Zachania (48 page)

“Yes of course
Lord Talon.” the King suddenly replied before wincing and wondering
why he had said yes to Talons demand.

Talon smiled
knowing he had successfully put the thoughts into the King’s head
and before the King could argue Ganasis interrupted.

“Excellent idea
Talon, you will inspire the men.”

General Lagain
then turned to Talon.

“It would be an
honour to ride by your side Lord Talon.”

Ganasis then
grabbed Talon and Lagain around the shoulders.

“It is time to
show the Empire that Zachanian’s are still strong and hungry for
battle!” he said proudly.

King Arun
double checked with his Generals and looked out of the hut at the
soldiers outside.

“Are we ready?”
he asked Kanyan.

“Yes Sire!”
replied the General placing his sword into his belt.

The King walked
over to Talon and stood in front of him.

“Be ruthless
and strong Talon; don’t leave me alone in this place.”

“For Zachania
sire.” replied Talon through gritted teeth.

The two men
embraced before the King embraced everyone else in the room.

“Let’s go!”
Ganasis shouted stirring the men.

Talon then left
the room followed by the King and the two Generals. As they stepped
outside the sight that awaited them almost brought them to tears.
The Kings army of over four hundred thousand men stretching as far
as the eye could see where all standing to attention and waiting
for their leaders.

“LONG LIVE THE
KING!” shouted a soldier then repeated by the whole army in a show
of respect for their King.

Talon then
walked over and mounted his horse, which made the soldiers cheer as
they saw Talon followed by Generals Kanyan and Lagain readying
themselves.

Talon savoured
the moment before raising his arm and outstretching his sword which
made the soldiers fall into silence, Talon then turned to the
King

“For my King,
my people, my family, myself and Zachania, VICTORY!” he shouted
before lowering his arm and kicking his horse to ride on. Talon
rode to the front of the soldiers and the march into Kratos
began.

The army soon
entered the Zachanian side of Death Valley where Talon and Ganasis
along with the two Generals Kanyan and Lagain rode at the front,
Ganasis looked across at Talon and saw his face glowing with
pride.

“Talon! You are
the first Zachanian to lead an army into Kratos for centuries, how
do you feel?”

Talon looked
back at his wizard friend.

“It feels like
I have taken a step towards my destiny.”

The army
marched for another two hours until they reached the end of the
valley and Kratos beyond.

“General, the
Empires outposts are just beyond the turn in the rocks.” Ganasis
said

Lagain nodded
to Ganasis before breaking away to join behind where fifty thousand
warriors on horseback were gathered. Ganasis and Talon moved aside
and waited for the warriors on horseback to advance. General Lagain
joined Talon once more now leading the horsemen.

“Give the order
Talon.” Ganasis suddenly said.

Talon raised
his arm and then dropped it as General Lagain acknowledged him by
drawing his sword and kicking his heels into his horse.

Talon and
Ganasis felt an overwhelming sense of pride as fifty thousand
warriors charged before them, the ground seemed to shake under the
pounding hoofs of the horses, and Talon shielded his mouth and eyes
from all the dust that was also being kicked up.

Once the horses
had passed them, Talon and Ganasis joined behind, Talon kicked his
horse hard, eager to see what was happening at the front where he
could hear that the battle had begun. Ganasis rode by his side and
soon they could hear the screams of men dying.

The Empires
outpost had in total five thousand men, so totally outnumbered they
were butchered by the Zachanian’s very quickly. Talon drew his
sword and joined the fight and after a short while the area was
secured. Talon dismounted his horse to the cheers of the
Zachanian’s rejoicing their very quick and easy victory, and then
Talon walked over to General Lagain who was standing outside one of
the Empires huts shouting orders to the men.

“Lord Talon!
They were no match for us, most of them laid down their arms and
fled but we caught them and killed them.” Lagain said proudly
looking dusty and still very much psyched up.

Talon then
looked around at the scene of battle where men lay dying and
screaming, he saw soldiers from the King’s army carrying dead
Imperial soldiers out from the huts and throwing them by the
roadside, he also saw soldiers rummaging through the dead bodies
taking souvenirs from the slain Imperial soldiers.

“How many men
have we lost?” Talon asked turning back to Lagain.

“Not many Lord
Talon, the exact number is being counted and I will give it to you
as soon as I have it.”

As Lagain
turned back to the soldier’s Talon looked up towards the hills.

“General, send
a scouting party to the top of those hills, I want to know what
lays behind them” asked Talon with his voice full of concern as
something was telling him that more Imperial soldiers were
there.

“General! Do it
now, I have a feeling.” he added.

General Lagain
quickly did as Talon asked and sent some men who immediately got on
their horses and rode for the hill.

“What’s wrong
Talon?” asked Ganasis joining him and noticing him keenly staring
at some men riding for the hills.

“I feel the
Empire Ganasis, beyond them hills.”

Ganasis screwed
up his face and looked in the direction of the hills and after a
short silence he replied.

“They are
there!” Ganasis murmured before frantically calling over General
Kanyan.

“General I want
you to bring the foot soldiers to the front and position them
facing them hills, and General do it quickly.”

General Kanyan
acted in haste at Ganasis’s demands and started screaming and
shouting at the captains who in turn began ordering the soldiers
into their positions.

Ganasis and
Talon were still looking at the horsemen who had nearly reached the
top of the hill, when Ganasis turned and looked at where the battle
had just been fought and all the dead Imperial soldiers.

“This should
not have been this easy my friend.” he said warily.

“I get the
feeling we are exactly where the Empire wants us.” replied Talon
still looking at the hills.

When the
scouting party reached the top of the hill Talon saw them turn
immediately and start whipping their horses to return, Talon saw
the men wildly kicking their horses trying to make them gallop as
quickly as they could.

“Something is
wrong.” Talon snapped turning to Ganasis who straightaway called
for General Kanyan.

“General get
the men into position NOW!” he shouted before he and Talon joined
Kanyan in ordering the soldiers quickly to the front, Talon was
shouting and hurriedly waving the men to the front when he noticed
the riders return to General Lagain.

“Ganasis” Talon
shouted pointing and showing Ganasis the men had returned.

They walked
quickly over to Lagain and noticed immediately that something was
wrong by the look on the Generals face talking to the scouting
party.

“Lagain!” Talon
shouted getting the General’s attention that abruptly stopped his
conversation with the men and turned to Talon.

“You was right
Lord Talon, the Empire are beyond them hills, thousands of
them.”

Talon looked at
the hill and then back at the General.

“How much time
do we have General.”

“Not long sir,
they are within a mile of that hill and advancing.”

Talon quickly
turned to Ganasis.

“Can you get us
some time Ganasis.”

Ganasis nodded
and then swiftly walked off in the direction of the hills.

“General you
say there thousands, we need numbers, how many thousands.”

Lagain then
called one of the scouting parties over

“Tell me the
strength of the Empire, how many did you see?”

“Thousands
sir.”

Talon looked at
him impatiently.

“What’s your
best guess man, how many thousands?”

The soldier
thought for a moment and then replied.

“They stretched
for as far as the eye could see my Lord” he said trying to hide the
fear he felt.

“General place
lookouts on those hills there and there, we must have early warning
if they attempt to flank us.” snapped Talon.

“Yes sir.”

“And get a
third of our army up that hill before the Empire reaches it.”

“Yes sir.”

“And General
send a request back to Zachania for Lord Zagar’s men to advance
into the valley.”

Talon then
grabbed Lagain’s arm forcefully and spoke to him very
determined.

“Lagain we must
win this battle! We must hold a strong base on this side of the
valley, if we are forced from this position then we will be cut off
from Zachania and be at the mercy of the Empire!”

“I understand
Lord Talon.” Lagain replied strongly.

Talon then left
Lagain and walked over to Ganasis who was standing on a small hill
searching his bag.

“Ganasis have
you thought of anything that will give us time.”

“Ganasis!”
added Talon.

“Talon we
underestimated Grarlin, he has become wiser as time has gone by”
answered Ganasis completely calm which startled Talon.

“Explain.”
Talon replied.

“Grarlin set a
trap and we walked into it.”

“How
Ganasis?”

Ganasis then
glimpsed back at Death Valley.

“The ants!, he
must have sensed my presence so he summoned the ants to make us
think he needed time, he suspected that I would be able to kill the
ants, then think that he needed time so we attacked an unguarded
post, it was very clever, very clever and now he has us just where
he wants us.”

Talon winced at
Ganasis’s calmness and his fear at them falling into a trap.

“So the Empire
was ready and waiting but they wanted us to think they
weren’t.”

“Exactly
Talon.” added Ganasis still looking unfazed.

“But why didn’t
they just wait for us at Death Valley Ganasis?”

“They would
have no advantage there Talon, but here we are right in the open
and they have chosen the best and high ground but worst of all is
the fact we failed to see this web they weaved.”

“What can we
do, should we retreat into the valley?”

Ganasis looked
up and then turned back to Talon.

“No time for
that, I say we let them have their best ground, let them think they
have succeeded in there trap.”

“If we move
quickly we can manoeuvre our self on that hill then we would have
the high ground.”

Ganasis
smiled.

“What” asked
Talon?

“Can you feel
the wind Talon?” Ganasis added.

Talon turned
and felt the light breeze blowing on his face then turned and
smiled at the wizard.

“It’s gently
blowing in our direction, spinal powder, they are going to use it.”
Talon added half guessing what the wizard had in mind.

“Yes Talon a
wind that light and blowing from that hill, Grarlin had a surprise
for us and now I will have one for him, I will make his plan
backfire in his face.”

“He doesn’t
think we know about the spinal powder.” Talon replied now getting
excited.

“Exactly Talon,
when he uses it I will use my magic to blow a gust sending it right
back onto them, when they are blinded and coughing we will attack
them with all our might.”

Talon then
smiled out of admiration for the wizard and realised how important
Ganasis was to him and Zachania.

“I will order
the army to attack on your orders Ganasis.”

Talon then
gathered a team of men and told them what to look for.

“As soon as the
powder is thrown into the air I want to be informed immediately”
Talon said before sending them to their positions.

“Be sure they
are vigilant and reliable men Talon, I will not have much time to
conjure a spell.”

“Don’t worry
Ganasis; you will know the moment they do it”

Replied Talon
confidently before walking away and calling out to General
Lagain.

“General!
Position your men at the foot of those hills!”

“What” Lagain
shouted back looking confused.

“Talon we still
have time, I say we should get the high ground.” added Lagain.

“No General, do
not advance up the hills, Ganasis has a plan, whatever you do, do
not place men on the hills.”

Lagain
stiffened still confused at Talon’s bizarre request.

“My Lord if the
Empire come over that hill and we are sitting on the low ground
then it will be a massacre.”

“General! Do as
I say!” replied Talon this time sounding more assertive

Lagain nodded
before ordering his captains.

“Pass the order
the men are to hold their positions, tell them to hold, no matter
what comes over those hills.”

“Yes sir.”

Talon then
returned next to Ganasis who was now standing alone about fifty
feet away.

“I have passed
the orders.”

Ganasis reached
out and patted Talon on the arm as if trying to relax him.

“Good, then now
we wait!”

Talon brushed
himself down and reached for some water.

“It’s strange
how calm the sky looks” added Talon now sitting down.

“The battle
ground before battle always seems peaceful my friend”

Added Ganasis
before turning his head

“How do you
feel Talon?”

Talon took
another swig of water.

“Impatient
Ganasis.”

“Are you
fearful?”

Talon scowled
slightly as he looked up at the wizard feeling slightly insulted by
the question.