A Sorcerer's Fist

by Guy Antibes

  “You didn’t. Why not?” Pira asked.

  “Nemo would make them an integral part of our plan if I did.”

  “You don’t trust him?”

  Ricky pursed his lips. “It’s not a matter of trust. When Mara called me so naive it hurt, I vowed to change the way I think. I used to think in only one direction. I’m trying to learn to analyze situations more deeply.”

  “You figured that out on your own?”

  “Not exactly. Everyone I’ve met has had different motivations, different interests, as you called them. Think of it as my managing everyone’s interests.”

  “That sounds too cynical rather than naive,” Pira said.

  “I didn’t say I have to hide everything, but I am hesitant about having the Gruntalians enter Paranty. Other countries and other city-states might not like to see that happen. If it means sacrificing our goals, then that is different.”

  Pira grinned. “I like your approach, my knight. What about Tobia and Minnie?”

  “We will have to leave a force here. Not a big one, but large enough to hold the castle in case King Leon decides to do what we are doing,” Ricky said. “I’d like to take the two healers with us, but leave Krankel Kokorak, Wedo, and Tarka behind. Five battle sorcerers should be enough to scout. Tobia can train Tarka to use a sword, and the battle sorcerers can teach him some spells, but he needs a translator if he goes with us.”

  “Hemo and Greda?”

  “I’ll give them a choice, since they aren’t Parantians, and they can’t heal. Both of them know enough offensive and defensive spells to help the castle defenders. I imagine one-hundred fifty men, locally trained troops.”

  “You have gone over this with Mattia and Zaria?”

  Ricky nodded. “They agree. Zaria will leave the five slowest battle sorcerers. They will be fast enough to scout the land from Vittaci to here.”

  “It would be better if you put a spy in the village.”

  “Mattia already has a person in the village with birds trained for Samira. He did that right after the battle.”

  “You don’t want me here to be protected?” Pira said through narrowed eyes.

  “No. If we succeed, we will need someone to rule Paranty. You give the Order legitimacy and always have.”

  “Unlike you.”

  Ricky smiled. “Unlike me. I’m a thief from Tossa’s Shantyboat town.”

  “The town is gone, and so is the thief,” Pira said. “He has turned into my knight.” She frowned. “I am not ready to be queen.”

  “You don’t have to be. Princess is good enough. When the order reconstitutes the Council of Notables, they will decide who rules. We might even move from a monarchy. Would you be offended if that happened?”

  She shook her head. “Duke Noacci told me long ago that was his intention. He wants to do away with the Crespi dynasty.” She raised her forefinger. “That didn’t mean he would do away with me.”

  “I should hope not,” Ricky said.

  “We are unanimous in that. So how can I help get everything ready?”

  ~

  Ricky racked his brain, trying to figure out what else he could come up with and a thought came. He linked with Jac Griama.

  Jac, how is Dimani doing?

  It is good to hear your thoughts, I guess. South Dimani has settled down. King Ranoka and his council denied Lady Rasso rights of any kind in South Dimani but encouraged her to open up an import operation in Lajakal. In exchange, we agreed to let her compete for dark dimani contracts and sent her a boatload of her husband’s sheep. It wasn’t until after the boat left that we found out that Rasso had stolen the flock from a Dimani farmer. We will see if she is a decent shepherd or not. Jac said. You are still in South Naparra?

  I’ve taken over the summer ducal castle at Samira, Ricky said. King Leon tried to attack us, but it failed. We have finally decided to counter-attack while most of the royal army is heading to Applia.

  You are going to invade Sealio?

  We are. I was wondering if you could help.

  King Courer owes you a great deal. What can we do?

  I have a Gruntalian force heading for the Parantian border. I’d like to have the port of Sealio blocked.

  Blocked? Jac asked.

  I don’t want ships to leave with troops or with sorcerers. Can you do that?

  It is an act of war, Ricky.

  So was what King Leon tried when your brother invited him onto Dimani soil.

  I will talk to King Courer. We certainly have the ships, and our sailors have no love for your king. That doesn’t include Princess Pira, by the way. Her role in the unpleasantness was revealed when King Leon disinherited her. I don’t think the king has the courage, but I will ask.

  I have another request.

  Ricky could picture Jac smiling and shaking his head.

  What is it?

  I’d like to buy supplies for my army. Whatever you can spare. You can ship them to Amarine, and we will take them north to feed our soldiers.

  That is something I can commit to without consulting the king. How much do you need?

  ~

  Ricky worked with Minnie and Mattia in coming up with a list of food and livestock that he would purchase using the funds he still had in Dimani. The blockade wasn’t immediately rejected by King Courer, but Jac didn’t think the king would go that far to help Ricky.

  He knew King Courer’s permission was a slim chance, but he had to ask. Now that he had a firm supply line in place, Minnie could arrange wagons and drivers to take the goods to the army once they passed Firali.

  The troops were ready to go. More would follow, so Minnie suggested that soldiers be prepared to sleep in the open since summer was nearly upon them. Tents would be used to shelter the mustering troops that would follow. Mattia and Minnie worked well together, setting up all the logistics.

  The time had come for the soldiers to leave. Ricky stood by the road and waved to the Samira army as they filed by. He could fly to Sealio in less than two days instead of taking ten days to walk.

  He checked with Bocca and Baron Mansali on the status of the troops. The baron would leave Tossa’s governance to his council. He had decided to accompany his troops. They were to camp by a stone bridge on the south side of the River Lironi, nearly halfway between Tossa and Sealio. The baron and Ricky discussed the possibility of joining forces on the southern side of the River Lironi if the royal troops turned back to Sealio.

  Ricky checked with the Gruntalians. Kened had accompanied the fifteen hundred men and women who had volunteered to come to Ricky’s aid. They were nearly poised on the border southeast of Torak. Kened had made sure he had the permission of the other city-states to move through the territories under their influence, and each city-state had readily agreed after learning of the Duterian attacks on Gruntal. No one trusted King Leon now that it was apparent he was under the influence of Botoyans at the University of Sealio.

  Ricky and Pira flew to join Mattia just north of Firali to give him the updates. Mattia spread the rumpled map of Paranty on a folding table beneath a hastily-erected pavilion. He narrowed his eyes and pulled colored wooden pieces out of a cloth bag and placed the positions of the three order forces and a cluster of dark blue pieces representing the royal army. He asked, “Now, what can go wrong?”

  “The royal army can turn back once they find out we are on the move,” Ricky said.

  Mattia moved the Tossan soldiers across the River Lironi to block the path of the royals. “We can squeeze them from both sides,” Mattia said. “Our battle sorcerers can fly to assist.”

  One of Mattia’s officers began sketching and writing down their debate. The discussion went on for an hour until Mattia put the pieces as they were originally.

  “What if we approach Sealio and a larger-than-expected force shows? King Leon knows how to draft farmers into his army as well as we do. Tossa and Applia are engaged to the east, and we have no one to help us.”

  Ricky wanted to hold the G
runtalians aside, but he knew that Mattia had to plan for unforeseen circumstances, and Ricky knew it wouldn’t be honorable not to let him know if they were planning for contingencies.

  “I have received word from Kened Gostok that fifteen hundred Gruntalian troops are about to camp on the Hessilian side of the border to the southeast of Torak.” Ricky pointed to the border.

  Mattia’s eyebrows went up. “Fifteen hundred, you say?”

  Ricky nodded. “I had thought they would provide a token force.”

  “Not an army, eh?” Mattia said, looking sideways at Ricky. “I’m glad we were notified now rather than as the Sealians descended on us as a mass of angry citizens.”

  “You don’t think that’s possible, do you?” Princess Pira said.

  “No, but we need to consider it. If we move the Gruntalians within a day or two from Sealio, more scenarios open up for us.” He eyed Ricky. “We would consider using our friends to the north only if we had to. I understand your reservations.”

  “Thank you,” Ricky said.

  “I’d say something more colorful than that if I had found out when we camped outside Sealio,” Mattia said. “Now that you know how the game is played, we will get more detailed every night, including invasion plans. Right now my major concern is what the royal army is going to do. We’ve had enough. You may rest. We will have another week of travel before we spot the Five Towers on the horizon.”

  Ricky slept in his own tent, but Pira shared a tent with Nania. In the morning, Pira stood outside Ricky’s tent, calling to him to wake up. He opened the flap, fully dressed and ready to continue their march.

  “Nania was disappointed in you. She thought I had been a bad influence, keeping the Gruntalians a secret.”

  “You and I talked about it. You didn’t seem to object then,” Ricky said.

  “I also wanted to tell you that Mattia got over your exciting little tidbit. He is impressed that you were able to get Jac to send supplies and persuade the Gruntalians to send a force.”

  “I hardly had to ask Kened. He had even more volunteers, but the city commander insisted that Duteria needed to be viewed as a continuing threat.”

  Pira nodded. “Nemo gets more comfortable with more options, and although he knows his strategy, Mattia is aware others have more creativity than he does. Nania thought you might want to know.”

  “Too bad I can’t link with her,” Ricky said.

  “She’s too old for you, anyway.” Pira smiled.

  “I didn’t mean—” Ricky said, stammering.

  “I know,” Pira turned and walked away. There was too much bounce in her step for Ricky’s comfort.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  ~

  T wo days away from Sealio, Ricky heard that the royal troops had begun to engage Applian forces a day away from their city. Mansali reported that his army had already crossed the River Lironi and headed north and then would turn east in a flanking maneuver. King Leon’s army had committed to attacking Applia.

  The planning focus changed when they met. Gone were the contingency discussions should the royal forces turn toward Tossa or back to Sealio. Mattia now confirmed their objectives and how to execute the invasion of Sealio.

  Pira confided to them all that she didn’t know how the citizens would react to her return, and that remained the largest unknown.

  “Where do the soldiers live?” Ricky asked.

  “Why do we need to know that?” Mattia asked, but Ricky knew it was a rhetorical question.

  “We should minimize a counterattack. If they are billeted north of the city, we can use the Gruntalians. They are now closer to Sealio than we are.”

  Mattia spread out his map of Sealio. “Soldiers would be concentrated here, here, or here. We don’t know which units are fighting the Applians.”:

  “I can find out,” Ricky said. “There is no reason to guess. Tell me where soldiers should be, and I’ll fly far above the city and see if they are there.”

  Nemo nodded. “It is time for that.” He looked at Zaria. “Let’s do a complete job of it. What can we find out from a bird’s eye surveillance?”

  They launched into another discussion, and Ricky and a few select battle sorcerers had their flying orders. The Gruntalians would be activated if two camps north of the city, including the one that once held the battle sorcerers, were occupied. Ricky would fly even farther north to meet with their allies. The council ended, but Mattia stayed, moving his little blocks around, seeking out all angles.

  Pira pleaded to come with Ricky.

  “You will have to master the sound shield,” Ricky said. They spent a few minutes until she was able to show Ricky a strong shield. “Now for the magic-killer. I’ll be with you, so you don’t have to learn this, but one never knows.”

  “No, one never does,” Pira said with a trace of mockery in her voice.

  Ricky just grunted, and a quarter of an hour later, she had the spell down well enough for Ricky to feel it through his own sound shield. They practiced for a bit more before the evening meal was ready. They would leave sometime around midnight.

  ~

  Ricky looked down at people starting their days in the villages and towns surrounding Sealio. Pira and he flew north to the stone barracks and to the other camp. They were empty except for a few non-uniformed workers in the stables and what looked like kitchen workers or maids of some kind.

  After linking with Kened, they flew to the Gruntalian camp. An army camp had never looked so orderly from above. Ricky and Pira landed in front of the command tent, with Kened standing next to General Jackel.

  “What are our orders?” General Jackel said after Ricky introduced Pira.

  Ricky pulled a copy of the Sealio map from his pocket. “I don’t suppose you have a recent map of the capital?”

  “Come inside.”

  Jackel showed them a map four times the size. A man and a woman conferred with each other using notebooks they each held. They looked up and gasped.

  “Lord Valian, you grace us with your presence.” They bowed.

  “No bowing on the battlefield,” Ricky said. He looked at a shocked General Jackel. “At least not to me. When were you last over the city?”

  “Yesterday, in the late afternoon. Our section is the last to complete.”

  Ricky looked at the map. It put Mattia’s to shame. “Did you see any concentrations of soldiers?”

  They looked at each other and pointed to an empty part. “Soldiers trained here.”

  “Was the training ground filled with soldiers?”

  They both nodded their heads.

  “Do you know this place, Pira?”

  “It is on our list.”

  “Crespi Field?” Ricky asked having to unfold his map. He laid it on the Gruntalian version. The larger map showed a much larger training ground. “That makes sense. It can feed soldiers to this gate to the castle and the northeastern gate to the inner city.”

  “Not that the inner gates mean much in Sealio, these days. Most are rusted shut,” Pira said.

  “Unless sorcerers have loosened the hinges,” Ricky said.

  “Where is the castle?” General Jackel asked.

  The woman pointed to two of the cluster of five round circles representing the Five Towers. “These two towers have been incorporated into the castle, more palace really. The castle walls aren’t very high or very thick, and the only real approach to the castle is through this large square, but trees will get in the way of any substantial siege engines.”

  “Which we don’t have, anyway,” General Jackel said. “We do have sorcerers, though, who can fly inside.”

  Ricky linked with Mirano Bespa back at the camp. He waited until the healer engaged some moments later, indicating he stood next to Nemo Mattia.

  Soldiers are at Crespi Field, Ricky said. The field is at the north end of the city. When we attack, the Gruntalians are better positioned to take the field. They have already surveyed the city, and the highest
concentration of soldiers is there. For us to move troops north will delay our thrust towards the castle.

  Limit their engagement to that objective, and then have them communicate to you. Mattia agrees with your assessment, Bespa said.

  “Your objective is to move your troops through the city at your own discretion and take the field. We won’t know what comes next until we arrive at the castle,” Ricky said, saying what Mattia hadn’t. “Pira knows Sealio, so let’s talk about probable routes through the city.”

  Ricky and Pira stayed for another hour. More of the sorcerer scouts joined in. Ricky nodded to Mossa Benkoya, his roommate while he was going through the First Ring in Duteria. She blushed and put her head down, ready to write.

  “I think that gives us more to go on,” General Jackel said. “My scouts will do a more thorough mapping job, now we know our objective. Will you be joining us on our mission, Lord Valian?”

  Ricky didn’t know how to respond at first. “We are still getting our own intelligence. When the Samiran forces’ objectives are finalized, I’ll let you know. They have much more of the city to negotiate.” Ricky traced a possible path with his finger. “Plus we have two bridges to cross first, and we don’t know what the Sealians have planned to defend them.”

  The general gazed down at the map. “I see what you mean. We will be prepared to execute when you give Gostok word.”

  “We have a bit more scouting work to do on our way back.”

  Ricky and Pira took off.

  They hadn’t flown over the city on their way to meet the Gruntalians, but they did now. Ricky wanted to see Crespi Field for himself. It was more like a plain, to his eyes, and it was an active installation.

  “Are there other barracks like this in the city?” Ricky asked Pira, floating far above the city.

  “This is where palace guards are trained,” she said. “I’m not sure. I know the castle and the roads around the castle.”

  They flew over the castle. Pira didn’t see any more guards on the walls or walking on the grounds than usual.

  “That light blue flag means my cousin is in residence. If he had joined the royal army, the flag would be red.”