by Peter Last
Levvy, the ogre General, had also joined them, and together the three were scoping out the territory before the rest of the army arrived. The terrain was good in that the mountains would prevent the enemy from sneaking around behind them, but the pass was really too wide to effectively defend unless they could erect some defensive structures. All three Generals were not optimistic about their chances of winning, but they also knew there would be no better place to make their stand. They were now approaching the outpost in the gap to assess its capabilities, and as they drew nearer, they had their first glimmer of hope.
The outpost had been erected during the time when the people of Magessa were eradicating their enemies from the southern lands of the country and so it was built to withstand significant attacks. Its front wall was perhaps two hundred yards long and tall enough to prevent anyone from scaling it without ladders. It also had wall defenses and murder holes in order to give the defenders the advantage in the event of a siege. The walls themselves were a strategic wonder; there were actually several walls spaced five or six feet apart and each taller than the one in front of it. This prevented enemies who had scaled the outer wall from easily reaching the defenders who were on the other walls. All in all, the outpost was almost a fort; nevertheless, it was rather small compared to the area that the army would have to defend.
“As soon as we receive word that your plan has worked and that we will have more time, we can start mining stone and create a wall across the length of the pass,” Nathan said to Josiah.
“But will we have enough men to protect the entire length, even if we do have a wall?” Levvy asked.
“I’ve been doing some quick math, and I think we should have more than enough,” Josiah assured him. “If each of our soldiers only protected four feet, we would need less than fifteen hundred men to cover the entire length. I know your men can cover more area than that, so we should have plenty of soldiers. The real question is if we will be able to hold them here.”
“If they bring their whole might against us, we will never stand,” Nathan predicted. “They have too many men, and even if they lose a few thousand, they’ll still have hundreds of thousands left.”
“That’s where the dragons will come into play,” Josiah countered. “I have news that several dozen of the riders have already been contacted and will be joining us as soon as they are able. Granted, the enemy may be reinforced with griffins and dragons, but we will still have an advantage.”
“So what we need now is an advantage on the ground,” Levvy said. “We have enough men to dig a reasonable trench as well as erect a palisade in enough time, even if we can’t build something more substantial. That would hold them for some time at least.”
“If only we could make the mountains fall,” Josiah commented grimly. “Then we could cut off their pursuit altogether.”
“Well, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, so don’t hold your breath,” Nathan said. The three Generals continued to strategize as they approached the outpost, but without more information on the approach of the enemy, they couldn’t do much else. They reached the fort and entered, informing the inhabitants that they were under attack. Since the outpost was deep in the heart of Magessa, the garrison was very small, only twenty-four strong plus the blacksmith, cook, and other attendants.
The senior officer of the outpost, Captain Merick, saluted Josiah and invited him for refreshments.
“We don’t have time for that,” Josiah answered. “The enemy is on our doorstep, and we need to get ready for their attack as soon as possible.”
“An enemy army this far south?” Merick asked. “I don’t think that’s very likely, sir.”
“You also probably didn’t expect to see an elf and an ogre walk into your outpost an hour ago, but here they are,” Josiah said, pointing at Nathan and Levvy.
“The matter of enemies aside, if you are a Commander, where are your troops?” Merick asked. “For that matter, where are any of your men?”
“First of all, the rank insignia may deceive you, but I actually hold the rank of General at the moment,” Josiah responded. “I just haven’t had time to replace it, being pursued by half a million enemies as we have been.”
“Half a million!” Merick exclaimed, but Josiah cut him off.
“Second of all, if you want to see our men, come up to the top of your watch tower with us. You’ll see them up there; however, I would hurry. The ogre is sometimes very impatient.”
Levvy pulled his lips back from his teeth, and a low growl rumbled deep in his throat. Merick looked in his direction and nodded quickly.
“I believe you, but how in heaven’s name are we supposed to stand up to half a million men? I only have twenty-four soldiers, and most of them should have retired long ago; we’ll be swept aside like dry leaves.”
“We have a sizable army following us,” Nathan assured him. “There are less than twenty thousand all told, so we’ll still probably be swept aside like dry leaves, but we’ll give them one heck of a fight. The only question I have for you is: will you stand and fight with us? If you don’t wish to, I will understand perfectly and allow you to go on your way.”
Merick was silent for a full minute, clearly contemplating what he had just been told. Half a million soldiers, and these Generals wanted him to stand with them against the enemy! There was no way they could survive. On the other hand, the three men before him seemed calm and collected, almost as if they thought they would win the ensuing battle. He had never been exposed to a real combat situation, but if he ever was, these were the type of men he would want leading him.
“I will stay and fight,” he finally answered. “I would like, however, to give my men the same choice you gave me, if that is alright with you, sir. As I said before, many of them are well advanced in years, so I don’t know how they will respond to this.”
“Very well, but be quick about it,” Josiah told him. “We have preparations to make.”
The Captain nodded and hurried off to find his men, and Josiah, Nathan, and Levvy headed back outside to take another look at the outpost and its surroundings. The army didn’t arrive at the pass for another three hours, and when it did, the soldiers were exhausted. The Generals ordered their men to pitch camp and get some rest while they waited for news. An hour later, Cirro came galloping back toward the outpost with three men behind him. Josiah saw them a long way out and went out to meet them. They pulled their horses to a stop in front of him and dismounted. It was obvious that they were exhausted from their ride, so Josiah dismissed them to go get some rest. Cirro, however, he pulled aside as they walked to the camp.
“I trust from the expression on your face that it went well?” Josiah asked.
“It went better than well!” Cirro burst out. “We didn’t even have to drop anything for them to find. All that we did was parade the caravan in front of their army, and they started chasing after it like a pack of dogs after a rabbit. They were pillaging the houses and farms that they encountered, so if we’re lucky, they’ll do the same further up into Belvárd and give us even more time.”
“How quickly are they moving?” Josiah asked.
“With all the ransacking they’re doing, they barely make ten miles a day if that,” Cirro answered. “Even if they take a straight course from where we think they’ll overtake the caravan to this pass, we’ll have at least a week to prepare.”
“Good work,” Josiah told his friend. “You have given us the best chance to defeat the army that we have had in a long time. Now go get some rest. Tomorrow we have some serious work to do.”
******
As Senndra walked south, she found her dragon and urged him, through their mental link, to meet her outside the south gates of the city. She did not expect any trouble getting out of the city and encountered none. The guards at the gate nodded to her as she passed them, but besides that, no one saw fit to notice her. Once outside the walls, she bore slightly east toward the mountains and continued walking until a shado
w covered her. She stopped moving and looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. Feddir was circling above her, his scales glittering dully in the bright light.
Feddir circled one more time before landing on the ground a short distance in front of Senndra. Senndra jogged to her dragon and climbed his leg to get to his back. She had forgotten to bring a saddle, and immediately regretted it. Even though she didn’t expect to have to fight while on Feddir, the trip would still be long and uncomfortable with her riding on Feddir’s rough scales. Feddir must have picked up on her thoughts because he showed her an image of them flying back to get a saddle.
“I guess we could,” Senndra answered out loud. “There are already going to be several dragons leaving the city, so we should blend right in with them.” Feddir projected another image into Senndra’s mind, and she chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose too many people are going to stand in the way of a dragon, are they?”
Senndra felt Feddir’s muscles bunch underneath him, and she grabbed a spine directly in front of her. They shot upward in a blast of air, and in a few moments were on their way back to the city, soaring high in the sky. Feddir kept his wings extended for the most part, gliding from one updraft to the next and only giving his wings one long, lazy flap every once in a while. Almost before they were up in the air, they were at the city, circling over the parade field where the dragons took off and landed. Feddir spiraled three times around the field before coming in for a perfect landing and hardly scratching the turf as he hit the ground.
Senndra jumped down from his back and hurried across the field toward the bunk house where she was quartered. She reached the dwelling in only a few minutes and didn’t slow her pace as she burst through the door, swinging it closed behind her with a resounding bang. She took the stairs two at a time, almost crashing into another cadet but reaching her room without any mishaps. She grabbed her weapons from the closet and strapped them on quickly. Next she grabbed her saddle from its place in the bottom of her closet and hurriedly scanned it to make sure it was in good working condition. With it tucked under her arm, she jerked open the door of her room and almost rushed out, straight into another person.
“Oh, Senndra, it’s you,” the person said. Senndra finally realized she knew the young man who stood in front of her. They had been in several of the same classes at the academy and were in the same training squadron.
“Hi,” Senndra said breathlessly. She hoped that her clipped answer would discourage any conversation. It didn’t.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” the cadet asked. “You look like you’ve been running.”
“That’s because I have been running,” Senndra answered. “Now I am going to go ride my dragon.”
“For any reason in particular?” the cadet asked. “Because I could come with you if you wanted.”
“Actually, there is a specific reason, and no, you can’t come,” Senndra answered. The cadet stood there waiting for an explanation, but Senndra didn’t feel like giving one, so she simply stood opposite him.
“You want to tell me what that reason is?” the cadet asked finally.
“I’m going on a scouting mission,” Senndra answered. “I need to leave as soon as possible, hence my running, so if you could move out of the way, I would be grateful.”
“Of course,” the cadet said, sounding just a little hurt. “Anything you want.”
Senndra hurried out of her room and past him, but as she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped. She had been abrupt and even a little rude with the other cadet, and she was immediately sorry for it.
“I’m not trying to blow you off or anything,” Senndra said as she turned to face the other cadet. “It’s just that I’m in a bit of a hurry and need to leave now.”
“I understand, Senndra,” the cadet said. “You have something to do, so go do it.”
Senndra stared at the young man and tried to figure out what he was thinking. The words that he had chosen seemed to indicate that he was being sarcastic, but his tone seemed to indicate otherwise. It was almost as if he understood the situation and had no problem with Senndra being so curt with him. Senndra stared at him for one long moment and was about to spin around to head back down the stairs when she realized why he was there.
“Oh, by the way, Rita was at the practice fields last time I checked,” she told him. “I think she’s still down there, though I don’t know that for a fact.”
“Thanks,” the cadet said and Senndra hurried down the stairs and back to the parade field. Feddir was lying down now, letting the sun warm his scales as he scratched absent mindedly at a spot just behind his front leg. He opened one eye when he sensed Senndra nearing him and blinked at her.
“Come on, Feddir, I don’t have time for this,” Senndra said as she held the saddle out in front of her. Feddir looked at her with what could only be described as a grin and rolled slowly onto his stomach. Senndra grunted and reached up to place the saddle on Feddir’s back, but he continued rolling until he was on his other side with his back to her. He twisted his head around so that he could look at her and gave another grin.
“Feddir, stop playing around,” she growled at the dragon. “You know this is important. Besides, if you don’t behave, I’m going to tell Lemin to turn you into a frog. He’s a magician, you know, so he could do it.”
Feddir jerked his head around to stare at Senndra again, this time with his eyes wide. A question floated across their mental link, and Senndra had to force herself not to smile.
“Yes, I’m quite sure that he would have no trouble at all turning you into a toad, even with how big you are. And even if it is difficult for him, he’ll be very angry with you for not cooperating. After all, this mission was his idea.”
Senndra felt chagrin and anxiety from Feddir, and the dragon rolled over onto his stomach, allowing Senndra to place the saddle on his back. Quickly she threaded the straps underneath his stomach and buckled them securely. When she was finished and had checked everything to make sure it was in working order, she climbed into the saddle. She slipped her feet through the leg loops and tightened them so that she could ride without her hands. Feddir waited until she was finished before jumping into the air and riding an updraft. As soon as he had reached a sufficient height, he tilted his wings and allowed a breeze to push him southeast.
The wind which had been cold on the ground was freezing at the higher altitude, and Senndra wished that she had remembered to bring a flying jacket. As it was, she was not willing to go back for the extra clothing. Instead, she hunched over the back of her steed, letting his head break the wind and his body heat warm up her hands and face as she laid them against his bare scales.
Despite this arrangement, the trip threatened to be miserable. To escape the uncomfortable situation, she slipped into a light sleep. Her dreams were sporadic and made no sense whatsoever, vanishing from her memory as soon as she awoke. She straightened from her position on her dragon’s back and stretched to get the kinks out of her back and neck. She felt a burst of surprise come from Feddir, which jerked her to complete consciousness. Leaning over and out from her mount, she saw the capital city of Belvárd but spotted nothing that would have surprised Feddir. The city appeared to be in perfect condition, and as far as she could tell, nothing was amiss. Then she noticed the large cloud of black smoke coming from the south. She looked in that direction and thought that she might be seeing something, but the smoke obscured her view of everything.
An image from Feddir flashed through her mind, one of the area that she had just been staring at. His eyesight was much better than hers and pierced the smoke to detect what she had missed. A large army spread out across the land, covering several miles with its first line. As they came, they burned and pillaged whatever they encountered, killing whoever they could lay their hands on. Their device was not visible, but Senndra knew who they were. She encouraged Feddir to get closer, and he slowly dropped until they were only a hundred yards above the ground. The symbol on th
eir flag was now visible: a gigantic bat, black as night. The symbol itself struck dread into Senndra’s heart for she now knew for certain that they were fighting Molkekk, bane of Magessa.
As she watched, the soldiers came to another house. They didn’t even bother seeing if the door was open, but instead rammed it with their shoulders until it smashed inward. They entered with drawn swords and emerged moments later with a man, woman, and three children. Senndra watched, horrified as the soldiers killed each of them, laughing as they did so. They entered the house again, smashing the windows and anything else that would break. A table became firewood and dishes were smashed on the doorstep. They stripped the house of everything of value before finally leaving. Shortly thereafter, smoke began to seep out of the doorway and through the smashed windows of the structure, and within minutes the whole building was aflame.
Senndra watched in horror as the dark soldiers were demolishing the house. She felt the anger rising in Feddir and had to prevent him from diving down and tearing the soldiers apart. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t have been happy to see justice served so soon; rather, she knew that they had been concealed in the smoke so far, and revealing themselves might endanger their mission. She had to get news of this back to Belmoth, but first she would circle down to the bottom of the county and see how far these evil forces spread. She also needed to find out if the army that was sure to have resisted them had by some miracle survived, or if it had been destroyed.