Zachania (61 page)

“Talon my horse
cannot take much more of this, he is bursting his heart out.” added
Kraal as he looked over at his horse that was now coughing and
gasping to get its breath.

Talon seeing
this walked over and stroked the horse, he looked at the horse in
the eyes and then placed his hand on the horses head, Talon then
closed his eyes and concentrated.

“You will ride
like the wind my friend……your body will not tire…your legs will not
grow weary….the wind….the wind…you will ride like the wind” Talon
thought silently as he passed his thoughts to the horse, Kraal’s
horse then flicked its head up and kicked out its back legs in a
show of energy.

“What did you
do?” Kraal gasped in amazement.

Talon smiled as
he began to stroke the other horses passing them his thoughts
also.

“Come now we
head for the King.” he said sternly once he had finished.

General Krustov
accompanied by his fellow General’s Sanda and Torrenus felt
confident as they rode amongst the vast army stretching across the
horizon for as far as the eye could see, they were now entering the
province of Death Valley.

“Sir the scouts
return.” one of Krustov’s captains reported.

“What word do
they bring?” replied Krustov.

“The
Zachanian’s are dug in and waiting for us, they have also taken the
high ground sir.”

General Krustov
listened but did not reply as he saw that Grarlin and his fellow
wizard Jestika had now joined him, he saw that Grarlin had heard
the scouts report so he waited for the wizard to instruct.

“How long will
it take us to reach the enemy?” Grarlin asked the captain who
seemed to cower at the thought of replying to a wizard.

“Your highness,
we could be upon them by nightfall.”

“Shall we use
the blanket of night for our attack?” Krustov then asked the
wizard.

“No I want the
Zachanian’s to see what they are up against, we attack at first
light, let them see the Empires might before we crush them from
existence, I want to see their fear, I want to smell their
cowardice as they look upon the full glory of the Empire.”

Behind the
Zachanian front lines the Lords were busy going over preparations
with Ganasis and King Arun.

“Sire I have
two hundred thousand warriors of my army coming here from Zachania,
they will be here sometime tomorrow.” Lord Heikan informed the
King.

“My army is on
their way too my liege, one hundred and seventy thousand men.”
added Lord Tanaga.

“Is there still
no word from Talon Ganasis?”

“No sire
nothing.”

General Kanyan
then asked the King a question.

“Sire you
promised me more supplies of arrows, I am yet to receive them, my
men are in position but if we run out of arrows they will be
useless.”

The King then
reached across the table and fumbled through some paperwork until
he found the note he was looking for.

“Here, the
order arrived yesterday, sorry General but I have been busy.”

“That is
understood my King, I will see to their collection.”

“How many
archers do we have in position?” asked Ganasis.

“We have fifty
thousand facing the north and a further fifty thousand surrounding
the hills that flank the northern approach, they will be our first
counter against the Empires attack Ganasis.”

King Arun then
rose to his feet and took off his sword, the Lords wondered what he
was doing as the King then placed it onto the table.

“My brave and
distinguished Lords, this here is a Zachanian sword……it was made
from Zachanian steel and crafted by Zachanian craftsmen, this is a
symbol of our great race….it is a symbol of our pride and
courage……a symbol of our honour and resolve….a resolve where we
refuse to be ruled over….we all know what task lays before us, we
all knew that this path would bring its difficulty………but I say let
them come to us…..let them come to us and see how powerful this
Zachanian sword is when it is wielded by a Zachanian warrior………..I
say let them come to us and see what we are like in the face of
adversity………..let them come to us and feel our might, gentlemen let
us celebrate today for tomorrow we will be too busy soiling the
earth with Imperial blood…………Victory!……..absolute victory!”

Lord Heikan was
the first to rise where he pulled his sword and thrust it into the
air.

“Victory………Imperial blood will drench the battlefield…..victory my
King!” he shouted loudly.

“VICTORY!”
Kinlan, Lord Heikan’s champion then added as all the Lords except
Ganasis and Zumal joined in.

As the days
light began to fade the Lords of the council went off to examine
the front line, they had men posted at various strategic points
keeping watch for any sign of the Empires attack.

Ganasis and
King Arun returned Fort Arun where they had some food before once
again going over all the preparations.

“They needed
that today Arun.” Ganasis suddenly said commenting on what the King
had said earlier.

“What is that
Ganasis?” replied the King.

“You roused the
men, it is times like these that need a leader to come forward and
put some fire in their guts.”

“It seemed like
the right thing to do at the time Ganasis.”

“Do not
undervalue yourself Arun, I was proud of you earlier……….I am proud
of you now, you have so far exceeded all my expectations, you have
become a good man, a truthful man and a good King.”

“Thank you
Ganasis but I think my Kingship will be judged on the battle
tomorrow, if we fail then the memory of King Arun will not be a
good one.”

“Don’t say such
things Arun, we will hold our own tomorrow, I have seen many men of
war and what you have, Heikan, Tanaga, Zargar, Kinlan and not
forgetting Lord Talon is a group of fighters, I see it in their
eyes, they are strong resolute men and it will take an almighty
force to subdue their spirits.”

King Arun
allowed himself a slight smile as he reached for some water, the
King poured the water and then turned quickly as he heard the door
open; he was just about to chastise who had entered without
knocking when before him he saw a dishevelled Talon walk in.

“Sire.” Talon
said walking in the room quickly and throwing his belongings onto
the floor.

“I came as soon
as I could.” he added as he embraced Ganasis and then turned to the
King who was now smiling from ear to ear.

“Thank the gods
you’re here Talon.” Ganasis sighed himself now smiling warmly.

“Arun, I am
sorry I could not get here sooner but I was busy conquering the
south for you.” Talon added as Kraal embraced Ganasis.

The King
grabbed hold of Talon and embraced him.

“I feared the
worst Talon, when we could not reach you, I foolishly feared the
worst.” the King sighed as he held Talon, an action that did not
escape the attention of Ganasis who saw clearly how much the King
needed Talon.

“So how have
you been?” Talon then added once he had broken free from King Arun
and removed some scarfs around his neck and face and sat himself
down.

“Many things
have happened since you left Talon.” Ganasis said.

“I can see
that.” replied Talon.

“Tell us what
happened in the south?” Ganasis added.

“A great
victory……..thirty five thousand Imperial soldiers are now dead at
the hands of this great commander.” Kraal suddenly snapped sounding
proud.

“You did as you
said you would Talon, you have delivered us the south-west coast.”
the King added noticing that the look on Talon’s face did not share
the same pride as Kraal.

“You are not
pleased with this Talon?”

“I am pleased
with the victory Arun but not at the cost, we lost over four
thousand men to the Empire.”

“It will please
their kin that their lives were not lost in vain.” Ganasis
snapped

“We share their
grief Talon, but we have taken what we went to take, that is the
important thing here.” replied Arun.

“What is
happening on the front line Arun, I hear we are on the eve of
battle.” Talon then said changing the subject.

King Arun
looked across at Ganasis before replying.

“The Empire has
returned Talon; they have brought nearly a million soldiers to our
doorstep.”

“A million
soldiers!” snapped Talon shocked at the speed and reply of the
Empire.

“Yes….and
according to our scouts they will reach us at first light.”

Talon then
quickly turned to Ganasis.

“They attack
tomorrow! Have we taken steps to fight such a force?”

“We have done
whatever is needed to be done but what we lacked was you.”

“Me.” replied
Talon.

“Yes Talon,
only you know how they will fight us, we need to know what tactics
they will use.”

Talon leaned
back in his chair and began to think.

“Show me on the
maps where our soldiers are.” Talon replied.

King Arun then
showed Talon the maps of the ditch and the hills where the
Zachanian soldiers were camped, Talon studied them hard before
replying.

“Good, it was
good thinking to place the archers on them hills that will stop any
flanking movement, they have already tried spinal powder but it
would be difficult for them to use it here, as they have to meet us
in this valley.”

“They could use
the Ivory attack, if I was in command of their army that is what I
would use, they need to draw us into battle and Ivory could do
this.”

“What is the
Ivory attack Talon?” asked Ganasis

“It is named
after the Ivory horns of the extinct beast, the ‘Kalimof,’ the
Kalimof had three horns, one in the centre of its head and two
horns on either side of its head that curved inwards, here let me
draw you an example.”

“I have
numbered the horns one, two, three with number four the beast head,
and these represent columns of soldiers. First number one horn
advances to meet us, then two and three will open to look as if
they are about to flank us, but then number one retreats pulling us
into a trap, if we follow number one then horns two and three will
close in on us and number four will then close all around, it is
deadly, simple but deadly.”

“What should we
do to nullify this?”

“We do not be
drawn into their trap, it is simple we do exactly to them what they
are trying to do to us”

“When their
number one advances we do not advance to meet them, instead we
break into three columns, the column in the middle falls back, then
our other two columns move outwards where we do not allow them to
flank us, then once we have pulled them in we close in and
attack.”

“And this will
work Talon?” asked Ganasis.

“It will work
if they attack us in this way, by us not going forward to meet them
we weaken their attack, the first horn will be isolated, then we
attack horns two and three with our archers.”

“Ganasis have
these sketches copied and distribute them amongst our Generals.”
Talon then added.

So the sketches
were copied and the three men worked tirelessly into the night, the
battle was now imminent and all the hopes and fears of the
Zachanian’s rested upon what the morning would bring.

When Talon laid
his head down to rest he knew that tomorrow would be known as the
battle of all battles, a battle that had been in the making for
centuries, a battle where Zachania would prove to themselves and
all of Kratos that they deserved the right to freedom.

As dawn broke,
Talon with King Arun and Ganasis left the safety of Fort Arun and
rode to the Zachanian front line where the Empire was expected to
attack first.

“This is always
the worst time Talon, the wait before a battle; concentrate your
mind on what we have to do and nothing else.” Ganasis said quietly
Talon as they dismounted their horses and joined the Zachanian
Generals.