TC05

The city of Shalem proper lay on a rocky island across a narrow strait of the Aramel Sea, which made it such a hard nut for land armies to crack. At dawn twelve warships emerged from the sea ward side. To the soldiers of the Adanite army it was evident something was wrong with them. They pitched in the water after the manner of toy rocking horses, and the sea behind them liter ally boiled, sending clouds of vapor skyward. Their sails were all furled and their rows of oars remained idle.

One of the ships broke off from the squadron and raced ahead to the shore. Just before landfall it heaved back once more, and with a final burst of boiling water beached itself on the sand like one of the aquatic mammals of Earth. The sea swirling around its immersed aft end slowly cooled.

Shemhazai chose to make this vessel an example for all the oth ers. His dragon Demonstroke flew low along the shore from the north and set the wreck ablaze to the great joy of the entire Adanite army.

But something was amiss. The hulk was ablaze, to be sure, indeed the pyre sent up a great tower of smoke, yet the screams of any len trapped inside could not be heard. And it proved to be no deterrent at all. The eleven remaining ships of the Salemite fleet went on to beach themselves in like manner.

Then Malphas sent two of every three man of his army forward, but he kept a third part of them to safeguard the cage holding Hamon. Boarding the ships, the soldiers found no crewmen within.

Belowdecks each ship had two large bronze tank, with pipes lead ing aft, but none could puzzle out their purpose.

BEZALIEL: [This has all the makings of a trap, Your Highness. Melchiyahu invites us to cross over to the city where some un pleasantness lies in wait]

MALPHAS: [I deem your counsel  to be  good. We will not take his bait, but we will take his ships, and  assail Shalem at a time of my own choosing, not that of the king]

He ordered many of his men to take the oars.

One-third of the Adanite army stood idle. Another third took to the ships. The final third heaved the vessels off the sand with raw muscle power. Two wings of the army of King Melchiyahu emerged from thick woods to the north and south where they had lain hidden even from the dragon. The Shalemite army and the Fallen Angels closed on the beach like the jaws of some huge beast.

The bronze kettles in the ships flooded and tipped half the oars of all eleven ships entirely out of the water.

Some of the ships tried to paddle further out to sea, others tried to return to the beach, most of them just twirled in place. All of them caught fire. Nothing restrained Daughter af ter Malkuth set a precedent with the attack by his dragon. And this time screams were most assuredly heard.

But the Adanites on the shore had simultaneous attacks on their left and right flanks to worry about. Malphas ordered len to cart Hamon in his cage down off the hill toward the center of his lines.

Yet the battle showed no sign of letting up. Hamon as a shield was effective only against Lilith as a weapon. And the dragon was no help on the field, lest Malkuth destroy his own forces along with the Shalemites.

Malphas scanned the chaos and spotted Lilith fighting her way toward the hill behind his army where the wagon remained tied up. A sudden fear gripped him. Could Lilith solve the Gordian knot and inherit the promise of the oracle to rule all Kemen? He moved to cut her off.

Alone on the summit they both dismounted and squared off with swords in hand.

LILITH: [Have you come to answer for Imrael?]

MALPHAS: [I will never allow you to test the oracle of the Gord ian Knot!]

She pointed the tip of her blade at the wagon.

LILITH: [This? My grandfather was either half-mad or his knot is the most famous practical joke on Kemen]

This only elicited a flurry of clashing swords. Lilith drove Malphas back.

LILITH: [I live in Shalem. I could have tested the oracle at any time!]

Lilith's logic didn't seem to penetrate. Instead, Malphas lunged forward. His blade slashed Lilith's bare midsection and he at tained first blood.

She feigned shock at the injury and slowed her dance. Malphas saw that and let his guard wither for just a few heartbeats, but it was enough. Seeing her slim opening, Lilith let fly a fero cious kick of one booted foot to his face and Malphas was laid out cold with his sword separated from his unconscious hand. Lilith tossed it out of reach.

With her prey lying helpless Lilith briefly considered making an end of him Before she met Hamon Lilith would have done just that, to avenge Imriel. Far better to let Malphas live and ex plain this defeat to his god.

She glanced at the forgotten wagon fastened to a tree on the hilltop and ran to it instead. She flipped the drawbar up to the seat. Like everyone who came before she made no headway with the knot. Adanite skirmishers, she saw, were climbing the hill to aid their commander.

With no time to lose Lilith simply hacked at the knot with her sword until it fell apart. The wagon was free, but she was cer tain grandpa didn't have that solution in mind when he created the knot.

Gravity made the wagon roll downhill. Lilith jumped up onto the seat and took the drawbar to steer it. The sound of her wheels drew the attention of the Adanites. They gaped at the horror rushing down upon them faster than any horse could drive it. All of the len fled as her gamble played out.

Hamon saw what she was trying to do. He flattened himself against a side of the cage that he guessed would avoid a direct impact.

Lilith's wagon collided with enough speed to shatter both the cage and the wagon to splinters and she was unceremoniously dumped on her ass. But somehow they both survived the collision. Lilith was more bruised than she had ever been in her life but Hamon was free of the cage and the enemy was scattered into iso lated squads.

Raphaela came to Lilith's aid.

When Raphaela was satisfied Lilith was not in mortal danger she gave a report.

RAPHAELA: [The enemy no longer has a unified army. They are fleeing by platoons and squads. Shall we cut them off?]

LILITH: [No, the king has left one route open, inviting the ene my to retire. The trickle out the back door will become a flood. We must never engage in slaughter for the sake of slaughter dear Raphaela. It is enough that we have won the field today]

RAPHAELA: [Happy is the city that thinks of war in times of peace!]

LILITH: [Happiness has nothing to do with it, Raphaela. The clash of arms is the worst experience the dwellers of Kemen can ever experience]

RAPHAELA: [And Your Royal Highness, what of the vainglorious thrill-seekers who claim to love warfare?]

LILITH: [They are either lying and have never tasted actual com bat, or their mind has failed them]

But something more pressing weighed upon Lilith's mind, the well-being of her husband. She hobbled over to the big pile of sticks that had been his cage.

LILITH: [No more adventures for now]

They each made certain the other was not seriously hurt.

LILITH: [I've cracked a rib, for one thing. And I am thankful for the gift of shunting the pain away. But this battle would have been unnecessary if you had just let me carry out my plan at Adan]

HAMON: [You would have been killed]

Lilith touched the bone cup at the back of her head.

LILITH: [But you have changed me, and unleashed a warrior yan in Kemen who does not blench at the thought of death]

HAMON: [I would unleash an army of them. But tell me, why did you throw away everything you've worked for since you met me?]

LILITH: [I don't understand what you just said]

Hamon held up one end of the wagon's rope.

HAMON: [I'm talking about the Gordian Knot. I'll admit, cutting it was probably not what the oracle intended, but now you are destined to rule all of Kemen. Fate! The unreformed Lilith must return]

LILITH: [Must she? Do you think Shemhazai will have his way for ever?]

Hamon slowly shook his head.

LILITH: [What if the oracle was really saying the spirit of the new Lilith will take over Kemen? The Lilith who changed --]

Her eyes brimmed with moisture and her voice broke, but she went on.

LILITH: [The one who  changed on  that unforgettable  day when she first heard you speak]

The last word was a sob. She regretted the wasted years.

Hamon ran his hand over Lilith's side and somehow took the un derlying pain away. Lilith no longer had to use her new talent to dull her agony enough to breathe deeply. Then Hamon straightened up from his examination of Lilith's injuries. He played the oracle just then, perhaps as a kind of postscript to the seer inspired by (or perhaps hired by) old King Gordiel.

HAMON: [It will take many centuries to play out, my beloved, both here and in the other world. But you broke through more than just my cage here today. If every person in every age be comes willing to do for each other what you did for me today, then love won. Don't you see? Once and for all, love won!]