Amwyld, the Word for endure. The Sigil that Verdan had studied had been more focused on extending duration, but his meditations on it had led him more to the perseverance side of the Word.

Between that and the fortifying effect of nercreth, the ward would help all within it do more, go further and feel less tired. Well, that was the idea, anyway.

Verdan bound the spell to his staff as it finished forming, using it as the centre of the effect. The ward would radiate out just far enough to cover the whole group, with a small margin for error.

“Everyone, listen up,” Verdan called out as the group circled around him. “My spell will only affect you if you stay close, so we’ll be riding fast but keeping tight. Both you and your horse will be within it, so we’ll push as far as we can, and hopefully arrive in a decent condition.”

The newer of Verdan’s guards looked concerned, but those that had been with him for a while took the requirements in stride. Satisfied that they would do as he asked, Verdan looked over to where Sylvie was waiting nearby. “We’re ready when you are, but please keep your people from getting too close.”

“Understood,” Sylvie nodded, turning back to the rest of the Airta. “Meu frakti, nos vanatull!”

The Airta let out a rousing cheer of approval before shifting into their wolf forms, and Verdan was about to give the order to leave when he saw Cullan jogging their way.

The Idrisyr was dressed in a loose shirt that was undone to the navel, despite the cold weather, and had both a heavy travel pack and his greatsword bound to his back.

“Cullan, what are you doing?” Verdan asked, part of his attention staying on the spell as he monitored its Aether usage. So far, there was very little draw, but that made sense.

“There’s going to be a nasty fight, and you’ll need someone to hold the front line if they have anything worse than a Bayne with them,” Cullan said easily, shrugging one shoulder. A more serious look settled on his face a moment later and he continued in a quiet voice. “I don’t know if Elliot told you, but the Cyth killed our parents. So the thought of waiting here while you hold that ridge turns my stomach.”

Verdan nodded sympathetically, fully understanding that feeling. He couldn’t argue with either reason, and it would be good for morale to the seven foot tall warrior front and centre, slaughtering Cyth.

Still, there was a reason Verdan hadn’t asked him to join them.

“I understand, and you’re welcome to come, but how are you going to keep pace with us?” Verdan asked, gesturing to the horses around them. “None of these are big enough to hold you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cullan said, the serious look fading away as he gave the Wizard a crooked smile and nodded off to one side. “Here she comes now.”

Verdan looked over and let out a low whistle as he saw Lorcan coming their way with the biggest horse that Verdan had ever seen. It was almost bigger and heavier than any of the others present, and if there was any horse that could carry Cullan, this was it.

“Treat her well,” Lorcan said, giving Cullan a warning look before patting the horse on the flank and walking off.

“What sort of horse is that?” Verdan asked as Cullan swung gracefully up onto its back, looking more imposing than ever from his new vantage point.

“Some of my cousins breed them, they’re called dilfari,” Cullan said, rubbing the horse’s neck affectionately. “Rare to find outside of our homes. We were lucky Lorcan had brought old Ava here with him.”

“Ava, huh,” Verdan said, admiring the great beast.

“Yep, short for Avalanche,” Cullan said, laughing at Verdan’s expression. “Now, let’s get to it.”

Verdan shook his head at the joke, but his mirth quickly fled as he turned back to the group at large. The Airta were already moving, which meant the time had come.”

“Remember,” Verdan called out as he urged his horse into first a trot, then a canter. “Stay close to me.”

-**-

Verdan ran over the numbers and times as they pushed on to the ridge. The wagons would arrive at the western ridge at noon the next day if all went well, while they would reach the eastern side before nightfall if they could keep this pace.

That meant they would be on their own for a single day.

Verdan was bringing all thirty of his guards, as well as Tim and Tom, who he didn’t really count as his guards anymore, as well as Cullan, a dozen Mhorgain Thearns, Benlen, Dirk and Magnus.

It was a small but experienced group of fighters, and with the Fwyn and Brecan supporting them, as well as the Airta and the other group of scouts, they had a lot of potential.

Their main issue would be overwhelming numbers. No matter how good they were, if the Cyth threw hundreds at them, they would by overrun.

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Then again, if the Stormlords were right, the Host would be at the pass the day after Silver and the rest of the army arrived, so the Cyth shouldn’t have those kinds of numbers until then.

Verdan took a steadying breath, ensuring that his ward was fully supplied with Aether. They were three hours into their ride, and so far, the spell was working as intended.

He was using Aether at a steady rate, but it was manageable, and they were keeping pace with the fast moving Airta.

Sylvie had sent a group to find the scouts, while the rest of them stayed on a more direct route to the ridge.

Unfortunately, time was tight enough that they couldn’t stop and try to link up. They would just have to trust that the scouts had destroyed the bridges and would meet up with them at the ridge.

Looking back to the path ahead, Verdan saw the woody terrain they’d been passing through start to fade away and be replaced by a rockier, less even environment.

At least there was no sign of the Cyth so far, which meant they were making good time.

-**-

The western ridge was a proud expanse of rock that rose up above the scrubland that the woods had become. Two paths crossed over it, one close to the mountains and the other closer to a waterfall that poured out into a gorge that would eventually become the river heading south.

Large dark clouds lingered overhead, drenching them with cold rain and making the rock slick and dangerous to traverse.

The more northern path was larger and more forgiving, so they looped around to take it, wanting to avoid any slips on the wet rock.

Eventually, they reached the tip of the ridge and rode on over to the other side, avoiding the stretches of bare rock as they picked their way down the slope.

The pass began as a long, open swathe of scrubland at a steady decline but swiftly became a ten-mile long stretch of dry rock and multiple paths that intertwined and intersected. Verdan could see now how Elder Dun intended to control the movement of the Cyth.

Now, though, Verdan wasn’t sure they’d have the time to do anything so complex.

As they neared the end of the pass, Verdan heard a distant howl from further ahead and called for a gallop, urging his horse forward.

All the Aether he’d used to keep the horses in peak condition suddenly became worthwhile as they surged forward, thundering around the bend to see the Airta who’d been ahead of them racing up the incline leading to the eastern ridge.

Thunder rolled like distant drums and lightning stabbed down from the sky, making Verdan’s eyes go wide as he realised why there were dark clouds overhead.

There was a single path over the eastern ridge, but it was wide and was a much easier slope than the one at the western side.

As they rode up the path, Verdan could hear the sounds of battle echoing from the far side, and brought the endurance spell to an end, reabsorbing the Aether it had held.

Cresting the ridge, Verdan saw a chaotic, fluid melee laid out before him. Dozen of Cyth were storming up the path to the top of the ridge and being thrown back by a line of defenders at a chokepoint.

Smaller groups of Cyth were clambering up over rocks to avoid the path, only to be picked off by roving groups of Airta.

Gusts of wind were knocking back more of the monsters, leaving them easy prey for the circling Airta. Still, the urgency of the situation wasn’t lost on Verdan.

The line of fighters was thin, very thin. Sylvie and the rest of the Airta were there to help, but as Sylvie had said, they weren’t front-line fighters.

“Grym thanr bel!” Verdan called out, reshaping the Aether he’d taken back from the spell and launching it down at a group of Cyth. “Charge!”

Fire blossomed among the Cyth, immolating a dozen or more, but there were plenty more where they came from.

Verdan’s group was at a full gallop now, the thunder of their charge merging with the storm overhead.

A bellowed warcry deafened Verdan as Cullan all but flew past him, Ava’s hoofbeats somehow making it through the bedlam all around them.

The defenders at the choke point moved aside mere instants before Cullan arrived, letting the Idrisyr and his horse slam right into the Cyth and out the other side.

More than one monster was crippled by Ava’s flashing hooves, and blood trailed after Cullan from where he’d bisected a Cyth with his greatsword.

The Cyth still standing had a brief moment to see the rest of them charging down the slope before they were trampled and broken beneath dozens of hooves.

“Gwth!” Verdan shouted the spell, caught in the moment as he sent a wave of force rippling before them to stagger the next group of Cyth, before they too were ridden down.

Pain lanced up Verdan’s leg as one of the Cyth managed to stab him even as it was pulled under, but there was no time to stop.

Cullan was leading the way still as the Airta came sweeping in on both sides to lend their weight to the charge. Together, they smashed their way through all the Cyth on the path up to the ridge, the last few fleeing off into the northern edge of a large woodland that stretched to the south.

Verdan considered throwing a few punitive fireballs after them, but after seeing so many Cyth here, he decided to save the Aether.

“Hold here, hold here!” Verdan shouted, trying to impose some sort of order on the milling group before someone got the bright idea to chase the Cyth “Back to top!”

It took a moment for them to all come down from the adrenaline high of the charge, but Verdan and Nikau managed to get them heading back up the slope.

The defenders had finished off what few Cyth had survived the charge and Verdan saw Gwen and Elder Vaijon waiting for him.

Gwen looked exhausted, and the Elder was covered head to toe in blood and gore. Clearly, this had been going on for some time.

“Nikau, get the horses checked over and then have our people relieve the defenders,” Verdan said, trusting him to get the job done while he got some more information.

Dismounting, Verdan handed his horse over to Barb before moving over to Gwen and Vaijon, who had now been joined by the Pathfinder, Macha, Zhalia and Sylvie.

“Good timing, Verdan,” Gwen said, giving him a wan smile. “Things were getting tough there.”

“So I see,” Verdan said, looking out down from the ridge to the dozens of dead Cyth that were scattered across its slopes. “How many were there?”

“At first, maybe a dozen, but their numbers have only been growing with each attack,” Vaijon said, grimacing in pain as he sat down on the edge of a rock. “One of my brethren was able to shift the rock to make us that chokepoint. If it wasn’t for that, we’d have been forced back.”

“I have Fwyn and Brecan joining us,” Verdan said, eyeing the path that the Sorcerer had made. “I’ll ask them to work with him and see what more we can do.”

“He’s in no state to talk,” Vaijon said grimly, pulling a small dented metal flask from within his robes. Unscrewing the top, he toasted off to their right before taking a heavy swig.

Glancing over, Verdan saw a pair of Sorcerers along with a handful of Airta and Kranjir had been taken to one side. They were alive, but were in bad shape.

“I’ve done what I can for them, and those medallions you gave us helped keep them alive,” Zhalia said tiredly. “We were lucky today, but that won’t last for long.”

Verdan’s gaze lingered on the wounded for a moment longer before he turned back to the others. “Tell me everything that has happened.”