Reborn: Book 2 (Chronicles of Ghost Company)

by Shawn Muller

  Four of us managed to carry the cyclops into my tent, where I closed the tent flaps to prevent unwanted eyes from peering in.

  It took a while for King Marcus to arrive, Max had to be very convincing to drag him away from his meetings with his commanders. But eventually, he arrived with Jeroch to walk in on the cyclops sitting on a chair, wide awake and looking around bewildered.

  “What is this? Where did he come from?” King Marcus demanded.

  “Veggie captured him. He was part of a patrol which was marching down the Great Divide Mountains highway,” I explained.

  “Does he understand us?”

  “I do not know. But I am sure we will get through to him.”

  I removed the strip of cloth which was gagging him. The cyclops began to speak, shouting words at us which sounded very much like curses.

  “Do you understand us?” I asked him over his tirade.

  The cyclops continued to curse at us, so I motioned to Veggie to reveal himself. Shrieks of terror erupted from the cyclops, and the king, as the true ogre bore down on the tied up prisoner.

  “Do you understand me now?” I asked again.

  A furious nod from the terrified prisoner and the smell of urine confirmed that he understood us.

  “I will ask you a simple question okay?”

  Another terrified nod.

  “Good, what are the plans for the cyclops army? Where are you going to attack next?”

  The cyclops turned his head and looked at me. Terror etched on his face.

  “If tell you I do, beast go?” He answered in a thick accent.

  “Yes, he will leave you alone, promise,” I reassured him.

  “Attack mountain path.”

  “Mountain path?” The cyclops nodded vigorously.

  “You show me on a map?” Another nod.

  Max handed me a map of the mountains and the surrounding lands.

  “Here?” I asked, pointing out the Great Divide Mountain highway.

  “Yes. Path to lands flat with plants.”

  “You mean here?” I pointed lower, where the highway made its way onto the Plains of Plenty.

  The cyclops nodded vigorously, almost giving himself whiplash.

  “You sure? I can ask the monster, the beast to ask you,” I suggested, with Veggie leaning forward, his face almost touching the cyclops face now.

  “Yes! Yes! We go plants flat place, kill humans soldiers there!” He screamed, tears running down his face now as he wept uncontrollably.

  I looked at Veggie, who changed back into his human form as I looked at the very pale King Marcus and equally pale Jeroch.

  “Told you they will attack there,” was all I said.

  The king nodded his head, before stumbling out of my tent closely followed by Jeroch. I could hear somebody retching, their sour smelling bile wafting through the tent flaps.

  “Veggie, thank you for the assistance, please convey my gratitude to your team. They are to keep an eye on that road now, but be prepared to head back to us at a moment’s notice,” Veggie bowed low before leaving the tent, leaving me with the cyclops and Max.

  “So what now?” Max asked.

  “We hold him with us. I don’t trust the king’s men. Get the men ready to move out soon, but discretely. I want to be the first leave.”

  “Think he will be an issue?”

  “No, I don’t think he will give us problems. I think the idiots around the king will be more of an issue.”

  Max nodded and left the tent, leaving me alone with the cyclops, bound to the chair as he still sobbed quietly.

  “What is your name?” I asked as I stood in front of him.

  He looked up, his tear-streaked face still full of fear.

  “Euge. Name Euge.”

  “Your kind knows about the ogres then.”

  The cyclops gave a small nod to confirm this.

  “Seems these ogres have been around the world for a while then,” I said to myself.

  “You kill now?” Euge asked me, new dread filling his voice.

  “No, you are my prisoner, but you are safe here. The Ghosts will protect you from the rest of the army, and the ogres belong to the Ghost Company.”

  “Ghost? You Ghost leader?” Euge asked in awe.

  “Yes. We have changed slightly, but we’re back,” I told him to his amazement.

  “Emperor no like this.”

  “Well now, that’s good to know,” I said smiling.

  I called for two guards to take him away so that he can get cleaned up before chaining him inside a tent to prevent him from escaping. I had to speak to King Marcus urgent. We had to move to seize this opportunity before it was too late. I made my way back to the inn, where more arguments could be heard come from within.

  “We cannot trust any of them!”

  “Captain Bob is the most loyal soldier I have ever had the privilege of leading. If he says they are attacking down that damn highway, then they are attacking down that damn highway!”

  “And who says, this so-called cyclops is not just an ogre?” A familiar voice said with a sneer.

  “I have had enough of you Count Vimour. Get out. Get your scrawny little body out of my sight before I have you court-marshalled and executed for insubordination!” A furious King Marcus shouted.

  I stepped back as the door to the planning room opened, and the same skinny ass that gave me crap during our initial training ran out the room.

  I entered with a smile plastered all over my face. King Marcus looked at me as I entered his face redwith fury while all the leaders looked on, and their faces blank.

  “Sir. I need to have a word with you please.”

  “Bob. I take it you heard that little outburst?” King Marcus asked me.

  “I did sir.”

  “I do apologise for that, that fop!”

  “No need sir. Not everybody will like us. As long as we are doing our job, nothing else matters.”

  “Good. Now, what may I assist you with?” He asked, visibly calmer.

  “I want to take the Ghosts east, towards the mountains to intercept the cyclops before they get too far down the road,” I explained.

  “No need for that Bob. Now that we don’t have any meddling, we will be marching there as well. We will make our final stand at the entrance of the Great Divide, on the Plains of Plenty. There we either break the cyclops back, or they break ours. It will be decided there and then,” King Marcus declared to all gathered in that room.

  I left soon afterwards on that fateful night. I led the Ghosts by griffin and horse towards the southern entrance of the Great Divide Mountains. Once we were there, Ward and his sons used the griffins and the griffins from King Diamond to ferry most of the armies across the distances to the plains where they would begin to set up defensive positions.

  While they were busy with that, I was planning on gathering information about the approaching army, its size, composition, and speed at which it marched towards us. If need be, I would slow it down to give the king and his men a chance to finish their preparations.

  Veggie and his ogres proved their worth here. Within a few days, they had spotted the main army camp, well outside of the mountain range. Dragons constantly flew overhead, chasing anything bigger than a dog down, frying it to its base atoms. Getting close to the enemy would be a challenge it seemed.

  Not so for the ogres. Their shapeshifting abilities allowed them to enter the enemy camp at will as they assumed the guise of cyclops or human soldiers who were encamped, waiting to march down the highway.

  A sizable force had been built up on the highway. At least a division of regular medium infantry from Mountdom mixed with two brigades of heavy infantry and a division of cavalry. A few companies of lightly mounted scouts kept to the perimeters as an advanced picket around the encamped army.

  The cyclops numbered about a brigade of their infantry with about a division and a half of the werewolves left. At any one time, twenty dragons were circling overhead, which acted as
a massive force multiplier.

  Man on man, King Marcus had roughly the same amount of men to stand toe to toe with the empress’s army, with the orcs, dwarves, and trolls numbering two thousand, which was less than the cyclops.

  If the king were to defeat the cyclops, the dragons would have to be taken care of. Unfortunately, the griffins were no match for the dragons, being smaller and not having any offensive capabilities like the fire breath of the dragons.

  The thought of fighting with the dragons ruling the skies above me left me sleepless at night. But something whispered to me not to worry about them. They will be taken care of. It still didn’t make me feel better, though.

  Word finally reached us that the cyclops were readying themselves for the quick march down the highway, a journey which would take a week at the most before they emerged on the other side. King Marcus had most of his forces in place, yet he was still waiting for the orcs and a contingent of centaurs to arrive. I once again, led my men directly into the path of the cyclops to slow them down to allow King Marcus that little bit more time.

  ***

  I had decided that we would begin our mission roughly half way, just after the first major bend in the highway from the north. This spot was relatively broad, allowing for multiple columns to march side by side. The highway was set deep within a valley which had a cliff on the left of it, and a large scree formation to the right.

  I split the company into three platoons, the first platoon with me included, would head for this scree, the second platoon led by Max would be a bit further down, and the last platoon led by Titanius would be just within the mountains. Each platoon had its missions to carry out.

  After hurrying through the deep valley which was the highway, we made it to the scree well before the cyclops outriders had. I immediately set my men to work, carefully digging holes into the scree about a quarter of the way up. I unpacked a pleasant surprise, a few really large naphtha bombs which were specially made for me by the dwarves.

  It was in a hard packed clay ball, with what looked like small, round stones on the outside of it surrounding it making them giant claymores. These I buried in the holes we dug, careful not to crack the clay jug otherwise we would be decorating the cliff side with our insides.

  Once all traces of our work was covered up, the elves who had accompanied me were airlifted to the top of the cliff on the left where they hid under ghillie suits, waiting for the cyclops to appear.

  It took half a day for the first cavalry units to begin their careful scouting of the highway. Riding slowly in pairs, the troop of horsemen filed passed the hidden elves who kept them under careful watch. Once more than half the scouts had past the scree, I led the rest of the platoon into a cavalry charge into the unsuspecting enemy.

  We were hiding behind a few large boulders, wearing our heavy armour and carrying long lances. We galloped out, forming a double line of horsemen. We crashed into the scouts, knocking them off their horses and scattering the rest before us. I let them escape as the idea was to slow them down, be cautious as to our attacks.

  A shrill whistle from above and we scattered before a large, ominous shadow drifted across the valley. A damn dragon was patrolling as well. We had erected camouflaged canvasses to hide under, and hide we did as the monstrous beast flew over again. Our breathing virtually stopped as we were waiting for the all clear which came eventually.

  We emerged from our hideout and broke it down before moving further down to the next ambush spot. The elves would stay hidden for longer, where they would make their way through the mountains to an area where griffins would collect them take them back to the king.

  We arrived at another wide area, before the next significant bend where the highway stood raised above the soft grass and sandy valley floor. Max was finishing off the next bit of fun, a series of pits and traps which were filled with sharpened wooden spikes. The road itself was hard packed and could not be altered without being obvious, but the grass could be. Max improvised slightly as well.

  A few holes he placed a few more of the naphtha bombs, converting them into an improvised landmine, perfect to slow them down even more. We helped them cover up the holes and moved off to hide under more canvas around the bend, with two men keeping an eye on the ambush area under the cover of more ghillie suits.

  And then we waited. Waited for the inevitable approach of the cyclops, the wait for the boom of the bombs, the rush of rocks as the avalanche started, gathering momentum as it swept over the lead elements of the enemy army. And so it happened. The distant thud of thunder and the slow but steadily increasing hiss of stones and rocks which ended in a deafening roar, even this far away from the avalanche.

  Roars of dragons punctured the air after the deafening silence which followed the avalanche, as they sought out the source of the mayhem. I hoped and prayed that my elves were keeping their heads down. Those dragons sounded really pissed off.

  We would have to extend our hiding as well. The dragons were flying over the highway where we had prepared the next ambush. It caused some consternation as we unsure if the riders would spot us, or our traps. It seemed like hours, but eventually the dragons disappeared as dusk approached. We would have to have a dark and cold camp tonight while the cyclops were not that far from us. Double guards were set, hiding well away in their ghillie suits, keeping a sharp look out over the road.

  Shadows fluttered briefly across the road, heading towards us. A small whistle from a keen-eyed Carl sent the warning ahead in the early morning darkness. Weapons were drawn and ready, eyes peering into the gloom.

  “Sir Bob,” a familiar whisper from the darkness.

  “Over here Veggie,” I answered.

  Veggie came sliding into view, making for our canvas hide out. He was once again in human form, his armour pitch black to melt into the shadows which surrounded us.

  “I bring word. The cyclops’ have been busy all night clearing a pathway over the avalanche. They will continue the advance tomorrow morning at the first sign of dawn.

  “Excellent. Will still be dark here then,” I whispered back. What else you got for me?”

  “They are cautious now. They were arrogant and did not expect to be hampered through the mountains. The emperor himself is leading this army and is most eager to fight his way to the plains. He has ordered all his dragons forward to keep the highway clear.”

  “Damn. That changes things slightly. Max, gather the men we’re leaving now,” I issued the command quickly.

  “Thanks, Veggie, you and your men, are invaluable towards us. Stay safe,” I told him, expecting him to return to the cyclops army.

  “Sir Bob. May I request that I stay attached to you now? Jiw shall command the ogres within the army. He will begin arranging for them to leave slowly before leaving himself. He shall meet us at the last battle site.”

  “Fair enough,” I agreed.

  The cover was broken down, and horses hastily saddled with the equipment loaded as we quickly mounted up and rode off as quietly as possible towards Titanius site.

  We didn’t have to travel very far to reach Titanius. Half a day’s riding and we passed a particularly winding stretch, and just further along the highway narrowed as it passed a nasty area between two cliff faces. It was in this narrow thoroughfare where Titanius, the orcs, and trolls had worked none stop.

  Chest high breastworks of sand, stone and wood were built across the width of the passageway. At its widest, a third of the way into it, the passage was twelve meters and its narrowest point, right at the end where the cliffs fell away into scree, a mere three meters.

  We would hold the ten barriers against the cyclops army, forcing them to assault us to break through. We would withdraw each time behind the next barrier, which was manned by fresh Ghosts while the cyclops’ would be expending themselves against us.

  Distant thuds echoed through the mountains announced the cyclops as they encountered our next ambush site. The sun was high, the sunbeams straining to reach int
o the passageway where we were waiting. My only concern now was that the dragons would attack us. We would be most vulnerable to them, trapped within the narrow confines.

  Our horses were picketed at the exit of the passage, ready to take us to the safety of King Marcus army which should be in place by now. I knew the cliff tops would be free of the enemy. Access to the tops was neigh impossible from the north, yet I was not going to take a chance, so I posted my dwarves to the left and right, once again hiding away from prying eyes.

  We seemed to have been waiting for a very long time, and yet, no sign of the advancing cyclops. Dusk began to fall once again. Another day won for King Marcus to prepare.

  “Max,” I called over my second in command. “I’m getting a funny feeling about this.”

  “About?”

  “Where are they? We couldn’t have done so much damage for them to call a halt for the night?”

  “Don’t stress. We can hold them here for as long as it takes.”

  “I know that, and granted we could probably defeat the entire army right here, but something doesn’t feel right. Sound the withdrawal. I want us out of this valley and rejoined with the king ASAP.”