"Abandon the breach, my Lord," he urged, arriving breathlessly at the King"s side.
Holbian laughed, sweeping his sword in a glittering arch.
"Well met, Captain Archer," he cried, looking up at the strike of Archers on the wall. The Gallopers closed about the King, their spears turned outwards in defence.
"The lower circle of the city is abandoned, Lord, it is time to retreat," urged Breakmaster. More Nightbeasts were already surging through the breach, climbing over the carca.s.ses of those the Archers had felled.
"Abandon the wall!" Holbian shouted up to Grey Goose.
"We will wait for you beneath the second wall."
Grey Goose saluted to Holbian, then turned and quickly led the Archers towards the ramp that led down into the shadow of the great wall, but ahead of them siege ladders crashed against its stones.
"Form a moving strike!" Grey Goose shouted as the first Nightbeasts swarmed up on to the narrow road, blocking it with their hideous shapes.
"What keeps them?" fretted the King, pirouetting Beacon Light in the lengthening shadows.
"Lord," a voice shouted from the top of the wall, "we are trapped! The Nightbeasts have the road against us!"
Holbian looked up at the black shapes crowding towards his Archers, then spurred his horse forwards.
"Lord, the narrow road is too dangerous. We must abandon the great wall!" cried out one of the Gallopers.
"And lose my only strike of Archers?" Holbian angrily replied, checking his horse"s stride and bending to s.n.a.t.c.h up a siege hook from where it hung at the bottom of the ramp.
"Follow me if you dare, Gallopers!" he cried, turning the shaft of the siege hook until the smooth curve of shining steel was level with the edge of the wall. Leaning forward he stroked Beacon Light"s neck with his rein hand. "Gallop for me, great-hearted friend, against the blackest shadows," he whispered, pressing her forwards with his spurs.
Breakmaster galloped level with the King, a siege hook in his left hand, "Let me go before you, Lord. Let me go and cut the Nightbeasts down."
"It is the place of Kings," Holbian shouted against the thunder of their hoofbeats, "to be first, and tread where the danger is the greatest. But ride with me, true friend; match me stride for stride and help me tear the Nightbeast ladders down."
Breakmaster laughed, urging his pony forwards, and galloped beside the King to the top of the ramp. Low evening sunlight shone on their faces, but before them the edge of the narrow road was a forest of siege ladders. Beacon Light neighed and sprang forward. Holbian swung the siege hook against the first crude wooden ladder and toppled it, sending it crashing backwards into the deep d.y.k.e that surrounded the great wall. Breakmaster attacked the second ladder, pushing it out away from the wall until it overbalanced, shedding its Nightbeast load on to the ground far below. Galloping hard, they cleared away the siege ladders one by one between them and their Archers. Grey Goose saw the sunlight blood red on the King"s mail-clad arms as he came to their rescue. Their quivers were empty and their bows clasped securely to their belts. The Archers were beating their way towards the ramp.
The column of Gallopers rode up on to the narrow road and quickly overtook the King. Lowering their spears they ploughed through the Nightbeasts, clearing a gap for the fleeing Archers.
Bending low and running as fast as they could Grey Goose and the Archers reached the safety of the ramp and descended into the shadows of the great wall. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the eerie silence, and behind them they could hear the roar of hoofbeats as the Gallopers led the King and Breakrnaster down off the narrow road. Beyond the great wall they could hear the screams of the Nightbeasts, distantly m.u.f.fled by the wall"s thickness.
"Do not stop until you are within the second circle," shouted the King, swinging the siege hook behind him, knocking the nearest pursuing Nightbeast to his death on the piles of rubbish below.
Arachatt, the Mastermason, had driven his stonechippers without rest from the moment the King rode down into the lower circle of the city, and, as he had promised, the inner wall rose bare and imposing in the evening sunlight. The granite rubble from the demolished houses had been carried down in wicker baskets and piled into the gateway by the Marchers, but Arachatt himself had built the new wall, packing the granite in tight layers and trowelling in the mortar against the Nightbeasts. He had left a narrow gap for the
retreating warriors and every Marcher, man and boy, waited behind the wall, a block of granite held ready to fill the gap.
Two carts of wet mortar were poised upon the top of the wall to seal it once the King was safely inside.
Breathlessly the Archers ran through the gap, with the Gallopers only a length behind. Breakmaster and the King reached the wall together. Briefly they halted and looked back at the ruin below.
"We are siege-locked now, my Lord," Breakmaster muttered, watching the Nightbeasts pouring through new breach-holes all along the length of the great wall.
"Siege-locked and desperate," answered the King in a tired voice, turning Beacon Light into the entrance and riding up into the second level of the city.
Underfall
The giant doors of Underfall lay shattered and splintered away from their hinges. The inner courtyards were a jumble of wreckage and broken stonework.
"Thunderstone!"Thane shouted, quickly dismounting from Esteron"s back and unsheathing his grandfather"s sword.
"Who lives in this great fortress?" Willow asked, jumping lightly to the ground.
"The Keeper of World"s End. The Lampmaster of Elundium,"
Tombel replied, grimly striding across the Causeway to join the others standing between the broken doors.
"Who could have wrought such damage?" cried Tiethorm,
looking up at the ruined tree-thick doors.
"Krulshards, the Master of Nightbeats!" cried a voice from the shadows of the first stone stairway that led up to the galleries. Faltering, with his hand upon the rail, Thunderstone descended the last few steps into the main courtyard.
"Thunders/one!" Thane cried, running to the Keeper"s side and catching him in his arms as he stumbled forwards.
"Give me room!" Thunderstone wept, struggling to raise the horse-tail sword, but it slipped from his hand and clattered on to the cobblestones.
"Fetch Merion the Healer!" Tombel ordered, bending to pick up Thunderstone"s sword.
"An army of Healers will not stop him now," whispered Thunderstone, climbing dizzily to his feet, and taking back his sword.
"How did the Master of Nightmares break into Underfall?"
Thane asked, helping Thunderstone to a stone bench at the edge of the courtyard.
Merion the Healer burst into the courtyard, his bag of oils and herbs b.u.mping heavily against his legs. Thunderstone stared absently at him for a moment, his forehead wrinkled in a frown.
"The lamp gallery. Go quickly. Morolda is tending Errant beside the lamp."
Merion ignored him, dipped into his bag for an oiled cotton and pressed it against the ragged tear in the side of the Keeper"s face.
"Go, fool!" Thunderstone roared, angrily pushing Merion away. "Errant needs you more than I. This is nothing but the mark from a broken Nightbeast claw."
"Kerzolde!" Thane exclaimed, grimly.
"You know of this beast?" Thunderstone asked, picking up the oiled cotton that Merion had dropped and pressing it against his wound.
"We have fought many times, even yesterlight in the City of Night, but he escaped. I had the choice between his death and Thoron"s life."
"Thoron lives?" Thunderstone cried, jumping to his feet and letting the oiled cotton fall to the ground again.
"He follows us with Equestrius, the Lord of Horses."
"Who?" gasped Thunderstone, looking from face to face and seeing Willow for the first time standing on the edge of the gathering crowd.
"There is - much to tell you, Master," Thane laughed, stooping for the oiled cotton and returning it to Thunderstone"
s head. "It is a long story, and many parts need others to fit the pieces together. But tell us, how did Krulshards break into Underfall?"