The Black Sword Trilogy: The Four Nations (30 page)

             
“Sure you can!” Shorn called again.  “You can secure me another contract with the Lady of the Woods!”

             
The old Captain laughed heartily and his ship sailed across the lake.  Kenner waved the sword, a gentle breeze filled the sail and the boat sailed on in the opposite direction.

The Battle of Tenav

             
After The Great War had raged for fifteen long years, Gregor the Mad, King of Masallah had become tired of the stalemate and decided it was time to end it once and for all, but even he knew that it would not be easy.  During the harsh winter months, the armies of all the nations typically rested.  Many soldiers even went back to their homes and farms to wait for spring when the fighting would begin again.  But in the fifteenth autumn of the War, Gregor would not let his soldiers leave his armies.

             
In the shadows of the Blue Mountains, he gathered together all his troops into one enormous force.  He increased the taxes on his people, taking fully half of all their money, crops and livestock. With these, he built a huge reserve of supplies.  He also paid the Admiral of Sheyron for the use of a thousand ships.  It was a price that would nearly empty the coffers of his realm.  He conscripted more men and offered land and titles in Walechia to all of the Masallan professional soldiers to join him.

             
In the winter of the sixteenth year, the army, numbering fifty thousand strong marched south from the foothills of Masallah toward the port city of Lahkhert.  From there, they would sail to Breian, the only port city to rival Korsh in size and importance.

             
The city sat on the edge of a great plain bordering Walechia.  With its high, sloping walls and tall towers, it was considered nearly impregnable from the land.  The only part of the city not defended by its walls were the docks and the port.  The only way to approach the city would be by sea.  It was Gregor’s plan to sail his army from the port of Lahkhert to Breian; which would be the staging area for his army and his march across Walechia to end the war.  What he didn’t know was that Admiral Smol had betrayed him.

             
King Turin of Walechia had learned of Gregor’s plan and forged another deal with Smol.  Smol would allow Walechian ships to use the port of Korsh and for Turin to prepare an army for his own invasion; but not of Masallah.  This army would attack Breian from the sea and destroy it.

Before the Masalla
n Army had even reached Breian, King Turin and a fleet of one hundred ships sailed from Korsh and approached it from its vulnerable port.  As Gregor had taken nearly all of Breian’s weapons, supplies, moved its soldiers to join the larger army and conscripted most of its men, the city was virtually defenseless.  The great city fell in less than a day.  The docks were destroyed, and Turin sunk all one hundred ships in the shallow water of the port making it practically impossible to approach.  The city was burned and smoke was still rising when the Masallan fleet approached.

In the same winter that Gregor
had marched his army to Lahkhert, Turin had marched a force of another twenty thousand to the beaches outside the city of Tenav, the only other place Gregor could land his troops.  Although greatly outnumbered by the Masallan Army, Turin’s army had the advantage of excellent natural defenses.  The beaches themselves were soft and muddy and at low tide it would be nearly a mile along those beaches to the firm ground defended by Turin’s force.  The Masallan army would have to land at low tide because the sea was so shallow, at high tide the ships would run aground a mile from the beach.  Cavalry would be useless and infantry vulnerable to archers and catapults.

Even knowing these facts, Gregor, wielding the Stone Hammer was confident.  He also knew that Turin held the Silver Axe. He plann
ed to attack Turin one to one, destroy him and take the Axe for himself.  With both weapons in his possession, he could conquer Walechia, Sheyron and the Blackwoods.

Turin however was no fool.  Even though he knew his army would suffer heavy losses by the
Stone Hammer, He also knew not to attack Gregor directly.  Instead he had another strategy; and one that would all but eliminate the Stone Hammer as a factor in the battle.

At dawn on the first day of spring and at low tide, the Masallan fleet approached t
he shores of Tenav.  The tide was even lower than normal and therefore the Masallan troops would have to wade through even more thick mud to the shore.  Catapults rained boulders, spiked iron balls and sharpened pieces of lead down on the soldiers who were barely able to move in the mud and weighed down by their heavy armor.  Their own archers could not support them and they had no heavy artillery.  The cavalry were barely able to offload from the ships and less than half of the horses were able to move more than a few yards.  Once they were in range of the Walechian archers, they were all but helpless.

But Gregor was undeterred.  He and a few of his cavalry made it to the shore and to the Walechian infantry line.  With the Stone Hammer he was able to kill d
ozens, but when he saw Turin charging at him with The Silver Axe, he knew he had to engage.  His whole strategy now depended on him obtaining the Axe.

He chased Turin off the field of battle.  Although it was obvious to Gregor that Turin was merely evading
him to keep him off the battlefield, he still knew that he must have the Axe.  Even with the supporting cavalry around him pleading with him to abandon the chase, he pursued Turin for hours and miles away from the beach.

He did not see his army decimated.
  Of the fifty thousand that left the ships, half died on the beach before General Orff took command and ordered the army back on to the ships.  Many of the ships were destroyed by Walechian artillery and maneuvering around them proved difficult for the remaining vessels.  Still, Orff had managed to save the remnants of the army which still had plenty of supplies to for the return to Masallah.

King Gregor, driven to near insanity by his obsession to catch Turin pursued the entire day and into the night.  In
the dark of the moonless night, he rode his horse around in endless circles until it collapsed underneath him.  In the morning, he found himself alone and lost, the only hint of his location being the distant mountains to the east.

For two years, he had d
isappeared and was thought dead until a weak and emaciated Gregor was found near a farm on the edge of the Tree of Life.  While resting at the farm, One thousand soldiers under the command of young General named Faraday surrounded the farm and the Stone Hammer became the first of the Great Weapons to be seized.

Chapter Thirty Four

             
General Krall walked into Krypt’s tent, pleasantly surprised to see Krypt up and moving around.

             
“Finally got tired of sitting on your ass I see?” He asked him.

             
“I don’t heal as fast as I used to, but I should be ready to fight in a couple of days.” Krypt answered him.

             
“Good, I will need all the fighters I can get.  And this time you can stop being so careful.”

             
“I’ve never been afraid to die; but I couldn’t just let Fraust have the Grand Army.”

             
“And he won’t.  Once we’re finished with the task at hand, not even the King will be able to take this army away from us.”

             
Krypt’s bones ached and his wounds were still sore, but he felt his strength returning to him.  He was ready for battle.

             
“What task is there ahead?” Krypt asked.

             
“Two days north of us, there is an army of ten thousand Wolfen with twenty thousand Silther.  It’s the largest enemy force seen in this country since the Dark Times.”

             
“Where are they headed?

             
“They’re coming this way.  The other armies are only a day behind them and when we meet outside the ruins of that city, we will have them surrounded and destroy them.”

             
“That sounds like it might be decisive.”

             
“For us, possibly, but that won’t be the end of it.”

             
“What do you mean?”

Krall sat in the chair next to Krypt’s chair and lit his pipe.

              “Fifty thousand more are moving to the pass of Parabas.  Once we’ve destroyed the army coming this direction, we’ll pursue the northern force through the pass.”

Kr
ypt then found himself concerned.

             
“Are you intending to move our forces into Masallah?”

             
“We may have to.”

             
“But that will mean war with Masallah.”

“Not necessarily.” Krall said confidently.  “By the time we move into Masallah, Terri and Kenner will join
us.  Then we’ll have the Blackwood Bow and the Black Sword on our side.  The ‘God King of Masallah’” He said sarcastically, “Will have no choice but to accept our forces in his country and join us.”

             
“But to what end?” Krypt asked nervously.

             
“Peace, my old friend; a lasting peace we haven’t seen since the end of the Great War.”

             
“An alliance between Walechia and Masallah?”

             
“Exactly.  And once Walechia and Masallah are with us, Sheyron will have no choice but to join us as well.”

             
“And the Blackwoods?”

             
“They want no part in this war.  They only wish to be left alone in their forest; to be removed from the rest of the world.”

Krypt wasn’t sure about this plan.  To him, it sounded too much like world domination; like a war of conquest.

              “I don’t know about this Krall.  There’s too much that could go wrong.”

             
“Like what?”

             
“What if the Masallan King doesn’t join us?”

             
“With two of the Great Weapons and the Black Sword allied into one army?  Even if he had the Stone Hammer, he’d be a fool not to join us.”

             
“And how do you know Kenner will join us?”

Krall took another thoughtful draw from his pipe.

              “Kenner’s a good man.” He said.  “But he’s young and naïve.  Controlling him will not be difficult.”

             
Two days later, the Grand Army was ready to march.  The soldiers were rested and well fed and they had enough supplies to last them an entire year if necessary.  At dawn, they assembled in marching formation.  General Krall rode through the ranks on his horse flanked by his company of cavalry and General Krypt.  As he rode through carrying the Silver Axe high, the soldiers cheered and chanted his name.

             
Riding to the top of the rise, he thrust the Axe over his head.

             
“Soldier of Walechia,” He said in a booming voice heard throughout the army.  “Your General has returned!”

The army cheered in unison.

              “Today we march north to destroy the enemy marching against us.  Today we march to victory for Walechia!”

The cheers echoed along the plain and to the forested hills beyond.

              “From there, we march to Masallah and from their mountains we will wash across the world like an ocean wave, sweeping away all evil.  We will win this final war against the forces of darkness and a peace that will last a thousand years will follow with us!”

The cheers echoed louder and lasted longer.  Th
e Grand Army was prepared for a war that would end all wars.  General Krall urged them forward and in perfect unison, the army moved across the plain in a sound like thunder.

             
Far away in the mountains, the Dark Lord Bleylock was finishing his own Black Sword.  He had shaped it and honed it for three days and nights and a final and violent storm bathed the blade in lightning.

             
The world was moving in the direction he had pointed it.  Soon Masallah and Walechia would be at war, Sheyron would fall and the forest would burn.  The Lord of The Black Sword would then have no choice but to lead another army of all nations in a final war.  But little did young Kenner know, Bleylock thought confidently, that he would ultimately be serving the will of the last of the Dark Lords.

             
He had plotted this course during the long centuries that he climbed out of the pit.  He had forged his will and a weapon to match the hated Black Blade and now the destinies of women and men were at his command.  Every strategy and counter strategy had been taken into account.  There was nothing he could not predict.  Soon his will would dominate all of creation and the world would be his to dominate for all time.  Nothing, he knew could stop that now.