As Ghillie's weapons slid free, Aida's people coalesced about her out of the crowd. Ryk smiled as he adjusted his grip on a huge ovoid, brass-rimmed shield he'd acquired somewhere. Even Alerestro and Viviana had found a short spear and long dagger apiece. Eth merely stood chewing her fingernails and tapping her foot impatiently.
About them, slaves attacked the guards handling them, assaulted Berujat's menials, ran off into the city, hurled stones at the ranks of Ferals and Versal troops gathering on the platform, or armed themselves with whatever they could find to charge towards the ranks of Dynastic bodyguards.
Aida's eyes randomly met with a sunburned, scarred blond woman wearing what looked to be faded and worn Inviolate blacks and carrying a hefty sword on her slight waist. A strange feeling of recognition hit Aida even though she was sure she'd never seen the woman before and the feeling seemed to be mutual as the woman nodded to her. Then chaos surged and the woman was gone, vanished into the crowd.
Dozens of archers and slingers moved to the front edge of the platform, taking shots at leaders among the slaves. Scattered among them stood a variety of people Aida assumed to be mancers or something: a chick with shaggy red hair flaring knife-thin blades of blue force from the scar tissue in her hands. A naked guy sprouting patches of shaggy hair all over his body then retracting it, enlarging and shrinking his teeth, and extending and shrinking the shape and length of his fingers. Others as bizarre stood among them, but Aida had little time for any more curious gawking.
After the initial enraged rush, the Feral's discipline, the Versal troop's superior armament, and the demoralizing effect of well-placed arrows and stones raining from the platform threatened to break the slave's attack even if they outnumbered the Dynastic forces twenty-to-one. If they lost the momentum now, the slaves would probably scatter and try to make it on their own or small groups. Even if the rest of Aida's followers were pouring through the nearest Thorns as fast as they could at that moment, it was miles away and they were little better equipped to face combat than the slaves. As loyal as they were, few were warriors.
No, This was their one shot.
"Then let's take the shot," Aida said, her voice reverberating with the layers of resonant power she'd be continually building up in her strings. She strode towards the battle lines. Ryk stayed close by her side, occasionally stepping in to raise his shield. Thunks, clangs, scrapes, or thuds sounded each time. By the time they'd made their way to a gap in the slave's attacking ranks, the shield sprouted half-a-dozen arrows plus dings and divots from thrown spears or hurled sling stones.
Without any preamble, Aida shoved the nearest slaves aside to stare down the bristling ranks of spears and layered shields presented by the Dynastic forces. She growled, the sound rattling her bones.
"Kill her!" a Dynast shouted from atop the platform.
Ryk and Ghillie stepped close on either side as the line of Versal troops charged, but she didn't need them. Aida unleashed a blast that sheared through the closest half-dozen men, then expanded in a V-shape towards the platform. Wood splintered, cracked, and flew apart as the blast slammed into the structure like a tornado crossed with a grenade. The platform somehow remained standing after, though huge cracks ran through most of the remaining beams and planks. Groans, creaks, and pops shuddered from what was left.
Versers and Dynasts atop it yelled as they scrambled to their feet, some shouting commands, others falling over each other in their haste to escape.
"Don't think so," Aida murmured, a low hum building up the vibrating force in her strings again. The mass of slaves beside and behind her echoed the scream before crashing into the Dynastic ranks. Ryk and Ghillie took down the few Ferals and Versal troops daring enough to take a shot at her while she doubled and redoubled the hum, layering harmonic chords atop one another.
Aida honed the sound vibrating in her strings, subconsciously shaping it for a wider blast. She wasn't exactly sure what it was she did to change it, but months of practice had built up an instinct for directing the power, angle, and cone of the sounds she could produce. Until she'd crumbled the Neck she'd had no idea how much power she could unleash; now it was time for a few other Dynasts to make the same discovery.
This shout originated as a many-pitched bark, something like the sound she'd heard karate masters make on TV during some brick-breaking competition she'd idly watched on late night ESPN11 or whatever. If the first blast hit like an RPG, this one hit like a jet-dropped bomb detonating the platform's frontal facing. Boards, bodies, and bits of both hurled away while jagged spears and ricocheting hunks of tumbling wood exploded into the backs of the Dynastic ranks.
And just like that, the enemy force was breaking and running. Slaves hounded their every step, snatching up hastily-discarded weapons as the Versal troops fled for their lives. The surviving Ferals, on the other hand, rushed into the wreckage, gathering in small knots to hold off the enraged mob as they searched the splintered remnants for their Dynasts.
Aida walked to the edge of the platform, simultaneously awed, gratified, and horrified by the devastation she'd unleashed. "See if you can capture a Dynast alive. We could use some answers."
"We do," Eth said at the same time, pointing off towards the back of the platform where Ryk already jogged, casually dispatching a handful of Ferals on the way. If she didn't know he was a Paragon his reactions would have seemed superhuman, but knowing the future probably rendered the fights no more difficult than his training exercises.
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"Of course you know," Aida said, rolling her eyes. She turned to Alerestro and Viviana. They'd bloodied their spears at some point and a splash of blood smeared the side of Viviana's face. "You okay?"
"It's nothing," Viviana said, smiling viciously. "My opponent won't miss it."
Aida wondered again exactly who these two might be and who'd sent them. She debated bringing it up, but she was worried any sort of confrontation that might arise from such a confrontation might cost her two of her most useful lieutenants. Either way, now wasn't the time. "Okay. Viviana, since you unfortunately have some experience with things here, why don't you two try to round up as many slaves, or ex-slaves I guess now, together so I can talk to them. We may have won a battle here, but we have a war to win yet for the rest of the Book."
“As you wish," she said. She was off, calling to the nearest cluster slaves looting a sprawl of dead Versal troops. Something about 'Calm loci' that made absolutely no sense to Aida.
She turned to Alerestro. "I want you to go to the nearest Thorn and organize our volunteers as they come through. Get them here so we can have them help us organize things."
"It shall be as you say, Dynast," Alerestro said, the elegance of his deep bow somewhat at odds with the bloody spear propped over one shoulder.
When Aida turned back to the platform, she saw Ryk dragging a dazed and bloody long-haired figure from the rubble, the woman stumbling over the ripped remnants of an over-long, gray dress.
Eth closed in on her, her expression flat. "Congratulations, you succeeded. What's the plan after this stunning victory? Oh wait..."
"You know there isn't one," Aida said, modulating her voice and expression to make it as light and airy as Eth's was harsh and sarcastic. "If I don't know what I'm doing next, how could our enemies ever figure out our plans?"
"A stunning stratagem," Eth said, rolling her eyes. "What could possibly ever go wrong? And yes, of course.
Aida had already begun talking when Eth answered and the last of her question came out through gritted teeth. "You wouldn't let me attack from anywhere other than this specific spot for a reason, right?"
After clearly enjoying Aida's glare for a moment, Eth continued. "There were a variety of mancers up on the platform that would have been problematic if we'd tried this elsewhere. Here, they were all too far away to do anything effective."
"Figured as much," Aida said, glancing at the ruin of the platform. "Almost feels like cheating."
"It is. You're the cheat piece, remember?"
As Ryk and the captured Dynast drew closer, Aida snapped her fingers. "Wake!"
Aida's memories the woman centered mostly on her fussing and babying over her latest man-child of a husband back in Ocyl's villa in Jadeye. The woman had absolutely reeked of wealth, privilege, and superiority. Now splinters and dust clogged her tangled hair. Blood ran down her cheek and dripped from her left hand. The fine gold thread trimming her dress frayed out from the gray fabric and it dragged from her frame, stained with blood and trailing behind in tangled tatters. Enough remained to keep her private bits private, but barely.
Looking around, Aida found a section of relatively-intact platform frame with a knee-height crossbeam that looked stable. She sat on it gingerly and, when it held, leaned her chin on her fist as Ryk thrust Wake down before her none-to-gently.
"Wakey wakey," Aida said, snorting at her own terrible pun. "Sorry about my entrance. Hope I didn't interrupt anything important here."
Wake pulled herself up in as dignified a manner as she could manage considering her situation and glared. "How did you get here? My team was supposed to kill your Valeer and destroy your 'nails."
A nonchalant shrug seemed an appropriate response so she did so, cleaning something imaginary off a fingernail.
At least the Dynast got straight to the point. "Hope that Arcer wasn't too expensive a hire. Got killed by a terrtle while trying to kill a rotter. It was a dead terrtle even."
"At least we took out most of the Ancient's Valeers and 'nail depositories. Took down a couple of the bastards too. Tyrs of Forge was fed into one and Silk needs a new Dynast at least." The flash of triumph on her face faded quickly as she trained a furious look on Eth. "What happened to your famed Imminent neutrality? The entire history of the Book you've never taken sides. Now you align with this barbarian over the Book's rightful rulers?"
"History is ending, so why not?" Eth said, scratching at a sweat-stained armpit. "And I'm not taking her side because I want to, believe me."
"Thanks for that," Aida said, shaking her head, then shrugging as she looked at Wake. "She isn't kidding."
"Any time," Eth grunted.
"So, Wake. Walk with me," Aida said, rising, turning, and striding towards the stadium's bleacherish area. She'd gotten only hints of the look and layout of Berujat on the way in due to their haste to get to the arena when they heard about the Slave Legions. Plus that stupid, hot, and heavy cowl they'd thrown on her left her half-blind and half-cooked besides. They sure looked cool in movies and she had felt like a complete badass revealing herself when the time came, but damn did she sweat like a hog wearing that thing.
Wake hitched up and held together what she could of her gown and tagged along after with Ryk. Eth and Ghillie followed close behind. Viviana waved from where she had gathered what hopefully were the ring-leaders among the ex-slaves and they'd clumped near the arena's main entrance. Judging by the number of runners they were dispatching and receiving, they were making progress organizing things.
"What are you going to do with me and the other Dynasts?" Wake said, her tone sharp and demanding.
"If any others survived, you mean? Hm, hadn't thought about that," Aida said, truthfully. She turned to Ryk. "You know of any gods nearby that might be snackish? Dynasts probably make for pretty good eating."
Ryk grinned. "Heard there's a big, flying manta-like one that swoops in sometimes around here. They chain slaves atop a precipice to hopefully appease it. Sometimes works."
As they ascended the stadium steps, Aida spared a glance at Wake. To her credit, the woman still didn't reveal the faintest scrap of fear, just anger and indignity. "Would be a waste of my knowledge and experience. I've been alive for over five centuries. Do you have any in your ragged band of rebellious, illiterate menials who can match that level of experience?"
"After hanging out with them and you, I'd rather have my rebellious menials, illiterate Ferals, and 'filthy' Wretches by my side, thank you very much."