by Guy Antibes
Asem rubbed his chin. “If that is our optimum team, then who can be on your second team?”
“Honor knows Nullia’s strength. Perhaps there are good candidates among the Loyalists,” Kulara said. She blew in Asem’s ear and played with a lock of his hair. “My husband, alas, is very good at other things, but not for what we need.”
Ben joined them. “Determining who will defy General Niamo’s reservations about taking magic to the enemy?”
“Do you know any Loyalist magicians who might be good for our second flyer?” Trak said.
“No,” Ben said. “No Loyalists will go against Niamo’s orders. I’m pretty certain of that.”
“Kulara, Nullia and Honor.” Neel finished off the weak wine that he grabbed with breakfast. “Not optimum, maybe, but all of them are talented and none of them are Santasians.”
Trak rose from his seat and walked around the table. He felt unsettled with their proposal, unsure about the second group. “We don’t have to decide now, except I’m comfortable with the primary flyer. I’m going to go for a walk-around. Maybe I’ll run into Honor and she might have some other viewpoint.”
Asem and Kulara knew the General better than the rest and they didn’t seem to have any confidence in Niamo supporting a magician-based offense. He frowned and all of a sudden didn’t feel very well. His stomach began to cramp a bit, so he went back to his tent to lie down. Nerves, he thought.
He wondered if Senior Dalistro had a chance to talk to the General. He had seemed so confident that he could persuade his close friend, but it appeared that Niamo had a firm position against using magicians in an actual battle.
As he lay down, Trak put a hand beneath his head and stared at the roof of the tent. He remembered that magicians cleared land, created ditches and holes. Sometimes they set fire to woods as a barrier, but generally firebolts and lightning were used as distractors and not as primary offensive measures. He did remember a battle where a group of magicians had exceptionally powerful control over the wind and disrupted flights of arrows.
Trak knew that magicians fought each other with magic. Was that why the Santasian Council permitted the Absorption Spell? Perhaps they were as afraid of powerful magicians as the Colcanans were in Bitrium? What was he missing? Ben and the others seemed to support his plans, but they all expected to have to go out on their own.
If that were so, then why did he fight for the Loyalists? Why did he come here other than to follow Neel and Ben? Valanna certainly attracted him, again, in that confusing way. Although he had returned to Santasia, he still thought of himself as an exile in this land.
He realized that he came because of his friends. He would fight to save them from Riotro. He would fight to stop all the deaths. He hoped he had succeeded in saving a few thousand Kandannan lives and maybe more Santasian lives. The Toryans? Other than Tembul and the desire to save Able from his imprisonment, the Toryans could do whatever they wanted. He wouldn’t even care about returning to Kizru and becoming immersed in their political games, if they hadn’t imprisoned Able.
He sat up on his cot and felt he needed to talk to Misson. His former mentor would have the best overall political perspective, and he doubted that Garono would have much influence on Misson’s opinions.
Misson surprised Trak by poking his head in his tent. “The General will see you now.”
By the sound of Misson’s voice, he didn’t expect anything. “He hasn’t embraced my ideas?”
“No. My father can usually twirl the General around his little finger, but not when it comes to innovative ways to use magic on the battlefield, it seems.”
“So what do I do?”
Misson pursed his lips as they began to walk towards the General’s tent. “Listen to what the General says. Don’t fight with him.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Misson opened the General’s tent flap and let Trak go in first.
“There you are. I’ll make this quick,” the General said.
Trak looked around the tent for Senior Dalistro, but the man was absent.
“You have developed some innovative solutions for fighting Master Riotro, but I’m afraid I won’t approve them. Magic doesn’t have a place in my battle plans. It never has and it never will. Magic is an unpredictable element and it only confuses, the actions of real fighters. I expect Honor Fidelia and you to give us additional insight as to enemy movements and positions. Flyers are a truly a wonderful idea that Ben Nomia and you came up with.”
Trak balled his hands in to fists behind his back and nodded. “We will do what we can to quell the rebellion, General.”
Niamo waved his hand, signaling that the audience was over. “That is all.”
Trak quickly retreated, walking as fast as he could without drawing attention. When he made it to the edge of the camp, he took a number of deep breaths and then fired a bolt of lightning into the dirt just in front of him.
Misson caught up with Trak. “Does that help?”
Trak could only nod. He didn’t trust what might come out of his mouth. He didn’t even notice that Misson had followed him all the way through the camp.
“You gave General Niamo the appropriate answer. You will do what you can and did not commit to follow his orders. I was there, I’ll back up your memories, for I know you’ll have to answer for your seeming disobedience to his plans.”
“You want to let me do this?”
“Let you? I encourage you magicians to take the fight to the rebels in any way that will end this conflict more quickly. In fact, it would be a very good idea for you to fly out to Colonel Mirona’s army and grab Valanna and Nullia as soon as you can. That way, no one can issue conflicting orders in the meantime. Take your two teams, as you call them, and operate independently. None of you have given an oath of allegiance to Santasia. You are all operating on your own volition.”
“But won’t the General be furious?”
Misson laughed quietly. “Of course. That makes it even more of a spectacle that I will enjoy observing. Don’t you think you will react better to whatever Master Riotro throws at us than orders filtered through Adolphus’s chain of command?”
“That is part of the strategy,” Trak admitted. “As you said, waiting for orders will inhibit our response to Riotro’s actions.”
Misson put his arm around Trak. “Of course it will. You’ve already talked to the General. He won’t miss you at his strategy meeting tonight. Leave right now, and take Neel with you. The others can take care of themselves.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Good bye will do.”
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
After a few hasty farewells, Trak and Neel rose into the air and took off, heading northeast. They would turn further east when they reached the Glazia River and use that to guide them to Colonel Mirona’s army, which would be heading west.
“So what do I tell Valanna?”
Neel paused. Trak turned around to see him grinning at him. “I suppose you could tell her a lot of things. You still like her, don’t you?”
“I like my memory of her,” Trak said. “Who knows what she is really like by now? I don’t know if I’ve changed, but it sounds like she has.”
Neel stood next to Trak, watching the ground flow beneath them. “Life experiences change us all, some more than others. You, my boy, haven’t changed as much as others might, considering the situations you have faced. Standing up to your challenges helps keep off the changes, but they all grind at you. I should know. I didn’t stand up very well to my greatest challenges.”
“My mother’s death?”
Neel nodded. “The main one. I’ve never really gotten over it, but it has helped spending more time with you and traipsing around Santasia. Even my urge to drink has diminished. I guess Pestle wasn’t very good for me.”
“Not for me, either,” Trak said. “You must have had a tough time as a child, too.”
“I did, but bei
ng the antagonistic little sod that I was, maybe a bit less. I had some good people looking after me in Kizru, and my father and his wife weren’t so bad in Bitrium. I had my run-ins with Honor, but then brothers and sisters often fight. Ben helped me when they kicked me out of Bitrium.”
“Ben helped save my life,” Trak said.
“In a way, he saved mine, too.” Neel clapped Trak on the shoulder. “I’m glad we’re together, now.”
“I wish Father was here.”
“Able?”
Trak nodded. “I worry about him in Kizru.”
Neel chuckled. “Don’t. The Toryans don’t torture people or put them in dank, dark cells. Knowing Able, he’s probably planning how to import ale into the country. Maybe we’ll see him again running a tavern in the heart of the city.”
“I hope so.” Trak wasn’t so sanguine about Able and he wasn’t so sure that Neel was spouting off nonsense. “So back to my original question. How do we convince Valanna to leave and come with us?”
“Let’s ask her first. Maybe she will be more than willing to join us without you having to twist her lovely arm.”
Trak screwed up his face. “I’m not worried about Nullia. She has a mind of her own, and if she understands our situation, Nullia will come with us.”
“Ask Nullia first, if you’re not as confident,” Neel said.
“That’s a great suggestion.” Trak’s worries were left behind as the leagues began to flow behind them. “Hold on, I’m going to speed up,” Trak said, increasing their speed by saying the power word more forcefully.
~
The rebel army hadn’t reached where the Halgo flowed into the Glazia River, but Trak and Neel didn’t want to take any chances and moved into the middle of the river as they passed the broad river valley that the General intended to be the major battleground.
Forests swallowed up the shoreline as they headed further east. Trak flew over the tops of the trees. They spent a few hours of the night sleeping in a little meadow that Neel and Asem had used on their previous trip. They heated up porridge with their magic, and then set off. If the army had left as soon as Neel and Asem left their message, they should meet up with the Colonel in the morning.
Trak took the flyer up twenty stories. They both sought out any signs of an army from their vantage point. Then Trak flew to the far eastern range of their observation, and they did the same thing until Neel spotted a road that split a farmer’s fields.
“We can follow that,” he said.
Just before midday, Trak put the flyer down in an uncultivated stretch of land at the head of an army wearing Loyalist colors.
“I can use the rest,” he said as he drank some water. Neel grinned and joined him.
Trak noticed a shadow flit above his head. He looked up to see a flyer descend next to his. His stomach flipped, and he thought his heart had jumped up into his throat. Valanna turned around after she set the flyer down. He wondered if his eyes were as large and surprised as hers were.
“Valanna! We meet again, at last,” he said, nearly biting his tongue for such a lame introduction.
She leaned over a railing built into her flyer. “And I’ve waited a long time to see you.”
“We are here on, uh, military business.”
“The Colonel will be along in less than half an hour. We are now four thousand.”
She unhitched a length of railing and stepped off the flyer, looking past Trak. “Neel! Nullia and I missed seeing you when you visited last week.”
What? She hadn’t seen him in months and she’s excited to see Neel? Valanna had quickly destroyed Trak’s expectations of an intimate reunion.
Neel bowed to Valanna. “Where is Nullia?”
Valanna made a face. “Ugh! She broke her ankle. After all that we’ve been through, she was just walking on some rocks by the river and slipped. So I’ve been flying on my own over the troops, back and forth to take messages. I saw your flyer touch down so I had to investigate.” She took a huge breath and looked at Trak. “I just can’t believe it’s you.”
He felt his face flush and changed the subject. “Nullia can’t fly then,” Trak said. He not only lost a flyer, but he also didn’t have someone who he knew would convince Valanna to come with him.
Valanna furrowed her brow. “She should be standing in a week or so. It will take us nearly that long to get to the Halgo. She will be ready to do what is required for Colonel Mirona.”
Neel pursed his lips. “Trak has other plans for you.”
“Other plans?” She looked from Neel to Trak in confusion.
“This might not be the best place to talk about it, but General Niamo doesn’t really understand what he is up against with Riotro.”
“And you do?” Valanna said. Trak thought he heard a bit of disbelief in her voice.
“I think I do. I turned an entire Kandannan army back with my magic. Do you think that a Black Master, who desperately wants to take over Santasia, couldn’t do the same?” Trak said.
“So far the magicians have been evenly matched in what battles we have fought,” Neel said “Riotro has been absent except for possibly one time. Niamo doesn’t see the peril.”
“And Trak does?” Valanna said. “He’s not even twenty years old.”
“Which is about your age, isn’t it?” Neel said.
“That is beside the point. The General has fought for decades.”
Trak looked at Neel, whose face didn’t reflect the objection to Valanna’s comment. “Against a Black Master and against Kandannan magicians? They can bring down flyers, you know,” Neel said.
Valanna rolled her eyes. “Ask Nullia. It happened to her.”
“Is that when you were injured?” Trak said.
“How did you know?”
Neel gave Valanna a dashing smile. “When I delivered the message to Colonel Mirona, the officers couldn’t keep from saying how proud they were of your exploits, and then proceeded to tell us everything he knew.”
Valanna blushed a bit. Trak felt a bit better. So far, Valanna had acted much too harshly, and the blushing finally showed a softer side.
“Let’s have a conversation with Nullia,” Trak said. “She’ll understand the situation.”
“And I don’t?”
Trak grit his teeth. Where did this prickliness come from? “Not yet.”
“I’ll warn the Colonel and Nullia, who is up ahead of them.” She stalked to her flyer and headed back up the line of soldiers marching past them.
Trak raised his eyebrows, gazing at her departing flyer and turned to Neel. “What has got into her?”
Neel raised his hands. “I think she’s shocked that you are here telling her what to do.”
Trak sputtered. “I haven’t told her to do anything.”
Neel cocked his head. “She thinks you have. She has been the heroine of this army, and maybe she doesn’t want to lose her place.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” Trak said. “You’re the one who said I have other plans for her.”
Neel smiled. “I did, now that I think of it. Get aboard. Let’s follow her.”
They flew two stories above the soldiers, who waved at them. Trak couldn’t wave back, but Neel did, laughing all the time. “It’s wonderful to be loved,” Neel said.
Valanna’s attitude put Trak into an unhappy mood. “Yeah,” he said. “Valanna is enthralled by my presence after so long.” He thought back to the hug on Misson’s ship just after he had saved Valanna and Garono from the rampaging rebels. Perhaps that was too long ago to hope for a renewal of their relationship. Maybe he had always read too much into Valanna’s actions and her comment on his age did hurt him more than he would like to admit, since he wasn’t even close to twenty.
The Colonel had stopped, and soldiers had made a space for the two flyers on the edge of the road. Valanna had already alighted and spoke to Mirona. A wagon drew up as well. Nullia sat in the back, next to a good-sized man about her age, maybe a bit younger.
“You are Trak Bluntwithe?” the Colonel said. “I’ve heard a lot about you from these two ladies.”
Really? Trak thought. How much did the Colonel hear from Valanna? Right now, he didn’t see her as an ally.
“I am. I’ve just come from the west. We gave the Kandannans something to turn around for and have come to join the battle.”
Mirona nodded. “You’ve come to the wrong army. We are standing by, ready to contain the rebels, should they choose to flee eastward.”
“I think your orders might be changing,” Neel said. “Be ready to take a more active part. With the Kandannans out of the picture, I believe the intent is to squeeze the rebel army where the Halgo meets the Glazia. You’ll come from the east. A large contingent of the General’s forces will attack from the west, and he will bring most of his soldiers up from the south, pursuing the enemy.” Neel grinned. “But, you didn’t hear that from me, right?”
The Colonel put his hand to his ear. “Did you say something?”
Neel shook his head.
“Why are you out here?” the Colonel said.
“I’d better let Trak tell you.”
Trak gulped. “Nullia? You need to hear this as well.” He walked over to her wagon. “How are you?”
Nullia sat forward and leaned over to give Trak an unexpected hug, “Fine until a few days ago. Broke my ankle, at least that is what the healer says. “Honor might be able to fix me up, but maybe not.” She smiled. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve been worried about you ever since you were captured by the Toryans.”
“They treated you well on your way to Mozira?”
She nodded. “They did, but we did not become friends. I don’t think any outsider can.”
“I agree. I was taken to Kizru and then left again to fight the Kandannans. It’s a bit of a long story that we can talk about another time.”
“Right now, I have plenty of that,” Nullia said.
The man beside her inched his way off the wagon and stood, holding out his hand. “Sandy Pillora. I’m accompanying the army and am Nullia’s friend.”
“Friend?” Trak said.
Nullia smiled and took Sandy’s hand. “A bit more than a friend.”