Calden was at ‘the meeting room’ and nodded to Daniel and Lissette as they entered. “Shall I assume you are creating lightening in the deep wood?” He asked.
“No, something else that is very loud,” Daniel replied, “but what of this crowd I keep hearing of?”
Calden let the merest hint of a smile show and said, “Your philosophy is drawing a large crowd of people who wish to join in your efforts. Barton seems to have them in hand for now but your presence will be required before too much longer.”
Daniel was dismayed by the idea of followers, so he pushed them from his mind and refocused on his immediate task.
Daniel gathered his team together and assigned them each a set of the materials he needed. After thinking about it long and hard he had decided to arm each of them. He kept thinking about introducing copper-clad 308 rounds and bolt action rifles into history. It had always been a game to him and his friends as they speculated on what kind of weapons were needed to change great battles and history. He thought of an old movie called Final Countdown where a modern aircraft carrier went back in time to Pearl Harbor and realized their one ship was more powerful than all the armies in the world put together. They were torn between their duty to protect the country and their fear of changing history.
He was trying to decide if he was changing history or altering the future but the philosophical dilemma was a black hole for him. In the end, two more days had passed before his merry men, as he was starting to think of them, were armed and reasonably dangerous.
They sat in their meeting room and tried to come up with a plan. “We could take on a large force of the Baron’s men now, four or five times our number, maybe” Alan said with a little too much enthusiasm.
Daniel watched the others nod and was glad they did not have Alan’s sense of glee.
“Calden, what do you think?” Alan asked hopefully.
The reply came slowly as Calden was thinking through the possibilities. “There is truth in what you say about taking on a larger force, but there are only a few of us and we can only shoot so fast. Too large a force on horseback could overwhelm us by closing the distance quickly and being on us with swords.” He paused again to consider the applications and the outcomes. “I think the sound of the weapon will frighten people the first few times they hear it, and possibly make them flee. But they will rally and come back. We need to make the fear go deeper and last longer to buy more time.”
The others were nodding in agreement as they pondered his words. Durbin broke the silence. “What if we take on a small squad making sure we get them all? When they don’t return that will add fear. I suggest we start with numbers no more than twice our own and see how well our plan tests out in battle. Then we can adjust our tactics.”
This also got nods of agreement. “You are describing guerilla warfare,” Daniel said. “It means hit and run tactics using surprise and fear. The longer we can keep the Baron and his men afraid to come into the woods, the larger and better trained our army gets.”
“Speaking of which,” Barton added, “we have more than seventy men and women now, of all kinds, and at the rate they are showing up that will double by tomorrow and again in another two days. We are handling it now, but food and shelter is going to begin to be a problem soon.”
“What do you suggest?” Daniel asked.
Barton replied, “We can send some back to tell any others to come with at least a week’s food and organize to buy food from the villages and farmers. I believe a little gold can buy a good bit of time.”
“How much do we need?” Daniel asked.
“About ten coins the size of your silver dollar should buy us a week or better,” Barton smiled.
“Can we use magic to make more food?” Durbin asked looking at Daniel.
“As hard as this is for me to say aloud and believe my own ears,” Barton said shaking his head in disbelief. “It will be far easier for Daniel to make silver and gold than bread.”
“Even with all of the gold we need, we can’t stay ahead of them long,” Calden stated matter-of-factly. “Food has to travel and that takes time. We need to do enough to frighten the Baron’s men away for a few weeks. We can sustain our small army that long with what we can buy within range, but that is probably the most we can hope for. In that time we need a plan to draw the Baron out where we can end this.”
“Calden, how big an army do we need to take the Baron in the open,” Daniel asked.
“Good question. With the rifles and a hundred stalwart men we could probably beat his garrison once we get in the castle. But, it would have to be fast to keep reinforcements from the king from getting here in time to help.”
“Let’s spend another couple of days practicing with the rifles and begin a campaign of terror on any of the Baron’s men foolish enough to leave the forest. Calden, that is your domain. Come up with a plan and let’s try it. I think several of the ideas here would work in combination. We don’t want them to be able to relax and we want to keep the rifles a mystery for as long as possible.”
They broke for the evening with Daniel and Lissette heading to Eliana’s. He knew something was amiss and she was apparently trying to hold it in till they got to their room.
Despite a vigorous discussion that others might have seen as an argument, Daniel found no way to dissuade Lissette from her demand to accompany them on their raids.
“I am as good a shot or better than any of the others!”
“Well, true…but….”
“The extra soldier increases the likelihood of success!”
“Well, yes, but…..”
“I will not sit here worrying about you. I will be with you to make sure I am not a widow before I am married!”
“But there is no sense in both of us-”
“Both of us? You don’t get elven matches do you? You are it for me and me for you. Forever. No ifs…no buts! If you go without me on these raids you will be going other places without me as well!” At that she crossed her arms in front of her chest, back rigid and waited for him to do the math. When he hadn’t solved the equation fast enough, she looked down at the bed she was standing on the far side of. In another second it clicked and he let out a deflating sigh. There was no doubt in his mind she might hold a grudge for fifty or a hundred years. The idea of how long they might live and how long her memory might be, coupled with the knowledge that she was right and he was trying to be chivalrous before the word was invented, led to his surrender.
“Your right, there is no good reason other than me being worried about you.” He said.
“So somehow it’s better for me to worry about you, than it is for you to worry about me? Do you listen to yourself?” She asked still in a huff.
He was listening to himself now. And he had to admit that logic just didn’t hold up here, if it did anywhere.
“Lissette, I have never been in this sort of relationship before and my instincts don’t seem to fit.” His reply to her was frustrated and pleading for understanding. He didn’t want her mad and he didn’t want her to get hurt. Preventing both was not an option.
At that she softened a little. She was reminding herself of the gulf he was crossing. “Women in your world don’t fight?” She asked with a lower, softer tone.
Oh, crap, he thought, I should have given up way before this. I see two possible answers: one is a lie and the other has me sleeping alone. “Some women are soldiers, yes, but this isn’t about ‘women’ fighting, this is about you being where you could be hurt and the idea scares me.”
She considered his words for a minute. She couldn’t really be mad at someone who cared and she knew she couldn’t stay mad at him long either way. But she also knew this was the time to drive home the point that he went nowhere without her. And, she thought, the longer she could keep him from finding out how short term her temper could really be with him, the better.
“We will pretend this conversation never happened, unless you
bring this attitude out again and then I will make you pay twice.” She saw Daniel wince at the idea and knew she had won. “Then with that nonsense behind us, I suggest we focus on something else,” and began to unlace her jerkin.
This is how it happens, Daniel thought, as his eyes remained on her. This is how they get control.
Could be worse, he inwardly shrugged, and he started removing his own clothes as quickly as he could.
TWENTY-FOUR
Three days later lookouts brought back word that a patrol was headed toward the wood. Durbin knew the area and led them to a spot where they could stay concealed. They formed an arc around the path the soldiers were likely to follow. The plan had been worked out previously. The arc was wide, more like a big smile and while it might not have been the best arrangement, Daniel thought it might be safest. His biggest concern was one of them accidentally shooting another by following the targets too far out of their optimal firing zone. The wide angles should open up the distance between shooters. A few of the other elves and humans accompanied them, some as eager to watch as to fight. They were told to keep a tree between them and the fight and to pick off any stragglers in case some attempted to escape.
The Baron’s soldiers followed the path as expected. No one wanted to ride side by side badly enough to fight the branches that encroached the trail from both sides.
“I hate these woods,” the third soldier, Tommy, said in a loud whisper that carried well to the corporal in front of him. “Why do we have to be the first to go this far?” He asked plaintively.
“This is what we get paid for, Tommy. It had to be somebody and this time it was us. Now shut up before they know where we are or by God I will have your pay docked and make sure you get stable cleaning duty.”
The threats were hollow and everyone knew the corporal was a reasonable man, at least until someone was foolish enough to really push him. The other nine men smiled and knew Tommy was letting out his fear with a little soldierly bitching.
But it didn’t really matter in the long run as no one on this patrol would be collecting their pay.
The band of riflemen had their assigned targets and were staggered along the trail to provide maximum defense from friendly fire. The signal was a bird call Calden made. They were to wait for the call and then two heartbeats before firing.
“Yes, Captain?’ The Baron asked without looking up from his papers. Everyone knew he didn’t like being disturbed while he was handling his correspondence, but he was mostly done and did enjoy watching the rigid nervousness of those who dared interrupt.
“Sir, we have lost the patrol we sent into the wood.”
The Baron and his advisor Jason both looked up at the pronouncement. “What do you mean, ‘lost’?”
The Captain had been practicing his expected responses on his ride in to report. Still they seemed inadequate standing before the Baron. “We sent a patrol led by Corporal Anders, sir, as instructed, to scout activity on the edge of the woods. They went in, sir, but never came out. Ten men and Anders. When we were sure they were too long overdue, we sent scouts to track them and they didn’t come back either.
Next day we sent a full squad to the area to look for the scouts and the patrol. Twenty-four went in, sir, and six came out with wild tales, and terrified past anything I have ever seen.”
“Terrified of what?” The Baron asked. “They have all fought elves before.”
“If the tales can be believed, sir, thunder began all around them and men were getting knocked out of the saddle and hitting the ground dead. They said they were at the rear or they would never have got out to bring the tale. Some of those men were old time veterans, sir, and the kind that don’t spook easy.”
The silence clung in the air for long seconds. Jason watched the Baron just staring at the Captain and getting redder and redder.
“Captain,” Jason said, breaking the silence, “were any of the bodies recovered?”
“No, sir. The men are too scared to go back in there.”
If the Baron was red before he was crimson with anger now and Jason was starting to fear for the Captain. To break some of the tension he asked, “Did the men report lightening?” His tone was flat and unemotional.
“That is another part of the mystery what has everybody so spooked, sir. We had other patrols not a mile back and while they reported hearing the thunder the skies didn’t even have a cloud.”
“Cowards! Nothing but cowards!” the Baron nearly screamed, “Captain, there were no survivors on that patrol, and I want those cowards’ heads here tomorrow to prove it, and I want you to bring them. Pray you get back before I lose my temper.”
The Captain saluted and fought the urge to run out of the Baron’s presence. Seeing him flee seemed to sooth the Baron a bit and he turned to Jason. “What do you think of this tale?”
Jason knew to be cautious, the Baron was just a step below one of his violent rages and Jason wanted to be sure that it wasn’t focused on him.
“It is possible they have some new magic. After the breech in the dungeon we would be wise to consider that they have some new abilities, possibly taught them by the one who escaped with old Barton.”
“How can one elf do this?” The Baron asked.
“I don’t know yet, Baron, but we need more information if we are going to fight this,”
Jason replied in even tones, careful not to be incendiary. He watched the Baron sizzle for a moment and then saw the color move from dark red down to the safer color of simple frustration and - fear?
“Find out what we are up against, Jason, this is no time to fail me.”
The merry men were exhausted. Hiding on the edge of the woods for three days, sleeping on the ground, no fire, and someone on watch constantly had taken a toll on all of them.
Returning to the enclave, they described to the elders what had happened. The first patrol of ten went down quickly and the elves that accompanied them never had to do more than nock an arrow. They removed the bodies and buried them, and after loading the horses with weapons and other gear, two of the elves led the animals to the encampment where the mix of halflings and humans was gathering.
The elves and halflings with Daniel were always quiet and focused but even more so now. Daniel could tell their emotions were mixed. As much as the Baron’s soldiers needed to be dispatched, the sheer simplicity and quickness of the fight had left them a little staggered. They said nothing but he could see it in their eyes.
When the guerillas returned to the enclave, the elders said little. The elves returning with the horses after the ambush had already spread the tale. Belwin asked the only question. “Did you let the six escape?”
“Yes,” Calden answered solemnly, “we realized that someone had to carry the story back or they would keep coming, so we let six go. It seemed like a good number to make the telling real and those that lived had fled in terror. I don’t think they were even controlling their horses, just clinging to them. The thunder of the rifles causes panic and the soldiers are too busy trying to control their horses to fight back. If they even knew how or what to fight.”
The thunder, as they all called it, was the almost synchronous assault on the ears and nervous systems of eight 308s firing almost together. On the second day, with the attack on the full squad, they chose peripheral targets for the first volley so it seemed to come from everywhere at once. The rifles had accounted for fifteen of the eighteen killed. Three had fallen and been trampled.
The elders thanked them and sent them for food and rest. Elves were sent to the edge of the woods to warn them of more incursions, but Calden was convinced that no more moves would happen till the Baron was told and that should buy a few more days.
Lissette and Daniel cleaned up as best they could and were asleep the instant they laid down. When he awoke Lissette was already dressed and gone so he dressed and headed for the kitchen.
“I can’t decide which of you looks the worst this morning.�
� Eliana had a smile that implied she was only half joking. In response to the question on Daniel’s face Eliana said, “Lissette had some errands to run and I have a few questions for you while you eat.” With that she emptied the contents of the skillet onto a large plate and set it in front of him. The proximity to the hot food was almost overwhelming and Daniel dug in.
After allowing him to get a few sizeable mouthfuls down Eliana started. “What you have done so far has been truly amazing. I don’t know how this will end but the elders wanted help and you have brought that.”
He watched her face and listened as he chewed, but her tone was starting to impact his appetite.
“Assuming we all live through this,” her half smile was back, “have you considered what will happen next?”
That stopped him chewing completely. Next was to finish breakfast. Then next was to make more ammo, then next was... He hadn’t thought farther than that really.
Elves- the Book of Daniel Page 23