The Ardoon King Page 76

  Chapter 74: Bashmu Incursions

  The following morning a bashmu was spotted approaching Steepleguard. A lookout at one of the small kingdom’s southern outposts, some twenty miles removed from the fortress, had heard the monster’s distant roars the night before. By sunrise the bashmu was in sight, chewing through a grove of trees near what had once been a dog park. Though its path varied as it twisted and slinked north, its overall trajectory did not vary. Its long trail of devastation, a magnetic compass, a map, and a ruler made it clear that the thing was moving directly toward Steepleguard.

  A second bashmu appeared the next day, following the same path. On the following day, two bashmu were spotted approaching from the east. It was determined that all were converging on the mountain fortress of the Fifth Kingdom.

  The things seemed almost brainless, so there was considerable debate as to how the bashmu were navigating their way from the temples to Steepleguard. Scent was ruled out, as the path the things took were always relatively straight. They plowed up and down large mountains and through dense woods even when roads were nearby. The only remaining possibilities were that something unknown was drawing them toward the fortress or, worse, that they were being sent to the fortress by an unknown intelligence.

  The good news was that they moved slowly and could be spotted by aerial scouts aboard the Anzu when they were still far away. Without the airship, spotting the undulating creatures moving through the cracks and crevices of the mountain range would have been almost impossible. Some would have been spotted by the guard towers, but not most.

  It was also good news that the bashmu succumbed to the Anzu’s rotary cannons.

  The bad news was that the bashmu were growing in number and the supply of ammunition at DIA, thought plentiful, was finite. Fiela offered her services but neither Ben nor Lilian would allow the warrior queen to endanger her life engaging bashmu while the Anzu was available to them.

  The increasing presence of the invaders also made patrols and scavenger missions more dangerous. Plans to settle the surrounding areas in the spring were put on indefinite hold. It was difficult enough to protect Steepleguard. Protecting settlers would be impossible. If their unknown enemy’s plan was to prevent the expansion of the Fifth Kingdom, the plan was succeeding.

  The roar of both the beasts and the Anzu’s cannons could frequently be heard echoing through the mountain passes by the residents of Steepleguard. At night, children and adults alike would gather on the high roofs and stare into the blackness. They watched for the dazzling glowing lines created by the tracer-laden barrage of the Anzu’s guns or the miniature lightning storms caused by its electrical discharges. The children would point and smile and laugh, each vying to be the first to spot the Anzu in the black sky.

  The children rejoiced as the evening displays became more frequent, and celebrated the fact that each night the ship’s lights came ever closer to Steepleguard.

  Their parents did not.