To have a better view of the city and the streets below, Rath took to the air. Ylyryl, Wihn, Eyr, and Dhal continued to pace him just below with Khyrm, Zhym Vice-Exarch Llylm close behind.

The street they were following came very shortly to a broad avenue with a central median. The destruction here was worse than any Rath had seen so far. Whole buildings had fallen to block the street and very few structures had even a single standing wall. Bedraggled men, women, and children and clutches of determined Shields were digging through the rubble or standing in tight groups in the middle of the avenue looking at the sky.

“All ranking officers report!” he broadcast with his voice Talent as he descended to a clear area at the center of the intersection.

A character in a novel had once asserted, “Take command and keep command!” Rath’s companions and Vice-Exarch Llylm gathered around him at once, and in just a moment a group of three officers, two old and one young, approached from a couple of dozen Shields clustered not far away. A handful of sergeants and corporals detached from the cluster as well and fell in behind the trio.

The man in the lead was about thirty and wore a Shield field uniform with subdued insignia that Rath could not read; he was still in service. The two officers behind him, both gray-haired women, wore the same several-versions-old uniform as Vice-Exarch Llylm, though with different insignia. In both cases, these Elders looked grandmotherly rather than fighting-ready and their uniforms no longer fit.

“There are people trapped in the basement of the Carver house!” the younger officer burst out immediately. “We’ve heard tapping. We need more Shields to help dig them out!”

Eyr and Dhal stood close, watching the officer, but did not intervene.

Rath held up his hands. “I need someone who can describe the basement in detail. I’ll use Aehlkhndhosthyr to get them out.”

The young officer did a double take and then, just as had Elder Ehlren, he dropped to one knee with his right hand in a fist, his right forearm resting on his right knee, and his head bowed. “I am Fhreyhor of Wolf Lineage! I stand ready to serve, Magister!”

The other Shields behind the young officer looked startled by his action. This was not just a spontaneous action; Fhreyhor’s declaration and oath were identical to Ehlren’s. Something was going on here that Rath did not exactly understand. These displays of fealty smacked of plans and secrets that Rath had been made the center of without his knowledge or approval. It had to be something that Mhagtyr had done far in advance of the disaster.

“Have you had word from Minister Mhagtyr?” he asked the officer quickly.

The officer stood immediately. “The last communication was before the tremor, Magister. It was ‘Remain vigilant.’ That was all. I apologize for failing to identify you initially, Magister. I was struck in the head by a brick. I am ready to enact the Final Protocol on your order!”

Rath did the safest thing and shook his head, since he had no idea what the Final Protocol was. “For now, I want you to muster every able-bodied Shield and civilian. We’re evacuating the city to The Wall. I’ll set up a Bridge right here. But first, get me someone who can describe the basement where the people are trapped. Get to it.”

In moments, the pitiful few able-bodied Shields along the avenue had mustered, received orders, and begun herding people to the Bridge that Rath had created. The refugees, including some pets — dogs, cats, and even some birds — began to vanish in a slow steady stream.

Although Rath had expected it, the fourth Bridge increased his general feeling of growing fatigue. It was not enough to slow him down or stop him, yet, so he ignored it.

The civilians, especially Elders and women with children, outnumbered the Shields by at least ten to one.

“We need more Shields,” Rath told Vice-Exarch Llylm, actually just thinking out loud.

The retired Shield officer ran her hand through her gray hair and swung her head about. She was steady, but the magnitude of the devastation was so overpowering that no amount of self-discipline could fully suppress the impact. “If any of the Command staff of the Cantonment is still alive, they are at the Training Complex. That would be a good location to establish coordination. Shields will naturally rally there.”

Rath thought a moment. “To get the city evacuated efficiently, we’ll need a large, organized force. If the Shield leaders here could manage the movement of the people to central locations, we can concentrate on setting up and maintaining the Bridges.”

Vice-Exarch Llylm worked her hands and blew out a puff of air. “The command structure may no longer exist. If too many senior officers are dead, the junior officers would not know who to report to or who they should receive orders from.”

“But there should be rules, regulations, something that defines who takes charge when something like this happens?”

“Shields in the ranks will take orders from any higher-ranking Shield — corporals, sergeants, optios — and any officer, but officers have an established chain of command that determines who may give orders to which subordinates. This was done on First World to prevent an officer from trying to seize power by taking over multiple commands. If that chain of command no longer exists and there is no communication with higher authority, then the surviving officers would have to agree who to follow.”

“What, like an election?”

“Before Refuge, such things were recorded in the history of the Monitor Nation.”

“That hardly seems possible under the circumstances. What about the Lineages? Could we organize something through those?”

“You’ve already started that with Exarch Ehlren and that Banneret.”

“Do you know what that’s about? The oath?”

“No.” Vice-Exarch Llylm frowned. “I’ve only heard rumors. They may be a part of the Last Bastion.”

“What is that?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know exactly. It’s some sort of very secretive society within the Lineage. They’re said to be extremely focused on duty, but they don’t talk about what they do.”

A teenage girl ran up then and began talking almost immediately. “The basement is as big as the whole building. There are huge thick columns in a row down the middle. A one end, there are some old couches where all the Elders would sit and talk about stuff. The floor has these flowery white tile with little roses in the corners —”

“Clear a space,” Rath ordered. “I need at least a ten-meter radius from this spot.” The Shields and Blades, including Vice-Exarch Llylm — she clearly understood that in this instance a Shield was needed, not an officer — backed up quickly and formed a cordon at the distance, some watching out and some watching in. With only seven, the line was thin.

Rath concentrated, saw the space in his mind, and desired Aehlkhndhosthyr. The Bridge formed without problem, but he had created it right where he had been looking behind the girl. If she took a single step back, she would be caught by the head. He picked the teenager up and set her bodily aside behind him. She looked startled but submitted without complaint.

He beckoned Ylyryl, passed the teenager off to the Amazon sergeant, and told her, “Keep everyone back. We’ll come right back here. Recruit some more Shields if you need to. Eyr and Dhal, with me. We’re going in.”

The two Blades produced handlights from trouser pockets, which was something that Rath had not thought of.

With Eyr and Dhal trailing close behind, Rath advanced onto the head of the Bridge.

The crossing was hardly an eyeblink. The space was black and the air full of dust. The two handlights came on at once.

The sudden light frightened the dozen or so people huddled together in the cramped space. There were a few children, some adults, and an Elder. The ceiling sagged, some of the columns had buckled, and one end of the basement was just a wall of rubble.

The body of a man extended from beneath the rubble. His head and shoulders were buried. There was a lot of dried blood.

Rath dismissed the incoming Bridge and desired another back to the street. He put the head near the huddled survivors and they all instantly vanished. There was no time for anything but efficient removal.

“Let’s check the man,” he told the two Blades.

The man was young and dead. He had been crushed, probably very quickly.

Death was not a thing hidden from lads in The Wall; Rath had helped wash and prepare the bodies of the dead in his own Sept from the age of twelve.

But violent, bloody death was not something that he had seen before this disaster, and he had to mentally steel himself, knowing that this man would not be the last.

The body produced an immediate quandary: was there time to bury the dead?

Even though he did not know if it would work, Rath made a narrow bridge that would include the deceased man.

The body remained. He dismissed this Bridge and confirmed the fact: only living people and the things they carried — which probably could include a deceased person — would cross a Bridge.

“Do you think that we can dig him out?” he asked Eyr and Dhal.

Dhal shook his head. “Unlikely. Most of those pieces weigh several hundred kilos.”

Rath took a breath. “Right. Let’s go then. Follow me.”

Vice-Exarch Llylm, Ylyryl, and Corporal Wihn had already moved the basement survivors out of the landing area — another thing that Rath had not considered — and were actively herding them towards Banneret Fhreyhor and the Shields at the fourth Bridge. Khyrm, Zhym, and an older Amazon limping about on an improvised crutch — no doubt recruited by Ylyryl — were moving around to keep Rath’s previously stated ten-meter area clear of the curious and the wandering.

As Eyr and Dhal left Rath’s side straightaway to help their fellows, Rath took stock.

A slow but steady stream of refugees, many burdened with numerous bags, pouches, sacks, and small children, was being guided to the fourth Bridge. Before very long, this immediate area would be fully evacuated.

But this street and the first in front of Vice-Exarch Llylm’s home were only a minuscule portion of the full Cantonment.

And not even an insignificant fraction of the full Monitor Nation.

Vice-Exarch Llylm, Ylyryl, and Corporal Wihn came jogging back.

“Banneret Fhreyhor asked about food and water for his Shields,” the older woman said. “All the Shields that stay behind will have to be supplied from The Wall.”

Rath pressed his lips together. Running an operation to supply the force that stayed behind in the city would be a monumental task all on its own which would require a Shield with competence and authority to manage.

If Rath delegated that to Vice-Exarch Llylm, whom he judged fully capable of the task, he would deprive himself of his single advisor that was knowledgeable of the Cantonment and the officer best suited to work with any surviving Shield commanders.

“Sergeant Ylyryl, go get one of those Exarch Elders that were with Banneret Fhreyhor. She is now in charge of supply. You are her deputy. You know The Wall and Aron and Fhaeyr. Go with the Exarch and get a system in place to bring water and food back over the Bridge in the courtyard. Don’t come back until the system is running without a hitch. Do whatever you have to to make it work.”

Rath had couched this as an order, not a request. From now on, his friends and companions, at least in public, would have to become subordinates.

Ylyryl saluted without hesitation and raced away.

Rath turned to Corporal Wihn. “You have ten minutes. Go find me some more Shields to come with us. No walking wounded, no civilians, no Elders.”

The Amazon corporal saluted and took off.

Rath turned back to the Vice-Exarch. She was waiting for orders.

“We’re going to the Training Complex. If we don’t find anyone in charge, we’re going to put someone in charge.”

Vice-Exarch Llylm saluted. “It will be done, Magister.”