13 Day War

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “It is more than that,” Colonel Rotti frowned as he nodded southward. “Coming over the last rise I saw a huge lake downstream. I am sure there was nothing like it last fall. That lake is the very reason General Somma and I rode forward. He wanted to see if he could talk General Franz into altering our route more inland.”

  “You should know better than to even suggest such a thing,” replied Colonel Kerk. “This is the only decent road in the area, and we will be dependent on the supply caches to feed the armies. Even if General Franz was wiling to try a different route, he cannot. It’s simply not possible.”

  “I didn’t suggest it,” sighed Colonel Rotti, “but Somma will probably say that I did. The truth is, he is petrified. He even avoids the Blood River back home and that is nothing like this one. I do not look forward to spending the next week in his company, and Franz’s humor will not help the situation any.”

  With a sudden pang of guilt, Colonel Kerk nodded sympathetically. “Let me see if I can distract Franz long enough to get him out of the river.”

  * * * *

  General Fortella stood in a barn outside of Mya as the soldiers of the 2nd Corps of the Empire of Barouk raced through the portal. The soldiers suddenly stopped coming through the portal and the general eagerly watched the door. He smiled as his large black stallion was guided through the portal and led towards him. Almost immediately the race of soldiers through the portal resumed. General Fortella mounted his horse and rode out of the barn. Once outside in the morning sunshine, he paused to glance around and get his bearings. He had memorized the maps of Alcea and the sketches drawn by Tauman’s men, and he knew exactly where he was.

  The Baroukan general spurred his horse to action and galloped across the fields to where Colonel Tamora was forming the army. The general did not interrupt as the colonel issued commands. He sat observing his men until the colonel was done. Colonel Tamora sensed the general behind him and turned when he was done.

  “Any problems?” asked the general.

  “None,” reported the colonel. “We should have a report back soon regarding the first day’s cache. Once we have that confirmation, the entire army will move past the rendezvous point. I am heading there now. Will you ride with me, or should I assemble a separate protection detail for you?”

  “Let us ride together,” answered General Fortella. “I am anxious to see this Targa that we have been hearing so much about.”

  A squad of soldiers formed around the two officers, and the group rode off to the east. Twenty minutes later they came to a group of cavalry standing in the middle of the Mya-Tagaret Road. The cavalry patches were a mixture of the Baroukan 2nd Corps and the Aertan 24th Corps. General Fortella spotted General Whitman and he rode towards the Aertan general.

  “Any trouble?” asked General Fortella.

  “None, Force Leader,” answered General Whitman. “If there is an enemy army in the area, they are remaining unseen.”

  “There is no enemy army between us and Tagaret, Whitman,” stated General Fortella. “The only thing between us and our objective is eight long days of marching, and we will begin that momentarily. I sent a messenger to you early this morning with details of our formation, but I will go through them again now just to be sure we are clear on everything.”

  “I received the message and understand it, General,” stated General Whitman.

  General Fortella ignored Whitman and continued, “My cavalry will be the forward scouts and vanguard. The 24th Corps cavalry will be our rear guard. Inside those extremes, the 2nd Corps infantry will precede the 24th infantry. Both black-cloak contingents will ride together in between our two armies. Their presence has an adverse effect on the soldiers and placing them between the two armies will be the least disruptive place for them. The 2nd Corps will be responsible for erecting the camps. The 24th Corps will be responsible for disassembly, policing the grounds, and foraging should it become necessary. Do you have any problems with these instructions?”

  “None whatsoever, General,” replied the Aertan.

  “Good,” General Fortella smiled tautly. “Then we shall get along just fine, Whitman. The 2nd Corps will be setting the pace, and we will not slow down for stragglers. Make sure that the 24th Corps doesn’t linger too far behind. You wouldn’t want to be left isolated in enemy territory.”

  General Whitman swallowed hard as General Fortella turned his horse and started ordering his cavalry to move out.

  Chapter 19

  Day Seven

  Two unicorns glided low over the Sordoan forest until they came to the coastal ridge between Pontek and Trekum. With powerful strokes of their massive wings, the unicorns rose up the western slope of the ridge and glided to a landing on the long, narrow crest. Tedi and Natia glanced around to get their bearings as scores of dwarves dropped their hammers and picked up their axes.

  “Get back to your posts,” growled a surly dwarf. “If you don’t recognize Knights of Alcea when you see them, you need to report to a healer and have your eyes checked.”

  Natia stifled a giggle as the surly dwarf approached the Knights of Alcea.

  “You’re a mean one now, aren’t you, Kroto?” greeted Tedi.

  “It’s the only tone some of these miners understand,” laughed the dwarven magician. “If I wasn’t here watching over them, they would probably be splitting open a keg of ale.”

  Natia glanced around in amazement. For as far as she could see in each direction, dwarves lined the crest of the ridge. Near each dwarf were two types of metal spikes in the ground. The larger type was very wide, and it tapered off as it got closer to the ground. Those spikes had been driven into the rock very close to the far edge of the crest. The smaller type looked like a large chisel except it had a hole bored through the top. The smaller spikes were sunk into the rock farther away from the edge of the crest and each one of them had a large coil of rope alongside it. One end of the rope had been passed through the hole in the chisel and tied in a knot. Kroto smiled when he saw what Natia was looking at, his large mouth splitting his broad face with a toothy grin.

  “I think you’ll be needing to talk to Prince Darok,” said Kroto. “You’ve no doubt come to watch the show. Follow me.”

  Tedi and Natia dismounted and followed the dwarf mage. For several minutes they marched past the waiting dwarves, and Natia shook her head in amazement. Natia tried to count the number of dwarves that they passed, but she lost count when Kroto quickened his step.

  “I’m sorry to point and run,” apologized Kroto, “but I need to get back to my station. The call may come at any moment. Prince Darok is just ahead. Keep going.”

  “What is going on here?” Natia asked Tedi.

  “I am not entirely sure,” admitted Tedi, “but Alex said we should see it. I gather it is some scheme that Alex and Prince Darok hatched up last fall.”

  The Knights of Alcea continued onward until they came to a cluster of dwarves. Prince Darok was in the center of them, so the Knights of Alcea waited patiently for the gathering to break up. The wait was not long. Prince Darok clapped his hands with an air of finality, and the group of dwarves scattered, some of them racing past Tedi and Natia. The dwarven Knight of Alcea spotted Tedi and Natia and waved them to him with a sense of urgency. The gypsies ran to his side.

  “So, you’ve come to see what evil lurks in the minds of dwarven sappers, eh?” chuckled Prince Darok. “You are just in time then.”

  “What is going on?” asked Natia.

  Prince Darok grinned broadly. “Take a wee peek over the edge, lass, but don’t be obvious about it. We don’t want to be tipping our hand just yet.”

  Tedi and Natia both moved closer to the edge and peered down. Natia gasped. Several hundred paces below her, a huge Federation army marched along a thin strip of road at the base of the cliff. Beyond the thin strip of road was the Sordoan Sea. The army stretched as far to the left as she could see, and a fair distance to the right as well. Tedi pulled Natia back from the edge, and they ret
urned to Prince Darok.

  “General Gattas?” asked Tedi.

  “And General Montero,” nodded Prince Darok. “Below is the 6th Corps and the 15th Corps in their entirety.” The dwarven prince turned slightly and pointed to his right. “If you can see that very last dwarf standing on the crest over there, he is waiting for the tail end of the army to pass him. When it does, he will give a signal to me. At the appropriate time, I will give the signal to attack.”

  Natia looked again at the coils of rope next to each dwarf and frowned. “There are twenty-thousand men down there, Prince Darok. How many dwarves are up here?”

  “Two-thousand,” answered the prince. “It’s hardly a fair fight.”

  “I’ll say,” frowned Natia. “That’s ten-to-one odds. Are you sure this is wise?”

  “It’s ten-to-one in our favor, lass,” laughed Prince Darok. “Lord Zachary did say that each dwarf was worth one-hundred men, didn’t he?”

  “That was to scare the Spinoans,” scowled Natia. “You can’t possibly believe the lies he told the enemy.”

  “Ah, lass,” Prince Darok sighed with mock offense, “your words slay me. And here I thought King Arik thought highly of the dwarves.”

  Tedi started laughing, and Natia whirled to face him, anger building at his levity. Before she could verbally lash out at her husband, she felt Prince Darok’s large hand on her shoulder. The dwarven prince was also laughing.

  “I apologize, Natia,” chuckled Prince Darok. “I shouldn’t be having fun with you on such a serious occasion. We have no intention of merely jumping off the crest to fight the Federation. Let me explain.”

  Natia turned to stare at the dwarf, her face clouded with confusion.

  “Down below,” Prince Darok began, “the Federation army stretches out for over two leagues. They are indeed a formidable foe if my men met them on the battlefield, but that is not how the battle will go this day. I have had my sappers working on this ridge for almost half a year now. The entire face of the cliff has been undercut. When the signal is given, two-thousand dwarves will raise two-thousand hammers over their heads and bring them down on two-thousand metal wedges. When they do that, the face of this cliff will shear off and drop on the road below.”

  “Won’t they have time to flee?” asked Tedi.

  “No,” answered the dwarven Knight of Alcea. “We have undermined the cliff for a length of three leagues. The length of their column in only a little over two leagues. Even if one of their riders bolted at the first sound of a hammer, he could not ride fast enough to escape the mountain falling on him. Nor could they save themselves by leaping into the sea. The height of this cliff is several hundred paces and a lot of that will land in the sea. There is no escape from this trap. There is only death for twenty-thousand invaders.”

  One of the dwarves caught Prince Darok’s attention and the prince turned to see the end dwarf signaling him. He signaled back and then returned to his conversation.

  “But the ropes?” questioned Natia. “What are they for then if not to rappel down and fight the enemy?”

  “The ropes were used to undercut the face,” explained the dwarf. “They have been left in place in case something goes wrong. As certain as I am that the sappers have done an excellent job, nothing is perfect. If there are pockets of Federation troops that survive, we will go down and finish them off.”

  “No prisoners?” asked Tedi.

  “Not in this battle,” answered Prince Darok. “My people have to rush from this battle to Hendy Valley where we will be pitted against a superior force led by General Ritka and General Stemple. We have no time to take prisoners and no place to put them. The only exception will be for General Gattas and General Montero. If they survive, Kroto has orders to capture them. If they die, he will retrieve their heads. He is keeping pace with them now so that we don’t have to search under all that rock to find them.”

  Prince Darok stepped away from Tedi and Natia and peered over the edge. He quickly stepped back.

  “Send the word that the attack will begin in a few minutes,” Prince Darok said to the closest dwarves.

  The dwarves sent the message both ways along the line of dwarves.

  “What about their mages?” asked Tedi. “Can they stop the attack?”

  “Not with any magic that Kroto or Doryelgar know,” answered Prince Darok. “We had planned to take out the black-cloaks last night, but we got word from Tagaret to alter our plans. I think we will be safe from their magic, but we will respond in kind if they surprise us. Now I must ask you to step back a little further. The ground is going to shake mightily, so you might want to get a good stance before I give the signal.”

  Tedi and Natia moved away from the edge and prepared for the ground to shake. With a sudden thought, Tedi stirred Button to life and told her what was going to happen. He asked her to record the attack for Tagaret to see.

  The little blue woman leaped into the air and shot upward, angling over the sea. A moment later, a fiery arrow shot high into the air from some dwarf near Prince Darok. Button looked down and watched the Federation soldiers. None of them appeared to notice the arrow, but they all heard the sounds that followed. The sound of two-thousand hammers striking the wedges pealed like a monstrous bell, and every soldier glanced around nervously. Some of the soldiers chose to look upward. Those men saw the face of the cliff start to peel away from the ridge, and their shouts of warning rippled through the ranks of the Federation armies.

  Panic and chaos gripped the hearts of the Zaran soldiers. Some soldiers jumped into the sea, and some tried to hug the face of the cliff, hoping the debris would somehow miss them, but most of the men remained frozen, staring up at the tons of rock cascading down upon them. The cavalries at the two ends of the columns raced away from the center of the armies in a futile attempt to avoid death, but as Prince Darok had said, none of them could outrun the collapsing mountain.

  The rock wall screeched as it tore apart, and the ground rumbled noisily from the impact. The ground shook like an earthquake, and the tumultuous sea tossed waves high into the air. In seconds, it was over, and a deathly stillness replaced the chaos. There were no cries from wounded men, no screams from trapped horses. The only sound was the crashing of the confused waves upon a new shoreline. As Button watched, a great massive cloud of dust spewed skyward, blotting out her view of the ridge. The fairy banked away from the mushrooming cloud before it enveloped her.

  * * * *

  Podil awoke to gentle raindrops falling on her face. She opened her eyes and stared at the angry sky overhead. It took her a moment to realize where she was, and when she did, she sat up quickly and looked around. Zalaharic knelt next to Wesik, his hands on the large unicorn. She frowned when Zalaharic did not acknowledge her rising, and she was sure that he would have heard her stir.

  “Zalaharic?” she called softly.

  “He has been like that for hours,” Wylan said weakly. “I think he is in a trance of some kind.”

  Podil turned and stared at the Knight of Alcea. Wylan was sitting up at the edge of the glade, a mass of leafy material placed between his back and the tree that was supporting him.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Podil.

  “I have felt better,” Wylan replied with a smile, but Podil could tell that the smile was forced and that the Knight of Alcea was in pain. “Still, I am alive so I guess I should not complain too much.”

  Lightning streaked across the angry sky and thunder shook the forest. Podil quickly erected a shield over the glade as she stood and looked around some more until her eyes landed on Sinora. The unicorn stood sleeping near the body of Sheri, which looked exactly the same as it did when Podil closed her eyes earlier. She continued to look around, but she could not find the fairy.

  “Where is Thrip?” Podil asked Wylan. “We should send her off to Tagaret to let everyone know that you are alive. They thought you had perished.”

  “Zalaharic sent her to Caldar for supplies,” answered Wylan. �
�He said that he needed more kioji and torafin.”

  Podil nodded silently. Kioji was used to replace lost blood and strength, and torafin was a pain killer. Podil had brought some of each with her, and she was sure that Zalaharic had as well. That fact that Zalaharic needed more of each was not a good sign. She knelt next to Wylan and gently leaned him forward. He did not protest, but he winced in pain. Podil pulled away the poultice and examined his back. She nodded with satisfaction and leaned Wylan back against the tree.

  The clouds opened up, and a torrent of rain fell from the sky. The raindrops hit Podil’s invisible shield and flowed over its surface and away from the glade. Podil glanced up at the storm as she moved across the glade to Zalaharic’s side. She knelt next to him and frowned, wondering how long he had been inside Wesik. With the storm overhead, she had no idea how long she had slept, so she reached out and touched Zalaharic. His skin was cold, too cold. Weighing the danger of waking Zalaharic or letting him remain inside the unicorn, Podil leaned forward and gently pulled on Zalaharic’s wrists. The Elderal elf blinked and looked over at Podil. He sighed wearily and nodded to her as he pulled back from the unicorn.

  “I hope my interruption was not poorly timed,” Podil said softly, “but I was worried about you. Your body felt like ice.”

  “The internal damage is severe,” Zalaharic said softly, “but you were wise to pull me out. These things should not be rushed, yet there are always others waiting for our skills. Tend to Wesik’s flesh if you can. I need to rest.”

  Podil nodded as Zalaharic stretched out right next to the unicorn. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.

  * * * *

  Alexander Tork opened his eyes and grabbed a knife from the table next to his bed. He quickly rolled off the bed on the side opposite the door and crouched behind it, the morning sun streaming through the window of his room in the Royal Palace of Tagaret. He had heard someone pause outside his door, or at least he thought he had. He was never quite sure if it was a dream or reality when such a sound woke him from a deep sleep. But the Knight of Alcea took no chances. He waited silently as the door slowly opened. With the knife held for throwing, he cocked his arm and prepared to strike. The door suddenly opened and Jenneva stood in the doorway. Alex sighed loudly and relaxed his arm. Jenneva looked across the room and raised an eyebrow at her reception.