Tainted Realm 03 - Justice by Ian Irvine

Author:Ian Irvine [Irvine, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Men’S Adventure
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2014-06-02T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 51

Rix was working in his tiny stone room at the back of Manor Assidy when he felt a sharp stinging sensation on his right thigh, and a hollow voice echoed through the room. Holm’s voice. He sounded as though he were in considerable pain.

Rix, go home. Grandys knows!

Rix felt in his pocket and brought out the small orange crystal Holm had given him weeks ago. It was broken neatly in two and the orange colour had faded. He walked in circles around the central table, trying to suppress the panic.

“Go home. That’s got to mean Garramide. It’s the only home I’ve got left. But what does Grandys knows mean? If it means the circlet, then he must have tortured the secret out of Holm, and I’ve got to assume Grandys knows everything Holm knows.”

“Unless it’s a trick,” said Jackery, who was sitting quietly in a corner.

“I can’t afford to think so. We’ve got to get moving.”

“What are your options?”

“I haven’t got any. Grandys has been after king-magery ever since he came to Hightspall. He’ll go after the circlet right away.”

“Then the real war is about to begin. How many ways are there to get to Garramide?”

“Not many.” Rix unrolled a map on the table. It hung over all four sides. “The shortest way through the Nandeloch Mountains is from the north-west. But the mountains are higher there and the last two passes are usually closed for months in winter… and spring.”

“Why closed in spring?” said Jackery.

“Avalanches. You can also get to Garramide from the east coast—assuming you’re already on the east coast. But from here that route would take weeks.”

“The main way in is this way?” asked Jackery, tracing the route marked from Caulderon north-east to the plateau of Garramide.

“Yes. I don’t know it well, though I have travelled it in each direction. That’s the way Grandys will go, so we’ve got to stop him getting there first. We have to make time.”

“For what?”

“For us to find the circlet and hide it—and Grandys’ ancient hoard won’t be easy to find. We have to delay him as long as possible, which means defending the three passes on route.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult, as long as we can get into good positions,” said Jackery.

“Leaving out the sick and wounded, I’ve got 1800 men. Grandys, I’d guess, has three thousand.” Rix knew about the attack on Caulderon.

“It costs a lot more men to take a defended position than it does to hold one.”

“Grandys has never been afraid to lose men. If he’s prepared to lose three men for every two of mine, and he will be, he’ll win.” Rix rolled the map up, packed spare clothes into his pack and gathered his bedroll. “And his magery is an added advantage. We’ve got to be on the road within the hour.”

Jackery stood up. “Why the hurry? Our spies say his army is still at Swire, desperately scouring the land for supplies. We’re ten miles closer to Garramide than he is.”

“That’s true,” said Rix, the panic easing.

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