13 Day War

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Shrimp offered no words of warning as he rose through the canopy and hovered over Bin-lu and the unicorn. He used his powers to levitate the Knight of Alcea off of the unicorn’s back. The unicorn promptly banked to the right and silently glided away. Shrimp silently levitated Bin-lu through the canopy and into the darkness beside a large tree. As Bin-lu’s feet touched the ground, Shrimp darted to his shoulder.

  “This is as close as we dared to go,” whispered the fairy. “There are soldiers between us and the tent, but Speck and I will keep watch over you.”

  “Where is the tent?” asked the Knight of Alcea.

  “You are facing the proper direction,” instructed the fairy. “You have three-hundred paces to go. The last one-hundred will be across open ground. Return here when you are done. Speck will summon the unicorn for your return trip to the glade.”

  Bin-lu nodded in understanding and adjusted his hood tighter to better conceal his face. Armed with only a small quiver hidden under his cloak, Bin-lu anxiously stepped away from the tree. His hand subconsciously reached through the rent in his cloak and touched the ends of the myric quills concealed there. He exhaled nervously and returned his attention to the path ahead. The first one-hundred paces were easy. None of the soldiers in the area were awake, and Bin-lu threaded his way through the maze of sleeping bodies.

  Bin-lu saw the flames of the campfire before he saw the soldiers sitting around it. He altered his course slightly to take him farther away from the soldiers, but attention was still drawn to him. Of the six soldiers sitting around the campfire, only one of them took notice of the black-cloak roaming through the encampment. The soldier’s brow furrowed as his eyes followed the mage’s path.

  “Unlike them to be up and moving about,” the soldier commented.

  “Who?” asked one of the other soldiers as he turned and tried to see what his comrade was talking about.

  Bin-lu had already passed out of sight, and the second soldier did not see him.

  “The black-cloak,” answered the first soldier. “They almost never leave their tent. I wonder what he is up to?”

  “As long as he isn’t coming this way,” replied the second soldier, “he can go wherever he wants. But warn me if you see one coming this way.”

  Bin-lu was too far away to hear the words, but Speck heard them clearly. He memorized the face of the observant soldier and sped onward.

  Bin-lu reached the edge of the Barouk-Ongchi Road and his step faltered. Unlike the darkness of the woods, the area of the large tents was dimly lit, torches scattered around the area so that anyone approaching the tents would be easily noticed. Sentries stood outside the two largest tents, but there were none stationed outside the mages’ tent. That bothered Bin-lu. While it made his task somewhat easier, he wondered if the lack of sentries should be a warning to him. What if the tent was magically protected? What if the sentries were really there but hidden by an illusion?

  Bin-lu berated himself as he felt doubts taking hold of him. It was too late to abort the mission. The black-cloaks had to die this night. He pushed his fears aside and resumed his slow march towards the mages’ tent, his eyes scanning the dimly-lit area for anything he might have missed. As the Knight of Alcea reached the tent, his right hand extracted a myric quill. With his left hand, Bin-lu reached out to open the flap to the tent. He halted, fear rising within him.

  Eight battle mages resided on the other side of the thin material. If the tent was alarmed, Bin-lu would not stand a chance of surviving the encounter. He suddenly wondered if he could escape if only he would turn around right now and flee. The Knight of Alcea twitched with alarm as he felt a touch on his shoulder.

  “What are you waiting for?” scowled Shrimp. “You cannot remain undetected while standing here all night. Get it done.”

  This was not the first time that Bin-lu and Shrimp had been together inside an enemy camp. Their first mission together had been the penetration of Emperor Hanchi’s massive army in Sordoa. Both of them had nearly died that night, but they had prevailed because they had learned to trust one another. Bin-lu swallowed hard and nodded. Bin-lu tossed the fairy off his shoulder with a quick shrug. He reached out and pulled the flap aside.

  Bin-lu walked through the opening and entered the tent. He found a black-cloak standing inside the opening, staring at him with confusion. Bin-lu reached out with his right hand and shoved the myric quill into the mage. The black-cloak crumbled to the ground wordlessly. Instantly, the fear pressing down on Bin-lu vanished, like a torch being lit in the darkest of caverns. Suddenly, the Knight of Alcea understood everything. He reached for a handful of quills and quickly assassinated all of the sleeping black-cloaks. He retrieved the used quills, tied them together with a strip of cloth and shoved them back into his hidden quiver. With a feeling of confidence, the Knight of Alcea stepped out of the tent and made his way back to the rendezvous point.

  Chapter 11

  Day Two

  Pandemonium reigned throughout the campsite of Team Barouk. Word spread quickly about the deaths of the black-cloaks and the deaths of fifty horses. General Kolling had immediately ordered all regiments to form up in formation and a head count was taken of the troops. No one was unaccounted for, but the orders to break camp were still forthcoming. The troops, rather than wait idly for the generals to issue orders, had taken it upon themselves to patrol the perimeter of the camp. While the soldiers all feared the black-cloaks, the deaths of the mages were taken as a bad omen. Inside the large command tent, the generals discussed the situation.

  “I know that the horses were poor stock,” scowled General Kolling, “but horses just don’t up and die overnight like that. Our camp was infiltrated last night.”

  “Perhaps it is bad water,” suggested General Gertz. “There was no sign of a struggle in the mages’ tent, no sign of forced entry.”

  “And only the mages were effected?” balked General Kolling. “That is preposterous.”

  “And the fifty horses,” General Gertz offered meekly. “Or maybe some of the horses were diseased, and somehow it spread to the mages. The sentries reported nothing unusual during the night. These Alceans are not ghosts who can come and go as they please.”

  “So you say,” snapped General Kolling. “I am not a superstitious man. I do not believe in ghosts, or coincidences, but I recognize an attack when I see one. Someone or something killed those mages last night.”

  The tent flap opened and Colonel Ednor stepped into the tent. General Kolling looked up with annoyance.

  “What is it, Colonel?”

  “The mages were poisoned,” the colonel reported. “So were the horses.”

  General Kolling’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “Have the remaining horses been checked?”

  “I am having that done as we speak. I am not sure of the extent of the poisoning, but more horses will surely die today. Some of the other horses checked are already showing signs of distress.”

  “What can be done for them?” asked General Kolling.

  “Not much, sir. The best thing we can do is get them some more feed and water. I would not trust what is left here. I suggest we start moving to our next cache immediately.”

  General Kolling sighed and nodded. “See to it, Colonel.”

  Colonel Ednor saluted and left the tent.

  “Poisoned?” frowned General Gertz. “Why sneak into camp and poison just the horses and the mages? Why not poison all of the men, too?”

  “Perhaps because the poisoner did not sneak into the camp,” posed General Kolling. “If the scoundrel is one of our own men, he would not want to poison his own food. The mages always ate separately from their own supply, but the rest of the food was distributed as the quartermaster deemed necessary. An individual soldier could never be sure what portion of the cache he might end up with.”

  “So you think the poisonings were done by one of our own men?” asked General Gertz.

&nb
sp; “I am not sure what to think,” sighed General Kolling. “I know that there is little love for the Federation within any of our armies. Kyrga was always more concerned with the number of troops we had than the quality of troops. As a result, we have ended up with many malcontents among our ranks. Still, I fail to see why any malcontent would choose this particular time to strike. To take away our mages means that our wounded on the battlefield will have no healers.”

  “Unless they are hoping to avoid battle entirely,” posed General Gertz. “We should watch for desertions.”

  “It would be foolish to desert in a country that you know will be conquered,” replied General Kolling. “Sooner or later the perpetrators would have to come under our control again, and deserters would be handled ruthlessly. None of it makes any sense.”

  “Unless it actually was Alceans.”

  “I will not speculate,” General Kolling said with an air of finality. “Let’s get these armies on the road. We cannot afford to fall behind schedule.”

  * * * *

  Bin-lu woke with the sun shining in his face. It was already well into the sky. He sat up and stretched as he looked around. There were very few elves left, but he saw Elandros sitting and talking to Rut-ki. He walked over to them and sat down.

  “You let me sleep a long time,” greeted Bin-lu. “Where are the others?”

  “You needed the sleep,” smiled Elandros. “The others are keeping watch on the enemy’s progress and the road behind them in case they think of returning to Barouk to get replacement horses.”

  “That is not necessary,” said Bin-lu. “I have ordered the Barouk city guard to keep a watch for any returning Federation soldiers. They will be killed before they can report the absence of the Doors.”

  “A wise move,” Elandros responded while signaling one of the remaining elves to carry Bin-lu’s words to the elves watching the enemy’s rear. “That will free up some of my men and make the task less arduous. You caused quite a commotion last night. The Federation is not happy.”

  Bin-lu smiled with satisfaction. “How are they doing now?”

  “They are well behind schedule,” the elf reported, “and the generals are in foul moods. The column is constantly halting as horses drop dead in the road, and soldiers have to detour around the carcasses. They have lost half of their horses already. The other half will probably die before high sun.”

  “Any foraging yet?”

  “Not yet,” answered Elandros. “The generals opted not to send riders forward to check out the next cache. I think they were afraid of making the horses move any faster than a walk. They will be surprised to find the rest of their caches empty.”

  “Surprised and more than a little bit concerned,” interjected Rut-ki. “Those men have a long walk to Ongchi, and after tonight, they will know that the enemy is constantly watching them.”

  “Then our work here is done, Rut-ki,” stated Bin-lu. “We need to prepare for the other two teams coming to Lanoir.”

  “We can leave after we make our report to King Arik,” replied Rut-ki. “Elandros and I were just instructing Speck as to the message we want delivered, but I wanted to ask you about last night before the fairy left. You mentioned something about the protection of fear before you fell asleep. What did you mean?”

  “I was afraid to enter the mages’ tent,” frowned Bin-lu as he woke up Shrimp. “I have never felt such fear before. I froze. I was afraid to enter the tent, and I was afraid to flee. Had it not been for Shrimp, I might still be standing there. Did you not feel it, Shrimp?”

  “Fairies are fearless,” boasted the tiny green man.

  Bin-lu turned his head and stared at the fairy. “We both know that that is not true, Shrimp. Did you feel fearful last night?”

  “No,” the fairy conceded softly. He knew that Bin-lu was talking about their first mission, but he hoped that the Knight of Alcea would not talk about it in front of others. “I do not know what you are talking about.”

  “Interesting,” mused Bin-lu. “I wondered why there were not sentries outside the mages’ tent. I originally thought the tent might be protected by a magical spell, and I was afraid to touch it. Indeed, it was protected by a spell, but not in the sense I had anticipated. There was a black-cloak standing inside the tent, and he was creating an aura of fear around the tent. That was their protection, and it also explained the lack of sentries. The sentries would be exposed to the spell and be incapacitated by the fear, so they would be useless.”

  “How do you know it was a spell of fear?” asked Elandros.

  “Shrimp drove me into action,” explained the Knight of Alcea. “I was still petrified, but his lack of fear encouraged me enough to proceed with the mission. I entered the tent and immediately killed the black-cloak who was awake. The feeling of fear instantly evaporated. I knew then that the fear was induced by magic. I wonder why the fairies are not affected?”

  “That is a question that only a mage can answer,” stated Rut-ki. “Speck, you will ask that question in Tagaret when you make your report. If all of the black-cloaks are using this spell, it will have a great effect on other Knights. We might need a magical way to counteract it.”

  * * * *

  Wylan dismounted Wesik in front of the Rider’s Rest Inn in Caldar. The Knight of Alcea noticed that Sheri’s unicorn was already standing outside the inn, so he did not bother to tether his own unicorn. He gently ran his hand over Wesik and sighed. He stretched briefly and then mounted the stairs to the inn, still using his staff as a cane, although there was no one around to notice his act. He entered the common room and found it empty except for his wife.

  “You finished before me,” smiled Wylan. “Did you find anyone left in the city?”

  “Not a single person,” answered Sheri. “You?”

  “I did find a couple of old people who refused to leave, but they are gone now. I explained to them that it was not just their own lives that mattered, but the lives of countless others. They grudgingly agreed to leave the city.”

  Sheri filled a mug with ale and set it on a table for Wylan. She set her own mug of ale down next to his and sat down. Wylan promptly joined her at the table.

  “It is a strange feeling sitting here calmly in an empty city knowing that tomorrow the streets will be filled with enemy soldiers. This is the inn that they will be coming through, isn’t it?”

  Sheri nodded. “That is why I chose it for our rendezvous. I wanted to get a good look at it before we left the city. This is the day we have dreaded for so long. It is hard to believe that it has finally arrived.”

  Wylan frowned and nodded. “We could have stayed in Zara. I am sure that Alex would have found something for me to do, and I bet Zack would have liked to have Lady Zachary around for a while longer.”

  “Lady Zachary has played her part,” Sheri replied. “She will never be seen again. There is no reason for her to continue to exist. As far as anyone is concerned, she has returned to Vinafor to ready her darling daughter for the upcoming marriage. My part there was over. Besides, I really missed Sinora. I hadn’t realized how close I had grown to that unicorn, but after you, she is the closest living thing to my heart. She is a part of me now.”

  “I understand,” Wylan agreed. “It was like a grand reunion when I met with Wesik again. We weren’t gone that long, yet it felt as if I had been gone for ages. I am sure that Wesik felt the same. I could see it in his eyes.”

  “They are amazing creatures,” remarked Sheri.

  Wylan merely nodded, and the two Knights of Alcea sat quietly for a while sipping their ale. Eventually, Wylan sighed anxiously.

  “Tomorrow is the long-awaited day,” he said. “I suppose we should prepare to leave the city.”

  The sound of creaking wood from the stairs alerted the Knights of Alcea. Wylan griped his staff and calmly rose to his feet. Sheri also rose, her hand moving towards the hilt of her sword, but she kept the bulk of Wylan between her and the stairs to avoid being seen. A man walked down the
stairs and stared at them.

  “And what is so important about tomorrow?” the stranger asked, his posture rigid as if in anticipation of a fight. “It must be something terrible to force you from the city.”

  Sheri immediately moved her hand away from her hilt and slid around her husband. Her lips spread in a warm, welcoming smile.

  “I didn’t think anyone was left in the rooms,” Sheri said in a friendly manner. “I apologize for that. The city fathers are holding a giant festival to the north of the city. The whole city is already there. Even visitors are welcome. Would you like to join Wylan and me? We were just getting ready to go.”

  “A festival?” frowned the stranger. “What for?”

  “Springtime,” Sheri said cheerily. “We always hold a springtime festival, but it is usually held within the city. This year is different. Last fall, many of the citizens were hired for projects elsewhere in Alcea, and they are returning with much gold in their pockets. This year’s festival will be so large that there was no place within the city to hold all of the people. It will be a grand affair never forgotten. Everyone will be there. Say you will come.”

  The stranger appeared to relax. He shook his head, declining the invitation. “I have no time for festivals. I think I will just walk around the city a bit and then I must get some sleep. I have an early day of travel tomorrow.”

  “That’s a pity,” sighed Sheri, “but I understand. Wylan and I will not be here when you get back, so just help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen.”

  The man nodded and strode out the door. Wylan sighed slowly, letting the pent-up anxiety flow out of him.

  “That was too close,” he said softly. “Was that who I think it was?”

  “Undoubtedly,” answered Sheri. “I checked every room before you arrived. Someone must have demanded a last minute check be preformed before the invasion. It is time for us to move on.”

  The Knights of Alcea left their ale on the table and walked out the door. The stranger was still visible several blocks away. He appeared to be strolling aimlessly, and the Knights mounted their unicorns.