Mighty Hammer Down

by David J Guyton

  Chapter 20

  "What else did the King tell you, Ambassador?" Tannis asked.

  Andrew cleared his throat and knitted his fingers together on the table before him. "In addition to the request for your assistance and the terms for the division of spoils, he also offers the hand of his niece in marriage to the Emperor of Medora, although I am sure he would offer it to you, General Tirinius, if the Emperor refused."

  Tannis looked into the eyes of the Emperor sitting across the table. "The Emperor and I both refuse. I find the custom appalling. I cannot imagine forcing a young woman to marry a man for any reason. It goes against the freedoms we stand for here in Medora."

  Andrew stumbled over his words in embarrassment. "I am sorry General Tirinius. I did not know you felt that way." After a short pause, he smiled and added: "Perhaps you should take a look at her before you so abruptly dismiss the idea." His smile was withered by an angry stare from Tannis that embarrassed the Ambassador even further.

  Tannis got up from the table and began pacing slowly. "Why would the King offer his niece? That seems unfair to the parents of the woman."

  Andrew cleared his throat again. "Well, he has no daughter of his own. He has no son either, which is complicating things in Vindyrion, since the King is getting older now. Even if he does eventually have a son, he will not be able to raise him and shape him into the leader he wants him to be; but that is another matter.

  "The King has a sister, and she has a daughter. Aside from the Queen, there is no other royal blood in the whole kingdom. The King thought that offering you this daughter would be taken as a gesture of respect and sacrifice. Neither he nor I meant for it to offend you."

  "If that truly was his intent then I am not offended. I will not, however, enslave a woman to a life without love. We are men of action; our time for love has come and gone. The women in our lives were taken by the gods many years ago, and we will not disrespect them by accepting this proposition. I would not speak for the Emperor in this matter if I did not know him so well. We have discussed such things before."

  "I understand," said Andrew. "I think the King will understand as well."

  "I still don't understand how it would be fair to the parents of the girl. Is this really the way you handle things in your land?"

  "Well General, there are worse things that can happen to a young girl. I think many would be honored to wed an important person such as you or your Emperor. Many who are young are in love with love, and not truly in love with a person. From that, true love might come, and it might not. But being married to a wealthy, powerful person is not the worst that could happen. Besides, to be the woman that unites our nations is a special title to hold."

  The Emperor broke in. "Our nations are not united, Ambassador, nor will they ever be. Vindyrion has proven to be an ally in recent times, but the General and I remember a time when violence was the only communication between our lands. There are many Vindyri who still hold this idea dear to them, and we are endlessly battling your soldiers, even in this time of peace. But the rewards of our friendship outweigh those troubles, and we accept that not all Vindyri are willing to accept the Medorans. You should understand that we Medorans are free to feel the same distrust for your people."

  "Of course, Emperor," Andrew said as he bowed his head. "I am not so young that I can't remember those times of war. Those times hurt us all, and I would not like to return to them. No Vindyri in his right mind wishes to have the full wrath of any nation brought down upon us. This is why the King has sent me here to you; to stop the Bhoors from overpowering us and destroying our way of life."

  "What would the King do if he was in no position to ask for our help?" Tannis asked. "He has obviously brought on this trouble himself. He is responsible for letting the Bhoors live among you. He is responsible for whatever deed enraged them enough to raise arms against you. Medora has played no part in this. We understand the danger of these people and keep them out of our lands."

  "But General Tirinius, with all due respect, have you not allowed the Vindyri to come into your land and live among you? You once thought of them as your enemy, and now you pass them on the street and smile. That is the way of the Vindyri. We believe each person must learn to accept everyone."

  Tannis breathed in a deep breath to control the rage inside him. "You do not understand the powers you tempt, Ambassador. We are not as accepting of the Vindyri as you might think, and we will never accept the Bhoors. You and your people see our wealth and prosperity and you realize that you cannot compete on our level. Instead, you somehow come to the conclusion that your way of acceptance is morally correct, and your moral wealth is greater than our own. I do not care what you think of morals and acceptance, and you will not preach your nonsense here."

  "General, I did not mean?"

  "Silence. Your apologies are getting old. You have come to us because your ways have brought you failure. Your acceptance of the Bhoors has put you in a dangerous position which you cannot escape from without help. You have come to our door because you know that the might of the Medorans is the only thing that can save you now. You come to us because you know our feelings on the Bhoors, and you wish for us to take care of them so that you can pretend the blood is not on your hands, but ours."

  "General we are willing to fight them to protect ourselves. We do not wish for you to fight the battle for us, but we cannot do it on our own. We wish for you to fight alongside us as friends and allies."

  "Against your own 'friends and allies'? Your reasoning is ridiculous. You have underestimated the hatred and drive of the Bhoors. You have lain down next to a viper and you are shocked that he would bite you. The Bhoors will not stop pushing their ideology until every living being believes as they do. Have you not seen them try to convince you to accept their ways and their religion?"

  Andrew rubbed his fingers together nervously. "There are some Vindyri who have changed to be more like the Bhoors, yes, but we all still believe in honor and doing things for the good of mankind."

  "That's the problem. All people believe in honor. No one is proud to be devoid of honor. No man stands up and shouts that he is on the side of evil. All men believe that they are doing what is best for mankind. The difference between the Bhoors and the Medorans is that we do not push our way of life on anyone. We do not force our people to worship a particular god. The difference between the Medorans and the Vindyri is that we interact with other cultures without diminishing our own. The Vindyri you see walking our streets are here living in Medoran culture, not bringing your ways into our society. It is their choice to live here. If they don't like our ways, then they are free to return to Vindyrion. The Bhoors attacking you right now are not interested in letting you return to your culture. They are bent on destroying it and replacing it with their own."

  "General, I think you have the wrong idea of the Bhoors. In general, they are peaceful and decent to others. It is wrong to assume things about an entire civilization. You cannot group them all together and judge them all so harshly."

  "I can and I do!" Tannis snapped. "You come here preaching equality and fairness, and yet you judge me. I am free to think whatever I want about the Bhoors, but when my views do not suit your taste, you look down upon me from your high moral ground. Acceptance means that you have to allow me to have my view, not just your own."

  Andrew paused a while, staring into Tannis's eyes. "I understand your words, General, but it is hard to see it the way you do. I mean no disrespect to you, and I am sorry. But I live in Vindyrion. I live alongside Bhoors, and I know they are a good people."

  "A good people coming to slay you all," the Emperor said.

  "You claim to have experience living with the Bhoors," Tannis said as he put his hands behind his back. "The Emperor and I have had experience with them as well. As I mentioned, we have ridden to war against them. We saw the things they did. We saw the things they tried to do to our people. They torture innocent children. They find pleasure in killing. They do i
t all in the name of their god so that it is justified in their minds. And on top of that, they are dedicated to erasing all other cultures from existence. Not only will they kill you Andrew, they will destroy every memory of you so that the children in the future will sing only the songs they themselves write."

  "Forgive me, my Lords. I am not here to argue with you. I am here to ask for your assistance. It was rude of me to make such statements here in your land. You are right; you are free to think what you will."

  The Emperor put his hand on Andrew's shoulder. "My boy, in this great land you are free to make such statements. There is no need to apologize. If anyone should apologize it should be us for handling this matter in such a blunt way. We are all going through a troubling time. Please forgive us."

  There was a hot flame raging behind Tannis's eyes. "I do not ask for forgiveness. You will accept my views for what they are, or you will not. I do not care about your feelings."

  Andrew shrank back from the imposing General. "I understand, General Tirinius."

  Tannis walked over to the wall where there were shelves holding books. He removed a few and flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for. When he returned to the table, he slammed it down on the wood a little louder than was necessary. He opened the book to the first page where an ornate map was painted. In the center was the known world according to the Medorans, and surrounding it were the three gods of light and Oderion in the center. In one lower corner were three statues meant to be Inshae, Maeris, and Aedensor, the gods of darkness and in the other corner was the Emperor's Hall. All of the figures were executed masterfully, and seemed to be coming off the page. The whole map was surrounded by a brilliant blue sky and delicate gold scrollwork.

  "What a beautiful map!" Andrew said. "How did the artist make the gold look so real? It's extraordinary."

  "Pay no attention to the gold and the figures. I show this to you because I do not have any other map nearby," Tannis said. "I am showing this to you so that we can determine the best plan of action. Where was the Bhoor army last time you saw it?"

  "I never saw the Bhoor army, only the Vindyri army. But most of the Vindyri I saw were here, southeast of Burnhamheade." Andrew pointed to the place on the map. "The ones arriving in Burnhamheade were only the first wave of the retreat. For the whole of my trip to Medora I could look to the east and see the clouds of dust on the horizon. They started the retreat a few weeks ago, and I am sure it has ended by now, but I have not been able to see the sky from the room you have me staying in."

  "Why did they not all retreat at once?" The Emperor asked as he leaned on the arm of his chair and scratched his eyebrow.

  "Well, so much of the army went off to fight the Bhoors that there was almost no protection left for the towns and cities. Many men stayed at the front and gave their lives so that the rest of the army could return to Vindyrion and protect the people. It had to be done in waves because the front line was continually annihilated and had to be replaced by those farthest east."

  "That sounds reckless to me," Tannis said. "Is your King so foolish that he would send his entire army to war and leave none at home?"

  "He knew that you would not agree with the strategy, and he was not happy with the plan from the start. But the Bhoor army was much larger than he thought. Like I said, I never saw it, but I heard the scouts informing the King, and they said that they blackened the land for as far as the eye could see. There was no way to even guess at the number."

  Tannis sat down in his chair across from the other two men. "I have been in more battles than I can remember, and I have never seen such a thing. Your scouts must have simply panicked and overestimated."

  "Well, that may be true, I really can't say. What I do know is that I saw some of them men returning from battle and they had tears in their eyes. I have seen men cry before, but not like this. These men were terrified."

  Tannis looked to the eyes of the Emperor. He could sense what he was thinking. He was thinking the very same thing himself. "If the Bhoors are not stopped, they will roll right over the Vindyri and invade Medora."

  The Emperor scratched his head, attempting to hide his uneasy feelings. "But surely the Bhoors cannot have an army that could be that size. They are a poor people."

  "No," Tannis said. "They were a poor people. They have had something like 20 years to trade with the Vindyri and whoever else is on their eastern border; and last time all of our nations fought each other. They are stronger now. They might have recruited everyone in the lands around them. They have had time to grow wealth and have sons who are now of fighting age. All this time they have been preparing to meet us in battle again."

  "Tannis, you are overreacting. We are safe here," the Emperor said as he tried to get comfortable in his chair.

  "I respect you Emperor, you know that. But I must tell you that you are being foolish. Is closing your eyes to this danger and pretending that it does not exist a wise thing to do? Is your confidence in our safety enough to protect your people? We must ride out and meet this enemy before he comes to our borders."

  "We have sent men. Soterus has 20,000 men with him and you sent another 20,000 behind him."

  "I now regret doing so. We need to send five full Legions into Vindyrion."

  The eyes of the Emperor went wide. "Five Legions? With only two to protect the cities? Did you not just call the Vindyri King a fool for doing much the same thing?"

  "King Weryn is a fool for many reasons, but he is not so foolish that he would send his entire army to battle without it being necessary. I feel that we must do the same in order to have a chance against the Bhoors. They will not expect us to be so reckless, and we will take them by surprise."

  "Do you really think this is the best solution Tannis?"

  "Yes Emperor, I do. Now that I have a little more information I feel that this is the best way to ensure our safety. We will still have two Legions here at home, and we will not have to fight on our own soil. The Bhoors will have to go through all five Legions on the field before they can confront the final two here."

  The worried eyes of the Emperor looked into the confident eyes of the General and softened. "I trust you Tannis. I know you know what is best to protect our people. If you need five Legions, you will have them."

  "Guard!" Tannis shouted. A man threw open the door to the room and entered, standing at attention. "Guard, inform the Commanders of every Legion except Moon and Earth that they are to gather provisions and be ready to ride to war. All five Legions must be ready by sunrise. Send riders to all the towns immediately to spread word to the soldiers there. Go at once."

  The guard did not even take the time to salute, and instantly sprung into motion. His footsteps could be heard echoing through the open door as he ran down the corridor. Tannis turned back to the men at the table and slammed the book closed. "I will not even bother to point to the place on the map where I think the Bhoors are now. We don't have much time."

  Andrew fidgeted nervously in his chair. "What shall I do, General? Am I to return to Vindyrion now?"

  "Yes Ambassador. But you will not go alone. You will come with us and we will escort you back to Burnhamheade, unless it has already been overrun. If it has, I am sure the King is not there, and we will take you to wherever he is."

  "Why can I not be on my way before the morning? The Bhoors do not know that I am an Ambassador."

  "You don't know that. Besides, none of my scouts or any of our Ambassadors have returned from Vindyrion, so obviously you are a target. It is in the best interest of the Bhoors to disrupt any communications between Medora and Vindyrion. Under different circumstances, I would have sent you back to your King with our terms. We were going to tax you heavily for this war, but now it seems that we have more important things to worry about. You will ride with me, never leaving my sight."

  "As you wish, General Tirinius," Andrew said as he bowed his head.

  Tannis stood up, his towering form throwing a long shadow over the table.
"I must prepare for battle. I will leave instructions for the Moon and Earth Legions. Andrew, gather your things and be ready by morning." He turned abruptly and walked away, his heavy boots making loud echoes in the room as he made his way to the door.

  "Tannis," the Emperor called out, bringing him to a halt. "May the gods be with you."

  Tannis said nothing as he calmly walked through the door and down the corridor towards his quarters.

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