The Mage-Fire War

by Modesitt. Jr. , L. E.

  Beltur once again spent most of the morning working with Taelya and Jessyla on improving their shields, and then later with Jessyla on handling shields and containments simultaneously. Somewhat to Beltur’s surprise, and also to his relief, a light breeze blew out of the northeast, and that made the morning and early afternoon much more bearable than threeday had been.

  Just before noon, when Jessyla and Beltur were seated on the settee in the front room, each enjoying an ale, they both sensed a rider approaching the two houses from the east—most likely from the East Inn.

  Beltur was at the door before the trooper was.

  “Ser, the scouts have sighted troopers from Hydlen. Majer Raelf awaits you and the other councilors at the East Inn.”

  “Thank you. You can inform the majer that we’ll be right there.”

  “Are we walking or riding?” asked Jessyla.

  “Walking, but it may lead to riding before long.”

  “You are not attacking them.”

  “I’d thought more about just sensing what I could.”

  “Then we’ll do that together.”

  Less than a quint later, the five were once more in the public room of the East Inn with Raelf and Rojak.

  The Lydian majer looked anything but pleased, but said nothing. His eyes lingered on the blue Spidlarian uniforms that both Lhadoraak and Beltur wore.

  “They’re Spidlarian arms-mage uniforms,” Beltur finally said. “We’d rather not be singled out too obviously as mages.”

  “I see.” Raelf cleared his throat and then said, “The scouts watching the Hydolar road have reported two reconnaissance companies. They’re five kays southwest of where that road meets the road to Certis. They’re making no secret of their presence. They’re carrying the green ensign of Hydlen prominently. So far, there’s no sign of wagons or other units. We don’t plan to engage them.” He looked to Beltur.

  “I’d suggest that Mage Jessyla and I ride south to see if there are other companies moving in away from the main road.”

  “The scouts haven’t seen anyone yet.”

  “We can sense farther than they can see. Also, we need to know if there are mages with the advance companies. You need to know that as well.”

  “That would be for the best.” Raelf frowned for just an instant. “I’d feel better if you were accompanied.”

  Beltur wasn’t about to argue. “Half a squad will be enough. We’re not planning on getting very close at all. We’ll do our best not even to be seen.”

  This time Rojak was the one to frown. “Does it matter? They must know that you are mages.”

  “That may be,” replied Beltur, “but there’s likely no one left alive who’s actually seen us. The more unknown we seem, the better it will be for your troopers. Is there anything else we should know?”

  “Not so far,” replied Raelf.

  “Then we’ll saddle up and meet your troopers here in about a quint.”

  “They’ll be waiting.”

  Rojak nodded at Raelf’s words.

  Slightly more than a quint later, partly because filling the water bottles with ale had added time that Beltur hadn’t counted in, he and Jessyla rode toward the eleven troopers who waited on the west side of the inn, almost on the square itself. They reined up short of the squad leader.

  “Squad Leader Khaamyn, sers.” The squad leader was clearly a good ten years older than Beltur or Jessyla. His eyes barely lingered on Beltur, unlike those of some of his rankers. His glance did linger slightly on Jessyla.

  “It’s good to see you, Squad Leader. I assume Majer Raelf told you that this is strictly a recon patrol.”

  “Yes, ser. That’s why I’m here.”

  “You’re one of his senior squad leaders, and he thought it would be useful for you to have a better view of the terrain?”

  “Just so, ser.”

  “We’ll go through the square and head south. After we get out of town, we’ll pass two steads…” Beltur gave a quick summary of their planned route, then added, “There aren’t that many places with sources of water south and west of here, and since the ways that approach Haven from the south and west can be narrow in places, I have the feeling that there will be troopers bivouacked in some of the places they used before. Knowing that … and how many will be useful.”

  Khaamyn nodded. “Any time you’re ready, sers.”

  “We’re ready.” Beltur urged Slowpoke forward.

  From the inn, Beltur and Jessyla led the way through the square and then onto the lane that carried them to and past Samwyth’s stead. As they left Vortaan and Ennalee’s stead behind, Beltur stretched his senses as far as he could, but could discern nothing for almost three kays but those in the few dwellings north-northwest of them and various animals, largely within the overgrown wood to the west.

  “So far, there’s no one close,” Beltur announced, largely for the benefit of Khaamyn.

  Less than a quint later, they neared the road that flanked the rocky and rugged hills to the south, and Beltur said, “This is the road that they used on the first raids of the outlying steads. We’ll follow it between the hills and that overgrown wood ahead. There’s still no one within two kays.”

  “You can tell that, ser?” asked Khaamyn.

  “Unless there’s a heavy rain or thunderstorm. Then we can’t sense nearly that far.”

  They had passed the wood and most of the rocky grassland on the north side of the narrow road when Beltur began to get a feeling that there might be riders farther to the southwest. He looked to Jessyla.

  “There’s something.”

  “It’s beyond the burned-out stead ahead. They might be headed from the main Hydolar road to the larger stead with the burned barn.” Beltur adjusted his visor cap, then blotted his forehead before uncorking his water bottle and taking a long swallow of ale. Then he turned in the saddle. “Have any of your men ever ridden under a concealment?”

  “Under a concealment, ser?”

  “We’re going to disappear for a moment.” With that Beltur put a concealment around himself and Jessyla.

  “Are you there, sers?” asked the squad leader.

  “We are. You can see that a concealment doesn’t stop sounds, and if you look at the road, you can see that we still leave tracks. But if a company or squad waits quietly, they can’t be seen—except by a black mage at a distance or a white mage fairly close.” Beltur lifted the concealment.

  “That could be very useful, sers.”

  “It could. Now … I’m going to put a concealment around you. You’ll only see blackness. Just keep riding. The road ahead is straight. Your horse might stop suddenly or he might not. If he does, I’ll lift the concealment immediately. We don’t want your men running into you.”

  When Beltur put the concealment around the squad leader, he immediately sensed that Khaamyn’s mount slowed, and after several moments, he raised the concealment.

  The squad leader shook his head, then said, “You can ride and not run into things?”

  “We can sense where we’re going.”

  “How big a force can you hide?”

  “That depends on how strong the mage is and how long the mage has to hold the concealment. I could conceal a company for possibly a glass. Jessyla could likely only conceal a squad for that long, but possibly a company for a quint.”

  “You are most definite about what you can do, but not so about her. Why?”

  “I’ve already done what I’ve said I could do. She’s concealed small groups, but not an entire company.”

  “There aren’t many female mages,” added Jessyla. “I might be the first to have been in battle since Saryn of the black blades. It’s not something that a healer plans for.”

  “It seems … strange,” replied Khaamyn.

  “I know. Healers are supposed patch up all those wounded by men and not say or do anything else. I’d rather have a say in who gets wounded and who doesn’t.”

  After a moment, Khaamyn shook his head, but,
somehow, the gesture was respectful. “The Duke of Hydlen, I fear, will not appreciate your words. He will appreciate them less after the fighting is over.”

  “He doesn’t have to appreciate anything,” said Jessyla. “One way or another, he’ll have to accept those words.”

  As they neared the burned-out stead, Beltur could tell that no one was near. They rode through the charred ruins and out the lane that led to the somewhat better road and the larger stead previously used by the Hydlenese.

  When they were about two kays from that stead, the one where Beltur had burned the barn used as a stable, Beltur reined up. Not only were there troopers ahead, but there was at least one white mage, possibly two. “This is as far as we’re going on this road.”

  Khaamyn frowned. “I don’t see anyone ahead.”

  “Just beyond that wooded hill is a stead. At the moment, several companies of troopers are riding into the stead I mentioned earlier. There might be a full battalion and likely two white mages. We’ll retrace our way and take the narrower path along the north side of those hills heading west—at least until we run into more Hydlenese.”

  “You don’t need to go closer?”

  “No … and it’s better if we don’t.” Sensing that Khaamyn was puzzled, Beltur went on. “We can sense white mages from farther than they can sense us. Right now, we know there are two whites with that battalion. They know nothing. If we come closer, they’ll know about us, and we won’t know any more than we already do.” Beltur turned Slowpoke. He thought the squad leader understood.

  “Khaamyn,” added Jessyla, “it’s very important that the white mages don’t know how many of us there are and where we are.”

  “That way,” continued Beltur, “they won’t change their tactics. The way most commanders use white mages works to our advantage.” At least it did in Spidlar.

  “The majer said you had been an undercaptain in Spidlar.”

  “He was,” said Jessyla. “He spent much of that time with an advance recon company.”

  “Is it true you killed hundreds?”

  “I didn’t keep count,” replied Beltur.

  “He did,” added Jessyla.

  Beltur could tell that the squad leader still didn’t know quite what to make of him and Jessyla.

  Before that long, the small party was back on the narrow road on the north side of the hills, hills that got smaller the farther west the group rode. In the distance ahead, to his left Beltur could see where the hills ended, just east of the Hydolar road. That was where he’d thought of mounting a concealed attack.

  As he and the others neared the hills and the Hydolar road, Beltur began to sense riders, but not on the road. Rather there was at least a company of troopers on the highest of the hills and the one with the best view of both the Hydolar road and the east-west road from Haven to Certis … and where the Hydolar road joined it. There were already troopers there, setting up some sort of post or encampment.

  There goes that idea. He frowned. Perhaps not. The advance company didn’t have a mage. While the narrow road they had followed turned left a half kay ahead of where they had halted and eventually joined the east-west road, most of the ground between where the road turned and the hill was fairly flat, with only grass and scattered bushes. Just possibly …

  He reined up.

  So did the others.

  “Ser mage?” asked Khaamyn.

  “I just learned something else. You see that taller rise ahead? Not the one at the end on the left, but the taller one just to the right of it?”

  “Yes, ser.”

  “That’s where the Hydlenese are setting up an armed post. From there they can watch the road from Haven and the Hydolar road. They have a company up there at the moment. At some point, when they’re not expecting anything, it might be worth attacking.” As he sensed Jessyla tensing up, he quickly added, “If they don’t reinforce that company and if we can take them totally by surprise.”

  For a time, Beltur just sat in the saddle, concentrating on where the Hydlenese troopers were. He couldn’t sense anyone closer to Haven than those troopers on the top of the hill, and, at the moment, there weren’t any other troopers within a kay of the hill.

  If no other troopers are around …

  He continued to study the hill, especially the area to the east and slightly to the south, where the slope was slightly steeper, but still seemed even.

  Finally, he turned. “I think we need to head back. We’ve seen what we need to see for today.”

  “Is that all, ser?”

  “For now.”

  Jessyla didn’t say anything until the small column had turned and headed back toward Haven. “I know what you’re thinking,” she murmured.

  “Am I wrong to think it? Do you think it’s unwise?”

  “If you try it, you’re not to attack if you don’t have complete surprise on your side.”

  “We can’t afford anything else.”

  “Ser?” questioned Khaamyn from where he rode behind them.

  “We’re discussing what we should do next.”

  “Someone said black mages seldom attack, that you’re better at defending.”

  “That’s true,” replied Beltur, “but there are times when attacking makes sense, even for a black.”

  “Unfortunately,” added Jessyla in a low voice.

  Or as the gambler might have said, you have to play the plaques you’re dealt. Knowing that didn’t make Beltur feel any better.

  LV

  Raelf must have heard the horses returning, or he’d posted a trooper to inform him, because he appeared next to the stable hitching rail as Beltur and Jessyla were dismounting at roughly two quints past third glass.

  His first words were, “We should talk inside.”

  After tying the horses, the two mages and Khaamyn followed the majer to the public room. Obviously, the majer had taken over the chamber, except possibly at meal times, because there was no one else there.

  Once they were seated, Raelf asked, “What did you find besides what the scouts already reported?”

  “We discovered that a full battalion is taking over the stead with the burned barn…” Beltur went on to fill in the details before finishing with a description of the recon company on the low hill.

  “That takes away one point of attack, then.”

  “Not necessarily. That’s a single company, without mages. They’re far enough from the battalion that those mages won’t sense a company attacking them. They may bring up mages later. That’s why I think an attack there now might be worthwhile.”

  “You’re sure there are not any supporting companies there?”

  “Not right now. If more show up before we get there, we turn around and come back.”

  “Since there’s no cover, one of you would have to conceal our troopers.” Raelf raised his eyebrows. “I thought you felt defenses would be a better use for mages.”

  “Mostly, but I can’t resist the idea of inflicting massive casualties on a recon company. I’m not sure we’ll have many opportunities like that.”

  “Could they be setting us up?”

  “That’s always possible, but there weren’t any other riders or troopers, either mounted or on foot, anywhere near. If there turn out to be other companies nearby, we’ll just slip away. I have no interest in losing significant numbers of troopers in a skirmish. Losing a few men to destroy a company seems to be an acceptable trade-off. Am I mistaken?” Beltur looked directly at Raelf.

  “So long as one of you is the one accompanying the company, I see the possible reward worth the risk.” Raelf’s eyes went from Beltur to Jessyla and back to Beltur.

  No one else could do it. “I’ll be the one.”

  Raelf looked to Jessyla.

  “He’s done that many more times than I have.”

  “When would you propose such an attack?”

  “We should be in position by sunset.”

  “Why then?”

  “Your uniforms will be
harder to see when I drop the concealment. Also, no one attacks at sunset. Dawn, yes, but I’ve never seen nor heard of a sunset attack.”

  For several moments, Raelf did not speak. Then he said dryly, “It might be because the advantages appear to belong to the defenders.”

  “Only if they can see the attackers.”

  “Just how are you going to get a company in position when you’re the only one who can see?”

  Raelf’s question showed just how much the majer had looked into Beltur’s capabilities, because Beltur didn’t recall mentioning to Raelf anything about troopers being unable to see under a concealment. He’d said it to Khaamyn, but the squad leader hadn’t had the time to talk to Raelf. “That will depend on how the Hydlenese are positioned on the top of the hill and how the troopers’ mounts react to being under a concealment…” Beltur went on to explain.

  “That could work. Will you assure me that you won’t attempt the attack if you cannot set it up properly?”

  “I will. The last thing I want to do is to lose troopers.”

  Raelf paused again before speaking. “Then I’ll assign the Weevett company under Cheld to you and this mission. When do you think you should leave here?”

  “Fifth glass. The last two kays will take a while to cover. You’ll take care of the rope?”

  “Rope we can supply.”

  “Now … there’s one other thing. No, it’s not another attack,” Beltur added as he saw Raelf stiffen. “What about a concealed line of pikes or sharpened stakes?”

  “With so many approaches to Haven, choosing where to put something like that would require a great deal of effort and would likely be useless.”

  “Not necessarily,” replied Beltur. “I was thinking about frames that could be placed in less than half a quint and then be moved where they would be effective.” He went on to sketch out what he had in mind, a framework with long sharpened poles attached to a heavy timber, and lighter cross-members that could be placed in a shallow trench and then raised into position and covered with a concealment.