The Mongrel Mage

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “Good. We might need them.”

  “More than might, ser.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  While half listening to his senior officers, Beltur was already trying to sense where the Gallosian forces might be, but he could tell immediately that most of them were farther than a kay to the north, and that meant they were likely little more than a kay and a half from the south piers of Elparta. Even so, that wasn’t close enough for siege machines, even a trebuchet.

  “Beltur, are there any other Gallosians nearby, within a kay or less?”

  “No, ser. Not on this side of the river. It’s hard to tell, across water, but there are at least two companies on the west bank across from us.”

  “We’ll be gone before they can get here. What about on the river road?”

  “There are companies everywhere farther north. I think the closest are those posted about where the narrow road we took yesterday branches off.”

  “That’s about a kay and a half.” Laugreth nodded, as if confirming something for himself. “We’ll take the river road. At least for a time.”

  From the flatboat ramp to the stone cairns that marked the border on the river road, the most obvious signs that the Gallosians had been there were the proliferation of horse dung and tracks of men and mounts in the dust and sand created by the passage of a considerable number of both. Roughly half a kay farther on, that changed, with the blue-clad bodies of Spidlarian rankers strewn here and there, occasional dead horses, gouges in the hillside created by mounted riders either charging or fleeing, and a faint but increasing odor of death and incipient decomposition, a smell that would have been far more redolent had it been full summer rather than a comparatively cool autumn.

  Beltur lost track of the bodies before it struck him that he hadn’t seen any fallen in the gray and black of Gallos. “The Gallosians took care of their dead, but not ours.” Beltur was slightly surprised to find himself saying he was a Spidlarian. But you’re certainly not a Gallosian. Still …

  “That surprises you?” asked Laugreth. “They just loot our men. They probably loot their own before burying or burning them, whatever they do.”

  Beltur realized he hadn’t the faintest idea what happened to the bodies of fallen Gallosians. Then he sensed something. “There’s a Gallosian squad about four or five hundred yards ahead, around that next bend in the road.”

  “Are there any others nearby?”

  “Not for almost half a kay. There’s another group, maybe two or three squads, perhaps as a rearguard for the companies holding the fork in the road.”

  “Frig…” muttered the captain. “That’s to be expected, but…” He shook his head. “We’ll have to do something about that.” He turned in the saddle. “Vaertaag, send someone to tell Undercaptain Gaermyn I need to see him.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “Beltur, the first squad is on a rise in the road, I presume, and where it’s straight for a ways in our direction?”

  “It feels that way, but that’s the part of the road that curves more. I can’t say exactly, but the straight part of the road might only be a hundred yards long or so. The road swings east right behind the squad.”

  “How sharp is the curve?”

  “They probably couldn’t see who was on the road behind them for more than fifty yards.”

  “What about the rearguard? How far are they from the rest of the Gallosians?”

  “Two or three hundred yards. I think they’re on top of another rise.”

  “What about the main body?”

  “A little less than three companies, but that’s more of a feel. They’re about as far as I can sense.”

  “They’re being cautious, and that’s going to make it harder for us. Then, if we can pull this off, it might work to our advantage. It might also take some pressure off the companies directly defending Elparta.”

  Beltur was glad Laugreth felt that way, even if he didn’t yet understand what the captain had in mind.

  Before that long, Gaermyn rode up and eased his mount in beside that of Laugreth. Again, Beltur dropped back and listened as they kept riding.

  “You need that diversion we talked about?” asked Gaermyn.

  “We may need two. Beltur tells me that there’s a recon squad around the curve ahead, some four hundred yards ahead. Then another half kay beyond that are two more squads acting as a rearguard. I was thinking that you could have Fifth Squad circle around behind the recon squad, and then we’d have three troopers in Gallosian uniforms riding toward the Gallosians.”

  “What about cover? There aren’t that many trees. It’s mostly bushes and grass and sand and rocks.”

  “The road curves. If you go some fifty yards farther north past them, you ought to be able to form up without being seen. The rest of us would follow the three, but under a concealment. That would get us close enough to attack in force, or in as much force as four abreast will allow.”

  “Four abreast?”

  “The road is straight there, and a bit wider.”

  “How will we know when Fifth Squad…” Gaermyn broke off. “Beltur can tell us?”

  “We’ll be close enough that I can,” Beltur quickly said.

  “It might be hard on Fifth Squad,” observed Gaermyn. “We can’t afford to let any of the Gallosians escape.”

  “Then you want to lead them?”

  “It might be best.”

  “Then we’ll do it that way. We’ll advance another a hundred yards or so, then wait until Fifth Squad is in position. Tell the rankers in the Gallosian uniforms to put them on over their own tunics so that they can strip them away immediately.”

  Gaermyn nodded and then turned his mount back down the road, easing past the oncoming rankers.

  “Any change with the Gallosians?” asked Laugreth.

  “No, ser.”

  After riding not quite a hundred yards farther, the captain called a halt, allowing the men to dismount and stretch their legs, but also asking Beltur to let him know if anyone else appeared to be approaching. A short time later, Fifth Squad rode forward and then moved up the eastern slope and out of sight.

  Beltur kept the captain informed of where the squad was, but it was almost a glass later when he said, “Fifth Squad is in position, ser.”

  “Mount up!” Laugreth turned to the three rankers in Gallosian uniforms. “Just ride slowly, as if you’re exhausted and maybe wounded. The moment you hear me shout ‘Company!’ you go to the east side of the road and strip off those Gallosian uniforms. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “Once you’re back in uniform, then you can look for Gallosians. Not until. Now, put yourselves about five yards in front of us. Undercaptain Beltur won’t drop the concealment over the company until we’re close to where the Gallosians can see us. Even if you can’t see us, you can hear any command I give.” Laugreth gestured to the three. Once they were in position, he called out, “Company! Forward!”

  As the three decoy riders neared the end of the bend in the road, Laugreth turned to Beltur. “Any change?”

  “No, ser.”

  “How are they formed up?”

  “Some at the edge of the road aren’t mounted. It’s hard to tell about the others in the road because they’re close together.” When men and mounts were packed tightly, it was difficult for Beltur to sense separations. Men could have been standing beside their horses or be mounted.

  “They wouldn’t be across the road and holding mounts. Probably half are mounted while the others are standing by.”

  Beltur realized he should have come to that conclusion. But you’ve had to learn a great deal in a very short time. That thought made him feel like he was looking for an excuse, and he didn’t like that.

  Just before Beltur and the captain reached the point where the bend in the road began to straighten, he dropped the concealment over the first two squads. The other two squads wouldn’t be around the bend far enough to be visible to the Gallosi
ans until the three decoys were within fifty yards or so.

  He kept trying to determine what the Gallosians were doing, but he didn’t sense anything different even after he’d ridden almost another hundred yards. Still none of the Gallosians in the rear on the side of the road had mounted up. When Beltur felt he was less than a hundred yards away, he extended the concealment farther behind him to cover the two trailing squads.

  When the three decoys were perhaps thirty-five yards from the reconnaissance squad, one of the Gallosians called out, “What happened to you three?”

  “Spidlarians … whole company of them…”

  “Back there? They’re folding like limp plaques. Likely story. Prefect doesn’t like deserters.”

  “… not deserters … you’ll see…”

  “Squad Leader, he talks funny! They’re not ours!”

  “Company!” shouted Laugreth.

  That was the loudest voice Beltur had ever heard from the captain, and he immediately dropped the concealment.

  “Charge!”

  Beltur strengthened his personal shield and charged with the captain, the shield propelled by Slowpoke throwing aside one Gallosian as the trooper attempted to slash at him. Then, knowing that he was just getting in the way, Beltur moved Slowpoke to the side of the road and watched as the Spidlarians chopped down the surrounded and surprised Gallosians, even as he understood that if any of the Gallosians escaped, Recon Two would suffer far greater casualties in the next confrontation. He winced as each death sent a puff of black mist over him, a mist that no one else could see or sense. At the same time, he realized that he hadn’t sensed anything like that when he’d been in Analeria. Why not? Because all the chaos loosed by his uncle and Sydon had obscured it? Or because you weren’t sensitive enough to it then?

  As a result of the narrowness of the road and the close quarters, the skirmish likely took a good half glass, but the Gallosians had little chance. The close quarters didn’t totally favor Recon Two, either, and Beltur saw at least two troopers go down, and several others took slashing cuts. At least, it looked that way to him.

  When the carnage was over, Laugreth simply said, “Strip the Gallosian bodies and leave them. Take what mounts we need.”

  While that happened and two rankers recovered the personal effects of the dead Spidlarians, Recon Two moved on another two hundred yards north and stood down, both to rest and to tend to the wounded.

  Beltur finished off his third bottle of ale, then turned over Slowpoke to a ranker and walked to join the other officers. As he neared Laugreth, he glanced skyward, sensing rather than seeing, given the clouds, that it was close to midday. He only had to wait a few moments before Gaermyn and Zandyr joined him and the captain.

  “That went fairly well,” offered Laugreth. “We won’t use the same decoy plan for dealing with the rearguard. So we’ll just get close enough for Fifth Squad to take to the hills and circle behind the rearguard. Fifth Squad will remain concealed on the back side of the hill until we attack. This time, we’ll attack in reverse order, with Fourth Squad leading. Gaermyn, I want you to have Fifth Squad loose shafts at the rear of the Gallosian forces. They’ll be bunched up, and you should have good targets. If some of them try to charge you, pick them off as you can, but don’t let them close with you. Circle back to rejoin the company if you need to.”

  “We won’t need that,” declared Gaermyn.

  “I expect not … but…”

  “Yes, ser.”

  Beltur almost smiled at the way Gaermyn’s seeming acquiescence was anything but agreement.

  Laugreth’s smile was both amused and resigned. “I’ll leave it to your judgment, Undercaptain.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  Almost a glass passed before Beltur reported that Fifth Squad appeared to be in position and the company resumed its progress northward toward the Gallosian rearguard, which, so far as Beltur could tell, was still in the same position it had been all day.

  “Beltur?”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “When we charge, I want you to stay on the road and just take that big gelding as far as you can go as fast as you can go without breaking his leg or unhorsing yourself. That way, Fourth Squad can take full advantage of your shields.”

  For a moment, Beltur didn’t quite understand. Then he understood all too well. “Yes, ser.” After a moment, he added. “If they get packed together, even Slowpoke can’t push his way through.”

  “Then hold tight. We’ll get to you.” After a pause, Laugreth asked, “How long before we’re in sight of the Gallosian rearguard?”

  “Another three hundred yards.”

  Covering those three hundred yards seemed to take forever, except the next three hundred felt even longer.

  “We’re close to fifty yards, ser,” Beltur was finally able to say.

  “Company!”

  Beltur dropped the concealment and glanced toward the Gallosians some fifty yards away, all in good formation, unlike the recon squad, although he thought several of the Gallosians did look surprised.

  “Charge!”

  Beltur urged Slowpoke forward, not holding him back, and the big gelding gathered speed in a way Beltur hadn’t felt before, almost as if he knew he had to be at full speed. Beltur leaned forward nearly against the gelding’s neck, trying be one with his mount.

  One of the Gallosians tried to move his mount and slash. Beltur didn’t even feel that impact on his shields, but he certainly felt the glancing impact on his shields as Slowpoke slammed between two other mounted Gallosians and kept going. More riders scattered, or were pushed aside, but the big gelding finally slowed, and Beltur reined him up when he found there was no one in front of him. He started to turn Slowpoke when two Gallosian riders spurring their mounts galloped past him, followed by several others.

  He looked back south at the milling mass of gray and blue uniforms, only to realize there were few gray uniforms left. After a moment, he rode toward the riders of Second Recon. He reined up short, aware that he could do little. Instead, he tried to sense whether more Gallosians were heading toward him, but the only movement was that of the handful or so of fleeing Gallosians.

  When he again studied the road, he saw that several rankers were going over the bodies of the fallen, several of whom had arrows protruding. The rankers were removing the shafts, carefully, apparently to save and possibly reuse those they could, as well as weapons and coins.

  “Make it quick!” snapped Laugreth, who quickly rode toward Beltur, stopping just short.

  “Are more Gallosians headed this way?”

  “No, ser. Not yet.”

  Laugreth turned in the saddle as Gaermyn neared. “How many?”

  “Just one dead. Five wounded. Not many escaped, from what I could tell,” said Gaermyn. “Less than half a squad. What about their wounded?”

  We’ll take their mounts. Leave them. We’ll move north to behind the next hill. Have the men finish stripping the bodies of weapons and coins. We might not have much time. Leave the bodies. Bring the horses that you can. Have Nobryn and Fifth Squad make tracks on the road and then head back south before he goes into the woods. Make sure they get rid of tracks pointing into the hills.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “Then we’ll move up like we planned and wait on the back side of that hill. If anyone gets close, Beltur can do a concealment. We’ll just wait.” The captain turned back to Beltur. “If you see any Gallosians coming south, throw a concealment around Fifth Squad and yourself. Then you ease back behind the hill and hold the concealment on Fifth Squad until they’re out of sight. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, ser. That’s so that they can create tracks south, to give the Gallosians the idea that the whole company withdrew after meeting up with the Gallosian rearguard.”

  “That’s right. Then once the new rearguard is established, with us already inside them, we’ll just slip out around the curve below and head for the main body.”

  Beltur watched from the h
illside as Fifth Squad milled around on the road, and then rode back south for several hundred yards, possibly more because they were out of sight. A good half glass later, he could see Nobryn leading a line of riders, single file, coming around the west side of the hill south of the one behind which the remainder of Second Recon waited.

  He kept looking north, wondering when the Gallosians would return. From what he could tell, Fifth Squad would be in position with the rest of the company before the Gallosians would be in sight. Half a glass passed, and Fifth Squad had returned to position with the company.

  Beltur still could sense no movement from the Gallosians. What he did sense was the faintest hint of a white mage, something he hadn’t felt before. “Ser, the Gallosians aren’t moving.”

  “They’re going to force us to come to them.”

  Beltur said nothing. He just waited and drank from his last water bottle filled with ale while Laugreth and Gaermyn talked quietly in voices so low that he could hear nothing.

  Finally, the captain rode over to Beltur. “How many Gallosians are there?”

  “Still more than two companies I think. Less than three. They have a white mage.”

  “Can you tell how they’re drawn up?”

  “Not really, ser. They’re on both sides of where the road forks, and a few are on the narrow road we took before. There are more in the hills on each side of the roads.”

  “Can you and that big gelding do what you did to the rearguard? Just plow through?”

  “We can try, ser. Against two or three companies, I don’t know how far we’ll be able to go.”

  “We really don’t want a pitched battle with two or three companies. If you can widen your shield a little, I think we can cut our way through.”

  “They do have a white mage there, ser.” Beltur wanted to make certain the captain understood that.

  “Where is he?”

  “In the middle, on the west side, probably on a slope from what I can tell. That’s to allow him to see over both roads so that he can throw chaos-bolts. He’s got troopers around him as well.”