When the following morning dawned, the city had a completely different feeling to it.

  Though much of the initial fighting had been taken on by Ciaran and his Thearns, the true cleansing of the city had been done by Sylvie and her people.

  The Airta had an acute sense of smell and were expert hunters, making them the best candidates for the job.

  Gerann was a decent sized city, and there weren’t many Airta, but they rose to the challenge without complaint.

  As Verdan walked through the city, he could almost feel the difference. There were no howls and hunting cries from the Cyth, no echoing screams from some poor soul being found.

  Instead, he could see the people of the city flooding back out of their hiding places to try and take stock of what was left of the city.

  It would be a long road for the city to reach its former state, but with enough will and determination, anything was possible.

  Turning his attention from the city, Verdan ran his gaze across the assembled alliance army. This was the true army now, made up of nearly all of the survivors of both forces.

  A select few Sorcerers and a small group of retainers would be staying behind with Elder Vanarr to protect the city, but the vast majority were joining them.

  Ada was bringing around a thousand people with her, which was far more than Verdan had expected. Still, it was barely a quarter of the original army that had marched with Elder Vanarr.

  The morale of the survivors was hanging on by a thread, but the recent victory was doing a lot to keep them moving. Still, a defeat or even a protracted battle might well shatter their resolve.

  Verdan had seen it before.

  Thankfully, the morale of the alliance wasn’t Verdan’s responsibility and he quite happily left it to Silver and the others.

  Assuming that they did manage to reforge the army into something cohesive, they were in a much better position to take the fight to the Host.

  The thousand survivors brought their total to two thousand five hundred total. The estimates Vanarr’s people had given them called the remaining host at around eight to nine thousand, not even four to one.

  On the face of it, those odds were terrible, but the vast bulk of the Host was Cyth Lai. A decently-trained guard could take on a Cyth Lai, and if well-equipped and supported, could take on several.

  Sorcerers, however, could account for far more, and were far more numerous than the Cyth Baynes, Dregg and Wyrchwrought that they opposed.

  Of course, if their lines broke against the sheer weight of the Cyth, then none of those calculations mattered.

  They needed to act as one, to become a cohesive force that could finish this conflict once and for all.

  Right now, though, they weren’t there.

  Rubbing his face, Verdan cast it all aside as he made his way back to his wagon, finding both of his apprentices there, helping Natalia.

  “Verdan!” Natalia’s warm smile and open arms eased away the growing anxiety Verdan felt over everything.

  Releasing her reluctantly, Verdan turned to Magnus and Dirk. “It’s good to see you both, especially because I have a task for you.”

  “Master?” Dirk cocked his head to one side curiously, while Magnus simply waited patiently for more details.

  “Garreg sia,” Verdan said, infusing his words with Aether as he drew up two tablets of stone and shaped the Aether gathering Sigil onto them. “I need you both to study this Sigil and be ready to help me carve it. It doesn’t matter if you use magic or carve it by hand, but it must be precise. This is important, and will be good practice for your precision in general.”

  The two Kranjir nodded, picking up the tablets and eyeing the Sigil speculatively before glancing at each other.

  “We’re due to leave soon,” Verdan said, waving to the bustle of the camp as everything was packed up. “So you’d best head back, but this is important. Very important.”

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  “Does that mean you’ve got some time to rest, or do you have more business to take care of?” Natalia asked as the two apprentices hurried off. “I’ve packed most of my supplies away, but I was going to do some general preparation while we waited. That can wait if you’ve got some time, though.”

  Verdan nodded, more than happy to take a few minutes to relax with Natalia. It had been a stressful few weeks, and he knew he had to grab such moments where he could.

  “Verdan, do you have a moment?” Auger called out as he approached the wagon, interrupting the moment.

  Sergeant Auger was a hawkish man with piercing, pale blue eyes and light brown hair that was kept cut short. Unlike a lot of the guards, he was a thin, slight man, though he had a wiry strength to him.

  Auger was also the head of the Hobson’s Point special division in their guard force, which was how they classified their Sorcerers.

  “Of course, Sergeant,” Verdan called back before sharing an amused look with Natalia. “Sorry, maybe when we’re on the road?”

  “Of course,” Natalia said, pulling him close for a kiss before waving him off. “Go, I doubt the Sergeant is here for something minor.”

  Auger had stopped a short distance away, giving them a private moment as he waited patiently. Nodding in thanks to the Sorcerer, Verdan walked over to join him. “So, what do you need?”

  “We’ve got a bit of a problem, and not one that we’re prepared for,” Auger said, giving Verdan a grim look. “I think it’s best if I take you to the Commander.”

  “Of course,” Verdan said, frowning as he mentally ran through everything that should be happening for them to get underway. Nothing was jumping out as a problem that would match Auger’s level of concern. “Is there anything else you can tell me? What sort of problem is it?”

  “The worst kind,” Auger said, pausing before continuing with a look of distaste. “Logistics.”

  Verdan winced, understanding why Auger looked so concerned now. He also had a creeping suspicion of what the problem actually was.

  If he was right, then he wasn’t sure what he could do to help.

  Auger led Verdan through the bustling camp, not to the front where Silver would normally be, but to the rear. The supply wagons were back here, and Verdan could see a large group had gathered by one of the largest.

  Commander Silver was talking with what looked like the quartermasters of each individual group within the alliance, along with the wagoneers and cooks.

  A dangerous group to upset, all things considered.

  “Commander,” Auger called out, lifting a hand to catch Silver’s attention.

  “Alright, let’s take a few minutes to think about everything,” Silver said, pitching his voice to cut through the chatter of the large group. “I’ll confer with Wizard Blacke, and then we’ll come to a decision.”

  Verdan tried not to wince as the large group took Silver at his word and broke off into smaller knots of people. Apparently, they trusted that he’d help sort out whatever was happening.

  That kind of trust was nice to have, but it was also a lot of pressure.

  “Verdan, thank you for coming so quickly,” Silver said as he walked over to them, looking relieved that he’d escaped the group. “Good work in the city as well, I had a meeting with the Elder and he had nothing but praise for you and your people.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass it on,” Verdan said before gesturing to the group that Silver had been talking with. “What exactly seems to be the problem here?”

  “Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but we lost some of our logistical capacity during the final battle with the Host.”

  “No, I wasn’t aware,” Verdan said, though he wasn’t that surprised. There had been a lot of dangerous magic flying around during that fight, not to mention those dangerous abyssal lances the Scerrd had been using.

  “As it happens, we lost close to half of our capacity, one way or another. A good number of wagons took damage, and we lacked the capacity to repair everything in time for our abrupt exit.”

  “Ah, I see,” Verdan said, realising that this wasn’t at all what he’d thought it was. He’d half expected Silver to ask him to somehow source enough food for everyone, but this was more complicated. “An unfortunate side effect of our haste, but nothing you could have predicted.”

  “A view that I wished more people shared,” Silver said flatly before sighing and shaking his head. “Regardless of the blame being throw around, the problem we have now is that we lack the raw capacity to carry enough supplies for our expanded numbers. I certainly wasn’t expecting quite so many to join us, another lapse on any part, so this issue has hit us at the last minute.”

  “I see,” Verdan said once more, eyeing their surroundings and noting how little was happening around the supply wagons in comparison to the rest of the camp. “What do you need from me?”

  “Ideally, an idea to make all this work,” Silver said, flashing Verdan a strained smile. “If you’ve got any miracles to work, now is the time.”

  “Is it space or weight that’s the problem?” Verdan asked, running through what Words he knew and how they could be used.

  “Space, I think,” Silver said, hesitating before nodding firmly. “Let me check, wait here.”

  Verdan nodded absently, running over some of the spells he knew for floating, wondering if they might help.

  “Ah, I see the good Commander has roped you into this mess as well,” Vaijon’s slightly mocking tone broke into Verdan’s thoughts as the Elder strolled over to join them.

  “I’m surprised he asked you,” Verdan said, arching one brow at the bald Socerer. “I wouldn’t have thought your magic would be suited to something like this at all.”

  “Oh it isn’t,” Vaijon said with a crooked smile. “Unfortunately, your versatility has given the Commander some unrealistic expectations of what magic users can do.”

  “Oh, I do apologise,” Verdan said flatly, making the Elder chuckle.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve come up with anything?” Vaijon asked, glancing over to where Silver was heading back towards them. “It’s a shame that construct of yours was destroyed in the fight; we could have used it as a packmule.”

  Verdan froze as Vaijon laughed to himself, his mind racing as he reconsidered his preconceptions about what exactly he could do with his magic.

  An Aether construct on the wagons would drain him dry by the time they caught up to the Cyth, but the construct had been almost Aether neutral.

  Slowly, a smile started to spread over Verdan’s face and he clapped Vaijon on the back. “An excellent suggestion, thank you.”