The Mongrel Mage

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “Why the ground?”

  “Things live in it.”

  “How close do you think we can get before they could see us?”

  Beltur studied the narrow road that curved slightly several hundred yards ahead. Then he concentrated on sensing what lay beyond that. Finally, he turned in the saddle and looked at the captain. “Possibly another three or four hundred yards beyond where the road curves.”

  “That would leave us open for a half kay.” Laugreth paused. “What about moving into the hills before they can see us?”

  “The slopes seem open and rough. I could put a concealment around the company, and we could stay on the road.”

  “That would take us close to the Gallosians. Then what? We can’t fight inside a concealment.”

  Beltur frowned. There was something … something about the captain’s words. Then he smiled. “You’ve just answered your own question. In a way, that is. We could advance on the road under a concealment. When we get near enough to attack, I lift the concealment, for just a few moments, and then drop it around the Gallosians. They won’t be able to do much within a concealment. That would give us time to ready an attack, or avoid them, or fire arrows into where they were. Even loosing some shafts into a company that can’t see might cause some confusion.”

  “Where did you come up with that?” Laugreth shook his head. “I know—from my words.” He hesitated. “They have mages, too. Do you think they might expect something like that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a concealment being used that way, but it’s possible. That doesn’t change the fact that they wouldn’t be able to see.”

  “They could still charge toward us and break out of the concealment … or they could withdraw.”

  “Or…” mused Beltur, “I could throw a concealment around them before I lift the one around us, and tell you where the Gallosians are. That way, they wouldn’t even know how big a force they faced … or where to go. I don’t think the company ahead has a white wizard, either.”

  “We’d waste shafts that way,” said Laugreth.

  “What if we fired two volleys at them, and then I dropped the concealment for two or three counts, and then the men fired two more volleys? The Gallosians might be confused enough not even to see where we are.”

  “That sounds like the best plan … but if they have pikemen with shield bearers, the arrows wouldn’t do much good and we couldn’t charge them directly. Can you tell about the ground on each side of the road?”

  “It slopes, but it’s not as steep on the sides. It’s more like a big bowl. The sides are where the horses and riders are.”

  “It might be better to attack the mounted armsmen first, and then sweep around the foot and strike from the flanks. Could you keep the foot in the dark the whole time, and do a separate concealment for the sides?”

  Beltur shook his head. “That would mean switching from one concealment to three, one on each side and one in the middle. I might be able to include the foot and the mounted on one side, with a separate concealment for the mounted on the other side.”

  “Let me think about that.”

  The two continued riding for another twenty yards before the captain spoke.

  “We’ll attack the mounted riders on the east side first, then swing around to flank the foot. That way, the remaining mounted armsmen would have to ride over their own foot to get at us directly. We’ll hit those on foot that we can and then just keep going. That will get us behind them and create more confusion than if we stayed and fought. Then if they come after us, you can drop a concealment over them, and we can pick them off if they pursue us once they come out of the concealment.”

  “That sounds better.”

  “It also fits better with what the marshal wants because we’ll be behind their lines.” Laugreth hesitated, then added, “More to the east than I’d like, but we’ve gone through rough terrain before.” He raised an arm. “Company! Halt! Squad leaders and officers forward! Pass it back.”

  Beltur reined up and waited beside the captain while Gaermyn, Zandyr, and the five squad leaders rode forward. He leaned forward in the saddle and patted Slowpoke on the shoulder, wondering what his uncle would have thought of his situation. Given what his uncle had thought of Wyath, Beltur would like to have thought he would have approved … or at least understood. Except he’d worry that he hadn’t protected me enough. That was something Beltur was only coming to understand, that his uncle had cared about Beltur more deeply than he’d ever let on. And you’ll never be able to tell him that.

  “Are you all right, Beltur?” asked Laugreth.

  Beltur swallowed. “I’m fine. I was just thinking.” He could tell Laugreth was dubious.

  “You’re sure? If you can’t do this…”

  “Oh, that’s not a problem. It really isn’t.”

  Something in Beltur’s tone of voice must have convinced the captain, because he turned his eyes to the approaching riders. Once the other six were circled around, all still mounted, Laugreth began. “There’s a mixed Gallosian force up ahead, less than a kay away. It’s roughly the size of a company but is half foot and half mounted. The foot may have pikes. That’s why we’re going to attack in a different way…” He went on to describe the approach to the Gallosians and the attack, as well as the handling of moving under a concealment, ending by saying, “Our objective is to get behind the Gallosian lines where we can attack vulnerable units. We’re not to engage in direct and prolonged combat. This attack is designed to conform to those objectives.” He looked across the various faces, ending with Gaermyn.

  “Do they have a white wizard?” asked the senior undercaptain.

  “There’s no sign of one,” replied Beltur.

  Gaermyn nodded and looked back at Laugreth.

  “Return to your squads. A moment, Undercaptain Gaermyn, if you would.”

  Once Zandyr and the squad leaders had left, although Vaertaag had merely eased his mount several yards away and back in front of First Squad, Laugreth said, “You’re concerned?”

  “Do we know what other Gallosian units are nearby?”

  Laugreth nodded to Beltur.

  “The closest unit to the Gallosians is a Spidlarian squad on the hilltop to the west of the road, slightly north of the Gallosians. There are no Gallosian forces within half a kay of the force we’ll be attacking. Beyond that, I can’t tell.”

  Gaermyn smiled wryly. “Fair enough. That’s all I had, ser.”

  “We’ll try not to leave you a mess to ride through,” said Laugreth.

  “Appreciated, ser.” Gaermyn nodded and turned his mount.

  Beltur couldn’t help but wonder why the senior undercaptain hadn’t just asked the question when all the others were present. What aren’t you seeing?

  Laugreth didn’t answer Beltur’s unspoken question, but waited a time before ordering, “Company! Forward!”

  The two rode without speaking until they neared the curve in the road, when Beltur said, “We can ride about halfway around this curve, about to where that clump of bushes is, before I should conceal us.”

  “Is the road straight beyond the curve?”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “That makes sense. The Gallosians would want as much notice as possible. How much farther could we go before you do the concealment? I don’t like to have the men ride a corner blind.”

  “I can’t tell until we get closer, ser. I’ll make it as late as I can.”

  As he rode into the beginning of the curve in the road, Beltur again checked the Gallosians. “Ser, from what I can tell, the Gallosians are still only in the same three formations. They’re not tight. Not yet, anyway.”

  “That’s good for us. Tell me immediately if that changes.”

  “Yes, ser.” Beltur supposed that the loose formations made a sort of sense, since the distance from where the road straightened to where they were positioned on the top of a gentle rise was a good five hundred yards. Then he frowned, belatedly realizi
ng that a horse in a walk wouldn’t take that long to cover the distance, and that was why the company would walk until the lead riders were just under a hundred and fifty yards away, when Beltur would drop the concealment and Recon Two would charge the units on the left, most of whom weren’t even mounted. At least, it seemed that way to Beltur.

  As he rode around the last yards of the curve in the narrow road, Beltur kept his eyes forward looking for any hint of the Gallosians, then created the concealment when he saw a glint of light on something metallic. “The Gallosians are still where they were, ser. Straight ahead up the road.”

  At about two hundred yards from the enemy, Beltur could sense rapid movement. “I think they’ve spotted something, ser. We’re at two hundred yards.”

  “Drop the concealment.”

  Light flooded over Beltur, although he was actually in shadow from the hills to the east, which made adjusting to the comparative glare easier. He could see Gallosians running toward the middle of the road, some with shields, others with pikes.

  “Company! Charge! On me!” thundered Laugreth.

  Beltur had to use his boot heels to get Slowpoke moving, but in moments, or so it seemed to Beltur, the big gelding had caught up to Laugreth, and Beltur had to rein him back slightly, since the last thing he wanted was to be leading a charge. He extended his personal shields just a bit so that they totally covered Slowpoke. And they call him Slowpoke? Beltur smiled at the vagrant thought even as he concentrated on holding position.

  Ahead, the Gallosians on the road were hurrying to set pikes and shields.

  Beltur glanced to the east, where half the Gallosian mounted unit seemed to be still scrambling into the saddle.

  “Sabres! Ready!”

  About fifteen yards from the tips of those pikes that had been raised, Laugreth shouted, “Left! Now!”

  First Squad swung onto the sloping ground beside the road, headed straight toward the Gallosian riders; then, almost before Beltur could react, they had smashed through the thin line and were cutting across the back of the east side of the foot, behind the pikes and almost directly across the shieldmen, and a mixture of dull thuds, thumps, scraping of sabres on metal or something hard, as well as shouts and screams, rose around Beltur. Even with the shields he carried, he could feel the impacts, if in a muffled way.

  As First Squad turned to follow the road on the gentle slope away from the Gallosian position, Beltur glanced back, but all he could see were the troopers immediately behind him.

  Once First Squad had covered several hundred yards, Laugreth slowed the company to a walk, but did not bring it to a halt until Fifth Squad was a good kay from the Gallosian position. He looked to Beltur and said, “No one’s following us. Not yet, anyway.”

  Before that long, the five squad leaders rode forward.

  Beltur noticed that neither Gaermyn nor Zandyr joined them. So Gaermyn can watch the road in case the Gallosians do decide to pursue?

  “Squad leaders, report,” ordered Laugreth quietly.

  “First Squad, one wounded, not seriously.”

  “Second Squad, one lost. Dargaal was unseated. We couldn’t see what happened.”

  “Third Squad, one wounded, one missing.”

  “Fourth Squad, one wounded, broken arm.”

  “Fifth Squad, no casualties.”

  Three wounded and two missing. Was that good or bad … or expected? Beltur had no idea.

  “You all handled that well, especially after riding blind.” The captain looked to Nobryn, the Fifth Squad leader. “You were the last through. Could you tell what sort of casualties we inflicted?”

  “Hard to tell, Captain. I saw at least four of their cavalry unhorsed and injured and maybe a half score of foot laid out, but how bad they were hurt I couldn’t say. We did some damage. Two of my men say they cut down pikemen. There might have been more.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  “They were running around like headless fowl, ser. Who could tell?”

  “Return to your squads. Nobryn, tell Undercaptain Gaermyn I’d like to see him as we ride. We need to keep moving just in case the Gallosians change their mind.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “Company! Forward!” Laugreth didn’t offer any explanations to Beltur, but just kept studying the hills on the right side of the road, apparently comparing them to a small map he had pulled out of his tunic.

  Beltur judged that he’d ridden almost a half kay before Gaermyn rode up, a slightly grim expression on his face. Beltur reined up slightly to allow Gaermyn to ride beside the captain, but he stayed as close as he could to listen to what the two had to say.

  “Sorry, ser. I had to take care of something. It couldn’t wait.”

  “Wounded man or the undercaptain?”

  “Both.”

  “I hope it’s the last time.”

  “It just might be.”

  Beltur could see the captain nod and wondered what Zandyr had done … or hadn’t.

  “We’ve got rough maps of the land here,” said Laugreth. “If we follow this path that calls itself a road for another half kay, we could cut over a low ridge and pick up an even worse old path back toward the river. Years back it was a mining road. We’d get almost to the river, just under those red cliffs.”

  Gaermyn frowned. “How did you find that out?”

  “Talked to everyone I could. There were some old deeds in the Council building, too. One of the maps was attached to it. I borrowed it.”

  “If the Council knew…”

  “If we win, I’ll return it. If we don’t, the Council will have much more to worry about.”

  Gaermyn shook his head. “You think there is really a way to that old road.”

  “We might have to make our way. There used to be a path that connected, but something happened back in the time of Relyn. Seems like part of a hill collapsed and filled it with rocks. Too rough for horses, and the mine had already played out. No one could tell me where that place was. It could be kays to the east, and we don’t want to ride that far and then double back.”

  “I can see that, ser. When we get to the river, then what?”

  “We’ll figure that out when we do.”

  Gaermyn raised his eyebrows. “I’ve heard that before.”

  “You might have.” Laugreth smiled.

  The weathered undercaptain shook his head.

  A third of a glass later, at around seventh glass, the captain called a halt and turned to Gaermyn. “This might work. I’ll let you know.”

  Then he and two rankers rode up a slope on the south side of the road, which had gradually turned so that it was definitely headed southeast and away from the river and whatever fighting was occurring. The slope looked barely passable, as opposed to those others they had ridden past that had appeared impassable to Beltur.

  “Do you know what the captain has in mind, ser?”

  “No, but it will be black angel frigging difficult, and if it works, it’ll cost the Gallosians dear.”

  Left unsaid was what it might cost the company if what the captain had in mind did not work.

  A good half glass passed before one of the rankers rode back, halting some twenty yards up the slope.

  “Undercaptain, ser, the captain’s found a way to the other road.”

  Gaermyn nodded and turned to Beltur. “You’ll lead First Squad, Undercaptain.”

  “Yes, ser.” Beltur could see that Gaermyn needed to bring up the rear and make certain the rest of the company was in good order. And watch over Zandyr?

  “Company! Forward.”

  Although Beltur worried that Slowpoke might have trouble because of his size, the big gelding was surprisingly agile as he led the way up the slope at an angle. When Beltur neared the ranker, the man turned his mount.

  “This way, ser.”

  Getting to the top of the rise wasn’t that hard, but when he reached the crest and looked to the south, Beltur could see that going down the far side was going to be tricky, be
cause the slope was sandy and rocky, not to mention fairly steep.

  “You’ll have to angle back toward that scrubby pine, ser, and then keep going until you see a clearing off to the left. That’s where the captain is. He’ll point the way to the old road.”

  “Thank you.” The fact that the captain had apparently found the old road was reassuring, but Beltur had to swallow as Slowpoke started down the slope. He let the gelding set his own pace, but was ready to rein him back if necessary. Beltur very much hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary.

  Going down the sandy decline was nerve-racking for Beltur, but when he looked at the almost sheer drops on the backside of the other hills, he could see that Laugreth had picked the only possible route. Beyond the weathered and scrawny pine tree, the ground became less sandy, although in one place Slowpoke’s hooves clattered on flat red rock. Finally, after what seemed to be more than a glass, but could only have been a fraction of that, the ground before Beltur leveled out, and he could see what looked to be a clearing ahead, the way to it barely marked by the slight bending in the knee-high, autumn-tan grass that showed the faintest trace of previous riders. Beltur could sense a single horse and rider ahead.

  He kept riding and finally could make out Laugreth.

  “From here, we’ll have to walk the horses through that gap.” The captain pointed to his right, where Beltur saw a narrow opening in the redstone cliff. “It’s just wide enough for them without a rider. The old road is at the other end of the gap. Khalyst is waiting there. Just form up and wait. I didn’t see any tracks on the old road, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to see if you sense anyone else around.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  Leading Slowpoke through the narrow gap in the rock was far less nerve-racking than coming down the sandy and rocky slope had been, and before long Beltur stood on what had once likely been a well-traveled road, because the surface was still comparatively level. He glanced down to see that the roadbed looked to be crushed rock, and he wondered what they had mined that had resulted in such a durable road—and why it had not been used in years.

  Remembering what the captain had said, Beltur did his best to sense whether any Gallosians were nearby, but he could detect no one and no large animals, except those belonging to Second Recon.