by Guy Antibes
“I see and he’s Mander’s protégé of sorts.” Silver rubbed his chin. “That I do know and Mander Hart loves him like a son.”
“So I am trapped.”
“How, Captain?” Silver said. “Reach out to him. Tell him of your bond. Perhaps talking to him is what you need to do. If he feels the same way you do, maybe he’ll leave Valetan of his own accord. From what I know of the lad, he’s a very honorable person.”
Tears came to Restella’s eyes and she looked away. “I know. I wish he were dead!” She shouldn’t have said such an awful thing. How could a man affect her so?
“Can’t Fessano work some kind of magic to deaden the bond?”
That was a thought that never came up before. “It’s as if he encouraged the bond, now that you said it. He wanted me to see him, if only from afar.” She shivered at the memory of that encounter. “Lotto’s very face shook me, shocked me.”
“From what I can see, his is a pleasant face. You could do worse, ma’am,” Silver said. “If I might make a recommendation?”
“Yes, Silver.”
“Don’t fight it. To me, and I hesitate to be personal here, but you did ask, I think you should embrace the images. In your mind make him a friend and not an enemy. Perhaps you are so emotional about his presence that you have made him an objectionable obsession. If he brings a feeling of protection and well-being, you won’t suffer as I have seen you suffer since we’ve been on our journey.”
“That’s a possibility,” Restella said. She had already talked too much about Lotto. “I will reflect on your advice, Silver. For now, I’d like to be alone until dinner.” Restella felt miserable. If Silver noticed her discomfort regarding Lotto, then the entire army probably knew. Sometimes she felt the Moonstone’s effect might not be worth it. She gathered her fingers into a fist and clenched hard and twisting feeling the muscles work in her forearm. She chided herself for even thinking the amulet wasn’t important. It was worth every injury and every peril for she had achieved what she had only dreamed of a few years before.
“Certainly, ma’am.” Silver saluted and left Restella staring at the map. She put her finger down where the link told her of Lotto’s location. “Be my friend,” she whispered. Confusion filled her mind so much that she couldn’t control her tears and fled to the private section of the tent.
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY
~
GULLY MOTIONED TOWARDS LOTTO to move his squad above them. One of their advance men had spotted scouts for the Prolans in the forests along the borders of the small kingdom of Prola when they entered a hilly area with ridges running north to south.
Lotto carried his staff horizontally to the ground. That way, he could move straight ahead while he threaded his way along the flat ground without worrying about low-hanging branches. As he reached the next ridgeline, the staff helped him scamper over the rocks. He even used it to vault over a stream, leaving his men to wade through. He passed a clutch of mushrooms nestled within the roots of a dead tree. He remembered from his days with Jessie, that they were the edible kind. He paused to pick them and put them in his bag, anything other than the mush and jerky that had kept them going these past weeks.
The ridgeline ended just above him. He stayed just below it as he had been taught and crept along, motioning the five men behind to follow as he scanned the track below. A flash of red and then more as he saw Prolan scouts move through the woods in the gash of a valley called Hannolo’s Gap. If the Prolans proceeded through the gap, they would run right into Captain Applewood’s troops as intended.
Red. His green and brown coat would keep his men’s presence a secret. Lotto took a deep breath and concentrated on a tree just ahead of the men. He uttered a spell and heard the wood crack in the silence of the woods. The sound of the tree falling would alert Gully and the rest of the rangers that the enemy had been sighted. Lotto patted the spellbook in his pocket, smiling that he had memorized most of it. He signaled to his men to stay where they were.
Lotto scampered down the hill as quietly as he could and slid behind the enemy column. They had stopped up ahead.
“Valetan soldiers up ahead?” one of the red coated men said.
“Do you think that tree fell on its own? We should head back to Hedge’s Crossing and bring the army. If we can convince Captain Lessa, we can catch them from behind by heading over a few ridges and then attack them from a direction they won’t be expecting. There’s a cut-off a mile or so back that we can use.”
“You don’t have to convince me.” The small column turned around and used hand signals to retreat back the way they came. Lotto followed them for a mile along the gap and then retrieved his men.
He returned back to Gully’s position, where the men had begun to eat their midday meal. Gully had been looking at a map of the area.
They’re bringing their army through here.” Lotto laughed, pointing down at the path the Prolans had intended to use. “They thought I’m a wizard.”
Gully squinted at him. “I don’t know what’s so funny. You are.”
That brought Lotto up short. “Well.” He looked down at the ground and then to the west at the trail leading up the ridge. “I know how we might be able to defeat them.”
“Then let’s get back to Captain Applewood and let him know what General Mistad has up his sleeve.”
Gully gathered his men and they ran through the forest to their horses and took off to the north to intercept Applewood’s forces.
The captain had already set up camp at the mouth of Hannolo’s Gap for the night and ate with his five other officers when Gully and Lotto barged in.
“Lieutenant, I’d appreciate a bit less heavy breathing. You must have something important to tell me. Sit, both of you, and tell us what you’ve found. Prolan’s, I imagine.”
“Sir, yes sir,” Gully said, eyeing the food set up at the table. Lotto looked around at the officer corps of their regiment. They had rushed here from the field without eating and Lotto hoped that his stomach wouldn’t growl as they both stood in front of Applewood. Gully continued, “Mistad has an idea on how to capture the Prolan army.”
“Over dinner, gentlemen. Be seated. Grab a couple of chairs.
Lotto didn’t hesitate to gulp down some wine, to clear his throat. “I made a small tree fall for the Prolan scouts and it convinced them that our forces knew they were going to come down through Hannolo’s Gap. They are heading back to bring their army to the border. I heard them say that they were going to move their forces through the vale two ridges to the north, we could attack them at the top of the second ridge after the track winds through a rocky valley. If you bring forces from the head of the gap, making it look like they are the vanguard of a larger force, we could catch them between us and there’d be a lot less resistance. We might be able to go right to Mountsea, the capital. The king couldn’t do anything to halt us.”
Gully just sat there panting like a friendly dog. “We could stop another of these cursed rebel domains.”
The Captain called for a map and the table soon cleared enough to confirm Lotto’s idea.
“How big is their army?”
“We saw them four days ago camped at Hedge’s Crossing. I’d say three, four thousand men,” Gully said.
Applewood stared at the map for a bit more. “They are four to our three and we’d have the surprise. What do you say, Mistad? They would Hannolo’s Gap, you say?”
Lotto nodded. “At the right time, sir.”
“Let’s do it. My orders do not include an invasion and our intent is not to annihilate the Prolans, but stop their ruler. If we can get them to surrender, then we can win without them hating us.”
“Amen. I know enough Prolans, sir. They are good men,” a lieutenant said.
~
Gully delegated his authority to Lotto as the rangers assigned to Applewood split up. Gully would work with another lieutenant and one thousand soldiers of the army to plug up Hannolo’s Gap. Lotto kept his squad of six rangers fann
ed out ahead of the larger group that had been late getting organized for the battle at the rocky valley.
“The Prolans will kill us,” said the lieutenant that led a few hundred mounted men who had risen early enough to accompany Lotto’s rangers.
Lotto shook his head. His plan wouldn’t work without most of the army at the saddle to fight the Prolans. He might have to improvise something on his own once all of the meager Valetan forces had been placed. At least they would slow up the Prolan advance.
They reached the little saddle in the ridge that the Prolan army would take to flank Applewood’s camp. He convinced the lieutenant to stay where they were, a ridge away from where the army would be coming, while Lotto took one man and went ahead. He planned to use a bit of wizardry to stall the enemy. The steep rocky valley that the Prolans would take between the first and second ridges had no exit to either side, leaving the only way out up the narrow defile that led up to the small saddle on the second ridge that the Valetans would defend.
Lotto lay on the ground just beneath the top of the first ridge looking down into the path he expected the Prolans to come. The tinkling of harnesses and hushed voices of tired men woke him up. How could he have fallen asleep? He blinked drowsiness from his eyes and wondered if his nap would cost them a battle. The Prolans were heading his way up through the saddle and both of them had fallen asleep.
“Get back to the lieutenant. Tell him it’s time to get ready for an ambush in an hour or so,” Lotto said. “I’ll do a few things to stall them.”
He watched his ranger disappear from view and pulled out his handbook. He would need something more than what was offered in the little book. What if he combined a couple of spells? He’d never tried it before and had no idea how much it would drain his power, but the terrain at the bottom of the valley looked right for such a thing. He looked down at the sandy bottom and crept up the ridge where he could see the path that was now lined with his fellow soldiers.
The red coats appeared again as the Prolan column marched towards the middle of the large sandy bottom of a dry pond at the bottom of the valley before heading up the defile. Lotto took a deep breath, as he did whenever he attempted magic, and chanted. One spell shook the ground while the other called up a swirl of winds. The ground-shaking spell required the repeating the words as long as he wished the effect to take place.
Lotto motioned with his arms as a wind began to swirl at the army’s feet. He uttered the incantation that caused the winds to pick up the now-loose sand and form a torrent of stinging sand that grew into cluster of whirlwinds, stopping the column. The army spilled down the trail and backed up. Men milled around at the bottom until the army split into two pieces, one committed to the ridge and the smaller force went back towards the main road towards Gully. One thousand men to one thousand entrenched Valetans. The fight wouldn’t even be fair.
The winds continued and the Lotto could see the officers urge their men forward. Lotto hoped that sufficient time had been lost to allow Captain Applewood to arrive to reinforce his small ambush force.
The remnants of the Prolan column began to move again. Lotto laid back, exhausted, as he saw the end of the column move up. He scrambled as soon as he regained some energy and scooted back over the ridge and through the little rocky valley. He stood up and took a long draught from his canteen and used his battle staff to get him through the rocks. By the time he reached the other side of the valley and found an adequate vantage point below where his fellow soldiers were, the Prolans were a hundred paces behind. Lotto grabbed the mushrooms he had put in the back of his pack the previous day and shoved them into his mouth. He’d need more food to generate enough energy to topple a few more trees.
Valetan soldiers began to move past him towards the Prolans. Who had ordered an engagement? Had the captain arrived? Lotto could hear the sounds of the battle beginning to filter through the trees. He stood up straight and toppled five trees from across the valley so that they laid right across the path that led back the way the Prolans had come. With the Valetan forces on his side and trees blocking the way back, the enemy was effectively bottled up. His fellow rangers brought out their bows and waited for the enemy to reach them. He felled a few more trees to keep the Prolans from running up the hill as his rangers surrounded him.
“This was to be an ambush,” Lotto said.
“The lieutenant had other ideas and wanted to engage,” one of his men said.
Shouts were heard as men began to run down the hill towards Lotto. He stood in the middle of the path as a Prolan poked his head over the jumble of felled trees.
“Put down your weapons!” Lotto said. His efforts had just about drained him of power and could barely stand and used his staff as support, but the soldiers didn’t know how weak he was.
The Prolan leapt down and attacked him with his sword. Lotto lowered his staff, poker end first and let the man run right into the point. His opponent obviously couldn’t see the black staff in the dappled sunlight of the woods.
“Stop!” Lotto called again. This time two men ran for him as he could see more men milling behind the logs.
Two arrows flew from his rangers stopped the Prolan men in their tracks.
“Surrender!” Lotto walked up to the trees and climbed up on the logs. “We have no desire to kill you all. Lay down your weapons and we will stop.”
Lotto decided the men needed a little more motivation and he toppled one more tree. It fell as the soldiers scattered. The act made him even woozier. He hung on to his staff with every bit of determination he could muster.
“Wizards!” The word scattered up the slope as the Prolans fought a retreating action. Lotto heard shouting from Prolan officers to stop fighting.
One stepped up and presented Lotto with his sword. “I gladly offer you our surrender. I suppose your wizards created the sand storm that took most of the fight out of my men,” the officer said. “Most of us are not in favor of this senseless war. My duty ended the minute we engaged with you Valetans.” The man seemed sincere and Lotto accepted the sword. The officer turned away to instruct his men to remove their weapons.
“Lay down your weapons by the trees,” Lotto said. Soon the pile grew and Applewood’s lieutenant filed through the red-coated troops.
Lotto took the amazed lieutenant aside. “Why did you attack?”
The man looked abashed. “Captain Applewood told us to engage with enemy at my discretion.”
Lotto shook his head. “With all due respect, we lost some men because of your discretion, sir. If I hadn’t softened them up some, they could have overrun us and headed right towards Captain Applewood.”
“I’m sorry.”
Why would a lieutenant tell Lotto that he was sorry? It didn’t make any sense to him. Perhaps he didn’t really understand what the army was all about. He felt disappointed in the man, but he’d have to set that aside for now.
“I’ll send some rangers to tell Lieutenant Gully that the main force has surrendered. You send your fastest man to hurry up Captain Applewood. We need to notify the Prolan army leader that this lot surrendered. Do you have any ideas how we can do that, sir?”
Lotto’s request gave the lieutenant an excuse to go find a certain sergeant he knew.
Lotto ordered a few Valetan rangers to get his message to Gully. They ran through the sitting array of Prolans and quickly disappeared over the fallen trees on the other side of the valley.
“Sir,” Lotto called the Prolan who surrendered to him. “Why did you surrender so easily? You mentioned a senseless war.”
“Indeed. King Willamo suddenly decided that we should invade Valetan.” Lotto sensed that the man might be somewhat of a rake. He had long curling golden hair and a wide mustache that decorated a rather handsome face. “He claimed he was in league with the petty kingdoms and dukedoms that ring Valetan. He has the support of Duke Histron of the Red Kingdom.
“He doesn’t know that we are no match for your troops, as you so ably demonstrated today
.” The man looked a bit perplexed. “I don’t see any indication of rank. Are you not an officer? The lieutenant seemed to be following your orders.”
Lotto laughed. “No, I’m not an officer, but let’s say I’m a just a soldier of many talents, and you are?”
“Captain Lessa, at your service.”
He led the Prolan army! “I’m Sergeant Lotto Mistad.”
“Of Serytar? The Mistad name was once a noble one… Duke of Bomai, as I recall, before the Dakkoran emperor formally absorbed all of Serytar. Heraldry and nobility is a passion of mine. We Prolans trade with Serytar, you know. A relation, perhaps? I can see you carry a fine Serytar sword. It has seen service.”
“My father’s. He was assassinated nearly twenty years ago.”
Lessa bowed his head and then raised it. “And your staff. A unusual weapon for a noble’s son.”
“I’m a ranger for the king of Valetan. Many of us carry iron shod staffs.”
Lessa squinted as he looked at it. “I recall reading about a weapon such as that. A general, a famous Valetan general, used it.”
“General Kirrello. This is the very staff.”
“You used it on one of my men.” Lessa looked at the bodies. “An unfortunate occurrence. All of my men’s lives are precious.”
“They came at me, Captain.”
“Indeed.” Lessa turned and ordered a few of his men to lay out the bodies appropriately. Lotto noted that the Valetans were doing the same.
The conversation became uncomfortable for Lotto. This Prolan captain seemed to know more about him that he did, from a military standpoint. Lotto had never experienced what a surrendered army did or how prisoners were supposed to be treated. It added to his inadequate feeling.
Lotto couldn’t just stand and chat with Captain Lessa. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be seeing to my men. I’m assuming you will keep your men from doing something inappropriate.”
Lessa bowed and then saluted. “On my honor. Will you allow me to send a message to the rest of my force? It will only reinforce the messages that you have already sent. There is no need for further bloodshed.”
