Imoen and Winski climbed to the top of the wall, grimly noting the slumped bodies of the guard and his replacement. No sign of Shui, Winski noted, but not his body either, which was reassuring. They saw a group of dark-clad figures spread out and advance the wall cautiously. A few of them were carrying a rope ladder. There was also a dust cloud in the distance. Reinforcements on the way, no doubt.
Imoen gasped and almost threw a triple fireball at the attackers, but stayed the launching of the spell trigger as Winski grabbed her hand. She could not see the wizard and wondered how he had been able to guess what she was doing. Perhaps he knew her even better than she thought.
The magicians hurried back to the commanding center.
- "Imoen, we need to coordinate the attack with the others," Winski said. "We don't want to let the enemy know that we are aware of them."
- "Yeah, it was kinda whatsitcalled primitive reaction," Imoen said. "Sheesh. I sure hope Shui is all right."
They rushed inside the building where the tense and anxious Sarevok, Chen and Jelena were waiting for them.
- "How bad is it?" Chen asked.
- "Snipers, crossbows. A troop spread out, meaning to mount the wall and attack by surprise," Winski said. "Reinforcements on the way, no information of the kind."
- "I will go to the barracks, we will station the forces behind the wall. Please follow me."
All of them walked swiftly, their faces grim and determined.
- "The snipers will shoot anyone on the top of the wall," Winski said.
- "So we will wait for them to come and take them out then," Sarevok said. "They think they will get the element of surprise so we should be able to kill them."
- "Yes," Chen said. "Obviously they know about the rockets as they spread out. We must not underestimate these enemies."
- "We will dispose of the initial troop, and before the reinforcements arrive, we should have enough time to position the garrison for defense," Winski went on. "How many wu jen do we have, how skilled?"
- "The standard group of five, standard lieutenant wu jen."
That would make them mid-skilled, able to cast fireballs or whatever they were called here in Kara-Tur.
- "Can they cast protective spells on themselves?" Winski asked.
- "Some," Chen said. "It is not my specialty, but I understand it is a standard procedure of theirs."
- "I will help," Jelena said. "They are especially important because magical firepower will be a powerful ally." She looked unhappy. She had never been in a true battle before, and the idea of using her skills and spells to hurt and destroy the enemy caused true anxiety in her. It reeked of wrongness, but she supposed there was no other way.
- "Where's Peri?" Imoen asked in bewilderment. She certainly found it hard to believe that her sister would keep herself safe in the circumstances, mother of a young child or not.
- "She went on a mission to rescue Shui," Sarevok said.
- "What? And you let her!"
- "Imoen. You have known her for longer than I," Sarevok replied. "You should know by now that you don't 'let' or 'not let' Peri do anything. She is like a natural phenomenon - all you can do is to go along and hope for the best, minimizing the damage."
Imoen grudgingly had to admit he was right.
Chen's garrison was in full battle formation. She looked at the young faces, some of them frightened, others enthusiastic. It gripped her heart that it was possible that she was sending them to their untimely death. War was no pretty thing.
- "Soldiers. Our city is under attack. The enemy attempts to climb the wall undetected and cripple us so that we can not counter the attack of the approaching reinforcements. Approach the wall with caution in defensive formation. Do not shoot before the enemy is out of sight from behind the wall. Do not launch the rockets. The wu jen will be placed under this man here. Act!"
The five magicians approached Winski, and the huge garrison started to march toward the wall. In spite of himself Sarevok felt his blood singing. He sighed with resignation - he was a warrior, and he loved battle, for that was what he was born to do.
