The Radiant War

Chapter 28a

     “Your majesty, we must go!”

     King Leothan nodded. The Radiants had almost arrived. They had spread out as they approached to form a huge crescent that would envelope the city. Their intention was plain. No-one was to be allowed to escape. The Radiants intended to kill, or curse, the entire population. Anyone who escaped to the west would be hunted down to ensure a clean sweep, and then Leothan's advisors had suggested that they would visit every other Helberian city, one at a time, until the troublesome country had been wiped from the map. Even hiding in Marboll Tower would only delay the inevitable. The Radiants could leave a few of their number behind to starve them out.

     Everyone remaining in the city had been moved into the Tower nonetheless. There was nothing else to do. The remaining ballistae had been positioned in the entrances to try to keep the creatures out, but their supply of bolts was low and, when they had run out, the corridors and passageways were easily wide enough to allow a Radiant to crawl through, slithering along the floor on their tentacles. One by one the inner doors would be broken down and those cowering within would be dragged out and killed. The only doubt was how many of the creatures the defenders could take with them before they were overwhelmed.

     “I wanted to speak to my daughter one more time before we left,” said the King mournfully. “The six hours are almost up. I thought I could tell Nilon that we'd complied with his wishes. Bluff it out somehow...”

     “All their officers are dead,” said Amberley, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “There's no-one left who knows the codes.”

     “I shouldn't have let her go, George. If I'd kept her here, at least we'd be together at the end. Now she's going to die surrounded by enemies. Strangers...” He got a hold of himself with an effort. This self pity was unbecoming of a King. He still had subjects, and they needed a leader, not a grieving father. “What's done is done,” he said. “I always knew there was a risk she wouldn't come back, I agreed to it anyway.”

     He made himself stand up straight, threw his shoulders back. He had to make a good impression. Even now, there were still a few people out and about in the streets who would see him and be either encouraged or disheartened by his demeanour. He was still the King, so long as he still had a single subject looking up to him. “Let's go,” he said.

     Amberley nodded and they walked with stately dignity through the corridors of the ministry building. Balhern and four members of the palace guard went ahead of him while Darnell and two runners followed behind. Most of them were wearing their dress uniforms, as if they were on their way to some great state occasion to be seen by cheering crowds and foreign dignitaries. Leothan had had the idea while discussing the city's last defence with his Generals, and as soon as the meeting had been over he’d returned to his chambers and told his equerry to fetch his coronation robes. If he was going to die today, then he wanted to look his best for it.

     When he’d emerged from his dressing chambers, though, he’d found that his generals and the senior members of his palace staff had all had the same idea. Amberley’s uniform was a riot of gleaming brass and gold braid while Darnell's uniform looked as though it had arrived from the tailors just that morning. Balhern, still wearing his regular duty uniform, looked sour and unhappy, as if it had been prearranged and he’d been deliberately left out of it.

     When they reached the main entrance and went outside, Leothan looked up into the sky. It was clear and blue, fine and warm, but a brisk breeze was blowing from the east. The same breeze that was speeding the Radiants on their way towards them. There was no sign of the creatures yet, but the last news they'd had was that they had just crossed the Tolham hills travelling low to the ground and attacking every human they came across on the way. That would slow them a little, but not much. By all accounts they could cast curses almost continually and they were strung out in a line so that their curses overlapped, blanketing the ground so that there would be no escape even hiding in a basement. The King had no human subjects left in a strip of country five miles wide stretching from Marboll to the easternmost edge of his Kingdom.