Every Battle Lord's Nightmare (26 page)

            Yulen pressed on. “In my dream, Atty, you went to fetch Dr. Gus. But Highcliff had some men waiting for you. They kidnapped you and murdered Warren. Then they took you up top to where the catwalks are. We heard screaming, and ran to the gates that were shut again. Highcliff was up there. He told me to come up and join him. They dropped a rope ladder for me to climb, but Garet, you took the ladder instead, and you died for your effort. They killed you with crossbows.”

            He pointed to himself. “I went up that ladder where they tied me up. That’s when Highcliff explained everything to me.”

            “The summit was a ruse,” Atty whispered.

Yulen nodded. “It was more than a ruse. It’s a trap set to pull in all the battle lords who are Mutah sympathizers. LeGreen and Highcliff have been planning this whole thing for over a year. Tonight, Highcliff is going to kill everyone in this section, then move to the next section over and kill the Mutah, except for a select few whom he plans to torture.”

“Why?” Renken asked.

“To find out the location of all Mutah compounds.” Yulen ran a sleeve over his sweaty face. His mind was racing, as well as his heart. His knees felt like they were about to give out at any moment. “Twoson, that man, Berris Dullay? He’s a plant. Him and two dozen other Mutah were deliberately infected with a disease, then sent on their way to contaminate others. Once Highcliff removes the battle lords who want treaties with the Mutah, he and those who are against the treaties plan to go out and systematically wipe out any remaining Mutah they can find.”

Paas gave a little cry of horror. Mastin quickly drew an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “What happened to you and Atty…in your dream?” Mastin asked.

Gripping the hilt of his sword, Yulen straightened. “Highcliff’s second isn’t Franjet. It’s Mig Karv, Tosh Karv’s brother. He gets his revenge by killing Atty, and then me, before Highcliff lets his archers loose.”

Everyone stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. At least, that was Yulen’s first impression, until Renken stepped forward and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“I believe you, Yulen. I’ve witnessed too many things with my own eyes not to. I think the connection you and Atty share may have brought about this foretelling. But whatever caused it, we now know what’s going to happen. And we need to stop it before it comes true.”

Fortune also drew closer. “Just tell us what to do.”

Atty walked over and slid an arm around his waist, pressing her cheek against his arm. Her physical presence wiped the last of the misty haze from his mind, giving him a clarity he sorely needed.

“First, we stay away from the wall and the gates. Garet, go tell Zane what I told you and have him gather his men here. Mastin, bring in our soldiers to form a phalanx. Warren, go find Achery, the battle lord from Saint Conesus. Tell him what we know, but don’t tell him it was a dream I had. Tell him it came from a reliable source, and he must spread word quickly to all the other battle lords who are here in favor of the treaties. Everyone must have their men at-ready.” Yulen took another shaky breath. “And then let’s pray that, because we know what occurred in my dream, that we’ve been given the chance to change its outcome, too.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Retribution

            Yulen stood within the circle his army made around him and Atty. Behind them and inside Zane’s tent, Twoson, Paas, and Thrasher set up a triage center and waited.   Batuset stood ten yards away with his men surrounding him.

As word went out about what Highcliff had planned, every battle lord prepared for what was about to happen. Everyone had their swords drawn and ready, to show a united front.

Mastin glanced over at Yulen, whose eyes remained fixed on the battlements. In the flickering lights coming from the campfires, it was difficult to tell between a shadow and a figure climbing onto the narrow walkway. But so far the compound remained eerily quiet. The lack of any kind of noise was wrong on too many counts.

Yulen knew Highcliff would pit his archers against the visiting soldiers. It had been obvious in his dream that the man fully expected the fight to drag on for hours, perhaps days, and had prepared for it. Highcliff hoped to inflict the majority of casualties in the first few minutes of his attack, when everyone was least prepared for it. When the visiting armies would not be ready to counter with their own defense until it was too late. Then his men would take shifts picking off the remaining survivors one by one as the hours wore on. Without food or fresh water, the siege would not last for long. It also explained why the wagons Yulen and the other battle lords had brought with them had to be ditched before they entered the compound.

Furthermore, Highcliff made it a point that everyone, with maybe one exception, would be armed only with swords. Once his visitors came through the main gates, his men would divest all archers of their bows to make sure there was no way they could retaliate, while allowing the swords and daggers to remain. That way, everyone was given a false sense of security without raising any questions.

Overall, every detail LeGreen had planned made for a brilliant tactical maneuver.

However, there remained the question why they’d allowed Atty to keep her bow, and the only answer Yulen could find was that they believed a single female couldn’t be deemed an actual threat. Yulen had to take into consideration that if Highcliff was aware of Mattox, then he had to also be aware of Atty’s skill with a bow. But, as Yulen had learned in the past, those who’d heard of her prowess either chalked it up as another tall tale, or refused altogether to believe her capabilities until they saw it for themselves. By not taking her bow when they’d entered Rocky Gorge, the soldiers had made an irrevocable error.

Well, Alton, be ready to bear witness.

“Yulen?”

The single word from Fortune sent up a red flag. Yulen stared at the direction where the Mutah hunter indicated. Yes, there definitely was movement coming from the parapet.

            “Do you think he’ll try to come after me?” Atty whispered.

            “I don’t know. In my dream, Highcliff must have seen you as a fateful coincidence when he’d noticed you on that side of the section when you’d gone there to fetch Fergus. Maybe he’d originally planned to have his soldiers move among us until they happened upon you. After all, they wouldn’t look out of place. Everyone would assume they were simply patrolling the area, as was their duty. But once they found you, they’d give you some sort of story to convince you to go with them. That, or take you by force.”

            “But Warren would be with me.”

            “True. And once they cleared the gates, he would have been killed as they took you prisoner.”

            “So you believe Atty was their intended target all along?” Renken asked softly.

Yulen slowly nodded. “Highcliff wants me dead because I’m the figurehead for all these treaties between Normals and Mutah. He wants the status quo to remain unchanged and unchallenged. He’s probably heard enough stories about me and Atty to know she’s my sole weakness. Rather than strike directly, he would come at me through her.”

“Kill the snake by removing the head,” Fortune murmured.

“Precisely.”

“Bet the son of a bitch will be pissed to find out you didn’t completely succumb to that infection,” Renken added. “Wanna bet he was hoping it would do you in so he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty?”

A trio of figures appeared on the catwalk. The center one was Highcliff. Everyone went on alert as the man casually strolled in their direction.

“Hey! D’Jacques!”

From the overhead walkway it would appear as if Yulen was holding a meeting with his men. As they all knelt on one knee, they provided a barrier around him and Atty while keeping their own weapons in hand but hidden from sight. Yulen gave a casual wave back.

“What’s up, Highcliff? Pretty late to be out and about, isn’t it?”

“I was hoping you’d be up. How are you feeling?” The man’s words rang in the cold night air. Clear and loud enough for everyone inside the section to hear him.

“I’m doing quite well. Thanks for asking.”

The battle lord waved for Yulen to approach the wall. “Come on over here a second, would you? I have something I need to discuss before the summit begins tomorrow.”

Yulen glanced at the two guards flanking him. They were carrying crossbows, as he knew they would. “It will have to wait. I’m in the middle of something important at the moment.”

He watched as Highcliff mulled over this new development. Obviously Yulen wasn’t going to get within crossbow range. Add to the fact that Yulen’s stature was equal to his, Highcliff couldn’t order Yulen over to the wall, either.

The man is stymied,
Yulen mused. What was more telling was that Highcliff didn’t mention the bats, or inquire how they’d managed to survive the attack.

Yulen continued to make it appear as if he were instructing his men on what to do should the creatures appear again, but his attention remained focused on Highcliff. Standing beside and slightly behind him, Atty tensed. Yulen could feel her hunter’s instincts kicking in as she mentally placed a target on the man.

“D’Jacques!”

Yulen lifted his face again in the man’s direction and waited.

“My men found a few weapons hidden along the trail leading from the road to the compound. I believe they’re yours. I thought you might need them in case those flying rats returned, so they’re going to bring them through the gates. I need you to come over and identify them.”

“Thanks, Alton! I’ll send my second over to check.”

Even from where he stood, Yulen could see the battle lord fuming over another lost opportunity.

He’s within range, Yulen.

Hold, Atty. I think it’s coming.

So do I, husband. And I’m ready.

Highcliff turned his back to them to either talk to his guards or to signal the battalion of archers waiting on the ground on the other side of the wall. The battle lord was fresh out of ideas, and ready to go ahead with the next step. The moment he moved, Yulen stepped aside.

Atty rose to her feet and fired off the first arrow in one fluid motion. Two more shafts followed less than a second after it. She paused with a fourth arrow ready to fly.

The first one caught Highcliff in the exact center of his spine between his shoulder blades, slicing between the bones to sever it and the nerves leading to his appendages. The man gave a grunt of pain and surprise. His arms flailed uselessly as he tried to reach out and grab his men for support. Too late, Highcliff realized both guards sported their own arrows: one in an eye, the other in the temple when he’d turned his head. Both men were already dead as their bodies tumbled over the wall to the other side.

Highcliff fell forward, and would have followed his men except his body bent at an odd angle. Off-balanced, he toppled backwards, landing on the snow-packed ground yards away from Yulen’s camp.

Immediately, Yulen gave the signal for his troops to stand as Renken and Fortune raced to fetch the injured man. Grabbing him under the arms, they dragged him within the circle and threw him onto the muddy turf as Batuset ran up to join them.

Gasping for breath, Highcliff glared up at Yulen. “You’ll pay for this, D’Jacques! Attacking another battle lord without provocation is a punishable offense!”

“And you’re going to deny the fact that there isn’t a battalion of archers waiting behind that wall? Waiting for your signal to climb the ladders they’ve brought with them so they can slaughter every man inside this section?” Yulen angrily accused.

Highcliff’s face went white. “What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, Yulen turned to his wife and nodded. This time, Atty shot a different arrow she’d prepared. They watched as the heavier shaft sailed over the top of the wooden structure and dropped between two of the upright wooden planks.

Renken ran over and tugged on the rope that had been attached to the projectile. Finding it firmly in place, he quickly rappelled upward until he reached the catwalk. Cautiously, he peered over the top. He turned to give them a grin and lifted his hand, flashing his fingers four times.

Yulen shuddered as relief washed over him. In his dream, he’d estimated about two dozen archers lined the fortifications. Now that there was proof they were actually present, he knew he’d had a true foretelling. The nightmare had not been a product of his fevered imagination. But it still left him with one final question.

Bitterly, Yulen smiled down at the battle lord. “Twenty archers, Alton. And with them is your real second. A man named Mig Karv. Am I right?”

“At my signal, they will eradicate all of you!” Highcliff swore. He vainly tried to struggle, but his body was unresponsive. Regardless, Yulen placed a boot over the man’s sword arm, pinning it to the ground.

“What signal?” Yulen asked. “Your spine is broken. You can’t move, much less get up. And everyone knows what happens to a compound when a battle lord becomes too infirmed to rule.” Crouching down closer to the man, Yulen shook his head. “This plan you and LeGreen concocted is over, Alton. There will be no eradication of every Mutah. The treaties will be signed, and they will go into effect. And although I don’t see it happening within my lifetime, I firmly believe that, given time, every battle lord will eventually stop their yearly cleaning missions, and make peace with all Mutah.”

Reaching down, Yulen pulled the man’s sword from its scabbard. “Your days are over, Alton Highcliff. I, Yulen D’Jacques, claim this compound as my own. From this day forward, it will fly my banner, and all who come here will learn of this night, and the treachery that almost took place.”

“Never, D’Jacques! I’ll never yield!”

“Who said anything about yielding?” Yulen replied.

Straightening, he lifted Highcliff’s sword above his head, and plunged it straight down into the center of the man’s face.