“But wouldn’t their Predicate have been able to make out the strength of the city’s defenses?”

“Our Predicanten would have interfered with that, and the Edeks can mask the numbers. Perhaps the ones we met on the road exaggerated our strength, to cover their own failure.”

Wacagan casualties were not heavy but apparently far more than were expected. In the time the enemy lost reorganizing themselves, the city’s defenders were able to take up positions on the slopes, from which they might survey almost the entire city. Now Wacagan are stalled; their attempts to dislodge some of the defenders from the heights were all repulsed.

“They’ll know we’re coming. If I were their commander, I would pull out, head into the mountains, and come down on the defenders and the city from above. It would be best for us to arrive before they can try this.”

We take those paths that angle up into the mountains; voices peter out as we climb and soon there is only the sound of heavy breathing. Jil Punkinflake is looking a little greener than usual and wheezing with his tongue against his lower lip. I watch this transformation with complacency; the lighter air here refreshes me, and may account for the giddy, brittle hilarity I feel. My capture seems like an accelerated dream.

Even Saskia seems out of sorts. She looks at me, her brow bunched over her eyes. Her face seems to conceal something crude, like an elusively roving phantom feature disrupting the harmony of the others from behind.

Makemin calls me forward and points to the conical peak adjacent the path. For all his stamina even he is a little short of breath.

“Someone must go up there and get a good look. You don’t seem affected by heights.”

“Affected?” I laugh. “Certainly not! I’ve lived my whole life up twice as high as this!”

I leave my wan-faced lowland companions standing lopsided on the path and trip lightly up the rocks to a high spot where I can survey the mountains and the sweep of the far edge of the city, beyond the lower folds.

“Now if only you could fight!” Makemin calls thickly to my backside. I suspect this is his idea of being friendly.

The sun shines there more strongly, on the water and on the town, so that I can see some smoke trickling against the shadows. But here even the light is thin. I report back to Makemin.

“Both paths will take us to the city.”

“Which is shorter?”

“I’d say they’re both about as short. But the lower one looks slide prone to me.”

“Which will put us nearer the enemy?”

“The lower.”

“Then we take it; you will go with the scouts and alert us about slides.”

“It’s more time if we have to double back.”

“Yes but we’re not mountain goats like you. The men need to get down soon or they won’t be in condition to fight.”