by Donald Davis
Joshua left, thinking about Evalyn and his unborn child. I cannot lose, he thought to himself. He walked to the nearest station that had pigeons. As much as he didn’t want to, there was no other way than to send word of the new location for the armies to gather. Since Yordenfall was no longer an option, Joshua decided that Treadrock would be the next best thing. He wrote the letters as cryptic as possible, but just decipherable enough that his mother and Grayton could understand that he meant to move to Treadrock. After sending the letter, Joshua prepared for yet another long journey. He saddled his horse and set off.
This time, Joshua didn’t even keep count of how many days it took him to reach Treadrock. Roughly a week, if he had to guess. He trotted to the gate and was allowed entrance. He was almost feeling nostalgic from his first trip there. The leadership hall looked as unique as ever. He dismounted and climbed the stairs like last time. On his way up, he noticed that the laborers had finished the carving of Garron Trent into the wall of leaders. Joshua took a moment to admire it, then proceeded inside.
Joshua walked inside the building and went up more stairs to the upper level, where the main chamber was. To his surprise, it was empty. He thought about waiting for someone to come by so that he could ask, but he decided to try searching Garron’s chambers first. He walked down the hall and knocked on his door. Joshua could hear mumbling inside. “Enter,” he heard someone say. Joshua opened the door and proceeded inside. He looked to see Garron and Grayton both sitting in opposing positions.
“Joshua! Glad to see that you’ve made it safely.” Grayton said. “I was just discussing everything with Garron here.”
Joshua looked to Garron. “Hello friend, how have you been?”
“Good, Joshua,” Garron said. “I hear you’ve been busy.”
“Always. So, how goes everything?”
Grayton looked down, then to Joshua. “Actually, that’s what we were talking about. I received your letter about Yordenfall, which was bad enough. But it appears that Treadrock will not be able to aide us either.”
Worry and disbelief struck Joshua. “What?” He turned to Garron. “Garron, is this true?”
“Joshua, our people just got out of a rebellion not long ago. Did you think that they’d be willing to march so soon? You’re also a member of the house that they fought before.”
Joshua stared at him. “Come on Garron. Don’t do this to me, not now. I need this.”
Garron looked over to Grayton, then back to Joshua. He sighed. “Joshua, walk with me for a moment.” Garron stood up and left the room, Joshua following him. He followed him down the stairs and around town, unsure of where they were headed. Joshua could barely speak. It’s over, he thought. It’s truly over. Without Yordenfall or Treadrock, the rebellion is a lost cause already. Joshua continued to think negative thoughts until Garron eventually stopped.
Joshua noticed that they had walked to one of the outer walls on the opposite side of the city that the main gate was on. Garron turned and looked to Joshua. “There is someone here to see you.” At that moment, Terra walked around the corner and approached Joshua. “Mother,” he said. “When did you get here?” She hugged him. “Just last night, actually. I read your letter. It’s a shame about Yordenfall.” Joshua shook his head. “Mother, I don’t know what we’re going to do. Without Treadrock or Yordenfall, there isn’t much that we can do.” Terra looked to Garron with a confused look. Garron then grinned. “Come,” he said. “Follow me. Up these stairs.”
There was a set of wooden stairs that led up to the top of the city wall, looking opposite the city gate. They all climbed the stairs. Once they reached the top of the wall, Joshua looked out in the distance and immediately dropped his jaw. He looked out into the distance, seeing what was probably a couple of thousand men stationed out in tents and several different camps that had been set up. “What?” he managed. He turned and looked at Garron who couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry, Joshua. It was a cruel trick, I know. Don’t worry, I’ve talked to them already. You have your men. And the full support of Treadrock.”
Chapter 22: First Strike
Joshua laughed and gave Garron a slight shove. “I can’t believe you.” Garron joined the laughter. “Sorry, I had to do it. But in any case, this is it. I called upon every man within Treadrock territory. I figured that we would need them.” This had given Joshua hope. For once, it seemed like things were starting to look better for the war to come. “Yes,” Joshua said. “We need them. They will give us the edge we need.” He then turned to Terra. “Mother, how did you fare with the lords?” She had been hard at work, visiting various houses and villages throughout Asedith. Most of them were small, but they could use any support possible. “As well as could be expected,” she said. “A little over half of the lords I visited contributed. It’s nothing compared to Treadrock’s support, but I managed to gain the support of roughly three hundred men.” Joshua smiled, “Thank you, mother. They will be put to good use.”
“Garron, what about the problems you spoke of earlier? They all sounded valid.”
“Some of the men were hesitant at first, but they came around. Other than the fact that we recently took place in a rebellion, they were concerned about fighting for a Bracken. After all, your family was the one that some of these men fought against. However, I revealed to the men that you were the one who had come and helped Treadrock defeat the rebels that were causing trouble. But the main thing that convinced them? Your father. I reminded them that despite being our enemy at the time, king Tedric showed mercy to all those who surrendered at the battle of Keridion that day. We will never forget the kindness and mercy shown by him. He was a good man.”
Joshua smiled and shook Garron’s hand. “Thank you, brother. I shall never forget the kindness shown by you either.”
Joshua, Garron, and Terra all looked out at the army that was assembled for a moment longer, then descended the stairs back into the city. “So, what’s the plan moving forward?” asked Garron. “Well first, I’m going to smack Grayton for going along with that trick of yours,” Joshua joked. “Then, I say we strike.” After all this time, Joshua was ready for action. “Strike? Strike now?” Terra asked. “Yes. Now, mother. If we wait too long, the army is going to get impatient. Too long without bloodshed and they’ll grow restless I assure you.”
“I agree,” Garron said. “Without Yordenfall, our army isn’t going to grow much larger than it is. What did you have in mind, Joshua?”
The three of them stopped at the bottom of the stairs of the leadership hall. Joshua looked at the two of them. “Look, I know the ins and outs of Roseshire. Having trained under father all that time, I’ve learned a few things. And let me tell you, a forward assault on Roseshire would not work. The walls and gates are too strong to breach. And I guarantee that Braden would be able to gather at least as many men as we have for his army, if not more. With that many men guarding Roseshire, along with its defenses, it would be almost impossible to breach… There is one secret passage that leads close to the castle, but I guarantee that it would be heavily guarded, and almost impossible to get through. But if the next part of my plan works, we just might be able to use it to our advantage.”
“Alright,” Garron said. “What’s the next part of your plan?”
“We go after their supply lines,” Joshua said. “Roseshire is a large city, with many people. The second-largest city in all of Asedith. If Braden had all of his men gathered in the city to defend it, there’s no way that we could win that fight. So why not draw the men out to us? If we constantly capture and take over any supply caravans that we see that are headed for Roseshire, they would eventually need food. Even if the men weren’t staying in Roseshire, the king would still need food in the capital. There are a couple of small farms within the city itself, but they produce nowhere near enough food to feed the entire city. Especially if he had any of his men stationed there. He would have to send his men to stop us.”
Terra was catching on. “Meaning th
at there would no longer be enough men in Roseshire to maintain it.”
“Exactly,” Joshua said. “After we cut off the supply line, it’s only a matter of time before Braden’s army tries to stop us. When they eventually do, we face them head-on. It would be a hard battle to be sure, but if we pull it off, it would turn the tide of the war. Once they are defeated, we march on Roseshire. With luck, the king will have sent most of his men to fight us from before. If so, there will scarcely be any men left in Roseshire. Less than required to protect a city of that size.”
Garron was amazed at how much thought was put into this. He remembered that Grayton had mentioned Joshua strategizing for several weeks for different outcomes. It was starting to show.
Garron spoke up. “One step at a time, huh?” Joshua nodded, “One step at a time.”
After the three of them finished speaking, they made preparations. Joshua had divided a few smaller groups out of the army. The largest portion of the army was to remain at Treadrock, to protect it in case of attack. There were two other groups, one led by Joshua and the other led by Grayton. They would set out and attack supply caravans at different locations. The plan was to intercept them and seize the supplies. If they could continuously pull this off, the king would have no choice but to send men after them. Joshua also made sure to dispatch a small number of people to various cities, towns, and villages to see if they could track down Emilia. If she had indeed escaped Braden’s grasp, they would find her.
As he said goodbye to Terra and Garron, Joshua led his own group of soldiers to hunt down a supply caravan. Grayton did the same. He was no longer a fierce warrior as he was when he was young, but he still had his wits about him. He would make sure to guide the soldiers in the right direction when planning an attack on supply caravans. Joshua split off, galloping down the road with his own group of soldiers. He was headed for the supply caravan. After attacking he would be marked as an official enemy to the crown, something he never thought he’d be. This is it, he thought. Let the war begin in earnest.
Within two days, Joshua’s group had gotten closer to Roseshire and prepared to attack their first supply caravan. Joshua and his fifty men waited amongst the trees and within the brush that was just over one of the roads leading to Roseshire. They had been waiting in this spot for a few hours now, waiting to hear back from the scouts that Joshua had sent ahead to spy on the caravan. Joshua laid there, propped up against a tree. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he always liked to just sit and think sometimes. He often thought about his family and Evalyn. But now he found himself thinking about the king and how much everything changed under his rule. Him not even attempting to find Emilia was what helped push Joshua over the edge. Even though he knew that Braden had begun to misuse his powers, deep down he still couldn’t help but feel guilty for abandoning the oath that he had sworn as a king’s knight.
As Joshua sat in thought underneath the tree, he saw the scouts returning to the group. Joshua stood up and walked to them. “Anything?” he asked them. The two of them were young. If he had to guess, they only would’ve had thirty years between them. “Yes, ser… Lord,” one of them said. They weren’t sure what to call him, considering he was no longer a king’s knight and wasn’t crowned as a king or lord. The boy continued, “We followed the caravan, which seemed to be loaded with many supplies. Several wagons were full of vegetables and the like. They will be passing by shortly.” Joshua nodded. “Very well, thank you.” He then turned to the group of men. “Everyone in your positions.”
The caravan was slowly moving down the road, each wagon near fully loaded with food and supplies. There were ten guards scattered in different positions around the caravan. They kept moving forward until two of the guards were struck with arrows. Everyone with the caravan panicked and started looking around to see the men surrounding them.
“What? What is this?!” one of the men shouted.
“Nobody move,” Joshua said as he approached the caravan. “Anybody moves, you will die. We are only here for the supplies.”
At that moment, one of the guards jumped atop one of the wagons and quickly tried to gallop off with the supplies. Before he could get the horses moving, he was filled with three arrows. The man fell to the ground and died. “Again,” Joshua said. “If anyone moves, you will die. We just want the supplies. There’s no need for any more bloodshed.” The remaining guards looked to each other and threw down their weapons.
“Good. I need everyone to step away from the wagons. We will be taking all of the supplies with us.” Reluctantly, everyone that was with the caravan backed away and allowed Joshua’s men to proceed. After his men had loaded the wagons and prepared to take them to Treadrock, Joshua looked to the group of people. One of the people stared at Joshua. “I hate thieves.” Joshua stopped what he was doing and looked at them. Most of them looked at him with disgust. “Look, I know it seems unfair,” he said. “It doesn’t seem right for me to take this. But it has nothing to do with you, this is for the king. Times might get hard for a while, but it will all get better.”
“Why are you doing this?” one of the people asked him.
“Some of you may not recognize me, but I am Joshua Bracken, son of Tedric Bracken, the previous king. There’s no way that you could know it, but Braden has manipulated everything so that he could be king. He doesn’t deserve, nor need the power. It should be handled by someone who cares for the people. Someone who will say that they care for the kingdom and its people and truly mean it.”
Another person in the group spoke up. “Tell me, who would this person be? Let me take a guess. You?”
Everything was silent for a moment. “Yes, me,” Joshua replied. “If we succeed, I will try my very best to lead the kingdom to greatness once again. I will lead as my father did, for the good of the people. No matter what you believe, surely you can all agree that things were better when my father ruled the kingdom. That we can have a king who cares about the people of Asedith far more than Braden does.” The people just looked around to each other, sharing silent glances. Deep down, they knew that there was a sense behind these words.
“I will not give up on you,” Joshua said. “My quarrel is not with you, it is with Braden.” Joshua looked forward and the wagons started for Treadrock. As they moved, Joshua turned around to them to say one last thing. “Tell Braden that Joshua Bracken is coming for him. And he can soon expect me on his doorstep.”
For the next three months, Joshua continuously targeted supply caravans that were traveling to Roseshire. For each caravan that he captured, he relayed the same threat to its people to carry to the king. Over time, it became apparent that Braden was adjusting to the attacks. The caravans started slowly having more and more guards added to them; therefore, Joshua responded by sending more men of his own each time. Joshua knew the daily routines of Roseshire and how it operated and knew how to respond accordingly. If he was correct in his calculations, Roseshire shouldn’t have received food supplies for the whole three months. They had to be running low on supplies by now.
One night after the months had passed, Joshua returned from yet another assault on caravans. He approached a campfire out in the fields just outside of Treadrock. It was a beautiful night, filled with many stars in the sky. He walked up to the fire and sat down on a log next to Grayton, Terra, and Garron. They had all decided to sit and rest for the night.
“Ah, Joshua you’re back,” Grayton started. “I tell you, we have enough food and supplies now to man an army four times this size.” It was true. Each time they had raided caravans, Joshua and his men brought backs wagons, food, and supplies. Over time, they had all just added up. One thing was for sure, they wouldn’t be running out of food any time soon. “Good,” Joshua replied. “That just means that Braden is running out of food for his own army. Even if his army is stationed elsewhere, Braden is still the king. If he doesn’t help the people of Roseshire, they will surely rebel against him.”
“Either way, I feel that he is on th
e brink,” Garron said. “He must act soon.” Even after these past few months, they still had not heard a word of Braden. “It’s all coming together,” Terra joined in. “The king will make his move. And when he does, we will be there to act on it.” Everything seemed to have gone according to plan so far. Joshua went and fixed a cup of ale. He started drinking it just as he saw more riders come in. Over the past few months, his army had actually grown in size. They had lost few men from the raids on the caravans, but once the people heard that it was Joshua Bracken that was rebelling against Braden, some of them had joined his cause. His host was still less than three thousand, but it was surely more than two at this point.
Nobody had heard anything from Emilia yet either. Joshua still sent out scouts occasionally to search all throughout Asedith on any word of her whereabouts. After months of searching, they had still found nothing.
As Joshua sipped on ale and walked back to the campfire, he saw one of the riders approaching him. “My lord,” he said. “I have urgent news.”
“Of course. If you would, follow me to the campfire. My advisors and I will hear you out.”
“Yes, Lord.” The men had started calling Joshua their lord. He was not yet king, but perhaps he would be someday once the war was over.
Joshua proceeded to the campfire where everyone was seated. The rider followed until they stood before everyone. Joshua took a seat. “Listen, everyone, we have news.” When everyone was silent, he looked at the messenger and nodded. The messenger then cleared his throat and continued to talk. “We have just received word that king Braden is finally making a move. Rumor has it that he will be sending out the bulk of his army to meet you in battle.” So, it begins, Joshua thought. “Very well, we will begin preparing for departure,” Joshua said. “My lord, that is not all,” the messenger said. “He is deploying his troops here, actually.” Joshua turned and looked at him, confused. “What? Why here?” he asked. “Apparently he boasted that he was not afraid to take you on. He threatened that his army would slaughter you… And every person in Treadrock.”
