"I kin' stand up by myself," Ajax insisted. "Just 'cause I'm old don't mean I'm helpless."
I glanced to Aahz for help, but he and Tanda were already headed out.
As I turned back to Ajax, I thought I caught a glimpse of a small, blue figure slipping out through the door ahead of us. If it was the Gremlin, he was nowhere in sight when I finally reached the street.
Chapter Sixteen
"Myth-conceptions are the major cause of wars!"
-A. HITLER
Fortunately, the army had not moved from the position it held when we left for Deva. I say fortunately because Aahz pointed out they might well have renewed their advance in our absence. If that had happened, we would have returned to find ourselves behind the enemy lines, if not actually in the middle of one of their encampments.
Of course, he pointed this out to me after we had arrived back on Klah. Aahz is full of helpful little tidbits of information, but his timing leaves a lot to be desired.
Ajax lost no time upon our arrival. Moving with a briskness that belied his years, he strung his bow and stood squinting at the distant encampments.
"Well, youngster," he asked, never taking his eyes from the enemy's formations, "what's my first batch of targets?"
His eagerness took me aback a bit, but Aahz covered for me neatly.
"First," he said loftily, "we'll have to hold a final planning session."
"We didn't expect to have you along, Ajax," Tanda added. "Having a genuine Archer on our side naturally calls for some drastic revisions of our battle plans. "
"Don't bother me none." Ajax shrugged. "Just wanted to let you know I was ready to earn my keep. Take yer time. Seen too many wars messed up 'cause nobody bothered to do any plannin'! If ya don't mind, though, think I'll take me a little nap. Jes' holler when ya want some shootin' done."
"Alt . . . go ahead, Ajax," I agreed.
Without further conversation, Ajax plopped down and pulled his cloak a bit closer about him. Within a few minutes, he was snoring lightly, but I noticed his bow was still in his grip.
"Now there's a seasoned soldier," Aahz observed. "Gets his sleep when and where he can."
"You want me to do a little scouting, boss?" Gus asked.
"Um . . ." I hesitated, glancing quickly at Aahz.
Aahz caught my look and gave a small nod.
"Sure, Gus," I finished. "We'll wait for you here."
"I'll scout in the other direction," Brockhurst volunteered.
"Okay," I nodded. "Aahz, can you give 'em a quick briefing?"
I was trying to drop the load in Aahz's lap, but he joined the conversation as smoothly as if we had rehearsed it this way.
"There are a couple of things we need specific information on," he said solemnly. "First, we need a battlefield, small with scattered cover. Gus, you check that out. You know what we're going to need. Brockhurst, see what details you can bring back on the three nearest encampments."
Both scouts nodded briskly.
"And both of you, stay out of sight," Aahz warned. "The information's no good to us if you don't come back."
"C'mon, Aahz," Gus admonished. "What have they got that can put a dent in the old rock?"
He demonstrated by smashing his forearm into a sapling. The tree went down, apparently without affecting the gargoyle's arm in the slightest.
"I don't know," Aahz admitted. "And I don't want to know, yet. You're one of our surprise weapons. No point in giving the enemy an advance warning. Get my meaning?"
"Got it, Aahz," Gus nodded, and lumbered off.
"Be back in a bit," Brockhurst said with a wave of his hand, heading off in the opposite direction.
"Now that we've got a minute," I murmured to Aahz as I returned Brockhurst's wave, "would you mind telling me what our final plan is? I don't even know what the preliminary plans were."
"That's easy," Aahz replied. "We don't have one . . . yet."
"Well, when are we going to form one?" I asked with forced patience.
"Probably on the battlefield," Aahz yawned. "Until then it's pointless. There're too many variables until then."
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to have at least a general idea as to what we're going to do before we wander out on the battlefield?" I insisted. "It would do a lot for my peace of mind."
"Oh, I've already got a general idea as to what we'll be doing," Aahz admitted.
"Isn't he sweet?" Tanda grimaced. "Would you mind sharing it with us, Aahz? We've got a stake in this, too."
"Well," he began lazily, "the name of the game is delay and demoralize. The way I figure it, we aren't going to overpower them. We haven't got enough going for us to even try that."
I bit back a sarcastic observation and let him continue.
"Delay and demoralize we should be able to do, though," Aahz smiled. "Right off the bat, we've got two big weapons going for us in that kind of a fight."
"Ajax and Gus," I supplied helpfully.
"Fear and bureaucracy," Aahz corrected.
"How's that again?" Tanda frowned.
"Tanda, my girl," Aahz smiled, "you've been spoiled by your skylarking through the dimensions. You've forgotten how the man on the street thinks. The average person in any dimension doesn't know the first thing about magik, particularly about its limitations. If the kid here tells 'em he can make the sun stop or trees grow upside down, they'll believe him. Particularly if he's got a few strange characters parading around as proof of his power, and I think you'll have to admit, the crew he's got backing him this time around is pretty strange."
"What's bureaucracy?" I asked, finally getting a word in edgewise.
"Red tape . . . the system," Aahz informed me.
"The organization to get things done that keeps things from getting done. In this case, it's called the chain-of-command. An army the size of the one we're facing has to function like a well-oiled machine or it starts tripping over its own feet. I'm betting if we toss a couple of handfuls of sand into its gears, they'll spend more time fighting each other than chasing us."
This was one of the first times Aahz had actually clarified something he said. I wished he hadn't. I was more confused than I had been before.
"Um . . . how are we going to do all this?" I asked.
"We'll be able to tell better after you've had your first war council," Aahz shrugged.
"Aren't we having it now?"
"I meant with the enemy," Aahz scowled. "Sometime in the near future, you're going to have to sit down with one of their officers and decide how this war's going to be fought."
"Me?" I blinked.
"You are the leader of the defenses, remember?" Aahz grinned at me.
"It's part of the job, handsome," Tanda confirmed.
"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "It just came to me. I think I have a better idea."
"This I've got to hear," Aahz grinned.
"Shut up, Aahz," Tanda ordered, poking him in the ribs. "Whatcha got, handsome?"
"We've got a couple of trained Assassins on our side, don't we?" I observed. "Why don't we just put 'em to work? If enough officers suddenly turn up dead, odds are the army will fall apart. Right?"
"It won't work, kid," Aahz announced bluntly.
"Why not?"
"We can bend the rules, but we can't break 'em," Aahz explained. "Wars are fought between the troops. Killing off the officers without engaging their troops goes against tradition. I doubt if your own force would stand still for it. Old- troopers like Ajax would have no part of a scheme like that."
"He's right," Tanda confirmed. "Assassins take contracts on individuals in personal feuds, but not against the general staff of an army."
"But it would be so easy," I insisted.
"Look at it this way, kid," Aahz put in. "If you could do it, they could do it. The way things are now, you're exempt from Assassins. Would you really want to change that?"
"What do I say in a war council?" I asked.
"I'll brief you on that when the time comes," Aahz reassured me. "Rig
ht now we have other things to plan."
"Such as what?" Tanda asked.
"Such as what to do about those signal towers," Aahz retorted; jerking his head at one of the distant structures.
"We probably won't have time to break their code, so the next best thing is to disrupt their signals somehow. Now, you said you picked up some special effects items back at the Bazaar. Have you got anything we could use on the signal towers?"
"I'm not sure," Tanda frowned thoughtfully. "I wish you had said something about that before I went shopping."
"What about Ajax?" I suggested.
"What about him?" Aahz countered.
"How close would he have to be to the towers to disrupt things with his archery?"
"I don't know," Aahz shrugged. "Why don't you ask him."
Eager to follow up on my own suggestion, I squatted down next to the dozing bowman.
"Urn . . . Ajax," I called softly.
"Whatcha need, youngster?" the old man asked, coming instantly awake.
"Do you see those signal towers?" I asked, pointing at the distant structures.
Ajax rose to his feet and squinted in the indicated direction. "Sure can," he nodded.
"We . . . um . . . I was wondering," I explained, "can you use your bow to disrupt their signals?"
In response, Ajax drew an arrow from beneath his cloak, cocked it, and let fly before I could stop him.
The shaft disappeared in the direction of the nearest tower. With sinking heart, I strained my eyes trying to track its flight.
There was a man standing on the tower's platform, his standard leaning against the railing beside him. Suddenly, his standard toppled over, apparently breaking off a handspan from its crosspiece. The man bent and retrieved the bottom portion of the pole, staring with apparent confusion at the broken end.
"Any other targets?" Ajax asked.
He was leaning casually on his bow, his back to the tower. He hadn't even bothered watching to see if his missile struck its mark.
"Um . . . not just now, Ajax," I assured him. "Go back to sleep."
"Fine by me, sonny," Ajax smiled, resettling himself. "There'll be plenty of targets tomorrow."
"How do you figure that?" I asked.
"According to that signal I just cut down," he grinned, "the army's fixin' to move out tomorrow."
"You can read the signals?" I blinked.
"Sure," Ajax nodded. "There're only about eight different codes armies use, and I know 'em all. It's part of my trade."
"And they're moving out tomorrow?" I pressed.
"That's what I said." The bowman scowled. "What's the matter, are you deaf?"
"No," I assured him hastily. "It just changes our plans is all. Go back to sleep."
Returning to our little conference, I found Aahz and Tanda engrossed in a conversation with Brockhurst.
"Bad news, kid," Aahz informed me. "Brockhurst here says the army's going to move out tomorrow."
"I know," I said. "I just found out from Ajax. Can you read the signal flags too, Brockhurst?"
"Naw," the Imp admitted. "But the Gremlin can."
"What Gremlin?" Aahz bared his teeth.
"He was here a minute ago," Brockhurst scowled, looking around.
"Well, handsome," Tanda sighed, eyeing me, "I think we just ran out of planning time. Better call your dragon. I think we're going to need all the help we can get tomorrow."
Gleep had wandered off shortly after our arrival, though we could still hear him occasionally as he poked about in the underbrush.
"You go get the dragon, Tanda," Aahz ordered.
"Though it escapes me how he's supposed to be any help. The `boss' here and I have to discuss his war council tomorrow."
Any confidence I might have built up listening to Aahz's grand plan earlier fled me. Tanda was right. We had run out of time.
Chapter Seventeen
"Diplomacy is the delicate weapon of the civilized warrior."
-HUN, A.T.
We waited patiently for our war council. The two of us, Aahz and me. Against an army.
This was, of course, Aahz's idea. Left to my own devices, I wouldn't be caught dead in this position.
Trying to ignore that unfortunate choice of words, I cleared my throat and spoke to Aahz out of the corner of my mouth.
"Aahz?"
"Yeah, kid?"
"How long are we going to stand here?"
"Until they notice us and do something about it."
Terrific. Either we'd rot where we stood, or someone would shoot us full of arrows.
We were standing about twenty yards from one of the encampments, with nothing between us and them but meadow. We could see clearly the bustle of activity within the encampment and, in theory, there was nothing keeping them from seeing us. This is why we were standing where we were, to draw attention to ourselves. Unfortunately, so far no one had noticed.
It had been decided that Aahz and I would work alone on this first sortie to hide the true strength of our force. It occurred to me that it also hid the true weakness of our force, but I felt it would be tactless to point this out.
At first, Brockhurst had argued in favor of his coming along with me instead of Aahz, claiming that as an Imp he had much more experience at bargaining than a demon. It was pointed out to him rather forcefully by Aahz that in this instance we weren't bargaining for glass beads or whoopie cushions, but for a war . . . and if the Imp wanted to prove to Aahz that he knew more about fighting ....
Needless to say, Brockhurst backed down at that point. This was good, as it saved me from having to openly reject his offer. I mean, I may not be the fastest learner around, but I could still distinctly remember Aahz getting the best of Brockhurst the last time, the two of them had squared off for a bargaining session.
Besides, if this meeting went awry, I wanted my mentor close at hand to share the consequences with me.
So here we stood, blatantly exposed to the enemy without even a sword for our defense. That was another of Aahz's brainstorms. He argued that our being unarmed accomplished three things. First, it showed that we were here to talk, not to fight. Second, it demonstrated our faith in my magical abilities to defend us. Third, it encouraged our enemy to meet us similarly unarmed.
He also pointed out that Ajax would be hiding in the tree line behind us with strung bow and cocked arrow, and would probably be better at defending us if anything went wrong than a couple of swords would.
He was right, of course, but it did nothing to settle my nerves as we waited.
"Heads up, kid," Aahz murmured. "We've got company."
Sure enough, a rather stocky individual was striding briskly across the meadow in our direction.
"Kid!" Aahz hissed suddenly. "Your disguise!"
"What about it?" I whispered back.
"It isn't!" came the reply.
He was right! I had carefully restored his "dubious character" appearance, but had forgotten completely about changing my own. Having our motley crew accept my leadership in my normal form had caused me to overlook the fact that Klahds are harder to impress than demons.
"Should I-" I began.
"Too late!" Aahz growled. "Fake it."
The soldier was almost upon us now, close enough for me to notice when he abandoned his bored expression and forced a smile.
"I'm sorry, folks," he called with practiced authority. "You'll have to clear the area. We'll be moving soon and you're blocking the path."
"Call your duty officer!" Aahz boomed back at him.
"My who?" the soldier scowled.
"Duty officer, officer of the day, commander, whatever you call whoever's currently in charge of your formation," Aahz clarified. "Somebody's got to be running things, and if you're officer material, I'm the Queen of the May."
Whether or not the soldier understood Aahz's allusion (I didn't), he caught the general implication.
"Yeah, there's someone in charge," he snarled, his complexion darkening slightly. "He's
a very busy man right now, too busy to stand around talking to civilians. We're getting ready to move our troops, mister, so take your son and get out of the way. If you want to watch the soldiers, you'll have to follow along and watch us when we camp tonight."
66D0 you have any idea who you're talking to?" I said in a surprisingly soft voice.
"I don't care who your father is, sonny," the soldier retorted. "We're trying to-"
"The name's not `sonny,' it's Skeeve!" I hissed, drawing myself up. "Court magician to the kingdom of Possiltum, pledged to that kingdom's defense. Now I advise you to call your officer . . . or do you want to wake up tomorrow morning on a lily pad?"
The soldier recoiled a step and stood regarding me suspiciously.
"Is he for real?" he asked Aahz skeptically.
"How's your taste for flies?" Aahz smiled.
"You mean he can really-"
"Look," interrupted Aahz, "I'm not playing servant to the kid because of his terrific personality, if you know what I mean."
"I see . . . um. . . ." The soldier was cautiously backing toward the encampment. "I'll . . . um . . . I'll bring my commanding officer."
"We'll be here," Aahz assured him.
The soldier nodded and retreated with noticeably greater speed than he had displayed approaching us.
"So far, so good," my mentor said with a grin.
"What's wrong with my personality?" I asked bluntly.
Aahz sighed. "Later, kid. For the time being, concentrate on looking aloof and dignified, okay?"
Okay or not, there wasn't much else to do while we waited for the officer to put in his appearance.
Apparently, news of our presence spread through the encampment in record time, for a crowd of soldiers gathered at the edge of the camp long before we saw any sign of the officer. It seemed all preparations to move were suspended at least temporarily while the soldiers lined up and craned their necks to gawk at us.
It was kind of a nice feeling to have caused such a sensation, until I noticed several soldiers were taking time to strap on weapons and armor before joining the crowd;
"Aahz!" I whispered.
"Yeah, kid?"
"I thought this was supposed to be a peaceful meeting."
"It is," he assured me.
Myth Conceptions Page 10
