Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera 3)

Somehow, he and the First Spear managed to get a solid block of men together in front of the last wall upon the bridge itself, while Crassus's exhausted Knights Aeris lined the low city wall behind them. Tavi had furniture taken from the town behind them piled into two massive mounds, doused them in liquor, and had Max set them aflame to provide light for the legionares-and to keep it burning with firecrafting. The Knights sent a gale of wind into the faces of the Canim, both shielding the fires and blinding their enemies in the down-pouring rain, and a roaring charge led by the First Spear hammered into the Canim advance. Tavi watched from the wall as legionares and warriors locked in desperate, grinding battle, but in the close confines of the bridge, once the Canim's momentum was checked and the darkness broken by the bonfires, the advantage fell to the tightly coordinated, disciplined-and desperate-legionares. Step by bloody step, they drove the Canim back, until the inhuman foe leapt back over the wall to take up defensive positions of their own.

Tavi ordered the legionares back to the last wall on the bridge, fearing that they would be cut down by Canim marksmen if they remained in the open.

And for the space of an hour, the battle ceased.

Tavi sagged to the ground behind their last wall and sat there for a moment. He stripped off his helmet and tilted his head up to the sky to drink falling rain. The rainfall had been growing slowly if steadily lighter over the past hours. It made the cool evening positively uncomfortable, and spasms of shivering came and went every minute or so.

"Captain?" Ehren said quietly. Tavi hadn't heard him approach. "You all right?"

"Tired, is all," Tavi replied.

"You should get out of the rain. Get some hot food into you."

"No time," Tavi said. "They can see in the dark. We can't. They'll hit us again before dawn. I need Tribune Cymnea to round up every furylamp she can find, any wood that will burn, and every drop of liquor in the whole town. We'll need it to start fires so that the men can see. Valiar Marcus is taking a head count. Ask Foss for the count on deaths and casualties, and relay it to the First Spear."

Ehren frowned, but nodded. "All right. But after that..."

"After that," Tavi said, "take the two fastest horses you can find and get out."

Ehren fell silent.

"It's your duty," Tavi said quietly. "The First Lord needs to know about what the ritualists can do. And about those bolt throwers the Canim are using. And..." He shook his head. "Tell him that we're going to find a way to take down the bridge. Somehow. Convey my apologies that I couldn't keep it intact."

There was another silent moment. Then Ehren said, "I can't just walk away from my friends."

"Don't walk. Run. As fast as you can." Tavi rose and slipped his helmet back on. Then he put a hand on Ehren's shoulder and met his eyes. "If Gaius doesn't at least hear about it, it was all for nothing. Don't let that happen."

Rain plastered the little Cursor's hair to his scalp. Then he bowed his head and nodded. "All right."

Tavi squeezed his shoulder, grateful. At least he'd get one friend out of this mess alive. "Get a move on."

Ehren gave him a weak smile and a sloppy salute, then turned and hurried away.

Max said quietly, from the darkness nearby, "He's right, you know."

Tavi jumped, startled, and glared in the direction of Max's voice. "Crows, Max. You just scared me out of ten years of life."

Max snorted and said, "Sounds to me like you don't think you'll be using it anyway."

"You should get food," Tavi said. "Rest. We'll need your crafting soon."

In answer, Max took a ceramic bowl from beneath his cloak, and passed it to Tavi. It was so warm that he could feel it through his gloves, but as the scent of the thick stew reached his nose, a sudden demand from his belly overruled his caution, and he gulped down the stew, barely pausing to chew the meat. Max had a second bowl, and kept Tavi company.

"All right," Tavi said. "I should probably-"

"Marcus is organizing," Max said. "Said you should eat. Sit down for a minute. So relax."

Tavi began to shake his head and deny him, but his aching body prevented him from doing more than leaning up against the wall.

"This is pretty bad," Tavi said quietly. "Isn't it?"

Max nodded. "Worst I've seen."

From startlingly nearby, there was the frantic snarl of an enraged Cane and the violent thrashing of water. Max had his sword out of his sheath before the sound died away, and his gaze flickered around them. "What the crows..."

Tavi hadn't moved. "It's in the river below us."

Max arched an eyebrow. "Shouldn't it concern us if they're sending troops across."

"Not particularly. It's been happening since nightfall. They haven't made it to this side yet."

Max frowned. "Water furies?"

"You think I'd let the healers waste their time on something like that?" Tavi asked.

"You're too clever for your own good, Calderon," Max growled.

"Sharks," Tavi said.

"What?"

"Sharks. Big fish with big teeth."

Max lifted his eyebrows. "Fish?"

"Mmmm. Attracted to blood in the water. Tribune Cymnea's been collecting from everyone butchering animals in the camp and the down, and dumping the blood into the river. The sharks followed the blood trail up from the sea. Hundreds of them. Now they're hitting everything that goes for a swim." Tavi made a vague gesture at the water. "Old fisherman who works this river told me it even attracted a baby leviathan. Little one, about forty feet long."

Max grunted. "Fish. Sooner or later they're going to get full, and the Cane are going to have an assault team on this side of the river. You should let me send some of my riders out to patrol the shore."

"No need," Tavi said. "Kitai will spot any Cane that gets through."

"Yeah?" Max said. "There's only one of her, Calderon. What can she do that fifty of my men can't?"

"See in the dark," Tavi said.

Max opened his mouth, then shut it again. "Oh."

"Besides, " Tavi said, "if she wasn't there, she'd be here."

Max blew out a breath. "Yeah. Always clever."

"Not always," Tavi said. He could hear the bitterness in his voice. "Nasaug made a fool out of me."

"How?"

"I thought he was delaying his attack just to tweak Sari's nose. That wasn't what he was doing at all. Sari was stupid enough to order a major attack against the walls with an hour of daylight left. Nasaug managed to stall that attack until night fell, when the Canim would have a major advantage. He broke the gates, then he fixed it so their most expendable troops would soak up the losses from the fire trap." Tavi shook his head. "I should have realized what he was doing."