The Radiant War

Chapter 4a

The map made for grim reading.

Western Helberion had a large patch of red reaching a hundred miles into the country, pushing towards Marboll like the point of a dagger. Arrows had been pinned to the map showing the direction the Carrow invasion force was heading, and Leothan was alarmed to see one of them pushing up towards the north. They were going for Adams Valley, he knew. They wanted to destroy the new Institute of Electrical Research, so new that it hadn't even been opened before being half destroyed by a Radiant, but that splinter force also threatened to cut across the route Princess Ardria would be taking, on her way to meet with King Nilon and try to make him see the truth of the Radiants.

They won't interfere with her, he tried to tell himself. The Carrowmen know she's there, know where she's going. Leothan had talked to Nilon himself, by telegraph, and had told him that she was on her way to negotiate a ceasefire, diplomatic code for a Helberion surrender. Nilon had, of course, suggested that Leothan surrender there and then, but Leothan had said that they wanted to negotiate favourable terms for himself and his people. Nilon had agreed to allow Ardria and her party to enter the country, therefore, and would ensure that no harm came to her, but that finger of red reaching up to the route his daughter was going to take still sent a chill up his spine.

"They're through the minefield," said Field Marshall Amberley, bringing the King back to himself. "It did its job, took a heavy toll of the enemy, until the Radiants caused a small earthquake that detonated most of the remaining mines. They're going much slower now. Checking each newly ploughed field before crossing it."

"But still pushing onwards," pointed out General Glowen. "The damned balloons tear up any place we try to fortify with earthquakes, and then the damned mutton munchers just walk all over them."

Mention of earthquakes made Leothan look up at the ceiling, where the plaster was missing in large patches revealing the thick oak timbers that formed the very bones of the palace. Some parts of the palace had been placed off limits until repairs could be made, the surveyors having declared them to be unsafe, and to the King's annoyance the residential wing was one of them. When Leothan retired from his official duties for the day, be would have to go to the Ministerial Building across Liberty Avenue, where rooms had been assigned for him and the Royal Family.

It was aggravating, but Leothan wasn't going to complain when so many people had died during the attack. Nine in the palace alone. Eighty two people in the rest of the city and thousands more homeless, having to sleep in a large tent city that had been hastily erected in Manners Park. He'd gone to visit them that morning, to give some words of comfort and a promise that they would be properly rehoused as soon as the money and resources could be found. The cheer they'd given him had almost broken his heart.

"They're capturing our artillery pieces, using them against us," added General Lanier. "They were under equipped when they started, but if they keep this up they'll bring themselves completely up to strength with our own damned equipment!"

"Don't our boys have orders to sabotage any piece of kit they have to abandon?" asked Brigadier Kinley.

"You try sabotaging something when the ground's lurching under your feet and there're damned balloons in the sky cursing anyone who doesn't get away quickly enough," said Glowen. "We need more incendiary ammunition. They're the only way to stop the things."

"How are we going with finding a good source of phosphorus?" Leothan asked General Pavok.

"The chemistry guys are talking to the geography guys," the Minister for War replied. "We know what minerals contain phosphorus, we know where to find those minerals and we know how to extract it, but getting a supply chain established takes time. And, of course, any factory we build is likely to be targeted by the Radiants. In the meantime, we've been scrounging every scrap of phosphorus we can find in the country. Enough to make another three hundred rounds."