by Guy Antibes
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Five
~
P ol led his group out of Covial. They wore light linen cloaks over their weapons and armor and were soon riding out of the city and into the countryside. He noticed men watching the river every few hundred yards. Some even fished from the shore while they observed the enemy.
The Shinkyans weren’t that far from where Onkar camped with the Tesnan army, and for Pol, they had positioned themselves too far from the city.
He found Fanira, the Blue General.
“I heard you had a warm reception this morning,” she said.
“I did indeed.” Pol smiled and looked at the camp. Everything appeared orderly for a traveling city of over fifteen thousand troops. Pol looked away from the river and saw a field full of horses.
“Do you want to see to your troops, Demeron?”
I do if you can do without me for a bit.
Pol dismounted and removed his saddlebags. The others in his party did the same.
“Did you map the area between Covial and here?” Pol asked.
Fanira nodded. She laid out a map created in sections by some different hands.
Pol looked down at the map. He could use this detail to talk about his impressions on his ride out.
“I want you to split the army up into sections. Faction level would be fine. I want you to find a path away from the road that runs parallel to it. It does not have to be in sight, but it needs to be close enough to attack from. Post your armies along that path heading into Covial. If the Winnowers bridge anywhere from here to Covial, we can use this road and the route we create to converge on them. Are your weapons magnetized?”
Fanira made a face. “Of course. We want to fight, not be frustrated.”
“Had to ask the question,” he said. “Assemble your officers, and let’s hammer out alternatives and options.”
~
Pol looked out at the glow of cooking fires on the other side of the river. The Winnower army had not attacked yet, and that didn’t feel right to him. He asked for a boat to take him across the river that night. This time he would go alone into the camps, but Fadden and Paki insisted on rowing the boat. The clouds began to cover the moon, so Pol boarded, and the three of them slipped across the river a mile downstream from the army encampment.
Pol walked his way to the first sentry line. He examined every step he made. It reminded him of the warded area around The Hole where the Pontifer of Botarra intended to put Shira for a time.
This time he looked for buried wards and spotted a faint glow through the fallen leaves. Pol stepped over it and found three more rings of wards around the camp before he located a sentry. Sentries stood so far apart that he slipped past them.
Torches lit up the enemy camp, so Pol tweaked invisibility and slipped through a horse line and began his journey through the Winnowers.
He passed a set of tents. The men looked confident and ready to fight, but they camped apart from the main group. Were they sentries? They looked too experienced for that.
He evaded them easily enough and walked into the main camp. He noticed a distinct change. These soldiers exhibited a lack of discipline. Men laughed, gambled, and even caroused with female soldiers. Pol got close enough to see all their wards. He removed the mental spells from the females as best he could. That might stir up some trouble.
There were stacks of weapons, but they were not made ready for any action; in fact, he didn’t sense any urgency on the part of the army. In a real army, many of the men would be nervous, thinking about what might happen to them in the next few days.
Messengers should be coming in and out of camp, but Pol noticed nothing. He slipped towards a set of officer tents. None of the men wore armor or even bothered to button or tie up their shirts. Pol examined their weapons. They all showed traces of rust. This was not an invading army. He listened in, not hearing anything of note.
Pol found it too easy to stroll through the camp. He looked for officer groups and still did not get the information he sought. The same lack of discipline prevailed among the officers.
He noticed a man who looked more senior talking to a group of officers and listened in, yet again.
“Four more weeks of this before we head back north?” one of the officers said.
“Patience,” the older man said. “I can’t see an easier duty than pretending to invade. We just have to keep staring at fires, and in a few weeks we’ll begin to put our dummy bridge in the water. Then we can just walk back to Tarida, with our part over.”
“All the while the South Salvans are bottled up, not joining the fight for Yastan.”
“Exactly. It doesn’t matter how many Shinkyans stand in front of Covial. If they are there, they won’t be fighting elsewhere. So keep the discontent down. You’ve never fought an easier war.”
Pol had heard enough. If he had only known sooner, they would have attacked. It seemed that the Winnowers had posted a few competent groups on the periphery to scare off scouts, but they really had served to hide the fact that the dregs of the Winnower army camped at Covial’s doorstep.
It was time to make the army uncomfortable. He started on the other side of the camp and set wards on tent flaps and on supply wagons. If anyone touched the ward, a fire would start. The ward was very simple and quick to apply. He walked for an hour through the three camps, and by the time he reached the eastern side, the wards were tripping.
He continued on his way, a string of fires following his circuitous path. He passed the sentries, and when he reached the horse line, he untied all the horses and tweaked pain in their withers. They took off into the night.
Pol carefully returned through the four rings of wards, avoided a few more sentries, and found Fadden asleep while Paki watched over the boat.
“Did you start the fires?” he aske,d.
“I did. We cannot delay. We need to muster all our troops and attack the Winnower army.”
Fadden pushed a rune book into Pol’s hands. “Tell them,” he said.
By the time they reached the shore, they had found pickets to spread the word. The Shinkyan army would march before dawn.
~
Horses pulled the bridges the Shinkyan army had used upstream and set them up at the ferry point he had used years before. The Winnower army’s reach did not quite extend that far west.
Before dawn, Shinkyans began to march across the water. Downstream to the east, General Trefort’s army rode barges and boats across the river at a wider, but calmer point. They both converged on the Winnower army. The Shinkyan horses wouldn’t see action in this battle.
The trained armies of Shinkya and South Salvan crushed the Winnowers, as the protective wards did not hold up to the magnetized weapons of the armies. The detachments of real soldiers that worked to guard the enemy perimeter put up a fight, but most of the Winnower dregs quickly raised their hands in surrender in spite of mind-control.
The Shinkyan and South Salvan magicians began to remove spells from the soldiers. There were enough Sisters among the Shinkyans to root out magicians, since most of the men were under mind-control, not wards. If Pol hadn’t felt the need to move so quickly, he would have cordoned off the north side of the army, so he never knew how many magicians fled before the combined forces sealed off the enemy.
Pol’s wristband glowed. He pulled out his rune book and found a detachment of enemy troops had broken through between Redearth and Covial, heading to the southern detention area that Queen Isa created to hold over a thousand captured enemy soldiers.
He looked out at the rabble that made up the army they had just fought. Another thousand experienced fighters were worth more than the ten thousand undisciplined that they had just defeated. They could not allow the Winnowers to sneak in and out with better troops.
Pol called General Trefort and Fanira to his side and told them what had happened.
“I’ll want four thousand fighters,” Pol said. “We will march directly west and engage the
enemy when we reach them. The sequestered troops could be free before we arrive. I assume there are no rune books there.”
Trefort shook his head. “We can send a bird.”
“Tell them to give some resistance, but there are too many Winnowers to stop,” Pol said. “I’m sure the invaders have magicians to place new wards on the troops.”
Pol ran over the topography in his head. He would ask General Axe to put fifteen hundred troops in place to stop the new army from running to the northwest corner of South Salvan and escaping to North Salvan.
“I suggest you confiscate the weapons and remove them and the supplies far away from the men and keep the army intact right here for the present. It might help to split the officers from the rest of the men and space the camps out a bit, so you have lanes to keep the Winnower army from joining back up into a large force.”
“Good idea,” General Trefort said. “I was just going to remove the officers.”
Pol nodded. “I’ll take Fanira with me, and she will choose what troops to bring.” He looked at the Blue General. “I need the best and a large magician contingent.”
She saluted and rode to muster the troops, still cleaning up after the conflict.
“Have Shira come here,” Pol said to Demeron, who nodded his head.
Pol looked over the battleground. The Winnowers had lost a few thousand men to a hundred or so of his forces. He only hoped there was not another layer to the Winnower strategy.
Pol had to wait for awhile since Shira was on another part of the battlefield. Amble finally trotted over.
“Did you read the Redearth message?”
Shira nodded. “I intended to meet up with you next. There aren’t very many Winnower magicians here.”
“They are all on their way south. Do you know where the Queen stashed her prisoners?”
Shira nodded. “In a general sense. We can certainly follow them.”
Pol shook his head. “We’ll have scouts follow. I want to crush that army.” He knew the victory was too easy. Now Queen Isa would have thousands of extra mouths to feed unless she forced them to go back into North Salvan. Pol moved over to General Trefort, who sat on his horse nearby talking to a few of his officers.
“It’s the Queen’s decision, but I’ve changed my mind. I suggest herding these men north and dumping them in North Salvan. Queen Isa should not have to feed them, and they are totally useless as fighters, should they return. You might consider killing the magicians.” Pol felt awful saying it. “Especially any with Winnower symbols around their necks.”
Trefort stared at the vast numbers of the Winnower army sitting down in front of him. “Give me the order.”
“Consider it given. I will be taking Shinkyans to encounter the Winnower troops who are attempting to rescue their fellows. Fadden and Ako will lead the Shinkyans in my absence and continue to defend Covial,” Pol said. “With the rune books, we will stay in touch. I’ve got to return to Covial and prepare for our departure.”
~
Pol looked back at the long column of mounted Shinkyans. Fanira had found horses for all of the soldiers. He wondered how she had extracted so many mounts from Queen Isa, but he suspected a good number of the horses were from the Winnowers. They could move much faster on their way to the invaders, and the Shinkyan herd led by Jonness and Lightning could forage on the way.
Before the Winnower invasion, an army of a thousand men would be intimidating; now Pol saw it as little more than a skirmish. At least his Shinkyan troops had now fought Imperials. He made sure that everyone understood that the Winnower army had camped across the river to tie up South Salvan forces. Those they fought next would be a tougher foe. The pattern indicated that they might have been the force that sat on the Finster-North Salvan border.
“It’s hard to believe that the units on the periphery and the wards were designed to keep the soldiers in more than to keep us out,” Shira said. She pounded a fist on her thigh. “We’ll attack these soldiers and then head north?”
Pol chuckled. “That’s still the plan,” he said. Shira had enough anger in her for the both of them. His smile stopped when he realized that this was Shira’s adopted country, and she felt more responsible for prosecuting the war than he did. That would have to change.
“Let’s see if we can move more quickly. It’s about time for Fanira to split.”
Pol rode up the line to her. “We can go our separate ways here. Travel west for two or three hours, and then turn south just as we planned.”
“We message each other once every two hours?” Fanira said
Pol nodded and saluted. “When the time is right, we will move in from both sides and collapse around the front of their column. Prepare your magicians and keep your weapons magnetized.”
She saluted back and summoned her officers. Soon Pol saw their dust cloud to his rear, the other column making its way west. He would meet the Winnower army first.
They picked up the pace, galloped for half an hour, and then walked. After resting the horses, Pol noticed smoke on the horizon. He consulted his map and found a town in the path of the army.
“I don’t like seeing that pillar of smoke,” Pol said. “We need to hurry. If anything, there may be casualties that need our help.”
Towards dusk, they reached the town. The place still burned. Pol directed the soldiers to help defeat the fires. The Winnowers had moved through the town, killing its inhabitants indiscriminately and stealing all the provisions they could.
One of the injured leaned against a burnt-out store. “They swooped down on us. We couldn’t do a thing. Magicians threw fire; the soldiers pulled women and children out on the main street and slaughtered them. Our men didn’t have a chance. Luckily, they did not sack the entire town. Their officers yelled at them to keep moving, and the magicians even killed a few of their own who wouldn’t stop their thieving.” The man shook his head while Pol saw to some burned flesh.
They spent an hour helping the worst of the injuries. If Pol lacked emotion before the town, the disregard for Imperial citizens replaced it with anger. His fist curled in his lap as he kept his anger at bay.
Pol notified Fanira about what happened and that they were getting closer to the Winnower army. If the Winnower army doubled in size, the destruction would even be worse as they headed back up to North Salvan. An army that size could cause serious damage to Redearth coming from the south, despite all the troops stationed in Little Tishiko.
He gathered his officers before they continued towards the Winnowers.
“This is what will happen to Shinkya. Do you think these men have any respect for your people or your traditions? If you didn’t think we were on a mission to save Shinkya before,” Pol pointed at the smoldering buildings, “you should now. Let’s mount up and catch them.”
The locals brought out food that they had hidden from the Winnowers and resupplied the Shinkyans before they galloped away. Pol made sure that each horse in the Shinkyan herd received an apple.
Pol made everyone ride through the night. If they could catch the Winnowers before they reached the large compound that housed the North Salvan troops, their job would be much easier.
Before dawn, Pol made out fires in the distance. The Winnowers had stopped for the night, so he notified Fanira to bring her troops closer. By stopping at the town, the two armies would arrive at the Winnower army about the same time.
“Demeron, I’d like the herd to act as pickets to keep the Winnowers from escaping to the north.”
We can do that, Demeron said. I won’t have to lead them to do that. I want to carry you into battle.
“That will work. Can you give them their orders as we ride?”
Demeron lifted his snout and whinnied.
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
T he sun began to peek over the horizon as Pol gathered his forces. The Shinkyan herd assembled between the two armies and began to forage until Lightning gave them the order to form in
to ranks.
Fanira was not more than five miles away, with her army still rushing to the battle site. Pol decided he would not wait. Between his soldiers and the Shinkyan herd, he outnumbered the expanded Winnower army.
He moved his troops behind a rise in the rolling countryside. Pol looked at a map. The compound was on one of the Queen’s farms ten miles or a day away if the enemy traveled with supply wagons.
Plumes of smoke began to lift into the air as the army doused their cook fires and prepared to move out. Pol looked over the rise and observed a larger army than he had anticipated. He estimated closer to two thousand. How could Grostin get all these men? Could the entire East have left crops to rot so soldiers could be trained? He guessed that the Winnowers hoped to achieve victory by the end of winter, so they could loot the rest of the Baccusol Empire for food.
“The horses stay here,” Pol said to Demeron. “We will move parallel to them for a few hours and then attack from the side.”
Don’t they have scouts?
“I have Sisters out taking care of them,” he said as he mounted Demeron. “It’s time to move.”
Pol gathered his officers. “The enemy may find us at any time, so arms are to be ready to draw. We will form up into the groups you command with the goal of pushing them back towards Fanira’s troops. The Shinkyan herd will maintain position and restrict the enemy from fleeing to the North.”
Pol had read of a few battles that employed a similar strategy to the one he had set up. They needed to be flexible in this terrain and against an unknown foe. Shira had more experience fighting Winnowers, so he leaned towards her. “Any suggestions?” Pol asked.
She strung her bow. “None at all. The magnetized arrowheads stick to each other, but I think I can work through that.”
Pol did not have an immediate thought to improve. Perhaps they could put each arrow in its own compartment in a quiver. He smiled at thinking of something so random just before the battle.
