Dragon Blade

by J. D. Hallowell

  “Nassari’s plan went well, Delno,” Walker said. We have thwarted the ambush that was laid for us and destroyed the beast-men. He and his other Riders, and all of the dragons, did their jobs well. There was little left for us to do when they were through.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Nassari responded. “Walker and his elves acquitted themselves quite well. Their camouflage was so good that I couldn’t see the bulk of them until they moved, and I knew they were there. They are amazing.”

  Rand and his troops were marching into view, and behind them came the Bournese, as more dragons began to land on the fields around the village. All of the buildings in the village were now ablaze.

  “It seems such a waste to fire the buildings,” Delno said. He turned to Walker and asked, “I suppose it’s foolish to ask if any villagers survived.”

  “From the scant evidence we found before we had to withdraw from the flames,” Walker replied, “it looks as if there were no survivors. It appears the ones who died in the initial attack were the lucky ones. There was ample evidence that those who survived were subjected to the beast-men’s perverse cruelty. We are allowing the fires to burn unchecked and saying prayers over the ground in the hope of cleansing the area and giving the victims some peace.”

  Delno was raised to believe that once a person was dead, their body was simply an empty shell. Many of the elves, he discovered, believed the spirit stayed with the body for a time before moving on, and some of them felt that the bodies of people who were murdered should be cleansed by fire to release the victim’s spirit so it could find peace.

  Delno saw no harm in allowing the elves to take a few moments to pray for the Roracks’ victims. He found that, as a human being, he appreciated the respect. The more time he spent around elves, the more he found about them that he liked. He wouldn’t call all of the elves he had met friends, but most seemed like good people.

  “I didn’t mean to imply that you shouldn’t carry on with your observances, my friend. Of course you and your elves should do what you feel is right for these poor people. I was merely thinking that one day we will rid this land of these foul creatures and men will return here.” He paused for a moment in thought and added,” Perhaps it is best they will have to rebuild and not use these buildings. When I think about it, the ruins will stand for a time as a fitting reminder of what happened to these unfortunate folks.”

  Walker put his hand on Delno’s shoulder and smiled. “We might make an elf of you yet, my friend.”

  Just as Rand and Captain Jameson arrived, Geneva said, “There are troops moving this way, Love. They are coming from the direction we are heading. Sheila says it is a large group of men. She hasn’t made an exact count, but estimates their strength at about a thousand.”

  “That’s too many to simply allow them to get close without finding out their intentions first.”

  “I didn’t know we had to worry about men attacking us,” Geneva replied, “I thought we were hunting Roracks.”

  “I will leave nothing to chance. Warrick may be a mad-man, but he can be persuasive. It wasn’t Roracks who marched from Llorn, and it wasn’t the beast-men we faced in Corice.”

  “You’re right, of course, Love. Who do you want to send to meet this army?”

  “You and I will go. We will take Brock, Rita, and Nat. I think Paul should come along since he may recognize these men if they are Warrick’s troops. Also, ask Sheila to provide half a dozen of her dragons as back-up.”

  “Kurt will be unhappy if his brother goes and he isn’t allowed,” Geneva responded.

  “He can take that up with Rita. She is adamant that Kurt is not to be involved with anything that might put him into combat. He is fifteen and is still a boy. The only two reasons she left Connor to work in Orlean are that he needs the training that he is getting at the garrison, and when he is flying patrols he is so high off the ground he isn’t in any danger.” Then he rolled his eyes and added, “That boy tried to kill me, but as soon as she found out that he is a fifteen year old orphan, all was forgiven. The woman has appointed herself mother to the world!”

  Geneva laughed, “I won’t tell Fahwn that you said that, Love.”

  “Thank you, Love. Now if you could get the others assembled, we will fly out to meet our incoming guests.”

  Even from nearly two thousand feet off the ground, Geneva could make out the faces of Winston and Sergeant Smith. She reported to Delno that they had apparently found the joint forces sent from Ondar and Palamore. He and the other Riders began to glide down for a landing. As Geneva got close to the ground, Delno could see that Winston was wearing full Colonel’s insignia, and Smitty was wearing a Captain’s collar.

  “Well met!” Winston said as Delno and his Riders approached the soldiers. “We were beginning to despair of ever seeing you again, my friend.” Then he looked in surprise at Nat and added, “When did you become a Rider? I thought that only young boys or girls were presented to hatchlings.”

  “Marlo is no hatchling; she is over on hundred years old,” Nat responded with a smile. “However, the whole story will have to wait for another time. I think you and Delno have much to discuss first.”

  Winston tilted his head and looked at the half-elf curiously, but then shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Delno and said, “Something big must be happening to have kept you so long. I had expected you over a week ago.”

  “We were delayed by a war in the north that was perpetrated by our enemies here. Though Warrick has his eye on that region; it is still unclear whether he was simply following his timetable, or specifically trying to delay us from coming south,” Delno responded. “We got here as quickly as we could.” Then he added, “We also bring six hundred ground troops from the north, and we have been joined by a joint Elven and Iondarian force of nearly three hundred.”

  “So, we’ve managed to finally put a name to the mind controlling the beast-men, huh? I have heard of Warrick. He was reported killed some years back. I had always heard that he was a good Rider.”

  “It would seem that he has been scheming to take control of all of the lands of men for a long time. His disappearance was simply a feint so that he could ready his forces without anyone noticing. Now he has revealed himself and his plan.”

  “Well, at least that is more information than we had before,” Winston replied. As for the troops you bring, we can certainly use all the help we can get. As you can see, the eighteen hundred we left Palamore with has been reduced to just under a thousand. These beast-men fight like demons. They seem to have no fear of dying, and none have yet to even attempt to surrender. Also, they are smart enough to specifically target our officers. As you can see,” he pointed to Smitty, “I’ve had to make some field promotions.”

  “I noticed that,” Delno replied. Then he turned to Smitty and said, “Congratulations.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment,” Smitty responded, “but the way these damn Roracks have been targeting our officers, I’m not sure this collar is such a good thing.”

  Delno turned back to Winston and asked, “Why are you headed in that direction?” He pointed toward the smoke coming from the morning’s battle. “I thought the main fight was the other way.”

  “We were pursuing a somewhat large force of Roracks that way. From the signs we saw, we estimated their numbers at about two to three hundred. They destroyed a small village back the way we came, and we had hoped to catch them before they could do more harm.” Then he looked at the smoke and said, “I suppose that you and your force have put paid to them, then?”

  “Yes, we were tracking a group of them that was about a hundred and fifty strong. Apparently, the two groups joined forces at the village back there, and then set an ambush for us. They are all dead, but they had already killed the villagers by the time we arrived.”

  “Well, it’s good they’re all dead. Damn shame about the village though. I have been pushing these men hard, and they’ve been giving me their best, but they just can’t
keep up with those bloody beast-men. Those creatures seem nearly tireless when they get in the mood for killing. We forced marched right through the night, but the Roracks were running, and I mean literally running, ahead of us.”

  “Yes,” Delno replied. “Walker has mentioned that. While Roracks do get tired eventually, they push themselves to physical injury rather than give in to the fatigue. It can make them hard to fight on the one hand, because they will fight until they are killed no matter how exhausted they are. However, if you catch them when they are tired, it can make them easier to kill because they can’t fight as effectively due to pushing themselves beyond their limits.”

  Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Delno said, “All that remains now is to coordinate how we will join our forces and take this fight to the enemy’s camp. I suggest that since you and your men have been traveling through the night, and we need to head back the way you came, your forces wait here while ours come and join them. You and your men get what rest you can while we advance. Then we can get all of the commanders together and decide on our next move.”

  Chapter 45

  “What concerns me is that we haven’t met with more resistance,” Walker said. “We’ve been steadily moving deeper into Horne for four days, and we’ve only been involved in minor skirmishes. The reports the elves had said that the beast-men were moving in large, organized formations, hundreds strong. Aside from those in the village this morning, the only enemies we have seen have numbered no more than three score and haven’t been any more organized than the Roracks I have seen in the past.”

  “I agree,” Delno responded. “Our intelligence said that the Roracks were attacking towns and killing everyone in their path. We’ve passed two other small villages, and they were completely untouched. The residents there hadn’t seen more than a scouting party of beast-men since this whole war began. Of course, there were those beast-men we destroyed on our first day in Horne. I’d say that nearly four thousand of them constitutes a large force, and they were organized enough to set a complicated ambush and coordinate with the seven Riders who were providing air support for them. They were also completely single-minded in their mission, since they bypassed those untouched villages to get to the ambush point.”

  “Well,” Winston responded, “I can certainly attest to the fact that there are, or were, many of them when we got here. We’ve gone up against three large groups, the smallest still over five hundred strong. I started out from Palamore with eighteen hundred troops. The men I have left number less than a thousand, and we’ve had so many officers killed I’ve had to field promote my non-coms.”

  “I’m not saying that you haven’t seen your share of fighting, Colonel,” Walker said. “What I am saying, though, is that the resistance seems to be tapering off some. It worries me that as more forces make their way into Horne, fewer Roracks can be found. The signs of them moving in large numbers are there, though they are not fresh. It is as though they have been pulling back in an organized manner. If that is the case, I have to wonder what we will find when we reach our enemy’s main position.”

  “Yes,” Delno replied. “I am with Walker on this one. I would prefer that we were meeting steady resistance and thinning them out in smaller groups. As it stands, I have to believe that we will find a large force waiting for us when we finally catch up with Warrick. I believe, and Jhren concurs, that Warrick is overextended and is having trouble maintaining separate groups in any significant numbers, which would explain why the smaller groups we have encountered are disorganized; they have managed to escape from Warrick’s control. We think that because of that, he has pulled his remaining Roracks back and has surrounded himself with a force in numbers not before seen. We could very well be facing ten thousand or more of them when we get there. Of course, I don’t expect us to be completely alone. Nearly every country has sent men and arms to this fight, and there must be some from Horne still alive, so I think we will find more allies as we move ahead.”

  “If he is losing control, wouldn’t keeping so many of them in line tax him even more?” Captain Jameson asked. Smitty and Winston nodded their heads in agreement with his question.

  “Not necessarily,” Jhren replied. “Have you ever seen the jugglers who balance bowls of water on sticks?” Everyone nodded affirmation, so he continued. “Well, ever see one of them get about ten bowls balanced and then get distracted?” He didn’t give them time to respond before continuing. “Everything is fine until something in the audience catches his eye, and then the bowls start falling, and the water ends up going all over the audience and no one throws him any coins because they are wet and upset. Now, the smart performers use bigger bowls, which looks more impressive, but they use fewer of them, so they don’t have to expend as much energy to keep each one on its stick. This magic is the same way: the more scattered it is, the harder it is to keep track of everything and keep it from falling apart. So, since Warrick can sense the whole thing coming apart around him, he just puts one big bowl up and doesn’t have to disperse his remaining energy so much to control it.”

  “Then if we can take him, we can completely confuse the beast-men and make our job easier,” Captain Smith said.

  Jhren nodded thoughtfully and said, “Yes, if you can take him, that would be the case. However, don’t expect him to be gallantly leading his troops into battle and conveniently putting himself into the path of an arrow. He may be exhausted and nearly psychotic, but he still isn’t stupid. He cares nothing for anyone other than himself. He will expend every one of his Roracks, and his Riders, in an effort to protect himself. Then, when we are fully engaged, he will find an opportunity to go directly after the person he sees as his main enemy in all of this. He will attack Corolan’s grandson. He will do everything in his power to kill Delno, even if he ends up killing himself in the effort, too.”

  “But, surely he must know that, while Delno is a valued commander, and we would miss him sorely if he were killed, we would still fight on even if that happened?” Walker said incredulously.

  “No, he doesn’t,” Jhren replied. At the looks of disbelief from Walker and several others he explained. “Warrick sees this whole war as nothing more than an epic battle between himself and Corolan. He killed Corolan, but Corolan managed to come back, as far as Warrick is concerned, through Delno. Especially in his deteriorated state, he believes that we fight for Delno, and ultimately Corolan, and that if he can kill Corolan again by killing Delno, he will win.”

  “That makes no sense,” Captain Jameson said.

  “Sonny,” Jhren replied, “I started studying magic and human nature at the ripe old age of four. I’ve been pursuing those studies without a break for nine decades. I’ve seen just about every aspect of human behavior there is to see. I never said Warrick’s delusions make sense. After all, there’s a reason we’ve been calling him a mad-man.”

  “Well,” Delno said, “there’s nothing we can do but play the tiles that have been dealt to us. According to both Paul and Kurt, Warrick’s main camp is less than two days’ march from our current position. If we veer more north, toward the mountains, and push hard, we can cover much of that distance by tomorrow evening. Since we are no longer trying to hide, I see no reason not to advance to nearly within reach of the enemies’ position and be ready for battle the next day.”

  “Doesn’t that leave us exposed to attack?” Jameson asked. “I have no problem with fighting, but I don’t want my troops to suddenly find themselves facing a huge group of beast-men who are supported by dragons when they are exhausted. We came to fight, not to commit suicide.”

  “It won’t be suicide,” Nassari responded. “You and your men will be supported by dragons also. Not only do we have our bonded pairs, but since Delno had his conversation with Warrick in the Dream State, over a score of unbounded dragons who were not participating have flown here and joined us. Your men will be covered by more than sixty un-bonded dragons, as well as our Riders. Also, do not forget that Brock had gotten
the word out and at least another dozen Riders are already here in Horne, and we will most likely join up with them as we get nearer to our enemies.”

  “I suppose that will make up for lot of the deficit I expect we’ll find in our respective ground forces,” Winston replied. “Still, we’ve only seen one enemy Rider since we arrived in Horne, and you only met seven. That leaves Warrick an unknown number of dragons and Riders to throw at us.” He turned to Delno and asked, “Didn’t those brothers have more information as to how many Riders fly for their former master?”

  “Paul thinks there are about two dozen left, though he can’t be sure, and Kurt agrees with him. We would know more, but one of the reasons Warrick is so exhausted is that he controls everything down to the finest detail. He is so afraid of someone from his own camp trying to usurp his power that he keeps the Riders separated as much as possible. None of them know all of their comrades, or even the exact number of Riders under Warrick’s command.”

  “I can’t understand that way of thinking,” Winston replied, “but it does make our job harder, because we have no idea what to expect.”

  “It can also work to our advantage,” Nassari interjected. “Our Riders are used to coordinating with not only each other, but also with our troops on the ground. We have worked out signals so that even the un-bonded dragons can see immediately if a ground unit is calling for air support.” He paused and looked to Walker, and said, “Those flags you came up with for communicating are a wonderful idea, as are the hand signals you have taught us.”

  “The beast-men may not be extremely intelligent, but they aren’t fooled by false bird calls, either. My people are used to working without support in hostile areas and the beast men have extraordinary hearing. We’ve had to come up with ways to communicate over these relatively short distances without giving away our positions by using sound.”

  Nassari nodded and went on with his train of thought. “The Riders on Warrick’s side aren’t used to working as a cohesive fighting force, and they see their ground troops as nothing more than grist for the mill. Even if the Roracks were bright enough to call for help it is doubtful that any of their Riders would heed that call. Also, they have been kept from working together by their master because of his paranoia. Where we coordinate with each other and shift our tactics constantly to adapt to each other’s needs, they simply fly at us as single units with little or no support, unable, as a group, to adjust to our attacks and defenses. We have a definite advantage: providing, of course, we don’t throw it away by getting over-confident.”