Chapter 209 – Surrounded
Knowing that they may have little time to ready themselves, the first messengers left Sumeck less than an hour after Rinmei and Cinna disappeared from view. Wherever they still held sway, King Valasiy's riders hurried to deliver the message to return to Sumeck. As for how many would actually come, that was a different question altogether. They couldn't just force people to leave their home in the middle of winter.
They had to try, nonetheless. While waiting for possible arrivals, Valasiy and his generals gathered again in the throne room, directing the immediate defenses and counting the available manpower inside the capital city. It was quickly decided that anyone healthy, young, women or old, it didn't matter, would be given a task and drafted to defend their country. If nothing else, they would be messengers, running from one street to another and delivering messages between officers of different squads.
“This feels wrong.” General Devren muttered as he walked out onto the castle's main battlements for fresh air after an hour of arguing with his officers and ignoring the pleading voices of mothers whose children were being forced to join the defenses. He had to clear his head, but it was hard to do while overlooking the town, watching soldiers dismantle buildings to block certain roads, create funnels for a coming invasion, and force them to walk a certain path. He just rubbed his hand, exhaling tiredly, trying not to think about how many were currently cursing him for this.
“Those can be rebuilt,” Siu said suddenly, walking up beside him and crossing his arms as he surveyed the hillside from the top. He wasn't happy about it either, but he didn't show it, trusting Cinna's speed and the Hollow Song's effectiveness to send help in time.
“I spent my life here, and now I can't recognize the city... That bakery, down there,” The General pointed at one building that just got knocked down, its pieces used to block a wider street, "It belonged to Wusali, an old man I knew since I was a lad. He inherited it from his family... It stood there for four generations and now it's gone, and he won't ever rebuild it. He will probably die before he sees the city recover, because he is now stationed at one of the barricades, with a slingshot and a handful of rubble from his own home."
"..." Siu's face remained calm, but deep down, he knew what he meant, and he knew it well... but it was either this or giving up.
"And I can tell you a dozen other such stories I see from here, Honored Cultivator."
“Just call me Siu.” He whispered, looking at the people doing the work, "But I would look at it differently, General. By doing this, you're stopping the enemy from killing you a hundred men at a time. Or would you prefer to let them walk up the hill from all sides, from every angle, and wantonly murder anyone they come across?" He asked, but before he could answer, he continued, "And if this Mister Wusali can't see that, and comes to ask you why you're ruining everyone's lives, just blame it on us.”
"On you?" Devren grunted, almost swallowing his tongue in shock. "Please... We wouldn't dare! You are already saving us; I wouldn't let such a thing happen, to badmouth your name!"
“I know.” He shrugged with a half-smile. "But you can do it. Really. Your people will do it anyway behind our backs. I can already sense it somewhat... I know this, because where I grew up, people talked about cultivators as both the best and worst kind of beings in existence."
“What... do you mean?” He asked, visibly dumbfounded, making Siu smile even more.
“From where I came, the land was pretty much ruined. I didn't know that back then, but it was the result of a failed sect. The destruction it left behind made people either revere the remaining cultivators who got stuck there, or hate them with everything they had. Still, nobody could do anything, no matter which camp they landed in.”
"I guess you... revered them?" He asked carefully, watching him, thinking that was why he became one.
"I did," Siu nodded, still holding his smile, "Then I did not."
"I don't understand," Devren muttered, trying to make sense of it.
"Cultivators are still humans, General Devren. Even if they themselves call you mortals, that doesn't mean we are that much different besides our individual strengths." Siu said, looking him in the eyes and patting his shoulders. "It's that simple."
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To the Wardens' surprise, in just one and a half days, the remaining loyal countryside was almost emptied. Naturally, some villages and towns didn't answer the call, or just couldn't make it. Still, people did arrive, retreating to Sumeck and hurrying up the hillside, trying to get as high as possible, as if they were running from an incoming tsunami. What mattered most to the generals were the wagons they brought along, carrying sacks of grain and salted meat, which would then be confiscated, as rationing was now in order and food was distributed equally within the city. If they indeed were going to be besieged, they had to be careful with their reserves.
By the end of the second day, Sumeck's lower half was completely abandoned and ruined, with all of the main roads blocked by rubble while those that were left open led into kill zones and dead ends as traps. At the same time, the remaining, most viable route up to the castle on the top was reinforced on both sides, with troops and traps hidden in preparation for any invading army. The rest of the blocked-off parts of the city could still be accessed from the inside; thus, General Kost coordinated militia positions throughout the lower parts of town while Devren concentrated professional soldiers around the main road and the main walls. Their foremost plan was to rain down arrows on any army that tried to climb the icy road, and pretty much... that was it.
What really amazed the people was when the Wardens stepped in to help reinforce their blockades and walls. General Devren simply pointed to where he wanted a new wall, and Joren, using his cultivation, raised it from the ground from corner to corner, shocking anyone who saw it. The same happened when Ruben stepped in and flooded the main road with water from his umbrella, letting it freeze, and turned it into an icy slide from top to bottom. If not for their current situation, the local kids would have loved it...
Not everyone used their cultivation to help, though, because Bren helped with his bare hands: he picked up a massive timber beam that would have required four soldiers to drag into place. He carried it over one shoulder, making the soldiers stare at him like he was a monster in disguise, wondering if they could survive a punch from him.
“Higher,” he said as he arrived with the beam on his shoulder, making the militia people hammering an obstacle into place look at him in shock and awe.
“W-what?” their captain stammered.
“If you're building a brace, put it higher.” He said, pointing with his free hand, “If something hits this from downhill, you want the force going into the ground, not snapping the middle. This has to go higher... I'll help.” He shrugged, setting the timber down with no effort as people parted before him, visibly afraid of him, but he didn't take it to heart and just got to work.
As for Nokoh and Cho'Wa, they spent most days outside, with Arya and Marly in tow, scouting far more efficiently than any local scouts could and covering more ground than their people on horseback. What made Siu and the King worried was that they noticed nothing out of the ordinary. It was both weird and not... It had been days already, and something should be happening. Were their enemies retreating at the first sign? That couldn't be the case... could it?
“Too quiet? It's a good thing, Master... come! Let's go in!” Arya asked with a yawn one evening when she returned to rest and sleep, walking up to Siu. She meant to bring him in to snuggle while looking up at the dark sky and the slow snowfall, clearly in a happy mood, not an ounce of worry in her.
“Mhm...” Siu nodded, furrowing his brows. "I expected a swifter reaction. It is clear that they are coordinated by cultivators, and the news of Cinna's appearance would be enough to tell them others had come to investigate. They should have already acted..."
“Maybe they are scared.”
“You know they aren't.” He smiled at her, watching Marly pop her head out from between Arya's bosom.
“I would be scared of us.” She said, her mouth full of something, crunching it between her words.
“Damn right!” Arya nodded, smiling confidently as her ears twitched. "Maybe they already heard of the Wardens and ran away! Serves them right. Um-um!"
"If they ran away, we may never find them," Siu said quietly, thinking about it. "It would mean we completed the mission; however, I just don't know how happy the elders would be... If they escape, they can also reappear later, and that wouldn't solve the issue. Best if we catch them in the middle of this quiet invasion; then the Elders can find out what the hell is really happening."
"That's their job; we're just doing ours!" Arya said, yawning again, hugging Siu from behind, "Let's go in, Master! Sleep-sleep... Then we wake up and learn they are gone!"
However, that notion was squashed only half an hour later, when Nokoh returned and told them Cho'Wa had seen enemy riders, probably scouting forces coming down from the north. Which meant they were surveying the path before something else. It was enough to make a decision, and the city immediately went into complete lockdown. Those who couldn't grab weapons were hauled up to the tops of the hills, while those who could got to their assigned positions, even if it was just to throw rocks.
In the end, though, the first enemy soldiers appeared only after sunrise, and the Wardens watched them arrive from the castle's highest tower. Very quickly, their lines of weird shapes turned into columns of men, mostly foot soldiers, with a few trebuchets dragged at the far end of the appearing army. What normal eyes couldn't discern from this distance, but a cultivator could, was that the army looked a mismatched amalgamation of mercenaries. It was hard to tell whether they were locals or from somewhere else, but they were definitely not a professional army, equipped with whatever they found lying around.
“Gods..." King Valasiy muttered when he saw them approach, spreading out and very quickly surrounding his city. "How can they have so many people?"
"By paying them," Seloryn said in an unbothered, calm voice.
While the King was horrified, General Devren shouted orders below them, refusing to feel despair and making sure everyone stayed the same as they took their positions.
"Are we really letting them surround us?" Valasiy asked, watching the black mass spread out like muddy water.
"We just need to hold out," Siu nodded. "Our Sect will send an Elder to sort things out. Until then, we stay put and stay alive."
"Can one such man be enough?" The King asked in a feeble voice, finally looking away, gazing at the Wardens. "They at least have a thousand men out there, if not more!"
"Oh yeah," Ruben chortled, "That thousand would be like having nothing. They can fly, so good luck surrounding them."
"I don't even think," Joren joined in, sounding calm and unbothered, "that they could hurt an Elder, even if he stood between them."
Eventually, the invading army stopped outside the range of the city's archers and began establishing a camp in a slow, methodical tempo, showing they weren't worried or afraid. While the people of Sumeck could do nothing but watch, the enemy soldiers hammered pickets into the frozen ground, started massive fires, and erected big tents for their commanding officers. Their intentions were obvious from that alone: they had taken control of all roads in and out of the city, essentially gaining control of the country. They weren't in a hurry, thinking they trapped everyone inside.
So it was no wonder that, for the whole day after that, nothing happened. The cold night came and went, giving way to another morning, and still, nothing. By then, it was clear they were here to blockade and besiege the city, acting patiently and waiting for them to either try to break out or starve.
"What now?" Nokoh asked as the group gathered in the throne room once more.
"We should just wait," Siu answered, rubbing his chin. "They are unknowingly doing exactly what we want. Why risk it?"
"Because we may have to," Vael spoke up suddenly, and when everyone looked at him, he was standing at the window, looking outside. "Someone is coming."
Siu was the first to reach up beside him, opening the window to take a deep breath. As he did so, he caught a cultivator's senses washing over the city at that exact moment. It was very similar to what he'd read about when the book described how NOT to do it. The owner of this sweep clearly didn't know how to hide or direct it, using it only as a large blanket that could be easily noticed, avoided, or tricked by someone stronger.
"Let's find out what he wants," Siu said, thinking fast and glancing at Arya, who had already caught his forming plan and grinned, giving him a V-sign. "Let's go; we will talk with them. Tell your people," He glanced at the King and the others, "To try not to shoot the messenger. We are buying time here, so no need to start the battle early."