THE WIZARD AND THE SYLPH
Chapter Fifteen
Preparations For War
Baldric, Belloc, Akaru, Anest, and Celedhan sat in stony silence in the meeting hall's anteroom. Before them, standing framed in the dim light of a window, arms crossed, impassive, was the captain of the advance force from Astargoth. Like Amrhost, indeed, most of his countrymen, he wore a short beard that somehow lent his mien an insolent cast.
"You must realize by now, captain Niles," said Baldric in a carefully neutral tone, "that our plans are made. We will not aid you in this madness. We certainly will not come charging to your rescue-"
"Have I asked for your aid?" Niles cut him off as though addressing an inferior. "I ask only that you don't interfere. Grant my men and I passage north through Brand, and you will have seen the last of us."
It was the fifth day since Nylandor had been sent on a mission to evacuate Rhia's people from the tiny land of Hollind. Captain Niles had arrived three days later with two-thousand men from Astargoth.
"At the very least, we cannot allow you to proceed without the armaments we could provide," said Celedhan, the aged elven weaponsmaster from the Bridge Fortress on the White River. "If you truly wish to commit this reckless suicide, then at least exact a price for your lives!"