From the northern wall, the bandit advance became visible as a dark line of mounted figures spreading across the horizon, at least a hundred strong. At their center rode a larger figure on a massive warhorse, a banner of red and black fluttering above him.
"The Sandblight himself," Garek observed grimly. "He rarely leads attacks personally. This confirms the importance they place on taking Fort Marrow."
Kael studied the approaching force with the tactical assessment honed through years of battlefield experience. The bandits were well-organized for irregular troops, moving in formation rather than the chaotic mass typical of raider bands. This suggested leadership with military training, perhaps the mysterious Silas that Vex had mentioned during his interrogation.
"They'll probe our defenses first," Kael predicted. "Testing for weaknesses before committing to a full assault. Conserve ammunition, hold positions unless directly ordered otherwise."
As the bandit force drew closer, Kael descended from the wall to join Harkin and the others who would participate in the counter-ritual. They had gathered at the fort's center, where the primary anchor stone was positioned at the convergence point of multiple irrigation channels.
"The Servants have been sighted," Harkin reported without preamble. "South of the fort, beyond arrow range but within sight of the walls. Twelve figures in dark robes, carrying ritual implements. They've begun marking their circle."
The timing aligned perfectly with their predictions, the visible threat of bandits drawing attention while the mystical danger established itself more subtly. But foreknowledge was their advantage.
While the fort's defenders engaged the bandits, Kael and his selected assistants would implement their counter-ritual, disrupting the Servants' ceremony before it could reach completion.
"Take your positions," Kael instructed the eleven individuals who would help maintain the anchor network. "Remember your training. Focus on the connection to the land, not on the battles around you."
As they moved to their assigned anchor stones, positioned at regular intervals around the fort's perimeter, Kael knelt beside the central anchor. He closed his eyes, beginning the breathing pattern that initiated aura circulation.
The familiar warmth spread through his limbs, but he directed it differently today, not for combat enhancement but for the expanded awareness needed to establish the counter-ritual network.
In the distance, he heard the first clash of combat arrows whistling through the air, the impact of projectiles against shields, shouts of challenge and defiance. The physical battle had begun, but Kael remained focused on his task, extending his perception outward toward the anchor stones.
One by one, he established connections, feeling each stone resonate with his aura as the carved symbols activated. With each connection, he guided one of his assistants to maintain the link, transferring primary focus while retaining a thread of awareness that connected all points back to the central anchor.
The process was exhausting, requiring concentration beyond anything he had attempted previously. By the eighth anchor, sweat poured down his face despite the cool air, and his breathing had become labored. By the tenth, his vision began to blur, the physical world receding as his awareness extended further into the network of energy flows.
"Two more," Harkin's voice seemed to come from a great distance. "You can do this, Sir Kael. The network is forming as intended."
With supreme effort, Kael established the eleventh connection, transferring maintenance to Joreth while retaining the linking thread. But as he reached for the twelfth and final anchor, he felt his control slipping, his extended awareness beginning to fragment under the strain.
"I can't... " he gasped, fighting to maintain what he had already established while reaching for that final connection.
"You must," Harkin insisted. "The Servants' circle is nearly complete. If their ritual activates before our counter-measure is in place..."
The implication was clear. Failure now meant not just defeat but annihilation for the fort, its people, perhaps the entire March.
With trembling fingers, Kael reached for the vial Elara had given him. The extract from plants that grew at the Wastes' edge, meant to enhance perception of energy flows. A last resort, to be used only if conventional methods proved insufficient.
That moment had arrived.
He uncorked the vial and swallowed its contents in a single motion. For several heartbeats, nothing happened beyond a bitter taste that seemed to burn down his throat. Then, with shocking suddenness, his perception expanded exponentially.
The world transformed around him. The physical reality of the fort, the battles on its walls, the people moving in desperate defense all became transparent, overlaid with patterns of energy that flowed through everything.
The irrigation channels glowed like rivers of light. The anchor stones pulsed with concentrated power. And the people each burned with an inner flame, some bright and steady, others flickering with fear or pain.
Most significantly, he could now see the Servants' ritual circle to the south; a dark pattern being etched into the earth, symbols that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. Within that circle, a vortex was forming, drawing energy from the surrounding land and channeling it southward toward the Wastes.
With this enhanced perception, establishing the final connection became almost effortless. The twelfth anchor resonated with his aura, completing the network that now surrounded Fort Marrow in a circle of protective energy. Kael transferred maintenance of this final point to Sera, then focused on coordinating the entire system from his position at the center.
"It's done," he managed to say, though speaking required immense effort as most of his awareness remained distributed through the network. "The counter-ritual is active."
Harkin's expression shifted from concern to cautious hope as he observed whatever was visible to his perceptions. "Yes... The network is stabilizing. The energy flows are balanced. Now we must direct it against the Servants' ritual."
Under Harkin's guidance, Kael began to adjust the counter-ritual's focus, directing its power southward toward the dark circle the Servants were creating. As the two energy patterns met, he felt resistance like trying to push two similar poles of a magnet together. The Servants' ritual pushed back against their interference, the symbols in their circle flaring with increased intensity.
"They've sensed our counter-measure," Harkin warned. "They'll accelerate their ritual now, trying to complete it before we can disrupt the foundation."
The struggle that followed transcended physical combat, though it demanded no less effort and exacted no less cost. Kael, with the support of his eleven assistants, pushed their protective energy against the Servants' destructive pattern. Where the energies met, distortions rippled through both physical and mystical reality, the air itself seeming to waver, the ground trembling beneath their feet.
On the fort's walls, the defenders continued their desperate resistance against the bandit assault. Arrows flew in both directions, the crash of improvised rams against gates echoed across the courtyard, and shouts and screams created a chaotic backdrop to the more subtle battle of wills and energies.
Through his enhanced perception, Kael could see both conflicts simultaneously, the physical and the mystical, intertwined yet distinct. He could see Garek directing the defense of the northern wall, his aura burning with determined leadership.
He could see Elara moving among the wounded in the infirmary, her energy flowing into those she treated, strengthening their flickering flames. He could see Mira darting between positions, carrying messages and hope with equal determination.
And beyond the walls, he could see the Sandblight leader directing his forces with calculated precision, his aura a strange mixture of natural strength and artificial enhancement as if something external had attached itself to his natural energy pattern.
Most disturbing of all, Kael could now perceive the entity the Servants worshipped not directly, but as a vast shadow beyond the Veil, pressing against the boundary between worlds. Where the Servants' ritual connected to this shadow, energy flowed not just from the land but from living beings, their life force drawn inexorably toward that hungry darkness.
"They're drawing power from their own followers," Kael realized, the words difficult to form as his awareness remained distributed through the counter-ritual network. "Sacrificing them to strengthen the connection."
"Yes," Harkin confirmed grimly. "The final stage of their ritual always requires a living sacrifice. Usually unwilling victims, but when pressed, they'll use their own."
This revelation provided both horror and opportunity. If the Servants were consuming their own people to power their ritual, they were operating from a position of desperation, committing resources they couldn't easily replace.
"Focus our counter-measure on their sacrifice points," Kael instructed, directing the network's energy with greater precision. "If we can disrupt the flow of power from sacrifices to ritual..."
The strategy proved effective. As they redirected their counter-ritual to interfere specifically with the sacrifice-based energy flows, the Servants' circle began to destabilize. Symbols flickered, the vortex wavered, the connection to the shadow beyond the Veil weakened.
On the physical plane, this disruption manifested as visible phenomena: the air above the Servants' position rippling like heat waves, the ground beneath them trembling, several of their number collapsing as the energy they were channeling backflowed into their own bodies.
"It's working," Harkin exclaimed, his voice tight with controlled excitement. "Their ritual is collapsing. Maintain the pressure!"
Kael poured everything he had into the counter-ritual, drawing on reserves of strength he hadn't known he possessed. The extract's effects enhanced his perception and control, but the underlying power came from his connection to the land, a connection forged through physical labor, shared hardship, and genuine commitment to the March's welfare.
As the Servants' ritual destabilized further, their coordination with the bandit assault also began to falter. The Sandblight's forces, which had been pressing the attack with disciplined determination, suddenly became more erratic; some continued to fight while others hesitated or even retreated.
"Something's happening with the bandits," Garek called from the wall. "Their formation is breaking. The Sandblight is trying to rally them, but many aren't responding!"
Through his enhanced perception, Kael could see the reason the artificial enhancement he had noticed in the Sandblight's aura was present in many of his followers as well, creating a network of influence that was now disrupted by the counter-ritual's effect on the Servants.
"The bandits and Servants are connected more directly than we realized," he managed to explain between labored breaths. "Some kind of influence or control. As the ritual fails, so does their coordination."
This unexpected advantage turned the tide of the physical battle. The defenders, sensing the shift in momentum, pressed their counter-attack with renewed vigor. Arrows found targets with greater frequency as bandit shields lowered in confusion. Militia units sortied from secondary gates, striking at disorganized raiders who had moments before been pressing confidently toward the walls.
In the mystical confrontation, the balance shifted decisively when three of the Servants collapsed simultaneously, their life energy consumed by their own failing ritual. The remaining practitioners struggled to maintain the circle, but with each failure, the counter-ritual gained strength, pushing back the dark energy with increasing effectiveness.
Finally, with a sensation like glass shattering perceptible not to ordinary senses but to Kael's enhanced awareness, the Servants' ritual collapsed completely. The symbols they had carved into the earth flared with sudden, intense energy that had nowhere to go, creating a backlash that incapacitated the remaining practitioners and sent a shockwave rippling outward.
The effect on the bandit forces was immediate and dramatic. Those under direct influence, perhaps a third of their number, dropped as if strings had been cut, some unconscious, others disoriented and confused. The remainder, including the Sandblight himself, retreated in disarray, their coordinated assault transformed into a chaotic withdrawal.