Haroun tried to rise. Haaken made him lie still. Broken ribs, he growled. Youll poke a hole in your lung.

But my father

Sit on him, Bragi suggested.

Haaken said, Your old mans gotten along without you so far.

Still Haroun tried to rise. Pain bolted across his chest. Lying still was the only way to beat it.

Thats better, Bragi said.

You cut your way out? Through the Invincibles? He vaguely recalled a clash of arms and flashes of men in white.

Theyre not so hot when theyre not on their horses, Haaken said. Go to sleep. Getting excited wont do you no good.

Despite himself, Haroun followed that advice. His body insisted.

Yousif was standing over him when next he wakened. His fathers left arm was heavily bandaged. His clothing was tattered and bloody. Fuad was there too, apparently unharmed, but Haroun had no eyes for his uncle. Wearily, his father was interrogating the Guildsmen through Megelin Radetic.

His father looked so old! So tired. So filled with despair.

Haroun croaked, Megelin, overjoyed that fate had not seen fit to slay the old man. His death would have made the disaster complete.

His father knelt and gripped his shoulder, as demonstrative a gesture as the man could manage. Then duty called him elsewhere. Megelin stayed, seated cross-legged, talking softly. Haroun understood only a third of what he heard. The old scholar seemed to be talking about economic forces in one of the western kingdoms and deliberately ignoring present straits. Sleep closed in again.

When next he wakened the sun had risen. He was lying on a rolling litter. He could see no one who was not injured. His mercenary saviors had vanished.

Megelin appeared, drawn by some signal from the bearers. Where is everybody, Megelin?

Radetic replied, Those who are able are trying to stall the pursuit.

Theyre close?

Very. They smell blood. They want to finish it.

But Sir Tury Hawkwind in defeat proved more magnificent than Sir Tury Hawkwind achieving victory. The defeated column reached el Aswad safely.

Physicians set and bound Harouns ribs. He was up and around almost immediately, against medical advice, blindly trying to encompass the enormity of the disaster.

Two thirds of the force had been lost. Most had been slain in the landslide and following attack. But thats history, his father told him. Now the enemy is at the gate and we dont have enough soldiers to man the walls.

It was true. El Nadim had pressed the chase right to the gate and though he did not have the manpower to undertake a proper siege, he had begun siegework. He had erected a fortified camp and begun constructing engines. His men were digging a ditch and erecting a barricade across the road. That looked like the first step toward circumvallation.

What are they up to? Haroun asked Megelin. Three thousand men cant take el Aswad.

Radetic was glum. You forget. Nothing is impossible to the True Believer.

But how?