Fort Covenant_Tales of the Seventh

by Marc Edelheit

  “If I am correct in my thinking,” Stiger said, having thought on the enemy officer’s words, “it was your company that has dogged our heels something fierce. Is that so?”

  “Yes. After you attacked a section of my men out on forage, I happily gave chase,” Golves said, seeming rather pleased with himself. “But now I have finally caught up. All hunts must come to an end. You’ve nowhere to run.”

  Stiger gave a shrug rather than reply.

  “What do you want?” Merritt asked.

  “In the interest of saving lives, I ask humbly that you give up the fort,” Golves said.

  “I was a guest of the Rivan once before,” Merritt said in a hard tone. “I will not subject myself to that indignity again.”

  “I see,” Golves said and made a show of thinking, stroking his jaw. “In that case, I am prepared to offer you and your men free passage, provided you surrender your standards and weapons first.”

  Stiger glanced to Merritt, hoping the prefect would not consider such an offer. To surrender one’s standards was an unforgivable offense. It would effectively end their careers or, possibly worse, sign their death warrants.

  “Captain Golves,” Merritt said, “I am afraid I will have to decline your generous offer. If you want them, you will just have to take them.”

  Golves let slip an unhappy scowl. Then his face lit up as if he had stumbled upon a fantastic idea. Stiger understood the enemy captain was playing a game, which he seemed to be enjoying.

  “What if I permitted you to keep your standards and weapons?” Golves asked. “Would that satisfy your honor?”

  “I would be compelled to decline your generous offer,” Merritt said. “I intend to keep my fort. The only way you can have it is by seizing it forcefully.”

  Golves let slip another unhappy scowl, sharing a look with his lieutenant. “I am but the tip of the spear. In my humble estimation, you have no hope whatsoever of holding. If you compel us into an assault, I will tell you honestly, none shall be spared. Death will be your only escape.”

  “That may be so,” Merritt said stiffly, “but I will not give up my fort. Unless you have other business, I believe we are done here.”

  Merritt turned to go.

  “I understand you are holding a prisoner,” Golves said. “A Lieutenant Crief.”

  “Your information is correct,” Merritt said.

  “We want him back,” Golves said. “I have two of your officers. I propose a trade.”

  “Who?” Merritt’s eyebrows rose. “Who do you have?”

  “Prefect Lears and Lieutenant Teevus,” Golves said. “I am afraid Lieutenant Teevus made the mistake of thinking he too could hold his fort.”

  “And you let him live?” Merritt asked. “What other prisoners do you have?”

  Golves’s expression hardened. “Alas, we did not take any. The only reason the poor lieutenant escaped his fate was for intelligence purposes. Now that we have all that we need from him, a destitute noble is of no use to us, other than in trade, of course. Should you refuse, I will have him immediately executed in the most brutal fashion I can think of.”

  Merritt became very still.

  “Which is why I suggest you seriously consider my previous offer,” Golves said. “You all have an opportunity to walk away with your standards and your lives.”

  “I will think on it,” Merritt said, appearing to give a little.

  “You have an hour,” Golves said.

  “Two hours,” Merritt said.

  “An hour,” Golves said. “If I don’t have it then, I shall put my prisoners to death.”

  “An hour,” Merritt agreed. “You shall have my answer at that time. I will take you up on the offer of the prisoner exchange.”

  “Sir?” Stiger said. “You can’t give them Crief.”

  “Be quiet, Stiger,” Merritt snapped. “This is my decision, not yours.”

  “When do you desire to conduct the exchange?” Golves asked.

  “In an hour’s time, when I give you my answer. Will that be sufficient?” Merritt said.

  Golves nodded.

  “Lieutenant Stiger shall deliver the prisoner and my answer.”

  “Very good.” Golves’s eyes moved to Eli. “I was not introduced to this other gentleman.”

  “I am no gentleman,” Eli said, and drew back the hood of his cloak. “Eli’Far at your service.”

  Golves made no show of surprise, other than the blinking of his eyes. Stiger noticed the enemy officer became quite still. He then shifted his stance and seemed to relax.

  “I thought you elves had quit the empire,” Golves said, giving Eli a slight bow, which the elf returned.

  “Again,” Stiger said, “it would seem you are receiving faulty intelligence.”

  Golves’s eyes turned to Stiger and narrowed.

  “I will see you in an hour,” Golves said frostily. With that, he began walking back to his budding encampment, his lieutenant and sergeant following him.

  “Sir,” Stiger said to Merritt, “we cannot give up the fort.”

  “Lieutenant,” Merritt said, “I have no intention of doing that. I was simply buying us time and playing his game.”

  “What of Crief?” Stiger said. “He is an important prisoner and the son of—”

  “I know who he is,” Merritt snapped. “I will not leave two of our own in the enemy’s hands. I’ve been their guest. Trust me, it is not a pleasant experience.”

  With that, Merritt began making his way back into the fort.

  Stiger watched the prefect go before stepping over to Tiro. “What do you think?”

  “I think,” Tiro said with a glance at the enemy column coming down the hill, “we are in the shit, sir.”

  “That was my thinking as well,” Stiger said. “As soon that army comes up in its entirety, they will attack.”

  “I agree, sir,” Tiro said. “However, they will not need their whole army. What with the moon being almost full, they may even try our walls this evening.”

  “I say,” Eli said cheerfully, having sidled up to the two of them, “isn’t this exciting?”

  Tiro shot a frown at the elf. Stiger just shook his head.

  Eli pointed towards the hill, where the road exited the forest. Another formation of heavy infantry had emerged and was moving down the hill toward the encampment. Stiger almost felt sick at the sight. There would be hard hours ahead.

  “Exciting is not how I would characterize it,” Stiger said.

  ***

  An hour later, Stiger stepped through the gate. Tiro and two legionaries dragged Crief along. As they neared, Crief took one look at the waiting Golves and the rapidly growing Rivan encampment and began laughing, nearly hysterically.

  “I told you, Stiger,” Crief said. “My father is coming to kill you all.”

  Tiro reached over and slapped Crief hard on the face. “Keep your tongue.”

  Golves did not seem at all fazed by Tiro’s treatment of Lieutenant Crief. He just stood there and waited patiently. With him were his lieutenant, Lears and Teevus. He also had two men who each carried a long wooden plank.

  Both Lears and Teevus appeared to have been worked over fairly well. Teevus looked up. His right eye was swollen shut, but his left widened at the sight of Stiger standing across the other side of the trench. After a moment, he averted his gaze and looked at the ground, clearly shamefaced.

  “Stiger,” Golves said, all business, “do I have your permission to run these planks across the trench to affect our exchange?”

  Stiger gave a curt nod, at which Golves motioned his men forward. Once it was done, Golves looked expectantly at Stiger.

  “My men first,” Stiger said. “Then I will send your man.”

  “Do I have your word of honor on that?”

  “You do, sir,” Stiger said. “Though I’d prefer nothing better than to gut this murdering and raping bastard, I will send him to you. What you do with him after is your concern.”

  Golves’s
eyes slid from Stiger to Crief. A look of contempt and disgust washed over the enemy officer’s face.

  “Go,” Golves snapped, pulling his gaze away from Crief to Lears and Teevus. “Return to your own.”

  Teevus started across first. Lears, appearing worse for wear, needed a prodding before he too shuffled along. Halfway across, he stumbled and almost toppled into the trench below. Tiro moved forward and assisted him.

  “Right,” Stiger said once the two imperial officers had safely crossed, kicking Crief lightly with a boot. “On your way.”

  Crief didn’t even hesitate. He walked boldly over the planks, stopped on the other side, and offered Stiger a mocking salute.

  “See you soon,” Crief said.

  “If you do,” Stiger said, still angered that the man had been freed, “I will be sure to give you a few inches of steel.”

  Crief laughed at him. “I think it’s you who will be the one stuck with Rivan steel.” He started walking toward the enemy encampment. Golves motioned for his lieutenant to accompany Crief.

  “I take it your prefect’s answer is no?”

  “Did you really expect us to capitulate?” Stiger asked.

  “No, I most certainly did not,” Golves answered and looked over the fort’s walls. “We were always going to have to do this the hard way.”

  “Lieutenant Aggar.” Stiger said. “He’s one of yours, isn’t he?”

  “Oh no,” Golves said with an amused chuckle. “I am afraid he’s one of yours. It’s just that we pay him better.”

  “So, Aggar’s your source of information then?”

  “Perhaps.” Golves offered a smile of sorts and then sobered. “I am sorry that you will have to soon die. You have proven to be a worthy and honorable adversary.”

  “I shall be sorry to have to kill you,” Stiger replied. “You seem honorable as well.”

  With that, Golves offered Stiger a nod and left with his two soldiers, trekking their way back toward their camp. They had left the planks in place. Stiger used his boot to tip them over and into the trench.

  He swung his gaze across the two freed prisoners. Lears had collapsed to the ground. The prefect had a broken arm, and his face was hardly recognizable from the pounding he looked to have taken during questioning. The man’s nose was broken too, as were several teeth. Dried blood had darkened his filthy tunic.

  “Thank you,” Teevus said, tears in his eyes. The lieutenant’s face was nearly purple from bruising. “Thank you for trading us.”

  “Had it been up to me, I would not have traded. You owe your thanks to Prefect Merritt.”

  “What?” Teevus said, incredulous. “You would have left us in their hands?”

  “I don’t think either of you was worth trading,” Stiger said.

  “That’s because you are a bastard,” Lears glared at him, “just like your father.”

  “I am,” Stiger said. “Tiro, see that the prefect is helped along. In his current state, I doubt he can make it on his own.”

  “Aye, sir,” Tiro said.

  With that, Stiger strode through the gate to the fort.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I would’ve expected them to attack last night, sir,” Tiro said, his gaze straying out towards the enemy camp. The early morning air was crisp, just like the day before. A fog that had partially shrouded the land had mostly lifted, revealing the full extent of the enemy’s camp and its activities throughout the night.

  Stiger, Tiro, and Eli were standing on the north-facing wall. The enemy army had encamped just beyond the second trench, their camp filling up the entire north side of the valley. There were thousands of tents and even more smoke trails that drifted slowly up into the sky. Stiger had to admit it was an impressive sight. What was more incredible was that the enemy army was still arriving with long columns of fresh formations marching out from the forest road nearly every hour.

  Though the fort’s catapult could easily reach the enemy’s camp, the prefect had held back from opening hostilities. He did not wish to speed up the unpleasantness that was sure to come.

  The sun had been up for maybe an hour. Stiger had finished walking the wall and found Tiro and Eli studying the enemy. Overnight, with thousands of men working by moonlight, the Rivan had thrown up an impressive defensive berm that was threatening to completely encircle the fort.

  “It seems they don’t want us getting out, either,” Stiger said, surveying the defensive works.

  “Would you?” Tiro asked. “If things were reversed.”

  Stiger shook his head.

  The enemy had brought up some artillery and set it up in a small field. Stiger counted four large machines that appeared capable of firing four- to possibly six-pound shot. Wagons had been moved up and teams were busy unloading shot, trampling the wheat as they went about their work. Worse, there was significant activity in the camp beyond, as a number of formations were assembling. A few had marched out and were working their way around the east side of the fort.

  Stiger let out a slow breath. The enemy did not seem to be in any pressing hurry to launch their assault, though from what he was seeing, it would likely come sometime this morning.

  “Let’s be grateful for the time they’ve wasted,” Stiger said. “Every moment squandered brings the Third that much closer to relieving us.”

  “I am sorry, sir,” Tiro said, “but that army across the way is much larger than the Third and her auxiliary cohorts. Will the general even be able to relieve us?”

  “It is,” Stiger said, “and he has to.”

  “I’m just sayin’, sir.”

  “I know,” Stiger said. “I know.”

  “This is much more exciting than remaining at headquarters with your general as an observer,” Eli said, speaking up. “I am so very pleased that I came and even more so that I made the decision to remain.”

  “Eli gets bored easily, sir.” Tiro shook his head. “You have to watch him or he gets himself into trouble, and sometimes others too.”

  “Get myself in the trouble?” Eli said, aghast, turning on the sergeant. “Why, Tiro, I ne—”

  “It’s the help he needs getting out of trouble that is the problem, sir,” Tiro said, flashing Eli a grin. “I could tell you a few stories, sir. Believe me, he bears watching.” Tiro looked as if he were about to say more, but paused and slowly turned his gaze on Stiger. The sergeant’s eyes narrowed as if something had just occurred to him. “You know . . . he is very much like you, sir. Sort of attracts trouble.”

  “Do you?” Eli asked with interest. “General Treim mentioned something about that, but I wondered if he was jesting. He is a hard man to read. Do you really attract trouble?”

  Stiger rolled his eyes.

  “He does,” Tiro said. “And don’t bother denying it, sir. Like when you ordered the company to attack that isolated section of men back at that farm? Only they weren’t so isolated, were they? Golves got on our trail and chased us something good.”

  “Oh my,” Eli said. “We’re going to have so much fun together. I can just tell.”

  “Wait a moment, you can’t blame—”

  Stiger was interrupted by a loud creaking, followed by a thud that came from out beyond in the field. This was immediately followed by a high-pitched whistling.

  “Down!” Tiro pulled Stiger to the ground behind the barricade. Eli dove and covered his head with his arms. A heartbeat later, there was a deep, shuddering impact behind them. Stiger looked and saw a great gout of dirt fall in a shower. When it settled, a crater three feet around had appeared where moments before there had only been grass. Stiger could see the white ball, partially exposed, sitting in the middle of the crater.

  Thankfully, no one had been injured. A horn sounded the call to arms. After a hesitation, the horn blew again. Barracks doors burst open. Like angry ants, auxiliaries began to boil out, making their way to their posts, tying helmet straps or slipping on their swords.

  Stiger looked up and over the edge of the barricade
at the enemy, just as there was another loud creaking out in the field, followed almost immediately by a thud. Stiger tracked the ball with his eyes as it arced up into the sky, whistling. The round contacted the tower to his left on the corner of the fort. It was a dead-on hit, and before he could blink, the wooden tower came apart. With a great splintering crash, it tumbled backward into the fort.

  Before Stiger could pull his eyes away, another ball slammed into the wooden wall just below them with a loud crack. Stiger felt the impact. The ball bounced back and out into one of the trenches.

  The fourth machine let fly with a ball that sailed clean over the wall and into the parade ground. It landed several yards from Stiger’s men, who were forming up. They scattered.

  “Tiro,” Stiger pointed, “get down there. Move our men back to the other side of the fort, preferably behind the keep. Have them shelter there until called.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tiro said and started off. “I’m on it.”

  “Tiro informs me when you learned of the enemy army, it was your idea to come. I now see why you wanted to remain here.”

  Stiger turned an astounded look upon the elf, wondering if he had gone barking mad. He supposed that Eli was teasing him. “Well,” Stiger said with a chuckle, “we’re both crazy for having decided to stay, aren’t we?”

  “Undoubtedly,” Eli said and bared his teeth in a full grin at Stiger. Small and needle-sharp, the teeth looked like they belonged in the mouth of a predator. Stiger resisted the urge to shudder and turned his gaze back toward the enemy, who were reloading the four machines to fire anew.

  Beyond the field, a large number of the enemy had lined the edge of their camp. They gave a great cheer to the artillery crews. Several waved back but quickly returned to their work.

  There was a crack off to the right. From the last remaining tower on the north wall sprung a bolt. The overly large dart shot out toward one of the enemy machines. The aim was low and it struck the defensive berm, harmlessly kicking up a spray of dirt.

  Auxiliaries on the wall gave a defiant shout. A number of catcalls were sent the enemy’s way. The crew down on the parade ground began loading the fort’s only catapult.