Justin returned from his meander through the troops at the same time that Joss showed up. Justin motioned Gavin to wait before taking out Lucy’s last basket of stones. Neville arrived with a plate of food and Maya decided to join them too. Her potions needed to simmer for the next few hours.
“What are you mixing up over there?” Joss asked.
“I don’t have a lot of time or ingredients, so I’m staying simple. The blue one will put people to sleep so we can work on them easier. There are plenty of injuries that don’t cause unconsciousness that it would be better to sleep through while someone is working on them. The orange one will keep infection out of any wound it is applied to. The green one will heal minor cuts and scrapes.”
“I’m afraid we will be facing more than minor cuts and scrapes.”
“So am I, but you would be surprised how little things can make a difference. Let’s say a man comes in with a broken leg and a multitude of minor lacerations. I can put him to sleep with the blue potion. Justin can set his leg while he’s blissfully unaware. Someone else can wipe the green potion on his cuts and when he wakes up he feels a whole lot better. I know it’s not much, but it is better than nothing and your casualty rate will lower because of it. Besides, who knows what kinds of casualties will come through. Healing can be exhausting. If Justin needs a break, we can keep working with the potions until he is ready to go again.”
“Thanks,” said Joss gratefully.
“Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” asked Justin.
“As much as I can,” replied Joss. “It sounds like a trumped up mess. Apparently, my older brother, Klarr, was engaged to Lauralie, King Lionel’s only daughter. My father had hoped the arrangement would bring a sense of peace between the kingdoms that hasn’t been enjoyed in decades. Lauralie had two older brothers. The eldest was thrown from his horse in a hunting accident. The younger died a week later from a fever. King Lionel got it into his head that King Temarr must have done something with magic to curse his family and called off the wedding. Lauralie will inherit the kingdom now, or at least her sons will and King Lionel doesn’t want any of our royal blood on his royal throne. My father, naturally did not take well to the accusations nor the voided marriage contract. One thing led to another and here we are.”
“That sounds ridiculous,” said Lucy.
“It is,” Joss agreed. “However, compared to what usually goes on around here it’s almost reasonable. A battle is more believable than a marriage. What worries me is the size of the whole thing. Normally, there are minor border skirmishes over silly grievances. We each have a contingent of scouts that glare at each other in passing. Every few months someone is killed in a small skirmish. This is more large scale than normal. Usually Fredemonn nobility are too wrapped up in their own schemes to agree to anything this major.”
“Does King Lionel have a new advisor?” asked Maya.
“Why do you ask?”
“A hunting accident, a fever, and rumors of curses? I would be curious to know who Lauralie is marrying now. Who has the King’s ear and trust? Is he trying to worm his way to the throne? I wish we’d arrived a few weeks earlier. We might have been able to find a diplomatic solution. Or, barring that, taken out the advisor.”
“You’re right. It does sound suspicious. It makes me wonder what is going on over there,” replied Joss.
“It makes me wonder if the advisor is simply scheming and malicious or does he have some magical help. Will we be up against magic?” asked Lucy.
“We could be up against anything,” said Justin. “It’s best to go into any battle thinking that. Do we have battle plans?” he quirked an eyebrow at Joss.
“We do. There is a hill that my father will command the army from. He would like Lucy to work from there. That way she is protected by his own guard and guarded at the same time.”
“Trusting man,” Lucy muttered sarcastically.
“He’s never been big on trust,” affirmed Joss. “He probably knows the names of most of the soldiers here; you can be sure he knows every face. No one can sneak into your army as a spy or assassin if you recognize everyone. Keeping you close and safe is a good arrangement for both of you. No one is better trained than his guard. My brothers and I will be spread out leading various battalions. Gavin is placed with me,” Gavin nodded his assent. “My father would also like to thank Justin and Maya for the work they will be doing here. They have assigned extra pages to remain behind rather than fight. They are young and able to carry stretchers. I think he is anticipating that you will be able to help more people than the average healers. So he’s preparing to cycle people in and out to a separate resting tent. In the meantime, we are to sleep here.”
“What about what Allar and Kinda said?” asked Lucy. “Is the Ostrakan Army here?” She couldn’t help being curious.
“I asked. It appears to be a rumor. My father might do that if he was really desperate. He prefers to command his own people, and know the people he is commanding. The Ostrakan Army is a wild card he is not ready to play. I don’t think he would be able to trust them and thus questions their usefulness.”
Maya checked on her potions. Joss joined Gavin to distribute the rest of Lucy’s stones. Lucy and Justin sat on a cot.
“Have you done anything for Gavin?” asked Lucy. “You know he is going to be in the thick of things.”
“I didn’t want him to stand out too much, but he will simply because of his skills,” Justin shrugged. “So, I’ve made his armor impenetrable and his weapons won’t dull at all for the next three days.” Justin looked slightly sheepish. “It kind of seems like cheating, but we have a need for him after this battle. It would be inconvenient if he died,” he added defensively.
Lucy smiled. “I like it.”
“Could you do the same for Joss?” asked Maya quietly from the corner where she was stirring her potions.
“Yes,” said Justin simply without asking any questions. “I really don’t want to get into a habit of trying to keep certain people safe on a battle field, but I see nothing wrong with a few precautionary spells.”
“Now that there’s nothing to do, I’m starting to feel scared,” said Lucy.
Justin put his arm around her, “I know.”
“How is anyone supposed to sleep before a battle?”
“Most people don’t. The adrenaline, the fear, the worries about things they should have done differently with their lives; or what they will change if they live through the battle tends to keep most people awake.”
Lucy sighed and snuggled closer to Justin.
Chapter 12
The army was ready the next morning at dawn. Lucy suspected most of them hadn’t slept much if at all. Lucy kissed Justin good-bye. Joss and Gavin escorted her to King Temarr and left for their own positions with the left flank. Lucy was overwhelmed by the size of both armies. People were spread out as far as the eye could see. King Temarr greeted Lucy with a nod and then continued talking to his generals. Lucy tried to get over the enormity of the situation long enough to concentrate on what she could possibly do to help. Every single bit of information from every class she had taken seemed to leak out of her mind the longer she looked at the opposing force. How was she supposed to do something effective and not stupid? Maybe she should have stayed in the healing tent and let Justin do this part. She wasn’t sure that situation would be any better. Throwing up into a wound could be considered counterproductive.
“Ready for this young mage?” asked King Temarr?
“Not even a little,” replied Lucy.
“Honest answer,” said King Temarr with a small smile. “I’ll tell you a secret. When you’ve been involved in many battles, you will learn one of two things. You are either never ready for them or you live for them. This is Carr. He will be responsible for your safety.” King Temarr moved on.
Lucy looked at Carr. He was middle aged with wisps of white in his brown hair and beard. His eyes smiled when he did. Lucy felt that was a hopeful sign
. She smiled back, then, returned her gaze to the armies. She didn’t have to wait too long before the inevitable began. From the opposing army came the sound of drums and horns followed by the marching of thousands of feet. Lucy wondered what she was supposed to do. If the other side had wizards too, she didn’t want to reveal herself or her power too quickly. How could she be useful and yet subtle? Archers on both sides loosed arrows. Shields went up as men tried to avoid a hail of arrows. Then, the armies met with a resounding crash. The noise was deafening; metal clashing, men yelling, horses screaming.
Lucy felt overwhelmed, appalled, and saddened at the same time. Rather than let herself freeze totally from the emotional overload, she forced herself to begin casting simple spells. She remembered Eric’s warning and put up shields around herself and Carr. At least neither of them would be killed by an arrow, sling shot, dagger in the back or boulder falling from the sky. Wow, she should really do something about the giant chunks of rock being hurled at their army. She wasn’t sure what the best idea was, and she wasn’t given time to think. She decided to make the boulders fall apart. It wouldn’t use so much magic as to alert an opposing magic user, and it would help the men. Getting hit by a rock the size of a golf ball hurt less than being flattened by a boulder. It might not be much, or what King Temarr hoped for, but it was something. It was a start.
Then, she began sending trip spells at the other army. It may not seem like much, but men randomly tripping all over the place can make a difference to forward momentum. She tried sending fear spells as well. Lucy reasoned that a frightened army was more likely to break. Unfortunately, the whole environment was already full of fear. She was unsure she was accomplishing anything. She started to make random soldiers blind. She found out quickly that she couldn’t watch to see if spells that minor were effective. In fact, she couldn’t pay too much attention to individuals at all. She saw one man beheaded and almost retched. Obviously, she needed to find a broader, more effective way to use her powers.
“Miss mage?” asked Carr tentatively. “Perhaps you would consider doing something about the Giants?”
“Giants?! What makes you think I have any idea of what to do about Giants?” asked Lucy.
Carr shrugged as if to imply if not her, who? Lucy agreed with the general concept that the magic user should be relied on to deal with things like Giants. The concept seemed disturbing though when she was the magic user doing the dealing. What had she gotten herself into?
Lucy’s head was spinning and it took her a minute to locate the Giants. There were four of them slowly decimating the right flank. What should she do against Giants? Would her magic work the same? Again, a lapse in her education that she could have fixed with a simple question. Why hadn’t she thought to ask anyone if Giants were more or less vulnerable to certain types of spells? She sent a tripping spell at the leader. He went down but was up again quickly, much quicker than she had anticipated from someone that large. So far she hadn’t seen or sensed any magic from the opposing army. That was encouraging. If they had a magic user, she hadn’t attracted his attention yet. If they didn’t have one, she was going to be able focus on the army without the threat of having to battle another wizard. She grabbed one of her throwing daggers. She aimed and threw it as hard as she could. She used magic to smooth out its path and make it go much farther than any normal dagger could be thrown. It landed hard, sure, and deep in the Giant’s right eye. He went down with a howl of pain and soldiers swarmed over him finishing him off. One down, three to go.
“Well thrown, miss mage,” said Carr impassively.
Lucy gave him a brief smile before trying to figure out a strategy for the other three Giants still pressing the right flank. She was sure every swing from one of those huge axes or maces was shattering bones of the ordinary soldiers on her side. Finally, she gave up trying to be creative or sneaky or subtle. Lucy took a deep breath and started throwing fireballs. Her aim was true, her power sufficient, and the destruction of everything she hit was immense. The fireballs finished off the Giants. So, she started working on the rest of the opposing army. She threw the fire far enough back so that there was no chance of it hitting her own army. She might not be taking down the direct opponents her army was fighting, but when her army killed one there would be far fewer soldiers stepping into their places. They would face fewer opponents in the long run.
Encouraged by this thought, Lucy kept throwing fireballs as quickly as she could. Then, the wind changed directions and the scent of burning flesh hit her nostrils. This time she did retch. Repeatedly. When she stopped, Carr patted her back and handed her a canteen of water. She stepped a few feet away from her own vomit. It wouldn’t make things any better smelling that. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She took a sip of water, swished out her mouth, and spit it out.
“That worked well, perhaps another tactic?” said Carr calmly.
Lucy tried to calm down. She took a few breaths while looking at the ground. Grass. Grass was safe and calming. Grass was not on fire. Grass. Count the blades, and take a breath. One, breathe, two, breathe. Grass was healing.
“Who needs the most help?” she asked Carr. That way she didn’t have to look, or analyze, or see the carnage. She could focus on grass and breathing. Three blades of grass, breathe, four, breathe.
“The left flank. We were doing so well, that their cavalry arrived as reinforcements and are now driving us back.”
Lucy nodded. The left flank. Gavin and Joss were in the left flank. Justin’s spells on their armor could only do so much. They needed her and she could help. She took another deep breath and looked up. She located the left flank and opposing cavalry. She didn’t really want to hurt the horses. Perhaps an odd thought at that moment, but that was what she felt. No more fire. No more burning. Logically, the immediate thought to follow was ice. Ice was not fire. Instead of fireballs, Lucy launched iceballs, freezing soldiers on contact. Then, her army could shatter the frozen soldiers. It was less messy and less smelly than fire. It was less traumatic too, if you didn’t actually think about what you were doing. So, Lucy did her best not to think and continued to freeze people.
The day wore on. It was hot and there was almost no breeze. Lucy’s sweat kept dripping into and stinging her eyes no matter how many times she ran her sleeve over her forehead. Lucy’s stomach began to growl. Casting magic drew on her energy. She had spent the morning causing vast amounts of devastation. How long would her energy hold? As long as it had to. Carr offered her some bread, but she shook her head. She was pretty sure she would throw up anything she ate and if she stopped, for any length of time, she wasn’t sure she would be able to start killing people again. She had to keep going. She couldn’t stop long enough to think about her actions or she would turn herself invisible, find a door, and try Eric’s door trick.
Lucy took a moment to stretch her arms and continued. She started at one end of the line of the opposing army and worked her way down, freezing people as she went. When she got to the end she reversed back the way she had come. That way, she helped the whole army evenly and tended to have visually moved on by the time frozen people were shattered. Lucy had no idea how many people she had killed and didn’t want to know. She couldn’t think. Thoughts right now were dangerous. She needed to breathe and freeze. Between the skills of the army, a little help from the stones most of them were carrying, and her persistent annihilation, the opposing force surrendered before dusk.
“Miss mage?” Carr interrupted her concentration, “You can stop now. They have surrendered.”
“Have they?” asked Lucy, vaguely coming out of her haze of perpetual destruction. “Oh good,” she said and collapsed.
Carr picked her up and carried her to the infirmary tent. It was packed with wounded soldiers. He stood there for a moment, looking for Justin in the mass of bleeding, broken, and moaning men. Maya saw him first and motioned him to follow her. Justin finished setting a man’s arm and turned towards Carr.
“What happened?�
� he asked, looking worried as he started to examine Lucy.
“I think she’s fine, sir. They surrendered, I told her, she nodded, and then she collapsed. I think she’s worn out. She hasn’t eaten all day.”
“I think you are probably right,” said Justin. Lucy seemed fine to his senses, merely exhausted. “Bring her over here.” He motioned to the area around the potions they had been keeping clear. She wouldn’t take up much room beside them and they didn’t have a bed to spare. Justin covered her with a blanket and went on to the next man.
“They surrendered?” Maya asked Carr.
“Yes.”
“Good, that means the wounded will stop eventually. Do you need to get back?”
“My orders are to stay with Lucy. I think being anywhere in this tent will count until she wakes up. How can I help?”
Maya smiled at Carr, handed him the blue potion and said, “Carry this and follow me. Can you sing? Songs can heal too.”
Chapter 13
Lucy opened her eyes and looked at a wooden ceiling. She was lying in a comfortable bed and covered in linen sheets in a room she had no recollection of. She closed her eyes, not really sure if she wanted to wake up or not. Where was she? How did she get here? Who brought her here? When did she put on pajamas? What was the last thing she remembered? The battle. Oh, she did not want to remember that.
She opened her eyes again and looked around. Study the room. Think about the room. That was much safer than thinking about battles because battles were made up of loud noises, men screaming, men dying, and blood. The room. Study the room. It was a pleasant room. The bed had posts and curtains of blue. They were open and tied back. She had always wanted curtains on her bed growing up. There was a window. There was no glass in it. The shutters were open and the light was fading. It must be evening. Wasn’t it already evening? Was it evening again? How long had she slept? There was a tapestry on the wall depicting women playing instruments. One had brown hair and a harp. One had curly hair and a lute. The walls beside the tapestry were stone. The floor was wooden just as the ceiling was. The door opened. Justin walked in.
Sorcery, Schemes and Skelt: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol II Page 8
