Manreel came to a conclusion. Why wage war at all? The Keltaran lived in a secret, undetected mountain fortress. The Zodrians spread south along the open plains. Were these foothills worth all the bloodshed? The young colonel went to the king with a bold plan to stop waging war with the Keltaran.
King Debold remained unsure. Years of bloodshed and bitterness clouded all save Manreel’s vision. Manreel asked the king’s permission to form a protectorate to ensure the safety of the homeland. They were to adhere to one purpose, keep Zodra free from invaders. King Debold agreed and thus the Guard of Zodra was born.
Did you ever think about that, Kael? Your precious Guard, the pride of the entire country, was formed as a stay at home army. An army to protect, not conquer.
“I never considered the name,” admitted Kael. “I guess that makes sense. They guard us against invasion.”
Ah, then how did such a force spread across our world? Why does that force find itself deep in Keltar territory? Things have changed since the days of Manreel.
So, the king granted Manreel’s request. A force was formed under the young man’s command. Their tactics were pure. They remained within the original borders of Zodra. They confronted any and all invaders who crossed these boundaries. They aided their brothers in the army when it did not pull them too far from their task of protection.
Many of the General Staff scoffed at the force. They charged Manreel and his Guard with avoiding the real fight. Manreel’s force found more time to drill and practice. More time to improve technique and plan. The general army grew into a ragged force of farmers and ranch hands pressed into service by the crown. Manreel’s forces were polished and professional warriors. Their skill with weapon and horse were unmatched in the kingdom. Time and again they rescued members of the regular army struggling to escape the borderlands with their lives.
Manreel’s plan was true genius. The people of Zodra felt safe within their nation. The enemies of Zodra stayed clear of their borders. The Keltaran remained true to the pledge of Hrafnu. Highwaymen and robbers disappeared from the kingdom. A new threat to the north was emerging, but was not yet known to the people. Within Zodra’s borders, things grew peaceful and comfortable. Peace is a powerful tool, Kael. Much can be resolved and accomplished with just the promise of a bit of peace.
The people doubted the purpose of their war with Keltar. The Zodrian kingdom was rich and protected. The people were well off. What did they require from Keltaran lands? The regular army grew to respect and cherish Manreel’s guard. Guardsmen were the elite fighting men in the kingdom, but they were also champions of peace. They pushed Zodra toward peace.
However, with any brilliant plan, there are always those who will subvert it for their own glory. The General Staff was comprised of such subversive men. They saw no glory in an army pledged to safety and protection. They only dreamed of conquest and plunder. Surely the Keltaran were hiding something in their frigid mountains. Rumors of gold and precious gems circulated about the Zorim Mountains. These lands needed to be taken in order to discover the secret of their wealth.
Others in the General Staff came from a family history of soldiering. There appeared to be no honor in the plan Manreel proposed. These men lost fathers and grandfathers to Hrafnu and his people. Revenge held a razor sharp claw around their hearts. They couldn’t abandon the fight merely for the safety and happiness peace brought to their nation. Personal vendettas meant all the world to them.
Manreel's fame and wisdom grew. Many agreed with his plan and saw the merit of it. The king himself issued fewer and fewer raiding parties into Keltar territory. Life settled in Zodra. Fewer young widows and fatherless children walked her streets. However, the General Staff would not be denied. Luck, be it good or ill, found its way to their doorstep.
One day a young Zodrian soldier was separated from his squad during a border skirmish. He wandered for days in an attempt to avoid the Keltaran and return home. On the third evening he stumbled into the entrance of a narrow gorge hidden by an overgrowth of brush and timber. He followed a moonlit stream up the gorge and into a broad valley. The valley stretched up into the heights of the mountains. At the far end sat a fortress of iron and stone. Its broad face held a wrought iron gate. On either side of the gate, heavy stone stretched to the valley walls. The frightened soldier slipped back out of the gorge and eventually carried the news back to his superiors. Keltar was a secret no more.
His news was just what the General Staff hoped for. The young man brought proof that a Keltaran metropolis thrived in the mountains. A keep filled with untold riches. King Debold was informed that the area was well known for producing gems and precious metals. Earlier raids to this area confirmed traces of such riches.
The General Staff also exaggerated the size of the Keltaran stronghold. They portrayed it as a city whose only purpose was to consolidate Keltaran power and build an invincible army. Manreel’s policies of tolerance had allowed the enemy to secretly build its strength. The day would arrive when an unstoppable Keltaran army of tremendous magnitude would sweep from the mountains.
Manreel protested these notions. Surely the Keltaran lived in such a city for centuries. When they disappeared from the valleys of the Zorim, where did they go? If the city were constructed to consolidate Keltaran power, it must have been achieved years ago. In fact, the discovery of the city bolstered Manreel’s theory. The people of Hrafnu simply wished to be left alone, peacefully penned in the small valley with their flocks. They were harmless to the kingdom of Zodra. The best response was to leave them be.
The king listened carefully to both arguments, but the temptation of a huge source of wealth and power within his grasp was too much. Amird won again and the Zodrian army prepared siege engines and weapons of destruction.
Manreel only shook his head and promised to protect the kingdom’s borders while the army was away. The General Staff scoffed at Manreel and his Guard. The army would show the Guard what true soldiering was all about. They would bring riches and power to the kingdom while ridding it of its biggest threat. Vengeance for years of death and destruction would be brought down on the Keltaran.
Hrafnu and his people were not passive in their own defense. The Keltaran maintained a system of spies to monitor the activities of Zodra. Do not forget that our peoples are cousins, Kael. Not all of my brothers and sisters are born with the size and look of our patriarch. This was even more apparent in the early days when Hrafnu still took in the outcasts of Zodra. Those of our people who might blend in with the Zodrian population, frequently journeyed to the borderlands and the capital itself.
The news was everywhere. The king intended to destroy the Keltaran threat forever. The heroes of the Zodrian army pledged to strike a secret fortress. They intended to stab deep into the heart of Keltaran territory and reduce this stronghold to rubble. They would drag the monster that spawned this race from his city and execute him for his crimes against Zodra. The Zodrian kingdom would move into the mountains and never again fear its Western boundaries.
Hrafnu heard news of the construction of siege engines, and the imminent battle. As always, he hung his head in sorrow, but only for a moment. Years of battle and loss hardened his heart. He no longer wept for the losses of his enemy. He no longer considered the Zodrians as blood of his blood, and children of Avra. He was obliged to protect his people.
Hrafnu took council with his remaining sons and grandsons. All agreed. This Manreel and his Guard had held out a hope for peace. Hrafnu had prayed that the man’s words were heeded. However, now that they were disregarded, a problem arose for the Keltaran. The partial peace that lasted over the last decade allowed the Zodrian army to bolster their number. The Zodrians commanded an army the likes of which Hrafnu and his people never faced. This army was aimed at the heart of Hrafnu’s land. They marched toward Keltar’s women and children, its flocks and fields.
If the Keltaran harassed the Zodrian army during its approach, they were sure to damage the Zodrians, but not s
top them. If the Keltaran were to meet the Zodrians in open battle at the foot of the mountains, they would surely perish, overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Hrafnu grew bitter over the years, but not stupid. His only defense had been and always would be the blessed winter. Within weeks the first bitter blasts from the north would arrive. Howling winds and ice storms would blow down the valleys. No tent, blind, or tree line would offer protection from the icy hand of the North. Any army on the road at this point would be subject to the harsh treatment of the weather, a much tougher foe than a Keltaran raiding party.
For years Keltar lay undetected in its valley. The key to success was to leave the ravine without fortifications. The city itself held enough to confound any enemy that stumbled upon her. However, no army stumbled. A ravine entrance thick with gorse bush and choking trees was all the Keltaran required to be overlooked for a century of warfare. However, the ravine would go unnoticed no longer.
Hrafnu called for his stonemasons and carpenters. It was time to plug the hole into his beautiful valley. His plan called for a tower to be built on each side of the ravine’s opening. The towers would be attached to the walls of the canyon, fifty strides from one another. Across those fifty strides the masons would erect an impenetrable wall of stone and iron, with a gate no army could penetrate. Once more Hrafnu’s brains won out over his bitterness.
The Zodrians required time to complete their siege engines, and even more time transporting them West. Hrafnu would take advantage of this time to seal them off from his precious city and her people. When the Zodrians arrived, they would be forced to form their massive army up in front of a tiny defensive position. The Zodrian strength, massive numbers, would be wasted in an attempt to focus on so small a target. Only one or two units could attack the gate at a time.
Hrafnu believed this tactic would slow the Zodrians so significantly that even if they did breach the gate, the ensuing battle through the ravine and eventual siege of Keltar would waste the remainder of the fall. The Zodrians would be stuck in the mountains, low on provisions as the winter arrived. As long as Hrafnu’s army held the gate for several weeks, no Zodrian would ever set foot in Keltar.
It was a good plan, and should have worked to perfection. Hrafnu gambled that the Zodrian forces would move together to the battle. Keltaran harassment of Zodrian raiding parties was well established. The cavalry needed to escort the siege machines to protect them.
At first, Hrafnu was correct. The Zodrians completed their siege engines and slowly drew them through Keltaran territory while the cavalry patrolled the perimeter. For days the group moved toward Keltar. However, a Zodrian scouting party secretly moved to the ravine. There they discovered the work of Hrafnu’s masons.
The gorse were cleared from the opening. Two mighty towers stood on either side of the ravine. Midlevel on the towers a massive wall spanned the opening. The Keltaran dug a deep, wide trench in front of the wall. They diverted the Cliebruk stream into the trench and icy water swirled and surged at the wall’s base. A massive iron gate, recently forged in the furnaces of Keltar, lay resting against the wall. Winches and pulleys were bolted into the ravine in readiness to hoist the gate into position.
The Zodrian scouts recognized the horrible miscalculation of the General Staff. The Keltaran had used the Zodrian delay to their advantage. The scouting party sprung to their horses and rode hard to inform the staff. The siege engines were still a week away from their destination. However, the cavalry would be able to reach the ravine in little over a day’s ride. If Zodra were to grasp any hope, the cavalry must break from their escort of the siege engines, ride to the newly constructed gate and halt its completion.
The General Staff agreed with this assessment. The cavalry prepared to depart. However, the General Staff were familiar with Keltaran tactics and feared a trick. They sent riders to the border to contact Manreel. The Staff ordered the young colonel forward to protect the siege engines and their personnel.
Manreel agreed that the fight was at the gate. Delivering the siege engines unharmed was crucial to the plan. Without the cavalry escort, the men manning the engines became vulnerable to an enemy force. Manreel knew his duty and rushed to their aid.
The Guard’s cavalry pushed their mounts to the limit in hopes of reaching the ravine within a day’s time. Manreel took up position with the siege engines as they crept toward Keltar. The gate was near completion as the exhausted cavalry arrived. The busy Keltaran masons and carpenters threw down their tools and took up arms. The Keltaran workmen marched out to meet the Zodrian threat.
The narrow ravine entrance afforded the Keltaran giants the best possible fighting ground. The Zodrians would be forced to charge their mounts into the tight opening. The Keltaran armed themselves with long handled axes and pikes. The Zodrians would find it difficult to make contact using only their short sabers.
The groups stared at one another for several minutes. The Zodrian leader accomplished his mission. Work on the gate halted. However, he was acutely aware that every passing moment allowed the Keltaran the chance for reinforcements. If he and the Zodrians were pushed back from the gate and work resumed without harassment, all was lost. He determined to take the gate and push into the ravine to secure it.
The cavalry officer ordered his riders to form into groups of fifty. The Keltaran, on the other hand, formed into a wedge, two men deep. Those in the front rank crouched low with heavy headed axes at the ready. The back line extended long pikes over the heads of the men in front.
The Zodrian cavalry leader lowered his sword and the first line of fifty shot forward. The turf churned under the steel shod hooves of the Zodrian mounts. A second wave of fifty sprang forward a few moments later. The horses’ breath steamed in an unusually chilly morning air. The first wave raised their shields and lowered their heads. They crashed hard into pike, ax and Keltaran. Riders spilled from their horses, skewered by the sharp tipped pikes. The Keltaran wedge faltered, but held. Horses with and without riders spun from the wedge and bolted from the ravine along its walls. The second Zodrian wave hit the Keltaran wedge.
The second wave fared as the first. More riders spilled from the saddle and several Keltaran fell under the hooves of the charging stallions. Once more the wedge held, but now its members were bloodied and injured. Horses raced along the ravine walls back out of the valley to form up in the rear of the cavalry. New waves of fifty took the forward position and waited for the signal from their commander. He lowered his saber and once again they leapt forward. Armored horses slammed into the wedge and the sickening sound of grating metal and breaking bone could be heard. Bodies lay strewn about the ravine’s opening, and the wails of the injured carried down the valley. The Keltaran made a brave stand, but the shear number of horsemen made their task nearly impossible.
Runners arrived in Keltar to inform Hrafnu of the battle. The ancient giant grimaced at the news. Once again the Zodrians destroyed his hopes for peace. The giant gathered his remaining sons about him and they headed to the gate. When he arrived, Hrafnu scaled its wall to better assess the battleground below. As he stood on the wall, he watched his courageous masons and carpenters face the sixth charge of the Zodrian cavalry. Their numbers were thinned and the dead and wounded lay bleeding across the ravine’s mouth. The gate beneath him lay on its side, ready to be hoisted into position. The masons were just hours away from completing their task. He determined not to be cheated. These Zodrians would not enter his valley. The gate would hold.
The General Staff remained with the siege engines, the strength of their upcoming assault. Manreel’s cavalry circled them. The young colonel and a group of retainers trotted forward to scout the terrain ahead. Zodrian messengers from the battle appeared with news. The cavalry engaged the enemy and intended to take the ravine.
The Zodrian colonel was a warrior at heart. He knew how the best laid plans of generals meant nothing once the fight raged. The conquest of Keltar would not be fought against the walls of the mountain c
ity, but in the narrow ravine that hid it for centuries.
The battle at the gate was disastrous news for the Zodrian General Staff. Their intentions were thwarted. Even if the ravine gates were taken, the journey through the narrow passage would be a bloody affair more suited to foot soldiers than horsemen. Every step the cavalry progressed toward Hrafnu’s city would be paid for with massive Zodrian casualties. Zodra’s strength lay in her cavalry and the open spaces. This campaign turned to folly.
Manreel analyzed the situation. Once again Hrafnu appeared to choose peace. If his intentions were so murderous, he would have set upon the Zodrians at night while they camped. Ambushes would have been set to take advantage of the Guardsmen when they were off their mounts. The Zodrian cavalry would have been separated from the siege engines through diversion. The engines would then have been burnt where they stood.
This giant proved time and time again his deep understanding of tactics. Hrafnu’s choice was obvious. He refused to fight. Hrafnu intended to finish his gates before discovery and allow the Zodrians to expend all their energy for naught.
Hrafnu planned wisely in all things but one. The giant falsely assumed the Zodrians would not separate their forces. The General Staff followed a rulebook of tactics established through centuries of rigid tradition. They believed in one way to encounter all situations. Hrafnu did not perceive the desperation of the generals. Years of peace eroded their standing in the eyes of the public. Their power waned as Manreel’s notion of peace took root. When faced with the devastating ruin of their plans by the gate, they broke from their hallowed tradition. They gambled all and separated their forces.
Ironically, it was Manreel, the champion of peace, who allowed them to roll the dice of chance. Without Manreel’s Guard standing ready to protect the siege engines, they could never have split forces. Confident in his ability to protect the engines, their decision was both desperate and sensible. Their strategy to force their way down the ravine to Keltar, however, was not. Manreel was correct as usual. Capturing the gate was one thing. Running the ravine to the valley was quite another. It could never be done.
The Merchant and the Menace Page 27
