From the top of the wall, the General watched Roland's progress, and admired his slowly growing forces. Mayra and Duncan stayed with him, though Riley had temporarily succumbed to exhaustion and his injuries.
"Wake me when something happens," He'd said as he went down to his bunk in the barracks.
The three remaining humans viewed with tenuous hope the ranks of Roland's forces. Duncan felt a strange sort of pride watching his son rally their people from evil, despite the fact he'd only actually known the young man for a relatively short period of time.
The woman, Finn, stayed by his side, often holding his hand as they walked together. The demonstration of their affection and partnership brought up sweet memories of his own wife, marred somewhat by the fact that she was murdered by the Void they now faced, which he now knew he might've banished years ago with a strong enough rebellion to make all the people follow him instead of her.
No, he decided, that was unfair. As long as she was in human form, there still would have been those that followed her out of loyalty. Even now that she'd shed her façade, it might be difficult to pull away every subject she had under her influence.
The General kept an eye on the Void, which must have felt the waning support for its rule. The roiling became more intense, more focused, as if trying to concentrate its magical attacks on a single point on the invisible barrier which kept it out of the city. Perhaps its attacks were not only magical, he thought grimly. Maybe it also had brute force in those shadowy limbs which had struck and killed over a hundred in a matter of seconds.
Mayra's quick mind was tabulating how much time they had left before the barrier's likely failure. She wasn't sure precisely how much time they had, but every moment she got a little more nervous. Where was Gwen? Couldn't she help them? What about the rest of the Fae?
Though at the moment, no one was dying, except perhaps the severely wounded that the doctors were struggling to save inside the city, her anxiety slowly rose. Perhaps it was watching her best friend march steadily towards likely doom.
How could Finn and Roland turn the hearts of the Rhone away from the soldiers before the Void simply slaughtered them in their tracks? How few seconds would they have to convince the men of it?
Mayra heaved a sigh, wishing she had more to offer in these moments. The halfling repellant flowers would do no good. She wondered something for a moment.
The breach was being quickly rebuilt. Any rubble on the inner side of the magical barrier was being stacked and reinforced. It wasn't nearly as strong as the surrounding wall, but anything the Klain soldiers could do to feel a little safer was helpful for morale.
Still, working so closely to the Void's whispers and darkness was no easy thing. Though its voice had been as a booming scream during the battle, it now insidiously murmured unsettling threats and secrets at the working men. It seemed no two heard exactly the same thing, and that in itself compounded the fear the whispers instilled.
Though utter silence could drive a man mad eventually, this strategy was meant to quickly wear down the morale of Klain. It was working.
"Can the soldiers on the other side of the breach hear if we call to them?" Mayra suddenly asked Duncan, who shrugged. He had no idea if the barrier the Void made was soundproof or not. It made some sense that it would be, given the nature of the realm of Darkness and silence it came from, but there was no way to know for sure.
"Can we get any sort of message to them, before Roland gets there? Prepare them to abandon the Void and follow him?" She asked desperately. Time would be of the essence as the entity that had been Titania thrashed out in rage. If it were affecting the Klain soldiers, who did not follow it, Mayra could only imagine what the Rhone were going through on the other side.
"I think the best we could do would be arrows with messages attached," The General furrowed his brow. "Your Highness, I think you'd best begin writing messages to your soldiers. I'll get Roland's attention and let him know."
__________
Lysander moved nervously forward through the Rhone troops, who reluctantly made way for him. He put his hand on Roland's shoulder, still not exactly sure what to call the younger man.
"There's a message," He said, pointing up at the wall. The flashing caused Roland to turn toward it.
"What do they say?" He asked the Provider.
"There are many troops around the Void, as we thought. Those from the other side seem to be gathering closer to join them as one final force. Prince Duncan is trying to get a message to them to follow you when the time comes. He asks what signal you will give for the troops to turn and follow you?" Lysander was already pulling the shiny plate out of his pack in anticipation of Roland's reply.
Roland smiled widely and sincerely for the first time that day.
Hours later, he approached the Void with his collected troops, now numbering well into the hundreds. He'd kept them at a pace faster than Lysander's condition would allow, desperate to get this done before nightfall. It was always easier to fight in the light than in the dark. He didn't want the creature to be able to have any advantage whatsoever. However, that meant leaving their translator for Klain's messages behind. It was a calculated risk.
The monster's movements had become almost frantic, with large tentacles of Void smashing and flailing against the barrier as if to crack it by force. The sight was terrifying to behold. The massive state of the being was a shock to those who had not been observing its steady growth.
Rather than merely a dark wall at the breach, it now stretched upwards and sideways, searching for any gap in the invisible protective dome over Klain. It stretched and hammered and groaned like a giant enraged beast. The thousand or more Rhone around it looked uneasy under the pull of its aura.
Eyes focused on Roland long before anyone called out to the Void to announce its presence. Only when they would be absolutely sure the Void had already seen the approaching force did they pretend faithfulness in warning it.
Roland steadied himself. The darkness was enormous, and perhaps invulnerable, but it was not undefeatable. It made no move towards him as he approached, seemingly counting him as no threat at all.
In fact, he had never announced his opposition to the Void; perhaps the creature Titania was considered him to still be faithful.
No, he discarded that thought. Even in human form, she had been unbelievably clever and insidious. She knew everything about him and used him as a pawn. Perhaps she still did so now. Allowing him to approach could be luring him into a trap.
Or perhaps killing the famed prince in front of these troops, who to their knowledge had done nothing wrong, would strip her of some of their allegiance. Prince Duncan had ordered an attack on her, which was tantamount to treason. As of yet, Roland had not announced any such intentions.
She was patient by nature, and might delay long enough to see how to play this to her advantage.
"Derek! Prince Derek, welcome," Boomed a voice of terrible volume and power. "I see you are come with forces to support my attack on this evil city."
"Greetings, Soldiers of Rhone," Roland addressed them instead of the Void. Its frantic movements stilled. "You see the curse broke, the evidence apparent in your eyes, and yet you follow the one responsible for your many years of captivity in the Darkness."
"TREASON!" Cried the voice, driving the nearest people to their knees, their ears beginning to bleed with the pitch and volume of the Void's terrible timbre. "Prince Derek, you forget yourself! Am I not your monarch, your leader, who loved you? Child, arise and know your place!"
"My place is with my men. I have broken their curse and yet you enslave them again! Their eyes darken even now!" His words caused the Rhone to furtively glance at one another, noting the shades of their eyes had changed from their initial bright hues to muted, darkened tones.
"Enough!" The voice cried again, a tentacle of tenebrous void stretching suddenly out of the cloud and darting directly for Roland. He was able to duck and avoid it for only a moment before its grasp wrapped around his chest and lifted him into the air. He gasped as it tried to squeeze the breath from his lungs, but wrenched his wrist free and beat his chest as hard as he was able.
He called as loudly as he could with the breath left in him, sending the signal to all of Rhone that they should abandon their obedience to the Void and follow his orders.
"Turn! Attack!"