The Devil's Deuce (The Barrier War) (37 page)

“Everything comes full circle, it seems,” Hoil commented. He
paused thoughtfully, then added, “Maybe there is such a thing as destiny.
Fate.”

“Meaning I was supposed to be the one paladin to return from
Hell?” Birch asked, arching an eyebrow. He had correctly followed Hoil’s line
of thinking. Hoil nodded.

“Maybe. It was because of your use of that bowkur that you
caught the paladin’s eye, which made him take an interest in you and bring you
in as his squire,” Hoil said. “Otherwise you might have stayed put at home,
married Moreen, and been hip-deep in kids and running the Dragoenix Inn with
her.”

Birch stared at him, his expression unreadable.

“When you think about it that way,” Hoil said, “it makes me
more confident that the world will be safe, because you were the one chosen to
save us. There’s nobody else I’d trust with the fate of the world… and the life
of my son.”

“You don’t know all the people in the world, Hoil,” Birch
objected, nevertheless moved by his brother’s confidence.

“I don’t have to,” Hoil said, reaching over to grasp Birch’s
hand. “You’re the best.”

Hoil looked at his brother’s bruised and bloody face and
knew that his looked similarly abused. “Now let’s get up and stop arguing
before somebody gets hurt.”

The two staggered to their feet and looked at the chaos they
had caused. One quarter of the common room had been destroyed in their brawl.
Tables and chairs were shattered and splinters lay strewn about the floor. The
brothers looked about, then looked at each other. First Hoil’s lips twitched,
then Birch smiled, then they both burst out laughing.

Hoil paid the bartender – who’d stayed safely back from the
destruction – for the damages and apologized for the disarray, then the
brothers threw their arms about each other’s shoulders and staggered up to
their rooms.

War is a pattern of behavior, and like most behaviors, it is only in a prolonged
state that it becomes abnormal. Nowhere can this more clearly be seen than in
the country of Merishank.

- Orange Paladin
Janek
jo’Baerth
,

“A History of War” (969 AM)

- 1 -

Two days later, Danner was roughly awakened as someone
lifted his bedroll from one side, which sent Danner tumbling out the other side
onto the ground. He stumbled bleary-eyed to his feet, groping blindly for his
sword to face the perceived threat. When his eyes and mind were clear, all he
saw was Garnet.

“Easy, Danner,” Garnet said with a chuckle. “I tried shaking
you and calling your name to wake you up, but this was the only thing that
worked. Sorry.”

“No worries. I don’t think I’m permanently bruised,” Danner
replied somewhat grumpily. He looked at the sky and estimated dawn was only an
hour or so past, well before his scheduled time to rise. “What’s the
emergency?”

“Get cleaned up and meet in Gerard’s tree,” Garnet said.
“And hurry. The shepherd summons his flock.”

Danner broke through a thin layer of ice on a bucket of
water and splashed his face. He gasped at the frigid temperature, but his
thoughts were immediately swept clear from the morning fog of his abrupt
waking. He looked outside of his lean-to and noted unhappily that it had snowed
again last night. The temperature had warmed again after the snows over a month
ago, then cooled with more snow, then warmed again. Marc said it had something
to do with being so close to a large body of water ─ the Earthforge ─
and being at the base of the mountains. No one really cared about his
explanation; they were just all annoyed at the fickleness of the weather.

The ground had been clear of snow for several days, which
had made their most recent excursion into the enemy camp possible. It was
difficult to camouflage for the black night sky and the white snowy ground at
the same time. But now, with a foot of snow laying on the ground, they would
have to change their tactics again. He poked his head out one last time,
holding his breath for the space of ten heartbeats to listen to the stillness
of the woods.

In the middle of a small army of mind-reading denarae, it
was inconceivable that someone from the Merishank army could be nearby and
might observe him, but the habit of stealth and caution had been drilled into
him daily for weeks now, and even the simple task of relieving himself was done
as quietly as possible.

Danner threw on a double layer of clothes, then moved
quickly through the snow to the base of a tree near Gerard’s. The tree had
boards nailed to it haphazardly to create a ladder such as a child might make
to climb to a tree fort, and some were even deliberately loose to create a
derelict and unused appearance. Danner scaled the boards swiftly, then walked
from branch to branch and tree to tree until he reached Gerard’s hut, which had
no direct access from the ground. Remembering the ladder, Danner smiled briefly
at the thought of a young Gerard Morningham building tree forts and playing at
war with other children, then he soberly remembered that Gerard’s childhood had
been
a war, and it had not been playing.

He knocked, then entered without waiting for permission. The
other officers of Shadow Company were already assembled, looking just as upset
at the early hour and the snowy ground as Danner was. The only exception was
Gerard, who was too focused for such trifling concerns to upset him.

“You look like Hell, Danner,” Gerard said in greeting
without a hint of banter in his voice.

“You’re not a pretty sight yourself, sir,” he replied,
saluting briefly.

Gerard returned his salute, then leaned over the map and
table, balancing on his fists.

“Gentlemen, we have a situation,” he said without further
amenity. “On my morning recon flight, I saw a group of three paladins coming up
from the south behind the Merishank army. They’re trying to sneak through or
around it, but I don’t think they’re going to have much luck. The Merishank
patrols are too heavy for anyone but Shadow Company, and they’re sure to be
caught.”

“You want us to bring them in,” Garnet said. It wasn’t a
question.

“Exactly.”

“Do they have dakkans?” Michael asked.

“Yes, two at least.”

“Why don’t they fly them over the army then?”

“I must have forgotten to ask them during the extensive
conversation we were holding a thousand feet from each other,” Gerard replied
sarcastically. “I couldn’t exactly land Sabor in full view of the Merishank
army.” Michael flushed and nodded at the rebuke. Gerard turned to the group at
large.

“Trebor and Danner will make initial contact. Garnet and
Michael, you’ll follow from the east, ready to cover them if necessary. Marc,
Flasch, you’ll stay here ready to deploy at a moment’s notice wherever I need
you. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they replied.

“Good. Get your platoons moving. We’ve only got a short time
before they reach the edge of the Merishank patrols.”

Danner and the others hurried from the shack and leapt from
the tree-cradled hut. Danner followed Trebor to the ground, and they ran
together to where their platoons were secreted. Trebor sent mental commands
ahead, and Danner made contact with the sentries on duty in his own platoon. By
the time they arrived, both their units were geared up and already beginning to
move out.

They spread out and wove through the trees silently as a
force of habit, and on their way they passed Marc and Flasch’s platoons already
setting themselves up for immediate deployment. At the southern edge of the
woods, they passed Garnet and Michael’s troops, who were waiting for them
before advancing. Danner and Trebor overtook them and their platoons hurried
toward where the paladins had last been seen.

“Caret, take the
platoon forward,”
Danner ordered mentally, stopping before he left the
woods.
“I’m going aloft for visual
confirmation. I’ll send orders from there and join you soon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Danner asolved his wings and flew up through the concealment
of the trees until he cleared the canopy. He maneuvered for a clear line of
sight around the tallest trees, then dekinted and relied on his cloak to glide
slowly downward. Meanwhile, he searched the landscape below him until he saw
five distant shapes taking cover behind a large outcropping of rock. Three of
the shapes were men, the other two were dakkans in runner form. He’d found the
paladins.

A smear on the white landscape caught his eye, and he saw a
patrol of at least fifty men trotting in formation close to where the paladins
were hidden, a long trail of churned mud and snow left in their wake. In
another few minutes, they would overtake the holy warriors and inevitably discover
them.

Danner relayed quick directions to his platoon and to
Trebor, then glided down and sprinted to rendezvous with his men. When he
landed and caught up to his men, they were less than a minute’s hard run away
from the rocks where the paladins were hiding. They ran forward, Danner in the
lead with his blue cloak trailing behind him in the wind. He wanted them to see
him first and recognize a fellow paladin so they wouldn’t be alarmed. When he
drew closer, Danner nearly
tripped
in surprise.

“James?” he said, when he was close enough to not have to
shout. “Vander? Garet?”

“Young de’Valderat,” James replied, smiling. “Or should I
now say, brother? You’ve finished your training already?”

“Desperate times,” Danner said by way of answer. “For God
and for man,” and the other three joined in saying, “For life.”

“You’re in trouble, gentlemen,” Danner said, shaking hands
quickly with each man. Vander had a large bundle of cloth in his arms that
emitted an occasional whimper, but Danner couldn’t see what was within.
“There’s a patrol of fifty foot heading this way.”

“So many this far away?” Garet asked, his expression twisted
in a guilty grimace. “I didn’t expect anything so heavy at such a distance.”

“Not your fault, Garet,” James told the troubled Red.
“Nothing about this mission has been what we were expecting.”

Danner looked at James with interest but held back his
questions.

“My men are enough to handle them easily,” Danner said,
moving on to the more pressing issue, “but I’d rather not take them on in the
open like this. If you’ll be so kind as to accompany us, we’ll get you out of
here. Garet, I’ll even take you to your son.”

The big man looked surprised, then he grinned.

The trio of paladins looked curiously at the two platoons of
denarae soldiers forming around them, already taking a defensive stance in case
of attack. They noted the professional attitude and handling of each man and
were obviously impressed.

“Lead on, Danner,” James said,
deferring
to the younger paladin.

“
Treb
, have we been spotted?” he
asked his friend, who had walked up beside him.

“Almost certainly.” His eyes grew distant a moment, then
Brican appeared. They conferred verbally in low tones. The verbal exchange was
a pre-determined ruse to maintain the illusion and secret of kything in front
of outsiders, even other paladins. “They’re headed straight for us and have
more on the way. The next group is cavalry, so they’ll be here all too soon.”

 “Then I suggest we move now.”

Vander swung up behind Garnet on his massive yellow dakkan,
still cradling his bundle. Danner finally got a peek as the paladin mounted,
but his curiosity was somewhat let down when all he saw was the ugly face of a
bulldog buried amidst the swaddled cloth. James mounted his dakkan and followed
Danner’s directions without protest. They recognized he and Trebor were in
command of the situation and acted accordingly. The denarae formed up around
them and started moving at a steady trot.

“If we’re lucky, we can meet up with Garnet and Michael
before the patrol catches up to us,” Danner said to Trebor in a low voice.
“Then, with four platoons, maybe they’ll back off.”

“Not likely,” Trebor replied. “Remember, they’ve got cavalry
coming. That’s an advantage, and they’ll probably realize we’re a part of the
group that’s been twisting their skivvies for the past month. They won’t let us
get away if they can help it. At the very least, they’ll try and wound us
before falling back.”

“Damn you and your logic. I’m trying to think positively
here.”

“Realistically works better every time, Danner. Think
realistically.”

Danner glanced back over his shoulder. “Well, in that case,
send ahead and have them meet us halfway. The patrol is definitely chasing us
now.”

“Way ahead of you.”

In a few minutes, Garnet and Michael’s platoons had joined them
and formed a defensive wall that opened briefly for them to pass through, then
closed to present a solid front against the pursuing patrol. The Merishank
soldiers hesitated, then slowed and stopped short of assaulting them. They
glanced back and saw their own cavalry coming to reinforce them, then started
forward again slowly. By that time, though, Danner and Trebor’s platoons were
already disappearing into the forest, and the defensive wall suddenly melted
away as Garnet and Michael hurried to join them.

True to Trebor’s prediction, the Merishank soldiers gave
chase, even to the point of entering the woods after them. At first they found
nothing. The denarae had melted into the shadows of the forest and were gone.
Then suddenly Marc’s platoon appeared behind them and struck. As the Merishank
soldiers turned to deal with the sudden threat, the platoon seemed to vanish
before their very eyes, and Flasch’s platoon sliced in from a different
direction, again taking them by surprise. Seconds later Garnet’s men appeared
as if from thin air and cut the Merishank soldiers to pieces.