Lidia flew on her eagle construct above The Tower along with thirty other sorcerers gathered from all over the kingdom. Pulling one here and one there had taken longer than she would have preferred, but she didn’t want to strip any of the provinces of all their sorcerers, so it was necessary. With Thomas’s help she’d selected the strongest sorcerers in the kingdom, not the strongest, he was still missing, but the strongest available. Most of them were skilled fighters with many years’ experience. Men and women Lidia was confident going into battle with. In addition to great fighters she’d grabbed John Kord as well. He was the most gifted healer she’d ever seen and before this was over his talents would be needed.

They knew nothing beyond the fact that she needed them. She’d been vague in her orders just in case a scroll was intercepted by an enemy agent. She’d chosen to hold the gathering at The Tower instead of the capital for the same reason. Lidia was fairly certain they’d cleaned out all the spies back home, but she wasn’t inclined to risk it, especially for something this important.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for responding so quickly. We’ll be heading east to reinforce the army. The paladins guarding the pass are all dead and the fortress is now held by four very brave people.”

A murmur ran through the assembled sorcerers. Lidia had known the loss of the paladins would shake them. That’s why she selected her most experienced people for this mission. If they let fear dominate their reactions the mission was doomed before it began.

“We’re going to relieve them and make damn sure nothing from the haunted lands enters the kingdom. We’ve always depended on the paladins to keep us safe, but now it’s time to step up and protect ourselves. Let’s go!”

Nods of grim determination followed her speech. Just as she’d hoped. These were the right people for the job. They flew east at a comfortable pace. Lidia could have easily doubled her speed, but she didn’t want to arrive with her forces worn out.

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She didn’t set a course directly for the pass. Lidia wanted to meet up with Zahara and the eastern army so they could approach together. It took most of the day to cross the kingdom, but finally, just before sunset, they spotted the army camp.

Tents and cook fires spread over a camp a quarter of a mile in diameter. The army was only five miles from the fortress. The eastern army numbered twelve thousand, but most of those were normal men and women, skilled fighters, but no match for demons. This battle would come down to the sorcerers and warlords which made up a small subset of the army. A very small subset. Zahara commanded twenty sorcerers and there were two hundred warlords assigned to the force. Nowhere near as many as Lidia would have preferred, but she’d make do. It wasn’t like there was any other choice.

A small, slender figure rose up from the camp and flew out to meet them. High Sorcerer Zahara was the youngest of the four high sorcerers at only thirty-nine. Her long, dark hair swirled around her heart-shaped face as she flew up to greet them.

Lidia didn’t let the delicate appearance of the high sorcerer fool her. Zahara was strong and fierce. There was no one, well almost no one, Lidia would have rather had on her side in a battle.

Zahara hovered a few feet from the approaching sorcerers. “Lidia, we got your message. General Gauge is eager to speak with you as am I. I’m sorry about your apprentice.”

“Thank you, but I haven’t given up on the boy yet.” Lidia turned to address the sorcerers that had accompanied her. “Get some food and rest. I expect we’ll be heading out early.”

The sorcerers flew down to beg a meal off the camp cooks. When they’d gone Zahara asked, “Were all the paladins truly wiped out?”

“According to Kat there’s a single survivor. Hardly enough to make much difference. I’ll explain everything when we join the general.”

“I assume you’ll be assuming command of the sorcerers.” Zahara didn’t sound any happier about it than Lidia had expected her to.

“We’ll probably end up fighting in the air against strong opponents. I doubt there will be any time for complex orders. Each sorcerer will simply have to fight the best way he or she can. Any commands either of us give won’t matter five seconds after we engage.”

“I’ve never fought demons,” Zahara said, her earlier anger now tinged with fear.

Lidia had little in the way of advice. Every demon was different and all of them were horrible. All you could do was fight hard and try to stay alive. Usually survival as much as victory was the goal when fighting demons. This time simple survival wasn’t enough. They had to win or risk losing everything.

“Let’s go talk to the general.”