commonality borne of our hard-fought alliance. The Bladesmen who had invaded the human world so long ago had been forced to adopt many human customs and habits, and those who came back here with the City had grown up with far more in common with us humans than with the Bladesmen native to this world. As unexpected as it was, the Bladesmen community had integrated well with the humans of the City, and last year we humans had voted to allow Bladesmen to participate in selecting new Council members. While no Bladesmen sat on the Council yet, most people thought it was only a matter of time until General Teyo – a respected veteran of the war - was elected to a position.

Have you heard anything from your people in Rainshye? I asked.

He shook his head. It’s been nearly a month since the volunteers went in. Have you noticed that we’re shorter than the Bladesmen here? Nearly half a foot on average. Ather sighed before continuing. Five of them spent months working to lose their accents. I hope they haven’t been caught.

They showed amazing courage to even make the attempt, I said, trying to be comforting. One of the friendly Bladesmen who had volunteered to infiltrate the aggressive nation was Ather’s trusted friend Veru, and both of us were worried about his well-being. They had been dropped off behind the enemy border by small airships using only their sails to move silently, but they had no way to return to our lines except by sneaking through the well-guarded barrier of watchtowers.

We could see the border not far ahead. One of the fortifications on our side showed more activity than usual, and not long after we were sighted they raised a signal flag indicating that they wanted us to approach. I gave the order to our pilot and felt the deep thumping of the engines increase in speed.

Ather and I climbed down the rope ladder first; I’d told Viala that I would call her down only if it was necessary due to her condition. We were greeted by the sight of four soldiers holding a struggling Bladesman, restrained by strong ropes wrapped where he couldn’t get leverage to cut them apart with his natural weapons. I realized that Ather was right – he was substantially shorter than the prisoner, who also weighed somewhat more than what I was used to seeing in our allies. I filed the thought away for later and listened to Ather as he greeted the other Bladesman in their own language.

*Greetings, my kin.

*You are no kin of mine! the prisoner spat, lunging forward and dragging the soldiers a step before they pulled him back.

Ather frowned. *You are from Rainshye?

*I’m from those who will soon be ruling your degenerate remnants, was his only response.

I interrupted for a moment, speaking to the officer in charge of the watch post. Sergeant, what’s the story on this one?

He was caught last night trying to sneak through the line. We spotted him and brought him down with a net, though he gave one of my men a nasty gouge in the process.

Ather met my eye and nodded, then went a short way off to provide magical healing to the wounded soldier while I continued to interview the prisoner. After years of working alongside our allies, I was fluent in the Bladesman language though I would always speak with the accent of Lord Ather’s rebels. *You seem quite unhappy with us, I said mildly. *Why is that?

*Because you do not belong here, he snarled back. *I don’t know what you are, but Rainshye sees no use for your kind. Go back where you came from, alien, and we’ll deal with your patrons afterwards.

I raised my eyebrows. *We’ve been welcomed by other Bladesmen nations. It seems that your people are the only-

He laughed, cutting me off. *Every proper Bladesman wants to see you gone, even those from Plesath. They’re just waiting for the right time. You’ll never be welcome in this world.

*So you came here to spy? I asked, changing the subject abruptly.

*Our Lords already know everything they need to. I came here to see your ugliness with my own eyes.

He’s lying, Lord Ather called out from nearby. You can tell from his intonation. Keep asking questions in this line.

I nodded without taking my eyes off the prisoner’s face. He bared his teeth and looked back and forth, trying to make sense of our language. Good, I thought to myself, he doesn’t understand what we’re saying. *What do they know about us?

*They know that you only have one Lord, and that your humans have none. They know that your numbers are small and your defenses weak.

Means they don’t know about Viala and the rest of you mages, the sergeant offered. I started, surprised by his understanding, then remembered that we’d tried to appoint one person to each tower who had some familiarity with the Bladesman language.

*You even sound disgusting, the captured Bladesman said, spitting at my feet. *Kill me and be done with it.

*Kill you? Why would we do that? I asked, then turned and addressed the head of the watch tower. You’ve done well. Truss him up and get him on board the airship. Viala can give some magical assistance if you need it – she’s on board, just call up to the deck.

Ather returned, followed by a young Bladesman soldier who was flexing his arm happily. A thin scar was the only remnant of what must have been a fairly deep wound only minutes earlier. Getting anyone through our lines was a long shot. I wonder why they really tried to send this one in? the friendly Bladesman asked.

I’m not sure, but I don’t like it, I said. Maybe they thought our magical barriers were weak enough to slip him through – we have no way of knowing if he was getting some help from their Lords. Still, it will be interesting to see what we can get out of him.

By the time we got back on board the Alliance the captured Bladesman had been lashed to the mainmast, his arms and legs wrenched backwards and immobilized around the pole. Sorry we couldn’t make it better on him, Councilor, but he kept fighting the whole time. Cut four ropes during the process, the pilot said to me apologetically.

It’s all right. Where’s Viala? I asked, following him back up to the piloting station raised above the main deck.

She’s still down below. Said something about not wanting the prisoner to know it was her that made him levitate up to the airship.

That makes sense, I said. They already know we have a Lord. No need to give him more than they already have, just in case… A thought struck me and I turned around, hurrying back down to stand in front of the prisoner. I closed my eyes and probed him with my thoughts. Sure enough, there was the telltale sign of Bladesman magic buried deep in his spine.

Lord Ather, could you take a look at this? I called out. A moment later he was nodding, and I sensed his superior abilities picking the spell apart. What does it do?

It’s set up to allow his Lords to see through his eyes, Ather replied, clearly still distracted by something. They’re not using it now, but there’s some sort of trigger I can’t quite make out-

Without warning, the captive gave a terrible groan and his eyes rolled back in his head. The groan became impossibly deep as the mast started creaking and he strained against the ropes, his muscles bulging and writhing under his skin. I scrambled backwards only to see Lord Ather collapse onto the deck, his skin pallid.

Our prisoner screamed and wrenched his arms forward, splitting the inch-thick ropes apart. He slammed his back against the mast, trying to pull his legs free. I dove forward and grabbed the back of Ather’s tunic, then yanked him away from the berserk Bladesman. Lord Ather’s forearm blades left deep gouges in the decking as I pulled him away from danger.

Moments later there came a sharp crack and the two-foot-thick mast split sharply, the bulk of it crashing away from me as shards went flying all across the deck. Crewmen dove for cover as the prisoner worked his way free, his eyes now pitch-black as something unnatural was summoned by the breaking of the latent spell.

I let loose a mental shout for Viala, not daring to take my attention off the creature for a moment. I pushed Ather behind me as the Bladesman infiltrator stalked towards me. Someone up above had found a bow and was sending shafts streaking towards the Bladesman, but he seemed to ignore the two arrows sticking out of his side and arm and I had little faith that he’d be brought down before he reached the defenseless Lord behind me.

Focusing my energies, I summoned a blast of wind and sent it at the Bladesman, causing him to stumble for a moment before leaning forward and digging into the deck with his shin blades. I forced more and more pressure on him, but he only reached up with his arms and started pulling his way towards us using his natural weapons for purchase. He was only ten feet away now with no less than six arrows protruding from his body, a trail of blood making its way across the deck.

I let up on the wind for a moment then swung it up to the side and around from a different direction. He wasn’t prepared for this and rolled helplessly to his left, his own arm blades catching his sides and opening long gashes across his ribs. As before, it took him only seconds to catch his place on the decking of the ship, and this time he braced himself better as he once again started to claw his way towards us.

Frustrated by this approach, I shifted the blast of air higher and slammed it directly onto his back over and over. He bounced up and down as though struck by a giant fist, pummeled against the main deck of the ship. Inky black blood spouted from his flesh with each impact, but he still kept trying to get purchase on the wood to pull himself closer. I crushed him with more and more pressure each time until the decking itself started to crack and buckle. I didn’t dare breach the integrity of the ship, but despite multiple broken bones the prisoner was somehow still alive and creeping closer inch by inch despite my onslaught.

I felt a familiar presence come onto deck and sensed Viala’s mind working alongside mine. I kept the Bladesman pinned to the deck while she quested into his body and with an incredible precision broke specific connections in his spine. Suddenly his body wasn’t moving at all, though his face was still stretched into a grotesque mask of anger and hatred.

There, Viala gasped, holding her hand to her side in pain from running up the ladder from below. He can’t move anymore. You can let up, Kenton.

I released my magic, letting my breath loose with the sudden change in pressure. The whole ordeal had only taken seconds but had left the main deck in shambles. I kneeled down to examine Lord Ather, seeing that he was slowly regaining consciousness.

What happened? Viala said, looking down at the Bladesman sprawled across the deck. His body was a crushed mess, with barely an inch of skin untouched by bruising and blood. It looked like he was trying to move his mouth, but nothing of sense emerged other than the senseless moaning that had begun this terrible episode.

I think Rainshye’s Lords set a trap for Ather, I said, still breathing heavily. When he went in to look at the spell they’d left, it triggered and set the prisoner berserk. Lord Ather was knocked unconscious – if he’d been alone the other Bladesman would have torn him to shreds.

That’s… creative, Viala said, a glint of admiration in her voice. Look at what they did to it. They sent their own citizen's body into overdrive – I doubt he will live more than a few more hours, no matter what we do.

I stepped over to look at the fallen Bladesman. His forearm blades had been driven deep into the cracked decking while his legs were crushed and broken, stuck in unnatural positions. I didn’t know whether to feel horrified or relieved.

Try to keep him alive, croaked Lord Ather. I turned to see that he was groggily trying to sit up straight. We can learn from what they did here. Nobody deserves that type of death.

I nodded and leaned over, trying to sense the extent of his injuries. This was a skill I’d never been very good at, but even so I recoiled at the wreckage I’d made of the Bladesman’s body. I don’t know if we can save him, I said quietly.

Viala laid her arm on my shoulder sympathetically. I’m sorry, Kenton, she whispered. She knew how much I hated killing – she’d been the one to lay by my side while I thrashed with nightmares for months after the battle in which I’d sent thousands of Bladesmen to their deaths.

I looked down at the prisoner, watching as the blood left his body. The killing never became any easier. It made me dread the coming war even more.

Chapter 3 – Reinforcement

I spent the next few minutes focusing my energy to send a message back to Mastermage Dural in the city. He promised to send a work crew to help deal with the Alliance’s mast, departing with a sense of sympathy as his mind went back to his present location. Meanwhile, Lord Ather and Viala examined the remains of the prisoner’s body, commenting back and forth about precisely what had been done to cause the hideous transformation we’d been witness to.

Luckily, other than some minor cuts and bruises, none of the crew had been injured when the mast had come down. They worked to clear the deck at the pilot’s command, looking uneasily at the fallen Bladesman where his blood outlined the scars of our short battle on the airship’s deck. I helped using magical means wherever requested. While we were more than a mile from the enemy border, I had little doubt that they’d seen our main mast crumple, and I wanted to show that we could recover from damage quickly and capably – any sign of weakness could be dangerous.

The skiff sent by the City arrived within half an hour with Gregor at the helm, having assumed command of the work crew as soon as he heard about the incident. Soon we were back on our way, though at a noticeably slower speed. I requested use of the skiff for Viala, Ather and myself so that we could continue on our journey along the border to keep it reinforced. The transfer was made midair with little difficulty – our larger airships like the Alliance had been built with space underneath for several skiffs to dock.

As we watched the larger ship head back towards the City in the growing twilight, the three of us talked about the implications of what we’d experienced while the crew flying the skiff took us on the last leg to our destination.

Do you think he volunteered? I asked as we stood at the railing, watching the dusty farmland roll by below.

Lord Ather shrugged. He certainly didn’t have any direct controlling magics upon him – after what was done to my people in your world, I’d have recognized those immediately. As to what more mundane persuasions were performed upon him, I cannot say.

Viala nodded. It’s something to consider. A dozen of those things would be difficult for our soldiers to handle in the heat of battle – but they’d have to be willing to die for their cause, whichever side won the fight. That’s not an easy thing to ask.

They were clearly targeting me, Ather said in a calmer voice than I would have used. Remember, they think only in terms of Lords – if they could have put me down with that attempt, they would have gained a major advantage. Whatever additional damage they might have inflicted would only have been incidental. If a Lord was not on the field, I don’t imagine that they’d feel any need to sacrifice their own people that way.

I hope you’re right, I said with a sigh.

We’ll see how quickly they adapt to our plans, Viala said after a moment’s pause. If our strategy works, they’ll be forced to realize the strength of what we can bring to the table other than Lord Ather.

We arrived at our objective just after dusk had fallen. I climbed down to the ground to get a report from the soldiers stationed at the watch tower nearby while Viala stayed on board the skiff and began weaving the potent magics only an Archmage was capable of.

I’m sure glad you showed up, the woman in charge of this section of the border said with relief. Just a couple of hours ago one of their forts across the way lit up and the whole area around our tower shook for a moment. I think one of their Lords was over there trying to hit us with something.

That’s why we’re here, I said reassuringly. It’s been more than two months since this area was reinforced, but Viala is up on the skiff right now weaving the spells that will stop them from doing anything to you for a while.

I sure hope so, she