Jarell walked away and stopped and looked at the mountains to the north. He knew his wife was flying high above the clouds on the other side of those mountains and hoped she would be safe. Then he banished that thought from his mind. There was no warrior more fierce and determined than his wild, redheaded wife.
~~~~
Hilde and Caroline stared down at the frozen earth below them. It stretched out of sight to the horizon and there was nothing to see.
Nothing except the five hundred troops in the distance, struggling to move through the waist deep snow. The two dragon riders couldn’t believe what they were seeing. About a dozen ogres were pushing their way through the snow at the front of the army, clearing the way for the men to follow.
“There is no way those soldiers will arrive at the pass back into Terranasia and be ready to fight,” said Caroline. “Why would they be coming this way?”
The thing that made the sight even more unbelievable was the large lake that stretched in front of the approaching army. They were going to have to traverse it’s frozen surface before they could make it to the pass.
“Morgath, Venia, do you see or sense any dragons with these troops.”
“No, Hilde.” said Morgath. “I don’t believe they have any dragons flying with them.”
“What are you thinking, m’lady?” asked Caroline. “You know we’re not supposed to engage them.”
“I know that. But we might be able to turn them around.”
“Really? How would we do that?”
Hilde pointed at the lake and asked, “Morgath, if you and Venia strike the edge of the lake with dragonfire, how long will it stay unfrozen?”
“If we hit it with lots of dragonfire, it will melt almost instantly.”
Venia added, “And if we pass over it again, spraying just the gas, without the fire, it will mix with the water and should prevent it from freezing for days.”
“That’s how we turn them around, Caroline. And we won’t even fire a single arrow.”
Hilde pointed to the northern edge of the lake and said, “Those peaks come right down to the water and these mountains below us pass right at the southern edge of the lake. So, melting a wide part of the lake between these two mountain ranges will end their journey real quick. They won’t be able to go around the lake. The only way left to them will be a retreat.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.”
She looked down, formulating their approach.
“Are you two up to this?” she asked the two dragons.
“I was born ready!” called Morgath.
Venia laughed and said, “Don’t you just love him, girls?”
Hilde and Caroline laughed and then they began diving toward the edge of the lake. Morgath assumed the lead, laying down a stream of dragonfire that burned instantly through the frozen surface of the lake. Venia followed right behind him, burning and making the gap even wider.
After three passes, the gap in the ice was about a hundred yards wide. The four of them could hear the roar of the army, still half a mile away. Loudest among the enemy troops were the ogres, screaming as they saw their route being devastated in front of their eyes.
On the last pass over the water, Venia and Morgath sprayed the gap with the gas from their gullets and it rained down on the water like a thin mist. It mixed with the water and it would take days for it to dissipate and allow for the water to freeze again.
After completing their assault on the frozen lake, they rose to a safe height and just watched. They knew it wouldn’t take long before the troops realized they had been outfoxed and would need to retreat to the pass from where they had entered the Northern Lands.
They watched as the troops reached the edge of the ice and came to a stop. Any moment now, they would recognize the hopelessness of their journey and they would turn back.
Any moment now.
Then, to Hilde and Caroline’s horror, the ogres started driving the troops into the water, forcing them to swim across the gap. They knew there was no way these men would be able to make that swim. They were ill-equipped to make the journey through Northern Lands in the first place, and they certainly weren’t ready for a swim through the freezing waters of the lake.
The troops were obviously unwilling to make the swim and they tried turning back. When the ogres started forcing them into the water, the troops turned on the ogres and tried to put an end to their servitude to the dark wizard. But, the men were no match for the size and brute strength of the ogres. For every ogre they took down, another ogre would take down thirty of them.
Hilde couldn’t watch any longer and sent Venia into a dive, straight at the battle below them. Caroline and Morgath did not have to be asked to follow. They were right on her tail.
Hilde and Caroline began firing arrows faster than they ever had before. Like those days in training over the fields of Bridgehaven, no target was safe from their arrows. But, they weren’t ready for a prolonged battle and expended their arrows quickly. By the time they were both out of arrows, only twenty ogres had been taken down. Some by them and some by the troops, but that still left about thirty and they became even more enraged at being attacked from two sides.
The remaining ogres drove into the troops even harder, killing every one of them they could get their swords and clubs on.
Morgath and Venia couldn’t do anything, but watch because they had expended all of their gas in melting the ice. They tried to make passes and use their claws, but Morgath got one of his front feet sliced by a large, ogre blade and screeched in pain. Caroline pulled him up and away from the battle and Hilde followed right behind her.
They could merely watch through their tears as the ogres finished off the troops, clubbing and slashing some of them to death and forcing the rest into the water.
By the time it was over, Hilde and Caroline could only cry over the senseless loss of life that lay below them on the ice. This was not the outcome that either of them had envisioned when they set about obstructing the army’s advance.
They watched as the ogres flung themselves into the water and made the swim across the gap. They were much more suited to surviving the swim and almost all of them crawled out of the water and shook themselves off. Only a couple succumbed to the icy water and they had already been injured when they entered the water.
“We must leave and warn the others,” said Venia.
Neither Caroline and Hilde could see much of anything because of the tears in their eyes. They couldn’t swing their gaze away from the terrible scene below. The ice and water had turned a vivid red, from all the blood spilled from the troops. It stained the ice and water and acted like a massive taunt to the dragon riders, that they had failed.
“Hilde, Morgath is injured,” said Venia. “We need to leave right now.”
Hilde wiped her eyes and face with the sleeves of her tunic and looked over at Caroline. She saw the small Guildenian had her eyes closed and was crying uncontrollably.
“Take us back,” said Hilde.
The two dragons turned and headed for the mountains and to safer skies. Hilde just looked down at the group of ogres that were continuing on to the pass. She wished she possessed an unlimited supply of arrows because she wanted to slaughter each and every ogre she saw below.
As they returned to the field at Strafton, they landed near Sophia and Keeleth, who appeared to be completely subdued themselves. Morgath landed very gingerly on his wounded foot and Jarell went running to him.
“What happened?” he asked as Caroline climbed down.
Her tears hadn’t stopped in the minutes it took to fly back over the mountains. As Jarell began to work on healing Morgath he looked at Caroline, expecting an answer.
Pendivall walked up and could see she was in no shape to talk.
He reached out to her and said, “Why don’t you go find Lianna, back near the healers tent. She could use a friend right now, as I suspect, you could, too.”
Caroline looked up at the lanky wizard a
nd nodded. Then she turned and looked at Morgath.
“I’m sorry, my friend. I didn’t protect you very well.”
Morgath reached out and nuzzled her with his nose.
“Don’t you fret. I will be absolutely fine after Master Jarell is finished. Go find Lianna.”
She turned to walk away and Hilde was right in her path. As Hilde reached out to her, she pushed past her and walked away.
Captain Belgard came walking up, having seen the dragons returning. He saw Caroline shoulder her way past Hilde and he could tell things didn’t go as planned.
Jarell finished healing Morgath and patted him on the face. Then he turned and stood side-by-side with Pendivall, looking at Hilde.
“Care to explain what happened?”
Hilde looked at Jarell and then Pendivall. The tears burst forth like a dam collapsing.
“We didn’t mean for it to happen,” she cried. “It shouldn’t have happened the way it did.”
Jarell and Pendivall regarded her and couldn’t imagine what it was that was causing this heartache.
Venia spoke up, “She is right. It shouldn’t have happened the way it did.”
They turned and looked at her.
“No matter what she tells you, it wasn’t hers or Caroline’s fault.”
They looked back at the distraught warrior. After taking a couple of deep breaths, Hilde related to them what had happened on the other side of the mountain. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. They knew Kerrick had no regard for his troops and would fling them all straight into the fires of Mount Thunder if he thought it would promote his cause. But, this callousness and loss of life was beyond anything either of them could imagine.
Belgard stood there for a few seconds, just clenching and unclenching his massive fists. Then he turned and yelled for one of his lieutenants, who came running without delay.
“Lieutenant Cragg, I want you to go through the field and gather twenty men and have them muster over there,” he said, pointing to a spot near the western edge of the fields. “And tell them to come ready for battle.”
Cragg took off and Belgard turned back to the wizards.
“Those ogres will not live to set one foot in this valley. We will meet them in the pass and will kill them all.”
The wizards nodded and he turned and headed for the spot to wait for his men to assemble.
Jarell stepped up and wrapped his arms around Hilde and held her close. He could feel her struggling to stop crying and used his magic to calm her soul.
“Venia is right. It wasn’t your fault,” said Pendivall. “And your plan was an exceptional one. No one could have foreseen the reaction of the ogres to it. So buck up, young lady. We need you.”
Jarell lifted her chin and kissed her on the forehead.
“Yes, we need you. Now, more than ever.”
“Why? What else has happened?”
“Sophia would like a rider. And Keeleth needs a new rider because Lianna has gone back to being a healer. Losing Gwen has wounded her more than she can take.”
Pendivall added, “Hopefully, we won’t need to replace Caroline. She doesn’t appear to be handling this latest event very well.”
“Two new riders, maybe three? We won’t have any time to prepare them.”
“Be that as it may,” said Pendivall, “you need to see what you can do. We expect to see Kerrick’s army within the hour.”
Hilde stepped back and wiped her face. They looked off to the west and saw Captain Belgard and his men taking off, running toward the pass into the Northern Lands. Coming back, victorious over the ogres was a foregone conclusion.
She looked at the four dragons, with Sophia just then getting her new harness and seat.
She looked back at the two wizards and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
She turned and headed toward the troops, wondering which Guildenian bowmaidens she would find that were going to be willing to risk life and limb, strapped to the back of a fire-breathing dragon above the approaching army.
She had no cause for worry. She had a dozen volunteers inside five minutes and she let Keeleth and Sophia decide who would be their riders. The dragons looked into the minds and souls of each of the little ladies and selected the two they felt the deepest connection with.
When the choices had been made, Hilde told the two new riders, Sarabel and Emmilyn, to climb on their dragons and head west for about half an hour and get some practice. She watched as the two dragons lifted into the sky and disappeared to the west.
She turned and looked at Morgath.
“I’m going to find Caroline. We need to know if she is still your rider.”
“She is,” said Morgath. “I felt it in her mind. She’s just upset right now with what we saw happen at the lake.”
“As am I, Morgath. I still need to talk to her.”
“Yes, but Lady Hilde, she is not mad at you.”
“You felt that?”
“Yes, I did. She is just overwhelmed by the loss of life and her inability to stop it.”
“I think all four of us were,” said Hilde as she also looked at Venia.
She reached up and placed a hand on each of their muzzles.
“Will you two be ready to fight?”
“Just try stopping us,” said Venia.
Hilde smiled at them and turned and walked away, looking for a very distraught bowmaiden. Well, two of them, actually.
Chapter 13 ~ The Clash Of Two Armies
“They are at the exit of the pass, sire!”
Jarell looked at the young lieutenant and nodded. The army of the dark wizard was upon them and seemingly marching straight into the battle without a care in the world. The lieutenant took off, returning to his post near the mouth of the small canyon.
Jarell raced to the front of the lines so he could see what it was they were up against. He could see the enemy troops filtering out of the canyon and spreading out across the field, building their own battle line.
At the rear of those troops, there were a couple dozen ogres lining up behind their troops. Jarell scrutinized them and couldn’t shake the feeling there was something off about them. They were dressed in the typical garb of the ogres, but they didn’t appear as big and tall as they should have been.
Lieutenant Cragg walked up beside him and looked across the gap separating the two armies.
“Kind of a sickly looking bunch of ogres, wouldn’t you agree, master?”
“I guess it’s possible Kerrick has used up all of his larger ogres in this war and is now sending the smaller ones to take their place. But does anything look strange to you about those ogres? I mean, besides their size.”
“They do look odd, sire, but I’ll be buggered if I can figure out what it is.”
“Well, there are only a couple dozen of them and there are still about eighty of your troops. I guess you’ll have to double up on a few of them if you want to kill ogres.”
The lieutenant laughed, “We do what we have to, sire.”
He turned and called one of his archers forward.
“How would you like to produce the first ogre kill of the battle?”
“Just point one out, sir.”
“That ogre right in the middle, with the golden helmet and red armor. Think you can put one right through his eye?”
“With my eyes closed, sir.”
Jarell and Cragg watched as the archer pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. He stared down range for a few seconds and then raised his bow, pulled the string and let the arrow fly, in one smooth motion. The arrow flew straight and true and the three were certain they were about to see one of the finest, long shots ever.
Pendivall was standing on a small hill about fifty yards behind them, observing the events unfold. He shook his head as he wondered about these young ones trying to provoke a fight that didn’t seem to be in any hurry to start.
In the last split-second, the ogre’s hand snatched the arrow out of the air and broke it betw
een his fingers. He tossed the two pieces away and then growled toward the other line.
Then, he reached to his waist and pulled his sword from its scabbard with a flourish. All the other ogres executed the same movement and the lieutenant and the archer gasped, as if they had seen something neither one could believe.
Jarell heard Pendivall yelling something from behind and he turned and looked at the older, much wiser wizard, but he couldn’t quite make it out. He held up his hands to say he couldn’t hear him.
Like a bolt of lightning, Pendivall yelled directly into Jarell’s mind, “They’re royal soldiers!”
Jarell whipped back around and for the first time since this war began, he felt a cold fear grip his heart and squeeze. He looked at the lieutenant, who had a look of fear on his face even greater than the one he felt inside.
“Can it be true, lieutenant? Royal soldiers?”
“I dare not believe it, sire, but it is impossible to argue with what we have just seen.”
Then the relative silence of the fields was broken by a command from the apparent leader of the enemy troops. The regular troops began bashing their swords against their shields, raising a loud, thunderous wave of sound that washed over the troops standing just behind Jarell and the two royal soldiers.
Almost immediately, Pendivall could feel the icy grip of terror wash over the troops on their side of the field. It was going to be a miracle if his troops didn’t turn and run right then.
Jarell turned and faced his army and sent out a command, in a thundering voice, to each and every soldier in his command.
“Do not try to spare any of their lives! If you do, we shall inevitably perish! These troops are not here to fight for their own freedom. They are here to crush us!”
All across the field and all the way back to the rear, he saw swords flashing in the sunlight. He saw bowmaidens nocking arrows, preparing to fight.
At the very back of his army, he saw Hilde and Caroline sprinting for their dragons. Observing this, it caused a thought to flash into his mind. He spun around and started exploring the skies.
“What do you seek, sire?” asked Cragg.
The Wrath Page 13