“Indeed,” agreed Mustar. “You must stop the Children of the Ancient Prophecy from fulfilling their quest.”
Chapter 17
Warrior King
The Council Chamber of the Royal Palace of Tagaret was packed with people. King Arik sat at the head of the table. Konic Clava sat on his left with the rest of the councilors. Oscar, General Gregor, and the Rangers sat on the right. Sergeant Trank and Zackary Nolan stood guard by the door. Sergeant Tember was standing at the far end of the table.
“The Army of the West is following him,” continued Sergeant Tember. “Whether or not they catch up in time is a question that can best be answered later. It depends upon how fast Azmet’s men move.”
“What is your best guess regarding Azmet’s arrival here in Tagaret?” asked General Gregor.
“If he moves at the same rate as he did between Klandon and Mya,” shrugged Sergeant Tember, “he would arrive here in two days.”
“Let’s assume that for now,” responded the general. “How long before the Army of the West will be here?”
“Three days,” answered Sergeant Tember.
“So the Army of the West will be too late,” concluded General Gregor. “That was not difficult to determine,” he added with a frown. “How do our defenses look, Konic?”
“We need more time,” Konic replied. “The citizens are working hard and long every day, but we can not possibly be finished within the fortnight. There is just no way that it will happen before Azmet’s army is upon us.”
“A more pertinent question is the food supply,” interjected Oscar. “We are still in need of a great deal of supplies. Our wagons are having to go farther out each trip to find a decent supply of food. If it comes down to a siege, we are ill-prepared to weather it right now. We have brought in fresh soil to rejuvenate our internal farms, but that will take a while before we start producing any quantity.”
“I doubt that our enemies will wait until we are ready,” sighed Duke Zalski. “Is there some way that we an entice Azmet to a different target? Something that would be appealing enough to him to make him turn aside and waste time on it?”
“I cannot think of anything,” General Gregor shook his head. “Alex, do you have any ideas?”
“I do not think that Azmet is the real problem,” Alex replied. “His army will attack and we will defeat him. The main problem is defeating him while losing as few men as possible. We are going to need the men for when Sarac attacks.”
“I think we all understand the importance of Sarac’s eventual attack on Tagaret,” frowned General Gregor, “but I hardly think we can dismiss the threat of Azmet’s army as being inconsequential. Do you have a plan for defeating them so soundly that we should not worry about it?”
“No army should be underestimated,” answered Alex, “but it should not be overestimated either. Azmet has a great number of men in his army. The biggest threat that they put forward is that his men are willing to die. In fact, many of them look forward to dying in battle. Still, his army is poorly trained. It is not well-equipped either. What he has, General, is a lot of bodies. He has a lot more than us as a matter of fact. I do have thoughts about how to handle Azmet, but I would like to hear from the king first.”
Arik felt the eyes of everyone focus on him. He knew that Alex was throwing the conversation to him on purpose. Alex wanted the king’s advisors to have faith in Arik’s judgment, but Arik still felt exposed with everyone watching him.
“Our city is not ready to be attacked,” King Arik said nervously. “Nevertheless, we have an enemy army approaching. My thoughts would lean towards taking the fight to Azmet instead of waiting for Azmet to arrive here to threaten our city.”
“Exactly,” grinned Alex. “We have the benefit of communications on our side. We can coordinate an attack at any place of our choosing. That gives us the benefit of terrain, the element of surprise, plus a better equipped and better trained army.”
“I agree,” nodded General Gregor. “That lessens the threat of disease inside our walls. Our food supplies can continue unabated, and our construction can continue. Where should we attack?”
“There is a large field west of here,” declared Alex. “About a half day’s ride. It would be the perfect place to attack Azmet.”
“But that means leaving the city unprotected,” protested Alan. “Can we be assured that another enemy will not seek to take advantage of that?”
“I propose that we leave the Alcea regulars here,” responded Alex. “That would provide six thousand men to protect Tagaret while we are gone.”
“You would use only the Red Swords to attack?” questioned General Gregor. “Isn’t that bordering on optimism?”
“I don’t think so,” countered Alex. “I would take the Rangers as well. That would give us four thousand highly skilled men from the east and six thousand men from the west. We would all be mounted, so anymore would probably get in the way.”
“So you are counting on the Army of the West,” posed General Gregor. “How do you plan to get them to the battle on time?”
“That should not be hard,” interjected Tanya. “They travel with wagons. Unlike most armies, they will refuse to abandon their wagons if the trail is blocked. From what Wylan described to me, one wagon carries the statue of Abuud and the other the hut with the disease. Even if Azmet is willing to forego all of the other wagons, he will not be willing to leave those two behind.”
“So we block the trail,” nodded General Gregor. “I like it. I can think of several spots along the river trail that are narrow and could be easily blocked.”
“Won’t that set off alarm bells for Azmet’s people?” asked Duke Tredor. “I know it would make me suspicious.”
“Sure it will,” replied Tanya, “but what is he going to do about it? All we will be telling him is that we know he is coming, and that we seek to delay him. He won’t know why we want the delay.”
“He must know that we are fortifying the city,” shrugged Oscar. “If he doesn’t know, I am sure he will assume that. That knowledge would not cause him to abandon his most potent weapon.”
“Do we have a decent estimate of Azmet’s army?” asked General Gregor.
“At least ten thousand men,” answered Sergeant Tember. “It could be as high as twenty, but we really don’t know. He left a thousand in Cleb and another thousand in Klandon. He did not leave any in Mya.”
“So we are looking at our ten thousand men against his ten or twenty thousand,” reasoned Alan. “Is that correct?”
“As close as we can tell,” nodded Sergeant Tember.
“What about leaving a path for some of his army to desert?” inquired Jenneva. “Perhaps we can panic them enough that many would seek to avoid battle.”
“Against a normal army,” frowned General Gregor, “I would heartily welcome that thought. With Azmet’s men, they are fanatics. I doubt there would be much desertion.”
“Unless Azmet dies early in the battle,” interjected Arik. “Azmet’s death would show a certain fallibility on his part. What if we could convince his soldiers that Abuud had abandoned Azmet?”
“An interesting thought,” nodded Alex. “That certainly would spare many of our casualties. I doubt there could be another Azmet any time soon. The followers would not believe it. That is another weakness of Azmet’s army. There can be no substitute leader.”
“How would we do that?” asked Duke Zalski.
“With magic,” smiled Jenneva.
“He has mages, too,” reminded Arik. “I am not suggesting that they are a match in skill level, but they may understand what is happening and try to thwart it.”
“Noted,” Jenneva nodded. “The most important thing is to destroy his disease wagon. That must be done with fire. I will make that my goal.”
“You are planning on going with the army?” questioned General Gregor.
“I am,” answered Jenneva. “As Alex said, we must lose as few men as possible. I aim to do my best to see
that the outcome is favorable to King Arik.”
“Excellent,” smiled General Gregor. “I think we have a working plan for dealing with Azmet. I would like Alex and Jenneva to stay behind after this meeting so we can discuss the actual tactics of the operation. Is there anything that I am forgetting?”
Nobody responded and the meeting broke up. The councilors filed out of the room, as did Sergeant Tember. Everyone else stayed.
“There is the issue of the defecting Black Devil,” General Gregor said after the door was closed. “While I had my doubts in the beginning, his information appears to be valid. He has pointed us to over a dozen Black Devils in the city so far.”
“Are you sure they are truly Black Devils?” asked Jenneva. “The reason I ask is that it is rare for a Black Devil to turn against Sarac. In fact, most of them have cast a spell that makes it impossible to disobey Sarac.”
“But not all of them,” retorted General Gregor. “I was skeptical, too, but his information is good. Each of the men accused responded to the signal of a fellow Black Devil. They appear genuine.”
“That is good I suppose,” frowned Jenneva, “but I would still proceed carefully. What is the defector’s name?”
“Tashlan,” replied the general. “Have you heard of him?”
“No,” Jenneva shook her head. “I have other news as well. We have finally located the list with the Book of Things on it. If the records are correct, the book was returned to the temple of Risa in Caldar.”
“Really?” Arik said excitedly. “That is great. Elderal is not so far from Tagaret. That means that clear skies will be over this city when we get the Emerald of the Elves. That will do wonders for the spirit of the citizens.”
“Their spirit is pretty good already,” smiled General Gregor. “You have the natural instincts of your father and your grandmother. You are truly a king the people will gladly follow.”
“But not just yet,” frowned Alex. “This means that Arik must leave the city. I suggest that he leave with the army. We can head south to Caldar after the battle.”
“You mean to take King Arik into battle?” questioned General Gregor. “Isn’t that playing with fire? We cannot afford to lose him now.”
“I cannot be the type of king that sits on my throne when others are putting their lives on the line,” declared King Arik. “If there is a battle to be fought, I shall lead our men in the charge. I also must fulfill the Ancient Prophecy. My participation in that endeavor is required. It is not something that I can delegate to others.”
“I pray that you marry quickly, Your Highness,” General Gregor shook his head. “If you are going to fight in every battle coming to this city, Alcea needs an heir.”
“If King Arik dies,” interjected Tanya, “nothing will save Alcea. An heir at this stage would not matter.”
“Very well,” sighed General Gregor. “How do we slow Azmet down?”
“We could send men out to fell large trees across narrow points of the trail,” suggest Alex.
“Tree mines would be better,” countered Jenneva. “The trees would appear to have fallen in a storm rather than intentionally placed in their path.”
“Alright,” nodded Alex, “but we need to determine how long it will take them to clear the trail. Too few and Azmet arrives too early. Too many and he is delayed too long.”
“Try one blockage and see how they react,” suggested Oscar. “Figure that they will be more organized about it with each additional blockage.”
“That works for me,” agreed Alex. “Jenneva and I will leave today. I suppose we can take Tanya and Prince Darok with us.”
“I am staying with Arik,” declared Tanya. “You will need a fairy with you for communications.”
“I will arrange for a fairy for you,” Arik said as he noticed the frown on Alex’s face.
“Very well,” conceded Alex. “Unless there is something else, we should be on our way.”
* * *
“Now that is what I call a match,” King Altaro said enthusiastically as he watched Tedi sparring with Wylan.
“Wylan is one of my Southland boys,” bragged Baron Timor.
“I think he has had a bit of special tutoring since he left Southland,” chuckled Reese. “I remember the day those two lads floated into Dalek with Prince Arik. They sure have changed since then.”
“King Arik,” corrected Baron Timor.
“True,” nodded Reese, “but he was only the prince at that time. Blessed sword, it feels good to have a country again.”
“I suppose I will have to go back to being a duke,” chuckled King Altaro. “Not much difference really.”
Twerp shot down out of the trees just as Wylan and Tedi finished their match. The fairy landed on a small table outside the baron’s tent.
“What news, Twerp?” the baron asked jovially.
“Great news,” chirped the fairy. “The battle takes place the day after tomorrow.”
“Not possible,” frowned Reese. “We will be exhausted by the time we get there. That is no way for men to fight.”
“It will not be at Tagaret,” Twerp continued. “It will be a half day west of the city. The plan is to force Azmet to spend the night in a large field. The Red Swords will arrive from the east and us from the west.”
“A half day west, you say?” mused Reese. “Alright, I think I know where they mean. It is where the Boulder River swings to the south for a bit. I believe it is called Watling Flats.”
“That will give our men time to rest before the battle,” nodded Baron Timor.
“We should have a long day tomorrow,” figured Reese. “That will allow us to get in position after some rest for the men.”
“I won’t need much rest,” interjected Wylan. “I have been dreaming of the day I met up with Azmet and was able to do something about it. I lost a lot of good friends at Southland.”
“We all did, lad,” sighed Baron Timor. “We all did.”
* * *
“Here come their forward scouts,” Alex said softly.
“Aye,” Prince Darok nodded his large head. “I can smell them from here. This group could never sneak up on dwarves. You would think with a river nearby that they would at least bathe frequently.”
“Shh,” giggled Jenneva. “Maybe their hearing is better than their sense of smell.”
Prince Darok grinned, but he remained quiet. Azmet’s scouts were clearly agitated when they found the large tree blocking the trail. They scanned the forest for an alternate path, but there was no easy way around the barricade. One of the scouts turned and galloped back to the main segment of Azmet’s army. The army ground to a halt as several dozen men rode forward. The men attacked the fallen tree with axes, and readied a large team of horses to pull the tree away.
The job of clearing the trail was made more difficult by the lack of space to leave the tree. When Azmet’s men had chopped the tree in half, each half had to be dragged along the trail for quite a distance before there would still be space for the wagons to pass. After four hours of work, Alex signaled the others that it was time to depart. The Rangers rode silently until they were several leagues away.
“That took them longer than I would have expected,” Jenneva said.
“They are not lumbermen,” nodded Alex. “That much is for sure. We need to set up another delay. If they are not any quicker with the next one, it will probably be the last. We don’t want to delay them too much.”
“You choose the spot,” suggested Jenneva.
“I shall,” agreed Alex. “Let’s go for multiple trees this time. I don’t want them to get suspicious about the trail being blocked, because we will need to block the exit from the field of battle as well.”
“And multiple trees will make it appear more like a natural occurrence,” nodded Jenneva. “Perhaps a wind storm or something like that. I can handle that.”
* * *
The activity at the Royal Palace had the citizens all excited. Everyone knew that something major
was about to happen. Red Swords rode out of the Royal Palace courtyard and staged themselves on different streets in the area. Several wagons loaded with provisions left the Royal Palace and proceeded to the construction area outside the new wall.
Sheri made her way against the tide as she entered the courtyard of the Royal Palace. She looked around at the thousands of men preparing to leave. A tremor of fear ran up her spine as she saw King Arik emerge from the palace. Tanya was right behind him. Both of them were loaded down with weapons, and Sheri instinctively knew that the king was going off to battle. She rushed over towards the palace to get nearer.
“This is not a good time for you to be here,” scolded Sergeant Trank as he stepped in front of her. “If you’re coming to see the boys, come back after the army leaves. There is too much traffic in the corridors right now.”
“I can see the boys later,” nodded Sheri. “Is King Arik going off to do battle?”
“We are all off to do battle,” replied the sergeant. “It is what soldiers do.”
“But Arik is the king,” protested Sheri. “He should not be going to fight. Isn’t that what all of these soldiers are for?”
“Aye, it is,” smiled the sergeant. “There is nothing more inspiring to a soldier than to be led into battle by his king. The lad can take care of himself all right. Don’t you worry none.”
“Can I say goodbye to him?” pleaded Sheri. “It won’t take long.”
Sergeant Trank looked around and then slowly nodded. “All right,” he said, “but keep close to the building. You traipse around this courtyard right now, and you are likely to be trod upon.”
Sheri nodded as she dashed across the courtyard. She kept herself against the building as she edged closer to where King Arik was talking to the general.
“Either you or Sergeant Trank needs to remain in Tagaret,” Arik said. “I know the regulars are getting better with the training your men are giving them, but I still want the Red Swords in control of the city.”
“I have a solution for that,” smiled General Gregor. “The perfect man for that job is Zackary Nolan. He is not fit for battle, but he understands the situation here in Tagaret better than anyone. He can also spot trouble before it occurs.”
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