BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan (27 page)

Upon getting within ten feet of the front
gates, which still had not opened, Valiante had to order his forces
to halt, and of course they did.

Right away, the duke’s voice called from
above and with an outraged tone of voice, “Commanding-Knight
Valiante, what the hell is going on around here? Why have you all
abandoned your posts in my city of Lasparus? Why are there more
than fifty thousand ground forces of the Sharia Empire behind you
in the distance? Valiante, I should seriously have you flogged to
death for your treason against the Vispano Province! Before I flog
you, I should—”

At this point in the conversation, Valiante
had had enough. He replied in a loud but respectful tone of voice,
“My Duke, please allow me to deliver my report at this time, before
you make any hasty and harsh decisions!”

After the duke had heard his “number two”
clearing his throat, he gruffly replied, “Go ahead…report!”

“My Duke, first of all, I would like to
remind you of the
Code of the Vispano Knights
, which as you
well know was written by your ancestor—Duke Artesium Vispano the
First,” Valiante began.

After clearing his throat, he then continued,
“By
The Code
, which you also know all too well my Duke,
Sultan Baltor Elysian won honorably in single-handed combat against
the greatest warrior we had available, Commander Barquoth! In fact,
this Sultan even spared your commander’s life at the end of the
battle, which is the reason why we have peacefully relinquished
control of Lasparus back to the Sultan—by the book.”

The duke snapped out angrily, “It is not up
to you to make this type of executive decision, it is up to me! So
why in the hell has the Army of the Sharia Empire followed you all
the way here to Parthway?”

Valiante answered, “There is a common enemy
that both the Vispano Province and the Sharia Empire share—a
dishonorable and evil army who’s numbers are reported by the Sultan
to be in the millions—they may already be heading this way, my
Duke!”

After a six second pause, this time without
interruption, he added, “Also from the Sultan’s reports, this army
annihilates everything in its path, and thus poses a serious danger
to the Vispano Province, as they are most likely spreading their
way outward like a plague, sir!”

The duke asked, “Another army to the
southeast?”

Valiante answered, “Yes sir, the Sharia
Empire’s forces have not come to conquer Parthway, or any of the
Vispano Province whatsoever, or fight us at all, but hopes to ally
with our forces, and fight this new foe together, while
reestablishing the peace and trade between our two great countries,
my Duke!

“Last but not least, I’d like to conclude my
report by swearing on my honor and my honorable ancestors that my
entire report is accurate to the best of my knowledge.”

The duke replied, “So what? So what if the
Sultan of the Elysian Empire won honorably in single-handed combat
against Commander Barquoth? No disrespect to the commander, but he
is not the best warrior from our faction, and you,
Commanding-Knight Valiante know this to be true.
Senior-Commanding-Knight Travail is!”

Valiante countered, “True sir, but he was not
there at the time, which time is obviously a very pressing matter
for the Sultan! After all, he has already committed he and his
forces to make their way and fight this most-evil army, and I
believed we could perhaps assist him, my Duke. Especially
considering that this army may soon become a threat to the Vispano
Province?”

Instead of answering the question, the duke
asked his own, “Again you mention this supposed enemy army that
exists to the southeast? I have certainly heard no reports of any
enemy activities happening in that direction—bah!

“The only armies I’ve heard about, besides my
own standing right behind you, are the enemy Forces of the Sharia
Empire who have tricked you. You are a pathetic excuse for a
commanding officer, Commanding-Knight Valiante—I hereby strip you
of your command!”

Looking over to the second-in-command who sat
upon the horse to Valiante’s right, the duke ordered,
“Senior-Commander Ransche, you are now in command of the army
below—in a moment, I am going to have the city gates opened. Once
opened, you are going to command my army to enter the gates. Once
the gates are closed, with Valiante by your side, you are going to
order him to lay his ‘commander’s sword’ down upon the ground and
you are going to mantle it upon your own belt. Do you understand
me, Commanding-Knight Ransche?”

Ransche replied, “My Duke, I have loyally
served twenty years under Commanding-Knight Valiante, who has
always been loyal to you and the Vispano Province, and I must
concur that he did everything by the book and nothing wrong,
sir!

“Even you, my Duke, cannot dispute the
infallible logic written by the first commander-in-chief, nor can
I! Please let us honorably fight the enemy that—”

At this point, the duke interrupted, “What
talk is there of any enemy besides the one that is now in the
process of setting up camp directly behind you, so they can wage
war in the morning? The only thing I’m really surprised about is
that they haven’t attacked yet.”

Without pause, he looked to the commanders on
Valiante’s left, Barquoth and Parse, and said, “Commander Parse,
you are therefore promoted to Commanding-Knight in charge! Order my
forces to enter the city gates.”

Parse, who had originally been the
third-in-command of Valiante’s forces, replied, “I, too, must
concur with both Commanding-Knight Valiante and Senior-Commander
Ransche, sir!”

The duke snapped, “I have heard of no reports
of enemy armies moving to the southeast—it is an obvious trap that
any fool can see! Is there anyone who will lead my army back into
the city? Even a private? No…? That’s it—you are all fired!
Archers, fire!”

Instantly five thousand arrows zinged toward
them all at once, which in the first round, killed one thousand,
five hundred eighty-two, and wounded in all degrees one thousand,
eight hundred and five! Tens of thousands more would have died or
been injured, but all of these soldiers wore armor and helmets.

A moment later, just before the second volley
of arrows was shot, Valiante called out, “Retreat!”

The forces turned around and began to
retreat, but not before another one thousand, seven hundred
fourteen immediately dropped to the ground, mainly dead with arrows
stuck in their backs!

The third volley of arrows killed six hundred
twelve, including Ransche, and wounded nine hundred twelve! The
fourth volley killed eighty-three and wounded twenty-five, and the
fifth neither killed nor wounded any.

The grand total of dead reached four
thousand, three hundred ninety-two troops in under a minute’s time,
and two thousand, seven hundred forty-two men had been wounded!
Fifty-eight thousand, two hundred forty came out unscathed…

An hour later, the first words from Valiante
to Baltor in his command tent were, “Your Sultan, I—I can’t believe
he fired upon us!”

Baltor shook his head from side to side as he
grimly replied, “I’m not. His conquering Lasparus in the first
place is clear proof of his lack of honor, Commanding-Knight! Come
tomorrow morning, my forces and I shall be moving southeast to face
the army, as time is of the essence.”

Valiante asked, “What about the Duke? Aren’t
you afraid he will attack you from your rear flanks?”

“My forces and I will be prepared for it
should he make the attempt, but I cannot wait any longer! I am not
really sure of what to tell you or your men, except to say that I
am truly sorry about your losses of good men.”

Valiante breathed out a deep sigh, and then
he said, “I’m not really sure of what I should tell them, either.
Wait—what if we simply hold them back until you and your army are
long gone?”

Without waiting for an answer, Valiante
added, “Once you have departed the Vispano Province, then this ‘act
of peace’ will prove to the Duke that your intentions were
completely honorable all along!”

“Excellent idea, Commanding-Knight Valiante,”
Baltor sighed wearily. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to be
getting my rest for the night—after all, tomorrow shortly before
dawn, my army and I leave.”

Valiante left Baltor’s command tent, headed
back to his own men, calmed them down, and ordered them to set up
camp for the night, but to the south side of Parthway, safely away
from archers.

During this very same night, coincidentally
enough, a squad of four soldiers arrived at Parthway. They
originally had been stationed in the third largest of five cities
within the Vispano Province, a city containing tens of thousands
called Scarthan, located in the far southeastern quadrant.

It had literally taken these four soldiers
six days of furious galloping on horseback before they arrived!

The route the squad entered into the city was
through a secret underground passage that directly led to the army
barracks. Once inside, the lieutenant-in-charge of the squad
reported to the first higher-ranking officer he saw.

He asked, “Cap’n? You’d never believe the
news I’m ‘bout to report, except for the fact that I’ve
proof—proof’ll need to be directly relayed to the Duke!”

The captain first looked strangely at the
lieutenant who was holding a bloody sack in his left hand, and then
he asked, “What is your name, Lieutenant?”

“Lieutenant La Pax,” he said while snapping a
sharp salute with his right hand.

“Lieutenant La Pax,” the captain asked, “what
is the news you speak of, so that I can relay it to my
supervisor?”

“Sir—Scarthan’s in utter ruins ‘n all
forty-eight thousand, one hundred ‘n fifty-two citizens, soldiers,
‘n even Earl Grean—dead! We watched as hundreds of thousands of ‘em
set fire to the city, ‘n killed just about everybody! Though
they’re humanoid in shape, they’re definitely not human, and act
like beasties…”

After releasing a deep sigh, he added, “The
only reason me ‘n my squad survived was ‘cuz we were on
patrol—we’re pretty damned certain they’re headin’ this way!”

At that news, the captain asked, “What
nonsense are you talking about?”

La Pax opened the bag, and pulled a body-less
head out of the bag by her long silvery hair, which head really
stunk and was hideous to look at. The female’s pitch-black face
might have been considered extremely beautiful, had it not been for
the razor-sharp teeth in her open mouth, the red-tinted eyeballs,
and the pointy-ears that had silver-hoop-earrings all around the
tips!

The captain’s nostrils caught whiff, and he
immediately hurled all of the contents of his stomach on the
ground.

La Pax obligingly put the head back in the
bag, and then he proudly stated, “Killed her myself, I did, sir!
Sir, even weirder was the fact that she magically appeared outta
thin air, right in front of me ‘n my men, though she was facin’ the
other way from me, ‘n didn’t see me ‘til my sword sliced off her
bloody head! Well, cap’n, believe me now?”

The captain looked up, and said quite
queasily, “Yes, lieutenant, let’s get this news relayed to the duke
as soon as possible!”

Within the next twenty minutes, La Pax again
delivered his report to the duke, as well warned him to put
something over his nose, as it was a very-very nasty smell—the duke
obligingly did!

When he saw the head, he replied with several
layers of perfumed silk veils draped over his nose and mouth,
“Thank you for your report, Lieutenant La Pax! You have served the
Vispano Province well by relaying this information to me…have your
men get their rest. As for you, stick around here—I’m going to need
your services real soon! Oh, and take that smelly bag somewhere out
of this room for now—but don’t set it on the ground, please…”

“Yes, sir,” La Pax replied. He quickly retied
the bag with the head in it, walked over to a spear that was
hanging on the wall, and slipped the knot over the end of the
spear. With a yawn, he snapped a salute, and said, “I’ll be back,
sir.”

“Thanks, lieutenant,” the duke said while
returning the salute. He then looked over to Travail, and said, “It
appears that that Sultan Baltor Elysian and Commanding-Knight
Valiante were right! This changes things a bit now…doesn’t it?”

“Yes my Duke, I believe that it does,”
Travail replied.

“In two hours, you and I shall personally go
to the Sultan’s camp with the white flag raised, and call for a
meeting with both Commanding-Knight Valiante, and him.

“By the way, are you willing and ready to die
for the honor and the glory of the Vispano Knights should it become
necessary, my Senior-Commanding-Knight?”

“As always, my Duke,” Travail answered. “Why
do you ask?”

Instead of answering the question, the duke
asked another, “Do you trust my decisions implicitly”

“Up until your decision to fire down upon
Commanding-Knight Valiante and your loyal forces this evening, my
Duke, yes,” Travail replied truthfully.

“I see….besides that?”

“Besides that one faulty decision, my Duke, I
have always trusted you!”

The duke said, “Good, my friend, then trust
me with this one. You are the best warrior in my kingdom, as the
Sultan is in his, and so it shall be the two of you who fight by
The Code
for the proper claiming of Lasparus, to the death…
I have no doubt, my friend, that it shall be you who comes out
victoriously honorable!”

Travail stammered, “You—you want me to duel
to the death with the Sultan? Is not Commander Barquoth’s battle
sufficient to prove the man’s honor? Why must we provoke more death
between each other as our two nations truly have a common foe?”

The duke sighed, before calmly answering,
“Because, my friend, this Sultan must die. He shall, if not stopped
immediately, become a threat to the Vispano Knights and the
Province!