by Aaron Pogue
Three days, in fact, we moved from camp to camp all across the wide Ardain. We gathered news and spread the word and organized the move, and then we went back, one by one, and helped them as we could. The second night, as we left one camp behind and returned to the first, three of Pazyarev's greens came swooping in.
They killed thirty of my men in the first pass, but then I went to meet them. The elder legend had barely begun his taunts before I dragged all three beasts out of the air. My soldiers watched in awe. Then Caleb barked an order, and without any special training, without much in the way of tactics, my first battalion fell upon the stricken beasts and tore them to shreds. That silenced Pazyarev's voice in my head, and flooded my heart with more black power. It did not boil and drift away as it had when Caleb struck the killing blow before. Because these men were mine. Oathbound. They fed me power, and I trembled with it.
My soldiers buried what remained of their dead, then drank themselves to stupor in celebration of the victory. Caleb grumbled; Lareth joined right in. They celebrated late into the night. Then at dawn Caleb roused them anyway, and Lareth opened a portal wide enough for a dozen men abreast. While the soldiers from the first camp filed through, Lareth jumped to the next, and the next, and the next, lingering only long enough to set them moving.
They left no sign of their camps at all, but I left three huge, stinking dragon corpses where the king's scout would lead his men. At dawn on the third day I stepped through the final portal to find all Lareth's men gathered into a single massive force upon an empty plain far from prying eyes. Seven battalions in all, and Caleb ordered them into seven columns. I stood for a long time staring out over the huge sea of men. They had been the scourge of the Ardain, and already I had ended that by bringing them away, but I would do so much more good with them.
"Tell me, then," Lareth said, stepping up beside me. "Three days you've kept it from me, and I have done as I was bid. But now I've seen the enemy, now I've seen your power expressed, I have to know what place could ever hold you. Where do we take your men?"
"I told you already. South, to the end of the continent." I pointed to the distant jagged shadows of the cruel mountains that skirted both coasts this far south, pinching in from east and west. "Another sixty miles at least. Perhaps a hundred."
He shook his head. "You're fortunate I could bring you this far," he said. "I cannot work a traveling to a place I've never been, and no one alive has cause to go so far from the world of men. There is nothing south of here."
"There will be," I said. I saw it already in my mind's eye. "But if this is the best you can offer, we should sound the march. Get them moving."
"Where?"
"South," I said. "South until there is nowhere else to go. Beneath the shadows of impassable mountains we'll make our stand."
He frowned, mouthing something silently to himself, then shook his head. He shrugged. "They have their orders already. But before they go, there's something we must do."
"That is?"
"We must swear our fealty."
"You've done it already," I said. "They all have, directly or indirectly."
"Indirectly, for the most," Lareth said, licking his lips.
Caleb came to join us then, returning from some task among the columns, and frowned down at the wizard. "Is he ready?"
"For what?" I asked.
"The ceremony," Caleb said.
"I thought," Lareth said, licking his lips once more. "Ah. I thought we should make a ceremony of it."
Without meaning to, I took a step away from him. "You want to see the power," I said. "There is a sickness in your soul."
Lareth grinned as though I'd made a clever joke. "We'll make you shine, my lord."
Caleb looked back and forth between us, then settled his gaze on mine. "Do it. There is much to gain."
Lareth nodded. "Give the men a show—a single point in time they can remember and look back on, saying, 'This is when my lord became my lord.'"
I ignored him, all my attention on Caleb. "Is this really necessary?"
"It could well be." He shrugged one shoulder. "It cannot hurt. But we should hurry. The messenger should arrive in Tirah by noon today."
I sighed and relented, and we went together to stand before the great assembled mass of my army. Lareth made a speech that hung in the air and boomed even over the farthest formations. He introduced Caleb and me and drew our faces in the sky so every last man among them could look up at me with awe. And then he turned and led them, all as one man, in an abject oath of total obedience that nearly lifted me from my feet with the flood of sudden power.
I could not speak, could barely think for half an hour after that. The whole world buzzed. Lareth, too, sat to one side and giggled, but Caleb never wavered from his duties. He moved among them, and when finally I went to join him the army was already on the move. The stamp of their feet rang like thunder as they marched south toward the mountain.
For a moment, still light-headed from the oaths, it looked like all humanity arrayed before me, drawn up in lines and ready to fight the Chaos tooth and nail. We left them marching and took just a handful from the first battalion north. Lareth dropped us nearly a mile from the outskirts of Tirah, and as the sun reached toward noon, we crept close enough to see the gates.
We left even our handful of escort some distance back, huddling close to the ground beneath a shield of invisibility that Lareth and I concocted. Only my two lieutenants came with me, and we prowled like hunting cats through the tall grass until we found a place close enough that we could see the great eastern gates standing open on the road.
We'd come in time to watch the escaped prisoner ride a stolen horse into the town, and now we waited while he gave his news. Now we watched to see what it would bring. With any luck at all, they'd close and bar the gates and settle in. According to our best reports, the city had three Masters of the Academy and half a dozen full wizards in its walls, as well as all the force of fighting men and still the king himself.
The wizards had come down to shield the town against a dragon raid, and with all their focus combined even I might not have been able to break in. Their wisest course by far was just to hold, and if they sealed the gates and raised their wards, we could lead our army right from the world of men and turn our only focus to the dragons.
On my left, Lareth hissed, "I don't care what their man tells them, there is no way the Eagles will leave our renegades alone. The men caused too much chaos in the outlying villages before I could get control of them."
From my other side Caleb shot a black look at the wizard. "Your strikes against the Guard forces will matter more," he said. "They did far more damage under your authority than they ever did on their own."
"It doesn't matter," I said, and both men looked at me. We'd had this argument from start to end twice already, but I reminded them once again where it had ended every time. "It all comes down to me. The prisoner saw what I am capable of—"
"What you were capable of," Lareth said, his breath rasping. "You are so much stronger now."
I had to suppress a shudder. "I am," I said. "But even that display of fire should be enough to keep this army hiding safe within its walls."
"Only if reason is in charge," Caleb said.
I nodded and carried on. "And if it's not, the prisoner's news will just confirm that I am there." A drum began to pound within the distant city, and I caught the sound of a trumpet, too, blaring out some call to arms.
I whispered desperate prayers and watched the open gates. We were not high enough to have any vantage beyond the city walls, but we could hear the sounds of commotion, the movements of great hordes of men. I held my breath as a rider darted through the gate and went to speak with the soldiers in the guardhouse to one side. Then he wheeled and crossed to report to the other guards. And then at last he turned and disappeared inside the walls again. I had some hope.
"They'll close the gates," I said.
"They won't," from Lareth and from
Caleb both at once.
And then the drums beat louder and a wild fanfare rang within the city, and I heard the shouts or distant cheering from a great assembly. Then horses' hooves on cobblestones. It was distant, faint, but the number swelled the sound to a distant rumble. I finally saw motion as a single horseman came riding slowly, gracefully through the arch of the city gates.
Even at that distance I did not need to strain my eyes to recognize the haughty figure. He wore his stately armor, plates in green and gold, and as he rode clear of the gates' long shadow I recognized the cruel form of Othin.
Caleb gasped at the same time I did. "An Eagle!" He said it like a curse. "There will be an army behind him, then. We must run."
Before I could answer him, Lareth hissed, "We have been spotted."
I spun to stare back down the slope and found Othin standing in his stirrups, gazing straight toward us, shading his eyes with a gauntleted hand. Behind him I could already see the vanguard of a long column of cavalrymen. As I watched, Othin threw out his arm and pointed directly at us, shouting something over his shoulder. I didn't wait to see the charge, "Run! Run!" I shouted, and suited action to words by leaping to my feet and sprinting for the top of the hill.
In a moment Caleb was by my side, easily matching my stride, and even frail Lareth came puffing up on the other side. "They will shoot us down, Lord Daven! Turn and fight!"
I stabbed a hand toward the portal as my only answer, then spun a desperate shield of air behind us. I dared not try anything more. If I gave Lareth half a hint that he could fight, he would rain fire down across the Royal Guard. We had no need for that.
Still, as we dashed over the crest of the low, rolling hill, I felt a dozen arrows slam home in the airy shield behind us.
"Rise!" I cried out, sprinting down the hill toward my men. "Rise and through the portal!" And as we flew down the hill, I felt the flash and pulse of power when Lareth reached out and unfolded his green flame. The men of my honor guard were still climbing to their feet, shaking off the magical illusion, when Lareth's portal settled into place. It showed an empty field nearly a hundred miles to the south, and on the far horizon the dusty stain of a large body of men on the move.
"Through! Get through!" I shouted, running past them with Caleb and Lareth right behind me. The others followed quickly, and just as a wave of cavalry crested the hill and filled the whole horizon where we'd been, I lashed out—half in panic—and tore Lareth's complicated working into shreds.
His mouth and eye gaped wide in sudden, silent pain, but the portal disappeared. I had to catch my breath, but then I went to the wizard and steadied him with a hand. "I didn't think," I said. "I only meant to cut them off."
He waved a feeble hand dismissively, but still he strained to catch his breath. "Such power," he said. "Such power. Ohh, such power." A tremor shook him, then he hissed a breath through clenched teeth and met my eyes. "We have our answer, I believe."
Caleb grunted. "Looks like war."
I silenced him with a dark look. "Perhaps that's their intent. It isn't mine." I waited until both men nodded before I went on. "We must join the rest of the men and press south quickly. We'll be hunted, and they will waste no time."
Lareth chuckled, "They'll waste a little. I spread a hundred false travelings across the plains for their old wizards to chase down."
"Let's not waste our advantage, then. Let's go."
We were once again upon the spot where the army had sworn its oaths. The field was empty now, tall grass trampled down to dirt, but in the midst of it all stood a single picket line, a dozen fine horses saddled and waiting. We mounted up, glanced once back toward Tirah and the army now setting out to hunt us down. Then we turned south and rode hard to catch up an army meant to hunt more fearsome prey.
We found them late in the afternoon, and cheers and rumors rippled along the lines like waves on the sea while we rode to the head of the columns. We made good time throughout the day, and as the sun set in the western sky, I led a legion past an unmarked border post and into the lands of the Baron Eliade. My eyes dragged west again, toward the town, and I hoped against hope that he would forgive me for what I meant to do.
I tried to keep us moving after sunset, but Caleb overruled me. We already moved on trackless land, and even with the cooperation Lareth had gained us, these men were not well trained for forced marches. Certainly not as a body of this size. Pressing hard at night would only cost us men and mules and gain us paces more than miles.
So we made camp in a field of soybeans, destroying some good farmer's crops. I sat upon my horse, arms crossed and brows drawn down, and watched an army settle down to rest.
"It's not so bad," Caleb said, appearing suddenly at my right hand. "I know how Eagles think. They'll let the wizards try to follow our trail. Perhaps they'll chase down one false path or two, but after that, they'll return to what they know."
"And what's that?"
"One of their own saw you at the head of a battalion a hundred miles east of Tirah. They should have other scouts as well, other reports on the positions of the battalions. They'll go there first. You saw them leaving Tirah out of the eastern gates."
"How long does that buy us?"
Caleb thought for a moment, then grunted and shrugged. "They're done with the wizards by now. I'll swear to it. And they will have to rest as well. They'll send fast riders to check on all the battalions' locations, but they will march toward the one where you were seen."
"Out east."
He nodded. "Seven days, depending on their pace, to get them there. But within five the riders will start returning. Everyone will say the camps are empty."
"And then?"
He took a long breath, thinking for a while, then blew it out. "And then they will go back to the wizards for help," he said. "Unless some rumors have reached them. Unless they have some spies who saw our passage. Unless they know to find us here, they will not wander blindly."
"The wizards will find us," I said. I didn't know exactly what powers the Academy Masters might have, but by the way my powers blazed, they would have to find me. They would barely have to look. "And then how long?"
He shrugged. "There are too many questions. Will they use travelings, or will they march? How far south have any of them traveled? It all depends. Perhaps a week from now, perhaps two months, but they will find us even here."
I nodded. "Two months would serve me well."
"We'll make do with what we have," he said. "But you should not fret too much at stopping for one night. We've made good time, and we will beat them to Palmagnes."
I looked away and sighed. "It's not the time that bothers me. It's the devastation."
Caleb looked out over the field of stringy vines, the dusty farmhouse, and shrugged. "It's only beans."
"You see that barn?" I asked, pointing to a humble open-side structure just beyond the farmhouse. "I helped build that barn. I know these people."
"And without your help, they'd all be dead," Caleb said, clapping me on the shoulder. "There is a price for protection from the darker powers. There is always a price, and it's always the farmers who pay it first."
"It shouldn't be that way," I said.
"It is. Even here. Even without the dragons. These men pay with their lives, with their sad little beans, for the local lord to protect them from hard times, from thieves and highwaymen and...."
"Rebel armies?" I supplied. I sighed. "This place was my home once. Not for long, but it was the happiest time in my life."
"We could leave. The fortress has appeal, but we could take this war elsewhere. Lareth wants to, anyway."
"No, Caleb. No. This is where I need to be. The dragonswarm is coming, and if I'm going to save anyone, these are the people I most want to save."
"I understand, but that only raises another question. Why the fortress? Why go so far? You fear the baron would raise soldiers against you if he saw you coming?"
I scoffed at the suggestion, and that was answer
enough for him.
"Then let us move toward the town. Beds and food and craftsmen ready to support us. If you only want the tower's walls, we can build some walls."
"No," I said. "I have considered it, and I believe the baron would welcome me." I faltered at that. I thought he would welcome me, but I could not know for sure. Not with this army behind me. But I shook my head, because it made no difference. "I cannot set the king against that town."
"Daven, if you have half the power Lareth suggests, we could hold the town—"
"We could hold it," I said. "We could win the war. But at what price? No. I chose these men because they owe a price in blood that I will gladly spend. I cannot say the same for the people of Teelevon. And you know as well as I the king's quick temper. I will not give him reason to turn against this town."
"Very well," he said. "Nothing changes, then."
"We march for the fort and hope for time to settle in before they come to drag us out."
"We should be safe," he said. "Now get some sleep. We'll move again at dawn."
I hadn't budged when Lareth found me, still staring glumly at the distant farmhouse. I couldn't quite recall the face of the farmer who lived there. Odds were good he was old and poor and desperate. Most of them had seemed that way.
"You're looking glum," the wizard said, and I could hear the warmth of wine on his voice. "Have you at last realized you're rushing away from all the soft comforts of a world you could command?"
"I have no interest in soft comforts," I said. "I only wish we could rush a little more."
"Aha. Well as to that, you're on your own. I could move us all a good deal closer to a pretty little town out west—"
"No!" I growled, but he didn't seem to hear the animal anger in my voice.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. It's small, but it is fine. Good wine, good beer, and lovely little women I recall."
I didn't turn but struck him backhand hard enough knock him from his horse. "You will not speak of Teelevon."