This enemy could not be killed.
But it must pretend to be killed, hurt, driven back.
Because the Armethaliehans were watching from the walls of the City, and there was still a need for deception.
The Elven Knights drove into the middle of the White Riders, slashing at them frantically. If they could only reach Lycaelon's Militia…
But even now, beyond the press of the shining white horses, Kellen could see that a few of the White Riders had refrained from joining battle with the Elves. They were urging Lycaelon and his guard onward, into the forest.
Fifteen against sixty. And despite those odds, the Elven Knights were taking the worst of it. The white horses fought as viciously as their riders, kicking and snapping and rearing. It was only the fact that the two forces were so thoroughly intermingled by now that kept any of the High Mages watching the battle from the walls from using spells of their own, Kellen was sure. And cantrips such as Cilarnen possessed took time to prepare. The one that Lycaelon had used must be the only one he had. Anigrel might not have any at all.
All around him he could hear the shouts of battle and the screams of the dying.
He closed with a White Rider. Light At The Heart Of The Mountain rang as it slid up the enemy's blade. The two stallions jockeyed for position, their bodies slamming bruisingly against each other as they circled and snapped.
Suddenly there was an earth-shattering roar as the air split; a blinding flash of light. Lightning struck the ground once, twice between the retreating Militia and the forest.
Kellen did not need to turn his head to see. He already knew had known from the moment he had given his first orders that help was coming. Cilarnen and the Wildmages had arrived.
The Militia turned and broke, then not even the White Riders accompanying them could prevent it. Their horses Anigrel and Lycaelon were still with them turned and bolted for the still-open City gates.
But by now the tide of battle had swept through that area, and the panicked animals were turning directly into a tangle of Elven cavalry that was being cut to pieces by a cluster of White Riders. They had been forced so close to the City walls by their foes that they were under attack from the guards on the walls as well, and their losses were heavy.
Suddenly there was another flash not of lightning this time.
And now Kellen faced, not a White Rider and his moon-pale stallion, but two Demons with glowing yellow eyes and great scarlet wings.
Firareth gathered himself on his haunches and sprang backward. Kellen slashed downward with his sword. The Demon lashed out
And Shalkan was suddenly between him and the blow. Every hair on the unicorn's body was fluffed out like a cat's. A sound Kellen had never heard the unicorn make came from Shalkan's throat. He hissed.
The Demons both of them leaped back. The Unicorn Knights had arrived.
Now they had a chance, because the Demons dared not allow the Unicorn Knights anywhere near them.
The Elven Knights were desperately trying to disengage, attempting to clear the way for the Armethaliehans to get back into the City. But now that they had seen the true face of the enemy, the Militia was attempting in a gesture as gallant as it was hopeless to stand and fight.
The Demons cut them down in seconds. Kellen saw two of the towering winged creatures grab Anigrel and Lycaelon and launch Themselves into the air.
There was another flicker as the spell the Wildmages had cast ebbed and died, and the Demons were gone. The White Riders appeared in their place once more. Kellen looked for the two in the sky, and could not find them then saw, far in the distance, two white horses running at top speed into the trees, each bearing on its back a rider in the robes of an Armethaliehan High Mage.
The Allies had lost.
The Demons had gained Their sacrifice.
The remaining White Riders weren't attacking any longer, but now allowing the Unicorn Knights to drive them off. In fact, they were fleeing the battlefield.
He realized he was still shouting orders as the Battle-mind ebbed and left him. Retreat regroup rescue the wounded. Shalkan and the Unicorn Knights had already retreated from the battlefield. Now it was up to the survivors of the rescue attempt to escape the killing ground before they were attacked by the High Mages.
Of those who had ridden out against the White Riders, two-thirds were dead.
* * * * *
"WE have to get into the City and talk sense into these people," Idalia said grimly, when Kellen had returned with the remains of his force. "The Sacrifice will be tonight at midnight; Kindling Eve but we can stop it if we can get enough of the High Mages to help. And for that, we have to get into the City."
"Then it's up to the Unicorn Knights and me," Cilarnen said. "We'll take the Wards down, and then Ancaladar can open the Gates."
"They'll shoot at you from the walls," Kellen said. "They can't be sure of what they saw, but they're sure of one thing. We're the enemy. And the Arch-Mage has just been kidnapped and as far as they know, killed."
"Then we'll have to dodge," Cilarnen said simply.
"How will we know when your spell has run its course?" Redhelwar asked.
"Oh, you'll know," Cilarnen said. "Believe me, you'll know."
"We had best move the rest of the army up into position outside the City," Redhelwar said. "Perhaps it will dismay them."
Cilarnen went to prepare the Unicorn Knights.
Redhelwar gave the Elven Army the order to deploy itself for battle.
* * * * *
THIS is it, Kellen thought. Not the final battle itself, but surely the beginning of it. The army made its dispositions: infantry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, the remains of its skirmishing units. All deployed around Armethalieh, a city they must both protect, and defend themselves from, in the event the High Mages chose to attack.
Redhelwar did not plan a line of retreat. There would be no retreat from this battle.
There was nowhere to go.
* * * * *
"LEAF and Star and the Light go with you," Redhelwar said to Cilarnen.
The young High Mage sat on Anganil's back. The black stallion danced in place, eager to be gone. A few hundred yards away the Unicorn Knights stood, waiting.
"Good luck," Kellen said quietly.
Cilarnen nodded, saying nothing.
Then he turned, spurring Anganil forward.
Kellen rode out to stand with Shalkan. And to wait.
* * * * *
THE unicorns spread out behind Cilarnen, running single-file at first. Any of them could easily have outpaced Anganil, but they didn't. "It's a dance, not a race."