Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1)

by Peter Last

  ******

  The sun had sunk below the horizon more than two hours earlier. Josiah slowed his horse to a near halt as he cast a watchful gaze over his soldiers. He desperately wished that he could give the command to halt, but knew that the army would have to be pushed to their limit in order to overtake the dwarves. The scouts sent to locate the dwarves had not yet returned, so he figured that the enemy was more than a day’s march ahead. So far, the march had gone relatively well, covering smooth terrain on a beaten path, but Josiah knew that eventually the path would end. Still, he figured that if they spent long days traveling, they could overtake the dwarves before they reached Belmoth.

  For the remainder of the march, Josiah forced himself to search the road before him for enemies. This task became increasingly more difficult as his mind began to wander. He looked back at his men and saw that they were practically dead on their feet and wished, for his men’s sake, that the order to halt would be given. It was another half hour before the order came. The soldiers wasted no time in unrolling their blankets and falling asleep as those unfortunate enough to be chosen for the first shift of sentry duty took their posts.

  Josiah unsaddled and unbridled his horse, hobbled it, and turned it out to feed. He unrolled his blankets and tried to sleep, but was unable to do so, even though he had been working hard since daybreak. The soldiers envied the officers for having horses and other amenities, unaware of the other concerns that taxed them. Josiah's mind kept wandering back to the inevitable battle with the dwarves. Even if the army was pressed hard enough to overtake them, he didn’t know what chance they stood against the massive army of the enemy. With ogres to bolster their ranks and elves attacking the army head-on, their odds would be better, but he still did not know how good their likelihood of survival was, much less of victory. Their only hope was for dragon support to arrive in time, but that seemed more unlikely than ever before. For Timothy and Vladimir to carry the message for help more than two hundred miles in five days seemed like an impossible feat.

  “I know that I shouldn’t despair,” Josiah prayed aloud to Elohim, “but when I consider the enemy that has pitted himself against us, I cannot help but think that we are doomed. The vastness of the enemy’s army is as the sand of the seashore; to hold them back would be like holding the sea back. But with Your power, I know that all things are possible. Please strengthen my men and give them the courage to face their enemy with honor. Help us to gain the victory when the time comes.”

  His nerves settled by the prayer, Josiah drifted off to sleep. He woke only a few hours later to see the sun peaking over the horizon. He stretched and stood to his feet, not ready for another hard day’s march, yet feeling the need to set an example for his men. He had slept with his armor on, and the unnatural position that the suit had caused him to lay in had given him cramps in his neck and back. He tried his best to stretch these out, but failed. With a simple word, he condemned his troops to another day of marching, and in half an hour, they were moving down the road again. They marched west for almost three hours before the path turned to the south and disappeared at the base of a mountain. Josiah received the order to call a halt, and he allowed his men to rest briefly before they began to march again. Following the dwarf trail was simple; the passage of seventy-five thousand warriors had left a great impact on the ground, so the army had only to follow this beaten path. They made excellent time for the next few hours, yet Josiah knew that it would still be difficult to overtake their quarry.

  Noon came and went. Men sweated, but the march continued unabated. At about two hours to sunset, the ogre army came in sight, but the army’s pace did not slow. The ogres covered the distance between the armies quickly, and by nightfall, they had almost caught up with Josiah’s army. As they came within a bow’s shot of the army, their scent finally reached the horses that were scattered throughout the column, causing them to prance about nervously. Josiah saw that if they did not stop moving, the horses would end up hurting someone. He called his men to a halt, and the other commanders followed his example. He reined his horse to a stop and slid off of it, not wanting to take it any nearer to the ogres than he had to since the sight of them might spook the beast. Quickly he strode through the ranks of soldiers toward the approaching crowd of ogres. When he reached the rearguard, he stopped. He stood with the soldiers and various officers as the ogres ceased running and came to a stop with their front line only a dozen steps from the humans. One of them stepped out from the rest and crossed the distance to the humans in three giant strides.

  “Where can I find General Uriah?” the ogre asked. His voice did not sound thickheaded and stupid as Josiah had expected it to. In fact, if Josiah were going by voice alone, he would guess that this particular ogre was very bright.

  “I am Uriah,” the general answered and stepped forward out of the crowd to meet the ogre. “And you are?”

  “I am Looran, commander of the ogre army,” the ogre answered. “My army is here to reinforce you in your attack against the dwarves.”

  “Your help is greatly appreciated,” Uriah said. “When we stop next, I will sit down with you and thoroughly go over the battle plan.”

  “It is already getting dark,” Looran said. “When do you plan on stopping for the night?”

  “We need to keep moving or we will never catch the dwarves,” Uriah answered. “We will continue to march until the moon is directly overhead. I would be obliged if you would take your men to our flank so as to not upset our horses.”

  “As you wish,” Looran said. “I will speak with you when we stop.”

  Without another word, the commander turned and walked back to his army. Josiah watched as the ranks of ogres quickly formed again before he hurried back through his soldiers to his horse. He considered climbing into the saddle, but decided against it. Instead he wearily gripped the halter of the stead and, motioning to one of his officers, gave the order for his men to form ranks and march. Slowly the column of soldiers moved out again. By simply looking back, Josiah could tell that his men were exhausted, and he wondered exactly how they were going to be able to engage the dwarves when they caught up with them. The battle was going to be very hard to win, and even if victory was ultimately theirs, they would suffer many losses. After the first half hour of marching, he stopped thinking; it was simply too depressing.

  ******

  Timothy and Vladimir ran full tilt across the open countryside. This second day of their journey was much easier than the first, and since they had covered roughly twenty-five miles on the first day, they planned on covering at least fifty on the second. The ground sloped gently downward, so they increased their speed as they pressed forward. They slowed to a jog when they reached the bottom, hopped a small stream, and continued on their way. Ahead they could see the river blocking their path, so they made an adjustment in order to intercept the bridge that spanned the water. They began to encounter more densely populated country. Now that they had paved roads to follow, their pace increased once again. They alternated regularly between running and jogging and reached the bridge long before midday.

  The bridge was crowded, so their pace slackened as they forced their way through the mass of people. Vladimir stayed close behind Timothy the entire way as they weaved a path around carts and through throngs of customers and merchants who were doing business on the bridge. In all the congestion, it took them close to half an hour to cross the river. They stopped on the far side of the bridge, rested for five minutes, and drank some water. After that they were off again running down the road, dodging farmers and merchants. Soon they were out of the heaviest of the crowds and were able to make good time again. The well-built road allowed them to maintain a brisk pace without fear of stumbling and injuring themselves.

  They pressed on until an hour past midday, when they rested for ten minutes, ate a quick lunch, and drank some more water. They were off running again soon after they had finished eating, but this time their pace was slower due to their full s
tomachs. The exercise soon drove the boys too far, and they vomited the contents of their stomachs on the roadside. They didn’t let that stop them, however, and they continued running.

  ******

  Josiah relayed the order to halt from the general to his troops. He led his horse to a spot that was a short distance from the main army and turned it loose, allowing it to find what food it could. Josiah sat down to watch the beast, but sleep slowly overcame him. As he drifted between consciousness and sleep, he inadvertently began to speak to Elohim.

  “I don’t see how we can emerge from this encounter victorious,” he said. He looked up and was mildly surprised to see that he was not in the field with his army anymore. Instead, as he rose to his feet and looked around, he saw that he was in a large hall. Golden furniture lined the walls, and light was provided from some strange stones that were embedded in the ceiling. The beauty of the place was almost too much for Josiah to take in, and he sank slowly to the floor. He gazed at his surroundings and, for the first time, noticed that there was the faint sound of music. It seemed to be coming from the far end of the hall where Josiah noticed that a brightly colored curtain was hung over a doorway. Slowly, almost as if he were in a trance, he rose to his feet again and began to walk down the hall. As he moved, the music gradually grew louder until he had reached the curtain-covered doorway. He lifted a hand to draw back the barrier between him and the music but froze, his hand still on the fabric. He knew this was something that he must not do. He let his hand fall back to his side and stood for a long time simply staring at the cloth. He felt a presence behind him, but he did not turn around.

  “You would like to go inside?” the person behind him asked eventually. Josiah turned his head to look at the man. He was about Josiah’s height, but much more muscular. His closely cropped hair was sandy blond, and when Josiah looked closely, he could not tell if he was a human, elf, dwarf, orc, or ogre. His face bore a resemblance to each of the races, so he didn’t look completely like any of them. More amazing, though, were the eyes of the man. When Josiah looked into them, he saw incredible love.

  “Do you want to go inside?” the man asked again.

  “Yes, I do,” Josiah answered, “and yet I know it is something that I am not supposed to do.”

  “Your feelings serve you well,” the man responded. “I would not stop you from going in, yet it is something that would end in grief for you.”

  “If I am not supposed to enter, why am I here?” Josiah asked.

  “You are here because I wish to speak to you,” the man answered. “You are a staunch supporter of Elohim, and I know that you would give your life to protect His people. Very soon your courage and commitment will be put to the test. The army of dwarves has turned and, even as we speak, is making its way toward your army.”

  “What?” Josiah said in astonishment. “But aren’t they marching all the way to Belmoth to break through the gap there? Lemin said that was what he figured they were planning on doing.”

  “The elves are not all-knowing; it was never the intention of the dwarves to attack Belmoth,” the man explained. “They knew that the elves were coming and that with their help you would be able to hold Saddun indefinitely. That is why they staged a secret retreat of their forces. They knew that there were magicians among your ranks and expected them to detect the retreat. They knew that the token force they left in the city would almost certainly be defeated, but their original purpose was fulfilled: to draw the bulk of the army out of Saddun. On the plain, it is very unlikely that you will defeat them.”

  “Then all is lost,” Josiah said, shaking his head. “The dwarves may have as many as seventy-five thousand men, and our army has less than fifteen thousand. The only way we had any chance of victory was with dragon support. But if we are to be attacked soon, the dragons will never get here in time.”

  “All of your intelligence up to this point has been hampered by the magic of the dwarves,” the man said. “They have been reinforced on the march and now have close to one hundred and fifty thousand men. Also, you are correct when you say that the dragons will not arrive in time to assist you; however, this is not the time to cower in the sight of your enemies. Elohim is on your side, and He will give you the strength you need to meet your enemies with courage.”

  “But what is the point?” Josiah asked, despair evident in his voice. “There is absolutely no way that we can defeat the dwarves.”

  “You’re right,” the man said. “There is no way that you can defeat them. But isn’t that the point?”

  Josiah had uncertainty written on his face as he lifted it, but the man had gone. Or, rather, Josiah had gone. He was no longer in a long hall with a curtain covering a doorway on one end. There was no more golden furniture, nor were there angelic voices coming from behind a curtain. Josiah was back on the plain. His horse was a short distance away eating grass, and the sun was just coming above the horizon. Josiah turned away from the sunrise and looked intently across the plain. He thought he might be able to make out some movement, but he couldn’t be sure. As he looked, he saw sun glint off of metal. He leaped to his feet and left his horse as he sprinted toward camp. The army was in disarray with soldiers getting ready for the day’s march. People were milling around, gathering up their weapons and armor, and no one seemed to be on the lookout for the enemy.

  As Josiah burst into camp, a single roar went up from the ogre camp. Pandemonium broke out in the human camp as they also spotted the massive army moving in their direction. Men panicked all around as Josiah stopped to catch his breath. He began to search for General Uriah and quickly found him standing by his horse and staring out at the vast army of the enemy.

  “Your orders, sir,” Josiah said breathlessly as he came to a stop in front of Uriah. Uriah didn’t answer but kept his gaze fixed on the approaching army. He kept mumbling to himself, and Josiah realized that he was in shock. He turned and pushed his way through the soldiers to the front line to where a few dozen of the more seasoned soldiers had formed a shaky line.

  “The blasted general has never been in a battle except for the one at Saddun,” Josiah muttered to himself. “I guess he just isn’t cut out for this sort of thing. Form battle lines!” He bellowed aloud at the panicking soldiers. The sound of his voice over the panic seemed to calm the men down to a certain extent, and many of them turned to look at him.

  “Swordsmen in front and archers behind,” he shouted. When few soldiers moved to follow his orders, he added, “If you want to live out the day, move!”

  The soldiers quickly scrambled to form a more solid line. Even so, they looked pathetic compared to the advancing dwarves, and Josiah knew they didn’t stand a chance against the horde. He quickly gave orders to cut the length of the line and increase its depth. The soldiers expertly moved to follow the new order without so much as a pause. Even with the new formation, the army looked too small. Josiah turned to face an approaching ogre.

  “What is it?” he asked when the ogre had halted in front of him.

  “Commander Looran wants to know what you would have him do,” the ogre responded.

  “Tell him that if he would split his troops into two groups and position one on each side of our line, I would be obliged.”

  “Yes sir,” the ogre said, but he remained where he was.

  “Is there anything else?” Josiah asked.

  “To be honest, sir, what can we do against the enemy?” the ogre asked. “They have five times the number of troops that we have.”

  “Oh, they have a lot more than five times as many men,” Josiah said, “but we can still give them one hell of a battle. We can buy time for our army back in Saddun. No, we can’t beat them, but we can help save Magessa. And as long as we fight with all of our might that is all Elohim asks.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the ogre said. “I needed to hear that.”

  “Really,” Josiah said with a raised eyebrow. “Most people wouldn’t want to hear that there is no hope.”

 
“Not that part, sir—your reason for fighting.”

  The ogre turned and ran back toward his commander to relay the message that Josiah had given. Josiah turned back to his army, casting his gaze over the small group that had rallied under his command. As he looked into the eyes of the men, he saw fear in most of them. He broke away from the army and turned to face them. He had always heard of great generals giving great speeches before battles, and he felt that he should do something like that.

  “Soldiers of Magessa,” he began. “I know that many of you cannot see victory at the end of this battle. The truth is that we are badly outnumbered, probably worse than many of you are aware. And because of that, I see fear in the eyes of many of you, a fear that would be covering me as well. But I have realized something. Whether we live or die is not important in the grand scheme of things. No, the lives of a few thousand soldiers are not worth much; however, it’s what we do with our lives—how they end—that is what is really important. What use is running from this battle to escape death when the very army that we are facing will then go on to destroy our country? At that point, I think many of you will find that you do not have a reason to live. On the other hand, all Elohim asks is that we fight bravely, even if that means giving our lives to defend Magessa. As long as we are faithful in His service, the result of the battle is up to Him, and He will make all things work toward the continuation of His plan. As long as we serve Him faithfully, He will invite us to something much better when we pass on. I don’t know about you, but that encourages me to no end.”

  As Josiah looked into the eyes of the soldiers this time, he saw that while some still held fear, many of them were devoid of that fear, and it had been replaced by peace. They gripped their weapons with steadier hands, and Josiah knew that he could trust them to fight until life left their bodies. He took a place on the front line and watched as the dwarves advanced. They were just out of bow range now, so he made the signal for the archers to nock their arrows. As the dwarves reached the range of the bowmen, they let loose a volley from their crossbows and broke into a run. Josiah motioned for the lines of infantry to raise their shields, and the volley splashed against them, punching through some, but causing only a few casualties. The infantry returned their shields to their former positions and waited as the enemy drew nearer. Josiah gave the signal for the archers to draw their bows. The dwarves pressed even closer. They were only a hundred yards away now, then only fifty. Finally Josiah signaled, and the entire line of archers let loose their arrows, cutting down hundreds of dwarves. Quickly the archers nocked arrows again and drew the bows, letting loose another volley of arrows when the enemy was no more than twenty yards away. They scrambled to get off another volley, which hit the dwarves when they were less than five yards from the front line of the human army. Then, with a mighty crash of metal on metal, the dwarves smashed into the army of Magessa, driving the defenders back a few steps. The fighting was fierce as the dwarves tried to drive their enemy back, but the defenders would not give. The dead soon covered the ground, giving evidence to the resolve of the soldiers. The dwarves surrounded the army, trying to sweep in on the flanks, but the ogres held them off until the humans were able to form a large ring. The ogres fell back to take their places among the defenders, smashing their way through the large crowd of dwarves with their clubs. The fighting was brutal and lasted throughout the day. The ring of defenders slowly contracted as it lost more and more men. The humans and ogres slew their fair share of dwarves, but there seemed to be no end to the horde of enemies. They continued to press the beleaguered humans and ogres until dusk, when they finally fell back for the night.