Fallen Ward (Deepwoods Saga Book 3) Read online

  Published by Raconteur House

  Antioch, TN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  FALLEN WARD

  A Raconteur House book/ published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Raconteur House mass-market edition/August 2015

  Copyright © 2015 by Honor Raconteur

  Cover Illustration by Katie Griffin

  Illustrations by Christa Triumph

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information address:

  Raconteur House

  3425 Daisy Trail

  Antioch, TN, 37013

  www.raconteurhouse.com

  Other books by Honor Raconteur

  Published by Raconteur House

  THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE

  Book One: Jaunten

  Book Two: Magus

  Book Three: Advent

  Book Four: Balancer

  Advent Mage Compendium

  The Dragon’s Mage

  The Lost Mage

  Special Forces 01

  The Midnight Quest

  Kingslayer

  THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES

  The Child Prince

  The Dreamer’s Curse

  DEEPWOODS SAGA

  Deepwoods

  Blackstone

  Fallen Ward

  KINGMAKERS

  Arrows of Change

  Acknowledgements

  This one is dedicated to my fans. I never thought I would turn so many of my fans into characters, but I had a whale of a time doing it. Who knows? I might do it again.

  Also to Tony, who ‘helped’ me plot and write every book I’ve written. Miss you, bud.

  What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.

  -Charles Bukowski

  Siobhan knew, intellectually, that people were anxious to get back their city. It made perfect sense to her, as she felt the same way. But it still took her by surprise when Darrens sent a message to her and requested that she come to the strategy meeting to be held in the next hour. Rain and drought, but they’d barely won the battle at Converse last night! Siobhan would have thought that people would take at least two days to rest up and take stock before planning the assault on Goldschmidt. Or at the very least, Darrens would give time for everyone to finish breakfast!

  But apparently she was the only one that thought that way.

  Darrens was still camped out in the main tap-room of the tavern, only this time he had commandeered more tables, probably to accommodate the influx of people. When Siobhan entered the room, her eyes automatically scanned the area, counting heads. Her own people were already there—Rune, Wolf, Tran, Fei, Markl, Conli, and interestingly enough, Grae. She blinked at seeing him. Grae had never been a part of the planning sessions before for the simple reason that he was not a fighter. Even she was usually invited only because it was mostly her men that were the commanders, and as guildmaster, it would be rude to not inform her.

  As she wound her way through the tables and to the side where all of her guild sat, Siobhan glanced at the rest of the room. Emalee, Darren’s wife, was at the head table with her husband, Lirah sitting at her side. Hyun Woo and Ryu Jin Ho were on the opposite side of the table of their students, as well as a few other men that Siobhan recognized as being the main enforcers of Blackstone. Two men she didn’t recognize, but she did know the guildcrest on their sleeves—Silvermoon. They must be the commanders of Hammon’s enforcers, then.

  From the looks of things, it seemed she was the last to arrive, as Siobhan couldn’t think of a single person they could be missing.

  Sliding into a seat between Wolf and Grae, she leaned closer to her childhood friend and asked in a low tone, “Grae, why are you here?”

  “Wolf asked me to come,” Grae responded, brow furrowed in bemusement. Apparently, he wasn’t entirely clear on why he was there either.

  Hearing them, Wolf murmured for their ears, “Grae knows the land around Goldschmidt better than anyone else here. And I have a notion or two about pathmaking that might make our job easier I want to run by him.”

  Ahhh. Well, that made total sense. Grae did indeed know the land better than anyone, including Darrens, as he had to know every nuance of the land to work his paths. Not to mention the dozens of times he’d dug around in the soil so he could build new paths. If Siobhan had been thinking, she’d have invited him herself.

  Darrens stood and cleared his throat, gaining their attention. “Everyone’s here, I believe? Good, good. This might be somewhat premature, as we just won a battle yesterday, but I want us to start working on the plan to retake Goldschmidt.”

  “You are not overly hasty,” Hyun Woo assured him calmly. “To retake a well-fortified city like Goldschmidt, we will need much time and preparation.”

  Well, true, they likely did. Darrens seemed relieved no one was going to argue that point with him and gave Hyun Woo a grateful look before moving on. “Let’s start with introductions, as I think this might be a first meeting for some. These are my commanders, Talik and Romohr.”

  Siobhan was personally pleased to see both men, as she hadn’t seen Romohr since the bridge incident at Quigg, or Talik since that last, desperate escape from Goldschmidt. It relieved her to know they were both fine.

  “From Silvermoon, this is Jonathan Glass and Gaurav Hasur. They have been invaluable help to us and have volunteered to stay at least long enough to reclaim Goldschmidt.”

  Jonathan Glass had that ‘nice man’ look to him. Not particularly tall, fair hair, glasses perched on his nose. He looked more like a scholar than a fighter, but the solid build to his arms suggested that looks were very deceiving. If he had the rank of main enforcer, and was handpicked for this battle by Hammon, then he must be very, very good. He ducked his head in greeting but didn’t say a word.

  Gaurav Hasur absolutely must hail from the very southern edge of Robarge, with that dark toned skin and jet black hair. He had a wonderful smile, though, which he flashed at the table in large. From his height and build, Siobhan was fairly sure he could tackle a raging boar and come out on top.

  “Pleasure,” Gaurav said, voice pleasant and soothing.

  Darrens kept going around the table, introducing the rest. He finished with, “Now, that out of the way, I am now taking any suggestions that seem viable. Hyun Woo-zhi, Ryu Jin Ho-zhi, is capturing Goldschmidt possible? With the forces we have?”

  Instead of answering, Hyun Woo turned an expectant look at his students.

  Siobhan’s enforcers shared looks between them, not out of uncertainty, but more like, Are you going to answer, or should I? In the end it was Fei that turned to Darrens and assured him, “We can. It will take cunning on our parts, but we can.”

  “The trick will be to lure as many men out of the city as possible,” Tran added. “We don’t want a pitched battle on top of the walls like we had here in Converse. If it came to that, we really don’t have the necessary manpower to win. But if we can trick them outside of the city, then we have a solid chance of winning.”

  All of the non-strategists at the table listened in growing confusion, but it was Darrens that voiced the obvious question. “And how do we lure them out?
I would think only an idiot would leave fortified walls when an army comes knocking.”

  “The essential point in order to bring down the defenses of any stronghold is,” Hyun Woo held up an illustrative finger, “to block them from receiving one essential element.”

  Siobhan blinked. “Just one?”

  “Just one.” A disturbing smile resided on Hyun Woo’s face that made her think he was cackling evilly on the inside. “If you take away just water, or just food, or something of that nature, a man caves quickly to the pressure. How long can a man fight and live without water? Without food? Removing that one thing can force him out of his stronghold within days.”

  “There was a time, in long forgotten past, where a general tried this,” Ryu Jin Ho added musingly, fingers stroking his mustache. “He blocked all trade to the city. They came out within two days.”

  Fei apparently couldn’t resist this history lesson as he expounded, “And when the general of long-lost Kold was forced to recapture his home city, he blocked their route to the sea. When the commander in charge of the city defenses realized what had happened, he immediately put together a force and charged the attacking soldiers. Without the sea, no one inside had enough food to live on for more than a few days. The general of Kold was able to breach the walls and retake the city in a matter of hours.”

  “That’s something of a record, though,” Hyun Woo said, as if not wanting anyone to get the idea in their heads that retaking Goldschmidt would be that easy. “In the course of history, we only know of that one battle where the siege was over so quickly.”

  Siobhan was still impressed. Hours? Days? When she saw how well her people had defended Converse, she’d been afraid that retaking Goldschmidt would be a nigh-impossible task. A gnawing worry had been hovering in the back of her mind, as she was not sure if they could ever go back home until the enemy forces just got bored of being there and decided to return to Orin.

  “So…you think that retaking Goldschmidt is possible. Without a significant loss of life.”

  “I do,” Hyun Woo assured her gently, eyes kind. “Do not worry, Siobhan-jia. But you must help me.” He turned his head, taking in everyone in the room as he repeated, “You must help me. I do not know your city of Goldschmidt well. I barely know it at all. How long can a force of, say, three thousand men survive in your city without trade bringing in fresh food?”

  “With the sea augmenting their stores with fresh meat?” Darrens lifted a hand, wobbling it back and forth as he guesstimated. “I would say several weeks. It’s a large city, after all. If they find the warehouses of canned goods I have, then possibly three months.”

  Ryu Jin Ho exchanged a confused look with Hyun Woo. “Warehouses of canned goods?” Ryu Jin Ho parroted.

  Siobhan groaned in realization. “Of course! I’d forgotten about those.”

  Darrens gave her a grim nod before explaining, “In my father’s time, we had a terrible drought. I was only about ten, so I don’t remember it much, but we lost a good population of the city to starvation just because there wasn’t any food to be had. It took nearly five years before we recovered from it, another five after that before the economy became stable again. The price of food had gone sky-high. After that, we laid in provisions, made sure that we had enough food set aside to feed a respectable portion of the city for several months. We were afraid of what might happen if another drought hit us.”

  Lirah’s eyes were on the ceiling as she slowly asked, “Didn’t we use part of that during that terrible ice storm when I was a child?”

  “You were six,” Darrens said in mild surprise. “I didn’t think you remembered that. Yes, sweets, we certainly did. The warehouses have come in handy several times since my father created them. Until now, that is.”

  “So food is not our quickest route,” Gaurav summarized with a grimace. “What other way?”

  A silence fell as people thought.

  “Water,” Grae said softly. Even in the absolute stillness, his voice was barely audible. “You said that water would be a good way to force them out.”

  Both strategists snapped around, giving him their absolute attention. Grae almost flinched at their reaction, looking nervous to have all eyes on him. He cleared his throat before continuing hesitantly, “There’s only one water source to the city.”

  “There’s several,” Darrens disagreed, more in confusion than anything else.

  “The water comes into Goldschmidt in several ways, either by canal or water fountains,” Grae half-agreed. He looked very ill at ease arguing with his head guildmaster, but forged ahead regardless. “But the source of the water is just outside of Goldschmidt. I know. It’s the only one that I can use to activate my paths.”

  Siobhan smacked her forehead as the obvious became clear. “Of course. The water you use has to be from a true source, otherwise it doesn’t have the power it needs, right?”

  “Right,” he agreed, relieved he had gotten his point across and he didn’t have to talk anymore.

  Taking over for him, Siobhan turned to the rest to explain eagerly, “I know exactly where this is. It’s about five hundred feet from the western gate. The source bubbles out into a stream, but the way it’s fed into the city is through an open canal. Most people think it’s just one long river or something because grass grows up alongside it, covering the stonework. But it’s the only source of fresh water for the city. We can easily dam it up.”

  Hyun Woo looked between her and Grae with a hopeful expression on his face. “You are certain of this?”

  “Dead certain,” she assured him. “Grae has to know the source of any water he uses for a path. It directly affects the power he can draw on for the path, after all. He’s traced every waterway in Goldschmidt at least once a year to make sure his water source is still clear and hasn’t changed. If anyone in the city will know, it’s him.”

  “Then that is the element we must block.” Satisfied, Hyun Woo sat back in his chair. “A man cannot go more than three days without water. We will force them out very quickly.”

  Wolf rubbed his hands together, a feral smile of anticipation curling his mouth up. “So, Master, how should we do this?”

  “With cunning,” Hyun Woo answered, tone mild. “And with stealth. But most of all, with intelligence. They still outnumber us, but they cannot out-fox us. This is a lesson we shall teach them. First, however,” he gestured to everyone in the room with a small circular motion of his hand, “I need the collective knowledge of everyone in this room. You must tell me, in detail, about the walls around Goldschmidt. Tell me its weaknesses, tell me its strengths, and give me an idea of how to approach the walls without them seeing us. For if we are to succeed, they cannot know we are there until it’s far too late.”

  “There are no weaknesses to the walls.” Darrens normally would have said this boastfully, but at that moment, he sounded resigned more than anything. “Even the gates are made of hard timber, two feet thick, and reinforced with iron grating. You cannot go through the walls. Only over them.”

  “Guildmaster Darrens, surely there’s some chink to the walls,” Jonathan protested. “I mean, one side of your walls is only a hundred feet from the coastline, and ground near water is famous for erosion. You’re saying that area doesn’t have any problems?”

  “Not at the moment.” Lirah sounded just as resigned. “We fixed the bad sections two years ago and they’re still holding strong.”

  “And the area surrounding Goldschmidt is entirely flat, except the dry river bed,” Emalee added in a light voice. “With the aid of an eyeglass, I believe you can see a good mile out in every direction.”

  “Which includes the coastline,” her husband agreed, sounding even more depressed. “How important is it that we can approach without them seeing us?”

  “Perhaps vital. I am not yet sure.” Ryu Jin Ho turned to Grae. “As you explained to Cha Ji An, in order to make a path, you must know the land very well. This dry river bed, you know it?”

  “I
ntimately,” Grae answered with a supporting nod. He seemed more comfortable talking directly to just one person. “I use it often as a source of stones to build paths with. It’s not particularly deep, but a crouching man can hide in it.”

  “Where does it connect?”

  “It doesn’t, not above ground,” Grae said. “I think it once connected to the sea, but the land changed at some point in the past, and now it’s permanently dry. It stretches out for about a half mile away from the southern gate before it peters out.”

  “Still, this sounds promising. How many people can fit inside?” Ryu Jin Ho persisted.

  “Not many.” Grae looked at his fellow guild members with a helpless splay of the hands. “How many would you say?”

  “Two, three hundred if you really crammed people in,” Wolf responded promptly. “And that would take the whole length of the river bed to do it. It comes very close to the gate, though. If we can somehow trick them into opening it, we’d have the perfect means to get men quickly inside.”

  “Three hundred will not be enough.” Ryu Jin Ho let out a contemplative hum and sank back into his chair, absently staring at the table top.

  Gaurav apparently couldn’t help but ask, “If your city is that well-fortified, how did you lose it in the first place?”

  “We were overwhelmed with sheer numbers,” Rune responded darkly. “We didn’t have enough to keep them from scaling the walls, and once they were inside….”

  “Makes sense,” Jonathan allowed. “I wish we’d had time to get people in to help you before Goldschmidt fell. Defending is certainly easier than attacking.”

  There was a glum round of nods, but it was already done and no one wanted to dwell much on what-ifs.

  Seeing that everyone was thinking, but not knowing what else to suggest, Siobhan prompted, “Wolf? Didn’t you say that you had an idea you wanted to run past Grae?”

  Wolf sat up abruptly, snapping his fingers. “I did. Grae, can you build a path that will take people just to the wall of the city?”