"Tell the fleet to land outside of the bay," he croaked. "They'll never be able to get through the mess down there. Warn them that there are still warriors inland who may attack as messengers reach them with news of this disaster."

"Surely you can relay that information faster than we can," Alexi said.

"No!" Teferi exclaimed and shook his head. "I must remain here. I destroyed the warriors and barges stationed here, but I killed the slaves as well." Deep tremors began to shake his frame. "I have to stay here and begin rescue operations. I will scout for survivors and work with the marines when they land." He sounded lost and despairing.

"We'll stay and help you, Teferi," Alexi offered.

"I have killed thousands today," Teferi whispered. "If it is to mean anything this war must end soon. You will fly west and tell Barrin what has happened here. I will maintain the communications interference so the Keldon armies in the west know nothing of this. Destroy them, Alexi. Kill them and end this war." Teferi jumped without warning, leaving Alexi to carry word of the massacre to the League.

Chapter 18

The League army marched east, kicking up dust as men and war machines pursued the Keldons fleeing toward their home territories. Barrin and General Mageta rode on runners side by side as they went from column to column. The armies and war machines of the western League cities had finally arrived. With news of Teferi's victory, Barrin knew the Keldon cause was finished. The only question now was how much damage they would do before the army was destroyed. The Keldons were massing in the interior, and if he hoped to defeat them in detail he must catch them soon. "Rayne," Barrin called as he saw his wife leaving the lines on her runner. "Where are you going?"

Rayne looked calm as Barrin and Mageta moved closer. The general sat stiffly on his runner, his wounds still bothering him despite repeated sessions with Shalanda.

"There are reports from the forward scouts of dead and dying wildlife around the water holes," Rayne replied. "Shalanda is investigating, and I'm hauling some more equipment out to her." She patted bulging saddlebags on the back of her machine.

"Damn," Mageta said. "We'll never catch the enemy if we have to divert to find good water."

Barrin shook his head in agreement. Though the war machines did not require water, the marching soldiers did. More importantly, so did the draft animals hauling the supply wagons. The attack on watering holes was an unexpected tactic from the Keldons. Barrin hadn't expected them to use the land against the League.

A set of scouts came in from patrol. Blood leaked down from the gaskets and spotted the mechanical legs. The blades that swung out from the sides cleaned and sharpened themselves whenever they retracted.

"Run into the Keldons?" Mageta demanded before they could make a report.

"No, sir," their leader replied. "Just groups of highly aggressive parea. We have orders to kill them before they come close to the column." He spoke matter-offactly about the "tigers of the plains."

"I know supplies are tight, but I believe that the army can afford you shooting them from a distance," Barrin said with gallows humor. The scouts laughed.

"Soon we will have proper targets," Mageta said. He massaged his arm and looked east.

Haddad sat at the side of the barge and watched the miles roll past. After all the dreams and plans for escape, he was finally going toward his homeland. Latulla's speech gave her the support to demand an immediate attack. Messengers had set a rendezvous point with the Keldon troops pulling back from the League advance. Latulla and Greel drafted several of the remaining land barges and loaded crates of cargo on each. The boxes were doubly sealed with both Latulla and Erissa's sigils. Haddad wondered what deviltry waited to be used against the League. He was supposedly part of a ballista crew, but in reality he was focused on when to abandon the barge.

A small scouting barge came alongside at high speed. The Keldon cavalry had been bled dry by counter raiders along the League border, and only the small barges were available to make up the lack.

"The League is advancing on the rendezvous point! At the current speed, they will engage our forward elements at least an hour before you and the main body arrive!" the captain of the barge shouted. Latulla glared as if he were personally responsible for the bad news.

"Signal all barges to advance at maximum speed," she commanded. The pilot on their barge relayed the order. The craft seemed to lower as the speed rose. Haddad could hear significantly more noise from the legs of craft, and the joints seemed to hum under the higher power load.

"Artificer, this power demand will exhaust the reservoirs in short order," the pilot said, and then he pointed at two barge slaves. "See them draining and refilling the reservoirs around the seals? Many of the craft are not carrying enough refined Heroes' Blood."

Haddad snorted. Heroes' Blood indeed. Whatever the source of tufa, he doubted it sprang from the veins of Keldons.

"Blood is blood, and with Greel's aid I can supplement the power for the craft." Latulla was matter-of-fact, but Haddad swore that her eyes rested on him. He began watching more carefully for a place to disembark.

The scouting barge thrust a batch of dispatches at the end of a long pole to Latulla's vessel, then it accelerated to the supposed military commander's craft. The fact that it stopped to inform Latulla first and obeyed the orders for high speed showed where the true power in the army lay.

Latulla was reviewing the dispatches and paused as she came across one particular report.

"The scouts have spotted numerous dead animals, particularly around waterholes." She thought for a moment and then chuckled. "They really are trying to use poison and disease."

Greel overheard her. "That would explain the deaths we have been enduring in the camp. If the League is using such methods, then it must be much weaker than you supposed." Greel sounded earnest even to Haddad's suspicious ears.

"If that is true, then their attack will be hollow." Latulla grabbed a slave from the crew and turned back toward Greel. "We will need to increase speed. I know you helped Erissa in her experiments. Do you know any way we can use this to increase speed?"

Haddad could see Greel's customary smile broaden. "I am sure that we'll think of something."

Within minutes the barges were going faster, but the League technician was appalled at the cost.

"More power," Latulla moaned, and her hands were palsied as she reached for another unwilling slave. The next victim moaned in fright, but made no other movement as Greel pushed him into Latulla's grasp. He hugged them both, and the air seemed colder as the slave sprawled down comatose, barely breathing. There were more slaves waiting their turn, and Haddad edged slightly closer to the side with each falling body.

Latulla had stopped briefly and taken on as many slaves as possible in a window of a few minutes. The other Keldon magic users now drew on her power to enhance land barge performance. Like the war manikin spell, it drained away the strength of the caster to power the machine-the difference being that a warrior in combat could power a group of manikins for tens of minutes, and already this spell was leaving a trail of bodies.

Greel assisted Latulla with the ritual, holding down the slaves as Latulla sucked the life out of them. Haddad saw that each death seemed to increase Greel's energy, and the technician knew the monster was feasting on lives once more.

Latulla shook, and another flare of energy was sent out to the fleet. The artificer became aware once more and laughed.