Vaijon and Verdan hurried into the pavilion Silver had set up as his main command post.

Silver was already present, as was a ragged-looking Sorcerer in colours that Verdan recognised as the Unbound Gale.

Not many of the air and wind Sorcerers had joined the alliance army, and Elder Vanarr had taken all of them with him when he went east.

One being present here was either a very good thing, or a very bad one.

“Verdan, Vaijon,” Silver said, turning to face them with a grim expression. “We’ve had a message from Elder Vanarr. He has engaged the other portion of the Cyth Host.”

“Was it also much larger than expected?” Verdan asked, knowing the answer from Silver’s expression. “How bad was it?”

“Twice the size of what we fought here, approximately twenty thousand total,” Silver said as he tapped a finger on a folded letter that lay before him. “He describes the situation they’re in here, and it isn’t good. You should both take a seat. I’ve sent a rider for Morag as well, but she’s hours away yet.”

“Yet you neglected to send one for me,” Kurgane’s voice came from behind them as the Defiant Flame Sorcerer came in to join them. “I thought I’d see what was happening that needed these two quite so urgently.”

“My apologies, Disciple Skarv,” Silver said in a neutral voice. “I didn’t realise you should have been informed.”

“Oh yes, after all, I’m at least second in command of this whole operation now.”

Silver looked slightly confused, so Vaijon gave him the summary of how he stood outside of the Sects. As the two spoke, Verdan could feel Kurgane looking him over and had to actively fight the urge to snap at him.

Verdan hadn’t liked the arrogant Sorcerer from the first, and Natalia’s revelation had made him dislike Kurgane all the more.

“I see,” Silver said as Vaijon finished explaining matters. “Unfortunately, while you are second in command of the Sects, you are far lower for the overall force.”

Kurgane frowned, his smile falling away. “How exactly do you see that being the case?”

Silver smiled blandly, but Verdan could tell that he was enjoying the chance to put the Sorcerer in his place. “Well, I’ve nominated Verdan as my second, then Disciple Morag as my third. Fourth should then be either yourself or one of the other leaders of the smaller allied groups. We haven’t given it that much thought from that point on.”

Verdan inwardly cheered the Commander on, enjoying the barely concealed outrage on Kurgane’s face. It wasn’t the most politic move to aggravate the Sorcerer, but Kurgane needed to learn where the boundaries were.

Vaijon cleared his throat and gave both Silver and Kurgane a pointed look. “As much as I enjoy this, shall we discuss the message?”

“Of course, my apologies, Elder Vaijon,” Silver said with a nod before turning back to the Unbound Gale Sorcerer. “Do you mind summarising your own experiences?”

The Sorcerer nodded before clearing his throat, looking decidedly uncomfortable with the situation. “The Elder used my Sect to locate the Cyth Host, with the original intent to engage them directly. He also had us looking for advantageous areas of land to fight the Cyth, but without the Eternal Wardens, the expectation was a straight fight.”

“Understandable,” Vaijon said with a slow nod. “We were lucky to find what we did, but we also had the skills and magic to improve on it. While the other army has a lot, they had little for a defensive fight.”

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The Unbound Gale Sorcerer nodded. “That seemed to be the Elder’s assessment as well. I wasn’t part of the group that located the Host, but the initial estimate put it well over the strength we anticipated. Without a fortified place to fight from, the Elder arranged a series of raids on them, to weaken the Host without a decisive action.”

Verdan nodded approvingly. “Mobility isn’t a strength of the Cyth. While they can move quickly when needed, it would hardly be to the same degree that Sorcerers could manage.”

“We had some limited success,” the Sorcerer said, his gaze turning distant for a brief moment before he refocused on Verdan. “As you said, we took full advantage of our speed to harass the Cyth. Unfortunately, they quickly learned our methods and changed the shape of their advance. Outlying groups of Cyth Lai would block out path to the core of the Host. We could either kill them and flee, or push forward but risk being bogged down.”

Verdan could imagine the scenario, the tough situation and hard choices that had to be made. At least the Elder had a good core of Sorcerers to call upon, but even that great reserve of firepower would have its limits.

“What happened next?” Silver asked softly, prompting the Sorcerer to shift and continue.

“We kept up the attacks for a time, but eventually the Cyth forced our hand. They stopped trying to pin us down and instead began to push for the city of Gerann, and while our attacks were hurting them, we were far from stopping them. The Elder attempted a larger battle to draw them away from the city, but the Host ignored it altogether. Without the means to divert them, Elder Vanarr decided to hold the one fortified position we had and withdrew to Gerann.”

Vaijon, Verdan and Silver winced as one, though Kurgane simply arched a brow questioningly. “Why do you all react like that?”

“The Elder sacrificed his mobility, locking him into a battle with a force that was originally five times the size of his own. The raids will have reduced that, but even so, those are bad odds.”

“Yes, but a city’s walls are strong and well defended,” Kurgane said, waving aside Verdan’s concerns. “I’m sure the Elder had a plan.”

“Then you are a fool,” Vaijon said, shooting Kurgane a scathing look. “Vanarr occupied the city because he was out of options. He couldn’t stop them reaching the city, but neither could he allow the Host to gain access to so many innocents. If Gerann were to fall, the Host would grow far beyond what we could deal with. I’d bet my favourite flask that he was having the city evacuated, right?”

“Yes, Elder,” the air Sorcerer said, clearly reluctant to be drawn into the argument. “It began as soon as we arrived. When I left, the Host was approximately two days from the city, and it was well underway at that time.”

“Two days,” Verdan echoed, thinking of their own timings. “And how long did it take you to reach us?”

“Three days.”

“Then that means the city has already been under siege for a full day,” Verdan said, shaking his head as he took in the state of the exhausted looking Sorcerer. “You pushed to get here that fast, correct?”

The Sorcerer nodded mutely and Silver motioned over to a map that was staked out on a table. “I’ve checked the distances. It will take us five days to reach them, accounting for the wagons.”

“Five days,” Vaijon said, rubbing the back of his head and sighing. “I have to hope that the Elder can hold out for that long. Gerann is no fortress city or Enclave, though. Its defences are minor and designed more as a deterrent than a true fortification.”

“At least the city guard will be able to supplement the Elder’s forces,” Verdan said, his gaze flicking to Kurgane for a moment as he remembered the siege of Hobson’s Point. “They can be far more effective than some would give them credit.”

“Indeed,” Silver murmured, giving Verdan a nod before clearing his throat and tapping the map once more. “Regardless, we have a long way to go, and no idea of the situation as it stands. That means we need to act as though our presence will be the deciding factor. We will begin preparing to move off immediately.”

“What about Morag and the Eternal Wardens at the other ridge?” Vaijon asked.

“All being well, they’ll be with us, but that will be Morag’s call,” Silver said, spreading his hands. “I won’t force them to abandon this pass, not after the blood we shed claiming it. The majority of our strength is on this side, so we will move forward with that, and take the rest as it comes.”

“Understood, I’ll go spread the word with our allies. We’ll be ready to leave as soon as possible,” Verdan said, mentally listing who he’d need to contact.

“I’ll stay to go over what else we might be able to find out that isn’t in the message,” Vaijon said, motioning for the messenger to follow him.

Verdan nodded and excused himself, not waiting for what Kurgane might have to say or offer. Much like with what Silver did, Verdan knew this wasn’t the right way to treat the proud Sorcerer, but he couldn’t help it.

A voice in the back of Verdan’s mind wished that Kurgane would do something about it and give them the excuse to come down on him, but Verdan quashed it.

The situation had changed now, they needed to be working together to make sure that the Cyth were defeated. As long as Kurgane was doing the same, Verdan would do his best to keep Kai in check.