"Are there others here?" He asked and looked around.
"They are, but you won't find them. We are a shy race, but inquisitive too. We will hear what you have to say."
He then met the dog-size fiend's keen stare. "Why do you reveal yourself then?"
"Because I am curious as to how a human can speak to us when no other has before. I was also there when you fought Leera for command of these lands. It was certainly quite a show, but then I saw something in you as you fought. I'm unsure what it is, but it is as if something is happening that hasn’t been done. Like I said we are inquisitive."
A large shadow enveloped the two of them and Nightshade stepped back. Shade then said "Brother, Crush said it is time."
He nodded then turned to the Frox leader. "Nightshade, I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you again and speak further."
"We shall see." With that he laid down in the grass where he had a clear view of the center of the clearing.
Alex stood beside both Crush and Shade, with Ava perched proudly upon the leather pad strapped to his shoulder. In a clear voice he greeted everyone and explained who he is and why he came. Many fiends laughed at the request to join him and return to Freelan to join their ranks, but as he continued talking the creatures began getting entranced by his eloquent speech. Alex didn't lie the first time as he openly spoke of his situation and that of the thousands of other fiends who follow him loyally. Shade spoke on several occasions as the High Alpha, but left much of the talking to his brother. After saying much of what he had to, he then gave an incentive. "Whether you come with me or not is up to each one of you, but should you leave with me to fight know this, I have spoken with my grandfather and we will set aside an entire mountain range with a grand forest in Ra'van that will be home only for fiends. Not one human will be able to live there so you can live your lives however it pleases you. It will be a place to raise your cubs, kittens, pups, chicks and kits in relative safety. " That alone caused the other fiends to whisper. "I give you my word as the heir to Ra'van that if we succeed you will have a home in the wild, free of any human threat or encroachment." To end the speech he said "Now it is up for you to decide. I want your answer by noon tomorrow and you'll learn the rules that will need to be obeyed for we shall leave the very next morning."
Before long the talks subsided and the gathering scattered to decide on their own. Only Crush and Leera remained with Alex and the others, mainly so that Niranene and Krum could keep a careful eye upon them.
Just before he bedded down for the night Crush grunted "Alex, may I ask a question?"
"Aye."
"Will it be possible if I may come with you. I've spoken with Krum and Leera extensively and they have said that my healing progress will be done by the time you meet up with your other humans. I would like to take Leera, when your war ends, to make a haven for just the two of us for the rest of our days."
Interest piqued within Alex. "I would feel better knowing you were coming, but the pace we'll set will be quick. Are you sure you can manage?"
He snorted. "It is only my upper shoulder that is injured. I will match the pace you'll use better than Leera." And that made her growl in indignation.
"Then you're welcome to join, but remember you will need to pair up with a human like everyone else."
It was at that Crush reeled. He thought he'd be fighting on his own. Soon he looked around and said "As much as I loathe pairing with a human I can tell there is little choice. If I must then I'll choose the older human over there to work with."
"Jakz?" He asked in surprise.
Crush's large head bobbed. "Besides you, he is the only human who didn't give off a scent of fear when the fiends gathered earlier. He doesn’t show fear."
"If that is what you want then I'll speak with him."
The look on Jakz's expression alone, when he learned of his new partner, was ecstatic. While Alex slept Krum took the initiative to translate between the two new partners, using the chalk and board. By midnight the two established a silent way to communicate in a basic, but in effective way.
Morning dawned yet again, but not a single fiend had returned to take the offer. Saddened and disappointed, Alex laid against Shade's chest and waited. Hours passed, but there wasn't a sign that anyone had chosen to follow.
An hour before the noon deadline Alex sensed he is currently being watched, but he looked in the direction and saw nothing. There wasn't any malice from the watcher, but after being through so much he understood the feeling of being spied upon.
He looked away and casually grabbed a handful of sand. In a blur of motion, Alex tossed the thousands of grains of fine sand in the direction and went back to what he was doing. From the corner of his eye he knew his movement had been too fast for the creature to comprehend.
The sand gently fell back to the ground, but not before clinging to a void. Just like Travis' item, a Frox stood invisible not twenty feet away, but the fine sand barely gave its shape and position away. It didn't move or make any sound, probably thinking it hadn't been discovered.
A smile touched Alex as he ignored the creature. One is more than none. He thought contently.
With the sun high in the sky still no one else returned and Lily laid a hand on Alex's shoulder. "I'm sorry that none have come."
"Are you sure about that?"
A puzzled look crossed her lovely features as he stood. His voice altered as he looked at the ground ten feet away. "Come now Nightshade, I know you are here. Three of you stand behind me, to take me down if I threaten you in any way for your protection while the rest of your peoples are scattered all over the place."
Gasps came from all around and not all were human. Nightshade's invisible form became hazy one moment and the next he stood visible to all. The sly grin is impossible to miss, but it was his excited eyes that gave away how impressed he is. "Not bad, human." then his eyes roamed over the open area. "Come now my brethren, we all made our choice, it is time to all show ourselves."
Frox from all around dropped their ultimate camouflage to reveal five-and-thirty nearly wolf size fiends. They remained in place, uncertainty the most common expression. For shy creatures, this was difficult, revealing ones self.
Before Alex could say anything large movement in the nearby shrubs made over half of the Frox vanish. The three smaller Shadow Fangs entered next.
It was as if when the Frox showed themselves the other fiends came in.
Within the next half hour four-and-ninety fiends chose to follow Alex, for their own reasons. The joy in Alex's heart swelled at seeing how many chose to come.
Now comes the difficult part. Laying down the rules and consequences for breaking them. They listened to Alex and scoffed at times, but the seriousness of his words gave no doubt he would not tolerate any insubordination.
Before nightfall Alex had everyone go hunt for the night to regain their strength for the morning's return journey. After all was finished only one fiend left when he didn't want to be burdened with rules or partnering.
As dawn revealed the way for all, everyone stood prepared and began a fast trot back to Freelan. They went as fast as the slowest Pikro, but made good time.
***
Chapter 8
"My queen! The front lines are secure."
Allahandra stepped out of her carriage as the driver pulled on the reigns. One of her three guards came forth on his Beran lioness and handed her the reigns of her most prized steed Tana, the powerful warhorse that fought with her during the major confrontation back in her home country. Tana’s calm disposition made it easy to mount and as she tugged her dress into a comfortable position atop her horse and glanced around to see four more of her personal guards and their fiends take up position. It remained slightly unnerving to be surrounded by Shadow Fangs, Beran and Grizon who had undeserved reputations that had been told in ignorance. Still, these giant and fearsome creatures struck primal terror in everyone, which came in handy at times. Especially for protection. A glance
above showed Breaker, her own fiend partner and leader of the Fury, circled loyally above and scouted for any signs of danger to her.
"Take the lead, Captain." She ordered and began trotting towards the halfway point of her entire objective.
As they made way towards the front of Freelan she quickly went over all that seemed pertinent at the moment.
The spies she had planted within Central City reported that what she had feared came to pass. The cavalry of the Guard had nearly killed their mounts to reach and fortify the city. All her plans to stop them failed, just as Angie predicted and five score out of seven returned four days before to report the failure. The enemy had set up strong defenses against attack, but she still had to try. Now Central City has nearly twenty thousand warriors to defend it. Not many compared to her numbers, but a new siege wall and high ground gave them the advantage.
Her spies have also given fewer and fewer reports because the city is under martial law and will not allow anyone outside the lone southern gate. But as fortune would have it, they hadn't been caught because the different codes were always right for the day. The fortifications had been completed months ago and the city they are about to lay siege to is simply sitting there like a grinning fool who knows it would be unwise to attack such a large city.
Battlements were already under construction as she and her guards passed the last tent and the area opened up to reveal the massive city. The two largest buildings stood prominent behind the walls. One being made of stone revealed the giant prison and the mostly wooden one housed the horde of Royal Guard. Hundreds upon hundreds of the warrior class stood vigilant on the outer walls, waiting for Freelan to strike.
A silent hush fell across the men as the queen stopped to survey the area for herself for the first time. An open league separated her forces from the city's. Notwithstanding the nearly league of distance, it remained a tense space for both sides realizing a major confrontation is coming quickly. It truly is a great city despite the gruesome history of the prison and unfounded executions for any who disagree with Runkamon's policies.
Thirteen days had passed since Alex departed to rally reinforcements and no matter how hard she tried it remained impossible to determine his location let alone what he is up to. His unique Furion abilities make it impossible to follow or see him in any way, via item. Even with every seer pooling their resources they cannot even glance so much as a glimmer. She even had Angie, a dear friend and her most powerful seer look for Niranene, Marlin, Lily and even Travis' son, but with Alex involved so deeply they too disappeared. So much did she rely on her specialists it was difficult not knowing where they were. Allahandra didn't realize how important Alex, Niranene, Marlin and Lily are until they all left together. She had begun to feel the effect nearly immediately. Their personalities always made things interesting and worth all the effort. She simply hoped all remained well and that they would return soon.
And then there were the fiends reactions to Alex's missing presence. They still remained priceless in their powerful skills to the cause, but they weren't the same. It seemed that without a Furion to follow they have a hard time following orders, she understood well.
There is something about Alex that makes anyone he meets to want to follow, a quality hard to fight against. It wasn't his Dominance for she had been on the receiving end once before, by her own curiosity and found it unsettling how easily he could control others if he so wished. If she weren't queen of her own country she would naturally defer to him since he seemed to inherently know just what to do to irk the enemy like none other. She both deeply respected and feared him. The fiends must look to the Furion more than she could ever comprehend. Several disagreements, as she liked to think, broke out with the fiends on several occasions these past days and the fiend leaders were there to settle them before further bloodshed could be spilled. Not one fiend died against another, but the wounds were brutal. She hoped to never see another challenge like that one in her life. Even now it gave her the chills.
Then a seriously unfortunate problem arose two days before when one of the mercenaries she hired in a captured town here in Gagiat got drunk and killed an Orggian simply because he didn't like fiends and the ale loosed his bigoted beliefs and tongue. All of the fiends were outraged and tore up the ground to write that retribution was needed. And just as her love and top general Rakkian ordered months ago, to not harm any fiends except when provoked, the man was ordered to be executed, but he didn't hang like her people expected. The fiends rushed the murderer when the order had been translated on a large board, brushing the guards aside like blades of grass, and literally ate him before her warriors, showing just what awaited them should they not only disregard orders, but what happens should anyone harm the harmless Orggian. Allahandra had been present as the man had been eaten and gained a healthy, yet fearful respect for how the law of fiends were applied when that law broke. From then on Allahandra always had a human warrior nearby to protect the Orggian.
Breaker used his talons to write that protecting the Orggian would smooth out relations between the species. It did, but her people didn't like having one of their own eaten, even if it was to a mercenary. Nevertheless, they reached their halfway destination even more expedient than the calculations she expected.
"My Queen, the seer Angie has requested you come to the command tent for the regular report."
Breaking her train of thought she peered at a young man whom she used often to deliver her orders because his speed and reliability always impressed her. She smiled pleasantly and said she'd be there shortly. He bowed and ran back. Allahandra then looked to her highly attentive guards and their partners who continually scanned for a threat. "Shall we be going then?"
Her men all acknowledged her in their own way and they turned around to safely escort her back into the safety of the center of camp where the command tent had been erected.
The yellow, black and green tent had been assembled, but her men were still busy stocking it from the wagons that held many comforts. On the other side stood a slightly smaller tent that housed the treasure she was forced to bring to buy food for her people along the way, buy mercenaries and even bribe those with connections that will save lives to infiltrate cities and make the temporary occupation easier. But besides her treasure store she also had items from specialists stored in the same nearby tent. If the men inside learned of something they would be near her tent to inform her on any subject. Allahandra is anything but a fool. Of course she knew it wasn't a great idea to store all her most valuable treasures in one location, but she had that tent guarded nearly as securely as her command tent. A very short list of people were allowed into either tent and if the guards didn't know the person they were detained until their identity was verified and if they resisted they would be killed on sight.
Allahandra dismounted and straightened her light green silk dress and bracelets. The delicate golden tiara remained properly in place and her long and straight ebony hair rested behind her shoulders. Lastly she checked to make sure her ornate dagger remained secure to her left forearm. Although not an item, she had been trained to use it effectively and the many men who fell to the blade in the last major battle can attest. Even with all her powerful guards she still felt better with a blade near.
Her guards dismounted and checked that the tent proved safe before she could be allowed in. Allahandra at first didn't like them doing this, but their job was her protection and they took it very seriously and left nothing to chance. While they secured the area she handed the reins of Tana to the boy who retrieved her and he took her steed away. When the warriors deemed it safe they opened the curtains fully and she entered and took her place at the backside of the room with Breaker walking in her shadow. Besides the one worker arranging the tent's furniture in its usual way, only Angie and her Pikro partner along with Takka and Ginger were present. Angie sat fully absorbed and engrossed in seeing off into the future and didn't realize who entered until Takka gently nudged her shoulder.
<
br /> Snapped back to the present, Angie turned her breathtaking features to all within the room. Eventually Allahandra asked "You sent the squire for me, ya?"
"Indeed." Angie allowed and gracefully wiped her brow from the perspiration of focusing too intently. "You asked of me to look at what our future holds within the week and how events will allow us to proceed in the coming months. Most I've been able to understand can be easily altered.
"Allow me to say first that the clearest vision came from the weather, but it isn't what we were hoping for. This year's winter will be severe and if you pushed the campaign through during such time over three quarters of our entire force will die from starvation, sickness and cold."
Allahandra kept her dark gaze calm and her expression matched. "I had hoped this winter would be mild, but it won't alter my plans too much. There is a reason I have waited till late in the year to begin this campaign, knowing winter will be coming swiftly. The only concern is how quickly we can capture Central City for we could house here safely till the snow melts. If we can claim it we can use its defenses to hold off any attacks till we can muster our strength and finish off Runkamon by Fall this time next year. I see no reason for him to ride out on Jerkin during the dormant season since he hadn't fought us thus far. He most likely believes we'll wear ourselves out by the time we reach his royal city."
"I cannot tell if he will or not, seeing as how I'm blind to those blasted Furions." Angie said bitterly. Although she admired Alex she always remained apprehensive when the future remained uncertain with him so intertwined with everything. "Now as to how our attack will go, I'm fairly certain we will breach the walls, but they have been warned on how we used the Fury in the previous battle to incapacitate the opposition and set up defenses. Apparently General Lot rode with the cavalry and has protected nearly the entire city in his vacuum barrier to ward off any Fury screeches. As you may have noticed he has set up a large light system to keep shadows at bay so utilizing Shadow Fangs to infiltrate the wall via their shadow will alert them to our plans. As of this moment I can only see breaching either the gate or walls by force. But if we cannot I have seen the city retains enough resources to wait us out till the next summer while we will be forced to starve without a constant stream of food to feed everyone. But I believe we will survive so long as we breach within the next week, otherwise the remaining Royal Guard force will press us from both sides."
Ra' van (Book Three of the Items Trilogy) Page 15