every motion avoided a blow or enabled him to deal out a stroke of his own-and none failed to be lethal with a calculated precision , pirellus swept down the occupied section of the wall , brushing away the enemy like cobwebs , and the legions flooded back into the space , kicking bodies clear of the battlements , fighting savagely to hold the regained section of the walls pirellus shook the blood from his sword , expression neutral , remote , and pointed a finger again at the men with the firepots the earthcrafters removed the lids and prepared to hurl the pots over the battlements to the ground below the firecrafters behind them stood with their expressions distant , mouths moving silently , calling to their furies in preparation of the hellish storm they prepared to unleash on the enemy and that was when amara felt it when she felt the currents of air thrumming with tension , heard with some part of her that she could not fully describe the rising tide of wind moving in the darkness above she turned her face up , only to be blinded by the furylights mounted above the battlements , veiling the skies above-but all along the wall , the winds rose , whipping wildly back and forth amara thought she could hear cries above , where garrison 's few knights aeris should have been patrolling something sprinkled down from above , and for a moment she thought that more rain had begun to fall but the sensation was hot , not cold , and when amara wiped at her cheek , she saw blood smeared upon her fingers `` bernard ' '' she shouted `` they 're here ' '' she did n't have time to make sure she had been heard instead , she called to cirrus and leapt into the air , felt the roar of wind enfold her as she hurtled up , above the battlements and into the darkened sky over the besieged fortress the air teemed with knights aeris-duelling , whirling pairs of men who swept through the skies in deadly combat , as much between furies as men , each trying to cut off the other 's flow of air or to wound their opponents badly enough with their blades to shatter their concentration and send them falling even as she watched , one of the men in rivan colors whirled away from a flickering blade , only to let out a sudden , terrified scream and begin to plummet from the sky like a stone he fell past amara and onto the ground before the walls of garrison , the thud of impact swallowed by the tumult beneath them amara swept her gaze around the sky , picking out the shapes of airborne knights as much with cirrus 's senses as her own , and found thirty at least , three times the number of the fortress 's defenders more graceful battles played out above and around her , but their outcome was a foregone conclusion : garrison 's knights aeris would be driven from the skies or killed , and the enemy would control all movement above the fortress .