The Resting Places by Various Authors

Author:Various Authors
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2023-01-30T08:58:15+00:00

THE VINTAGE

David Annandale

‘You will command Fovos Keep.’

Ullior Arkhant looked up at Venthor Warfire, and wished he had misheard. The Lord-Celestant of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer looked back at him, waiting for a response.

They were on the roof of the keep’s central tower. The circular rampart gave a commanding view of the bleak lands surrounding Fovos. Once, this had been an agricultural region, but the fields had been swept clear of topsoil many years before, and were now nothing but an expanse of black, wind-blown stone. The keep’s storerooms were large, and it could withstand a siege for a long time on what was in them. To replenish them, though, Fovos depended on caravans reaching it from the distant free cities of Veilgard and Port Sorrow. The routes from anywhere to Fovos were long and uninviting, and the only strategic importance it held was that Venthor’s chamber of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer had come this way in their campaign to free more settlements in Shyish. Their path could just as easily have taken them elsewhere, and Fovos would have remained empty, a shell to be worn down by the centuries and elements. Its position as a point of connection between Veilgard and Port Sorrow was tenuous.

The challenges the keep faced were of concern to Ullior. They were not why Venthor’s words filled him with dread.

In all directions, the stony emptiness stretched as far as Ullior could see. Coreward, in the far distance, the dark hills rose from the plain. Just barely visible on the highest hill, so far away that it appeared thin as a hair, was the source of Ullior’s dread. The tower was shaped like a twisted claw. Its name was Penumbrial. Ullior felt its presence even when he was not looking in its direction. He had stared at the crooked tower a lot since arriving at Fovos. He had been eager for the campaign to move on. He had not expected he would have to stay.

‘You have proven yourself in battle many times over,’ Venthor continued. ‘Fovos must be held, and it is clear to me that under your command, it will be. Be proud of your new post, Ullior Arkhant. You have done much to earn it.’

‘Wouldn’t I be more useful fighting at your side, Lord-Celestant?’ Ullior asked. ‘There are hard battles awaiting us Edgeward.’

‘There are indeed. But it is important, too, to hold the ground we have captured. That is why your skills are needed here.’

‘The walls of Fovos are strong and high,’ said Ullior. And they were, especially now that they had been repaired and reinforced. The rings of walls were like cliffs, each wall taller and thicker than the last, and it seemed to Ullior that the walls were only there to protect the stores, and the stores were there only to ensure the protection of the walls. Fortification was the sole purpose of the Fovos Keep’s existence.

‘The walls are only as good as their defenders,’ said Venthor. ‘You are the true strength of Fovos Keep.

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