by Bob Blink
He didn’t like the spot he now found himself. While the large meadow was a pleasant relief from the constant climbing and the ankle turning rocks and roots they had all had to dodge as they made their way over the mountains, it was too large. It was far too open for him, especially after the past week sheltered by the forest trees. He knew they had been spotted, and the hurried flight of the scouts confirmed their arrival had been a surprise, so there was little to fear. But this place was wrong somehow. He wasn’t dressed as a wizard, since those men with the incredible rifles would target him specifically. Neither, however, did he have his shield. One of the Angon mages would be capable of detecting the shield and pointing him out to the sniper. The concept of the shield had almost become a joke of late. Using one was more likely to be a target indicator. Even so, he was ready to raise his shield in an instant should something unexpected happen. There were far too many other weapons that could be dangerous to an unshielded man.
He turned and looked back at the long line of men behind him. He could see the last were coming into the clearing even now, just as the first of his forces approached the trees that would take them out into the open plains where they could turn northwest toward the battle that waited. A couple of days were all that remained. He was proud of these men. They were the finest Ale’ald had to offer, and had trained carefully for this mission.
“What?” he uttered at the sharp crack echoing from the front of the line. Moments later a second explosion, and men screaming. An ambush, he thought, but thus far he could see no signs of smoke from rifles. Is this some new magical spell that has been unleashed? He could see that dozens of men were on the ground, and the front line was trying to run back or off to the side to get away from the swath of death. All the explosions seemed to be coming from the vicinity of his forward guard.
* * * *
Jolan couldn’t see what happened when the first of the Claymore mines was triggered by an unsuspecting soldier, but he knew what it must look like from up close. The two hundred steel balls, embedded in the TNT explosive that had been cast into the back of the device, had been propelled at near rifle velocities. Like an immense shotgun, but firing balls that were almost a quarter of an inch in diameter, the cloud of flying steel ripped through anything in its path.
Many men were killed outright, while others were gravely wounded. The man that had triggered the explosion by stepping on the trigger cord had been virtually ripped to shreds by the flying balls.
The Ale’ald soldiers had never encountered anything like this, and not seeing their enemy assumed naturally some magic was being used against them, despite assurances by their leadership that Angon mages seldom used the power directly against commoners. Many of the front line soldiers tried to get out of the line of fire and attempted to find security in the trees off to the sides. Their flight tripped additional mines that had been placed along the perimeter of the meadow making it clear that there was no safe spot at hand.
Those further back couldn’t tell what was happening, but knew they didn’t want to remain exposed. Once again, the trees along the perimeter seemed to offer protection and the men made for them on a run. Pandemonium reigned. More explosions were triggered all along the meadow. More than two thousand men were killed by mines before the remaining men realized the only safety lay in the trees from which they had come. A massive human wave formed as they tried to make their way back to the spot they had left only a short time before.
Jolan had created the mix he needed, and could tell that Luzoke had done the same. If the army below had looked closely they might have noted that something was in the air, but they were too focused on flight. Jolan called Luzoke on the two-way, and then hunkered down with his shields raised and anchored. This was going to be an incredible blast. When his watch reached the agreed upon time, he sent a blast of magical fire, a bright beam of pure energy into the mixture. He assumed Luzoke did the same, but it would really only take one of them to set the whole thing off.
The blast that shook the ground around him was far stronger than the small contained version of the bomb he’d set off in Cobalo many months before. This one literally destroyed everything in the meadow. Rocks and large trunks of trees were flung impossible distances through the air. The thousands of men that had been running down the valley moments before, basically ceased to exist. Some were literally blown into pieces, and others were tossed at great speed, smashing into other thrown objects or the ground. Either collision was instantly fatal. Less than a hundred men had reached some kind of safety before the blast was triggered. Many of these were unable to hear afterwards because of the fury that had been unleashed.
Not really wanting to see what he had caused, but needing to know if the bomb had done the job, he peered over the rock at the desolation that filled what had been a beautiful landscape only a short time before. Moments later the snipers went to work. He heard the crack of several shots being fired, and saw one man crumple in response. He didn’t know if the targets were wizards or merely some incredibly fortunate individual that had survived the holocaust. It didn’t take long before there were no targets for the snipers to shoot at.
Chapter 151
The Ale’ald forces coming from Trailways to act as a distraction began their attack on the same day that Jolan and Luzoke led the attack in the meadow. This was several days before the meadow’s forces could have been expected to reach the defending army near Honlt, but Ale’ald’s intent had been to get the army there involved and distracted. As it turned out, the attack was a disaster for Ale’ald for several reasons. The commander of the Seret forces had selected a narrow part of the trail roughly a quarter mile from the flats to make a stand. Here the large granite cliffs closed in from both sides, but offered any number of places for the defenders to hide. Those coming down the trail had to pursue a straight path in plain sight toward the defenders for over two hundred yards, with virtually nowhere to go once the attacks started.
In addition, more of the Claymores had been liberally distributed along the edges of the trail. Even when the approaching Ale’ald forces decided to seek cover, most were rewarded with sudden explosions and death. A few were able to find their way back up the trail to warn their friends, but they couldn’t explain the sources of the explosions and huge losses. Most were convinced they were some new form of magic. Magic or a new weapon, the results were devastating to the invaders.
Knowing the importance of maintaining the attack and keeping the attention of the defending forces until the men slipping quietly into the country could arrive, the commander of the Ale’ald forces tried to find a way around the blockage that he found himself facing. This had been anticipated, and any paths the Ale’ald forces used to attempt to slip through the woods were met with troops in position or more of the unexplained explosions. Seldom were any defending forces seen in the vicinity when the explosions occurred. For a time the explosions plagued the Ale’ald commander. How could he fight something he couldn’t see? After the fourth attempt at finding a way around the blockage in the trail, one of the devices was discovered hidden in the grass. It had failed to trigger when the cord had been tripped. Knowing what they were dealing with helped, but there was no time at the moment to stop and properly warn the men what to avoid. He would need to limit his men to areas that had already been cleared of the devices. Seret would have no means of placing more while the battle was engaged.
Taking incredible losses, the Ale’ald commander pushed his men into the deadly battleground formed by the granite cliffs. After two days of fierce fighting, he finally managed to get forces close enough to harass the defenders. Another half day of battle, and the defenders fell back, with the Ale’ald army close on their tail.
As they scrambled into the clearing through the break in the trees, the Ale’ald forces realized they had been duped. The fallback by the defenders had been a lure to bring the bulk of the Ale’ald forces out into the open where they could be more easily dealt with. Thousands of soldiers fr
om Angon and Seret waited in fortified positions, revealing themselves and laying down a murderous rate of fire after the Ale’ald troops had cleared the trees and made their way well onto the flat chasing the retreating defenders.
The Seretian commander would have liked to hold off until the entirety of the Ale’ald forces were exposed, but it was not practical, so he’d given the order to fire when the attackers had almost reached the main entrenchment of his own forces. Ale’ald returned fire and the wizards in the group released yellow-red bolts of targeted fire in addition to waves of rolling fire that attempted to overwhelm the defenders. Most of the magic was turned aside by the wide shields presented by the mages inter-spaced among the defending troops. The snipers that had been temporarily assigned to the group responded quickly once the wizards revealed themselves, and before long the deadly display of lights ceased as the last of the wizards in the group was killed Only those soldiers still near the trees were able to make it back into the cover of the forest. The rest succumbed to the deadly fire by the entrenched troops putting an end to Ale’ald’s grand scheme to slip in the back door unexpected. Just before he died, the commander of the Ale’ald forces wondered why his countrymen had never arrived.
* * * *
A week after the battle near Honlt it was clear that Ale’ald was going to lose its hold on Seret. The battle at Belth had gone better than anyone could have hoped, and the city was now back under Seret’s control. The massive buildup along the river in central Seret had taken a continuing pounding with the resulting loss of life, and Ale’ald had gradually pulled back the perimeter of the area it claimed. Each side had had a number of successes during the past week of battle, but Seret had won the larger and more important engagements. More men than anyone cared to think about had died, but in the end, Seret had the upper hand and Ale’ald was pressed farther back toward the river shores which they had so cleverly taken earlier in the spring. The only time the outcome had come into question had been the previous afternoon when one of the high flying gliders was spotted coming over the river. For a short time panic threatened to disrupt the carefully coordinated attacks, but it soon became obvious that this plane carried none of the gas canisters, and was apparently on a scouting run. In case another plane returned to drop some of the deadly gas, mages were stationed at key points, and the coppered balls were positioned for an attack. Fortunately, no other planes were spotted, and by the end of the day Ale’ald’s army was in full retreat across the two bridges they’d so carefully built only a few months before.
The battle ended at the water. The commander of Seret’s forces might have considered crossing after the fleeing men, but his orders had been to hold. It was a good thing he did as directed. The bridges had been built hastily and retained much of their strength through the use of magic. Once Ale’ald had completed it’s withdrawal, one of the wizards disabled the shield spell that reinforced the bridge. It only took minutes for the swiftly flowing river to begin the destruction of the marginal structures that remained. Large sections broke away and fell into the current, to be washed down toward the ocean as they were pounded against the rocks and broken into pieces. Once again the forces were confined to the two sides of the river. Seret would have to find their own way across if they intended to chase Ale’ald out of Kimlelm.
Chapter 152
Chancellor Vaen, Major Wylan, and Jolan were together in a somewhat informal meeting two days after the bridges had collapsed discussing the current status of the war and possible actions to be considered. There were conflicting opinions among the leaders of both governments as to what the likely course of the war would be from this point, and what the best move for Seret and Angon would be.
“All of the invading troops are out of Seret at this point?” Vaen asked Wylan, who had been checking with his Seretian counterpart who in turn had multiple battalions of combined forces checking the full length of the river.
“Essentially,” he said. “We’ve found a few stragglers who somehow became separated from their fellows during the recent fighting. Anger is still running deep and, with the exception of two senior officers that might have intelligence that could be informative, the others have usually been shot on sight. Tempers are still running hot, since most of the men have lost friends.”
“What about spies?” Jolan asked. “I’m sure there are a number of Ale’ald professionals and informants still in place.”
“Probably so,” Wylan admitted, “but I don’t see any way to ferret them out in the near term. Trying to identify such people will be a long term effort.”
“What is your assessment of Ale’ald’s likely move at this point?” Vaen asked.
“It has been a very costly summer for them. They have lost most of their navy and airforce. The lone glider we spotted is most likely the only one they have remaining. Our spies have uncovered nothing that suggests they have started manufacturing the gas anywhere, so unless we have missed something or it is being made in Ale’ald, we are unlikely to face that threat at the moment. Their army has been severely drained by the losses inflicted of late, and their core of wizards has been under attack for months. A growing resistance movement inside of Kimlelm has been hurting them as well. Men are being taken from the front lines to help qwell the resistance and many products they are getting at the front are found to be faulty. They need to regroup and find a means of putting a stop to the internal dissent. In addition, their losses have to be more than they can endure much longer, especially to their wizard corps. I suspect they will elect to hold where they are in Kimlelm, and hope we don’t press the matter. To attempt to go after them presents us with the same problem they had in the beginning. There is no easy way to cross the river.”
“It is poor planning to leave them to rebuild in Kimlelm,” Jolan said. “They would have the advantage of the industrial might of the country, not to mention the population that gives them a work force freeing up their own people for the army. Now that they are falling back, it’s the time to continue the push and drive them out. Leaving them alone only provides Ale’ald the opportunity to regain strength.”
Wylan nodded. “We are of like mind, but it is not my decision to make. That is up to the two Queens to decide. Personally, I would not like to live with such an enemy only a river away, knowing they will attack again when they feel ready.”
“It won’t take as long as some might believe. Cheurt has too much at stake here. He will push to rebuild, learn from what has happened, and press the attack when it best suits him. Don’t forget, he surprised us with some of the ideas he brought from Earth. He could have other projects in the works that are taking longer to implement. Some of those surprises might be beyond our ability to counter.”
Vaen looked at Jolan. “You are still planning to go after Shyar?” She had given Jolan the brief letter Cheurt had sent to her confirming his holding of her.
“We will be starting on that this week. We have a plan to scout a number of portals, the group to make the raid identified. Now that Cheurt has chosen to pursue the matter using her as bait, we can’t afford to delay. Shyar almost left on her own, but has held off because Tishe has indicated we have a plan in work. I suspect she won’t wait too much longer before conditions dictate she needs to try on her own. I think she would be at grave risk that way. She’d have to cover many weeks of travel behind enemy lines. Our way would involve a day at most from the castle where she is being kept to one of the exit portals.”
“I think you are correct in your thinking. I would ask one favor before you make the attempt. Tishe has approached me with a possible solution to the river crossing. She would need to go to the river to see if her idea will work, and I would feel better if you were with her. I agree we need to press Ale’ald while we can. If Tishe’s idea works, it will change the picture we present to the Queen at the end of the week when a decision is to be made whether the two countries commit to continuing the war until Ale’ald surrenders.”
“What does Tishe think s
he can do at the river that would change anything?” Jolan asked.
“She thinks she can make a bridge,” Vaen responded. “Perhaps several. If so, then the matter of not having a means to cross would no longer be a factor.”
* * * *
“I’m sorry Jolan,” Tishe said. “I know you are anxious to go after Shyar.”
“It’s okay,” Jolan said, but in truth he was a bit frustrated at yet another delay. “If this works out, it could work in favor of the rescue. Ale’ald would suddenly have something else to worry about.”
They had used a portal to come into southern Seret a bit earlier in the day. They were more than sixty miles from where the first of the Ale’ald bridges had been, and out in the country not too far from Slipi where Morin had lived. It had been Morin’s telling Tishe about the area that had gotten her attention. Unlike the majority of the river, which was extremely wide with mostly soft dirt shores which were perfect for farming, much of the area around Slipi was heavy with granite, and the river passed through gorges cut into the stone eons past. The water was deep, but the river was still quite wide; far too wide for easy construction of a normal bridge. The technique to deal with the heavy current over such a wide span simply didn’t exist.
They had ridden along the river for some distance, the water flowing smoothly below the edge of the banks as it splashed and roared over the rocks.
“What are you looking for?” Jolan asked.
“It’s hard to explain,” Tishe responded.” It wasn’t the first time she’d given him a vague response.
