Just south of the Sordoan city of Caldar, two huge armies approached each other. General Omirro’s 10th Corps from Ertak and General Barbone’s 22nd Corps from Spino met at the rendezvous point assigned to them, and General Omirro took command of Team Caldar. Two regiments of infantry from the 22nd Corps had entered Caldar with General Omirro’s men while two regiments of cavalry from the 10th Corps had used the portal that had opened to a farm so that they could more easily carry their saddles. The four regiments switched places, rejoining their own armies.
“That worked out well enough,” stated General Barbone. “Any problems on your end?”
“None,” answered General Omirro. “The city was deserted. Seems the Alceans are celebrating the coming of spring with a festival. I do not think they will be celebrating much longer.”
General Omirro turned and gave Colonel Verle the signal to start the march towards Trekum while the two generals moved to the side of the road to continue their chat. Two thousand mounted soldiers formed up and started moving along the Coastal Highway towards the capital city of Sordoa. The infantry regiments found comfortable spots at the side of the road to rest until it came time for them to join the column.
“Some of that horseflesh looks rather poor,” frowned General Omirro. “Don’t the Alceans feed their horses? I understood that Sordoa had the finest horses in Alcea. If these are their finest, this land is not worth conquering.”
“It was worse than you think,” General Barbone replied. “I wanted to reject all of the horses that were waiting for us. They were so bad that I did not think that some of them would survive the journey to Trekum. I personally went back through the portal and complained to General Tauman. I managed to squeeze one-thousand horses out of him that he was saving for other teams.”
“You couldn’t get them all replaced?” frowned General Omirro.
“No,” sighed General Barbone. “I had to fight for what we got. Tauman was complaining that the change in plans would cause him severe problems.”
“I really don’t care about Tauman’s problems,” scowled General Omirro. “I have two armies that require useable mounts. Perhaps I should go back and talk to him myself.”
“It won’t do any good,” replied General Barbone. “He just doesn’t have the horses to give us. He was shouting at his own officers to get out and find some more horses to replace what he was giving me. Believe me, if he was open to giving us more, I would have gotten them. You know how stubborn I can be.”
“I do know that,” laughed General Omirro. “All right, we will deal with what we have, but if we run across any horses on the way to Trekum, we will pause long enough to take them. Were there any other problems?”
“Just the two farmers who were supposed to procure the horses for us,” General Barbone smiled oddly, “but they are problems no longer. My men left them hanging from the barn.”
General Omirro raised an eyebrow. “You think they sold us out to the Alceans?”
“No.” General Barbone shook his head. “I think they lined their purses with Federation gold. Colonel Pineta said that he saw many fine Sordoan horses when he was here in the fall. It is clear to me that the farmers bought inferior horses and charged the Federation for prize stock. I was in no mood to let them get away with it.”
“Tauman will be upset,” warned General Omirro. “He is not a man to cross so casually.”
“The next time we see General Tauman,” shrugged General Barbone, “the war in Alcea will be over. He has no reason to send anyone else through the portal, and I certainly don’t plan to use it again. By that time, it will be forgotten, assuming he even learns of their deaths. I am not concerned.”
The last of the Ertakan cavalry left the site, and the infantry rose to follow. General Omirro mounted his horse and looked down at General Barbone.
“We will talk more tonight. Put your mounted regiments at the rear of the column. I want them ready to repel anything that comes up behind us.”
On top of a nearby wooded hill, two Knights of Alcea stood watching the departing armies.
“It is quite a sight,” commented Sheri. “That group down there is three times the size of the whole Targa Army.”
“Governor Mobami has almost as many men,” countered Wylan.
“True,” retorted Sheri, “but this is only one leg of the attack against Trekum. There are two more just like it coming up from the south.”
Wylan did not respond and Sheri gazed at him with concern. “What is the matter, Wylan? We both know the armies coming against us are huge. Why are you downplaying them?”
Wylan sighed and walked away from the ridge. Sheri followed him, and he turned and looked into her eyes.
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “I guess I find the odds against us rather overwhelming. You stand there marveling at the size of those massive armies down in the valley, and all I can think about is that we have to penetrate their camp tonight.”
“And you don’t want to?” questioned Sheri.
“Want to?” Wylan replied as if the question was absurd. “Of course, I don’t want to. What I want to do is spend the rest of my life with you, raising a family and taking care of our children. Only a fool would be desirous of sneaking into an enemy encampment and killing some battle mages.”
“It has to be done, Wylan,” frowned Sheri, “but you don’t have to do it, and I don’t want you doing it to please me. I will go in alone.”
“You will not,” Wylan replied adamantly. “I said that I did not look forward to the task. I did not say that I would walk away from it. I know the difference between desires and obligations. As Knights of Alcea, our duty is to sneak in there and kill those mages, and I will not falter from my duty. I just wish this killing would stop some day. That is all I am saying. We deserve a life together.”
Sheri smiled at Wylan and kissed him. “We will have a grand life together soon. In two weeks this war will be over. There will be no one left to stir up trouble. We can return to Southland and start a family. We can even resign from the Knights of Alcea if you want.”
Wylan sighed deeply. “That is not what I want. I am proud to be a Knight of Alcea, and even prouder that you are also one. I have always lived to serve my country, and King Arik is exactly the type of leader I dreamed about serving. I guess I just get angry when people like those in the valley back there feel it is their duty to come half way across the world to disturb the peace that King Arik brought to Alcea. Why didn’t they just stay home and kill each other instead of bothering us?”
Sheri could find no answer to her husband’s question. In a way, she was just as angry. She had seen the pettiness and greed up close when she was portraying Lady Zachary, and it appalled her. As much as she yearned to free the people of Zara from their lousy rulers, her desire for peace in Alcea was even greater. She nodded understandingly and playfully tugged on Wylan’s sleeve.
“Let’s go dismantle those Doors and sink them in the sea. Maybe that will cheer us up a bit.”
Wylan smiled weakly and nodded in agreement.
* * * *
General Nunes stood and stared through the open Door at Camp Destiny. The only thing visible to him was an unlit fireplace in what appeared to be a rather small home. The first regiment of the 19th Corps from Spino had already passed through the portal to Cordonia, but the General and the rest of the army would wait for the colonel to report that the staging area was secure. The report took longer than expected, but the colonel eventually signaled for the general to step through the portal, and General Nunes wasted no time in doing so. He stepped into the small house and immediately stepped aside to let the soldiers behind him flow through unimpeded.
“What was the holdup, Colonel?” asked General Nunes.
“It is quite foggy outside, General. We can’t even see the city of Paso across the river. As the visibility is so low, I needed to alter the orders slightly. I have more men on the defensive perimeter than the plan called for, but I wanted each man to be seen by two others. The camp would not be truly secure otherwise.”
“Well done, Colonel,” complimented the general. “Your response to the situation was the proper one. Has there been any contact with the Alceans?”
“None, General. This side of the river is not very populated. General Butwin has the busy side of the river, but even he will probably not encounter anyone. The farm he is coming out at is a league away from the city. On a clear day his army might be seen from Paso, but he will have no worries today.”
“Excellent,” smiled General Nunes. “I ordered the cavalry to come through last after seeing this house through the portal. Those horses will end up destroying the floors of this house before the whole army is through, so change your formation plans accordingly.”
“That will not cause me a problem, General. One of my men did report that the Black River is still frozen. As the bridge across the river is still three days away, I thought I would get your feeling about trying to cross over the ice. It makes me nervous to have our army separated from the 27th Corps.”
“I will not trust my men to the whims of ice,” the general replied with a shake of his head. “Right now we have ten-thousand men on each side of the river. Either army is capable of defeating the entire Cordonian army on its own. Should half of my army get across the river before the ice cracks, I could end up with a smaller army than the Cordonians. I understand the odds of such an occurrence are low, but there is no reason to take such a risk, no matter how small it is. Crossing the river in three days will be fine.”
* * * *
General Testa of the 20th Corps of Spino walked through the portal and into a temple south of the Cordonian city of Carid. He could hear the wind howling outside the temple, and the temperature inside the old building told him that winter had not yet let go of its hold on Cordonia.
“There is fresh snow outside, General,” reported a colonel. “Another week before the invasion would have been better.”
“Better but not necessary,” General Testa replied. “We have more than enough men to easily overwhelm the Cordonians. We have the easiest task of the entire war. The Cordonians only have six-thousand men in what they call an army. I don’t think a little snow is going to change the obvious results of the coming battle. Kantor will fall without a whimper.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the colonel. “General Alden and the 28th Corps will be a while getting here. You might as well wait inside the temple and stay out of the weather. I will notify you when the Aertans come into view.”
“General Alden,” chuckled General Testa. “This is probably the only time I will have authority over the Crown Prince of Aerta. I bet he is none too pleased to be under the command of a Spinoan general.”
“Why is he even here?” the colonel asked cautiously. “I would have thought that he would be in charge of the home guard and not leading an army into battle.”
“Alden and his father do not get along,” smirked General Testa. “If King Anator had pushed for it, I am quite sure that Grand General Kyrga would have made Alden the top general in Force Cordonia, but now he is at the bottom. Obviously his father does not favor him very highly. At least Montero got his choice of posting in Sordoa.”
“He doesn’t get along with his father either, does he?”
“Absolutely not,” laughed General Testa. “They hate each other. King Harowin probably hopes that Montero doesn’t return from the war, but Montero had enough pull on his own to get what he wants.”
* * * *
Sinora and Wesik halted in a small clearing of the Sordoan forest. Wylan and Sheri slid from the backs of the unicorns, and Sheri immediately started rummaging through her pack. Twerp stuck his head out of Wylan’s pocket and sensed excitement in the air. The fairy leaped to Sinora’s head and stood watching the Knights of Alcea. Sheri pulled two Federation uniforms out of her pack and handed the larger one to Wylan. She then bound her chest tightly and pulled the uniform on. Wylan examined his uniform before putting it on.
“This even has the patch of the 10th Corps,” he remarked. “How could you have planned this so well?”
“I was Lady Zachary,” grinned Sheri. “Zack Nolan has an incredible grasp of the situation. When he learned that we would be assigned to Caldar, he made a point of procuring the proper patches for us to use. He then had uniforms made up for us. Mine fits perfectly, but he had to guess about your size. How does it fit?”
“Well enough,” Wylan replied, “but the sleeves are a bit long. It will be fine for riding, but not for marching when my arms are at my sides.”
“Then remain mounted,” stated Sheri. “Your excellent night vision will be useful to see if anyone is coming when I approach the mages tent. Should anyone approach, you can head them off until after I have dispatched the mages.”
Wylan frowned deeply as he removed the colorful patches that shielded his eyes. “I should be going into the tent, not you.”
“Nonsense,” retorted Sheri. “I can stab sleeping bodies with myric quills as easily as you can. The real danger will be getting out of the encampment when we are done. It will be particularly dangerous when it comes time to leave the tent. Your night vision is akin to a dwarf’s. I want those eyes of yours outside the tent to avoid being discovered by the enemy when I exit.”
Wylan sighed anxiously and did not respond to his wife’s words. Part of him wanted to demand that he be the one to enter the tent, but the other part of him realized that Sheri was right. She was more than capable of killing the mages, and it did make sense for him to keep watch.
“Twerp,” ordered Sheri, “it is time to find us a way into the encampment. Do not dally.”
“Dally?” quipped the fairy. “I will be back before either of you realizes how foolish you look in those uniforms.”
Sheri giggled as the little green man leaped off the head of the unicorn and shot into the dark sky. Even Wylan smiled inwardly as he momentarily cast off the dark gloom that had found a home in his heart. Wylan strapped his staff to Wesik and then he walked over to Sheri and wordlessly embraced her. For a long time they stood silently embracing each other. Eventually, Sheri pushed away and kissed Wylan tenderly.
“Now is not the time for such feelings, husband. We must keep our minds on the task at hand.”
Twerp chose that very moment to drop from the sky and land on Wylan’s shoulder.
“I have the perfect spot,” the fairy reported excitedly, but we must move quickly. A patrol passes through the area, and it has just gone by.”
Both Knights of Alcea responded without hesitation. They mounted their unicorns and took to the air. Twerp hung onto Wylan’s ear and directed him towards the chosen spot. The unicorns glided noiselessly through the canopy and landed lightly in a small clearing almost completely enclosed by thorny bushes. Wesik stepped cautiously as he maneuvered the narrow trail leading out of the clearing, and Sinora followed closely.
Their entry into the encampment had been far from the center, and their journey through the camp took them past many burned out campfires. While most of the Federation soldiers were fast asleep, there were still many up and about. Some sat talking quietly and others moved about. Several of them glanced at the two mounted soldiers with curiosity, but no one challenged them. Eventually they came to an area of the encampment that was dimly lit. Wylan glanced at the three large tents and felt a shiver race up his spine. They were clearly in the center of the enemy’s encampment and twenty-thousand soldiers surrounded them. He swallowed hard as he brought the unicorns to a halt in the relative darkness of a large tree on the edge of the big clearing.
Sheri slid off her unicorn without hesitation. She walked Sinora away from the large clearing so that Wylan would not be seen as having two horses. She tied the unicorn to a tree and then calmly pulled a small quiver out of her pack and strapped it on at her waist. She walked back to where Wylan and Wesik waited. With a glance around the open area, she marched towards the smallest of the three large tents. Before she had covered half the distance to the tent, a lone black-cloak emerged from the tent. Sheri smoothly altered her course so that she appeared to be merely passing by the tent. She continued on for a while and then gradually moved into the trees and doubled back towards Wylan and the Wesik. Eventually, she returned to where she had started.
“That was unexpected,” she said softly. “I guess they are not all sleeping. Where did he go?”
“He didn’t go anywhere,” Wylan replied. “He stood outside the tent for a while and then disappeared back inside. Perhaps this is not a wise idea.”
“Have courage, my husband,” Sheri smiled. “We can do this.”
“I know we can,” frowned Wylan, “but I have a strange foreboding about this mission. Let’s call it off. We can figure out another way to slay the mages.”
“Time is short,” retorted Sheri, “and we have no mage of our own to fall back on. We are already here. Let’s get it done.”
Without waiting for a response, Sheri once more set off on a path towards the mage tent. Wylan watched her go, marveling at the incredible amount of courage his wife had. In a way, he envied her.
Sheri marched up to the tent and grabbed a myric quill in her right hand. Her left hand reached for the tent flap, but her fingers never touched the fabric. In an instant, her confidence shattered and her body froze. She stared uncomprehendingly at her hand and saw her fingers trembling with fear. Her whole body shook with a feeling she had never experienced before. Her body quivered and she sweated sheets of perspiration. Her lungs shrunk, and she felt as if she could not inhale enough air to sustain her body. She gasped and began to pant loudly.
Suddenly, the tent flap flew open and a black-cloak stood before the Knight of Alcea. Sheri watched helplessly as the dark mage reached out and placed his hand on Sheri’s shoulder. A jolt of searing pain shot through Sheri, and she felt her limbs turn to jelly, her body collapsing under its own weight. Her eyes rolled up into her head and everything turned black.
Across the clearing, Wylan watched the horror unfold. He kicked Wesik into motion even though he could not save his wife. With a feeling of revenge, Wylan and Wesik charged the mage tent.
“Show your horn, Wesik. You will need it to help me avenge my Sheri.”
The unicorn did not respond, but tears flowed from his eyes as swiftly as those from Wylan’s eyes. Wylan pulled his staff from its restraining strap and glared at the black-cloak bending over Sheri’s body. The black-cloak must have sensed their approach because he suddenly straightened and turned to face the charging rider. His arms came up to cast a spell at the Knight of Alcea, but he was too late. Wylan’s staff reached out with a fury, its tip crushing the mage’s throat and tearing his head away from his body. As Wylan shook the skull from the tip of his staff, Wesik’s horn slashed through the fabric of the tent. The unicorn carried his partner into the mage tent.
The commotion had already woken the remaining seven black-cloaks. Shouts of surprise filled the tents as the unicorn slashed his way inside. Arms rose threateningly towards the Knight of Alcea on the unicorn’s back, but Wylan had anticipated such a response. He dove from Wesik’s back as soon as he was through the tent wall. Half a dozen magical projectiles soared above the unicorn’s back, some igniting the tent fabric, while others sliced through the thin material.
Wylan came out of his dive in a roll and sprang to his feet with his staff extended before him. The black-cloaks scattered, trying to put space between themselves and the staff-wielding lunatic. They were not all successful. Wylan jabbed his staff into the stomach of one mage and then snapped it upward when the mage doubled over in agony. The upward thrust drove the mage’s nose into his brain. The black-cloak collapsed to the floor.
On the other side of the room, the forgotten unicorn sent the black-cloaks a message of his own. Wesik speared a black-cloak with his horn and then tossed the corpse at the remaining mages. Wylan took advantage of the distraction to move in closer and swing his staff at the closest mage. The staff struck with a resounding crack. The mage’s body flew through the air and slammed into one of the tent’s supports. The tent shook wildly, and part of it started to collapse. Another part of the tent was burning from the earlier spells cast at Wylan. The Knight of Alcea knew that his time in this world was fast expiring. He tucked his staff in and dove towards the remaining mages, intent on taking as many of them with him as he was able to.
Wesik lowered his head and charged, spearing another black-cloak on his incredibly sharp horn. He felt two magical projectiles slam into his body in close succession. One spell struck his flank, and the searing heat felt as if it was rapidly eating through his flesh. The other spell was one of brilliance, and it struck his face. Wesik’s world turned to blackness as he shook the mage’s body off his horn. The pain in Wesik’s flank grew excruciating, and the unicorn began to feel a loss of control of his hindquarters. Unable to see the enemy, Wesik started swaying his head back and forth as widely as he could, hoping to snare another mage before he died.
I am leaving you, my friend, the unicorn said to the Knight of Alcea. It has been a pleasure to serve by your side.
Strike to your left, Wesik, replied Wylan as he jabbed his staff into eye of another mage. I will be joining you soon. You have been a credit to your race, but more importantly, you have been closer to my heart than all but Sheri. I shall miss you greatly.
Wesik trusted Wylan enough to spend the last of his energy turning sharply to his left. He slashed his horn around wildly and felt satisfaction when a mage screamed in agony. He focused on the scream, shoving his horn as deep into the man’s flesh as he could. The scream stopped abruptly.
Bowstring snaps sang loudly inside the tent. Wylan heard arrows thudding into Wesik’s body just before he felt them striking his back. He arched in pain, his staff falling from numb fingers. A moment later, darkness claimed the Knight of Alcea, and his body tumbled to the floor.