by A. J. Walker
He was about to ride back and select three of his men to further investigate the edge of the forest with him when Theodor suddenly heard a man’s rugged voice say, It’s safe to enter the forest.
“How do you know,” Theodor replied, turning around to address whichever of his soldiers had caught up to him without him noticing. To his surprise, there wasn’t anyone within speaking distance. The whole of his troop remained behind, nearly fifty yards, yet the voice sounded like it came from someone standing at his side. His head swiveled, searching for where the voice came from. The leading members of his troop rode slightly closer and he leaned back in his saddle cupping his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “Did you say something?!” He had to call twice more, over the sound of the falling rain before Theodor got the answer he’d expected. The other members of his troop shook their heads in reply.
That was strange, he thought, then the voice returned, seeming closer than before.
There aren’t any orc or kurr for miles. It’s safe to enter. We’re waiting for you about a half-mile from the tree line.
“Who are you?! Where are you?!” Theodor demanded searching furiously for the source of the voice.
Like I said, we’re waiting for you a half mile to the east within the forest. It’s safe to continue, the voice paused, then said, I’m surprised you don’t recognize the sound of my voice, Theodor.
For a moment, Theodor almost went into a rage trying to discern where the voice was coming from. However, after the familiar tones of the voice found their place in his memory, a slow smile spread across his face, broadening to a beaming grin. At last he realized who was speaking to him. “Ivan! How is it that I can hear your voice so clearly if you’re half a mile away?”
I’ll explain later. All you need to know is the elf army and I await your arrival. We’ve cleared the area and it’s safe for passage, he said.
“Okay, I’ll trust you.”
Theodor didn’t know how his friend had been communicating with him so clearly over such a great distance, but he held Ivan in high regard so he led his troop onward toward the edge of the Bareback Plains.
Theodor closed his eyes and half held his breath as his instincts told him to expect a volley of arrows to come whistling out from the thick blanket of trees as they came within range. Several moments passed and Theodor peeked out through his one squinting eyelid. A quick scan made him realize that there would be no attack. Relaxing, he straightened himself in the saddle and led his men confidently over the forested border and into the Everlight Kingdom.
THE TROOP’S NUMBERS had fluctuated through the two years Theodor had served in the cavalry. At one point their division’s combined total of four hundred men dwindled to one hundred, but with the expansion of the king’s army recruiting in Westland, their numbers recovered slightly to two hundred and fifty and, due to his survival, Theodor had become one of the more experienced members in the division.
“He’s been around since the beginning,” members of his crew would tell the new recruits that were assigned to their troop.
Though it felt like a lifetime, Theodor knew the beginning wasn’t that long ago. Having his men view him as, ‘being around forever’, helped him with his image and gained their respect. In his eyes, he thought it gave them a sense of hope that they might yet survive the end of the war.
Ivan and the elf army were waiting to greet the cavalry nearly a half-mile into the forest, just as Ivan had promised. Theodor’s smile turned to fear when he saw three dragons at the rear of the elf army.
Sensing his surprise and distrust of dragons, Ivan emerged from the crowd of elves with his arms held up to grab his attention, “Don’t be afraid, Theodor. The dragons will not harm you. They fight with us.”
Theodor didn’t respond. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t find the words that properly expressed his surprise. The troop watched Theodor intently as they awaited his next move.
“Come down from your horse,” Ivan said, ushering him forward with a wave of his hand. “You must be tired from your journey. Come and sit by the warmth of our fire.”
Ivan hesitated for a moment, looking cautiously in the direction of the three dragons. Giving in to his exhaustion and weariness from traveling, Theodor dismounted, leading his horse as he followed Ivan into their camp. Many of the cavalrymen remained saddled until Theodor motioned for them to join him.
Before unsaddling his horse and letting her graze freely for the evening, Theodor asked, pointing to the dragons, “They won’t eat our horses will they?”
Ivan chuckled, “Only yours, Theodor; the rest they’ll leave alone.”
Theodor gave him a serious glance.
“I’m joking,” he chuckled again.
Once they sat comfortably around the fire, Theodor relaxed a bit, trusting that the dragons weren’t going to devour them. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Ivan, it’s good to see a friendly face. It seems like a lifetime has passed since I last saw you. How’ve you been?”
Ivan’s smile beamed brightly as he gazed at his friend from across the fire, “It’s good to see you too, Theodor, I’ve been well. In a way it has been a lifetime, or long enough to bring a new one into this world. I’m a father now,” he chuckled slightly tilting his head back.
“Wow! That’s wonderful news. Your wife must be so happy,” Theodor replied.
“She’s pleased, but wishes it were under different circumstances. You know,” he motioned to the heavily armed elves and men around them.
“Is she here? I’d love to meet her.”
“No. No, she’s back at the elves’ capital city, Cedarbridge. We’ve been living there for the last two years.”
“Is this the assignment you were given after our two-week vacation?” Theodor asked, referring to the R and R they’d won at the end of training camp.
Ivan looked to the side and squinted slightly, “Yeah, kind of,” he said, with what Theodor thought was a certain bitterness in his voice.
“Oh, it’s more complicated than that?” Theodor asked.
Ivan nodded, “After I left training with my papers, the ones saying I’d been granted a two-week R and R, my wife and I rode straight to Kingston’s marina. We’d arranged for a boat to charter us to the Kewian Islands. I was so looking forward to those two weeks on the beach,” he sighed, folding his arms and leaning hard against the base of a tree. He looked longingly into the fire’s dancing flames.
“I’m guessing from the way you look right now, you didn’t go to the Kewians,” Theodor said, tilting his head forward and cocking an eyebrow.
Ivan shook his head with a slight smile, “Nope. Once we arrived at the marina and I showed my papers to the guards, they escorted me to the marshal’s office. Can you believe that?”
Theodor gasped, “No, they didn’t.”
Ivan’s grin grew, “Sure did, right into the king’s castle. The marshal took my papers and burned them. He burned them right in front of my wife and me!” Ivan spat into the fire.
Theodor was aghast and sat with his jaw hanging wide open. “What did you do?” he asked, finally finding the words.
“I wanted to tear his head off, but my wife wouldn’t let me.”
“Why did the marshal do that to you?”
“Well, after he burnt the document, he proceeded to tell me I was instructed to leave immediately and come here, to the Everlight Kingdom. Once we’d arrive, the elves would place me into a special forces program. After the long voyage across the Marauder’s Sea, the elf king and queen greeted us with a royal welcome. It was kind of underwhelming now that I think about it, but they took us back to the capital and I began training the next day.”
“Wow, so you didn’t even get one day to relax before you started more training. That’s wild.” Theodor shook his head in disbelief. “I hitchhiked on the Kingston Road around the whole island of Southland. I fished and met loads of interesting people all along the way.”
“At least one of us got to do wha
t they wanted,” Ivan said, leaning his head against the trunk of a tree.
“What kind of special forces training did you do?” Theodor asked giving a glance toward the dragons.
Ivan followed his gaze. The three dragons were curled up sleeping near a fire. “I was selected as the first human to join a program where we’d be exposed to young dragons in hopes that we’d develop a bond with one of them. Only nine of us were enrolled in the program. We had six elves and two dwarfs as well. I’ve spent the last two years training with our instructors and fighting in the Dragon Wars of Nagano.”
Theodor could hardly believe what Ivan was telling him. If he hadn’t seen the dragons and heard Ivan speaking to him with his mind, he would have thought he’d lost his mind. “So it worked? You bonded with a dragon?” he asked.
Ivan nodded and pointed to the three dragons curled up in the distance, “You see the green one. She’s mine. Her name is Jazzmaryth.”
Theodor’s eyes bulged, “Do the other two have riders?”
“Yes the dark red one is Turza; she’s one of the elves who was in training with me. And Norig, the purple one, belongs to my mentor, Selleya.”
“Where are the other instructors and students?” Theodor asked curiously.
Ivan frowned and shook his head, “None of them survived the Dragon Wars.”
Theodor furrowed his brow, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ivan said, pulling at the grass next to his crossed legs.
There was an awkward moment of silence, then Theodor said, “We lost two thirds of our cavalry after I joined. We’ve somehow managed to replenish our numbers back to two-fifty. When I was first assigned, we were four hundred strong. Since the new recruits have joined us, we’ve been holding our own.”
Ivan cleared his throat, “So, you must have done well for yourself to be given command of a reconnaissance troop.”
“The only reason I qualified was because I survived. Most of the others who made it just want to get through this war with their heads down and then go home. I figured, what the heck, might as well take the raise and make some more money before I’m out. They’ll give me a good pension when I’m done.”
“When will that be?” Ivan asked.
“I don’t know,” Theodor shrugged. “I’m overdue for it. I only need two years before I could leave. But when I look at these sorry sacks,” he pointed to his troop, “I just can’t force myself to leave. Maybe I’ll change my mind in a few months. Who knows? What about for you?”
Ivan shook his head, “I don’t think it will ever be over for me. My bond with Jazzmaryth is for life. As long as there is a threat to Kartania, we’ll need to face it.”
Theodor nodded slowly, leaned forward, and asked in a hushed tone, “So, is it true?”
“Is what true?” Ivan asked confused.
Theodor made a waving motion with his hands, “You know. Can you do magic?”
Ivan smiled slightly and chuckled, “How do you think I was able to communicate with you from half a mile away?”
“Oh yeah,” Theodor paused and leaned back again.
Straightening in his seat and rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, Ivan asked, “You want to see something?”
Theodor nodded.
Ivan held his palm in front of his body and pushed his hand down slowly. As he did, the fire’s flickering flames diminished, shrinking as his hand lowered. He pushed his palm down further, extinguishing the flames as his hand came to rest against the ground.
“Hey,” Theodor said objecting to the sudden chill of the evening breeze.
“Touch it,” Ivan said.
“What?”
“The logs on the fire. Touch them.”
Theodor stuck out a shaking hand and carefully placed them on the once-burning logs. “They’re cold,” he said in amazement.
Ivan nodded and Theodor removed his hand. Ivan raised his palm high up off the ground for dramatic effect. In an instant, the fire was a crackling blaze once more.
“Neat trick,” Theodor chuckled.
“I wish our job were that easy,” Ivan said, looking over his shoulder at Jazzmaryth. “Merglan’s made it hard for us.”
Chapter Nine
─
Battle
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL days, Ivan and the elves patrolled the Everlight Kingdom’s borders while Theodor and his troop familiarized themselves with their new surroundings. Ivan led Theodor through the wooded area of the Glacial Melt Bays and showed him the topographical features they could use to their advantage during the coming attack. Ivan knew the orc and kurr were gathering for an attack in that area, but didn’t know what, if anything, they were waiting for.
“Orcs blend in well with rock and tree bark, but stand out against the green foliage of the forest,” Ivan explained to Theodor and his men while on patrol. “We’ll use the trees and brush to our advantage, staying well hidden when the enemy first approaches. The fighting in the trees will be difficult because of the close range, but it can work to our advantage if the enemy outnumbers us.
“Selleya, Talia, and I will be directing the movement of the elven forces and where they’ll be staged. With our magic, we can sense if the orcs are near long before any of us could see them. With that advantage, we can direct more soldiers to areas with higher numbers of enemies before the battle begins. Archers will be the most effective in this scenario. With the three of us dragon riders navigating the archer’s target, we’ll attempt to take out the bulk of their forces before we’ll ever see them.
“If we must, we’ll retreat into the foothills of the Frozentip Mountains at our backs. There is less forested cover, but more fortification among the rocks. The base of the mountains will also allow us to use the slope to our advantage. We’ll force the enemy to fight uphill. Elves are quick on their feet and I’ll need your men to be ready to ride if we need to move. It’s why I’ve requested help from the cavalry; horses are fast enough to keep up with the movements of the elves.”
“The elves are really that fast?” Theodor asked in disbelief.
Ivan nodded.
“Do you know how far away the orc army is? And what about the kurr? You’d said in the letter that there’s a band of kurr that had joined the orc army,” Theodor asked.
“In the past, one of us would fly out and see where their exact location was, but as of late, Merglan’s been booby-trapping the skies around his army.”
Theodor screwed up his face and asked, “How can he set booby-traps in the sky?”
“With airmines and other spells that can be hard to detect. Once he placed a tracer spell on us. We flew over the orc army and came back to camp after our recon flight. That night the orcs attacked us while we slept.”
“Wow, this whole magician thing is serious isn’t it?” Theodor asked.
“I’m afraid so. Not quite the same as the nursery rhymes children are told when they're babes,” Ivan replied.
“What about the other dragons? Aren’t there others that can help us?”
Ivan scratched his chin, “Dragons that aren’t bonded don’t feel strongly enough for our races to fight for our cause, especially after what the Dragon Wars did to them. They don’t want to lose more of their kin if they can help it. Besides, a bonded dragon is far more powerful than an average dragon, and Merglan’s power seems to be growing with each rider he kills. I’m not sure any of those who’d hear our plight, even if they joined our cause, would be enough to stop him.”
Theodor tried to comprehend how powerful Merglan might be, but after an extended silence, Ivan continued leading them through the forest beyond the elven border.
For the remainder of the day, the elf and human armies lay in wait for the arrival of their enemy. While they prepared for battle, Ivan told Theodor about their previous encounters with the orcs and speculated of how they might attack. While Ivan was mid-explanation and going over the different attack formations he had witnessed, something made him halt and divert his attention a
s he scanned the foreground meticulously.
Ivan whispered, “They’re approaching.”
Ivan quickly rushed to his dragon’s side, who stood fifteen yards from where Theodor was and Ivan had been. The host of the elf army was spread out through the trees to their left and Theodor’s troop to their right. Glancing to see how Ivan was directing the elves, Theodor realized for the first time how well the dragon blended into its surroundings. If he didn’t know the beast was hidden in the forest, he wouldn’t have guessed it was there at all. Ivan motioned for Theodor and his men to listen for Ivan’s commands.
Ivan’s voice sounded in Theodor’s mind, The orcs are several hundred yards in front of us, and moving straight at our position. They know we’re close. Their blades are drawn and are advancing warily. We’ll wait for them to get within a hundred yards before I give the command to fire.
Theodor looked to his men, and made sure that Ivan was broadcasting his message to all of them. They nodded to show they’d heard what Ivan had said.
Theodor’s horse had been close, so he swiftly mounted his steed and readied himself for battle. Gripping his saddle horn tightly, he shifted his weight nervously on the horse. He’d never been in this position before. During larger-scale battles, he’d always been among those who’d charge in during the turning point, waiting for the foot soldiers to exhaust the enemy before clinching victory. Outside of the few large battles he’d witnessed, Theodor had only experienced small skirmishes during scouting missions where they fought off one or maybe two dozen orcs at the most. He’d never sat waiting in the trees as an entire army of orcs and possibly kurr marched directly on their position. His heart pounded loudly against his breastplate and thick beads of sweat began to drip down his face.
Pulling his bow and arrow from the quiver strapped to his saddle, Theodor nocked a long, feathered arrow into his bowstring. He recalled when Ivan told them to wait until the orcs were within a hundred yards before firing. From atop his horse, Theodor could only see thirty yards through the trees, and at best his bow could only shoot effectively up to sixty yards. If he tilted the bow skyward, he’d be able to get the extra distance needed to strike the advancing orcs, but even if he could see them, he knew that he wouldn’t be shooting with any accuracy.
