The tactics used for both clubs and mace fighting were identical. The clubs were obviously used for training because the spikes on a mace would cause devastating wounds. On the first day of training he gave me a large club, taking a smaller one for himself. He told me to hit him as hard as I could. I pointed out that he wore no armor but he shrugged as if it was of no importance. I took three or four swipes at him which he easily avoided. He displayed the arrogance of being the best in his field. He laughed at my efforts and called me names which I did not recognize since Tinker was back with Dwan. At one point he asked if I was serious about learning the club. When I answered in the affirmative he ordered me to stop holding back and use all of my strength. I once again pointed out that he was not armored. He just smiled in response. I asked if he was certain. He yawned and beckoned me forward impatiently. So I attacked with my full strength. He was surprised by my speed and just got his club up in time. My blow shattered his weapon, continuing on through to his shoulder. The force of the strike snapped him up and backward resulting in his rolling ass over teakettle several times before coming to a stop flat on his belly. Two bystander warriors rushed over to help him up. I dropped my weapon and ran over to him also, asking if he was injured. He looked at me but did not appear to know where he was. The big warrior’s eyes finally cleared and he and signaled that he was not injured. He then told me to wait in the sand pit for him.
He stalked off into the barracks and I went to refresh myself with a ladle of water from a bucket. In a few minutes he returned. He was wearing a helmet, arm and shoulder armor and full breast plate. He also had a shield and a war club as large as mine.
The war club is a weapon of brute strength more than anything else so I wasn’t especially surprised to find that I was naturally suited for it. But in the teachings of Pulg I found several useful tactics and moves that made me an even more formidable foe. He was especially fond of incorporating feints in his use of the weapon. From him I learned that a small movement of the shoulders or hips could fool an experienced combatant into shifting his guard thus leaving a portion of his body exposed to attack. Pulg eventually delighted in bringing out the largest of his pupils and setting them against me, sometimes several at one time. I always prevailed in these contests but not without suffering multiple bruises. The big instructor would laugh heartily every time one of his students fell to my weapon. Under his tutelage I steadily got better and my confidence grew daily.
Each night after my lessons I would return to my rooms to nurse my wounds. But such efforts could only be improved by the tender attentions of a trained healer and, in this area, I was truly blessed. Dwan would enter my room asking what new injuries I had managed to generate for myself that day. She would tend to me, laughing at the size of my bruises then spend the night in my bed. I was loving life. I prayed things would stay this way. They would not.
***
Two months after the farce of my hearing in the open court, I was summoned to meet Zander by the stables. I had been there several times before. It was a favorite haunt of the monarch and we had several times met there and discussed the details of my home world, a topic of which the king never seemed to tire. Dwan was elsewhere in the castle practicing her art. I never made it to the stables. As I exited the castle Zander, Ruguer and Vynn were standing by four mounted horses. They had been waiting for me and one of his men handed me a set of reins attached to the largest of the animals. It was obvious that something of grave importance was up and I withheld my questions in light of the King’s demeanor. We mounted without speaking and followed Zander out of one of the larger gates. I followed, wondering what was so important and why the mood of my companions appeared to be so grim.
Twenty minutes later I had my answer. We were astride our mounts on the bluffs overlooking the main valley of Olvion. This was the same place in which the first line of defense battlements had been embedded. Those emplacements were now empty, traces of blood spilled on the sand. We had stopped and spoken with some of the warriors assigned there when we first came to the city after having fled the outpost.
Now we looked back in the direction of the Grey Mountain range. The huge, elevated portion of the valley stretched fifty miles to the East and was bordered by the foothills marking the entrance to the mountains which were home to the Grey Ones. I saw multiple smoke clouds rising from the foothills. Zander was standing in his stirrups with a hand shading his eyes from the sun’s glare. Vynn wore a worried expression. I looked more closely. A lump rose in my chest accompanied by an icy sensation in my guts.
It was the Greys. They were a few days march from the city. And there were thousands of them. I walked my horse up next to Vynn. Zander and Ruguer were ahead of us and engaged in low conversation. For the first time I saw Vynn was wearing the silver collar device on his uniform tunic which marked his rank as Sub-Commander, the same as Mag-Gan.
“How did they get so close?” I asked.
Vynn swigged down a drink from his water flask and passed it to me.
“We don’t know. There was no alarm from our long range patrols and the night riders did not return this morning. We were taken totally by surprise. Somehow they managed to get close enough to our forward defenses in the darkness to overwhelm the warriors who manned them. The dawn patrols found their positions empty. And they found that.” He pointed to the blood.
Zander motioned us closer. He sat expressionless in his saddle. Ruguer scowled beside him.
“These are not the actions we have come to expect from Grey Ones.” the king said. “They are fierce fighters and usually employ effective but simple tactics. This is something new. A move such as this is an entirely different matter.” He pointed up past the foothills to the mountains themselves. Smoke from numerous distant fires stained the sky. “Thousands of them are still descending. This surprise attack on our patrols and guard posts is meant to delay our knowledge of their approach.” Zander looked to Ruguer. “What say you, First Sword?”
Ruguer nodded and followed that action with a long sigh. “That smaller group now already camped in the valley is meant to push us back inside, denying us the mobility of our cavalry,” Ruguer confirmed. He pointed to a group of thousands that were days ahead of the larger concentration and had already gathered miles closer inside the valley. I assumed that it was from this group that the surprise attack on our forward battlements had come. I recalled the warriors I had met there weeks earlier and wondered if they were among the dead.
“Our cavalry is our biggest advantage against them,” Ruguer turned to me and explained for my benefit. “Charon will not allow the Grey Ones to ride them. Those animals which are captured by them soon die. So they have no answer to our cavalry. We can expect a full attack by this advance lot sometime within the next three or four days. They will seek to drive us behind our walls and hold us there until the main force gets here.” Ruguer looked at his king. “We can hold against the siege for as long as necessary. But with the numbers I see out there they might be able to keep us inside and send their troops along both sides of the city walls toward the coastal kingdoms. It is the oldest and most effective tactic in warfare.”
I nodded. “Divide and conquer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Command
I watched from the walls as Ruguer and his cavalry patrols returned from their mission of harassing the Greys as they moved up from the foothills. After we returned to the city that morning the King’s Sword gathered his mounted warriors and struck the advance guard of the invaders. He was able to split his forces and attack both flanks on the first effort. After regrouping his cavalry he led a feint charge toward the center then veered at the last moment to hit the more vulnerable left flank again, inflicting significant casualties. The failing light and the fatigue of their mounts finally forced them to return to the castle.
Ruguer rode past the stables and almost into the castle proper, leaping from his horse and darting inside the edifice. I assumed he was heading for a conference with t
he king. I looked back at the approaching horde. The heat waves rising from the valley floor distorted my vision. They did not stop to attend to their dead and wounded but continued to push unceasingly onward. The strategy was obviously to trap us inside until their main force arrived.
I estimated the first wave of grey beasts to number about twenty thousand. Ruguer’s brave cavalry charges had killed or wounded some two thousand. It would not be enough. As I watched, the warriors that were manning the nearest outer defenses broke camp and began moving weapons and materiel back into the protection of the city walls. Zander had evidently decided that the outlying bunkers and posts were not defensible against such numbers. Smoke wafted upward as they burned anything that the Grey Ones could use to their advantage. I also saw several groups hurriedly installing traps such as bungee pits and other foot traps while looking over their shoulders at the approaching danger.
I felt impotent. As a lone fighter against a dozen or so of the much-smaller beasts I could be effective. In this type of assault, I was maybe the equal of three or four of our warriors. That made me almost useless in the grand scheme of things.
Tinker squirmed in her pouch, climbing out and attaching herself to my shoulder. She was also worried. She watched the scene taking place below us and a low trill emanated from her throat. Her tail, usually full and lush, now looked more like a rat’s tail, the fur laying tight against the flesh. I tickled her neck. “It’s all right, little girl. I’m sure Zander and Ruguer know how to handle this.”
A feeling of dread and anxiety filled me. It was coming from Tinker. I tried to sooth her but she was obviously upset. We were interrupted by Vynn.
“Good Tag-Gar, we are summoned by His Majesty.”
Tinker rode on my shoulder as I followed him to a “war room” located on the highest level of the castle. I was puffing as we topped the last of numerous sets of stairs. There was a large glass window overlooking the valley, the oncoming Grey advance body and the more distant main attack force. We were last to arrive and the doors closed behind us.
Besides myself and Vynn I saw Zander, Ruguer, Mag-Gan and Brackus, the Vice Monarch. My arms instructors Pulg and Layann were gathered in a corner talking to a group of others that I did not recognize. There was an oval table in the center of the room with a dozen or more chairs around it. The atmosphere in the room was one of concern but not fear. There was a threat to the city and these people were here to devise a solution. I was comforted by their attitudes. Tinker was still giving off her anxiety waves. I wondered if I was the only one who received them.
Brackus was seated at the table. He turned and saw me. His dark eyes went from my face to Tinker then back. I was reminded of the phrase “If looks could kill”.
Ruguer waved everyone to the table. The talking died and they all pulled out chairs. I didn’t think I was expected to sit with them so I leaned against the wall but Vynn beckoned me over and pulled out a chair for me. I had no idea what help I was expected to provide. I was not a soldier. They called me “Warrior” but I did not have their knowledge of tactics and strategies. Ruguer waited until we were all sat then spoke.
“The reason for our meeting is obvious,” he pointed to the window. “His Majesty has asked you here because he feels each of you has a unique perspective on this situation. We will be asking for comments later but for now let me tell you what we know.
“In a surprise move our outposts were overrun early this morning by groups of Grey Ones that snuck up close to our defense positions under cover of darkness. We assume they attacked in unison during the night, a tactic we have never seen them employ. All of our warriors assigned to those positions were killed. The same is true of our compliment of night riders from last evening. The purpose of that maneuver was to allow their advance body to get closer to the city without our sentries being able to warn us,
“There are some twenty thousand fighters in the Grey’s advance body and another two hundred thousand or so four days behind them. We have a thousand cavalry with five hundred spare mounts. Even if we fill those extra five hundred saddles we don’t have enough to rout the advance attackers without suffering an unacceptable number of casualties.
“In the entire kingdom we have a total of sixty thousand warriors. They are mostly Olvioni, supported by men and women from the Coastal Kingdoms. The other kingdoms will send us reinforcements but I fear they will be far more worried about protecting their own people once word reaches them about the numbers we are facing. At any rate, I will be sending out riders asking for assistance. We would especially like to have more cavalry. Vynn, I would like you to carry our request.”
Vynn put his fist to his chest and nodded his consent. Ruguer continued.
“Our biggest problem is numbers. Simply put, they have many more bodies. Their biggest problem is logistical. Such huge numbers are hard to feed, water and equip. I have no idea how they are providing water for so many troops. But I do know how they are feeding them.”
A feeling of revulsion washed over the room.
“We have not heard from any of our more distant outposts and must assume they are lost”, Ruguer continued. What little time we have had for preparation we owe to the Warriors Mag-Gan, Vynn and Tag-Gar.”
This apparently was too much for Brackus to stomach. He stood and addressed Ruguer.
“Forgive me, but I feel you may be giving them more credit than they merit, First Sword. I don’t know if abandoning a post of duty would actually qualify as an act of courage. Isn’t it possible that holding the outpost would have bought us even more time for preparation?”
Mag-Gan started to stand. His expression was not a happy one. King Zander stopped his rise with only a look. He regained his seat but the glare he was still sending Brackus’ way was withering. Zander turned to Brackus.
“Good Vice-Monarch, I welcome your observations. But I won’t have brave deeds questioned by non-combatants.”
Brackus’ face darkened at the obvious slight. Honestly, the man was totally incapable of hiding his emotions.
Zander continued.
“Mag-Gan followed my orders. He held his post until it became obvious that Olvion was in danger. He brought us that information. He risked his life and that of his warriors to do so. Tag-Gar, having no obligations toward us, put his life at risk to engineer a plan to break their siege and destroy the enemy. Few in this room have done as much in defense of this kingdom.”
It was another pointed comment aimed directly at Brackus. It was the first time I had heard Zander be anything but diplomatic to his second-in-line. The intent of the king’s words were realized and the Vice-Monarch dropped his eyes, aware he was not among friends in this gathering of warriors.
Ruguer cleared his throat. “If I may continue? I will be dispatching scouts to gather information. We have dozens of secret ways into and out of the city that the enemy will never discover. If we can identify their supply lines we may be able to devise a way to interrupt them.
“In the meanwhile we have one critical task: We must find a way to destroy this advance arm of the invader’s army before the main body reaches us. We cannot be bottled up inside our walls. Actually, it would not be all that difficult to destroy the advance wave. We have more than sufficient number to accomplish such a task. But it must be done in such a way as to minimize our losses. We cannot afford the loss of our cavalry or significant reductions of our warriors. We will need every single fighter we now have and then some to repel the approaching main horde. Therein lies our problem. We welcome all suggestions.”
The Warrior Commander sat. Everyone looked around, waiting for someone to speak. Finally, Pulg rose.
“If it please Your Majesty, Warrior Layann and I have been training our warriors for several years. In that time we have noted several…special individuals. By that I mean warriors who excel in the use of various weapons or are physically exceptional. Indeed we have soldiers whose abilities would astonish you. Some can run long distances at top speed without tiring. O
thers are able to strike so quickly with their weapons as to be almost unstoppable. My fellow weapons instructor and I have long discussed the possibility of using a few of these select individuals as a special unit. They can be used for scouting of course but also for strategic strikes at the enemy.”
Zander frowned. “To what purpose? A small body of warriors would have value as gatherers of intelligence but how could they possibly inflict significant damage to an enemy comprised of such numbers?”
Pulg nodded to Layann. She stood.
“Your Majesty, I have seen mighty charon crippled after stepping in a glin burrow and breaking their leg. A tiny, biting insect that is slapped at by an imprudent warrior can reveal the location of an ambush to the enemy. The sizes of these pests are negligible compared to the damage they may cause. The test is to identify and strike at the most damaging place at the most damaging time.”
The king smiled. “I knew there was a reason Ruguer included you in this meeting.” He looked approvingly at his chief warrior. “Do you have a team assembled?”
Layann, still standing, nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. We have assembled four teams and have been training after duty hours for some months now as a unit. With your approval, and that of the King’s Sword, we will send them out when you dispatch your scouts. Each team will be led by a warrior who will use his judgment as to where and when or even if they will strike.”
“Done,” said Zander. “Make it so. We can never have too many surprises for this enemy. Now, as to strategy, I feel the best option would be to draw the enemy vanguard close to the city walls in order to put them under our archers. I know our warriors would prefer to meet the Greys shield to shield on the field of battle but the overriding concern now is to protect our numbers and keep them available for the larger battle to come. We should all be thinking of ways to lure the enemy close to the walls, if that is even possible. In the past that would not be overly difficult. But for some reason they are showing an intelligence and ability to plan that we’ve not previously seen from them.” The king stood.
The Olvion Reality (The Chronicles of Olvion Book 1) Page 19