13 Day War (78 page)

The king nodded and turned towards the fireplace where Prince Midge was holding court on the mantle. The fairy prince was sending and receiving fairy messengers to and from every spot in the kingdom, keeping abreast of the other teams.

“Can the Army of the West arrive in time to be a factor, Prince Midge?” the king asked.

“That depends on where the battle is held,” answered the fairy prince as he held up his hand to forestall a reporting fairy. “They are incapable of reaching Tagaret today, even if they push hard, but if the battle were held further west, the odds would improve greatly.”

“That would give our people less time to prepare for battle,” frowned Mitar Vidson.

“Watling Flats,” Alex said decisively. “It is a half day west of the city. It is the perfect battlefield for what we must do.”

The king nodded solemnly. Watling Flats was the battlefield where King Arik defeated the prophet Azmet and his followers of Abuud. It was the battle that had cost Wylan his sight. The sudden thought of Wylan stirred great emotion in the king’s heart. He wondered how Zalaharic was making out with the healing of Wylan and Sheri.

“General Barbone surrendered Team Caldar yesterday,” Prince Midge announced loudly, “and Bin-lu reports that Rut-ki has managed to devastate Team Barouk. He is anticipating the enemy’s surrender this very morning.”

Shouts of joy filled the common room, but the celebration was short lived.

“That leaves only Team Mya threatening Alcea,” declared the king. “I want this war over today. Alex, you are familiar with Watling Flats. Go there immediately and survey the battlefield. I will be along shortly with the Rangers and the Men of Tor.”

Alexander Tork nodded. “Jenneva will be joining me. May I also take our red-headed friends?”

The king raised an eyebrow at Alex’s request to take the mages with him, but he did not need a lengthy explanation of the reason for the request to answer it. Instead he looked to the queen for her response. Theos was, after all, supposed to be protecting the king.

“I see no problem with that,” answered Queen Tanya. “My magic will be sufficient to protect you here. Give Alex whatever he needs.”

The king nodded, and Alex turned to leave the meeting. Jenneva, Theos and Balamor followed. Without a word, they mounted their unicorns and took to the air. Before they had even risen far, Alex woke Bitsy and sent her on her way to find Prince Garong. An hour later, they landed in the great meadow called Watling Flats. For several moments after they landed, Alex sat on Kaz and gazed around the meadow. Flashes of memories of the Battle of Watling Flats flooded his mind, and he sighed with sadness. It was not a sadness for the outcome of the previous battle, for the Alceans had won a decisive victory, but rather a sadness for the amount of blood that has already been spilled to live in peace. He shook off his emotions and turned Kaz to the east. The others followed.

When he reached the eastern edge of the meadow, Alex continued along the Mya-Tagaret Road for another half league. That half league of road was bordered on both sides by thick forest. He dismounted and stared up at the treetops. The mages had also dismounted and they also stared up, wondering what was going through Alex’s mind.

“How does a tree mine work?” Alex asked softly.

Jenneva raised an eyebrow. Alex had never shown much interest in magic, and she could not remember him ever asking how a spell worked before.

“It is a magical force that swiftly expands the saps within a tree,” answered Balamor. “That rapid expansion of saps blasts apart the fibers of the tree. It all happens so quickly that it results in a large explosion, sending slivers of wood flying in all directions. The upper part of the tree, no longer having anything to rest upon, crashes to the ground.”

“But how is it aimed?” asked Alex. “And what determines the size of the blast?”

“It is an area spell,” answered Jenneva. “The size can be whatever the mage wants it to be, within reason, but there is seldom reason to vary it. As for aiming it, think of it as throwing a stone. If the tree is fairly close, it is hard to miss, but if you choose a tree quite distant, the odds of missing increase. What is going through your mind, Alex?”

“I want to create a barrier of abatis across this road,” answered Alex, “but there is not time for our men to do it. We have only hours before the 2
^nd
Corps will arrive.”

“And you want us to use tree mines to fell the trees?” scoffed Theos. “I don’t think that will work as you expect.”

“I think it might,” Alex responded distractedly as he drew his knife and approached one of the trees.

Alex knelt next to the tree and gazed upward and then looked back at the road. He dug his knife into the bark and cut some of it away. When he was done, an elliptical bare spot appeared on the trunk. He stood up and backed away.

“If one of you could fashion a tree mine to destroy only the portion of the tree that I have exposed,” Alex said, “we will find out if you will make good lumbermen.”

Jenneva grinned. “Alex used to be a lumberman, Theos,” she said. “I think this just might work. Let’s move back and I will give it a try.”

They all moved back and Jenneva cast the spell. A large chunk of the tree exploded outward in a flurry of wooden splinters, but the rest of the trunk remained unscathed. For a moment it looked to the mages as if the spell had failed to achieve their goal, but then the tree groaned loudly and leaned towards the west. They watched in amazement as the large tree crashed to the ground, landing squarely in the center of the road with its uppermost branches facing the west.

“Excellent!” grinned Alex. “I will mark all of the trees I need felled. If the three of you can work together to share the work, we will be done in no time.”

“Why here?” Theos asked with a puzzled expression. “I thought the battle was to be fought in the meadow, and we are over half a league east of that.”

“The 2
^nd
Corps has already lost its cavalry,” explained Alex. “If we account for the loss of their horses and the riders who rode them, this place will mark the location of the vanguard when the tail exits the meadow. The initial attack should occur here. The men will try to rush back into the meadow, but I want them greatly bloodied before that happens. If Prince Garong can accommodate the plan, his elves will be lining both sides of the road between here and the meadow. The Rangers and the Men of Tor will then attack the rear of the column.”

“A devastating attack if you can pull it off,” replied Theos, “but won’t they recognize the ambush for what it is?”

“I hope not,” answered Alex. “We are pressing our luck by pushing the Rangers and the Men of Tor into another battle so soon after last night. As good as they are, no warrior can fight indefinitely without rest. As for recognizing the ambush, there are no warriors alive who are more silent than the elves. I am confident that their presence will not be detected.”

“But the abatis,” frowned Theos. “It will be seen a mile away.”

“Not if Balamor can hide it,” Alex replied with a glance at the mage from Pog.

The illusionist merely nodded.

* * * *

Captain Plaggor was one of the few remaining cavalrymen of the 2
^nd
Corps of the Empire of Barouk. He had narrowly survived the elven ambush that had destroyed the army’s cavalry, and he was not eager to face such an event again. Perhaps because of his harrowing experience, he rode tensely, his eyes constantly scanning the sides of the road, and his ears listening intently to the sounds of the forest. He relaxed somewhat while the column crossed the great meadow called Watling Flats because he could see for a great distance in all directions, but when the trees once again closed in on the road at the eastern edge of the meadow, he grew very anxious.

About a mile from the meadow, a sudden shiver raced down the captain’s spine. He nervously stared into the forest on both sides of the road, but he saw nothing. He also heard nothing, and that lack of sounds worried the captain. He immediately thought of mentioning his concern to Colonel Tamora, but he did not get along well with the colonel, and he did not want to be belittled and called a coward. He hesitated to take action. Moments later, the column halted. The captain rose in his stirrups and gazed forward. His eyes opened wide when he saw the huge abatis stretched across the road. The captain knew what was about to happen.

Captain Plaggor pulled out of the column and turned his horse around. He had just started towards the rear of the column when the shouting began in the vanguard. The captain did not hesitate. He whipped his horse hard and sunk down in the saddle, but the shouts still gained on him, and he heard bow snaps sing out right behind him. Racing along the right side of the road, the captain eased his body to the left, using the body of the horse as a shield against the attackers on the closest side of the road. The first wave of arrows passed him by and the captain watched in horror as the column before him was attacked.

The 2
^nd
Corps was marching along the broad road in six files, and the first wave of arrows decimated the outer files. The men in the center of the road reacted in confusion and panic. Some of the men thought to charge into the woods, hoping to slay their attackers. Others knelt and brought their shields up to create a shield wall, but many of the men merely sought a path of escape. Captain Plaggor continued racing back towards the meadow, but his path was now strewn with bodies and soldiers looking for cover. Men dove out of the way of the horse when they saw it coming, but not all of the soldiers saw the horse. The captain winced as the horse collided with a running soldier and then tripped over a body. A moment later, an arrow plunged into the neck of the horse, and it screamed in agony. The horse went down, and the captain was thrown into a crowd of soldiers. Hitting the ground probably saved the captain from death during the second wave of arrows, but he gave it no thought. He rose as quickly as he could and ran along with the other soldiers who were now racing towards the meadow.

Captain Plaggor never thought he would live to make it to the meadow, but miraculously he did. The infantrymen around him began assembling a shield wall facing east, and as the Federation soldiers continued to pour into the meadow, they joined it. Eventually, no more soldiers came to add to the shield wall. The survivors waited nervously for their attackers to emerge from the woods so they could take revenge for the ambush, but nothing happened. The soldiers of the shield wall began to fidget nervously, wondering what they were supposed to do now. There was no enemy to kill in the meadow, but no one was willing to reenter the forested section of the road. So they knelt and waited.

Suddenly, there was distant movement on the road, and whispered warnings of a coming attack ran through the line of men. Everyone concentrated on the road as whatever was on it came closer at a very fast pace. Within seconds the object began to take shape and gasps of fear rippled through the line. A dragon soared over the road, and on its back sat a man dressed in shining white armor, its golden trim glistening in the sunlight. He held a long, two-handed sword in one hand, but he did not use it as the dragon soared over the shield wall and into the meadow. The soldiers turned to follow the dragon and gasped anew. Up in the sky were thousands of warriors riding on the backs of flying unicorns. The unicorns separated into two flying columns and both of them set down on the meadow to form a large semicircular barrier around the Federation shield wall, blocking any path of escape except the road they had just retreated from. The dragon turned and came close to the shield wall, close enough to see the man’s lips move. The voice when it came was clear and obviously magnified by magic.

“I am King Arik of Alcea,” declared the man on the dragon. “You have violated my borders and I demand your surrender. There is no flag of truce, nor will I accept one. You are to throw down your weapons immediately and walk into the center of the meadow. Failure to do so will result in your immediate death.”

The dragon shot up into the air, and a second one came into view. It held a woman dressed similarly to the king. The men of the shield wall gawked at the flying creatures, but no one threw down his weapon. It was as if no one wanted to be the first to surrender. Even the captain hesitated, and he was more than ready to surrender. As he gazed at the beautiful woman on the dragon, he saw her face darken with anger. Her arm rose and suddenly the sky lit up with lightning. A bolt of lightning slammed into the ground near the center of the shield wall, and the reaction was immediate. The Federation soldiers raced towards the center of the meadow, throwing aside their swords, shields, and bows as they ran. Not a single soldier remained in the shield wall to challenge the King of Alcea.

* * * *

Colonel Hershey frowned as he halted in the meadow and looked at the road ahead. The Mya-Tagaret Road had been broad and well used, but at the eastern edge of the great meadow called Watling Flats, it suddenly stopped. A thick forest grew across the road, blocking further progress towards the Alcean capital.

“Get me a tracker and two scouts,” the Colonel called out, “and order a brief halt to the column.”

The junior officers near the colonel scrambled to carry out his orders. Colonel Hershey dismounted and waited impatiently while he watched the vanguard of the column disperse and settle down on the grass. After what seemed to be a long time, three riders approached the colonel. The colonel knew the men and their capabilities, and he wasted no time in issuing orders to them.

“The road ahead has not been used in years,” the colonel began. “It is overgrown. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. One of you scouts head north and the other south. I want to know the best way to proceed to the east from this point without marching this army through a thick forest.” He then turned to the tracker and continued, “I want you to backtrack and see if you can determine where we missed the trail of the 2
^nd
Corps. It may actually be easier to backtrack, but I do not want to waste a lot of time trying to determine that. All of you make haste with your duties. I do not want this army camped here for the entire day.”