“Gentlemen thank you for coming. Let us move quickly with making our plans and getting our people ready.”
As I stood to leave Ruguer waved me over. He was still at the table with the king. When I sat he pushed a mug of hot tea over to me.
Zander spoke. “Tag-Gar. How is the leg?”
“Better. I think I’ll be ready to join your patrols in a day or two if you think that is where I can do the most good.”
The monarch nodded. He looked tired. For that matter so did Ruguer.
“How about your friend? Tinker is it? Is she still sending you mental images? Translating our language for you?”
Hearing her name, Tinker popped her head out of her pouch. She looked at Zander, then Ruguer and squeaked. I took her out and sat her on my lap.
“She translates when I need her to. I have picked up a great deal of Olvioni. Only occasionally will I encounter a word or phrase which I have never before heard used. As for the mental images, yes, she frequently sends me little pictures of things. She conveys things she is feeling, and things that she wants me to feel or be aware of. She is very good at sensing danger and warning me.”
Tinker was now sniffing at my tea mug. Zander held out his hand to her. The little animal sniffed, then licked it. She pranced over the table to stand on her hind legs before him. The two looked into each other’s eyes for a solid minute. Neither Ruguer nor I made a sound. Then she scampered back to my side of the table and climbed up on my shoulder.
Zander’s face lit up with delight. “She put feelings in my head,” he said. “I felt encouragement, hope and love for the people of Olvion. What an amazing creature.”
Tinker flicked her tail. I nodded knowingly.
“She is an amazing friend. Without her I would not have survived my first day here.”
Zander grasped my shoulder. “Hopefully she will continue to keep you safe. Now, the reason I kept you behind. I want you to take over command of our special patrols.”
I was shocked. “Your Majesty…”
“Tag-Gar, in informal settings we simply use each other’s names. Formality and ceremony have their place but they can also be a little ridiculous when a group of friends are gathered,”
“I understand. Zander, I am flattered at the faith you have in my abilities. And I will absolutely do whatever you ask of me. But I have almost no understanding of your military tactics or customs. Surely there are others who could be more effective.”
Ruguer chimed in. “The attack on the water wagons was uncommonly effective. Never have I even heard of a battle where the weight of losses was so one sided. You commanded that operation and made some difficult decisions. No one could have done it better. Also, the patrol teams feel better knowing they are following The Legend. But mostly it is your very lack of knowledge of our military tactics and strategies that might serve to make you more effective. We have been fighting this enemy for five years. They are not overly sophisticated but they have learned the ways in which we normally do things. You do things in unexpected ways. Any advantage in this war, however small, can mean the difference between survival and defeat.”
Zander joined in. “And let’s not forget. You have the assistance of an invaluable asset. So few of the children of the mountain have been seen. Stories say they attach themselves to people and are devoted for their entire lives. The extent of their abilities is really unknown. But if she can forewarn you and the warriors following you by sensing danger, that is an advantage we must exploit.”
I considered this logic. “How can I argue against that? I stand ready to fill any roll you need me in.”
Zander stood. “That is settled then. Warrior Pulg will meet you at the training field with the people he has selected for the night patrols. I respect his opinions but the final choice on who you want on the teams will be yours. Your orders are simple; find enemy concentrations and destroy them. Look for squatting gigs. I want maximum enemy deaths with minimum loss of our people.”
“Squatting gigs?” I asked. Tinker hopped down to the table. She projected a picture of a large animal that looked something like a cross between a hog and a sloth sitting in a puddle of mud.
”Oh,” I said. “Where I am from we call those sitting ducks.”
Now it was Zander and Ruguer who looked confused.
“Never mind. I will do my best to carry out your orders.” I turned to leave but was stopped by the king’s hand on my shoulder again.
“Keep safe, Friend Tag-Gar.”
I looked into the eyes of the most powerful man in Olvion. With all of the people for whom he had responsibility it could be forgiven if he was expressing concern for me purely as a political move: Give a subordinate a dangerous job but let him believe you actually care about him. But I could see in his eyes that this man was sincere. It must be incredibly difficult to care so strongly about so very many people. I turned to face the king. I realized that he was now more than the King of Olvion. He was my king. I saluted him.
“And you as well,” I answered.
I left to find Dwan. I would need her help and it was not going to make her happy.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Duty
“No!”
Dwan was stocking a medicine cabinet in the triage building. I had just asked her for a drug or ointment strong enough to kill the pain in my leg enough for me to go out on patrol tonight. She was furious at the thought of me trying such a thing before I was adequately healed. Instead of gently placing the different bottles and jars into the cabinet she was slamming them in there.
“Dwan, please. I have been named their Commander. How can I let someone else lead them when they are my responsibility?”
She wheeled on me. Even at her diminutive (to me) size she was intimidating.
“Tag-Gar, you are injured. You can’t ask me to help you put yourself in danger. You are in no shape to go running for miles at a time.”
“How about if I hop?”
She punched me in the chest. “This is not a joke. I will not laugh at the prospect of you putting yourself in danger when you are not at your best. You need time to heal.”
I grasped her shoulders. “Dwan listen to me. Please.”
She searched my eyes. Hers were starting to fill. I hated always having to put her into so much sadness all of the time. A tear ran down her cheek and she swiped at it. I knew her well enough by now to know that she abhorred showing weakness. She looked away then back at me.
“Say what you need to say.”
I wiped away a second tear that had escaped from her other eye. I took her face in both of my hands.
“Dwan, I love you.” More tears. “And because I love you I will do absolutely anything that is required to protect you. This is war. If it were not I would gladly take weeks or months to heal. But the danger is here now, not weeks away or even days. Those grey bastards are forming up outside of our walls as we speak. They are setting themselves up to attack this city. They want to butcher and eat everyone in this city like we were cattle. King Zander and Ruguer both feel I am the best choice to lead some teams in night raids against them to weaken them as much as possible. I trust their judgment. So do you. If there is something you can give me to kill the pain in my leg it will help. If no such medicine exists then so be it. But I am leading my warriors tonight. With or without it.”
I was still holding her face. She covered my hands with hers. Tears were falling more freely now. I saw the steel in her expression melt.
“That is the first time you have told me that you love me. I love you also. I am proud to be your woman and proud of your sense of duty. And I would expect no less from you than what you are asking of me. I am just afraid of losing my man so soon after I found you. But you are correct. This war and we must all do what we can. Follow me, Warrior.”
She turned, keeping hold of one hand, and led me through a series of corridors, stopping before a thick wooden door. She opened it with a key and swung it wide. Several glow globes hung from a
rack in the hallway and she plucked one from its perch. I followed her into the room which now revealed itself to be a huge medicine storeroom. Dwan took me to a cabinet which also had a lock. She passed me the globe and opened the cabinet door. She took a cloth sack from a drawer and started filling it with several tiny bottles. She then faced me.
“This,” she said, holding up one of the bottles, “is gaalan weed. It is a powerful pain killer. It will remove all pain that the body experiences for a period of six hours. We use it when surgery is required. But it makes one very sleepy. This,” she held up another bottle of liquid, “is rantiel. It will keep you awake, aware and energized for about the same amount of time. You must take both of them together. There are four doses of each. That is enough for an entire day. Trust me, if you wanted to run for the entire time the rantiel would make that possible. But remember; you are injured. Just because you will not feel the pain does not mean you have healed.” She put the bottles into the bag and handed it to me. “Bring yourself safely back to me. If you are careless and get yourself killed you will doom me to forever feel that I was responsible for your death. Remember that.”
I didn’t bother to try to convince her otherwise. I knew what she said was true. She locked the room back up and replaced the glow globe. Then she took my hand.
“Now, take me to our room and make love to me.”
It was dusk as I made my way down to the lower levels. I felt wonderful. Dwan had removed the packing from my leg wound and stitched it up. I had taken a dose of each of the medicines she had given me. Now my leg did not hurt at all and I was wide awake. And there was a bonus, I had the energy of a five-year-old boy. I felt like I could have run down all of the stairs with no problem. But I remembered my promise to Dwan and so I took it easy.
When I arrived at the entrance to the lowest level I was met by Pulg. The big Olvioni carried his war club stuck in his belt and a short sword in a scabbard over his shoulder. He saluted me because there were some thirty people behind him and military protocol was called for in this situation. The warriors’ numbers were evenly divided between swordsmen, archers and knife wielders. I returned the salute and pulled Pulg over to the side where we could converse in private. He filled me in. We were exiting from a different location this time. The waterfall access had been used enough for a while. There was no sense in giving the enemy numerous chances to discover our secrets.
The people he’d selected were all former and current students of Pulg and other weapons instructors. They included warriors who had shown exceptional skill at arms or had otherwise impressed the old weapons instructor. He gave me a short rundown on all of them, pointing to each as he spoke. There was no attempt at being sensitive to people’s feelings here. It was a military operation and decisions would be made that optimized our possibilities of success. Hurt feelings were unimportant. Like all military people they understood this and stood by to face acceptance or rejection with no qualms. I listened closely as Pulg spoke but I heard no reason to reject any of them. I trusted Pulg because he and Layann had chosen successful teams for us in the past. I called them all over into a circle around us and had them take a knee.
“Our mission is simple. We are to gather information as to enemy strength and location. If we encounter enemy forces I will decide if and how we attack. We will be silent. And we will be swift. If we do our job correctly tonight, then tomorrow the Greys will be talking about the horrible terror that ripped through their lines last night, leaving death and destruction behind.” I saw many of the gathered warriors flash grim smiles.
“When we get outside we will break up into three groups to minimize our noise. But we will stay within sight of each other. I will lead the knifers. Pulg will take the swordsmen.” I turned to my next in command. I swallowed hard, feeling the loss of Waan and Layann again. “Who would be your choice to lead the archers?”
He did not hesitate. “Syrann.”
At the mention of her name a woman nearly as tall as Dwan stepped forward. She wore a strung bow over one shoulder and twin quivers with at least fifty arrows in each. She had a long dagger in a sheath attached to her lower leg. She was the most dangerous looking female I think I had ever seen. Her arms, especially the right, were huge using Olvioni standards. And her hair had been cut as short as a man’s as if she could not be bothered by it. The only thing about her that was non-military in appearance was small jewel worn in her right ear.
I nodded to her and returned her salute. “Done. Keep your archers slightly behind us ready to cover an escape.”
I then to address the entire group. “What two things will we be?” I shouted.
“Silent and swift,” they all answered. I nodded.
“For Olvion,” I yelled.
“For Olvion,” they responded.
That being done we prepared for our exit by checking each of our team mates for clothing, armor or weapons that could reflect firelight or rattle or otherwise make noise. I had several of them discard objects I thought might betray our presence. As usual the Olvioni warriors reacted professionally. I’m not sure I would have been so accepting were I in their shoes. After all, I was not even one of them I wondered how many were swayed by the possibility that I was The Legend. It was more likely due to the years of military training.
With our equipment checks completed we moved along a different tunnel than the one that led to the waterfall. After ten minutes of following winding excavations of stone and dirt we came to a larger opening in which were posted four guards. In the corner I spied a long lever like the one at the beginning of the waterfall tunnel. I didn’t have to ask its purpose. If this secret exit were discovered by the enemy it would quickly be buried under tons of rock and dirt.
A thick black curtain kept the feeble light from leaving the guard room. When I gave the signal the single glow globe was covered and the room was put into total darkness. By feel we all made our way to the hanging curtain and passed through. There was a fifty yard tunnel on the other side, also black as ink. I was in the lead but when I reached the end Pulg side-stepped his way past the other warriors until we were nose to chest in the narrow shaft. I could feel metal beams leading to a set of huge hinges. The hinges were slathered with thick smelly grease.
“This door swings out in this direction,” Pulg whispered. “Do you want me to go first?”
‘I think I’ll take the lead on this one”, I said. I pushed the door and felt it swing silently outward and to the right. The over-abundance of grease was well advised. The only light I could see were stars above a tree line. I quickly moved aside to make room for the others. I was pleased to see they made no noise as they felt their way through the black tunnel. I ran my hands along the outside of the door as I closed it behind us. It was an amazing structure. Large rocks had been sliced neatly in two and affixed to the door frame. The areas between the rocks were stuffed with dirt and smaller stones. I couldn’t tell much in the dark but I could imagine that in daylight all anyone would see was the stone face of a cliff wall. It was Olvion engineering at its best again. I was told that one guard would always remain posted just inside the entrance where he could watch and listen for our return through a concealed observation port. Should we have trouble finding the door again he could guide us back.
I could now see the dark outline of the city wall behind us and to my left. A section of the valley in which some of our enemy was camped was directly ahead of us. I started out. The moons were only partial crescents tonight. The area we were traveling through was forested which gave us cover. The night was crisp, slightly cooler than usual. The three teams spread out with our archers staying slightly behind the other two. If I were an archer I would not want to earn the wrath of Syrann by not obeying orders.
We moved without incident around the Olvioni forward defenses. Ruguer had already pointed out to me the areas which contained booby-traps so I led the teams well away from those locations. Once past the defenses we could see more fires out in the valley floor. I noted
the ones closest to us and headed in that general direction. The topography had changed from forest to the long expanses of yellow grass. It was high in some areas, almost to the chest but most of it had been so trampled during the earlier battles that it was flat. That had good and bad parts attached. The good was that we could see anyone coming. The bad was that they could see us too. We moved forward in silence, one team at a time.
An hour after leaving the secret tunnel we drew near to a camp fire. I signaled the teams to hug the dirt while Pulg, Syrann and I scoped it out. We belly-crawled twenty yards until we were close enough to get a good look. The fire was surrounded by a tenfold of Greys. Not for the first time I wondered what the fascination was that the grey brutes had with the number ten. These raiders were in the various stages of settling in for the night. Several were wrapped in their animal skins and sitting by the fire. Others were finishing a dinner, the contents of which I did not want to know. Only one was sitting on a rock holding a spear. I thought he must be the sentry. I gestured to my lieutenants and we scooted back to a safe spot.
I noted the location of the next closest fire. It was a good distance away. It would take fifteen minutes or so for anyone to run from there to the group we were targeting. I wondered what our chances were of taking out this first group without them making enough noise to alert their brethren. It was impossible to figure. I hated to come all of this way to take out just one tenfold. But then again, fortune favors the bold and our purpose out here, now that there were no more refugees to rescue, was to, in fact, be bold.
We crawled back to our teams. Squatting in the dark I gave my instructions to Pulg and Syrann. Then I asked them if there was anything that I was not seeing or did not understand due to my lack of combat experience. Neither replied. I gave each of my lieutenants a nod and we started out.
The Olvion Reality (The Chronicles of Olvion Book 1) Page 28
