“I must leave you now,” Rian stated. “We are nearly ready to begin.”

He made the one-handed gesture of the circle, which all advisers apart from the Dreamweaver woman returned, then hurried away to join Juran, Dyara and Mairae at the platform. After a brief exchange of words, the four White ascended the stairs.

The crowd immediately began to quieten. The White formed a line. As the third strongest, Auraya would normally have stood in the middle of that line, Danjin noted. Was she watching now?

Of course she is, Danjin thought. But she will be linking with the other White. They’d have the best view from up there. It must be quite a sight.

Juran stepped forward and raised his arms. When the last few voices had dwindled to whispers and murmurs, he let his arms fall to his sides.

“Fellow Circlians. People of Hania and Somrey. Loyal friends and allies. I thank you all for answering my call to arms.

“Today we will set forth for the Plains of Gold. There we will meet with the forces of Genria, Toren and Si. We will form a vast army. It will be a sight to inspire awe. Never before have so many nations of Northern Ithania united in one single purpose.

“It will also be a terrible sight, for what brings us together is war—and not a war of our making. A war brought to us by a foolish and barbaric people, the Pentadrians.” He paused. His voice had been dark with contempt when he had spoken the name of the heathen cult.

“Let me tell you what I know of these Pentadrians. They claim to worship five gods, as we do. But these gods are false. The Pentadrians must enslave and seduce men and women into worshipping them, and they have set forth for Northern Ithania with the intention of forcing us to do so as well. But we will not!” His voice rang out, strong and angry.

Several voices in the crowd rose in reply, shouting denials.

“We will not exchange our gods for these corrupt sorcerer priests!” Juran continued.

“No!” came the reply.

“We will drive them back to their heathen temples.”

“Yes!”

“We will show them what it is to worship real gods, with real power.”

The crowd began to cheer. Juran smiled and let them yell their enthusiasm for a while before speaking again.

“The gods have entrusted us, the White, with great power in order that we can protect you. We have called together an army of our own. We Circlians are not a violent people. We do not relish bloodshed. But we will defend ourselves. We will defend each other. We will defend our right to worship the Circle of Gods. And we will win!”