"You wouldn't have been able to hide from me, Tarrin," Jeri said with a grin. "I may be a cub, but I'm still one of the best trackers among us."
"Not if I cheat," Tarrin told him with a slight smile.
"Well that's unfair."
"That's the point."
Jeri gave him a look, then laughed.
It didn't take them very long to get back, and he saw that they did indeed have everything well in hand. Most of the Dal bodies were gone, and the thick columns of smoke rising from the other side of the hill told him that they were cremating the dead. The villagers were all out of their homes now, running around in dubious excitement, children following the Centaurs around in utter fascination. Rangers for the most part occupied the village, but there were a few Centaurs and Were-kin there as well. Not that the villagers were confining themselves to the village. Many of them were out on the open fields surrounding the village, looking like they were doing what they could to help their liberators, from offers of food and goods to offering help erecting the camps for the night. It looked like the Watch Hill villagers were very happy that the Dals had been overthrown.
Jeri led Tarrin into the village, and Jasana looked around in fascination as they climbed up the hill and were eventually led into a small shop on the west side of the hill. The inside of the shop was bare, but a large table and several chairs occupied the open floor between the door and the counter near the back. Sathon sat at one of those chairs, and Mikos had somehow managed to maneuver his bulk into the room and kneel down on one side. Karn was there, as well as Jak, and so was a sharp-featured Were-kin female with black hair and sharp, dark eyes. Sitting facing the door was Arren, with two of his Ranger lieutenants. Arren had not aged well. His hair and beard were now more gray than dark, and there were dark circles under his eyes. The burdens of being occupied had worn on Arren, it seemed. Arren stood and smiled when Tarrin came in, but his smile dropped slightly when Jesmind came in right behind him. It seemed that Arren remembered Jesmind just as well as he remembered Tarrin.
"Ah good, Jeri found you," Sathon said as Kimmie and Jeri entered behind Jesmind. "Thank you, my boy. Could you go find Thean and ask him to come?"
"Of course, Sathon," Jeri said with a nod, scurrying out.
"The other Were-cats are unnecessary," the female said sharply, disdain obvious in her voice. "Send them away."
"Watch who you order around, woman," Tarrin snapped as he whirled on that female and stared down at her with dangerous eyes.
"Yes, well, this is a meeting not meant for just anyone, Tarrin," Sathon said delicately.
"I am just anyone, Sathon," Tarrin said sharply. "I have no authority in this army."
"Wrong. You are the leader of the Were-cats, and your assistance is necessary to get them to obey," Sathon told him flatly. "That means that you need to be here."
"Fine, but I'm not telling any of them to leave," he said challengingly.
"This is to be a war council, this is no place for a loose-lipped child and your harem," the female objected.
Without batting an eye, Tarrin snapped his paw down and grabbed the female by the shirt. Then he hauled her out of her chair and held her at arm's length before him, her feet dangling a good two spans off the floor. "Your lack of courtesy is wearing on me, woman," Tarrin hissed in a voice that promised all sorts of unpleasant things should she continue. "If you insult my mate or my friend one more time, they'll need six seperate baskets to cart you out of this room. Do I make myself clear?"
"Tarrin, let her go," Sathon commanded sharply.
Tarrin growled and did as Sathon commanded, dropping the female unceremoniously.
"Jesmind, Kimmie, would you please wait outside for us?" Sathon asked in a reasonable tone.
"All you had to do was ask nicely," Kimmie said, flashing the dark-eyed female a flat look. "At least we have manners."
"Too bad they're nothing but bad manners," the female retorted quickly.
"I hope you don't need that one, Sathon," Jesmind said in a brutal tone, reaching down and picking up a very quiet, nervous Jasana. "She's not going to live to see tomorrow."
"I'll have no infighting here, from any of you!" Sathon suddenly roared. "I invoke Druid's sanctuary right here and now! This is now chosen ground, and it will be honored with peace! Do I make myself clear?"
"Very clear, Sathon," Jesmind grumbled.
"As you say," Kimmie said with a snort.
"Audrey?"
"I will honor Druid's Sanctuary," the dark-eyed female said with a frown.
"Tarrin?"
"Alright," Tarrin growled.
"Jesmind, Kimmie, please wait for us outside," Sathon repeated.
"But papa promised I could stay with him!" Jasana objected suddenly.
"He did, but I'm telling you to come with me," Jesmind told her daughter sharply. "Do you want to argue about it?"
"No," Jasana growled. "Alright, mama."
"I won't be long, cub," Tarrin told her. "I can promise you that."
"Well now," Arren said nervously as Kimmie and Jesmind left the building, "I see the time has been good to you, Tarrin. How have you been?"
"Well enough, Arren," he replied with a grunt, sitting back down in a chair that was too small for him. His knees banged on the top of the table as he tried to get comfortable, scooting it a few fingers to the side. "It's unfortunate that we had to meet again like this."
"Well, we can talk after this is over," Arren told him.
"We waste time," Mikos said gruffly. "We must devise a plan to take Torrian."
"And do it without flattening the city in the process," Arren said vehemently.
"There will be damage no matter how careful we are, human," the female, Audrey, said sharply. "The key will be minimizing that damage."
"The first step will be to know where the enemy is, so I think we can all agree that the Aeradalla's going to be a key to any final plans we make," Sathon said. "She can fly over the city and tell us where the Dals are concentrating their defenses."
"If we're going to hold off on plans until then, why am I here?" Tarrin asked acidly. "We can't do anything until Ariana reports. That makes this a waste of time."
"Because she'll just influence the plan we make," Sathon told him. "Now calm down."
"The plan I've been devising is fairly simple," Arren spoke up. "Torrian is a hostile city to the Dals. If we can breach the walls and get in, we can defeat them from the inside. The citizens of Torrian will aid and support us. It will be house to house fighting, but we could overwhelm the Dal garrisons in the city because the Rangers are trained for the guerilla tactics necessary in fighting from house to house in that manner, where the Dals are not. Dals don't function well without officers, and that style of fighting is going to naturally cause the Dal forces to break up into small cells, separated from their chain of command. That gives my Rangers a huge advantage, because they can fight effectively without support from the chain of command. We can chew the Dal army up cell by cell and house by house. That gives us an advantage, and couple it with the Were-kin, Centaurs, and the aid we'll receive from the citizens, and it gives us our best chance of taking the city in the shortest time while doing the least damage. Doing it that way will also cause only a minimum amount of damage to the walls, walls we'll need to hold the city against any Dal reinforcements that arrive. The only problem is going to be taking the keep. They've taken over my castle, and I can attest to how impervious it is to assault."
"If it's so impervious, how did they take it from you?" the female asked sharply.
"Because the city surrendered," he replied with a sigh. "My city was facing an army more than ten times our garrison's size. I surrended to save as many people as possible. They would have destroyed the city and killed all the citizens to take the keep, and I couldn't live knowing I'd have caused something like that."
"Unsound," the female snorted. "You handed them a perfectly unassailable fortress."
"We sabotaged the walls and bu
rned the keep before we left," Arren told her, the pain of having to destroy his ancestral home clear in his eyes. "But it's been a while, and they've managed to repair all the damage we did and rebuild the walls. They even rebuilt the keep."
"Then we'll take the keep the same way that we take the city," Sathon said mildly. "Get inside the walls and take it from the inside."
"How do you propose we do that, Sathon?" Arren asked.
"That's how," he said, pointing at Tarrin. "We have eight fighting Were-cats with us. They can climb the walls, get inside, then wreak havoc while one of them opens the gates and lets in an invasion force. The Dals are going to be too busy trying to deal with the Were-cats to worry about closing the gates."
"Do you think it would work, Tarrin?" Arren asked him directly.
Tarrin considered it. The Dals couldn't easily hurt his kin, and they could terrorize them pretty thoroughly. Tarrin knew the keep's general layout, and Arren could fill in all the gaps. Given they moved together and adhered to a plan of attack, it was more than possible. But asking eight Were-cats to take on what would probably be hundreds of men would leave them vulnerable. Even a human could kill a Were-cat if they took off the head, or severed the spine in such a way that the Were-cat couldn't remove the severing instrument before the heart gave out, or used fire against them. The Were-cats would have no support, no help, and they would be asked to fight vastly superior numbers in what could be open ground.
There were other ways, however.
"Leave the castle to me," he said with a sigh. "I can eliminate the threat of the castle without risking the lives of the others."
"How do you intend to do it?" Sathon asked.
"Any number of ways," he shrugged. "The easiest way would be to simply destroy the castle, but it's Arren's home, and I'd rather not do that. So I think I'll just use your plan, but with a different instrument of chaos."
"What do you have in mind?"
"An Earth Elemental," he replied, stroking his chin absently. "It can cause alot more chaos than a pack of Were-cats. While my Elemental is keeping the Dals busy, I'll open the gates."
"You can summon such a thing?" Sathon asked in surprise.
"Not a Druidic Elemental," he elaborated. "But I can raise an Elemental with Sorcery."
"Well, it would work, either way," Sathon agreed. "If you can get the gates open, we can send in a force of Were-kin to finish off the Dals."
"Why Were-kin?" Arren asked. "Why not let me retake my own keep?"
"Because the Dals can't hurt us," Audrey said consicely. "We are immune to non-magical weapons while in hybrid form. Unless the Dals have silver swords, we can overwhelm them without much danger to ourselves."
"The idea is to keep as many humans alive as we can, Arren," Sathon explained. "We will leave Torrian, and it will be up to the humans staying behind to protect it from any Dals that appear."
"I can't argue with that logic," Arren agreed. "We'll do it that way, then. All we need to know from the Aeradalla is where the Dal forces are inside the city, so we'll know where to move first once we get inside the walls."
"Let's use Tarrin's idea to get into the city as well," Audrey offered. "If we can create a distraction, a small group of Were-kin could climb the walls and simply open the gates. That way, we will do no damage to the walls, and leave the humans with a definsible city."
"It has to be something that won't alert the Dals that they're being attacked," Arren told her quickly.
"Then a simple fire would be best," Audrey concluded. "A fire set near the gate we intend to take. The fire will keep the attention of the Dals manning the walls, allowing our Were-kin forces to climb the walls and overwhelm them while they're distracted.
"I can set a fire like that from a distance," Tarrin injected. "I just need to be able to see my target, that's all."
"The Aeradalla can provide that," Audrey reasoned. "Can you use your magic in your cat form?"
Tarrin nodded.
"Then we send him up with the Aeradalla. He sets a fire near the gate we choose to attack. The Dals' attention will be on the fire, allowing us to strike them and open the gate. Then we can proceed with Arren's plan. But I do suggest that the Were-kin stay on the walls and take them, both to stop Dals from shooting arrows at our forces, and to keep them from damaging the walls when it becomes clear that we will win."
"Very clever, my lady," Arren said appreciatively. "Where did you learn tactics like that?"
"I'm not really satisfied staying in the Frontier all the time, Arren," the woman, Audrey, smiled. "I like to go out among the humans sometimes, and I've picked up any number of talents along the way. My familiarity with the humans is why my kin selected me to represent them here."
"That kind of plan requires a night attack," Mikos announced. "They'll see the Aeradalla and try to shoot her down if we try this during the day. Can your humans make a night attack, Duke Arren?"
"The Rangers are extensively trained for night action," Arren announced. "We can handle a night attack."
"Were-kin are more at home in the dark anyway," Audrey nodded.
"The Centaurs have no problem with a night attack," Mikos agreed.
"Then we'll do it that way," Sathon announced. "The only problem is that we'll have to attack the night of the day we arrive. If we get there at night, it means that we'll have no time to rest."
"Why the haste?"
"A Druid in Suld has told me that we have about fifteen days to get there," Sathon said. "That means that we don't have time to dally around. We have to get to Torrian quickly, take it with all possible speed, then start out for Suld almost as soon as the dust settles. We don't have time for anything else."
"Are you sure you can make it that fast?" Arren said dubiously.
"We can," Mikos nodded. "The Centaurs can run longer than any horse, and the Were-kin can keep up with us. Any humans that come along will ride on the backs of Centaurs. That kind of a run will kill a horse. We can be there ten days after we start out from Torrian."
"That just barely gives us the time to set up as the commander of Suld directs us," Sathon added.
"If time is such an issue, why are we camping?" Arren asked. "The Rangers can handle a forced march. We can keep up with you."
"We camp to rest before the long days ahead, Duke Arren," Mikos explained. "We know what is coming, and we know that this is our last evening of peace before the trial ahead. We need this."
"Ah. I completely understand," Arren nodded. "I've sent out runners ahead of us, to gather the rest of the Rangers at Torrian," he told them. "There are almost twice again what I have here around Torrian, and they'll be ready to help with the attack once we arrive."
"Very good," Sathon nodded. "As we've discussed, Duke Arren, we have selected you to be our general," Sathon told him. "I just want you to know that everyone here will obey your commands."
"I appreciate that," Arren nodded. "And I just want you to know that I value your opinions. This little meeting has shown me that the ideas of our forest neighbors are worth listening to." He looked around the table. "So, the plan is to use a diversion to open the gates of the city, then get inside and defeat them from the inside, in house to house fighting. The Were-kin will swarm the walls and take them to protect our forces, and after they have them, we can man them and use them to shoot arrows at the Dals. After we've taken the majority of the city, Tarrin and a force of Were-kin will use their plan to take my keep back from the Dals. After that, the city will generally be secure. Does everyone agree to this plan?"
"I agree with it," Mikos nodded.
"It is a good plan," Audrey agreed.
"I find nothing wrong with it," Sathon added.
"It should work," Tarrin said.
"Then I'd reason to say that this meeting is over," Arren smiled. "I don't want to take any of you away from your rest any more than necessary."
"We appreciate your concern for us, Duke Arren," Mikos said with a nod.
"You show courage to off
er so much," Audrey told Tarrin in a calm voice. "I think I misjudged you. I'm sorry."
"Few of the others understand us," he said dismissively.
"Then maybe we should get to know you," Audrey said calmly, then she stood up. "I need to go tell my pack of this, and they'll spread the word through the Were-kin," she announced.
If she had a pack, then that meant that she was a Were-wolf. It explained her initial reaction to Tarrin and the Were-cats, but it also surprised him in that she would be willing to admit she was wrong about them. Were-wolves hated Were-cats.
They broke up after that. Tarrin was the first one out, picking up Jasana as he came out the door and nodding to Jesmind and Kimmie. "Let's go find the other Were-cats," he said. "If I know them, they're off together somewhere."
"Probably. We're not exactly welcome with any of the others," Kimmie said soberly, loud enough for Audrey to hear her as she came out of the door.
"Come on," Tarrin called.
They found the others well away from the other Woodkin, gathered around a fire that had just been set with their backs to the treeline well to the west of the village. About as far away as they could get from everyone else. They had two small deer roasting over the fire, tended to by Nikki and Singer. "Well, lad, I see Jeri found you," Thean called as they approached. "What did Sathon want?"
"They wanted to meet about what would happen in Torrian," Tarrin said, handing Jasana to Jesmind as she sat down on one of the logs dragged over to serve as seats. "They decided that I had to be there."
"What did they say?" Shayle asked.
Tarrin sat down and went over the framework of the plan they had formed at the meeting. "It should work," he summarized after he was done. "It utilizes our advantages and protects the majority of the human army, so they can hold Torrian against any Dal forces that wander in or try to retreat back to the city."
"I think it's a decent plan," Singer mused. "I don't like much being used as a target, but they do have a point in wanting to keep the city in Sulasian hands after we leave."
"So we attack the city, then we attack this castle?" Jeri asked. "Why not attack the castle at the same time?"
Tarrin Kael Firestaff Collection Book 3 - Honor and Blood by Fel © Page 110