Burden of Stones

by James Dale

  “I am afraid I don’t recall much from my travel there,” Jack admitted. “I was not myself after passing through the Bergaweld. Agash Thugar however, I remember well.”

  “Many of the Ailfar have traveled the Margalags,” Cilidon said, examining the map. “I will send for Captain Beltran. He led the last party to drop off supplies for Cil’lena.”

  “We will trust the maps then,” Mullah nodded. “Until the Captain says they are incorrect.”

  “It’s a funnel,” Jack said, tracing the northern Margalags with a finger. Where the southern range came up to meet them, there was perhaps only a gap of five or ten miles into dark-King’s kingdom. “Not exactly the restrictive confines of the Pass of Galahir,” he observed, “but still an obstacle that would slow an army’s march and give defenders the advantage.

  “Graith raised them to be that way,” Perigaen nodded. “When Ljmarn brought his armies of the west after the battle that formed the Bloody Plains, they had to fight their way through. Even though their numbers were reduced, Graith’s forces held him there for another two days. It will take considerably less grim’Hiru to delay us than we met in the Bergaweld. The mountains also offer cover and avenues to attack a force stalled in the plain from both sides. Once through, Forhein and rest of the east await.”

  “A daunting task,” Mullah replied. “Unless…”

  “Unless what?” Theros asked.

  “Unless the new High King and the army of the Whesguard is pursuing Kadin as we flee from defeat in the Bergaweld?” the Khan said thoughtfully. “Any forces holding the pass into Grethor will move aside to let us through. Or perhaps…not fleeing in defeat? But rushing ahead of their pursuit with a great prize?”

  “What great prize?” Anna asked.

  “Me?” Jack suggested.

  “Absolutely not!” his wife replied.

  “Think about it,” Jack said. “They would basically be opening the way to let me in.”

  “To be surrounded by all of the east!” she argued hotly.

  “Protected by forty thousand warriors of Kadin,” he countered. “Our objective all along has been to get me to Agash Thugar. Mullah Khan can deliver me to the front door with barely a fight. It will save countless of lives.” Every soldier who did not fall fighting to get him to Agash Thugar, would be one less ghost to haunt his memories. There were already enough of those buried less than two miles away. That it would put him at greater risk mattered little to Braedan.

  “Will someone talk some sense into him?” Anna pleaded, looking around at the kings and generals. “I cannot believe you are actually considering this?” she cried, when they all remained silent.

  “It is worth discussing,” Theros admitted. “Getting Yhswyndyr to the gate of Aghash Thugar without a fight?”

  “You aren’t serious?” Anna snorted. “What if it is Galen Severa who comes to claim this prize? One look at you and he will kill you on the spot.”

  “Galen Severa barely spared me glance,” Jack shrugged. At least, that is how he remembered the encounter. “I doubt he saw no more than a pitiful, defeated wretch. Or a worm, like Bkormar said. It has been over a year. By the time they realize this ruse, if they realize it at all, it will be too late. I will be surrounded by Kadinar…”

  “If we are considering this, others would accompany him of course. It would not only be King Jack surrounded by the Khan’s forces,” Theros added. “Wearing a Kadinar veil and uniform, even I could pass unobserved. Who would look twice at me when I am but one of thousands, among all the warriors of Kadin?”

  “Or I?” Cilidon nodded. “Perhaps Perigaen and a dozen more of the Staffclave concealed in their midst as well? With a little luck we could have Yhswyndyr at the gate of Agash Thugar, surrounded by Highswords and Lords, without having to fight for every step along the way.”

  “Could you…add a glamor as well?” asked Jack, turning to Lady Ara’fael. “Like Maelcain covered us with in during our escape?”

  “I…possibly,” the Spellweaver nodded. “But Galen Severa would detect such a spell. Or any half decent sorcerer.”

  “With an army of down on them, I do not think they will have long to do any close inspection of prisoners,” Morgan speculated.

  “You too uncle?” Anna cried. “I cannot believe I am the only one against this! This is our plan now? To abandon an army of one hundred thousand Whesguardian and trust the safety of the High King to an army, that but a day ago, was our enemy? With respect Mullah ad’Jhen,” the Queen of Doridan said, turning to the Khan. “It is too much to ask. To blindly trust your change of heart when my husband, when the fate of the Whesguard rests on an oath only hours old? I will not agree to this. Doridan will not agree.”

  “I take no offense Annawyn Dora’dai,” the Khan replied. “To question my oath, the same one my ancestor has broken before. I understand your…hesitancy. I offered this plan only as an alternative to a battle that would cost many thousands of lives. It is up to this council to approve or reject it.”

  “Four thousand men died just because Graith wanted to delay us for a day,” Jack said, taking his wife’s hand. “How many more will die fighting to get me to Agash Thugar? Ten thousand? Fifty? If there is a way to get Yhswyndyr within reach of the Bloodstone without a battle, I would take it.”

  Anna would not be swayed. “Jack…my love, my king…I will not allow this! You have assembled the greatest army to march under one banner in eight hundred years. You have one hundred thousand of the finest warriors of the Whesguard and forty thousand Kadinar at your back. You have the last of the Staffclave and three Highswords at your side. You have mastered more of Sunheart and displayed greater power than Ljmarn Bra’Adan himself ever wielded. Yet you would discard this entire force, you and the two most power kings remaining in the west, and leave the bulk of it behind to ride into the heart of Grethor virtually alone?”

  “Anna my love…” he began.

  ‘Do you not think I care about the lives of our people?” she asked indignantly.

  “Anna, I didn’t say…”

  “I do!” Anna insisted. “I have wept more in the last three days than in my entire life! Every life lost has taken a piece of my soul! I would not have those who fell in the Bergaweld die in vain! If the High King falls in a desperate attempt to spare more bloodshed, what value would their deaths hold? What value all my tears? None! I will not agree to this! The army would not agree! Ask them! Assemble your army and tell them they are staying behind while you ride ahead as Mullah Khan’s prize! Do it! I will say no more.”

  “Anna…”

  She raised a hand, cutting him off. “Duke Gain!”

  “My queen,” her cousin bowed. The reluctance on his face to be called into this battle of wills was evident for all to see.

  “Gather the White Horse,” she ordered the young Lord Marshal. “Send a knight to every camp. Tell them to assemble in one hour, at the foot of Rhyn’s Hill. The High King wishes to speak with them.”

  “Yes, my queen,” Gain saluted, and hurried from the tent.

  “High King,” the fiery queen of Doridan said, turned back to her husband. “Your army will be assembled in an hour. You have until then to come up with a tale to convince them they haven’t earned the right to ride with you. To die for you and the west if they so choose.”

  Annawyn turned and left the tent without another word, Little Star pacing at here heel. The female wolf turned at looked back at Braedan, giving him a cuff of distain, then disappeared after her charge.

  “Better get to work on that speech, Jack,” Tarsus said, patting his shoulder as he passed by.

  “Where are you going?” Braedan asked.

  “To send the Galekindar with your wife,” the Amarian shrugged. “There are a lot of camps out there.”

  “Jack Bra’Adan,” Mullah Khan said quietly, coming to his side. “I can only pray Jaelanni becomes half the woman as your Horsemaiden.”

  “I guess we have an hour to think about other options,” High
Lord Perigaen observed wryly. “General Tolkaen, what if we…”

  The hour passed swiftly while generals and kings planned and the White Horse Knights and Galekindar set riders to each camp of the Whesguardian army, informing them to assemble to hear the High King. Jack listened halfheartedly as they proposed, then discarded different battle formation to assault the east. He knew in his heart that going forward in the company of Mullah Khan and his Kadinar would save lives, but he also knew his wife’s vehement argument to the plan was not just simple worry for her husband and the father of their child. When Tarsus returned at the end of the hour and told him the army was assembled, Braedan still had no idea what he would say.

  Squire Dornal was waiting for him with Eaudreuil has he emerged from Mullah’s tent. The sun was beginning to dip low in the west. He would have to hurry or he would be speaking to the army in the dark. The young Doridanian had a look of awe and wonder on his face. “High King,” he bowed, “Your army is assembled.”

  As Jack mounted Eaudreuil and looked to the north, he understood the look on Dornal’s face. The army of the Whesguard seemed to stretch to the horizon. The last of the units were still hurrying toward Rhyn’s Hill. “You have my banner?” asked Jack.

  “Of course, my king,” the squire nodded.

  “Ride beside me then,” Jack instructed him. “May as well do this right.”

  As soon as the young squire had climbed on his chestnut bay, and unfurled the banner of the High King, flaming sword on a field of sky blue, Jack patted Eaudreuil’s broad neck. “Come on,” he said to the stallion. “Let’s get this done.”

  “You do not sound pleased, Horse-Brother?” the Val’anna remarked.

  “I will be pleased when Red Slayer is dead,” Jack sighed.

  Jack rode forward on Eaudreuil, Dornal beside him, the High King’s banner displayed proudly. The troops parted before them, bowing or saluting him as they passed. Men of Caladin, Amorhad, Brythond, Doridan, of Kadin and Ailfar of Ail’itharain bowed. Knights in full armor down to the lowest infantry private all rendered him some honor. Tens, hundreds of them had evidence of wounds suffered in the previous battle. All look weary. It was humbling and heartbreaking. They had endured so much already. How could he ask these thousands of warriors to sacrifice more of their blood, their very lives, to help him reach a foe only he could defeat?

  Anna was waiting for him at the base of Rhyn’s Hill, mounted on Iraesh. Little Star and Snow Dancer sat on their haunches on either side of his queen. Of all the warriors assembled here, Annawyn looked the most dangerous, the most determined. When he stopped beside his lovely wife, she turned to the army and shouted in a clear, crisp voice, “Warriors of the Whesguard! Give heed to your king!” She turned to her husband and said a single word.

  “Speak.”

  Jack looked out upon the sea of expectant faces. Some he knew. The Golden Lions had taken a place near the front of the assembled army. Borg Cassaban saluted in the manner of Brythond’s Legion, fist over heart and all the Lions followed suit. Tarsus and the Galekindar were near the front as well. The Amarian gave him a roughish grin. His friend would probably follow him to Agash Thugar if he told him they were going alone with slingshots and pointy sticks. Jack summoned Sunheart. He still had no idea what to say, but he wanted them all to hear.

  “I am not your king,” he began. Confusion marked the faces he could see. A murmur began among the assembled ranks, as they shifted uneasily. It continued to grow as he searched for words. Finally, he just began to speak, words springing from some unknown depth in his heart. “Your king would have a stirring speech for you,” he said, bringing silence once more. “Your king would have inspiring words about honor, and duty and sacrifice. Your king would encourage you to steel your hearts, would promise if you only followed him and had courage, he would lead you to victory. I am not your king,” he repeated. “I am your brother. Everyone standing on this field, everyone who has shed blood for me, everyone who marched from the west under my banner, and braved the Bergaweld, is my brother. And my sister,” he said, with acknowledgement to Anna’s Horsemaidens. “Brothers and sisters, tomorrow I ride east to Grethor. I ride to face an evil that would make us slaves. An evil that rips the beating heart from the innocent, to throw on the alter fires of a chained demon. It is an evil that would have us kneel, would have us sacrifice our own children in a foul right that has no place among the Children of Yh.”

  “It has fallen on me, unworthy as I am, to oppose this evil. It is my blood the Creator decreed Yhswyndyr to answer. Mine blood. Not yours. My life is required to find a way to end this evil. Not yours. Whether I succeed or fail, you are absolved from any blame. You may return home to your families. Our families, my brothers and sisters. You may return and protect them as you see fit. You are free men and women. Free Ailfar and maid. Free to choose your fate and how you will meet your end. You will be provided with food for your journey, and the blessing of your brother. Tomorrow, before dawn, I ride east. Alone if I must. Though it breaks my heart to say this, any of my brothers and sisters who wish to follow...may come. If you follow, I cannot promise any of us will live to see our homes again. But…I can promise you, I will not throw your lives away need-lessly.”

  He released Sunheart and turned to his wife. Anna’ emerald green eyes shimmered with tears. Wondering what he could have possibly said that moved her so, Jack reached up and caressed her cheek. “I ride in the morning. I wish you would...”

  “If you wanted to ride off into battle alone,” she said, taking his hand and kissing it, “you shouldn’t have asked a Horsemaiden to marry you.”

  “Then let’s come up with a plan that doesn’t get us all killed, my queen,” Braedan sighed. Without command, Eaudrueil started forward. The army parted wordlessly to let him pass. As he rode by Tarsus, the Amarian drew his sword. “I will go with you brother.”

  “I will go, brother,” another of the Galekindar vowed.

  More swords were bared. More promises made. A chant soon began from somewhere in the ranks. A single voice at first. “Brother! Brother!” The single voice was soon joined by a multi-tude and grew until the hills rang with the shouts and the ground seem to shake. “Bro-ther! Bro-THER!”

  Jack wanted to weep.

  He returned to the tent of the Dragonslayer, turning Eaudreuil over to Dornal and went inside. Theros, Cilidon, Mullah Khan and several of their generals were already inside. Jack found a chair and sat down wearily. The shouts of “BROTHER!” had yet to taper off.

  “My Lord,” Field Marshal Tolkaen said, “never call a Legionnaire your brother then tell him you are going off to fight some battle without him. Half of Theros’ army will probably start the march towards Gorthiel before the sun sets.”

  “You heard, then?” Braedan asked.

  “Everyone within a league heard you,” Theros replied.

  “Gentlemen,” Anna said, “The High King rides tomorrow to Gorthiel. He wants us to come up with a plan that doesn’t get us all killed.”

  “I think we have,” Cilidon announced. “General Gamrin, most of it is your idea. Brief the king.”

  “Now that you have the lads all ginned up…Brother,” Malik grinned. “This is what I think you should do with them.” The stocky general of the Razorbacks started moving pieces around on the map board as he began to talk. “We must move quickly. Mullah ad’Jhen and the Kadinar will leave tonight. If the dark-King sends another dragon west and it finds us all camped here together like we’re having a garden party, this plan will be doomed before it starts. He may have done so already.”

  “His demon did not return,” Jack nodded. “He will be desperate to know why. Wait, how is it Graith doesn’t know Kadin has betrayed him already?” he asked, turning to Mullah ad’Jhen. You defied his messenger and…”

  “I did not say I defied his messenger, High King,” the Khan smiled. “I agreed to his murderous demands with a show of great fear and humility. I urged his monster to report we would muster without delay
and begin preparing my daughter for their abdominal sacrifice. He left the next morning on some other important task. But the road from Khadda’Temar to the Iron Tower is long and perilous. I hear he did not make it back. Pity.”

  “A pity indeed,” Hamman sighed with mock dismay.

  “The Khan will take his army and ride east,” Malik continued. “His swiftest mounts will ride before him and report Kadin arrived in the Bergaweld, only to find the battle already lost. The Khan wisely decided to make his way to Grethor, and add his army to the ranks of the Black Banner. We will pursue them of course. Eager to catch them before they can re-enforce whatever formation guards the valley into to the dark-King’s land.”

  “They are swift and skilled fighters, but our cavalry will be hot on their heels. He will send dragons surely, to see what is happening in the east. Those beasts and whoever rides them will see the Kadinar occasionally turn and attempt to slow our pursuit. Hundreds of Kadinar will bravely fall to their pursuers in a delaying action, giving our infantry the chance to catch up with our cavalry. When our forces arrive, the fallen Kadinar will be blend into our army and continue with us.”

  “We will repeat these false delaying actions as many times as necessary until our forces arrive at Grethor. The bulk of the Khans’ army will arrive just ahead of us. Any defenders in the valley will open their formation to let his army pass. If not to let them pass, at the least the formation will be disrupted as they are added to the defenders.”

  “If they let us pass,” the Khan said, “we will fall upon them from the rear when your army arrives, Jack Bra’Adan. If we are added to the defenders, I will insist to occupy the center of the formation. As a way to restore Kadin’s honor for arriving too late to aid the grim’Hiru in the Berg-aweld. Either action will split their force and pin them against the Margalags.”