Neversfall by Ed Gentry

Author:Ed Gentry
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, General, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten realms (Imaginary place)
ISBN: 9780786947829
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Published: 2007-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Taennen woke to the smell of fowl cooked with dried dates, the sweet and tart aromas, and the smell of roasting meat permeating the air. The dish basked in a thread of sunshine that crept into the room from the small high window. Taennen rolled out of bed, grasped the plate, and opened the door. He made it almost five steps before thinking of Loraica, but he did not stop or falter when he did. The image of her face in his mind helped to drive his step. He would avenge her.

Outside, the sun had already baked away the morning mist. Half a dozen soldiers from both forces milled around the courtyard, listening to one of their fellows who gestured excitedly but spoke in hushed tones. The troops nodded their agreement or made clear their dissent with hissed objections. The speaker was a Durpari, one of the men Taennen had led to the wall during the last attack. He was a fine archer, and by the look of things, the same could be said of his oratory skills.

Taennen walked toward the gathering, and the Durpari archer stopped speaking and greeted Taennen with a salute from some distance away, while motioning for the others to disperse.

"Hold there, men," Taennen said, returning the salute, his dish still in his hand.

The soldiers all obeyed and held their salutes. "What's this about?" Taennen asked no one in particular as he paced toward them.

"Nothing, sir," one of the Maquar barked.

"Of course it's 'nothing, sir,' " Taennen said. He stopped and looked each soldier in the eyes. "I need to know before I can help."

The Durpari archer stepped forward, now standing crisp and tall as a soldier should, and said, "Sir, I was telling them that we shouldn't be sending out more scouting parties."

"Of course we shouldn't," Taennen said. "The first one was slaughtered. We're lucky to have any of them back."

"The first two patrols, sir," the archer corrected.

Taennen stopped moving and looked to the Durpari man. "Two? More soldiers were sent?"

The man nodded. "Very late last night, sir."

"How many?"

"Three Durpari and three Maquar, sir," the man said, his gaze holding Taennen's. "Two of them survived, sir."

Taennen turned back toward his quarters, dismissing the gathered soldiers over his shoulder. They scattered in all directions, pleased to be excused. Taennen closed the door to his quarters and hurled his plate at the opposite wall. Dates splattered against the stone, sticking to it like smashed bugs.

Taennen stood in his dim quarters and danced with a choice. He could go about his duties, or he could confront his commander about the man's tactical error, for surely it could be called nothing else. Sending small units outside the walls was getting them killed by the strange intruders.

Taennen thought of the formians and suppressed a shudder. Were the Maquar fools for keeping them alive? The beasts had proven themselves dangerous. They might be controlling the attackers this time. Taennen thought about Adeenya's plan. The troops were surely whispering about the rumor she had started.

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