They could not afford any desertions now, nor any signs of fear among the defenders. The hard part was coming up in the plan and it had to be done just as her master had ordered it, if it was to work successfully. Another tour of the defenses would be in order, her presence seen among the defenders and other troops would help to buoy their morale. In addition, it would set the fear of her and her master stronger in their hearts than the fear of any enemy.
But first she decided to pay her erstwhile 'guests' a little visit, donning one of the special heavy robes her master had given her she made her way to the top of the tower, stopping to make sure that nothing of her actual identity was revealed. She then checked with the guards and entered after they opened the door.
She looked over the two cells and their occupants. The cell on the right primarily drawing her interest, the sole female occupant looking much the worse for wear. She had to admit the occupant had held up well, though the torture she had been submitted to had been fairly minor, both the physical and mental. Still, the months now of confinement, uncertainty, and poor food had started to run her down.
Her eyes flicked briefly over the many empty cells. Those cells had once held other members of the party that had been captured. They were all dead now, tortured slowly at the hands of her master. She had known some of them, and it had bothered her greatly when she had been forced to watch what was done. At times she pitied the female there, she’d been forced to watch some of what went on as well, the guilt she must be feeling now was surely overwhelming.
She ignored the male in the other cell, who sat and watched her quietly while the female slept. There wasn't anything to say to him in front of her, anymore. She turned and left the room, hearing a gasp as the female woke, followed by a few choice oaths hurtled at her retreating back by the male. She smiled to herself and headed down the tower's stairs, sure that her master had everything well in hand.
Her next stop was the stables, where she had horses made ready for her and her guards. It would take two days to properly cover the defenses she wanted to visit, to set a few spells of her own, to instill the fear of her master in the lesser beings, and instill the greed of great rewards in their commanders. The force guarding the tower at this point was small, only a hundred and fifty Orcs, a handful of Goblins, and forty Human mercenaries. The rest had been moved off to bolster the front line forces, the field commanders thought this was the first of many reinforcements that would be coming. The actual forces off in the field were also relatively small, and each equally misdirected about the forces held in reserve back here at the tower. Of course, only she and her master knew the true number, the defenders in the field all thought there were many many more than there truly was, and while they had a two to one advantage over the coming forces, both she and her master knew that the coming Elven and Shrean army was far better trained and motivated. It would be a tough battle, yes, but that was all part of his plan as well.
So the defenders would fight more viciously than they might otherwise, thinking that they had large reinforcements to call on and that they'd win easily against the approaching army. They would be less likely to break, not wishing to flee into the face of those reinforcements and be killed for desertion or cowardice.
Their winning wasn't what was important of course, just as long as they fought hard and died well. She doubted any of them would appreciate the sacrifices that they were going to make, the lesser beings rarely did, but it was their place to be used, and her master’s place to use them. Her master had taught her that lesson repeatedly and cruelly these last seven years. She had no desire to find herself suddenly thrust into their role, so she did as he commanded her, taking care to follow each order to the letter.
She smiled as she thought of some of the extra preparations she now had in mind, things to take care of her own revenge. She still had not mentioned her suspicions to her master, though she doubted he would care at this point. He had more important things to deal with; all of his time now was focused on the female captive. In about ten days the forces from the Valley should be at the outer defenses. When they got there, all must be ready, ordered, and set.
She had much to do.
# # # #
Several days later, she was making her way back towards the tower that had been her home for so many years now. The troops were all in place, and what inspiration she could give them, she had. Though more likely, it was what fear she could give she had.
At times like this when she had been out of her master’s influence for a few days her mind started to wander down those paths that it hadn’t seen in more months than she could remember. She wondered about this choice she had made in her life, and she wondered just how much of a say she had really had in making it. Her master had done much to compel her to join with him she suspected, she was quite a catch for his plans no doubt with her skills, her abilities, and her social standing.
The idea of getting even with those who had wronged her, and those who had laughed at her behind her back, were what drove her on in her tasks, that and the ever present fear of her master and his violent tempers. But at times like this she almost regretted her choice. She missed the simpler and more pleasant life she had given up. She missed her almost carefree innocence. Yes, she knew the world held many bad things in it, but she had never been forced to watch those bad things happen, again and again, and sometimes even to people whom she had once known quite well.
Furthermore she’d never expected to be the one doing some of those very same things. At least her master hadn’t forced her to do it to those she considered her equals or former friends. He’d only had her punish those of the lesser races, those whose station and being were far inferior to her own.
Still, she had to admit that it had not gotten much easier with time; she still had nightmares about the punishments she often meted out in her master’s name. Thankfully, she had begun to develop something of her master’s temper, which at least allowed her to do these things in the ruthless manner he had taught her when it was up.
And while she would feel guilty in the aftermath, she was still thankful for it, because she knew what those lesser beings would do to her the first time she showed any weakness at all, her master had seen to it that she understood quite clearly what would happen. As well as what he would do to her should she shame him in that way and manage to survive.
She shuddered as she rounded the bend and the tower came into sight. Schooling her thoughts she put them to the back of her mind, lest her master detect something wrong and ask questions. Questions that might make him think she needed a refresher on some of her lessons....
She shuddered again, one last time as the unbidden thoughts of bruises and cuts only recently healed surfaced momentarily. No, she would give him no cause for questions tonight.
Parade Grounds - Elsheval
"You seem rather pleased with yourself," the king observed a week later as we gathered on the field, getting our troops in order as we prepared to march out of the city.
I leaned back in the saddle and nodded, "A little, I bought some things I needed."
The king turned to look at me noticing the swords. "Several rather rude jokes come to mind you know, Jareth," he smiled.
"Well, you know us fighters," I smiled back.
"All too well I'm afraid. Nice to see you haven't changed all that much." He turned back to look at the troops as they fell into formation. "It's been a long time since I've led an army you know."
I nodded, "Don't worry, just stick to the plan I gave you and listen to your officers. They're all experienced troops and besides, from what I read of history you did pretty well back then."
He grimaced, "The writers of history are often way too kind when the subject of their adoration is still alive, and their king as well. See what they say after I'm dead. Then we'll know."
I laughed, "Good point, Your Highness." I looked up and down the assembled troops and nodded to myself. "Well come, let us go get your daughter back," I said
and rode to the front of the line as everyone came to attention.
"Yes, let's." He agreed.
The first day's march took us to the northern pass, which we camped just inside the start of; taking advantage of the security of the local garrison's fort that guarded it. I kept my unit spread out among the larger bulk of the main forces; I didn't want it noticed when we disappeared. I was also worried about them noticing Clint's disappearance, so we'd worked out a minor subterfuge to deal with that one as well. Most of the troops in the main body really didn't know his appearance that well, so faking his presence wouldn't be hard. Even less of those troops knew my face anymore, so I really wasn't worried about my own disappearance.
I spent the evening shadowing the king as he reviewed the troops and went over the typical jobs of a commander in the field. I was there mainly in case he had any questions he wanted to ask me, and also to be able to offer advice later on. For the most part though I stayed in the background tried to act like just another one of his guards, as long as no one got used to me being there, they wouldn't miss me when I left.
The troops hadn't done badly for the first day of a march, and the king had little trouble. All in all I was very pleased. I wanted the king to gain a lot of credibility from this fight. When the queen died, and I was sure after seeing her the last time that she would now, the kingdom would need a strong hand to guide it through the upcoming political turmoil. I felt that the king had that hand. Even if we got his daughter back and she ascended to the throne she was still fairly young and inexperienced in elven terms. She'd need somebody’s guidance, far better for all of us if it were his.
I left him then and went in search of my own bed. We were staying at the fort and as an officer; I rated my own room, which was nice. I just had to find it.
When I finally found it I found Tam as well.
"You're in my bed," I said to her.
"Obviously," she smiled, "You didn't seem to mind last night I should point out."
"Well last night we weren't marching in an army and you weren't under my command."
"Well this is the last night we can sleep in an actual bed with a roof over our heads, so I thought 'why not?'"
"That still leaves the 'under my command part.'" I said undressing.
"I'll be sure to follow your orders don't worry. The 'under you' part you'll have to deal with on your own however," she snickered.
"So what excuse are you going to use tomorrow night when we're sleeping out in the open?" I asked climbing into bed with her.
"That it's too cold to sleep alone."
"Well you have a fur coat for that one."
"Yes, but I haven't noticed you making any use of yours in some time."
"I have my reasons." I said and pulled her closer.
"So do I," she sighed moving against me.
The next day's march took us to the edge of the Valley's influence. While the Elsheval Havens did not claim anything beyond the fort at the pass, it still kept a presence in the areas leading to its passes and exercised a lot of power in the region. The troops themselves were shaking down into better order, the high number of inexperienced recruits was just making it take longer, but there were still enough veterans around that I wasn't too worried.
We were still moving a little slow, being most of the troops were on foot the main body would never be able to move fast; also it really didn't make sense to push them yet. Now that we were outside the confines of the Valley and there were no 'safe' places to bivouac for a night, there were always chances of an attack or an ambush, and showing up tired would not help in battle. So caution was more advised than speed, especially as speed was not an element of my plans for this army.
Tam slept with me again that night and I admit I was grateful for the company, even if it wasn't cold out. She did sleep in her fur and I wished I could have joined her in doing so. Another day and we'd separate from the main body and I wouldn't have to hold up pretenses anymore. I wasn't sure exactly why I was doing it now. But Daratheena's advice was always best worth taking.
I was woken at midnight of the following night, as I had ordered.
I got my gear together and had Tam go and spread the word for our group to move off quietly into the woods and meet up at the landmark I had shown everyone on the map. It was fairly simple and I had no doubts of anyone finding it. I had bid my farewell to the king before turning in that night. I was confident he'd follow the plan I had laid out for him.
I slipped off into the woods once Tam came back and told me everyone was getting ready, ducking through the trees and out of camp. The sentries had been set carefully tonight, shortly after we had left a few more would be added to plug the holes. I didn't want anyone to see us leaving.
I got to the rendezvous point to find several of my people already there and waiting. Jonus was one of them and I noticed all the rest there were fairly senior members as well. All were in their natural forms of course, we had a long forced march ahead of us and we traveled better that way.
"Jonus," I nodded to him and greeted the others who were there as well. "Glad to see you made it here already."
"Well begging the captain’s pardon, Sir, but a few of us had a question and we best felt to ask it before the rest showed up."
I quirked an eyebrow, "Really? Whatever about?"
"Well sir, there's been this rumor going about the unit and even the rest of the troops that you no longer can shift into your natural form, that you've been cursed, even become a human." He growled a little at that, I don't know if it was at the idea of Humans or me becoming one.
I smiled, "Really?"
He and the others all nodded, "Yes, Sir."
"Interesting. I was advised that it might be helpful if people came to believe such a thing."
"So, it's not true, Sir?"
"No, Jonus, it's not."
"Prove it," One of the others, Haron, said.
"As soon as the rest of the group gets here I will."
"Why wait until then?"
"Well, because some haven't seen me in cat form and won't recognize me, will they?"
Jonus cuffed the side of Haron’s head with a paw, "Told ya. You're buying the first two rounds when we get back now."
"Make sure I get one of those ales too." I smiled, "least you can do for your old captain."
They nodded and we waited for the rest to show up. Clint came in last, bringing up the rear to take care of any stragglers, not that there were any. I spent a minute sorting us out, checking to make sure that packs were set properly, and then shifted myself, giving an unexpectedly loud sigh of pleasure at not only finally being able to be myself again, but to do so in my own element. I noticed the entire unit was looking at me, including Clint.
"Sorry," I said, ears flattening in embarrassment, "It's been a while."
There were quite a few ducked heads, and I got the impression of a lot of relieved troopers. I guess that rumor had spread better than I had thought. I motioned with my head and we headed off into the night, from this point on we'd only be sleeping four hours a day and stopping just long enough to eat.
The next eight days would be difficult indeed; we had over two hundred miles to cover until we got to the first position of what had once been Zaranfeld's defenses. That was a lot of ground to cover and we needed to be there before the main body came up against their objective, which was eight days off for them. I had told the king to stall; he could have made it in six himself. But with the hills and mountains we'd have to cross, I knew eight was as best as we'd be able to do and I wanted the defenders fully occupied with him when we got there.
# # # #
I belly crawled over the rocks to peek at the outpost. It had been a very hard eight days to get here indeed. We'd lost four of our troopers, one to a minor injury, one to a major injury in a rock fall that had forced me to leave two more behind to care for him. I was afraid the second one might not make it and I wasn't going to leave him to die alone in the cold mountains.
The outpost was staffed, though there were only three in it apparently. I'd assigned two others to watch it in shifts while the rest of us had caught up on some much needed sleep and waited for night to fall. Three was not what I had expected; I'd expected at least six, probably more. Taking this one should prove a lot easier than I’d dared to hope.
I watched for an hour as I decided on how I wanted to deal with it. The guard hadn't changed since we got here, a few hours before sunset. I doubted it was changed this late after dark, and had my suspicions about how many were awake as I'd only seen two of them on top of the wall since I'd crawled up here.
The outpost itself wasn't really that big, it was a wall across the pass, which was steep and treacherous with sharp cliffs to either side. The only way past this outpost from this side was by ladder, and with the lack of level ground, it wouldn't be easy to put one up. Collapsing the wall wouldn't be a problem, getting all of the guards would have been, if this outpost had been properly staffed.
I crawled back down and signaled to the Battle Mage that had followed me up here.
"Yes, Sir?" he asked quietly.
"Okay, there are only two on top; they're the problem of the archers. If you can hit the target I showed you earlier, the wall should collapse in on itself immediately before anyone can sound the alarm."
He nodded.
I turned to the archers, "Once he finishes casting the spell, take your shots. I don't want to have any screamers going over the side of the cliff, so make sure you hit your mark."
They both nodded.
I crawled back up to the edge; the guards were pretty sloppy, taking their time, occasionally chatting to each other. Whoever was running this operation, it definitely wasn't Zaranfeld. He would have made examples of soldiers like these by inviting them to one of his many feasts, as the main course.
I waited until they stopped to chat once more, this time facing away from my position and signaled the others to make their moves. The Mage was my biggest worry, we had camouflaged him as best we could, but there was still a chance he might be noticed, his spell wasn't instantaneous.
Lost Souls Page 14