Zafiri was taken
a little aback when the house shook.? At the same time though,
her father Haran simply stopped,
raised an eyebrow, and went back to his drink before
speaking.? "I think I might be able to answer this question.?
Although I was just a boy at the time, I remember full well
the last Exalted March.? The one led personally by the
previous High Lord Papal, over fifty years ago.
"It happened at the walls of Sharizaad, in the
Caliphate of Emirzelli.? I was in my last year of Trinitarian
School, and I was to start learning the Tradition of the
Healer at summer's end.? The Caliph of Emirzelli, like his
father, had offered sanctuary to all Torquani, and allowed us
to practice our faith in peace.? This was one of the
grievances of the High Lord Papal, along with claiming
Sharizaad held a holy site to the Faith and had to be ruled by
an adherent of the Holy Twelve.
"He claimed to lead an army of a quarter
million Faithful.? It was more like 100,000.? What was more
disturbing was that the High Lord Papal himself was there,
along with a retinue of Cardinals, many Bishops and hundreds
of priests.? The High Lord Papal is always ranked as one of
the most powerful wizards in the known world, and all who
serve the Church, from the priests upward, are wizards of some
level of Talent.? I should point out that no other faith
requires its holy men or women to be wizards.? I suppose it
helps some when your faith boasts that its priesthood can
'work wonders' on a regular basis.
"I remember the sky turning dark that first
day.? It is said that the High Lord Papal himself opened the
attack by breaching the first outer wall, and setting its
defenders aflame.? The siege lasted nearly a month, thousands
fell in battle on both sides, magical energies ebbed and
flowed between the Papal's priests and the city's defending
mages, and Sharizaad looked ready to fall.? If not for the
intervention of a mounted army of united Dorok tribesmen from
the south, it may have indeed been its fate."
Haran fell silent, taking a sip of his drink
and letting his words sink in.? "That would likely be the most
extreme example of an Exalted March.? The only differences
between then and now?? Well, pike squares are still the same
now as they were before, save for the recent addition of
matchlock firearms.? Also, dragon riders were a very new thing
back then.? I'd say that their flying assets are better
integrated now, with more evolved tactics.? Finally, the siege
of Sharizaad was probably the last time such a massive army
was made up of conscripts.? These days, the abundance of
silver makes it easier to raise mercenary armies for the
nobles to lead.
"I should also point out that, unless the
current High Lord Papal decides to lead another March, you're
unlikely to see such an abundance of wizardry in a battle."
¡°Ten divisions, more or less,¡± Jan mused. ¡°Maybe much more if they have difficulty with communications.¡± Her earlier ranker apparently set aside for the moment she added, ¡°With air power and magical components not accounted for.¡±?
With the old net down she decided to keep all her special memories onboard.? Click for all these new names and places to go right into her implant storage. She wasn¡¯t a dummy but then she had tried to off herself at least once and almost twice by accident. That Demon was a mind blur now but she¡¯d felt his power. Another thought penetrated her thick skull. It was a recent memory that instantly chilled her.
Jan was on her knees back in that field. The dragon or wyvern was coming fast. So gracious and sure. She could feel it¡¯s wrath. The energy around her began to swarm up like a pissed off bee hive.?
She was absorbing it, pulling it into herself. The target rushed onward oblivious. The blue wave became her then it had become an idea that continued to evolve as she belched it out like some kind of overheated radiator.?
Holy shit! The impact. She¡¯d forgotten about that! The weird two-dimensional circle that had flared outward like a twisted force field.? The impact. It had been substantial. She didn¡¯t know about that until later. Whatever she¡¯d done had momentarily wiped her out.?
She recognised the circle then and smacked her leg with her augmented arm and almost cried out in pain.?
She had recreated the summoning circle without thinking. It was sideways in the air. But it had not worked like one. Instead the wyvern had been toasted like a marshmallow.? That was what she¡¯d been wanting to happen. She¡¯d tapped into a previous experience then added some extra whoop-de-do!
All that was cool and sort of terrifying but not what her mind was trying to get out. It had been the impact. It had knocked soldiers off their feet. Someone had told her afterwards it reminded them of a Jet moving into mock speeds. A sonic boom!
Jan put her head in her hands and muttered, ¡°Fuck me!¡±
Her training kicked in and she raised her head.
¡°We¡¯ve got to act now. It¡¯s out there in this world. They know something happened. That thing I did would be heard for miles, maybe over a radius of fifty miles. A big bada boom! Yeah, they are coming.¡±?
After another half-hearted sip of wine she smiled. An idea, a crazy idea had bubbled up playfully in her mind.?
¡°How far is it from say... here to where those Papal pukes reside?¡±
Her smile had turned radiant.?
¡°We have air power too!¡±
(Tag Azfiri and Haran)
Scott