Portals of Infinity: Book Four: The Sea of Grass

by John Van Stry

  "Then why do you have them up there on the hill?" She asked looking at me.

  "You know what the wolats did to your priest, right?"

  She nodded.

  "Well, they've taken that attitude with your other priest, so we're keeping them away so they don't attack you. Like I said, I'm not here to fight."

  "So why are you here?" She growled, her tail lashing rather angrily.

  "I wanted to make sure your people got back safe," I said and smiled. "You did tell me that it wasn't safe between the village and here. And without you, well, who else was there to escort them?"

  "You're just a regular boy scout, aren't you?"

  I almost flinched when she said that. No one here could possibly know just what a boy scout was!

  "Excuse me?" I said, and she gave me a look.

  "Why did you come, Will?"

  "I told you. I felt bad about what happened." I tried to look embarrassed. It wasn't hard, I was embarrassed.

  "I will get you for that, Will," She said growling again.

  I looked at her; she was still one of the most beautiful females I'd ever seen, even in that armor.

  "It's not just that you were going to kill me, Evean, which was bad enough, but you were going to kill me on your god's holy ground. Do you have any idea what that is like?"

  "Do you?" She said glaring back at me.

  "Actually, yes. It's pretty nasty."

  "So how did you know?" She asked changing tack.

  "How did I know what?"

  "That I had rigged the bed to kill you!"

  I laughed, "Oh please, a woman like you interested in a man like me? I knew you had to be faking it," I lied.

  Evean looked actually surprised at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Us 'boy scouts' never get the really hot gals. You know that. So I was waiting for you to pull something on me. After that, it was pretty obvious."

  She gave me a strange look for a moment, and then continued, but she didn't look as angry as before. "Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"

  I nodded, "Yeah, and I'm sorry about that. I'd forgotten where we were." I looked at her soldiers, then at her again. "I've apologized, I've said my piece, you've said yours. I hope next time, we meet on better terms."

  "Don't count on it," she growled again.

  "I won't," I muttered and turning Tom around I rode off to where the others were waiting.

  Sixteen

  Sea of Grass - Raiding Camp

  It was early spring, and I had ridden out of Hilands with the cavalry troops who were assigned to join Rhys's men on the raids. They had stuck it out until the late fall, after Rachel and I had left them there, and raided two more caravans during that time.

  They'd also been drilled rather thoroughly by Rhys and a couple of the war leaders from several of the tribes who had come to help.

  Rachel and General Holse had sent a smaller force this time, a little over two hundred soldiers, two thirds of whom were experienced from last year, the other third here to get experience. Second Carso had been promoted to First over the winter, and both he and General Holse felt that these raiding operations provided a great training exercise for the men.

  Rachel had sent me with them this time; she wanted me to represent her interests. Of course Narasamman had added a half dozen priests that we “dropped off” with the tribes, and even Felecia had sent along several of her priests and priestesses, to see if Henry's claim that the Mowok's were interested in them as well were true or not.

  I watched as Rhys went over his plans for us this spring, they were different from the ones he had shown us in the fall, as only two of the trade routes would be usable this early in the year. The others were still too wet, and wagons would bog down. However the softer ground would lead to problems that our forces would have to deal with, such as having to ride in single file to conceal our numbers, and leaving a more readable trail, should the Barassan army send out trackers. Also there would be a lot of game which meant a lot of predators that followed the game, moving through the area.

  So the newer troops would stay in the camp and train with the Mowoks for the first few weeks while the more experienced troops scouted out the camps we would be using. After that, a rotation of groups would start. I was personally amazed at the level of detail from Rhys and the Mowok war leaders. They took this campaign very seriously, and had put a lot of planning into it. I could see that our Thirds, Sylace, Lokan, and Leto were impressed as well.

  "I'm impressed," I told Rhys, after the planning session had broken up for lunch. "You spent a lot of time on this over the winter, didn't you?"

  Rhys nodded, "Smoke and I rode to all of the villages and consulted with all of the war leaders. Of course, they all felt that this would be a good exercise for their own warriors," he smiled at me, "which is why we have a larger number of the People here as well this year."

  "I noticed. But how long will they stay?"

  "Once we get everything worked out, they will come and go as they are needed by their tribe. But I would expect at least a third of them to be here at any time."

  I blinked, from what I'd seen; a third of them was about a hundred warriors. "That many?"

  "Yes, it will take twenty of them to guide off the slaves we free, so we do need the numbers."

  "I hadn't thought about that." I nodded to Smoke as she came up to Rhys and gave him a kiss.

  "I finished with the supplies," she told him. "When are we riding out?"

  "First light, tell Trace to send his scouts out now, and we will meet them at the first camp tomorrow."

  Smoke smiled and nodded and left us.

  "You know if you sleep with her again, I will be very upset with you, William," Rhys warned.

  "Rachel has already made it clear she'd kill me," I laughed. "Twice."

  "I just want to be clear, Smoke is the kind of woman who wants her mate to keep an eye on her and constantly show his affections."

  I nodded, "She's a proud one; I don't doubt that. But as to what she sees in me, I have no idea."

  Rhys laughed, "She sees the only man not afraid of me, that's what she sees! No one else here would try; the few that aren't afraid of her as much as me that is!"

  I shook my head and laughed with him. I hoped Smoke wouldn't try anything, because I sure didn't want to deal with it right now.

  We went our separate ways then and I went and found the thirds: Sylace, Lokan, and Leto. Each of them had seventy riders under their command, Leto being in charge of the green ones, though his Fourth and his Sergeants were all experienced from last year. General Holse had not sent a second to be in charge of all of them, as that was currently my job, though Sylace was the senior Third when I wasn't around.

  "Everyone will be ready to ride out in the morning," Third Sylace told me when I joined them. They had their fourths and senior non-coms gathered around and were detailing the plans to those who had not attended Rhys's briefing.

  I nodded, and found a spot to sit that wasn't muddy. "Carry on," I said and just watched and listened as the three of them took the time to explain Rhys's plan as it applied to them.

  I found it interesting, because I had no military training at all. Everything I knew I had either learned by doing, picked up from my sister when she'd told me about the training she'd received in the Army, or learned from Josh back at the Renfair so many years ago. So I sat there and watched carefully. If I was going to have to lead these men as a commander, it would probably help if I learned just how it was supposed to be done.

  When they finished, Third Sylace looked at me, so I stood up.

  "Does anyone have any problems with their orders?" I asked looking around.

  A hand went up in the back; it was one of the sergeants, one of the more junior ones around.

  "Yes?" I asked.

  "Well, begging your pardon, Sir, but what exactly is your rank here?" I saw a couple of people stiffen as he said that. "I know you're Feliogustus's Champion, Sir William, but
no one has really told us where that puts you."

  I held up my hand as Third Leto started to say something.

  "That's a fair question, normally the champion is outside the military structure, though it is fairly safe to say that not following the orders of one is a rather dangerous proposition," I smiled wryly, "as the champion is usually working with the leadership. However, in this case, I have been specifically assigned to command all of you by your queen."

  The Sergeant's ears drooped a little at that comment, apparently he hadn't heard about that little detail, which surprised me.

  "Please be sure to tell any of the other troops who may not have gotten the word, Sergeant."

  He nodded, "Yessir."

  "Also," I smiled and looked around at everyone there, "remember that I just happen to be married to your queen, and as such, that means that unless you're a general, you pretty much have to do as I say, and that even the generals know that they have to consider my words.

  "However, pissing me off won't get you in trouble with your superior officers; I'll just punch you in the face, and expect you to follow orders. Otherwise, when you die you can explain to Feliogustus just why you were acting like an ass."

  I noticed everyone got quiet when I said that.

  "I'm Feliogustus's champion, never forget that. So while I don't expect the level of military decorum that the officers expect, and I'm perfectly fine with you calling me by name, and I won't bust on you for the kinds of things a regular officer would, I expect to be obeyed when I give an order, especially when I speak for our god.

  "Because of that, I will normally pass my orders through the Thirds, Sylace, Lokan, and Leto," I said motioning to them, "I know that a non-com's life is already difficult enough without me adding to it. Any other questions?" I asked looking around.

  No one moved.

  "I guess you can dismiss the men, Third Sylace."

  Sylace nodded and dismissed them. I noticed more than a few of the senior non-coms were having a hushed word or two with the junior one. I shook my head and sighed, "Just remembered another saying, Leto."

  "Oh? What's this one?" He asked curious.

  "Don't ask the question if you can't stand the answer."

  Leto laughed, "Oh, I think Sergeant Hodges understands that one now, and if he doesn't, I expect the rest are all going to explain it to him in great detail."

  "I hope I wasn't too harsh there."

  Sylace shook his head, "You didn't tell them anything that they shouldn't already know and understand. Oh, it may have surprised a few to hear it from your mouth, but it never hurts to have it reinforced."

  # # # #

  "Scouts reporting!"

  I turned to look at one of sentries on the other side of the camp, and could see the two riders entering the camp.

  We'd been here almost a week now, just inside Barassan territory at one of the advance camps. So far the scouts hadn't come across any signs of a caravan, though there did seem to be more of a military presence at the outposts. Apparently our raids last year had caused a reaction.

  "Well, might as well head over to Rhys's teepee and find out what they found," Third Lokan said.

  "Might as well," I agreed and followed him over.

  Several others gathered as the riders dismounted and walked over to Rhys.

  "We found a caravan, a big one," the lead scout started, "its eighteen wagons, all slavers. But there's a bit of a problem."

  We all looked at him expectantly.

  "There's a triple quad of soldiers riding with them."

  Rhys swore, "Whose uniform are they wearing?"

  "Barrassa."

  "How many other guards are there with the caravan?" I asked.

  "Another quads’ worth, plus the drivers, merchants, and teamsters. Say one hundred and eighty total."

  "We can't attack that," Rhys said shaking his head.

  "Sure we can," I said turning to him, "but we need to call the team from the other camp, and everyone from the main camp. That would give us closer to two to one odds."

  Rhys growled at me. "That would take days to put together." He turned to the scout, "How far out are they?"

  "Five to six days from the city's outskirts at the rate that they're traveling. Depends on how much mud they hit. They're moving pretty slow, the wagons are loaded rather heavily."

  "It will take three days to get everyone here. We'd be attacking them possibly a day away from the city. That would be far too close to be safe," Rhys said.

  I nodded, "True," and thought about it. A caravan that big meant that Barassa was hurting. Putting soldiers with it meant that they were getting desperate.

  "They must have sent those soldiers out several weeks ago, before we got set up," I said.

  "Obviously. Probably spent the winter buying up all the slaves that they could get their hands on, and the second the rains let up, started on the trail." Rhys said.

  "How many oxen are on their teams?" I asked.

  "Ten per wagon, nothing fancy. They had maybe eight more in reserve at the back of the train."

  "What are you thinking, Will?" Rhys asked looking at me.

  "I'm thinking if we could kill a bunch of their oxen, we could slow them down. More mud to bog them down would also be good, but I can't make it rain."

  Rhys thought about that, "But if we attack them now, we'll be outnumbered. Not by much, but we wouldn't have much of an advantage. They could easily drive us off."

  "Well, there has to be a way we can slow them down, to give the rest of the warriors and soldiers time to get here so we can still attack."

  "We may have to let this one go by, William," Rhys warned.

  "We can't, Rhys," I sighed. "We need to take this one out, completely out; no survivors, no traces, nothing. So they have no idea at all what happened. We also need to push the scouts further out, so if they try a big one like this again, we get more warning."

  "Why not go after them tonight?" The other scout asked.

  "They still outnumber us, and would be set up to defend their camp."

  "Oh, I don't mean go in there and fight, just attack. Do it a few times, keep them awake all night."

  "What good would that do?" Rhys asked.

  "Well, if we did it every night, they'd be getting pretty tired after a few days, not getting any sleep."

  "So we just keep harassing them?" I asked.

  He nodded, "After the second night they probably will realize that we can't hurt them, but I'd think being tired from not sleeping would slow them down. Maybe we get lucky and damage a few wagons, or kill some oxen."

  I looked at Rhys; he shrugged, "Worth a try I guess."

  "I'll take twenty of my people, and we'll see what we can do," I said.

  "Fine, I'll send out riders to the other camps immediately." Rhys turned to the two scouts, "Lead Will and his people to the caravan as soon as they're ready."

  They both nodded and I went off to get a group together.

  We got there after the sun had set. The caravan had set up camp; they had the wagons in a circle, with the slaves dismounted and all sitting on the ground. The oxen teams were spread out around the camp, but inside the circle of wagons, as were the caravan guards and the accompanying soldiers.

  I noticed that the soldiers and the guards were keeping to themselves; I guess they didn't get along.

  "So what's the plan, Sir?" Johan, the senior non-com asked.

  "Ride up close, then we make a lot of noise, shoot a few guards or oxen if you can as we get them all excited, then we ride away when they start shooting back and watch what they do."

  "And then what?"

  "In a couple of hours we do it again, all night long."

  Johan laughed. "They're not going to like us much, are they?"

  "That's the general idea. Just make sure that nobody gets too close. We're just harassing them."

  "Yessir," he said and spread the word. Five minutes later we rode down in the darkness, and approached slowly, until one
of the sentries raised the alarm. At that point we all galloped around the perimeter, shot a few arrows, made a lot of noise, and then rode off when they started to shoot back at us.

  The tried to chase us that first time, but they were on foot and we were mounted, so they couldn't keep up. Also they were smart enough not to split their numbers by following us too far away from their camp, where they would become vulnerable.

  We did that three more times that night. One the third and last time for the night I rode in closer than I had before, and several of the better archers in our group followed me. I attacked one of the groups of oxen that were not as well guarded as the others, shooting as many of them as I could, the others following my lead.

  That really got their attention! Half of the soldiers charged out of the camp towards us, pushing us back from the oxen, so we turned and rode off before they could get close enough to attack.

  When morning came, we rode off a ways and made camp for the night; one of the scouts would spend the day trailing them, and would tell us how their day went.

  We slept until a few hours before sunset, and then made our way onto the next camp.

  "How many of the oxen did we kill?" I asked our scouts.

  "I'm not exactly sure, I think they butchered them and are keeping the meat, but they're down to only three spare oxen today."

  I nodded and thought about that, we’d need to do a lot more damage if we were going to slow them down. Five, even ten more oxen wasn't going to do it.

  Night had fallen when we made it to their new camp, we started off the same as we had last night, riding around, making a lot of noise, and shooting at targets of opportunity. I know we wounded a few of the men, but I don't know if we killed any. What I had noticed was that they set their camp up differently tonight. All of the oxen were in the center of the camp, in one group, with the caravan guards watching them. The soldiers were spaced out more evenly now, guarding the wagons.

  "Looks like we won't be killing anymore oxen tonight, Sir," Johan said to me as we sat around comparing notes on what we'd seen, waiting to make our second attack of the night.