by Jordan Baker
"What about you, uncle Boric?" Borrican asked.
"Bah, mage fire doesn't bother me," he said. "But see those dark blasts with the energy in them? Those smart something fierce." Boric ducked as one of the balls of energy he described whipped past him. "I would not recommend letting one of those hit you."
Ariana stepped out from behind the parapet and she felt Keira's hand on her arm.
"It's all right, Keira," I'll stay behind Duke Boric.
"Ha!" Boric laughed. "You can all stand behind me if you like." He glanced over at Keira. "That's right, you elves don't like fire all that much."
"No," Keira said. "We do not."
"Well, you might have to get used to it because I think we're going to see a lot of it in this battle, from both sides."
"Uncle," Borrican asked. "If they have mage fire, then why go to the trouble of building siege engines?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure," Boric said. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. Let's fire a few of our catapults and see if we can't lure them in a little closer. Margo, if you'll do the honors. Make sure they fire short at least thirty or forty paces."
"Right away, Duke Boric," she said and moved across the parapet, relaying his orders.
"Why not wait until they are closer then hit them directly?" Elric suggested.
"It's about finding the range first," Borrican told his brother.
"They're too far away," Boric explained. "If they think they can move closer, then they will, at which point they will be close enough for us to hit them. It's an old trick and they might fall for it, but there hasn't been a war in almost a generation, so it's possible. From what Nathas tells me, Cerric never was much of a study when it came to battle theory."
"Is there any way to get a message to the Maramyrian soldiers that I am here and alive?" Ariana asked. "Maybe they would stop fighting or leave Cerric's camp."
"That has already been done, Ariana," Boric said. "Nathas sent word to the other Captains, so I am hopeful we will see more of Cerric's army desert him."
*****
Aldos gripped the note in his hand, nearly crushing it in anger. He motioned to his subcommander, who rode over to him, navigating around the hundreds of soldiers marching in close formation.
"What are your orders, Captain? " the man asked over the cacophony of soldiers marching across the field.
"That's a good question," Aldos said. "Do you recall why we are here, attacking the Kandarans?"
"Retribution, Captain, sir," the man replied. "For the murder of her highness, the Princess Ariana."
"That's right. And what would you say if I told you that Princess Ariana, the rightful Queen of Maramyr is alive and standing atop that wall?" Aldos asked.
"I would recommend the mages cease firing at the wall, Captain," the man replied. "Then I would ask how we might rescue her. Is it true? Is Princess Ariana alive?"
"That's what I have just been told, and she's not a prisoner. The word is that Cerric tried to have her killed. She's up at Kandara and wants to stop this war. That's why Nathas and Kaleb switched sides."
"Captain, if what you say is true. We should halt this march."
"Pass the word to the soldiers and make sure they all know what it's about, then call a halt. Do not tell the mage. Apparently, they were involved in the attack on the princess, so they can't be trusted. I'm going to go have a word with his royal highness, King Cerric," Aldos said with obvious distaste when he recited Cerric's stolen title.
"Be careful, Captain," the soldier said. "There are a lot of rumors about him. They say he has the strength of ten men and he can move faster than a raptor."
"I taught Cerric how to swing a sword," Aldos said. "He couldn't lay a blade on me even if I guided his hand."
Aldos turned his horse around and rode toward the back of the formation where he knew Cerric and his Xallan Queen would be with the Generals, Mirdel and Berant. He noticed several other captains and commanders also making their way toward the royal command, and like the others, Aldos was stopped by soldiers who asked why he had left his division.
"Get out of my way," Aldos told the soldier and rode toward the king
"Captain Aldos," Cerric said. "Why have you left your assigned division?"
"I would like to know the meaning of this," Aldos said, holding up the sheaf of paper.
"I cannot read it from here, Captain," Cerric said.
"I'll tell you what it says," Aldos said. "It says that the Royal Princess, Ariana Coromyr is standing atop that wall and that she claims rule over Maramyr. She commands her army to stop attacking our ally and neighbor." Aldos decided not to mention the part about seizing Cerric and holding him for treason, though the man could have learned of it if he had bothered to read the note.
"You believe some silly piece of paper?" Cerric said. "You waste my time with these lies that are no doubt some Kandaran ploy."
"I believe it when the Captain General writes it," Aldos said. "If it is false, then we should determine the truth of it."
"No need, Aldos," Cerric said, standing up in the stirrups of his horse. "I see that a number of divisions have stopped marching. One of them wouldn't be under your command would it, Aldos?"
"Damn right, one of them is mine," Aldos told him.
"That's unfortunate, Aldos," Cerric told him. "You know the penalty for treason."
"How can asking a question be treason?" Aldos asked. "I'm starting to wonder if the rest of what this says is true."
"The penalty for treason is death, Aldos," Cerric said. "Unfortunately, I still have a use for you, so I will not be granting you the mercy of death. No, it will be some time before you may rest." Cerric yelled to one of the soldiers. "Call a halt!"
The soldier blew a horn and the rest of the army came to an abrupt stop. The field was eerily silent.
"Cerric," Aldos growled. "This war is over."
"Oh no, my dear Captain," Cerric said. "It has just begun."
Cerric reached out a hand toward Aldos and a flicker of energy leapt from his finger toward the Captain. Aldos' screams could be heard across the field as Cerric lashed him with some kind of magical power. A moment later, the screaming stopped and Aldos now looked different. His skin was paler and his eyes had taken on a milky sheen. He looked almost as though he were dead, except he still stood and appeared to still be animated.
"Calexis," Cerric said, turning to his Xallan wife. "See how much more useful it is when you don't kill everyone who disagrees with you." Cerric turned to the walking dead man. "Captain Aldos."
"Yes, your highness," Aldos replied. Cerric could see the hatred in the Captain's eyes, but he knew that the man was powerless to disobey him.
"If you find my niece, the Princess Ariana, traitor to Maramyr who has betrayed her people and sided with the Kandarans against us, what will you do?"
"Kill her, your highness," Aldos said. "The penalty for treason is death."
"That's right, Aldos. Now return to your batallion."
"Yes, your highness."
"Isn't it much easier when people just do as they are told?" Cerric asked.
"Of course, husband," Calexis said. "How did you do that? Had I known such a thing were possible, I would have an army twice the size of this one."
Cerric smiled. How like her to brag of her ruthlessness, though he did wonder how many Xallans she had put to death.
"Alas, only the power of a god can accomplish such a feat," he told her. "Now it appears this little rumor about my dear departed niece is causing some problems within the ranks. I had hoped this would not be necessary, but it cannot be helped."
Cerric stood up in his saddle and opened his hands. Energy shot from his fingers cutting through the air directly to the mages near him and flashing across the battlefield to every black robed mage who stood among the soldiers. The mages all raised their hands in unison, their movements matchings Cerric's. He reached out with his arms and the energy that flowed from him increased in power, shooting from every mage and
connecting with every soldier. One by one, soldiers who had just heard that their princess might be alive, suddenly fell obediently in line as the energy connected with them. Each of them had their will taken away, their only remaining desire to obey their god and king, Cerric.
The mages were also affected by the magic and they too became like the dead, though the effects were more severe since Cerric has used them as conduits to work the spell. He did not drain their magic, which he would need for the battle, but he used the energy of their bodies, aging them past the point of death, their flesh robbed of its essence, their skin stretched over their bones, leaving them almost skeletal in appearance, though their life force and magical power remained. The mages screamed at what had happened to them, but there was naught they could do, for the link that connected them to Cerric remained.
"Silence!" he thundered and the screaming ceased. The mages turned to look at him, with malevolence in their dark, magic filled eyes, but like the soldiers before them, they could only obey.
"Resume the attack," Cerric said.
"Very impressive," Calexis told him. "I am fortunate to have a god for a husband."
"Yes, you are," Cerric told her.
"Your highness," Berant said, reining his horse over toward Cerric. "With your permission, I would like to halt our catapults outside the range of those the Kandarans have atop their walls."
"Keep them moving forward," Cerric said.
"Yes, your highness."
Berant reined his horse back to where Mirdel rode in silence.
"You are pushing your luck, Berant," Mirdel told him.
"I am simply trying to fulfil my role in keeping this army functioning"
"Are you a fool?" Mirdel asked. "Look at them. I do no know what Cerric just did to the soldiers and those mages, but they are like puppets. If you ask me, we were here to keep up appearances and now it seems we are of little use to his highness king Cerric, who may indeed have the power of a god. The best either of us can do now is to stay out of the way and hope he forgets we exist."
Berant stared at his counterpart and realized that Mirdel was correct and both men began to wonder how to get away from the battlefield and no longer have to play at being Generals, without being killed or turned into mindless puppets.
*****
"What are they doing?" Boric wondered out loud. The first volley from the catapults atop the wall had landed well short of their normal range and, just as Boric had hoped, Cerric's catapults had continued forward, but he had expected them to stop just before the places where the Kandaran catapults had hit. Instead, they continued rolling forward, completely ignoring the range. Realizing he was wasting precious time thinking about it, Boric called the attack. "Find the range!"
One catapult fired, then another and the soldiers manning the rest of them called out the distances.
"Fire at will!" Boric shouted. "Use the pitch and adjust for distance as best as you can!"
"What's happening?" Ariana asked him as the soldiers applied pitch onto the rocks in the catapults and set fire to them.
"It didn't work. They are up to something, I can feel it," Boric said and Ariana caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. "Ariana, I cannot order you around, but I have a feeling things are going to get very dangerous here very soon. Perhaps it would be better if you moved up to the palace."
"I will be fine, Duke Boric," Ariana told him as the Kandaran catapults began to fire the burning rocks at the enemy. "Besides, last I checked Kandara did not have many mages."
Boric was surprised to see Ariana conjure up a ball of fire in her hands and hurl it at one of the catapults that was rolling toward the city. It burst into flames and the soldiers that were pushing it scrambled around, trying to put out the fire. Several of the elves who were also atop the parapets also began hurling energy at the oncoming catapults, some sending ice, others water that muddied the ground and made it difficult for the soldiers to push the heavy, wooden siege engines.
"Well, that's certainly helpful," Boric said. "Nice to see you've got a bit of fire in you."
"A little," Ariana said. "Not quite the fire in the belly like the Akandar, but a little mage fire of my own."
Boric looked at her sideways and he wondered how she knew. Perhaps one of his people had told her, but it mattered little now, for the truth of it would be out soon.
"You are an interesting lass," Boric told her as he now noticed something different about her scent from when she had first arrived. "I'm glad to have you with us." He drew deep from the primal power that burned within him and his eyes shifted to a reptilian look and Ariana did not even blink. Instead she gave him a knowing smile then turned to the battlefield and sent another volley of fire toward the catapults.
A horn sounded and the catapults halted. A number of them had been crushed and been set on fire by the burning, pitch covered rocks the Kandarans had thrown at them. Another horn sounded and the mages stopped their bombardment of the city walls and turned to their own catapults. Almost in unison, they sent their magical blasts toward the catapults and their mage fire was somehow caught in the baskets, which appeared to be empty but instead they contained a variety of colored stones that caught the blasts and held them in place. Another signal was sounded and the catapults fired.
Instead of flying straight toward the walls like the blasts the mages had sent thus far, these balls of destructive magic sailed up over the walls and came crashing down inside. Explosions rocked through the city of Kandara, smashing buildings and shattering stone and wood. The people who had been hiding inside them fled into the streets to find chunks of stone falling from the buildings and balls of mage fire falling from the sky.
From their position atop the wall, the Kandaran defenders could plainly see the destruction inside the city and there was nothing they could do as they watched soldiers and people being killed in the blasts.
"That is a dirty trick," Boric growled. Ariana saw his eyes change even more and his arms and legs seemed to grow thicker before her eyes.
"Duke Boric, are there any gardens in the city?" Ariana asked. "Are there trees growing in the city?"
"Yes, but what good are trees against that?" he asked.
"Let the elves worry about that," Ariana said. "Where are the trees?"
"Margo," Boric hollered. "Go with Ariana and show her and the elves where all the trees are in the city. Try the city gardens."
"Trees?" Margo seemed skeptical for a moment then she understood. "Of course. Right away, sir Duke. You will wait for me before attacking from the gates, I hope."
"I'll think about it," Boric told her. "Now go!"
Ariana motioned for Keira and the rest of the elves to follow Margo down from the wall and they took off at a run.
"Uncle, what is the plan now?" Elric asked as another volley from the catapults below sent explosions through the city.
"The plan is that you and your brother will stay here and command our defenses, and I will go out there myself and destroy those catapults," Boric told him.
"I would like to help," Borrican said, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You know I'm a good fighter."
"I've yet to see the real fire from you, Borrican," Boric said, then he looked at Elric. "You as well, Elric. Both of you have it in you, more than I will ever have, but you have to accept it and embrace your birthright."
"I don't understand, uncle," Elric said. "I wear the crown and I will do what must be done to save this kingdom. What more do you want of me?"
"You should already know the answer, and if you don't then you don't care enough. You aren't angry enough about what is happening here," Boric said, then he pointed to the people of the city running through the streets. "It is your duty and your honor to defend every one of those people, every one of their lives is your responsibility. If what is happening to them does not make you burn then you are not fit to rule."
"It upsets me greatly, uncle," Elric said.
"It angers me as well," Borrican said.
<
br /> "It angers you? Why?" Boric asked.
"Why?" Elric was confounded.
"Yes. Are you angered by this? You should be. But you should know the why of you anger."
"It makes me angry because harm is coming to our people and this attack is a mark upon our honor as a kingdom." Elric said.
"Elric," Boric said, putting his finger up to the side of his own head. "These are your thoughts. You are very good at thinking, but now it is time to let the fires burn as well, for thought without passion is meaningless and decision without action accomplishes nothing. Let your fire awaken."
Elric was at a loss. He knew he should be angry, but he felt only sorrow for what was happening to the people. He thought about the reports of how Cerric's army had destroyed the farms that had been abandoned, how they had laid waste to much of the land and killed so many people, and how the entire war was based on lies. It frustrated him that there was no solution to it. Even with Ariana here at Kandara, there was nothing to be done.
"You are both young," Boric said, "but you are old enough to know what must be done. Let go of your fear and let the fire of your anger burn bright."
"I understand, uncle," Borrican said, "but I am afraid."
Boric stared at his younger nephew.
"And what are you afraid of, Borrican? Them?" Boric waved his hand toward the advancing army.
"No," Borrican said. "That's not it. I fear what I might do to them."
"Good," Boric said with a distinctively sharp toothed smile. "That is a good thing to fear, and it is the only thing to fear. Give your anger to the enemy and fear only yourself. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Borrican said with a dark expression.
"What about you, Elric? Do you understand?"
"I think I do," he said, looking at the stone bricks beneath his feet.
"Then you're halfway to doing something," Boric said, frustrated that Elric, who now wore the crown, did not seem to grasp what he was trying to explain. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that there were a few in the Akandar line who had not discovered their birthright, and it was possible that Elric never would. At least Borrican appeared to grasp the truth of it. That much was clear and, with his senses that instinctually recognized such things, Boric could smell the fire in him.