(eng) Michael Wallace - The Dark Citadel 05 by War of Wizards

Author:War of Wizards [Wizards, War of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The second day of tattoos was even more grueling for Darik. They began earlier, and the sessions lasted longer. Chantmer ordered a relentless procession of victims (volunteers, Darik had to remind himself) to step forward to be hit, stretched, twisted, squeezed, and struck. To have their nightmares, their deepest fears, dragged screaming into the light of day. The rush of pleasure that came every time the needles touched Darik’s skin piled upon him until he felt suffocated by guilt.

Kallia appeared in the afternoon. She stood in the corner, chewing her lip anxiously, but her appearance seemed to bolster the courage of the palace servants. Their cries diminished, they sat for the torturers with fewer whimpers, fewer people balking at the last minute.

“Good,” Chantmer said with satisfaction. The wizard sat in a chair next to Darik, with Roghan working the needles and ink on his bare shoulders. “Their faith in their queen, their love for her, helps draw out more power.”

“Makes our work more monstrous, you mean,” Darik said.

“And your doubts and complaints weaken them. So unless you want this to be more difficult for everyone involved, I would suggest that you keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Darik closed his mouth and looked away, duly chastened. When he glanced up a few minutes later, the khalifa was gone.

The enemy attacked again that night. This time, while they were hurling themselves against the Spice Gate, a second force hit the North Gate on the opposite side of the city. Darik joined three other mages in racing around the city wall to find that the enemy had already broken down the gate. Wights were pouring into the city. Aided by magic, Ethan’s forces threw them back, but not before several dozen wights had infiltrated one of the residential quarters. It took all night to hunt them down, and by then they’d slaughtered hundreds, set fire to the quarter, and nearly reached the gates of the palace.

At dawn, Darik staggered back to his rooms in the palace and collapsed in exhaustion. Chantmer rudely shook him awake a few hours later and snapped at him to stop wasting time and go to the courtyard. Darik dozed through the morning’s work.

The first contingent of Marrabatti arrived at the city that afternoon. There were no more than a thousand tired men on exhausted mounts, but a great cheer rose from the Spice Gate as they entered. The cheering followed them through the city and all the way to the palace. Another two thousand men arrived in the middle of that night’s battle. These newcomers fought their way from the Spice Road to the gates. At first, the wights faltered with their arrival, but they redoubled their attack, and morning saw the Great Gates in ruins, the chains broken, the great iron bands torn off. The stretch of wall between the Great Gates and the Gate of the Dead had been attacked so many times that it looked like a lump of sugar dipped in hot tea, riddled with holes.

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