With that pronouncement, Aahz sank down at my side, between me and Tanda. As I attempted to restore my heart rate to normal, it occurred to me I knew an awful lot of light-footed people.
“Hi, Aahz,” I said, forcing a smile. “We were just talking about ...“
“I know, I heard,” Aahz interrupted. “And for a change I agree.”
“You do?” I blinked.
“Sure,” he yawned. “It’s a clear-cut breach of contract. He hired out his services as a bowman, and the first assignment you give him, he literally lays down on the job.”
Actually, it had been the second assignment. I had a sudden flash recollection of Ajax drawing and firing in a smooth, fluid motion, cutting down a signal standard so distant it was barely visible.
“My advice would be to send him back,” Aahz was saying. “If you want to soothe your conscience, give him partial payment and a good recommendation, but the way he is, he’s no good to anybody.”
Perhaps it was because of Tanda’s lecture, but I was suddenly aware that Aahz had specifically stated his suggestion as ‘advice,’ not an order.
“Heads up, brood,” Brockhurst murmured. “We’ve got company.”
Following his gaze, I saw Ajax stumbling toward us, his ghostlike paleness flickering in the darkness like ... well, like a ghost. It occurred to me that what had started out as a moment of solitude was becoming awfully crowded.
“Evenin’, youngster,” he saluted. “Didn’t mean to interrupt nothin’! Didn’t know you folks was havin’ a meetin’.”
“We ... ah ... we were just talking:’ I explained, suddenly embarrassed.
“I kin guess about what, too,” Ajax sighed. “Well, I was goin’ to do this private-like, but I suppose the rest a’ you might as well hear it, too.”
“Do what, Ajax?” I asked.
“Resign,” he said. “Seems to me to be the only decent thing to do after what happened today.”
“It could have happened to anyone,” I shrugged.
“Nice of you to say so, youngster,” Ajax smiled, “but I kin see the handwriting on the wall. I’m just too old to be any good to anybody anymore. ‘Bout time I admitted it to myself.”
I found myself noticing the droop in his shoulders and a listlessness that hadn’t been there when we first met on Deva.
“Don’t fret about payin’ me,” Ajax continued, “I didn’t do nothin’, so I figger you don’t owe me nothin’. If somebody’ll just blip me back to Deva, I’ll get outta yer way and let you fight your war the way it should be fought.”
“Well, Ajax,” Aahz sighed, rising to his feet and extending his hand. “We’re going to miss you.”
“Just a minute!” I found myself saying in a cold voice. “Are you trying to tell me you’re breaking our contract?”
Ajax’s head came up with a snap.
“I expected better from a genuine Archer,” I concluded.
“I wouldn’t call it a breach of contract, youngster,” the old bowman corrected me carefully. “More like a termination by mutual consent. I’m jes’ too old ...”
“Old?” I interrupted. “I knew you were old when I hired you. I knew you were old when I planned my strategy for tomorrow’s fight around that bow of yours. I knew you were old, Ajax, but I didn’t know you were a coward!”
There was a sharp intake of breath somewhere nearby, but I didn’t see who it was. My attention was focused on Ajax. It was no longer a defeated, drooping old man, but a proud, angry warrior who loomed suddenly over me.
“Sonny,” he growled. “I know I’m old, ‘cause in my younger days I would have killed you for sayin’ that. I never run from a fight in my life, and I never broke a contract. If you got some shootin’ fer me to do tomorrow, I’ll do it. Then maybe you’ll see what havin’ a genuine Archer on your side is all about!”
With that, he spun on his heel and stalked off into the darkness.
It had been a calculated risk, but I still found I was covered with cold sweat from facing the old man’s anger. I also realized the rest of the group was staring at me in silent expectation.
“I suppose you’re all wondering why I did that,” I smiled.
I had hoped for a response, but the silence continued.
“I appreciate all your advice, and hope you continue to give it in the future. But I’m leading this force, and the final decisions have to be mine.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aahz cock his eyebrow, but I ignored him.
“Everyone, including Ajax, said if I let him go, if I sent him back to Deva, there would be no harm done. I disagree. It would have taken away the one thing the year, have left untouched ... his pride. It would have confirmed to him his worst fears, that he’s become a useless old man.”
I scanned my audience. Not one of them could meet my eye.
“So he might get killed. So what? He’s accepted that risk in every war he’s fought in. I’d rather order him into a fight knowing for certain he’d be killed than condemn him to a living death as a washed up barn). This way, he has a chance, and as his employer, I feel I owe him that chance.”
I paused for breath. They were looking at me again, hanging on my next words.
“One more thing,” I snarled. “I don’t want to hear any more talk about him being useless. That old man still handles a bow better than anyone I’ve ever seen. If I can’t find a way to use him effectively, then it’s my fault as a tactician, nor his! I’ve got mv shortcomings, but I’m not going to blame them on Ajax any more than I’d blame them on any of you.”
Silence reigned again, but I didn’t care, I had spoken I’m piece, and felt no compulsion to blather on aimlessly just to fill the void.
“Well, boss,” Brockhurst cleared hi, throat getting to hi, feet. “I think I’ll turn in now.”
“Me, too,” echoed Gus, also rising,
“Just one thing,” the Imp paused and met mv gaze squarely “For the record, it’s a real pleasure working for you.”
The gargoyle nodded his agreement, and the two of them faded into the brush.
There was a soft kiss on my cheek, but by the time I turned my head, Tanda had disappeared.
“You know, kid,” Aahz said, “you’re going to make a pretty good leader someday.”
“Thanks, Aahz,” I blinked.
“ ... if you live that long,” my mentor concluded.
We sat side by side in silence for a while longer. Gleep had apparently dozed off, for he was snoring softly as I continued petting him.
“If it isn’t prying,” Aahz asked finally, “what is this master plan you have for tomorrow that’s built around Ajax?”
I sighed and closed my eyes.
“I haven’t got one,” I admitted. “I was kind of hoping you’d have a few ideas.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Aahz grumbled.
“WAKE UP, KID!”
I returned to consciousness as I was being forcefully propelled sideways along the forest floor, presumably assisted by the ready toe of my mentor.
After I had slid to a stop, I exerted most of my energy and raised my head.
“Aahz,” I announced solemnly, “as leader of this team, I have reached another decision. In the future, I want Tanda to wake me up.”
“Not a chance,” Aahz leered. “She’s off scouting our right flank. It’s me or the dragon.”
Great choice. I suddenly realized how bright it was.
“Hey!” I blinked. “How late is it?”
“Figure we’ve got about a minute before things start popping,” Aahz said casually.
“How long?” I gasped.
Aahz’s brow furrowed for a moment as he reflected on his words. Klahdish units of time still gave him a bit of trouble.
‘‘An hour!” he smiled triumphantly. “That’s it. An ho
ur.”
“That’s better,” I sighed, sinking back to a horizontal position.
“On your feet, kid!” Aahz ordered. “We let you sleep as late as we could, but now you’re needed to review the troops.”
“Have you briefed everybody?” I yawned, sitting up. “Is the plan clear?”
“As clear as it’s going to be, all things considered,” Aahz shrugged.
“Okay,” I responded, rolling to my feet. “Let’s go. You can fill me in on our new developments along the way.”
Aahz and I had been up most of the night formulating today’s plan, and I found I was actually eager to see it implemented.
“You should be thankful you aren’t on the other side,” Aahz chortled as we moved to join the others. “Old Claude’s been making the most of the time we gave him.”
“Keeping them busy, is be?” I smiled.
“Since sun-up,” Aahz confirmed smugly. “Drilling, sharpening swords—never a dull moment in the Empire’s army, that’s for sure.”
I wasn’t sure I shared Aahz’s enthusiasm for the enemy’s spending lots of time sharpening their swords. Fortunately, I was spared the discomfort of replying as Gus lumbered up to us.
“You just missed Brockhurst’s report,” he informed us. “Still nothing on the left flank.”
“Wouldn’t we be able to tell from their signals if they were moving up additional support?” I asked.
“If you believe their signals,” Aahz countered. “It wouldn’t be the first time an army figured out the enemy had broken their code and started sending misleading messages.”
“Oh,” I said wisely.
“Speaking of signals,” Aahz grinned. “You know the messages they were sending yesterday? The ones that went ‘encountered minor resistance’?”
“I remember,” I nodded.
“Well, it seems Claude has decided he needs to up the ante if he’s going to get a promotion out of this. Overnight we’ve become ‘armed opposition ... must be subdued forcefully!” Neat, huh?”
I swallowed hard.
“Does that mean they’ll be moving reinforcements?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
“Not a chance, kid” Aahz winked. “Claude there has turned down every offer of assistance that came down the line. He keeps insisting he can handle it with the company he’s commanding.
“I’d say he’s got his neck way, way out,” Gus commented.
“ ... and we’re just the ones to chop it off for him, Aahz nodded.
“Where’s Ajax?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Down at the forest line picking out his firing point, Gus replied. “Don’t worry, boss. He’s awake.”
Actually, that wasn’t my worry concerning Ajax at all. In my mind’s eye, I could still see his angry stance when I called him a coward the night before.
“Mornin’, youngster,” the bowman hailed, emerging from the bush. “Think I got us a place all picked out.”
“Hi, Ajax,” I replied. “Say ... um ... when you get a minute, I’d like to talk to you about last night.”
“Think nothin’ of it,” Ajax assured me with a grin. “I plum fergot about it already.”
There was a glint in his eye that contradicted his words, but if he was willing to pretend nothing had happened, I’d go along with it for now.
“I hate to interrupt,” Aahz interrupted. “But I think friend Claude’s just about ready to make his move.”
Sure enough, the distant encampment was lining up in a marching formation. The hand-drawn wagons were packed and aligned, with the escort troops arrayed to the front and sides. The signal tower, despite its appearance, was apparently also portable and was being pushed along at the rear of the formation by several sweating soldiers.
“Late!” Ajax sneered. “I tell ya, youngster, armies are the same in any dimension.”
“Okay, kid,” Aahz said briskly. “Do your stuff. It’s about time we got into position.”
I nodded and closed my eyes for concentration. With a few strokes of my mental paintbrush, I altered Gus’s features until the gargoyle was the mirror image of myself.
“Pretty good,” Ajax commented critically, looking from Gus to me and back again.
I repeated the process, returning Aahz to his “dubious character” disguise.
“Well, we’re off,” Aahz waved. “Confusion to the enemy!”
Today’s plan called for Gus substituting for me. The logic was that should anything to wrong, his stone flesh would not only keep him from harm, but also serve as a shield to defend Aahz.
Somehow it didn’t seem right to me, to remain behind in relative safety while sending someone else to take my risks for me. It occurred to me that perhaps I had called the wrong person “coward” last night when speaking with Ajax.
The bowman seemed to accept the arrangement without question, however.
“Follow me, youngster,” he cackled. “I don’t want to miss any of this!”
With that, he turned and plunged into the brush, leaving me little choice but to trail along behind.
Fortunately, Ajax’s chosen vantage point wasn’t far. Old or not, I found he set a wicked pace.
Stringing his bow, he crouched and waited, chuckling softly in anticipation.
Settling in beside him, I took a moment to check the energy lines, the invisible streams of energy magicians draw their power from. There were two strong lines nearby, one air, one ground, which was good. While Aahz had taught me how to store the energies internally, with the amount of action scheduled for the day, I wanted all the power I could get.
We could see Aahz and Gus, striding with great dignity toward the selected combat point. The opposing force watched them in frozen silence, as they took their places.
For a moment, everyone stood in tableau.
Then Claude turned to his force and barked out an order. Immediately a half-dozen archers broke from the formation and fanned out on either side of the wagons. Moving with slow deliberation, they each drew and cocked an arrow, then leveled the bows at the two figures blocking the company’s progress.
I concentrated my energies.
Claude shouted something at our comrades. They remained motionless.
I concentrated.
The bowmen loosened their missiles. Gus threw up one hand dramatically.
The arrows stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground.
The bowmen looked at each other in amazement. Claude barked another order at them. They shakily drew and fired another barrage.
This one was more ragged than the first, but I managed to stop it as well.
“Nice work, youngster,” Ajax exclaimed gleefully. “That’s got ‘em going.”
Sure enough, the neat ranks of soldiers were rippling as the men muttered back and forth among themselves. Claude noted it, too, and ordered his bowmen back into the ranks.
Round one to us!
My elation was short-lived, though. The soldiers were drawing their swords now. The two groups assigned to guarding the sides of the wagon pivoted forward, forming two wings ready to engulf our teammates. As further evidence of Claude’s nervousness, he even had the troops assigned to pulling the wagons leave their posts and move up to reinforce the center of his line.
That’s what we were waiting for.
“Now, Ajax!” I hissed. “Arch ‘em high.”
“I remember, youngster,” the archer grinned. “I’m ready when you are.”
I waited until he raised his bow, and then concentrated an intense beam of energy at a point a few inches in front of his bow.
It was like the candle-lighting exercise, and it worked as well now as it had when we had tried it last night.
As each shaft sped from Ajax’s bow, it burst into flames and continued on its flight.
Again and again, w
ith incredible speed, the bowman sent his missiles hissing through my ignition point. It required all my concentration to maintain the necessary stream of energy, moving it occasionally as his point of aim changed.
Finally, he dropped his bow back to his side.
“That oughta do it, youngster,” he grinned. “Take a look.”
I did. There in the distance, behind the soldiers’ lines, thin plumes of smoke were rising from the wagons. In a few moments, Claude’s supply company would be without supplies.
If we had a few moments! As we watched, the men began to advance on Aahz and Gus, their swords gleaming in the sun.
“Think we’d better do something about that!” Ajax muttered, raising his bow again.
“Wait a second, Ajax!” I ordered, squinting at the distant figures.
There had been a brief consultation between Aahz and Gus, and then the gargoyle stepped back and began gesturing wildly at his companion.
It took me a moment, but I finally got the message. With a smile, I closed my eyes and removed Aahz’s disguise.
Pandemonium reigned. The soldiers in the front ranks took one look at the demon opposing them and stampeded for the rear, half trampling the men behind them. As word spread through the formation, it became a rout, though I seriously doubt those in the rear knew what they were running from.
If anyone noticed the burning wagons, they didn’t slow once.
“Whooee!” Ajax exclaimed thumping me on the back. “That did it. Look at ‘em run. You’d think those fellers never seed a Pervert before.”
“They probably haven’t,” I commented, trying to massage some feeling back into my shoulder.
“You know,” the bowman drawled, squinting at the scene below. “I got me an idea. Them fellers ran off so fast they fergot to signal to anybody. Think we should do it for ‘em?”
“How?” I asked.
“Well,” he grinned. “I know the signals, and you’re a magician. If I told you what signal to run up, could you do it? Without anybody holdin’ it?”
“Sure could,” I agreed. “What’ll we need for the signal?”
“Le’me think,” he frowned. “We’ll have to get a skull, and a couple of pieces of red cloth, and a black ball, an—”
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