“He’s broken off.” Hoyt swiped a hand over his sweaty face when he joined her. “Midir’s traps are closed.”
“You beat him back.”
“I can’t say. He may have gone to other work. But for now, he’s blocked. This ground, it shakes the soul of a man. It pours up this evil it holds, all but chokes the breath. I’ll help Cian and Glenna.”
“No, you need to rest a few moments, save your energies. I’ll help them.”
Knowing he needed to gather himself, Hoyt nodded. But his eyes were grim as he scanned the valley, passed over where Glenna and Cian worked. “They won’t be able to find them all. Not in this ground.”
“No. But every one is one less.”
Still when she reached Glenna, Moira could see the work was taking its toll. Glenna was pale, her skin clammy as Hoyt’s had been. “It’s time to rest,” Moira told her. “Restore yourself. I’ll work it awhile.”
“It’s beyond your power. It’s on the edge of mine.” Grateful, Glenna took the water bag Moira offered. “We’ve only unearthed a dozen. A couple more hours—”
“She needs to stop. You need to stop.” Cian took Glenna’s arm. “You’re nearly tapped out, you know it. If you don’t have anything left come sundown, what good will you be?”
“I know there are more. A lot more.”
“Then we’ll be ready when this ground spits them out. Go. Hoyt needs you. He’s worn himself thin.”
“Good strategy,” Cian told Moira when Glenna walked away. “Using Hoyt.”
“It is, but it’s also true enough. We’re draining them both. And you,” she added. “I can hear in your voice how tired you are. So I’ll say what you said to her. What good are you if you’re worn out by sundown?”
“The bloody cloak smothers me. Then again, the alternative’s not pleasant. I need to feed,” he admitted.
“Then go, up to the high ground and see to it. We’ve done nearly all we can, all we set out to do by this time.”
She saw Blair and Larkin with Hoyt and Glenna now. The six of them, together as the sun sank lower might push their strengths up again. They went across the broken ground, climbed over an island of pocked rock, and began up the hard slope.
Everything in her wanted to shudder when they reached the ridge. Even without Midir’s spell, the ground seemed to pull at her feet.
Cian took out a water bag she knew held blood.
“Waiting on you,” Blair began. “A lot of your troops have the jitters.”
“If you’re meaning they won’t stand and fight—”
“Don’t get all Geallian pride on me.” Blair held up a hand for peace. “What they need is to hear from you, to get revved. They need their St. Crispin’s Day speech.”
“What’s this?”
r />
Blair arched her brows at Cian. “Guess you missed Henry V when you mowed through Cian’s library.”
“There were a lot of books, after all.”
“It’s about stirring them up,” Glenna explained. “About getting them ready to fight, even die. Reminding them why they’re here, inspiring them.”
“I’m to do all of that?”
“No one else would have the same impact.” Cian closed the water bag. “You’re the queen, and while the rest of us might be generals, in a manner of speaking, you’re the one they look to.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“You’ll think of something. While you are, Larkin and I will get your troops together. Add a little Braveheart to Henry,” he said to Blair. “Get her on horseback.”