"The sorcerers worked for the commander of the unit, so their loyalty to him was foremost. Depending on who hired you, you could be well taken care of or badly overworked. This created a problem for the new army when it came to distributing the available sorcerers amongst the army units. All needed support, but sorcerers would not serve with certain units.
"Furthermore, based on the lessons learned at Kramornon, our sorcerers could be expended like so many arrows by the whim of a commander who did not care for his sorcerers. The Council set up a restriction that sorcerers would only be under the command of sorcerers. Of course, the generals did not agree."
"I don't understand why not; they have engineers in engineer companies. Why would they object to sorcerers with their own units?” Recanlin asked.
Aetria looked over her shoulder at the road ahead, looking for a place to stop the caravan for their noon meal. None was in sight. The constant talking was making her throat dry, and she took a drink from her water container. The Novices followed her lead.
"Valid point, Novice Recanlin, but keep in mind that the engineers are support troops. The Aggressors and Illusionists are viewed as a major offensive weapon like a squadron of heavy cavalry."
Novice Fernonia burst out laughing. She stifled her guffaws when she received a hard glare from Aetria. “Sorry, Sorceress, but I don't see Illusionists as a major offensive weapon."
Jalista yelled angrily at Fernonia, “Perhaps after I slap that stupid smile off your face, Fernonia, you will think this Illusionist offensive.” She jumped up to follow through with her threat, Fernonia rising to meet her.
A melee between the two sorceresses was barely averted by their respective fellow Novices pulling them back into their seats. Aetria suppressed a smile, wishing she had said that. The interminable arrogance of Aggressors had forever created problems in the Corps.
"I am not surprised you don't see us as a major offensive weapon because you have not served in the army long enough to have experienced what we can do,” Aetria sternly rebuked Fernonia. “Imagination is a much flaunted ability of an Illusionist, but exercise yours and think about charging a cavalry squadron over a bridge across a ravine, only to find there isn't a bridge.
"Or believing that infantry units in front of you are outnumbered by your own, and after you engage them, you find the reverse to be true. I am sure any of the Novice Illusionists would be only too happy to provide other examples, but let these suffice for the moment."
Turning to look back and forth at the Aggressors and Illusionists, Aetria spoke in a cold, command voice. “I will not tolerate fighting amongst the disciplines. We all serve the king; our country needs us all. We must be united before the non-sorcerer and not bring dishonor upon our Lodge or the Order. Questions on this?"
Fernonia's eyes showed defiance, but she said nothing. The rest would not meet their instructor's glare. Aetria decided she would have to have a private talk with Fernonia, and soon.
"Very well. Back to major offensive weapons. The generals feared they would not have control of these weapons. The Council feared the generals would misuse the weapons, citing Kramornon as proof of their concerns. The Council also brought up the specter of the Sorcerer War. They made an issue of our well-known prohibitions against taking life which are respected by the non-sorcerer. Also, the Council wanted to control the limits to which sorcerers would be asked to go.
"A non-sorcerer would not understand the way we operate, and given the limited time we had before rejoining the battle with the Hermanians, the cost of learning would be too high. Despite our efforts to develop a more open relationship with the people, we are still a very closed society to them. They truly don't know how we do the things we do; maybe they don't want to know and prefer to believe we do it with ‘magic.'
"The results of the Council's arguments were the king's permission to create the Sorcerer Corps to be commanded by our own officers. Our commanders would serve on generals’ staffs as chief advisors on spell warfare which was something neither the non-sorcerer nor sorcerer knew how to do, but the sorcerers were not going to admit that and lose control. Kramornon had made us experts overnight.
"Unfortunately, we still had a lot to learn."
Looking forward again, Aetria still saw no likely stopping spot, so she signaled Lieutenant Nemos to have his troops eat in the saddle, passing the orders back to the other wagons. The Novices dug into their packs for the rations they had learned to keep there, and within moments, all were busy eating. Between bites of food and sips of water, Aetria continued her lesson.
"Adept Pleates and I were among the first company to leave Inhestia to join the war. When we first arrived in the army, we wore uniform robes that displayed our discipline by color. Healers wore white, Provisioners green, Illusionists blue, and Aggressors black. Our ranks were displayed the same as they were at Inhestia with colored sashes. Back then, as it still is today, all sorcerers were considered to hold officer rank in the army, but the likelihood of any of us ever giving orders to non-sorcerer troops is remote. We set up our bivouac in the midst of the army, well-protected by their infantry, and settled in while our commanders met with the generals.
"The next six months were very interesting but trying times for us. We discovered that the Hermanians had also learned their lessons from Kramornon, and surprisingly or not, depending on your point of view, had organized very much like ourselves. Battles between massed Aggressors almost never occurred. Whenever they appeared on the field, opposing Aggressors were rushed to meet them, and both sides frequently ended up in a stand-off."
Jalista, casting a quick glance at Fernonia, asked, “How were the Illusionists used early in the war?"
"A quick answer is—poorly,” Aetria replied with a grimace, remembering vividly the wasted time and energy she had put into her work. “But we were also having to learn how to be effective. We were first used to try to spread fear and terror among the troops. Every monster story you had ever heard in your childhood became a source of illusions sent into the Hermanian camps, usually at night, to harass the sentries and keep the troops awake.
"The Hermanians returned our horrors with their own, and we spent considerable Power casting counter spells. The troops called them ‘believe’ and ‘not believe’ battles. We had ignored the Second Law of Spell Warfare, ‘Engaging like spells is costly,’ and kept relearning it.
"The trick in illusion warfare is to keep the illusion within the range of belief of the observer. Of course, you can fool some of the people all of the..."
"So the armies sat around and watched the sorcerers make fools of each other?” Fernonia cut in.
"No, war marches on, Novice Fernonia. Bloody battles were still fought, and soldiers were wounded and died. The Healers and Provisioners were kept very busy. The sight of the Healers in their white robes moving among the wounded and dying after a skirmish was all too familiar.
"We had managed to return the conduct of warfare to where it had been before the introduction of Spell Warfare; that is the attrition of the enemy's forces by sword and arrow. The winner of a battle was the one who lost fewest troops. Generals did this by exploiting mistakes, by maneuvering for position, and by surprise. One such surprise caused a major change in conduct of the war and has severely affected the way sorcerers are viewed by both armies ever since."
"You must be referring to the Dishonor at Roland Pass,” Novice Belanar's bass voice interjected. He had been a leader in the choir at Inhestia, his distinctively strong, clear voice frequently taking the male lead in their song plays. He was the calmest Aggressor Aetria had ever met. He did not fit the mold for Aggressor behavior, but had successfully completed the training. Like Recanlin, he also wanted to work in the mine trade, and similarly, was one of the three non-volunteers. “My uncle was killed there. It was, indeed, a sad day for sorcerers."
"Perhaps you would like to relate what happened there, Novice Belanar?” Aetria asked.
The quiet Aggressor shook his head. “No
, Ma'am. I only know he died in the battle there, and that it was called that name. The news of battle greatly disturbed my mother and father. Please tell us what happened."
Aetria noticed how keenly the other Novices were watching Belanar. They were now more interested in the story because one of their own had been directly influenced by it.
"There had been a fierce attack by the Hermanians against the troops guarding the pass, which was located on our army's western flank. It provided an excellent road down which they could strike deeply into our supply lines. They broke off the attack several hours before dusk to allow Healers to find the wounded and remove them from the field before darkness.
"The Delmathian commander became suspicious when he saw a much larger than normal number of Healers attending the casualties. He signaled his skirmishers, skilled archers sent ahead of the front lines to warn of advancing enemy units and to take out targets of opportunity, to watch the Healers closely. He alerted his troops to stand by to repel an attack and waited."
Jalista cut in. “Aren't Healers covered by a truce when they are tending injured soldiers?"
"Not formally, no. It has always been accepted they were not targets of battle. You do not kill life-saving support troops of any kind. The Delmathian commander was watching them carefully. About one hour before dark, over half of the Healers turned toward our lines and commenced a bombardment of fireballs.
"The skirmishers managed to shoot down a number of the Aggressors before being killed. Several squadrons of heavy cavalry burst through the Hermanian lines and charged into our troops. Had the soldiers not been alerted, they would have broken and run, with the Hermanians raiding our supply lines shortly thereafter.
"As it was, the Delmathians barely held on, keeping the cavalry at bay while taking heavy spell fire from the Aggressors. Our reserve troops, already hurrying to the scene at the request of the commander at Roland Pass, arrived in time to repulse the Hermanians. When word of the deception got out, the troops reacted angrily.
"Try to understand these troops had been under continuous spell attack for months, subjected to continual deception. An Aggressor can kill with no visible weapon. Now Aggressors were deceitfully wearing the uniforms of sorcerers covered by a code of honor. What next—wearing the uniforms of our own sorcerers?
"A belief sprang up overnight that the only safe sorcerer was a dead one. It was the Hermanians who started the deception, but the backlash fell on all sorcerers."
"I now understand your comment this morning about us being targets to all, friend and foe alike.” Recanlin groaned, recalling the knife in Aetria's hand the night before.
"It was also the reason the Council got permission to create the Sorcerer Guards. Before they arrived on the scene, our guards were regular army units that performed their guard duties somewhat lackadaisically.
"The generals viewed our protection as a form of soft duty for troops coming off the front lines, and our protectors changed almost every day. We did not bother to develop any kind of relationship with the units and they didn't either. Not knowing how each other operated set us up for suspicion and the resulting friction between the units.
"Combined with the results of the Hermanians’ deception, we found ourselves treated like prisoners of war instead of a valued support unit. The Council proposed to the king and his generals that we bring in our own protective forces from the Lodges. They sold the idea by pointing out that our guards were familiar with sorcerers and their operations, knew most of us on sight, and would relieve badly needed infantry units of a task they now found odious. The king agreed."
"Why didn't the Hermanians do something similar?” Tracilus asked.
Aetria felt a burst of genuine liking for the young Aggressor. He was the only one who had shown interest in the past of the Corps so far.
"In one way, they did, Novice Tracilus. They shifted to their dark gray uniforms. They continued using regular troops for protection, but shifted their Assassin forces into their sorcerer units. The Assassins provide the same protective functions as our Guard, but they still carry on their normal nefarious fieldwork for their army. Our Guard does not support other army units unless directly attacked."
Tracilus broke in with one of his summations. “So, the Hermanian sorcerers achieved their isolation from their troops by being considered the ‘dirty works’ gang, and we do it by being protected by our own Guards."
"Essentially correct, Novice, but we like to believe we are more accepted by our army than their sorcerers are. But perhaps we are more isolated from our army than we should be. It is why I am devoting badly needed training time to make you Novices understand the concerns our troops have about us.” Aetria signaled a halt of the caravan for a stretch break and to allow people to relieve themselves.
When all had been given the opportunity to take care of nature's business, she climbed aboard the wagon with the Healers and Provisioners to repeat her lectures of the morning.
Provisioners tended to be people of strong parenting skills, nurturers, outgoing givers. Their magic produced food, water, wine—all forms of sustaining magic. The local lords and those few wealthy leaders of Guild towns hired them to run the wineries, supervise food and water production, serve as commissaries to the trade caravans and now to the army.
Healers were empathic, loving listeners, gentle, and most of all caring. Their magic consisted of curing, soothing, tending, and healing. The oldest of the disciplines, their services were under constant demand from all Delmathia's societies and guilds. Every village wanted a resident Healer, but were lucky if they could share one among a dozen other villages and towns.
Not surprisingly, Aetria found less contentiousness among nurturers and caregivers. She welcomed the chance to relax while it lasted.
* * * *
After another day cooped up in a steamy wagon with rain dogging the caravan for most of the morning and early afternoon, Aetria was glad for sun that finally broke through the clouds and began to dry the wet foliage of the forest lining the road north.
Keeping the Novices’ attention in the rocking wagons with the heat building because of so many bodies in close quarters had been difficult at best. Frequent stops to stretch had only gotten the young people wetter as the day progressed. But, with the sun now out, everyone's spirits improved, and by the time she halted the caravan for the evening, their pent up energy was making the company restless. The evening's exercise session was well attended.
Aetria preferred to exercise alone but had to set the example for her Novices. At Inhestia she had devoted a minimum of an hour a day to her flexing and stretching routines, followed by an hour of target practice with knife and dart. Now, she was barely able to do more than half an hour a night. Between the utter fatigue of the day's travel and the camp routines she had to supervise, she only managed this time because she had scheduled it and had ordered all to participate. Pleates even allowed his Aggressors to attend, excepting himself, of course.
The encampment was on the crest of a small hill set off the road as always with the tents under the trees and the cooking fires in a small clearing. Not far from where the horses were picketed was another clearing where Aetria chose to have the company assemble and hold the scheduled pre-dusk self-defense training. Here, the ground was relatively firm; the day's rains had drained rapidly off the hill. It was covered with the tough grass of the foothills, shortened nearly to the dirt by grazing pack animals and the horses of countless travelers who used this site to rest overnight.
None of the Novices were trained in Tierian skills, so Aetria was able to train unencumbered by a sparring partner. Several of the female Novices had asked about her stretching routines, and she had taught them the basics. They complained later of the soreness in the muscles, and she explained that flexibility was not something one acquired in a short period of time. Aetria smiled to herself as she saw several still trying to emulate her. Whether they were really interested or enjoyed the men's eyes on them instead of her was
debatable.
As she released from a split maneuver and twisted erect, Aetria was startled to find Lieutenant Nemos beside her.
"Yes, Lieutenant?” she asked.
"You have a grace and fluidity I find very interesting, Sorceress. I would be honored if you would show me that particular movement."
His eyes did shine with interest, Aetria noted, and not the usual sexual one. She wondered if he could ever bring himself to share union with a sorceress. The Guards’ devotion to the protection of her Order was extreme, but they had lived close enough to sorcerers that they could not possibly believe the legends of what happened to a non-sorcerer man who made love to a sorceress. Aetria was not looking for lovemaking; the Power knew she didn't have the time or the energy.
"Show me how much of it you can do before I try to ask you to do too much. This is not a beginning movement."
Nemos launched himself into a lunging movement, similar to the extension made by a swordsman's straightforward thrust. He than slowly slid the non-extended leg outward, until he settled to the ground in the splits. His flexibility was extremely good; she had seen other men injure themselves before completing the split.
"Very good, Lieutenant! A bit lacking in the grace and fluidity you praised, but essentially correct. The movement is designed to allow you to drop quickly to the floor...” Aetria seemingly fell into the split, her sandals barely whispering as they shifted her weight outward. She had executed her split so her body faced his only a few feet away.
"Thus dodging a swung or thrust weapon attack at the upper body, or the swinging lever arm of scythe trap. Of course, to dodge that, you have to make yourself very small, so it completes the protective portion of the move when you lower your torso flat to the ground.” Turning her head, she looked upward at him with her right eye, her left ear to ground.
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