Trials of a Champion

by Thomas O'Gorman

  “Uncle was serious about leaving whatever is in this cave alone,” Torvee said.

  “You will see why in a moment,” Siggy replied.

  They walked into the cave, and after following a path that went straight into the mountain, they came to an opening that was like a small room. The walls curved inward as they rose from the floor of the cave. Torvee noticed that the sun was coming through an opening in the ceiling of the cave, and the light that reflected off the cave walls surrounding her and Siggy had a purple hue.

  “Examine the walls,” Siggy said.

  Torvee walked closer to the nearest wall, and what she saw made her gasp. The walls that surrounded her were filled with giant purple crystals, or amethysts. Their color was deep purple, and their clarity showed no imperfections.

  “This is actually the inside of a very large geode of amethyst,” Siggy said. The largest geode ever discovered. As you read outside the King wants this find to be unmolested and for the most part it has been.”

  “How much is all of this worth?”

  “Its incalculable. Fifty million dreckels, 100 million? Who knows? Arkyn would rather leave it intact as a national treasure that all Skal can come and behold than mine it. He says that the mine below and the mines in the north produce enough precious stones and gold for the coffers. Its enough that Skalish citizens are the only ones in Aurella that are not taxed.”

  “It is wonderful that Uncle has preserved this. How come I didn’t know about it.”

  “It was just discovered a year ago, and with the threat of war the King didn’t want to announce it to the public. After this war, if we survive, this will be a popular destination.”

  Torvee nodded and continued to examine the walls of the cave. After she was done, she hugged Siggy and gave him a lingering kiss.

  “This was wonderful. Seeing the beauty in this cave was better than you giving me a stone,” Torvee said.

  They walked out of the cave arm in arm, shielding their eyes when they got back outside with the sun shining on the snow making it really bright.

  “About that, I hope this isn’t ugly to you after seeing the Amethyst Cave,” Siggy said as he pulled a box out of an inner pocket and opened it in front of her. “I hope that this small gift will remind you of this day when you look at it.”

  In the box was a beautiful Amethyst stone set in a ring. Torvee started trembling, but not from the cold, as she took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.

  “It is beautiful,” Torvee said. “I will always cherish it and it will always remind me of you.” I wish it was a diamond and he was proposing, but it is a sweet gesture, nonetheless.

  Torvee hugged and kissed Siggy again. They embraced a long time, then they broke apart and walked to their horses.

  “I want to stop and look at the city again,” Torvee said as she mounted her horse.

  “I was going to take us down a different trail, but we can go that way again,” Siggy said.

  They went down the same trail they came up on, and when they got to the overlook they dismounted and walked up to the edge of the outcropping.

  “What is that?” Torvee asked.

  “I don’t know, I can not make out the detail,” Siggy said. He walked back to his horse and pulled a spyglass out of his saddlebag. He walked back to the edge of the lookout and looked down on the city and its surroundings with the spyglass. “Oh no! By the Almighty, the dark day has come.”

  Captain Tiga Vaux was a mile south of the city participating in war games with a Skal commander. The Skal commander, Kadur Vennon, and his troops were playing the part of the Menegar. They were across the field from Tiga and his troops lined up in a typical Menegar formation, groups of five called a pent. The pents were arranged in a loose square. As the fake Menegar formation moved toward Tiga’s position, the square changed shape and formed columns one pent thick at the front but five or six pents big at the base. Tiga signaled for a tightening of the formation. The forces met and hacked at each other with wooden staves and pushed and pulled each other down. The rule was that if any part of the soldier other than the feet or hands touched the ground, the soldier was to give themselves up for dead.

  Tiga had bunched the formations just in time. The fake Menegar were unable to penetrate. They realized this quickly and changed formation to what was called loose pent. In this formation the pents were able to float through the battleground unattached to each other. They looked for weaknesses in the enemy lines and attacked there.

  Tiga blew for the herringbone formation. This was columns of men with men alternating looking forward, left, right, and backward. It was effective when the enemy was approaching from unknown vectors. Its weakness was that it is a defensive formation and doesn’t allow for a smooth attack transition. Tiga felt it was the right call though because she was able to have her furthest left and right columns surround the fake Menegars as they pressed for the rear of her formation. At the right time, she ordered the left and right columns to charge back toward the middle and they trapped the fake Menegar, and Commander Vennon surrendered.

  He walked over to Tiga. “Well played Captain Vaux. I think you could have trapped real Menegar with that move.”

  “You and I both know that the fighting would have gone on another hour or two,” Tiga said. “Menegar never surrender, so I am told.”

  “No, they do not, but none the less you would have carried the day. Are you and your troops ready to take a turn at being Menegar?”

  “Yes, I am afraid I don’t know their formations as well as you, but we will give you a good fight.”

  “Speaking of formations, I am not familiar with the one you used where your men were positioned to

  survey the whole battlefield. What is that formation called?”

  “The herringbone. My brother taught it to me when we were little. When it rained, he used to insist

  that I play soldiers with him. I had to learn every formation. He read so many books about wars and

  battles and knew all sorts of forms and gambits, and he made me learn them too.”

  “He taught you well, Captain.”

  There was a commotion among the men. Lieutenant Rend approached Tiga.

  “Captain, there is something going on at Trellheim. There is a force marching around the west side of the city toward the south.”

  Tiga and Vennon ran to the top of a nearby hill and looked through their spyglasses. What Tiga saw made her stomach turn as hard as a rock. It was the full Menegar army returned from their hunt for Aggenburg. It looked to Tiga like they were surrounding Trellheim. She realized her and Vennon’s 500 men must have been seen because a small Menegar cavalry unit was riding towards them.

  She turned toward Vennon. “We are cut off from the city, we must find somewhere to make a base camp, but first we have to deal with the cavalry unit that is bearing down on us.”

  Vennon surveyed the land. “We should make our stand on that hill 700 span toward the east. It is the highest ground in the area and on the way to where I think we should go hide out.”

  “Where is that?” Tiga asked.

  “Crystal Mountain,” Vennon said.

  “Explain after we defeat the cavalry. Let’s go.”

  Tiga and Vennon formed up their troops and marched to the hill that Vennon had pointed out. Once they got there both forces broke out into pike box formations, which consisted of pikemen in the middle surrounded by swordsman who also carried spears. Tiga was glad she insisted that the men carry their full complement of real weapons out this morning.

  The Menegar cavalry of fifty horse came swiftly upon them and rushed their positions. The forces met and the pike boxes held for the most part. Fifteen of the Menegar went down along with ten of the infantry. The cavalry regrouped and charged again, this time twelve went down as the pike boxes held again and eight of the infantry were killed.

  The cavalry regrouped and this time they didn’t charge. The commanding officer called one of his soldiers up to him
and after a moment the soldier rode back towards the Menegar army.

  Tiga met Vennon in the back of the formation.

  “They are going to get reinforcements,” Tiga said.

  “It is time to make a break for the mountain,” Vennon said.

  “They will just follow us, we should rush them and finish them,” Tiga said.

  “Calm down, Tiga, there is a place we can attack them on the way that will give us better odds.”

  “If you are sure.”

  “I grew up here, I know that mountain like the back of my hand.”

  Tiga and Vennon formed up the troops once more and called a double-time march toward Crystal Mountain. As expected, the Menegar cavalry followed at a distance. After forty-five minutes, they reached the base of the mountain. Tiga turned to Vennon for direction, and instead of going up the trail that climbed the mountain they just reached they went south, around the base of the mountain.

  Another thirty minutes later they got to the southernmost point of the mountain. At this point the mountain jutted out and the trail around it took a U-turn. On the other side of the U-turn, there was an outcropping about seven span up that was a large shelf. The trail went almost directly under the shelf.

  As soon as all their men were around the U-turn, Vennon sent fifty of his men to climb up to the shelf.

  “Have the rest of the men form up like we are going to face the cavalry thirty span from where the shelf ends. They will focus on us when they come around the turn and not the men on the shelf. The men on the shelf will attack them and we will finish them off. None will escape.”

  Tiga took the men and had them get ready to attack the cavalry when they came around the turn. Vennon climbed up to the shelf and was going to lead the attack from there. The Menegar cavalry came around the turn a few minutes later and stopped short, right under the shelf, when they saw the infantry ready to attack them. Vennon let out a yell and the fifty men on the shelf jumped down on the Menegar, knocking them off their horses.

  The infantry charged and the Menegar cavalry were slaughtered. After the skirmish the victors let the horses go and buried the dead Menegar under the snow drifts at the base of the mountain so no one would find them.

  Tiga called Vennon over. “What is your plan now? The way I see it is we have no food, no water, and nowhere to go. The snow has covered all the wood, making it wet so it won’t burn. We just might freeze to death out here.”

  “I think I can allay most of your concerns. There is a quartz mine close to here. It was active until King Arkyn called for the evacuation to Aggenburg. We won’t freeze in the mine, and I know a source of food and water there.”

  “Sounds like our only option. Lead the way.”

  The group marched for another twenty minutes until they reached the opening of the mine. It was fenced off, but they had no problem breaking through the barrier. There was a large store of lanterns, lamp oil, and timbers at the base of the mine. At least we can have a fire.

  “Four of my boys are minors,” Vennon said. “Let me send them down to make sure the integrity of the mine is still good. I’ll tell them to stick to the main shafts, so it won’t take all day. This is a big mine with lots of sections. It would be easy to get lost.” Vennon told the men to go and they disappeared down the hole.

  “How old is this mine?” Tiga asked.

  “It’s hundreds of years old,” Vennon said. “They have shut it down for periods over the years, but then someone makes a new discovery and it opens back up. It was shut when I was a boy, but I used to come out here and explore it all the time. I don’t know the new parts of the mine, but the old tunnels I know well.”

  After an hour the four men Vennon sent into the mine came back. They reported it was all clear. Tiga and Vennon had the soldiers form a single column and they all entered the mine.

  As Tiga descended into the mine she felt the temperature gradually get warmer. The four men must have placed lighted lamps along the walls because there was a lamp every ten span. As they followed the main adit Tiga noticed there were paths that split off on the left and the right.

  “Those lead to the new parts of the mine,” Vennon said.

  They got to a point where the adit made a bend to the left and there were some timbers blocking a rough passage. Vennon and some of his soldiers tore the timbers off the side of the passage.

  “Have the men wait here,” he said to Tiga. “Come and see where I think we should bed down.”

  She followed Vennon down the rough passage that was less a mine and more of a natural track formed in rock. It got tight but not too small for her men to get through. Finally, it opened into a huge room that had a ceiling dotted with stalactites and large formations throughout. It was just big enough for 482 men to bed down in.

  “This room is wonderful,” Tiga said. “I have never seen anything like it.”

  “Not many people have seen it, but it is beautiful. I call it the coliseum. All the columns that reach to the ceiling remind me of the pillars in the arena. Feel the air move? It means we can light a cook fire in here.”

  “And cook what with it?”

  “I haven’t shown you the best part. Follow me.”

  She followed him to the back of the huge room to a crevasse and slipped through. On the other side was a passage. She could hear a faint roaring sound, and it got louder as she went. They came to a rock with natural steps in it and climbed up. When she reached the top, she realized she was on the bank of an underground river. It was clear as Mountain Lake but moving quickly. She could see fish flash by in the lantern light.

  “Food and drink,” Vennon said. “There are pots here for gathering water and some old fishing gear and nets. We will have to set a crew to fishing the whole time to get enough food for the boys, but that river has always been full of fish.”

  “What a magical place,” Tiga said. “If we aren’t discovered, we will do just fine here. We can’t just sit here and watch Trellheim fall though. We have to help in some way.”

  King Arkyn was alone in his private study, contemplating one of his problems. Assuming he and his country survived, this problem would become the problem. Arkyn was fifty-nine, and tomorrow was his birthday. By ancient law, the monarch of Skal was required to name his or her successor before a major war, or before his sixtieth birthday. One way or another it was time for Arkyn to name a heir. The problem was it wasn’t a clear choice. It would have been if he had ever had children, or so he thought. He didn’t, however, and the choice of an immediate blood relative was limited. He felt strongly about not wanting the throne to pass out of the Sjoström family. He wished it could be his nephew, Winn. Winn was feared lost at sea, and even if he were alive, he would be prince reagent for Aviel if they succeeded in putting down the usurper Keyland. No, he couldn’t name Winn. Brit was living in Aviel with a minor nobleman, happy as can be. She was out too. If he wanted to keep the throne in the family, it was between Torvee and Tiga. Skal hadn’t had many queens and most of the ones they did have didn’t survive very long. If one of his nieces was going to be queen, she had to be strong. Arkyn sighed and wrote a name down on some parchment and slipped it into a strong box behind his desk and locked it. Only he and his Lord of Heraldry, Sven Ubenhowse had a key.

  Jarl Arvil Bonde followed by Torvee crashed through the door to the throne room and skidded to a stop in front of Arkyn. “The Menegar are back, Your Majesty. They are surrounding the city! We barely made it through the gates before they arrived!”

  Arkyn hopped out of the throne and ran to his war room where the generals just got the news themselves and were issuing orders to runners.

  “Status!” Arkyn roared.

  “Sir,” General Gustafson replied. “We just received word that the Menegar are massing just beyond our walls. Early estimates that there are about 4,000 less of them than our scouts reported, but that is still more than 32,000 of them surrounding us, including the giants. We have deployed all the troops to defend every inch of wall ar
ound the city. Sire, it is not too late to abandon the outer city and defend the inner walls. You know that the defending the outer walls stretches our troop compliment a little too thin.”

  “We have had this argument 100 times, and I thought you knew my mind on this and the issue was settled,” Arkyn said. “I tell you for the last time General Gustafson that we will not yield an inch of this city to the Menegar horde!”

  “I share your assessment sire, the combined forces of Skal and Aviel will hold the outer wall,” General Rackam said.

  “Sire, we will prevail, and I respect your decision,” Gustafson said. “Now I respectfully suggest we go to the command tower and direct the defense of the city.”

  Arkyn led Generals Gustafson, Rackam, and the myriad of other officers and aids, including Lieutenant Sexton, up to the command perch of the castle. The perch was on top of one of the tallest towers of the palace. They climbed the many stairs that spiraled up the tower until they reached the top. There was a rope and pully system with attached baskets that reached from the ground to the top of the tower. The general’s orders were to be placed into the basket to be sent down to runners, and the runners would bring action reports to be sent up to the generals. Lieutenant Sexton was stationed on top of the tower with General Rackam to be a lookout and to read the action reports and sort them in order of importance. The Avish were guarding the south and west walls, and the Skalish warriors were guarding the north and east walls. General Rackam and Lieutenant Sexton stationed themselves at the southwest point of the tower, and General Gustafson and his men were at the northeast point. Arkyn hovered between the two and several runners were manning the messaging system which was in the middle of the tower.

  The first thing Sexton did when he got to the top of the tower was to pull out his spyglass and survey the enemy. He noticed that they were coming from the north and had almost surrounded the city. He gasped when he saw one Skalish unit and one Avish unit way beyond the city skirmishing with a Menegar cavalry unit.