13 Day War

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “At the south end of the road,” answered Twerp. “What do you want with horses?”

  You will see. I want you to hold the illusion while I create a diversion. When the time is right, you are to gather our fallen so we may take them home.

  “Take them home?” balked Thrip, the other fairy. “How?”

  Sinora did not answer. Her horn disappeared, and she raced out of the tent, heading south along the Coastal Road.

  “What is she up to?” Twerp said out loud.

  A fool’s mission. Wesik snorted weakly. She may not return, but I would not let her down if I were you. Honor her wishes. Can you levitate one as large as me?

  “I have never tried,” frowned Twerp, “but I think I can.”

  Could you still levitate me if Wylan and Sheri were on top of me?

  “All three of you?” balked Twerp. “I don’t know. That is a lot of weight, and we have nothing to tie them to you. They might slide off. Maybe between Thrip and me we can do it.”

  Well, you will try. If the weight is too much, you will leave me behind, and take Wylan and Sheri back to their people. The humans are known to honor their dead by burial. Go now and gather their bodies so we are ready when the diversion comes.

  Thrip found Sheri’s body outside the tent and slowly levitated it to Wesik. She moved Wylan’s body next, and heard Wylan grunt. The fairy’s heart filled with hope, but she did not mention it to the unicorn. She knew that Wylan and Wesik were very close, and the unicorn needed no false hopes at the moment.

  Suddenly, shouts rang out in every direction. Twerp looked nervously at his illusion and saw that the burning of the tent was no longer concealed. A large section of the tent was burning and the smoke billowed up into the night sky.

  “We’ve been discovered,” Twerp said softly. “I can no longer hide the truth.”

  Flee if you must, little ones, but wait for Sinora if you have the courage. I would consider it a favor if you helped her to escape from this place.

  “I will stay,” vowed Twerp. “We will all go home together.”

  “I agree,” added Thrip.

  You would make good unicorns.

  Wesik’s thoughts were weak, but Twerp recognized the tinge of humor held within the unicorn’s mind speech. Suddenly, the ground rumbled and the shouts grew louder.

  “What is that?” Twerp mused out loud.

  That is a herd, little unicorn. This tent will soon become an island in the midst of the enemy’s camp. Drop your illusion and get the Knights of Alcea out of here.

  The rumbling intensified until the tent shook wildly. Twerp could still hear the shouting, but just barely. The noise of sixteen-thousand hooves sounded like constant thunder, and the ground felt as if an earthquake was sundering the road beneath the tent. Unexpectedly, Sinora burst through the wall of the tent.

  Put the Knights of Alcea on my back, fairy, and be quick about it. We do not have much time.

  Twerp and Thrip moved immediately. They levitated Wylan and Sheri onto Sinora’s back and then looked up at the roof of the tent.

  “How am I to get Wesik out of here?” asked Twerp.

  I will cut a hole in the roof, promised Sinora. Start levitating now.

  The fairies darted to Wesik and hovered over him. They raised the large unicorn off the floor and winced as Wesik screamed in pain.

  Listen not to his cries, Sinora said as she bared her horn and sprouted wings. Just carry him away from here.

  Sinora leaped into the air, and her horn sliced open the roof of the tent. Soldiers shouted and pointed at her, but she refused to fly away until Wesik was safe. She hovered over the tent as Twerp and Thrip slowly raised Wesik through the roof. Federation soldiers tore their attention away from the stampeding horses and aimed their bows skyward. Sinora dipped down and slid under Wesik, protecting him from the archers below.

  Hurry, fairy. This is going to be painful.

  Twerp swallowed hard as he looked down. If they lost their grip on Wesik, the large unicorn would smash into Sinora and the Knights of Alcea, dooming them all to death. He grunted with exertion as he tried to rise faster. He heard the snap of bowstrings and saw arrows streaking skyward, but he didn’t see any of the arrows hit anything. A few moments later, the dark sky had swallowed up the escapees, and Twerp set his mind to thinking about where he should take the wounded unicorn. If he set down too close to the camp, they might send searchers out and find them. If he took everyone back to Caldar, the Federation soldiers might also look there. In the end, it came down to exhaustion.

  “I cannot continue,” groaned Thrip. “I have not rested all day. My energy is spent.”

  Twerp nodded to the other fairy, and Thrip settled onto Wesik’s body. Twerp felt the sudden strain of carrying the large unicorn alone, and he let the weight slowly drag him lower. As he passed below Sinora, he grimaced. Three arrows stuck out of Sinora’s belly, and blood dripped freely down two of the shafts. The unicorn continued flying level, seemingly unaware that Twerp was landing.

  “Sinora!” shouted Twerp. “We need to set down now. Follow me.”

  Sinora didn’t answer, but she altered her course and started angling downward. Moments later, Twerp gently set Wesik on the ground in a clearing far from the road. Sinora landed a moment later, but her legs would not hold her upright. She toppled to the ground, spilling the bodies of the Knights of Alcea.

  You have done well, little unicorn. Rest while Sinora goes for a healer.

  “Sinora is not going anywhere,” Twerp said hesitantly. “She took three arrows escaping. I will go for help.”

  The fairy didn’t wait for a response. He leaped into the air, but he was weak with exhaustion. Knowing that he could not travel any great distance, he headed for the Rider’s Rest in Caldar. He barely made it.

  “Twerp!” greeted the female fairy. “What are you doing back here?”

  “You must go to Tagaret,” Twerp said weakly. “Tell them that two Knights of Alcea are dead, and their unicorns are dying. We need the best healers they can send and we need them now.”

  “Who is dead?” gasped the blue fairy.

  Twerp bit his lip. What if others were in need of healing at the same time? If he told Tagaret that the Knights of Alcea were dead, might the Bringer send the healers where he thought they could do more good? Twerp was not going to allow any more deaths within his group. The unicorns were worth saving as much as anyone else.

  “Tell the Bringer that Two Knights of Alcea need a healer immediately to survive,” revised Twerp. “Also tell him that both of their unicorns are also close to death, and they cannot travel. We need help desperately.”

  “But I am tasked to keep watch here,” frowned the female fairy.

  “Go!” snapped Twerp. “I will wait here in your stead. Hurry, or I will clip your wings.”

  “Ogre!” The female fairy glared at Twerp, but she quickly sped off.

  Twerp sighed deeply and closed his eyes. In seconds, he was fast asleep.

  * * * *

  General Omirro woke to the thunderous noise and shaking tent. He bolted to his feet and raced to the flap, throwing it back. The first thing he noticed was the lack of guards outside his tent. His anger rose, but the emotion soon faded to confusion. The thunder grew louder and the quaking more severe. He stepped out of the tent and his eyes were immediately drawn to the approaching stampede.

  General Omirro’s command tent stood in the middle of the Coastal Highway. Just to its south stood General Barbone’s smaller tent, and beyond that the tent for the black-cloaks. The mage tent was burning, but what caught the general’s attention was the massive herd of horses bearing down on all three tents. He watched in awe as the stampeding herd split in two, as if the three tents were a large rock island in the middle of a swiftly flowing river. He silently prayed that the rest of the herd followed the leaders’ actions. If they did not, none of the tents would survive, and General Omirro was not yet ready to lose his life.

  As he stood frozen
and stared in awe, movement above the mage tent caught his eye. He gawked in disbelief as he saw a winged-horse fly upward from the tent with two bodies draped over it. The magnificent beast halted its ascent and hovered over the tent. Within seconds, the prone body of a horse also rose out of the tent, but it did not appear as if the creature was alive. It had no wings and it mysteriously floated upward rather than flew. As General Omirro tried to make sense out of what he was seeing, the winged-horse moved directly under the floating one, and they seemed to rise together. Arrows suddenly streaked skyward, and the general watched several of them imbed into the winged-horse’s underside. Before another volley could be sent skyward, the creatures vanished beyond the glow of the flames and disappeared.

  “Did you see that?” General Barbone asked as he appeared before General Omirro. “What do you make of it?”

  General Omirro stared up into the darkness for a moment before tearing his eyes away and focusing on the subordinate officer. “I do not know what to make of it, but I will have answers before the sun rises. Are your tent guards on station?”

  “No,” answered General Barbone. “I thought they might be here, but I can see that they are not. Have we been infiltrated?”

  General Omirro glanced at the tail end of the stampede and shook his head in confusion. He saw Colonel Verle racing towards him, and he turned to face the approaching officer. The colonel halted before the general and saluted.

  “Are you safe?” asked the colonel.

  “Safe and unguarded,” replied General Omirro. “I have tasks for you. First, post guards at my tent and General Barbone’s. Second, find the missing guards and have them arrested. Third, have the fire at the mages tent extinguished. Fourth, send out men to recover our mounts. Fifth, find out what has happened here tonight and report back to me. This army is not moving until I have satisfactory answers.”

  The colonel saluted, but General Omirro had already turned to retreat inside his tent. General Barbone followed.

  “Close the flap,” ordered General Omirro. “The dust raised by the horses is enough to gag on.” General Barbone dutifully closed the flap and General Omirro continued. “You were closer to the mage tent than I was, Barbone. What did you make of that winged-horse?”

  General Omirro sat down and poured two mugs of cold tea. He placed one on the table and raised the other to his lips. General Barbone also took a seat and grabbed the other mug.

  “It was not a winged-horse. It was a unicorn. I saw the horn extending from its head.”

  General Omirro was about to say that unicorns were mythical, but then again, so were winged-horses. He said nothing, and General Barbone felt compelled to continue.

  “I am not sure about the other one. I could not see its head. It looked dead to me, and it certainly wasn’t flying under its own power. Do you suppose the flying one was magically raising it?”

  “I think not,” answered Omirro, “but I cannot be sure. I thought I saw two bodies on top of the flying one. Did you see them?”

  “Clearly,” answered General Barbone. “They were Federation soldiers, but I could not see the patches clear enough to identify which army they belonged to. They also appeared dead. None of this makes much sense to me.”

  “Nor to me,” General Omirro said before turning silent and sipping his cold tea.

  General Barbone was well familiar with the moods of General Omirro, and he knew when not to speak. For a long time the two generals sat in silence until the tent flap opened and Colonel Verle entered. The colonel approached the table, and General Omirro informally waved for the officer to sit. The colonel raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he promptly obeyed.

  “The missing guards will not need to be arrested,” opened the colonel. “Their bodies were found at the mage tent. It was difficult to identify two of them.”

  “Explain,” General Omirro said curtly.

  “The mage tent is a bloody scene, General. While we may never know exactly what happened there tonight, I can detail what I found. All eight of the black-cloaks are dead, as well as the four guards. A vicious, bloody assault occurred inside that tent. Some of it was magical, which is the origin of the flames, but most of it was physical. Outside the tent we found three bodies, two guards and a mage. The mage was decapitated, his head found elsewhere. The two guards were mauled by something massive and solid. Their skulls were literally crushed. Were it not for belongings on their bodies, identification would have been impossible.”

  “What about inside the tent?” asked General Barbone.

  “Another bloody mess,” frowned the colonel. “Two of the guards were gored by something very sharp, very long, and very large. Three of the mages were struck down with a staff, or at least I believe that to be so. We did find a staff amongst the wreckage, and their injuries were not as bloody as the other four. Those four were gored along the lines of the guards. I should also report that the tent was not only burning, it was slashed to pieces in several places, including the roof.”

  “And the tether lines at the corral?” asked General Omirro.

  “Slashed,” answered the colonel. “We definitely have saboteurs, General. Someone intentionally freed our mounts and caused the stampede.”

  “What aren’t you telling me, Colonel?” scowled General Omirro.

  The colonel fidgeted and sighed anxiously. “Men reported something very strange this night, General. I don’t know if the men should be punished for drunkenness or not, but the situation is serious enough to inform you of their comments. They claim that they saw a unicorn rise from the burning tent. Some said that a second unicorn rose, but that it was dead when it rose. There were also reports claiming that there were two dead soldiers draped over one of the unicorns. I truly do not know what to make of these tales.”

  “Take the men at their words,” frowned General Omirro. “I do not understand what is going on, but General Barbone and I saw something similar. The gore wounds that you spoke of, could they have been inflicted by something like a unicorn’s horn?”

  “Assuming that the creatures were unicorns,” shrugged the colonel, “I guess that would be possible. It is as good an explanation as anything I could come up with.”

  “I take it that you do not believe in unicorns, Colonel?” General Omirro asked.

  “I do not believe in anything that I cannot see or touch,” answered the colonel, “but I stand ready to accept your word on the matter.”

  General Omirro sighed and smiled slightly at the colonel’s discomfort. “I don’t believe in them either, but they were here tonight. I want a headcount of our men, Colonel, and I want it immediately. People saw two dead soldiers on the back of that unicorn, and I want to know if they were men of Team Caldar.”

  The colonel nodded and rose to his feet. He saluted briskly and quickly departed the tent.

  “What did you mean if they were ours?” asked General Barbone. “They definitely wore Federation uniforms. I saw that with my own eyes. What other army could they belong to besides ours?”

  “You are asking the wrong question, Barbone,” replied General Omirro. “The real question is why the unicorns would take humans from the camp in the first place? Why would the unicorns take away the bodies of two of our men? If they wanted information about our orders or purpose for being in Alcea, they would have abducted live soldiers to interrogate, not recovered dead bodies.”

  “Well,” retorted General Barbone, “I said that they appeared dead. I suppose that they could have been magically put to sleep. Am I missing something?”

  “You are indeed. The unicorns did not use a staff to kill the black-cloaks. The humans did. That means that the unicorns were removing their confederates from the enemy’s camp. Two beasts, two riders. Whether they were alive or dead really doesn’t matter to the logic of it all. Taking what I just said as truth, the unicorns have allies that have access to Federation uniforms. More importantly, the Alceans know that we have arrived in their country.”

  “How can you be sur
e that it is the Alceans behind the attack?” asked General Barbone. “What if it was Tauman’s men trying to make us fail? You know that he is disappointed about not being involved in the attack on Alcea. Making us fail might be his way of making himself look better.”

  “There is truth to your words,” agreed General Omirro, “but the end result is the same. If Tauman wants us to fail, he would merely tell the Alceans that we are here. He certainly has access to all the portals. Either way, the Alceans know that we are here, but I personally do not think Tauman would stoop so low. Besides, I don’t think Tauman could keep unicorns a secret for very long. They must be Alcean creatures that our spies did not discover.”

  General Barbone sighed heavily and nodded in agreement. “What does this mean to our plans then?”

  “This knowledge means very little to our plans,” answered General Omirro. “We are facing eighteen-thousand men in all of Sordoa. We are twenty-thousand strong, and we have forty-thousand comrades joining up with us at the walls of Trekum. Sordoa is going to fall regardless of the existence of unicorns. The biggest impact of tonight’s raid is the loss of our mages, and that tells me a great deal about our adversaries. They could have tried to take out the leadership of Team Caldar, but they feared our mages more. That tells me that they have no mages to stand against us and that pleases me. Sword for sword, we will devastate the Sordoans. They cannot stand against the might of the Federation.”

  Chapter 14

  Day Four

  The knocking was incessant. King Arik subconsciously tried to put it out of his mind, but it continued with annoying regularity.

  “Are you going to see who that is?” asked Queen Tanya. “Or do I have to get out of bed?”

  King Arik immediately sat up and opened his eyes. “I thought I was dreaming,” apologized the king. “Stay in bed, Mother. I will see what the problem is.”

  The queen laughed. “Now that woke me up more than the knocking did. I am not even showing yet.”

  The king grinned and hurried to the door. He cracked it open and saw a Red Sword officer with a grim face waiting on the other side.