The Nemisin Star by Elaina J Davidson

perused it swiftly. “The original. I wonder how
Margus convinced them to part with it.”
    “Does it
matter?”
    “It confers
power, Tris, and we now hold it. Right now, however, I do not know
how to use it to our advantage. Yet.” Torrullin snapped his
fingers. The scroll vanished to his study at the Keep. “Until then
we fight.”
    Tristamil
snorted. “You enjoy a good fight, don’t you? Well, let us give them
one. I am spoiling for one myself.” He moved purposefully to the
exit.
    Torrullin
followed, drawing his blade. He smiled, watching his son’s innate
confidence. I would have chosen you, my son. I would die so that
you may live.
    Ahead, a break
in Tristamil’s step, and then his shoulders straightened with pride
and he walked on.
     
     
    Menllik
     
    Torrullin’s
warnings resulted in Camot stationing soldiers about the perimeter
of the city.
    Of the
approximately one thousand Valleur on Valaris, eight hundred were
of fighting age and fitness, of which fifty were detailed on a
rotational basis to the Keep and seven hundred were spread in units
across the land. It meant, practically, when the Vallorin evacuated
the city, two hundred-odd Valleur needed to be taken to safety,
most of those younger than twenty, and it meant he, Camot, held
back fifty handpicked men and women under his direct command.
    While some
were boys below the Coming-of-Age ceremony, each was equal to ten
normal men in fighting skill and will. He was proud of them and
placed them strategically.
    He had
somewhat disobeyed the brief. His Vallorin informed them of a
potential situation this night, of source unknown, but certainly
unfriendly, and asked that he keep his unit to hand to call upon at
a moment’s notice, but to hold them in waiting outside of the
city.
    Camot took on
the task of troubleshooting and therefore so did his elite. On
Atrudis he frequently felt like a bystander, unable to offer his
Vallorin the necessary protection, and refused to do so now.
    He brought
them in close and was himself inside Menllik. His was the duty to
protect the Vallorin. In this he had not only Kismet’s covert
support, but also Krikian’s solid agreement and, on the strength of
the latter’s foresight and having seen him as capable on Atrudis,
elevated him to his second-in-command. The Vallorin, he was aware,
would not like it.
    Krikian and
Camot were ensconced on the upper level of the bell tower just to
the south of what was the heart of the city. Two soldiers guarded
the entrance below.
    “There is
strangeness to the air.” Camot meant above an already odd and empty
atmosphere. “If I think back, this is how it felt before Margus
attacked Ardosia with his soltakin; that should have warned
us.”
    “You were
familiar with peace, Camot; we all were,” Krikian whispered. He
felt it now. He felt it then.
    “This time we
know, yes,” the war leader responded. “That creature will get what
is coming to him.”
    They had a
clear enough view of Linir, although not directly to the stairs
leading up to it. All was quiet, supernaturally so. Torrullin and
Tristamil entered the temple a while ago, but there was no sign of
Tymall. Both men knew that meant little, for there were other ways
to travel, but were alert for him nonetheless.
    It was
approximately forty-five minutes to Nemisin’s star.
    “Maybe we
should get in closer,” Krikian whispered, wary as he was of the
silence.
    “We would lose
our bird’s eye view,” Camot returned.
    Sometimes one
had to compromise.
     
     
    They waited,
and watched snow descend briefly to further whiten the streets and
saw it depart as swiftly, leaving the heavens cleared for the
auspicious star.
    In the twenty
years since Linir’s completion and inauguration the star had never
been obscured by cloud. An omen of good fate.
    It was eight
days after Full Moon, which meant that orb would only be at apex in
the wee hours of the night, and then it would shed little navigable
light. Both men wished fervently for