by Mark Albany
“What happens if we find him?” Braire asked. “I hate to point out the obvious, but even the five of us together wouldn’t stand much of a chance against him alone. And that is assuming that he doesn’t have familiars boosting his already significant abilities. You remember the fight against him, Grant.”
I did. I had amounted to little more than a pebble in his shoe. An annoyance that he had chosen to toy with instead of immediately disposing of. And he hadn’t even been tapping his full potential.
I shook the sinking of my heart down into my gut off and pushed forward. “We wouldn’t even need to kill him outright. He is essentially controlling the entirety of the force. Between the five of us, we should be able to draw enough of his power away from the battle and against us to turn the tide of the battle for long enough to make a difference.”
“And what happens if we lose?” Braire asked.
“He would be too drained to be able to carry on with the fighting,” Norel said. “A temporary measure, but better than just fighting at the front lines.”
Losing had never quite occurred to me, and yet as the thought came, it just didn’t seem right. We had been up against impossible odds before but had always pulled through in the end. Then again, Abarat had faced us twice at our full strength and had been able to escape with his life, which proved how resilient he could be as well.
As Norel said, finding and engaging him would have a better conclusion, one way or another, than just fighting alongside the army and hoping for a miracle. Our enemies’ numbers were too great for a simple victory through force alone would be something that we could count on.
It wasn’t a statement of doubt on the men and women, elves and humans that had been assembled for the fight, but rather a proper thought on the numbers that they would be fighting against.
Finding some way to push Abarat himself away from the fighting felt like the sole hope that we had to actually force our way into a victory.
“Who would have thought that the time that we needed Aliana the most was when she was gone?” Braire said, her head lowering a bit.
I moved to her side, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close. She smiled, pressing her head into my chest, still bare from before, and placing a kiss on my collarbone before pulling me closer to her, sighing contentedly.
“Well find a way,” I whispered, running my fingers through her hair. “We always do.”
“All we need to do is fail once for it to matter, though,” she murmured back.
“Don’t even think that way,” I said.
“I know,” she replied, shaking her head. “It’s just... I miss Aliana.”
“I do too,” I said.
“We should hold off on making any plans for the moment, however,” Faye said. “At least, none that we cannot break away from quickly. The emperor and his generals might have some use for us that we don’t know about yet. They do have a better picture of what the armies will be doing.”
“You know what they say,” I said with a small shrug. “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”
The other four in the room turned to look at me curiously.
“General Bern?” I asked, looking around. “One of the most famous commanders in the Third War of the Peninsula?” I scowled at their blank expressions. “I used to read history books for fun. It feels like years ago now, but some quotes and thoughts still remain in my memories.”
I could feel Braire smiling with her lips still pressed against my chest.
“Fine, never mind,” I grumbled. “For the moment, we should think about how we can help with the preparations for the battle.”
They nodded. I couldn’t think of any real contributions that the five of us could really make in the effort, at least before battle lines were drawn and our abilities were really allowed to shine, but like Faye said, we didn’t have the full picture of everything that was being planned by the men and women involved in the battle plans.
It was something that we likely needed to change, but for the moment, our orders were to rest and recover from our travels and prepare for what was undoubtedly to come.
Braire refused to move from where she was still tangled in my arms as Norel, Lyth, and Faye discussed the possibilities of what we were facing, as well as the political ramifications that would result if we won the battle. I didn’t understand much of what they were talking about, but I did like that they were already thinking of what would happen when we won.
When, not if. I didn’t know it for a fact, but I had to believe that to be true.
The alternative was too horrible to contemplate. Thanks to Lyth, my spirits were indeed lifted, and there was no need to drag them through the mud again.
5
It was a long night.
Most of it was spent talking, planning and thinking about what was likely to happen over the next few days, trying to keep our minds busy and away from the darker possibilities that we all knew would be where we tended to focus. I didn’t want to let my mind drift towards what would happen if we somehow failed, or if the war ended up lasting to the point where even a victory would mean the empire being torn to pieces, never to be the same again.
Victory would have to come here and now. That was the only real option. I didn’t know what would happen otherwise, but the consequences painted in my mind were dire enough.
As such, the night felt like it took longer than it was meant to, and what sleep we had was not overly restful. What sleep I did manage to get was fraught with dreams of the difficulties that we were going to face, none of which ended well, and none of which could be remembered by the time I woke up. All I could remember was a feeling of dread and annoyance before drifting off again.
Although it wasn’t the most restful of sleep, it was better than nothing. I decided to call an end to it as the sun started to rise, moving out onto the balcony. I looked over the western sections, away from the city of tents that had been erected beyond the walls that were still being built in anticipation of our army failing in their effort to halt the oncoming horde.
I knew that there had been talks of simply pulling as many people into the walls as possible and waiting Abarat out, but the fact that we didn’t know how long we would have to wait quickly had them discarding the idea. Besides, there was no promise that the walls would be able to stop the sheer number of creatures that were headed south.
That, and the emperor hadn’t wanted to just sit and watch his empire be torn to shreds from the comfort and relative safety of the walls. I could understand that. Standing around and watching at this moment was hard to bear and the battle hadn’t even started properly yet.
I took a deep breath, shaking my head and moving back inside as the sight of the sun rising over the city told me that there would soon be something for us to do. The emperor had warned that something would be found ere the end of the day before, and when no word had come, I could only expect there would be something come the morning.
And I wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t even reached the inside of the room when a faint, timid knocking could be heard from the door. Norel, Braire, Faye, and Lyth were awakened by the sound, but all had elected to remain in their beds as I made my way to the door.
It appeared that the rough night had extended to all of us. I had a feeling that the whole of the empire was having a difficult time getting any sleep when they knew about what they were going to be facing.
But the night was gone, and the day was here. It was the time for action, and not just thinking about it. Honestly, the sitting around and waiting for something to happen was the worst part of it, to my mind.
When I pulled the door open, a young aide was standing there, looking a little terrified at the sight of me, like he hadn’t been expecting anyone to be present in the room.
“Good morning,” I said, trying to press every ounce of meaning I could muster into those two small words.
“Morning, m’lord,” the youth said, quickly bowing.
I couldn�
�t help a short laugh. “No lords here. Well, maybe a few ladies. And a queen. But I’m no lord.”
“But you’re the Varion...”
“I’ve never been sure what that title meant anyways,” I admitted, shrugging my shoulders. “How can I help you?”
“The emperor is hoping that you would be so kind as to join him and the rest of the generals in the war room,” the aide said, suddenly remembering why he had come to these quarters to begin with. “He awaits you at your earliest convenience, but he asks that you not tarry.”
I could only imagine that it was an order disguised as a request. He was an emperor after all and would not tolerate even a request being denied without proper reason being provided. Maybe not even then.
“We will join them all shortly,” I said with a firm nod. “Thank you for taking the time.”
“Of course, mil... sir?” he asked, tilting his head.
“Sir is fine, I suppose,” I replied.
He nodded in response and quickly sprinted down the hallway, likely having more people to rouse and bring to the war room.
“What did the boy want?” Norel called from the other side of the room, where I could see the rest of them were starting to get up already.
“Odd to call him a boy,” I said, stretching and getting some blood flowing in my limbs. “He’s not that much younger than I am.”
“In age, maybe,” Braire said. “But there is a great disparity in mind. Enough for there to be a physical difference between the two of you.”
I looked down at my bare chest, seeing an assortment of scars that proved her right. “Still, though.”
“Take it from us,” Lyth said, approaching me with a shirt in her hands, placing it over my shoulder and letting her fingers dance lightly over my skin. “Those who seem to never age see the smaller differences that make those that are physically young appear older than their years.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” I replied, pulling the shirt on, feeling my skin tingle where she had touched it. I couldn’t tell if she had maybe slipped a spell into her touch that made it happen, or if maybe my skin was just that sensitive. Once fully dressed, I found where I had laid my sword and scabbard for the night and strapped both around my waist. “Best not to keep the emperor waiting.”
I wasn’t wrong. We left once we were readied for the day, and while I could feel a dull ache of hunger, I knew instinctively that breakfast would have to wait for the moment as we headed deeper into the palace. The building was already filled with sounds of people running, speaking, and barking out orders following us through every hallway until we reached the war room.
Thankfully, it did appear that some food had been prepared for the denizens inside, but none appeared to be paying the food much attention. Thanks to the reports from us and the rest, the blue blocks on the massive map laid out on the table had been moved further south, but from the looks of it, a handful of the red griffons were already moving to the north.
“Excellent!” the emperor’s voice boomed through the room, drawing the attention of all present to our arrival. “You have arrived. We can begin.”
None of the men present liked to be kept waiting, and they moved quickly towards the table in the center of the room as the emperor did the same.
“Scouts have been reporting the movement of the enemy forces towards the south,” the man said, indicating the blue blocks on the map. “Those that reported back, anyways. They appear to be moving slowly, but inexorably, tearing through the land as they pass, destroying everything in their path. At this rate they will be able to reach the capital within a week.”
The emperor stepped forward, slamming his fist into the table to firmly arrest the attention of all present. “We will not allow them the opportunity! Between us and them, we find the Brecota County, mostly open hills used for grazing of horses and cattle. The area has been abandoned, leaving us with a mostly open area, with the mountains in the west and the sea in the east funneling our enemies into a spot that would allow us a height advantage.”
He then indicated the griffons that had moved away ahead of the rest of the figures. “The fifth, sixth, and seventh infantry divisions, as well as their accompanying light cavalry troops have been dispatched ahead of the rest of the army to secure the position, ready to start building trenches and setting up defenses in advance of the rest of the army. They were told to expect some resistance, of course, especially since reports have spoken of refugees still making their way through the area.”
I could see why the position was picked out. The land between the sea and the mountains thinned out sufficiently to make flanking a difficult proposition and would thus give the advantage over to the defending force of an inferior number.
With that said, it was still a wide swathe of land that could be easily overrun. But it was still the best option to fight a force of that number. Fighting them in the forests would make the use of bows and engines in combat to be almost ineffective. An open area would also allow for the generals to maintain a view of the battlefield and efficiently send out orders when they were needed.
“I will need the five of you to ride and help them,” the emperor said, turning to us. “They will need the support, and I have a feeling that none know more of the enemy that they will be facing than you five. I won’t give you any solid orders to follow, as I trust you to know what to do and how to do it.”
I nodded. It was a good assumption. Maybe not for me, whose experience with vast battles like this was mostly the results of book reading. The elves with me would have better knowledge than I, of course, and Faye had a wealth of knowledge that would prove most useful when the time came.
“Gather what supplies you need,” the emperor said with a nod that was meant as a dismissal. “Horses have already been readied for your travels.”
I bowed gently at the hip and pulled myself away from the engagements as the emperor started barking orders out to the rest of those assembled, which mostly consisted of getting their troops to move out in a certain order to allow for the defenses to be readied and waiting for the enemy to arrive.
We didn’t have much time to wait for them to finish with their preparations as we headed out of the room, quickly making our way to the stables where it appeared that there were horses waiting for us.
“I was really hoping that we would be able to grab something to eat before we left,” Faye said once we were out of earshot of the rest of the generals. “They had quite the spread inside the room there. Why didn’t we just get it from them?”
“Well, once our orders were given, I don’t think that the emperor would have looked kindly at us dawdling in the room, stuffing our faces,” Braire said with a shrug. “We have time to collect supplies, however, so that would be the best time to find something to eat before we leave.
The supply room was full of men and women preparing for missions like us, although they stepped aside so we could assemble the food and supplies that we needed, and we soon found ourselves eating as we packed the bags that would be put on the saddles of the horses that we were going to be riding.
All except for Braire, of course, who had a pack for her back that would allow her to ride her wolf without using a saddle.
“It chafes his back,” she explained.
I moved in next to Lyth, who was mostly finished, having gathered what I would need for the trip.
“I never had the opportunity to thank you,” I said in a low voice, mostly lost in the din that surrounded us.
“What for?” she wondered, tilting her head.
“Well, for improving my spirits the way that you did yesterday,” I said. “And that of the rest of them by extension. I think we needed that.”
“Well, I am glad to have helped,” she said, leaning in to place a light, lingering kiss to my cheek. “And I look forward to helping to lift your spirits many, many times in the future, as I found that it did wonders for my mood as well.”
“Well, we should find a way to do
it again,” I said with a small smile, reaching out to stroke her cheek tenderly before pulling back and heading with the rest towards the stables where, sure enough five horses had been prepared for our departure.
For myself, Lyth, Norel, and Faye, the horses were more than welcome, and we quickly stored our saddlebags on the saddles in question before mounting up. As the stable boy brought Braire’s horse around, she smirked and shook her head, shouldering her pack.
“I have my ride ready, don’t you worry,” she said.
“Where?” he asked, looking around.
“Well, I’d show you, but I don’t think it would be wise to bring a giant wolf out in the middle of the stables,” Braire said, jogging towards the door as we started riding in that direction. The boy followed us outside, still bringing the horse along just in case Braire wasn’t serious, but she pulled the runed pebble from her pouch and tossed it to the ground, quickly followed by a massive wolf jumping out of thin air.
The horses that were nearby snorted and pranced nervously but were quickly calmed as Braire whispered a few words to them before turning to smile at the stable boy.
“Told you so,” she said, grinning cheekily and jumping lightly onto the beast’s back, petting him and scratching him behind the ears.
The boy looked almost as terrified as the horses and inched away as we started moving through the streets. As we rode through the streets more and more of the people who were remaining in the city joined the throng that had come to support the troops and to see them off as they headed out into battle.
The roads were quickly cleared as we moved through them, however. I wasn’t sure if it was because people recognized us and knew that we were in a hurry, or if they didn’t want to find out what Braire’s wolf would do to them if they were slow to move out of the way.
I was sure that Braire would make sure that they weren’t eaten, killed, or otherwise injured, but it did help us to reach the mostly finished gates in good enough time to see most of the armies already on the move, packing up the camp beyond the walls and heading north.
