Council of War (20 page)

"Then I see no flaws in the plan," smiled the Knight of Alcea. "I thank you for your help, Juggler. As to our future relationship, I do look forward to working with you again, but it will be some time before that comes about."

"Perhaps," replied the head thief of Farmin. "You have not left the city yet. You may still need something that I can offer. If you do, let me know. Anything that harms the Federation is something that I can back."

Juggler gave the uniforms to Garth and then blew the candle out. The room returned to darkness. Morro and Garth stood and retraced their path to the outdoors. Morro led Garth to the areas of the city that had been marked on the map. The Knight of Alcea studied them carefully before they returned to the Bluff House Inn to catch a few hours sleep. When Garth woke he heard voices in the other room. He crept to the door and listened. Recognizing Tedi's voice, he opened the door and stepped into the sitting room.

"You are going ahead with this plan?" Kalina scowled as soon as Garth entered the room. "Have you gone mad?"

Garth glared at Tedi, and the gypsy smiled meekly and shrugged.

"I thought she knew," he said sheepishly. “I just came over to find out how you made out with your visit to Juggler."

"It is something that I have to do," Garth said to his wife.

"It is not something that you have to do," retorted Kalina. "If you wish to feed the poor, I can understand that, but do it with your own money. This thing will blow up in our faces."

"It is all under control," Garth replied assuredly. “Besides, we could not afford the bill for the food the people will receive.”

Kalina sighed as she tried to control her anger.

"What are you concerned about?" Garth asked softly. "We have been chased out of cities before, not that it will come to that."

"You had better hope that it does not," scowled Kalina. "We barely escaped Giza with our lives intact. If they shut down Farmin, we may not be so lucky this time. Worse, the Federation will see a pattern developing. If anything at all happens here that arouses their suspicions, you can bet that the next city will be waiting for us. We will have become predictable."

"She has a point," frowned Tedi. "If they suspect that the troubles here in Farmin were caused by Alceans, Valdo will be alerted to expect a visit from us."

"You are jeopardizing our primary mission for this little stunt," Kalina continued.

"It is not a stunt," retorted Garth. "There are people starving to death. I cannot just ignore that. I readily confess that I had not considered the ramifications it might have on our future travel plans, but it is not a meaningless gesture. If those people don't get food in the next day or two, they will die. I simply must do something about it."

"And what will happen when they have had their fill of food?" asked Kalina. "Will you be around to give them more?"

"No," sighed Garth, "but I am hoping that Juggler will pick up on the need to do something about it."

The room descended into a stony silence as Garth and Kalina stared at one another. Eventually, Kalina shook her head and sighed with defeat.

"You are going to do this no matter what I say, aren't you?" she asked calmly.

"It is something that I feel I have to do," nodded Garth. "I know that it may not make a difference in the long run, but I must do it."

"Fine," Kalina replied. "What part can I play?"

Garth's lips slowly spread into a smile. "There is a certain task that must be done outside the walls of the city," he said. "It would be advantageous if we could have it done without the guards seeing any of us riding out through the gates."

"That sounds simple enough," replied Kalina. "How about you explain it all to me over the morning meal?"

"An excellent idea," agreed Garth. "Where is Natia?" he asked Tedi.

"She is off on another adventure," answered Tedi. "She is getting a tour of the elf reeducation center."

"How is she managing that?" frowned Garth.

"She is posing as a girlfriend of that colonel we met on the road," replied Tedi. "Colonel Verle. She told the officer in charge of the center that Colonel Verle had promised her a tour before he was sent north unexpectedly.”

"That is a little risky," stated Kalina. "What if Colonel Verle is married?"

"He is," grinned Tedi. "Natia used Button yesterday to find out about the colonel. The fact that he is married fits her plan perfectly. It is because he is married that Natia is requesting that the tour be kept secret. She said that she doesn't want his wife to learn about it."

"And she thinks the officer will fall for that?" asked Garth.

"He already has," answered Tedi. "I suspect that the officer figured that he might have a chance to woo Natia away from Colonel Verle by showing her the center. I think he also believes that he can use his knowledge of Natia's relationship with the colonel to aid his own advancement."

"Blackmailing the colonel?" chuckled Garth. "He may find that such a ploy can backfire rather spectacularly."

"I think Natia can handle it," stated Tedi. "She will lead the officer on during the tour and then let him down at the end. She also plans to mention as she leaves that she thinks the wife already knows about their affair. In short, she will leave no advantage for the officer to make trouble. I doubt that he will even mention the tour when Colonel Verle returns."

"You've married a wicked woman, Tedi," chuckled Kalina.

"Tell me about it," laughed the gypsy. "She may lead all the men on, but she only poisons the one she loves."

Karl Gree and Max Caber sat back to back staring into the darkness of the forest. The air was still and the forest was silent. The lack of sounds bothered the Knight of Alcea, but he didn't share his concerns with the Ranger. He sat quietly, his eyes scanning the darkness, but he could not see anything beyond the clearing. The canopy was thick and even the stars were not visible. The world beyond the clearing appeared to be one large black void, until the brilliant eyes suddenly appeared.

"I see those eyes that Clint warned us about," Karl whispered to Max.

"I don't think so," replied Max. "Not unless you are looking over my shoulder. I see them in my sector."

Karl slowly turned around and glanced over the Ranger's shoulder. He shivered as he saw the bright eyes. He quickly turned back to his own sector to make sure that the eyes had not moved.

"Now there are two sets of eyes," he reported softly.

"So you have them, too?" asked Max.

"No," Karl replied tensely, "I meant that there are two sets in my sector. Your set makes three."

Both warriors slowly rose to their feet and drew their swords.

"I have three sets now," reported Max.

"As do I," stated Karl. "The others spoke as if there was only one set of eyes during their shifts. I do not like them multiplying."

"Should I wake the others?" asked Max.

"Not yet," answered Karl. "So far they appear content to just gaze at us, and the others will need their sleep, but be ready to move quickly if I change my mind."

"How about putting an arrow right between a pair of those eyes?" asked Max. "Maybe that will scare the others off."

"I don't think that whatever is out there is much afraid of us," replied Karl. "They are acting cautiously, but they don't seem afraid to be noticed."

"Clint said that Prince Rigal thought they were trying to scare us. Do you think that is possible?"

"The elven prince is a wise man," mused Karl. "I think he might be right, but I am not about to bet my life on it. We have already seen things in this forest that defy all explanations. I will take nothing for granted. How tall do you make these creatures to be?"

"I have pondered that since we first saw the eyes," frowned the Ranger. "I can't tell because it is impossible to determine how far away they are. If they are close then they are short, but I would expect to be able to see some sort of shape if they were that close to us."

"The eyes are too far apart for them to be very far away," commented Karl. "Of course, they could be the size of humans and be kneeling. I think it is time to find out. Wake up the elves."

"Just the elves?" asked Max.

"Yes. Clint and Shawn have just gone to sleep. I won't wake them unless we have to."

Max moved slowly across the clearing and nudged Gerant with his foot. The elf opened his eyes immediately and sat up with a questioning gaze. Max pointed to the elven prince and nodded towards Karl. Gerant nodded and woke Prince Rigal. The two elves grabbed their bows and followed the Ranger. Prince Rigal scanned the dark forest and saw the multitude of bright eyes watching him.

Karl sheathed his sword and nocked an arrow to his bow. "Each of us will aim for a different set of eyes," he instructed the others. "Max, you and I will immediately drop our bows and pull swords while the elves nock another arrow. Let's see what type of creature is stalking us."

The four warriors each faced a different direction as the eyes now shone from every side of the encampment. Karl started a slow countdown, and the four warriors fired simultaneously. The sounds of the snapping bowstrings sounded quite loud in the still air, but they heard no cries of pain. In fact, every set of eyes instantly disappeared.

"What in the name of the gods is going on?" Max remarked. "Could we all have missed our targets? Do these creatures not cry out in pain when they are hit?"

"We hit nothing," declared Prince Rigal. "The arrows slammed into trees."

"Perhaps they are spirits without form," Gerant suggested nervously. "Maybe the arrows passed right through them."

Unexpectedly, the forest suddenly spun. The four warriors reached out to one another as they each lost their balance. The movement only lasted a second, but the warriors were shaken as they fought for firm footing. The men sleeping in the clearing began moaning in unison, but there were no other sounds in the woods.

"Did you just feel what I felt?" asked Gerant.

"We all felt it," stated Prince Rigal. "It is just like the dreams we had last night when the bells went off. I suspect that those sleeping just had a dream about it."

"What have we gotten into?" asked Max. "The world does not just turn around when it wants to."

"This forest does," Karl said softly. "I wonder if the creatures knew it was coming. Could our salvo of arrows have been just poorly timed?"

"I saw the eyes when I let my arrow fly," Gerant shook his head. "Nothing could have moved out of the way in time to save itself."

"The rules of our world do not apply here," declared Prince Rigal. "I will take nothing for granted until we are out of these woods."

"Which will be never," scowled Gerant. "We are going to die in here, and we won't even know what has killed us."

"Enough of that kind of talk," berated the elven prince. "If we die, we will die with dignity, not like whimpering dogs."

"Why die at all?" retorted Gerant. "Let's turn around and go back the way we came."

"There are thousands of Federation soldiers waiting back there for us," interjected Max.

"I don't care," Gerant shouted. "I will gladly die fighting the Federation, but I refuse to end up like Alando did. I want to see my enemy when I die."

"Enough!" snapped Karl as the sleeping men began to waken. "I will not have my men going to pieces on me. Get a hold of yourself."

Gerant's face filled with rage and fear as he glared at the Knight of Alcea. Prince Rigal gently laid his hand on Gerant's shoulder and spoke softly.

"There is nothing in this forest that will bring fright to elves. Whatever stands in our way will be killed in due time. Come and help me check on Lyron. I am worried about him."

The touch from Prince Rigal seemed to calm Gerant more than his words. Slowly the rage faded from his face, but the fear remained. He nodded wordlessly and turned towards Lyron. Prince Rigal talked softly to Gerant as the two elves moved away and knelt next to Lyron.

"Don't blame the elf," Max said softly to Karl. "He is no coward."

"And I do not take him for one," Karl replied. "The fact is, all of the men are wanting to get out of this forest by the shortest route. Even I have the urge to turn around and head back to the Kyber Woods, but that way is certain death for all of us."

"Does it really matter?" sighed Max. "With over a week to go in this infernal forest, we are pretty sure of dying in here, too."

"Perhaps you are right," conceded Karl, "but there are worse things than death. Do not forget that there are two men among us that the Federation would love to get their hands on. I will not let that happen."

"The sailors?" asked Max. "What is special about them?"

"Cirris and Ecaro carry some knowledge that the Federation wants badly. I personally do not know what it is, but Garth warned me that they are not to be captured by the enemy."

* * *

Bitsy flew high over the Federation Highway north of Farmin. She counted the soldiers escorting the three wagons and then soared southward. Farmin sat on a bluff, and the Federation Highway sloped upwards for several leagues before the city came into view. Near the top of the slope, but out of sight of the city, the fairy dove towards the trees alongside the road. Well hidden from passersby, the fairy found Kalina and landed on her shoulder.

"You have about an hour before they get here," Bitsy reported.

"Is there anyone on the road before them?" asked Kalina.

"Three groups of riders," answered the tiny blue woman. "One will be here in just a few moments. It is an army patrol. The other two groups are about half an hour away. One group is a single-wagon merchant with two riders, and the other is a group of four riders."

"Thank you," replied Kalina. "I will wait for all of those groups to pass by before fulfilling my task."

"I must report to Garth," stated the fairy, "but I will come back and check the road again before it is time for you to act."

The fairy leaped into the air and disappeared. Kalina watched the army patrol pass by. Half an hour later the other two groups that Bitsy had mentioned also passed by. As soon as the merchant's wagon had passed, Bitsy landed once again.