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The night and the following four days were spent recuperating at Montethoytos. Airy raged silently at the delay, but her generals were correct to insist on rest for the troops and ensuring pacification of the vanquished foe. A portion of her army was divided from the main force to begin rebuilding the castle's walls, garrison the captured structure, and occupy the surrounding lands. True to her word, when she was ready to move east again, the Wolves she left behind were her best-behaved and least likely to commit atrocities. It was an inconsequential courtesy for her to grant that held some small potential to turn a foe into an ally by convincing him of the error of his racist proclivities.

Vowing not to interfere, Airy let Bear decide who from among his people were to remain, but one Wolf attracted Airy's attention in part because she was selected to lead the rest but also because of the painful feelings this female canine stirred in Airy. She was Dawn, the first Wolfess with whom Jak had been unfaithful. Hating her was irrational, but Airy couldn't suppress the resentment. The wound to her heart was too real and too fresh. The love she held for Jak was as strong as ever despite her self-imposed separation from her lover. Having Dawn stand before her and be praised by Bear as a high status female, whose station in Wolf society was based in significant measure on her copulation with White Paw, induced an ache that was maddening to endure, so Airy readily agreed to Bear's suggestion that Dawn remain behind to be their ambassador of goodwill for the unwelcome canines. Emotional distractions like that were best left in her wake.

From Montethoytos to Perseine, Airy's advance was slower than her previous reckless charge east. Deep in enemy territory, keeping her army intact was essential to ensure its survival. That included Sunorthothes' cavalry, which returned to join her.

Though sluggish, an otherwise glorious resumption of her campaign was marred by disturbing news delivered by one of Cat's courier scouts. Duke Socholathetes had taken ill. Assurances by his first-born son, Meerachaphos, that the agreement to join forces would still be honored did little to ameliorate Airy's concern. Unease took root in her mind. What little information Vaun had revealed to her about his oldest brother did not foster trust. She desperately wished that Vaun were with her to interpret the diplomatic implications of the shifting leadership in his home province.

Still, the Duke was alive and in command, she had momentum, and only one more major battle loomed between her and guaranteed victory. One hundred miles separated her from the agreed upon location where Perseine would end its neutrality. With Vynuurtos less than two hundred miles further, the campaign would be effectively over at that moment. In anticipation of certain victory, her troops obliged the queen's eagerness by marching with all possible haste.

Her cavalry roamed no more than a day ahead but were successful at spooking her dispirited enemy into a continuous retreat. She encountered limited resistance and made excellent progress, but her communications with Perseine became more erratic. The enemy, possibly suspecting the pending betrayal of their dubious neutral partner, began intercepting her couriers. Airy was forced to send Cat ahead to speak directly with Meerachaphos to inform him that she would soon be within a day's march of the agreed upon goal. The moment for Perseine to commit and coordinate military strategy had arrived.

Airy's proposal to Meerachaphos was simple; Perseine would defend the capitol and steel foundry while deploying as large a force as they could spare to their western border to trap the AR's beaten brigades between themselves and her troops. Surrender was almost certain, but if they were foolish enough to fight, she would destroy them. Either way, after augmenting her army with the added strength of her new ally, she would easily drive the AR out of Perseine crushing their rebellion completely.

Her army spent its last night before Perseine's border west of a low promontory named Dome Hill for its curious appearance, which was akin to the giant cupola of a building that had long ago sunk beneath the ground leaving only its curiously rounded top exposed. A cluster of tall fir trees at its summit gave the added impression of a spire raised towards heaven. Morale among her troops ran high, but it was here that fate turned against Airy so thoroughly that no experience, no foresight, no tactical cunning, no granite resolve could save her from her doom.

Misfortune began with an ominous turn of the weather. Clouds accompanied by sleet and freezing rain lowered as if trying to smother the land and everything upon it with an early and painfully cold winter. Jubilant spirits turned to grumbling misery as Airy's troops, weary from fighting two battles and from hundreds of miles of marching, now had to contend with exposure to the damp and cold. The lack of visibility rendered the balloon useless, and the roads became sinuous bogs of soft mud that sucked at the wagon wheels making the moving of supply carts and her artillery an impossible labor.

Progress slowed to a crawl as they were forced to fell hundreds of trees to construct sections of boardwalk. The wooden road was placed in front of the carts and disassembled as the supply and artillery train passed over the quagmire. Reassembled again in front of the carts, her engineers created a mobile road that allowed them to reach the round mound of Dome Hill.

The routed AR forces, who were not similarly encumbered, rapidly escaped into Perseine. Sunorthothes pursued and harassed the fleeing enemy for most of a day until forced to abandon the chase to avoid straying too far from Airy's stalled army. He dispatched scouts forward as he reluctantly led his mounted force back to find a hastily constructed but welcome camp at Dome Hill upon his return.

It was Airy's intent to resume advancing the next morning despite the slow and difficult progress. She assembled her commanders shortly after dark to give them their orders, but Dryphythus preempting her briefing when he arrived on a lathered horse with more bad news. The young buck was wet, shivering, mud splattered, and a broken arrow shaft was lodged in the back of his saddle. He had ridden long and hard from Perseine narrowly avoiding enemy patrols and was nearly as exhausted as his poor mount.

Airy forbade Dryphythus to speak until after he had been given food and drink. The tension in the command tent was as taut as a bowstring until after the young scout had consumed a half dozen biscuits slathered in butter and had gulped down a goblet full of the spirit-infused wine Airy offered from her personal supplies. Normally not fond of strong drink, the kit accepted it with gratitude hoping to steel himself against the angry and disappointed response he anticipated would follow his report.

"We will be receiving no help from Perseine," said Dryphythus after draining the purple liquid from a small goblet and wiping the stained corner of his mouth with the back of his paw.

A communal groan of despair arose from the group followed by a clamor of dismay and a confusion of questions. Airy cut through them all with a roar.

"Silence!"

The shock of quietude was like the aftermath of an unexpected clap of thunder.

"Why this change?" she asked Dryphythus in a cold, deadly voice.

"AR reinforcements from the northeast and southeast have poured into Perseine. They are risking losses on their other borders to stop you. The majority of their strength is marching to menace Vynuurtos to ensure the Duke's neutrality. The AR's supreme commander, General Dypholones, is threatening to burn all the crops, towns, and hamlets on the way if Perseine voids their long standing neutrality."

"Dypholones is desperate and bluffing," scoffed Airy. "Even with reinforcements, he doesn't have the might to stand against us and Perseine if we unite. Did you inform Duke Socholathetes of this?"

"Yes...I mean...no...not me and not to him, Your Majesty. Cat did all the talking and it was with his son, Meerachaphos. The duke is in a delirium caused by a fever and is not expected to survive the week. Meerachaphos rules as duke in his stead and claims he cannot in good conscience commit to your risky venture."

"Did Cat tell Meerachaphos of our success and capture of Montethoytos and our rout of the AR's western forces? Did she inform him of the strength of arms and superior weapons we bring?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, but he claims he must think of his people first and remain neutral for their sake. He says your army is inadequate and must retreat to Montethoytos and wait there for reinforcements before you can hope to liberate Perseine. Only when your western armies are free to move east with you will he commit to your side."

"Bah! Winter is nearly upon us. The time to act is now. If I pull back to Montethoytos, we will be stuck there until spring giving the AR ample time to redouble their hold on Perseine. Restarting this campaign will be that much harder and costlier."

"Cat explained all of that and was not kind in her response to Meerachaphos' dismissal of those facts. She called him a faithless coward and other less pleasant names to his face and in front of his court."

Secretly agreeing that the duke's son was a craven idiot, the report of Cat's rudeness gave Airy a small measure of grim pleasure, but it also underscored the importance of using diplomats like Camorra to sway minds instead of relying on Cat's bluntness that often resulted in the hardening of hearts. The damage was done, so Airy chose to extract what enjoyment she could from her mental picture of the exchange between the impertinent feline and the substitute duke.

"What was his response to that?"

"Bordering on apoplexy, Your Highness. He banned Cat from his court and ordered all of us not to return lest the AR suspect Perseine was secretly colluding with you."

"The fool!" shouted Sunorthoses. "We are his best chance to be free of their yoke."

"Perhaps he does not want to be free," answered Airy.

"What do you mean?"

"His goals may not align with ours or his father's."

"You think Meerachaphos is scheming against us?"

"I don't know. Possibly. I'm remembering a conversation I had with Vaunorthoses months ago. He told me that his brother sided with the Church on the question of the legitimacy of a female heir to the throne."

"You think Meerachaphos will fight against us if the Duke dies?"

"It is a risk we cannot ignore, but I think he likes the Anti-Royalists less than the Church. If he stays out of the fight, we still may be able to battle our way into Perseine and force him to choose sides. Perhaps Socholathetes will recover in time and honor his promise if we do."

"What if he dies and his son chooses instead to back the AR?"

"We are doomed."

The tent fell silent. Airy's commanders fidgeted. None wanted to be the first to recommend retreat, though Airy was confident that was what was on all of their minds with the possible exception of Bear.

"What say you, Great Chief?" asked Airy of the huge Wolf. "Would you have us surrender all of our gains based on this news?"

Surprisingly thoughtful, the typically impetuous, battle hungry canine withheld his response while actively pondering the implications of their predicament. When he did speak, his normal brazen self-assurance was absent.

"I do not know your people well nor understand how they think in circumstances like this. Rabbits fight for reasons beyond territory and access to mates. You have a strange and complicated society that still baffles me. Church, priests, generals, dukes - too many layers of control and intrigue. I cannot hope to predict whether one group will fight for or against us.

"Further, I do not claim great skill in planning battles. Put an enemy in front of me, let me have at him, and I will fight to win the day for you. That is my strength. I will offer this one observation though: it seems to me that we are like a young Wolf mating for the first time. Having eagerly driven deep and fast into a narrow space, we now risk being squeezed at the base and trapped here even after we have spent our seed."

The Rabbit officers tried to hide their amusement at Bear's reference to a male Wolf's peculiar anatomy. Expected by all to be the virgin queen and ignorant of such vulgar things, Airy pretended to have missed the jape though she knew from intimate experience exactly what Bear meant.

"Caution from an unexpected source," replied Airy impressed by Bear's self-assessment. "What about the rest of you?"

Being second to the queen, Milikes spoke up to propose what he knew his subordinates would be afraid to give voice.

"We now potentially face a larger force than we anticipated. With no allies to provide the critical attack at their flank, the army we have chased this far is free to dig in to resist us knowing they will be reinforced. It is probable that we could still rout them if the weather improves soon and we can use the balloon. Demoralized and of lesser strength than us, they are unlikely to prevent us from entering Perseine, but what then?"

Answering his own question, he continued.

"I see three possibilities. The first is the least likely but most advantageous; the Duke recovers, or his son changes his mind, and Perseine commits to our side allowing our forces to join and effectively challenge the AR. With that fortunate outcome, we only need hold the steel mill, and the enemy will be on his knees before us. The probability of success is high."

"That has been the plan all along," agreed Airy.

Milikes suspected that his queen wished to continue on that course, but his duty forbade him from neglecting the other contingencies that faced her, even those that were unappealing and required what she would consider an ignominious retreat.

"The second possibility is that Perseine will remain neutral no matter what we do, leaving us to face the enemy alone. We still may be able to win our way to Vynuurtos. The odds of success are uncertain due to variables such as the weather and the enemy's resolve but are no better than one in two in my opinion.

"The third, and worst outcome, is a defection of Perseine to the AR. Betrayal would ensure our destruction."

"Do you have a recommendation for action somewhere among those scenarios, General?" asked Airy curious to see where her second in command stood.

"I do. I recommend an immediate withdrawal back to Montethoytos. We can hold that ground under any of the aforementioned conditions. Though we have not heard any news, I strongly suspect that Vaunortheses has dispatched reinforcements to secure our rear."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because, before we left River Keep, I sent couriers begging him to do so."

"That's insubordinate of you. I agreed to no such orders."

"I deemed it prudent at the time. Current events bear out my actions, but if you are displeased and wish to relieve me of command, I will step down and not resist being replaced."

Airy waived her paw in dismissal at the notion.

"That is unnecessary, General. I value judgment and initiative in my officers. Your actions fall far short of mutiny and are well within the purview of your position. However, in the future, do not keep information involving the movements of any of my armies secret from me. Is that understood?"

"It is, Your Majesty."

"Have you dispatched scouts to the rear to discover the whereabouts of this possible army?"

"I have, Your Highness."

"Inform me the minute they return."

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Speaking of scouts, Dryphythus, where is Cat?"

Still filling his belly with food and drink, the ex-bugler kit hastily swallowed.

"She stayed behind vowing to spy on Meerachaphos. She does not trust him especially after he forbade her an audience with Duke Socholathetes. I believe she intended to see the old Duke for herself. I tried to talk her out of it, but she ordered me to bring this news back to you."

Airy's hopes rose slightly.

"If anyone can uncover the truth it is her. She has a remarkable talent for stealth. We should avoid a hasty decision until we receive her report."

Airy returned her attention to her commanders.

"Are there any alternative suggestions to General Sunorthoses' plan?"

Several variants were proposed, but all either involved retreat or making a stand at Dome Hill. The latter appealed to Airy, because it meant yielding no territory. Retreat was unpalatable when she felt she only had to reach out her paw to grasp the victory for which she ached so badly.

"I am not willing to surrender any of the ground that we have conquered so valiantly, but it is prudent to wait for further news before advancing again. Dome Hill is a defensible position. In the morning, we dig in and await further news from Cat."

"Dome Hill may be high ground but it is an island in a flat plain," complained Milikes. "We do not have enough troops to prevent being encircled and trapped."

"The terrain at the base of the hill is heavily forested and sufficiently rough to hinder the enemy. We have knights to patrol our flanks and to delay the enemy long enough that the rest of our forces may retreat if necessary."

"Provided we can see their movements. This miserable weather keeps the balloon grounded and limits our visibility of the battlefield. We will be blind to their movements."

"We don't need to see them until they are close enough to kill. They will be more hampered than us not knowing the extent of the forces we deploy on our flanks. We can give the illusion of large numbers by keeping mobile."

"I would like it more if we could ensure the bombs stay dry under these conditions. This mist and sleet creeps into everything. I cannot guarantee how they will function when we try to use them again. We are in danger of losing our advantage of arms."

"We still have our superior Wolf archers, and the Maker is on our side," countered Airy.

"I do not doubt that, My Queen, but the Maker seems intent on delivering formidable weather. We can't rule out snow that could block our retreat entirely."

"Risks must be taken. I hear your concerns but will not let them dissuade me. My command is to defend Dome Hill. We will reevaluate as new information appears. Are you prepared to execute these orders, General?"

Milikes stood tall and saluted out of respect for his Queen's will.

"I would give my right arm for you, My Queen, even my life."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. You are an excellent general; one I can't afford to lose."

Several more days of unrelenting foul weather elapsed with no word from Cat or of any additional help from the west. Each wet and miserable day was followed by a steadily lengthening night that was dreadful to endure as temperatures fell below freezing, rain became snow, and fur and sodden clothes stiffened like boards. Each gloomy dawn was accompanied by a slight warming and a return of the frigid rain to re-soak everything and wash away whatever snow had accumulated during the night.

Adding to their misery, the thin, wet, heavy soil and hard bedrock beneath Dome Hill's outer skin made digging fortifications exceptionally onerous. Picks and shovels were bent and broken by the score. Precious powder was expended to blast in many places. Often the powder failed to ignite, and Airy was forced to concede that her bombs would likely be as ineffective as Milikes had predicted. Waste rock from construction of the defenses was gathered for the trebuchets, though they were liable to be far less effective against ground troops than castle walls.

All the timber on the hill was felled to give Airy a clear field of view and to erect platforms and palisades behind the trenches. The stoutest elements faced east towards the anticipated enemy's arrival. Inner and outer rings were constructed providing a fallback in the event the outer wall was breached.

At the behest of her commanders, wooden boardwalks were laid on the road behind the hill across low lying, flood prone areas in the event a hasty retreat became inevitable. Airy questioned the wisdom of preparing for defeat arguing it would have a negative effect on morale, but Milikes and Sunorthoses both countered that the troops would fight even harder knowing their queen had a safe egress if it came to that. She thought that unlikely, but was ultimately convinced when they promised they would explain to the troops that the road's purpose was to speed the advance of anticipated reinforcements.

To keep as warm and dry as possible, the shivering soldiers were encouraged to range beyond the base of the hill to deforest the flat land to the east. The timber was used to fuel large bonfires within their defensive perimeter. The resultant open land had the added benefit of establishing a setting for the battle and giving Airy's archers a clear field of fire.

While observing the preparations, Sunorthoses muttered, "In the spring, the local peasants will find new cleared ground to till. How sad that it must be fertilized from the blood of thousands of their countrymen."

It was a grim thought proven prescient when news of the enemy's approach arrived before any further word from Vynuurtos. The same force Airy had decimated twice had been reinforced once again and was returning for a rematch. This time, the AR had clear superiority of numbers. Estimates suggested that the army coming to challenge her was nearly half again to twice as many soldiers as what she now commanded. Airy cursed Meerachaphos for his timidity that cost her the opportunity to crush a demoralized and inferior foe. Much of what she had gained was lost. In response to Sunorthoses' bleak prediction, she added a vow she intended to keep.

"Duke Sochalethetes' upstart kit will pay in personal humiliation for the life of every soldier who dies here."

Upon learning of the total strength coming against them, a majority of her commanders, Milikes foremost among them, urged an orderly retreat back to Montethoytos before it was too late. Such a move retained significant territorial gains, but Airy refused to yield her current position unchallenged. She still reserved hope that Cat would return with news that the elder Duke had recovered from his illness and reversed the decision of his cowardly son.

Within two days, the AR was arrayed before her. Tentatively moving to encircle Dome Hill, they were thwarted by the terrain, her cavalry, and her ground troops, who moved about constantly to make their numbers appear greater. A break in the weather favored deployment of the balloon, which was invaluable in allowing her to make the best use of her limited resources. Airy's mood improved as the enemy, fooled into thinking she had greater numbers than she did, regrouped into a tight knot just east of the slopes leading up to her bulwarks. Her flanks were clear, and once again, she had the superior position and the tactical support of her aerial observers.

Fortune seemed to have returned her its favor, but it was a short-lived deceit. Her fresh crop of optimism was soon mown down as if by the inexorable scythe of a cosmic reaper. The end began with the return of lowering clouds, strong gusts of wind, and more rain and sleet. The balloon was grounded again just as an alarming report arrived concerning an unexpected enemy force at her rear. With plodding determination, nearly a thousand additional AR troops consisting mostly of cavalry had managed to cross the southern pass from Montothos despite the early snow. Having discovered Montethoytos in the paws of the enemy and receiving word that Airy's army was to the east, they were moving to eliminate her retreat and harass her vulnerable rear flank. Work began hastily to improve the western defenses on Dome Hill, and Airy was forced to send portions of her precious cavalry west to locate, slow, and divert the new threat.

Sunrise was but a few minutes distant. General Olycksus absently massaged his aching side beneath his heavy overcoat as his horse slowly bore him among the shadowy shapes of the assembling troops under his command; his wound from Montethoytos made worse by the unrelenting cold. The pain was an insistent reminder of what his army had learned in their series of running defeats since River Keep. Vowing not to ignore those hard won lessons, Olycksus had argued and convinced General Dypholones to give him this last opportunity to stop the rampaging princess.

His request was granted after Dypholones learned that it was Olycksus who had accurately predicted the defeat at Montethoytos and had divined the danger posed by the balloon. He seemed to be one of the few bucks in their army who had any understanding of how to combat the unstoppable queen. That singularity of insight into their enemy's mind and the prescience it implied, granted him not only a second chance but also the unquestioning obedience of his subordinates. It had thus been accompanied by great surprise less than an hour earlier at the pre-dawn briefing when he had informed them that they would conduct a massed charge uphill at the center of the princess' defenses identical to the attack that cost them so dearly at Montethoytos. As puzzled as they were, only one officer had possessed enough temerity to dare question the plan.

"I don't understand," said Gryphothes. "You were correct before about the futility of charging her defenses. Why do you expect that to work here?"

Sufficiently humbled by his failure, the spoiled kit's voice held none of its previous arrogance. Instead, it was a legitimate inquiry respectfully asked, and thus raised none of Olycksus' ire. He afforded it a thoughtful and well-reasoned answer.

"Though there are parallels between our situation here and the last battle, there are also differences that are critical to selecting our strategy and tactics. To prevail we must understand both. First, the similarities. We face the same unconventional foe, and she has the high ground. Her artillery and archers have more range than ours do. She has a flying craft that allows her to see what we cannot. She has a similar sized army as what we faced at Montethoytos, maybe a bit larger. It is difficult to reconcile the disparate reports I have received concerning the numbers on her flanks."

Olycksus paused to let each of them ponder those points despite knowing that they already had this information. He hoped that drawing their attention to the facts might elicit some spark of ingenuity, but they all stared back at him without comprehension; a sea of long ears twitching in bewilderment that reminded him of young kit's being taught a concept beyond their mental ability to grasp.

"What is different?" probed the general. "That is the most important question of all. This weather will render her flying observer useless. The clouds nearly touch the top of Dome Hill. To go higher offers no benefit. We also have a significant numerical advantage in troops, much greater than what we had at Montethoytos. Finally, I have reports from our western scouts that units from Montothos have crossed the mountains behind her giving us the flanking advantage. That will help if they arrive in time, but I believe that they are unnecessary to our success. The most important point is that the princess does not have the strength to hold all of her positions at once against us. By pressing her on both flanks while striking our hardest at the middle, some part of her line is bound to give. When that happens, we have her. Whether divided or surrounded, she will fall."

"But why not just wait for winter that will force her to retreat? That is what you advised before."

"We are pouring everything we have towards this nexus, and we have to assume that the queen is doing the same. I suspect her western armies aren't far behind. She would be mad to stand and fight us without hope of reinforcement, and I do not believe that she is that reckless. We have no idea who might arrive first, or when, with overwhelming numbers. If her auxiliaries win the race, it means the total destruction of our cause and our rebellion. Perseine will be hers including the steel foundry."

"It can't be that easy for her. Even if she reaches Vynuurtos, we still have an army and the will to fight."

"Perhaps you, I, and the other nobles have the will. We have much to gain, but what about our peasant levies? Some of them may think that increased power for the dukes and their families will trickle down as benefits to them, but most realize their lives will be little changed no matter who wins this war. Though mostly unschooled, they are not ignorant of the importance of being on the winning side. Much of the princess' support is derived from her incessant series of victories. It doesn't hurt that the peasants also fear and nearly worship her with superstitious dread. She has weapons they consider magical and a potent claim to divine blessing. Our desertion rate has been increasing ever since she left River Keep. I fear that with one more triumph, she will, in the peasant's eyes, be wearing the Maker's blessing like a glowing crown. The bulk of our army could defect to her in droves. They're our foot soldiers. Without them, we are powerless to stop her from retaking all of Rikifur and returning us to absolute monarchical rule. That is why we must crush her here. It is why I have given this so much thought, and why I will stop her and capture her if I can."

Olycksus paused. A breathless silence greeted him. Their attention, their awe, and most of all, their respect was his. His authority among them had never been greater.

"If we can win and capture her, her crusade to restore the monarchy ends. She will be forced to share power and join with us to defeat the priests. Today is pivotal for Rikifur's future. Our exploits will forever be remembered by future generations. Whether that memory be foul or fair will depend upon our cunning, our perseverance, and most of all, our bravery."

A platoon of tall ears tracked his every word with intense attention waiting upright, still, and rigid for him to continue. The time to incite them to valor had come.

"Dawn will break soon. Are you with me!?" yelled Olycksus raising his right fist in the air, ignoring the lancing pain it induced in his side.

"Aye!" they returned jumping to their hindpaws exuberantly repeating, "We are with you! We are with you!"

"Then to your positions!" commanded Olycksus.

The clamor had been heard throughout the awakening camp, and their eagerness for battle infected the rank and file just as Olycksus had hoped. As his officers had hastened to their units, he thanked the Maker for their enthusiasm.

Daylight gradually washed across the sky banishing the stars. Olycksus, atop his horse, began to make out individual faces of soldiers and see the confidence and determination in their grim expressions. Though Olycksus shared their aplomb, he prayed for the Maker's favor. He was wise enough to temper his own zeal knowing that nothing was certain other than that many would die today.

When the attack began, Airy's location was clearly marked for her foe not only by her command banner, but also by the inflated, but grounded, balloon that bore her sigil. Airy's hopes for an improvement in the weather remained unfulfilled. Buffeted by violent, shifting winds and with its top obscured by mist, Airy ordered the useless craft deflated before it was shredded or ripped from its moorings.

Despite Milikes' accurate prediction that many of their bombs became waterlogged duds to land harmlessly among the advancing enemy, the AR came on tightly bunched making them easy targets for her Wolf longbows and the large stones hefted by her trebuchets. Charging in a series of attacks that faltered short of her defenses, they were repulsed without serious losses for Airy. She admired them for their bravery as they steadfastly charged into the macabre melee no fewer than six times, but by noon, nothing had been gained other than a severe depletion of ammunition for Airy's archers.

Reports of the enemy's testing of her flanks reached Airy's ears throughout the morning. Whether intended or not, it was a strategy that effectively kept her from using her cavalry units to reinforce and assist her position on the hill. Sans balloon, she had to rely on confusing and contradictory reports of the enemy's strength based upon scouts and messages relayed by her distant officers who had no better intelligence than her regarding what was happening in the rain and sleet sodden woods.

As the early afternoon progressed, even Airy's superior kill ratio granted by her defenses did not prevent the relentless winnowing of her own troops. With greater numbers, the determined enemy began to penetrate her outermost revetment briefly but more frequently during each successive assault. With too few troops to continue to hold the entire line, she ordered it abandoned and fell back to her secondary, innermost redoubt. The west side of the hill had no such inner line, so she maintained a dispersed, wary presence there as insurance against the pending arrival of the force from Montothos, which had managed to elude her rear scouts for much of the day.

Early evening arrived, and neither side held an inevitable grasp on triumph. Victory and defeat balanced equally upon the scale of fate. Dogged persistence was the only tool either side possessed capable of tipping that equilibrium in their favor. The rest was left to luck and providence. Since the latter was the dominion of the Maker, both sides fought on unrelenting and put their trust in the supernal to favor their cause.

The blessings of heaven briefly returned to Airy's side when the clouds lifted and the sleet abated until it was little more than an annoying drizzle. Though the wind remained strong, it ceased gusting and changing directions without warning. Airy ordered the balloon re-inflated hoping to discover a weakness in her foe's lines to exploit, but before she could launch her aerial spy, panicked knights fleeing from the north declared that the elusive army from Montothos had finally appeared and struck them from behind. Flanked and outnumbered, Airy's right had ceased to exist.

"General Olycksus."

The urgent voice from behind startled the AR general, who was simultaneously embroiled in the fight and consumed with dread over the approach of nightfall. Honor and necessity required that he ride among his troops. Flying high, his red and white banner depicting a screaming eagle holding a sword and shield in its talons inspired and urged his soldiers to press their advantage and outrace the setting sun. His strategy to overcome the princess' defenses by sheer weight of numbers was achieving slow success, but it would be for naught if darkness came before he breached her inner wall.

The voice called his name again barely discernible amid the din of battle. With a sigh, he turned from the fight to confront whoever was trying to distract him.

"What, Maker damn it?"

"Good news, General. Reinforcements from Montothos have arrived, and the enemy's right flank has retreated to the hill."

"Good news indeed," thought Olycksus as his anger and trepidation dissolved.

"Return at once with my orders for our left to drive with all force and speed to surround the hill."

The messenger saluted and gave his assurances that he would deliver Olycksus' command, but the General had already forgotten his subordinate and spurred his horse towards the front of his column.

"Forward! Forward!" he urged. "Montothos has arrived! Victory is ours!"

A fatigued, but still joyous, shout spread away from their jubilant commander, and the weary attackers surged forward with renewed fervor.

With stores of arrows and large rock nearly depleted, little could be done by Airy to stop her opponent except by matching them with sword, shield, and spear. Certain that victory was at hand, the attackers came on heedless of their losses. Their optimism was justified as Airy's broken right flank struggled vainly to defend the new assault sweeping around from behind. Forced to reinforce the rear with troops from the front where she could scarce afford to lose them, gaps opened everywhere in her defenses except the left that remained untouched and open for retreat. Dense thickets growing among short ridges of broken rock made a natural barrier; a fortunate occurrence that left a potential escape route if she was willing to flee.

Milikes urged Airy to take that way with all the knights on the hill. He offered to stay behind to secure her time. It was sound advice, but reeked of cowardice to Airy, who saw that victory was still possible. Her fortifications were being overwhelmed, but her iron-disciplined troops competently consolidated into their defensive squares. The enemy in its euphoria to cross the last line of defense rampaged heedless of order and suffered atrocious losses. Having sacrificed their numerical superiority in a bid for quick victory, their assault was finally wavering.

Dark was less than an hour away. Airy had only to hold them back until sunset. The enemy would not have the numbers to attack again tomorrow. She had thus resolved to stay and fight when Cat appeared unlooked for at her side. The feline was breathing heavy, her fur matted with mud and sweat. Bandrosett arrived moments later with her tongue lolling and blood on her lips and barred teeth, and Dryphythus trailed a few seconds behind the feral wolf.

"Vhy are you still here, stupid bunyic?" yelled Cat at Airy, ignoring the shocked expressions of the nearby officers. Sensing their enmity and kindled with blood lust, Bandrosett growled a warning against interfering.

Milikes desired to slap the feline for addressing his queen with such impertinence, but suppressed the urge. Cat was an ally, who of those present, was the only one possessing the cogency and strength of will to talk Airy into a sensible escape.

Cat ignored the impotent bucks while gesturing to the battle raging around them.

"This fight, it is hopeless."

"Why?" demanded Airy. "I can hold them another hour.

"You don't have another hour."

"What new intelligence have you?"

"The duke is insensible, and his coward son von't move his army to help a female general playing at war. He secretly supports your addled brother's right to rule as the first-born male kit. Also, more enemy troops have crossed from Dorphynth and vill overrun you from the south, possibly before dark but no later than tomorrow morning."

"Maker damn it!" moaned Milikes. "Is there no end to our bad luck today?"

Receipt of the worst news imaginable might have broken a weaker leader's resolve, but Airy maintained an eerie calm.

To Milikes she said, "Take all the cavalry we can spare and reform our left to keep it tight and impenetrable. We'll begin an orderly retreat at dusk."

"That is wise, but you must leave now, My Queen, while the way is still clear. Better the rest of us die here as long as you escape."

"We shall save more lives by retreating under the cover of darkness. Every sword, including my own is needed here to achieve that. You have your orders, General. Obey them."

A war of its own raged inside of the black furred Rabbit as he struggled with mutinous temptation. He was strong enough to take her to Montethoytos against her will. Sunorthoses and even Cat would probably assist him, but the impulse passed with obedience the victor. Sullenly, he rode away to discharge his new orders.

Having broken through the innermost defenses, time became Olycksus' most formidable enemy. His forces were near exhaustion, and the approach of twilight was palpable. A strong phalanx stood between him and the princess. The impenetrable wall of shields behind which bristled pikes and swords wielded by the commingled paws of Wolves and Rabbits frustrated his hopes for triumph. It was at this anxious moment, when Gryphothes approached accompanied by two dozen young knights on horseback.

"General, sir," said the young colonel saluting formally.

Something oddly determined about the annoying noble's bearing aroused wariness in the General. He wondered what new mutinous mischief his subordinate might attempt.

"Yes, Colonel," answered Olycksus.

"We must break through that line now," he said gesturing towards the units guarding the princess. "These brave knights and I are offering to do the deed."

A moment's confusion passed while Olycksus attempted to deduce Gryphothes' intentions. As each knight began to wrap a strip of cloth over the eyes their mounts, their proposal was laid bare. Divided by feelings of respect and horror, Olycksus could not bring himself to either forbid or encourage them.

"What you are proposing is suicide."

"Most likely, but I guarantee we will open a path for you and end this stalemate."

"Are you seeking my permission or for me to order you to your deaths?"

"Every buck here is a volunteer. We seek only your acceptance."

Such moments were perilous. To forego this opportunity might cost him the battle, but to accept it likely would earn him the wrath of the Colonel's powerful father. Olycksus would be permanently discharge from service or worse. Sharing, in small measure, some of the brave young knight's sacrifice made the decision easier. Olycksus nodded.

Barely was Milikes out of sight, when further catastrophe fell heavily upon Airy. A small host of AR knights, with their horses blindfolded, charged into her bristling wall of pikes. Knights and their mounts screamed as they were impaled. Borne by momentum, they tumbled wildly through Airy's protective line in a heap of dead horses and crushed soldiers creating a gaping opening. Olycksus spurred his mount forward, and every available AR knight nearby followed intent on the exposed Princess.

Only Airy's personal guard of twelve knights, Dryphythus, Cat, and the two feral wolves, Thayir and Bandrosett, remained to protect her. They were badly outnumbered, but charged forward to meet the foe, clashing together like rams during the rut. Airy hacked efficiently with her sword. Three knights fell to her blade before a lance glanced off her breastplate knocking her from her saddle to fall dazed, hurt, and supine upon the ground.

The triumphant enemy knight moved to deliver the killing blow, but Thayir snapped at his steed's fetlocks making the frightened beast kick and buck. Cat materialized from the commotion, seized the shaft of the knight's lance, and forced the butt end upward ramming it under the visor of his helmet. Slumping backwards unconscious, the knight slowly tumbled out of his saddle. His terrified steed fled into the confusion of the surrounding battle.

Before more of the enemy could close in, Bear spied the danger. From atop his heavy plow horse, he gathered two score Wolf warriors and led them to reinforce the remainder of Airy's guard. The combined momentum of the gigantic Wolf and his mount was akin to the force of an avalanche. Enemy foot soldiers were trampled under hoof and their knights knocked aside with ease. Having curtailed the immediate threat to the queen, Bear made a rapid survey of the scene and concluded he could not hold back the surging enemy for long.

"Get the queen to the balloon," Bear yelled to Dryphythus, who was inspecting the injuries Airy had acquired in her fall. Several of her ribs had been bruised and her right wrist was sprained, but fortunately nothing fatal.

Nodding, the scout kit helped Airy back onto her horse but not before she retrieved her Maker made sword with her still functional left paw. Dryphythus mounted in front of her, and together, they rode towards the balloon where three of her Rabbit foot soldiers were frantically tying multiple lines of rope to the basket as it strained at its moorings in the strong winds at the top of the hill. Thayir ran alongside the retreating queen while Cat, Bandrosett, Bear, and his warriors held back the pressing enemy.

Everywhere atop the hill, battle lines and formations dissolved into a muddled melee where definitions of front and rear became pointless. In the confusion, another AR knight managed to ride past Bear and his warriors to intercept the fleeing queen. Catching Dryphythus unawares, he hacked at the young buck's shoulder tearing away his upper arm guard, knocking loose his helmet, and opening a bloody gash from just below his left ear to his elbow. Groaning, Dryphythus tightened his grip upon the reigns and spurred his mount to greater speed.

Airy protected her young rescuer from further harm by deflecting the attacker's second strike. Less adroit than her injured right arm, her skill with the blade was adequate to compensate for her sinistral strike. A rapid upward sweep severed the AR knight's arm at the elbow. Compounding the knight's woes, Thayir rushed in snarling and snapping at his mount causing the beast to trip and fall.

Hauling hard on the reigns with both arms, despite the crippling pain in his left shoulder, Dryphythus managed to stop the galloping charger alongside the balloon's empty basket. As he lowered Airy inside, she gasped and swooned from the pressure the effort put on her fractured ribs and injured wrist. Dryphythus left her to lie panting upon the balloon's woven floor.

Glancing back, he observed Bear topple from his mount after being struck by an enemy knight. Cat managed to catch and break the massive Wolf's fall before dragging the stricken giant towards the balloon. Bear's knot of defending warriors was on the verge of collapse. The unimpeded enemy would be upon the queen within minutes.

"Cut the lines!" Dryphythus roared at the three balloon attendants, who stared back in confusion having just finished their labor of securing it firmly to the ground. Frustrated at their lack of response, he raised his sword and used it to hack at one of the recently attached ropes causing it to fray and snap.

"Cut the Maker damned mooring lines, and save your queen, you idiots!"

Though barely a teen, Dryphythus made an intimidating and terrifying sight. High atop his steed with his blood matted fur and dark, steel sword; he was easily mistaken by the older bucks for a hero out of legend. Stumbling over each other, they hurried to obey his command. With so many lines to cut, Dryphythus rode back to help Cat and Bear and do what he could to hold the enemy for the precious few minutes required to free the balloon.

"Forget the fight," ordered Cat. "Fat Volf is hurt bad. Help me save him."

Dryphythus obeyed by dismounting and lending his slight body as a counter weight to drag Bear over the saddle as Cat strained to heave the bulky canid from the other side of the kit's mount.

"You don't look so good yourself," she added when they had succeeded, and she noticed Dryphythus' wound.

Dryphythus shrugged, too charged with intense purpose to notice the pain. Convinced he was making his last stand, he turned to face the approaching enemy who were just beginning to break through Bear's remaining wall of warriors.

"I said forget it," snarled Cat putting her paw on his good shoulder. "Ve can't stop them. Get this oversized puppy into balloon and tend his vounds. He might yet live."

Dryphythus hesitated.

"That's order, bugler kit!"

Well indoctrinated to obey his superiors, Dryphythus saluted.

"Yes, ma'am."

The normally proportioned horse could barely carry the huge Wolf, so Dryphythus took the reins and ran alongside the queen's trotting stallion. With the protective insulation of his battle-inspired fury fading, Dryphythus began to swoon from blood loss.

Behind him, Cat and Bandrosett worked together to halt four AR knights who broke through in a final attempt to reach the balloon before it was cut free. The lead rider was a commander as evidenced by an elaborate banner adorned with a war-clad eagle. Cat was unimpressed.

The princess was escaping, and Olycksus, given an opening, spurred his charger forward in a desperate last gambit to claim the ultimate prize. Two other knights and his banner carrier followed. Trained to charge Rabbits and Wolves, but unaccustomed to feral wolves and a hissing, snarling tiger, their otherwise capable mounts hesitated, shying backward and stomping the ground in their confusion before the two unfamiliar foes that blocked their path.

Bandrosett harried Olycksus' horse causing it to rise on its hind legs kicking to defend itself. While the general fought to bring his steed under control, his escort attempted to strike the quick and nimble assailants that bedeviled them. Evading them easily, Cat slunk beneath the General's distracted mount. Using all of her mighty strength, she placed her paws with claws extended into its belly and heaved. None other on the field of battle, with the exception of Bear, had the strength for such an impressive feat.

The screaming beast and its proud rider toppled backwards into two of the other three knights taking them all to the ground. With deadly efficiency, Cat retrieved an abandoned spear and hurled it into the sole knight remaining upright. The stricken banner carrier screamed as the steel tip and shaft penetrated both the front and back of his armor. Retrieving the flag from the dead knight, cat tore it from the flagstaff, held both aloft while roaring her defiance at the enemy, then sprinted with her prizes towards the balloon.

Barely had had Airy recovered from the added trauma of being dumped into the basket when the inert bulk of Bear's body to landed on top of her. It took an agony filled minute for Airy to extricate herself from under the nearly three hundred pounds of Wolf flesh and armor during which her injured scout kit helped the balloon tenders to sever all but the last rope holding the aircraft to the ground.

In many places atop the hill, Airy's army was successfully driving the AR forces back, but from his vantage, Dryphythus saw only three balloon tenders and Thayir between the queen and enemy soldiers racing towards the aircraft. Cat and Bandrosett were coming, but would arrive too late.

"Hold them back," he commanded the balloon tenders, who turned to fend off the advancing enemy.

Dryphythus climbed back into the saddle of Airy's steed, and chopped with his sword severing the last tether rope. The balloon began a slow ascent burdened with the excess weight of two occupants. So committed was the kit to sacrificing himself for his queen, he was unprepared as Airy reached down from the basket and caught the hood of his chainmail shirt with her uninjured left paw. Jerked upward, his sword fell towards the receding ground as he clung desperately to the edge of the basket for a second or two before scrambling over the rim to land on Bear.

Fast of paw, Cat was only seconds behind, but the balloon was already beyond her reach. With Olycksus' banner tied about her waist like a sash, she still clutched the long banner pole. Running up the backs and shoulders of enemy soldiers, she leapt over them, and planted the butt of the flagpole in the lance boot of Airy's now riderless horse. The long, flexible wooden rod acted as a spring, vaulting her high into the air where she caught the lowest edge of the retreating woven basket with her claws. Not designed for so much weight, the balloon's rise slowed further making them an easy target for archers below.

Cat began climbing the side of the basket but stopped when she experienced a sudden, piercing pain in her thigh. A crossbow bolt had penetrated neatly through her leg and into the basket. Blood oozed out both sides to soak her fur in crimson. With a snarl, she snapped the tip of the arrow off with one paw while clinging to the basket with the other. The injured leg was useless for climbing, so she used her powerful arms to claw her way slowly to the basket's upper rim. The swaying motion she imparted to the aircraft alerted the basket's conscious occupants to her predicament. Though both were injured, Airy and Dryphythus pulled Cat the rest of the way inside.

The strong wind saved them from further harassment by carrying them west rapidly away from the battle and high enough that they cleared the tops of the trees at the foot of the hill. Bear's huge body occupied all of the small floor space and crowded the sides making for a cramped compartment.

"Vill he live?" asked Cat staring at the bloody mess that was Airy's surcoat. She had removed it earlier to stop the bleeding from Bear's chest wound.

"I don't know. It's bad but not necessarily fatal. The bleeding has nearly stopped. If you can help with moving him, I can wrap my surcoat tightly about him to seal the wound. We should then do the same for Dryphythus."

Lightly fingering the artificial claw on the forefinger of her left paw, Cat considered Olivia's gift and whether she should use it to save the Wolf. He was a staunch ally who had helped saved the Rabbit queen. Losing him would be a pity, but she felt no emotional push to do so. He would have to survive without a miracle.

"Infection is greatest danger. Horsie says alcohol cleans vounds. Ve got plenty in copper fuel pot above us."

"Good idea," said Airy impressed by the feline's astute suggestion.

Together, Cat and Airy tapped the burner's drain then cleaned and dressed Dryphythus' and Bear's wounds. The giant Wolf groaned when they applied the alcohol and regained consciousness.

"Maker's teats! That hurts. Where are we?"

Trying to rise, Airy pushed down on Bear's shoulder to stop him. The look on her face and his own state of weakness were more effective than her meager body weight to convince him to lie back down.

"You need to stay immobile and rest. We're in the balloon traveling west with the wind. I suspect a rough ride and an even rougher landing."

There was still fuel enough to keep them aloft for hours, but the weather was tossing and spinning them about threatening to batter and tear them apart far sooner. Airy began searching for a likely place to set down, but only forest-covered hills and a gravel banked river greeted her gaze. She put her paw on the crank that controlled the valve that let oxygen to the fire. Purposefully selecting the time and location for landing seemed wiser than letting chance do it for them.

In either case, a crash that they were unlikely to survive seemed inevitable. Airy waited until Dryphythus removed the arrow from Cat's thigh and was finished applying alcohol soaked strips of cloth torn from Olycksus' battle flag to stop the bleeding before she initiated their descent. Espying a possible landing site, Airy began closing the valve.

"Brace yourselves. Whether it be a tree or the ground, we are going to hit something hard."

[End of Chapter]