Transcendence
PART 4 THE DRAGON OF TO-GAI Chapter 26 Playing to Their Weakness

J hree twenty-squares," Pagonel reported to Brynn that tenth day of Bafway, the third month of the year. The warrior woman smiled wickedly.
"Twelve hundred soldiers," Pagonel said somberly.
"Then the blow will prove even greater," the woman replied.
The mystic started to argue, but paused and stared at Brynn's knowing smile. They had spent the winter months rounding up the soldiers willing to ride with Brynn Dharielle, and the number had proven considerable in-deed, beyond anything that Brynn dared hope after the disaster at Dharyan with Ashwarawu, for her reputation from that one fight at the Mountains of Fire had swept across the grassy steppes like wildfire. If this woman, this Dragon of To-gai, could destroy such a collection of Chezhou-Lei, and send a Jacintha twenty-square fleeing at the same time, then what did the To-gai-ru have to fear? And so her army had eagerly followed her down from the plateau divide and into the desert sands of Behren, some distance to the south of Dharyan.
"We have near to six thousand warriors," Brynn said to the doubting mystic.
"Only four thousand at our disposal," Pagonel reminded. ?A third are out helping the common folk, as you ordered. They will not rejoin us for another month or two, at the least, until the spring is on in full. Even then, by going east, you are ignoring the many secured settlements within To-gai, and now behind our lines."
"You do not agree with me?"
Pagonel gave a helpless chuckle in the face of Brynn's too-innocent tone. ?I am playing against your choices," he explained. ?As you asked of me."
Brynn laughed aloud and squeezed her dear friend's shoulder. Indeed, she had instructed Pagonel to play the part of her conscience and her better judgment, to question everything she decided with every argument he could nd for alternate courses. She just never realized how good the mystic would ,e at such a task! ?Four thousand will be more than I need," Brynn decided. ?Dharyan "Burned by the fires of a dragon?" the mystic asked. ?I warn you, the city has ballista emplacements - many of them. One shot from such a weapon ould bring Agradeleous down to the ground, and on the ground, he would face a concentrated barrage that even his great armor could not withstand."
"Agradeleous will play a small role, if any," Brynn replied, and the mys-tic's expression became one of surprise. ?I do not need him for this."
"But..."
Brynn noticed that some of her other commanders had heard that last re-mark and were now listening more intently than they were letting on.
"I will use Yatol Grysh's confidence against him," Brynn explained. ?But we must strike quickly, before the three twenty-squares can be deployed outside of the city."
"You will attack a walled and fortified city, defended by fifteen hundred skilled warriors and a like number of conscripts, with a force of only four thousand?" asked one of her commanders, an older man from Telliqik named Bargis Troudok.
"No," Brynn corrected. ?We will attack a fortified city garrisoned by a cou-ple of hundred soldiers with a force that numbers near to four thousand."
That had all of them looking at her curiously, but Brynn only smiled. She had learned so much in her years with the Touel'alfar, and their under-standing of battle, small and large, and had learned so much more during her time at the Walk of Clouds, studying the history of Behren more com-pletely than the history of To-gai.
She understood the Behrenese comman-ders' expectations and likely reactions, particularly those of Yatol Grysh.
Yes, Brynn could smile. She knew her enemy at this point, understood his confidence and his eagerness to repeat the great victory he had known over Ashwarawu. She knew how to tease him with just that possibility, and then how to take it away, oh so brutally.
"He is not happy," Juraviel said to Brynn later that same day, when the woman had come to see him and Cazzira and Agradeleous in their separate camp, up on the side of the cliff-facing that marked the boundaries be-tween the two countries, and some distance from the main force.
"He hungers for blood," Brynn said with obvious distaste.
"He hungers for adventure," Cazzira explained. ?Agradeleous is a pa-tient creature, but you have kept him aside for months now, serving in no capacity other than mount and supply caravan. He considers himself your greatest warrior and has pledged his support for this fight, and yet - "I am the greatest warrior!" came the hissing voice, and all three turned to see Agradeleous entering the area, a dead elk over his shoulder - and th dragon was carrying it with complete ease, as if it was no more a burden th a shawl. ?Or do you fear that your warriors will see the truth of me, and f 1] to their knees, pledging their allegiance to Agradeleous instead of to Brynn}' "I fear only to show our enemies the true power before the optimum tim to surprise them," Brynn replied.
The dragon snorted, little bursts of flames spouting from his horselik snout. ?I already showed them the power of Agradeleous' wrath! In th south - "
"Where few escaped, and those, too horrified and disoriented to provide the truth of your power," Brynn argued. ?And need I remind you of the re-ports that your presence has been attributed to a trick of the Jhesta Tu? There is much more to winning a war than battle alone, dear Agradeleous."
The dragon snorted again, as if Brynn's reasoning about him being no more than some mystic trick was preposterous, though they had indeed heard such a tale from some Behrenese soldiers captured at one settlement.
"I will ride against Dharyan tomorrow afternoon," Brynn announced.
"And I will fly against the city tomorrow afternoon!" Agradeleous an-nounced. ?You can choose whether you wish to ride that lunch you call Runtly, or a mount truly fit for one who would be queen!"
Juraviel and Cazzira both turned alarmed looks at Brynn, but the woman only smiled. ?You will fly against the city tomorrow night," she corrected. ?I hope to fly with you, but if that is not possible, then you, and your other two riders, will know how to proceed."
Brynn's grin told them that there was much more to this, told them all that she had a definite plan, and one that gave her great confidence. And so they all gathered around and held silent, except for the occasional confirm-ing grunt from Agradeleous, as she laid it out to them.
"A daring plan," Cazzira said to Juraviel after the woman had gone. ?One designed to exploit every weakness she recognizes within Yatol Grysh."
The elf glanced over his shoulder, to see the dragon quite busy in devour-ing his elk, and not paying the two elves any heed. ?And one designed to win without giving away the truth of the dragon," he added. ?Not to the Behre-nese, but even more importantly, not to her own warriors."
"You think that Agradeleous recognized the woman's fears?"
"No, but I think that Brynn is too wise to reveal too much to anyone. She knows that even with Agradeleous, To-gai is sorely out-manned by the Chezru Chieftain."
"And still she chooses to go after Dharyan, instead of clearing the steppes of the lesser forces."
"It is because of that very fact that she knows she must strike, and hard," said Juraviel, nodding and staring into the direction where Brynn and Runtly had ridden away, a grin of respect widening on his small and angular face.
Th v were spotted traveling north through the valley of the Mazur Shin-Y tol ? Carwan Pestle reported to Grysh. ?A considerable force, sev-1 times larger than that Ashwarawu led against us."
"A d are there any dragons flying about them?" Grysh asked with obvi-ircasm, and a wry crooked smile.
He looked away from the map Led up on the wall to consider his attendant.
Phe Dragon of To-gai leads them, we believe," Pestle replied. ?A woman, and not awurm."
Grysh laughed heartily. When the Jacintha soldiers had arrived, he had hidden them to come in quietly, thinking to turn them loose upon the steppes soon as the weather softened into springtime. How glad he was now that he had delayed! And that he had kept their arrival relatively quiet! For the reports had been coming in daily that the new rebel, this Dragon of To-gai, had come down from the steppes and into Behren at the head of a con-siderable force.
"They say that she rode with Ashwarawu, you know?" Grysh asked, and Carwan Pestle nodded. ?She wants revenge, and so she will come against us, oblivious to the fact that we now have more than twelve hundred new warriors at our disposal."
"Shall we deploy them as we did against Ashwarawu, Yatol?" ?No," Grysh said without hesitation. ?This woman remembers well that disaster and she will no doubt look for signs of any armies camped nearby. Our guests are to remain in the city - no one is to leave! Not a Behrenese nor a Ru! Do you hear?"
"Yes, Yatol, it has already been ordered, all about the wall." ?Let the Dragon of To-gai charge right up to our gates. Then we will hit ler and her wretched band with a volley of destruction that will overwhelm hem where they sit astride their pretty ponies." ?Yes, Yatol."
Grysh looked at the map, at the valley of the Masur Shinton. If the re-ports were correct, the Dragon of To-gai would arrive at Dharyan's gates early that very evening. And there she would die, as Ashwarawu had died.
That thought did bring a twang of regret to Yatol Grysh, for his friend and trusted commander, Wan Atenn, rotting on the sun-baked stones of a tar-distant southern wasteland, would not partake of this glorious victory.
But now he had seven Chezhou-Lei at his disposal, he reminded himself, his new advisor and the six who had come in from Jacintha. That would suffice to destroy utterly this pretentious rebel and her followers. Then jrysh would lead the force personally into To-gai, spending the summer moving across the steppes, bringing harsh justice to the upstart Ru. They would accept the rule of Behren, or they would die. It was as simple as that.
"Mark the line, left and right," Brynn instructed as her force of nearly thousand neared Dharyan. She stretched out her front line, spacing th warriors widely, and squared them up to the city, its dark wall back-lighteH by the fires burning within.
Beside her, Pagonel sucked in his breath, as did many others.
Brynn looked to him for support. She had pleaded with him not to corn out there, but he had refused to be left behind, and in truth, she was glad that he had. Now that the time was upon her, Brynn did not think that she could get through this difficult beginning without him beside her.
But how much worse would it become if he was felled by an arrow?
Brynn growled that dark thought away. ?Strike the torches!" the woman ordered, and the call went along the line, and those few brave volunteers who had agreed to wield the torches brought them up in a blaze.
"Cadence slow!" Brynn cried and the drummers began, beating out a slow pace, the whole of the force walking deliberately toward the distant wall. Those drums would be heard within Dharyan, Brynn knew, and in fact she was counting on it.
More torches went up along that wall, and a voice called out, ?Halt where you are and be recognized!"
"Do you not know me, Yatol Grysh?" Brynn cried back. ?Have you not heard of the Dragon of To-gai?"
A great cheer went up behind her at that proclamation. ?Well said," Pagonel remarked, and it was just the bit of support that Brynn needed at that moment.
"First volley!" she yelled, and a thousand bows bent back and a thou-sand arrows soared into the dark sky, arcing for Dharyan. They were a long way out, though, and the barrage had little, if any, effect.
Little physical effect, Brynn knew, but this attack was not about that.
Brynn held aloft her sword and set it ablaze. The drums stopped.
"To-gai free!" she cried, and brought her sword sweeping down, and so began the charge, a thousand horses shaking the ground.
A second volley went away, and then a third, with more and more arrows making the wall, even taking down enemies.
Brynn gritted her teeth as they continued their charge, for they were get-ting close - too close, she feared!
When would the response come?
Perched a few miles away, on the cliff-face of the To-gai plateau, Juraviel, Cazzira, and Agradeleous watched the line of torches snaking across the dark plain.
"They will fight without me again!" the dragon complained bitterly.
"No, this is no fight," Juraviel explained. ?She waits to turn."
"They grow close," said Cazzira.
awaits the revelation," Juraviel remarked. ?She needs Yatol Grysh how his strength to chase her away."
adeleous grumbled and shook his head, obviously not catching on to the centers the leading line of the charge," Cazzira noted. ?Brave, per but foolish will she seem if she is cut down."
"Then she will lead as a martyr," Juraviel said grimly, but his wince belied his stoic tone.
Arrows came out at them, as well as a few huge ballista bolts, giant spears easing the air, close enough so that the charging warriors could hear them whistle past. The Dharyan catapults even fired, though their fiery pitch balls were easily spotted and avoided by the skilled To-gai-ru riders.
They were barely fifty yards from the wall by then, close enough to pick out forms scrambling in the torchlight, and so their volleys proved more deadly, and so the cries of agony began, at the wall, and then among the To-gai-ru ranks.
Brynn grimaced, but held fast her plan, knowing that many of these brave warriors would not ride out of this deadly place. They had all known that grim reality, and yet every man and woman in her army - every single one! - had volunteered to ride with her to the base of the wall. Still, this macabre game of nerves was starting to fray hers. ?Commit them," she whispered, a quiet plea to Yatol Grysh. ?Show us our folly."
Forty yards.
"Sweep left and right!" she ordered her band, though she understood that such a turn might actually leave more of them exposed.
Immediately, the well-drilled To-gai-ru line split down the middle, going left and right. For the skilled horsemen, who hunted the wild steppes while riding, the turn did nothing to deter their attack, and their arrows contin-ued to skim the top of the wall.
But then came a cry from that wall, a familiar voice, speaking in the lan-guage of the To-gai-ru.
"A trap! A trap!" Ya Ya Deng, Ashwarawu's informant, cried out, and then her words became a groan, and all who heard it understood that she had been silenced by a sword.
"Hold! Hold and center!" Brynn cried immediately, and how grateful she was for that unexpected assistance, for the excuse to keep her soldiers back a bit farther from the wall.
And not a moment too soon, for even as the split forces began re-forming at the center, and back out to more than fifty yards, the horns began to blow wildly within Dharyan and the top of the wall seemed to grow, as hundreds of soldiers stood up, bows in hand, letting loose a volley that would have surely devastated the force had they been closer. Even as it was, many warriors fell in that devastating volley, stuck with arrows or with their prized hor shot out from under them.
"A trap! A trap!" went the cry along the To-gai-ru line, on cue away! Kun away!
They milled about in seeming confusion, though in truth, the skilled hor men knew exactly their course. They scooped up comrades, grabbed hors wandering riderless, and suffered the storm of another arrow volley.
And then they turned and fled, crying out in seeming despair.
All along the Dharyan wall, a cry of victory erupted, with soldiers throw ing their arms into the air and yelling out for Yatol Grysh. In the courtyard behind them, the Yatol stood with his seven Chezhou-Lei commanders "The Dragon of To-gai!" one spat. ?She turns and flees at the first resis-tance! Coward Ru!"
The others murmured their agreement with the assessment.
"They have ridden all the day," the supremely confident Yatol Grysh told his commanders. ?Take your men and their horses, hunt them down and kill them."
It was an order eagerly received. Within only a few minutes, Dharyan's western gate swung wide and the ground shook under the hoofbeats of nearly fifteen hundred cavalry, the Jacintha warriors and a good portion of the Dharyan garrison beside them.
They came out strong, barely taking the time to form into any coherent groupings, and swung to the south, thundering away in full gallop.
Soon after, the fleeing To-gai-ru force was spotted, still running south, paralleling the plateau.
Thinking their prey tiring, the Chezhou-Lei spurred their forces on even harder, gaining ground.
They came into the northern end of one narrow vale, split by a wide and shallow river, and saw the torches of the fleeing To-gai-ru streaming out the southern end, only a quarter of a mile ahead.
Up went the war cries, the leaders and their soldiers bending low over their mounts, thinking their victory, over a tired and battered foe, at hand.
And then their world changed, so abruptly, so stunningly, as both hills, left and right, came alive with swarms of To-gai-ru warriors, as the Dragon of To-gai's three thousand hidden warriors sprang up, raining death from on high.
At the south end of the valley, Brynn called for a halt and turn, re-forming her line. She didn't turn them loose immediately, but let the rain of death continue, let the Behrenese ranks break apart with terror and confusion, let them thin as soldier after soldier was plucked from his horse.
Then came the charge, left and right, the To-gai-ru forces closing like the jaws of death, angling to seal off any retreat.
And then came Brynn's charge, in a long and thin line, bows humming and then swords clashing.
The Behrenese had nowhere to flee, and no time to regroup into any of a defensive formation. Nor could die Behrenese shoot from with anywhere near the speed and accuracy of the skilled To- hunters Brynn had shaped the battlefield perfectly to fit her forces, 'I use overconfidence of Yatol Grysh to coax his soldiers from defensive walls, out into the open, where they were no match the fierce To-gai-ru riders.
she eagerly led the way in ror close combat when the time was upon her fiery sword flashing death to any Behrenese who wandered too truth, most were merely trying to flee. That only heightened the slaughter.
"My night has just begun," Brynn said to Pagonel when the battle had ended. She found the mystic hard at work tending the wounded, though he had not escaped unharmed, and showed a bright line of blood across his upper arm where an arrow had creased his skin.
The mystic nodded. ?You understand the power you now unleash?" he asked.
"I understand that Dharyan will fall in the morning," Brynn grimly replied. ?Whatever the cost."
The mystic nodded and Brynn turned Runtly and galloped away to the west, to the base of the plateau divide.
Her friends were waiting for her, Juraviel and Cazzira already sitting astride the great dragon, who was back in his more natural, and more im-posing, winged form.
"I feared that we would have to leave without you," Juraviel remarked, obviously greatly relieved to see the woman still alive and unharmed.
"This is not a fight I wish to miss," Brynn replied, climbing up atop the dragon's lowered neck.
"We marked well the ballista emplacements," Cazzira informed her.
Brynn nodded. ?A few, perhaps," she agreed. ?But the prize I seek is greater."
Their great spears are the only weapons which can prevent me from raz-ing the city wholly," the dragon argued.
"We will break their heart and their will, and so Dharyan will fall," was all that Brynn would offer at that moment.
Up they went, high into the dark sky, and in moments, the lights of Dharyan were in clear sight.
How much brighter they would soon burn!
orynn brought the dragon around to the north and then to the east, snowing full well that all of Dharyan's eyes were straining south and west.
Agradeleous climbed high into the dark sky, then he turned and held for st a moment, and then he plummeted, gaining speed. With a tremendous ?ush, his wind alone blasting surprised guards from the northeastern wall, the dragon crossed over the city. Despite Brynn's instructions, he did ve to cross right above one ballista emplacement, his raking claws and swe ing tail destroying it and its crew as he rushed past. And then he turned f his primary target, and it was not difficult to spot, for the temp]e Dharyan was easily the largest structure in the city.
He pulled up before it and loosed his fiery breath, blowing out the ea ern windows, lighting the wooden supports.
He shifted up higher and breathed again, and then a third time, his breath igniting fires all about the structure.
Below on the streets, the people cried and rushed for cover, and Agra deleous dropped upon them, strafing a line of fire along one avenue, start-ing fires along the rows of houses and storefronts.
Behind Brynn, Juraviel and Cazzira worked their bows wildly, sending lines of stinging arrows out at any soldiers they could spot.
"Enough, Agradeleous!" Brynn cried repeatedly, but the dragon wasn't hearing her, or wasn't paying her any heed if he was! He swept along above the streets, his tail thrashing destruction, his claws snapping down at any soldiers he caught in the open, his breath sweeping out to immolate any who were not fast enough or cunning enough to get out of the way.
Soldiers died in that rush, but many more civilians fell to Agradeleous. Women died and children died, and Brynn had to fight back the bile in her throat.
Gradually, the defense began to organize, and arrows whizzed up about the riders, many striking the dragon, bouncing harmlessly off his scales or scoring hits upon his leathery wings.
And Brynn continued to scream at the beast, commanding him to fly away, as they had planned.
And Agradeleous continued to rain death and destruction, all the way to the front gates of the great city, which he leveled with a single blast of his fiery breath.
Finally, the dragon flew off, back into the darkness of night, leaving the screams and the rumble of great fires, behind him. He reached the cliff-facing, but did not land and let his riders down. No, he went up higher, searching among the heights until he found a loose boulder that he could scoop up with his great clawed feet.
Then he turned and swept back for Dharyan, flying high above the city, too high for the archers or the ballistae to reach him.
He dropped the boulder, aiming perfectly for the largest fire in the city, and the huge stone smashed through the roof of the Dharyan's temple.
"I can do this all night!" the dragon boasted.
Brynn just wanted to be put back down, and so she ordered the dragon to take her back to where she had left Runtly.
And Agradeleous did so, then he flew off with the two elves, up the cliff-to find more boulders and then back over Dharyan to randomly bomb the place.
came back into the To-gai-ru encampment with a heart heavy from struction she had witnessed on the field and especially in the city, ?cene in particular, a group of women immolated by dragon fire while hev ran along a street, hung thick in her thoughts.
I t the warrior woman could not deny that the battle had gone almost tlv as she had planned. More than a thousand Behrenese warriors lay A d in the Masur Shinton valley, and no doubt hundreds more, soldier and vilian, had died in the dragon raid in the city. And the temple of Dharyan was still burning, and would be a complete ruin by morning.
Brvnn's own losses had not been substantial. Carving and preparing the battlefield to her choosing had given all the advantage to her warriors and they had used it to near perfection. Now Dharyan lay ripe for the taking.
But for Brynn, exhaustion had set in, and that only exacerbated the feel-ings of remorse and of guilt. She said not a word as she walked Runtly into the To-gai-ru encampment, did not even acknowledge the shouts and cheers that erupted around her. She went straight to Pagonel, still at his work in tending the many wounded - only To-gai-ru wounded, for the Behrenese had all been put to swift death on the field - slid down from Runtly and fell into the mystic's waiting arms.
He hugged her close and she buried her face in his strong shoulder, not wanting those around her to see the tears in her eyes. ?What have I done?" she whispered.
"You have struck a blow against your oppressors that will be heard throughout the steppes and throughout Behren," the mystic answered softly. ?You have given your people a chance to break free." Pagonel pushed Brynn out to arm's length and looked her right in the eye. ?You have given them hope and the courage to fight back."
'Even if they all should die in the war," Brynn said with biting sarcasm, but to her surprise, the mystic only smiled.
"Even if they all should die in the war," he echoed softly, and firmly, and he nodded and smiled, reminding Brynn that some things, perhaps, were worth dying for.
^What is next?" the mystic asked.
We will deliver our terms for surrender in the morning," Brynn answered. Vatol Grysh is a stubborn one," said Pagonel.
Then he will endure a night of dragon fire the likes of which the world las not seen in centuries," Brynn replied, and there were no more tears at nat time, just a determination so cold and so grim that it sent a shiver cours- down Pagonel's hardened spine.
The next morning, Brynn rode at the head of a column of nearly f thousand To-gai-ru warriors, closing to within fifty yards of Dharyan's ?, if "They are all dead, Yatol Grysh," she called out. ?Send forth an emis or your city will be destroyed around you."
She let it go at that, and when no rider came forth from Dharv > blasted gate, Brynn motioned for her warriors to encircle the place N would flee Dharyan, and none would enter without her knowing of th ?
approach.
That night, she took Agradeleous over the city again and again, blastin his fire and dropping rocks from on high, above the reach of the Dharva defenses. Her warriors, too, came forward in short and unexpected bursts showering fiery arrows into the city.
The next morning, smoke hanging as heavy as the cries of lamentation in the air, Brynn approached the city again, and again called out for an emis-sary, and this time, she was answered.
A lone rider exited the gate, bearing a white flag of truce. He was not a skilled horseman, obviously, and he nearly fell off several times as he gal-loped his horse up before the warrior woman.
"I am Carwan Pestle," he introduced himself. ?Emissary of Yatol Grysh."
"Come to discuss the terms of surrender," Brynn remarked, and looked over at Pagonel, for she noted that the man looked quite nervous, and un-comfortable, as if he would have to deliver words she did not wish to hear.
"My Yatol instructs me to inform you that he has near to two thousand To-gai-ru slaves within the city,"
Carwan Pestle began slowly and uncertainly.
"Two thousand reasons for him to evoke my ire no further," Brynn replied.
"He bids you to ride away, back to your own land," Carwan Pestle con-tinued, and he was shaking so hard that it seemed as if he would fall off his horse. ?Be gone, Dragon of To-gai, else those slaves will be executed, and most horribly."
Brynn didn't blink, but simply, slowly, nodded and turned to Pagonel. ?Tell me, my Jhesta Tu friend, how long would it take for Yatol Grysh to or-ganize such a mass murder as that?"
"Hours, I would guess," Pagonel said with equal calm.
Brynn turned back to Carwan Pestle. ?Then I will not give him hours, she said, simply.
Carwan Pestle stared at her curiously, not understanding. ?Is that the message you wish for me to return to my Yatol? ?
"You?" Brynn asked incredulously. ?Oh, no, my good man Carwan Pes-tle. I intend to deliver my message personally." She looked over one shoul-der, to Pagonel, then over the other, to the line of her commanders.
"Now, she said. ?Sack Dharyan, and extra rations to the man who brings me the dog, Grysh!"
f Carwan Pestle could even begin to respond, the To-gai-ru line i -n battle cries, and in the thunder of charging horses. ef^r^e sponse from the Behrenese wall was minimal and fleeting, with the mostly civilians pressed into emergency service, throwing down r 'apons and fleeing back for their homes. Like a dark flood, the To-oiled through the gate and widened out to engulf all the streets, and ^bove them came mighty Agradeleous and his two riders, swooping in o blast away any pockets of resistance with a purging gout of flame. vas over before midday, with all resistance broken, and with most of u two thousand To-gai-ru slaves freed - and many taking up arms against their oppressors.
The killing went on through the day and night, and Brynn heard so many disturbing reports of rape and execution.
On Brynn 's orders, no further destruction of property was allowed, and only combatants were to be killed, but it seemed obvious to her that many of her warriors were using any excuse they could find to label Behrenese as combatants, and many of the freed slaves would not walk away without ex-acting the harshest retribution upon those who had so badly mistreated them. Late the next morning, a fat, whining man was brought out before Brynn and thrown down in the dirt at her feet. He looked up, his hands entwined in a pleading position.
"Yatol Grysh," explained one of the two To-gai-ru warriors who had brought him out. ?We found him hiding in a deep wine cellar, trembling with fear. ?
"The coward! ? the other warrior said, and he spat in Grysh's face. ?Please, I beg of you! ? Grysh pleaded. ?I am a rich man. I can pay." ?I do not want your money," Brynn said to him. ?I want your people out of my city. ?
It took a moment for the words to register to those around her, but when they did, they brought whoops of delight from the To-gai-ru and a wide-eyed stare of disbelief from Yatol Grysh.
"Bring the emissary to me," Brynn instructed Pagonel, and the mystic rushed off to find Carwan Pestle.
"You cannot think to hold Dharyan," Yatol Grysh dared to say. Not Dharyan, no," said Brynn, moving about him and putting her fin-?r to pursed lips as if she was working through some details even then. No, that is a Behrenese name, and not one I desire. No, we will name it Dharielle. Yes, that is a fitting name."
Triumphant cries erupted all about her, and as the news filtered down the ;reets, more and more took up the chant of ?Dharielle! ? 1 agonel and Carwan Pestle arrived soon after.
Yatol!" the poor Shepherd cried, and he moved for his master but was paly detained by the mystic. ?You were my witness to the conquest and so you shall be my witness fore the court of the Chezru Chieftain," Brynn said to the confused ?Tell him that To-gai is free, and that any Behrenese caught uninvited our soil will be killed. Tell him that this city, Dharielle, is now part of To "Tell him," she said, moving very close and imposing, staring so hard" the man that he seemed to wilt before her, ?that if he ever again sends a s' gle soldier against me, I will burn Jacintha to the ground, and him alo with it."
"You fool!" cried Grysh, and somehow, as if he had only then realiz H that he had absolutely nothing left to lose, he found the strength to stand before her. ?Heathen, barbarian dog! He is the God-Voice, the chosen avatar of Yatol! He is - Brynn looked to some of her soldiers around her and ended the tirade with two simple words. ?Hang him."
The next day, every surviving Behrenese man, woman, and child marched out the eastern gate, down the long and difficult stone-paved roads through the empty desert, exiting the city right beneath the wind-twisting corpse of the man who had ruled over them for decades.