Neversfall - Ed Gentry [26]
All the walls of the citadel looked identical. She saw no damage and that bothered her even more. If the previous force of Durpari and Maquar soldiers were dead, what had killed them? She saw no scorch marks, no stains from hot oil being poured through the machicolations onto attackers. Not even a single errant arrow in the ground.
Adeenya could see the disquiet on the faces of her troops. She picked up her pace to reach the gate of Neversfall. The mystery ate at her, and she wanted it resolved, regardless of the outcome. As she rounded the corner, she saw the large, dark doors of the citadel. They stood open, four of Taennen s force guarding them. They saluted as Adeenya approached.
"Orir, the durir awaits you inside," one of the guards said as she reached the gate. The doors were three men high and two wide. They were easily as thick as Adeenya's upper arm, as were the iron bars that stood nearby to hold the doors against attackers.
She walked through the opening into the courtyard of Neversfall. Adeenya split her troops into four squads, commanding each to examine the inside of one outer wall, looking for signs of struggle and checking the walls for weaknesses.
Adeenya continued toward the center of the courtyard. Like the walls of the citadel, the three towers were made of smooth, dark stone. In addition to the towers, small one-and two-story buildings were spread around the courtyard, most of them built on short, sturdy stone pilings. Between the stilts were ditches about knee deep.
"Fire," Taennen said beside her.
"What?" she asked.
"The trenches. If an attacker were to lob fire over the walls, it could spread along the ground, but without a strong wind to force it along, it wouldn't make it past the trenches," he said. "It protects the buildings and gives the citadel forces a place to escape the fire."
"Arrows too," she said. "You could shelter yourself from arrows under each building."
Taennen nodded. "Yes, sir, you could. Good eyes, Orir."
The courtyard itself was large and well kept. Each wall looked to be twice as long as the tallest tower was high, giving the interior courtyard a spaciousness that the other buildings did not fill up. No buildings at all stood along the northern wall, likely intended to be used as training grounds and an assembly area. There were also no signs that anyone had ever occupied the citadel. A chill ran up Adeenya's spine.
She climbed the short steps to one of the barracks. Ten cots lined each wall, with space for many more. A bedroll was neatly folded at the foot of each and twenty chests sat on the floor. Two Maquar were examining the contents.
"What have you found, durir?" she asked.
"Just these things, sir," Taennen answered. He held up a cheap brass symbol of the Adama. "It's as if they never left."
"No bodies? No discarded weapons?"
Taennen shook his head. "I wish I could say there was any clue at all, sir, but so far we've seen nothing. The food stores are intact, the citadel's log shows a final entry that describes no problems at all. The gate locks still function, and from what we've seen, the personal belongings of the lost company are still here."
Adeenya shook her head. "This is damned strange."
"No doubt about that. I'll call in the commander," he said. "Unless you object, Orir?"
"Go ahead," she said.
Taennen nodded and shouted to one of his men, instructing the soldier to inform Jhoqo to bring in the rest of the troops.
"The towers have been checked?" Adeenya asked, facing the monoliths. "Yes, sir."
Adeenya moved toward the tallest of the three towers. Though the citadel itself was named Neversfall, it was named for the tall central tower. The stones comprising the tower were smaller and more rounded than those that made up the outer wall. Though they were the same color, the tower stood out against the backdrop of