Across the fray, p.7
Across the Fray, page 7
part #5 of Jon Oklar Series
“Who are you to tell Jon Oklar that he will die?” she accused.
Ray’s anger dissolved as he looked past the princess at the many guards coming to her sides.
“I may have let my emotions get the better of me,” he mumbled.
“May have?” Callie asked rhetorically. “It was because of Jon that you and the others from Drayer did not suffer a worse fate. He has saved your lives just as he saved mine, and he will continue to fight for us whether people like you are grateful or not. That is the kind of person he is. Now do you really wish to poison him with your doubt, or might you wish to apologize?”
“I apologize, Jon,” Ray said as he bowed his head.
“You can still go back,” I said for the last time. “If you are too afraid to continue.”
We didn’t have room for cowards.
He looked at Graham for a moment before turning to me again. “Do you have hope?” Ray asked in a small voice as the princess marched off with her mother and their guards.
Surprisingly, I hadn’t thought much about hope since last night. I took a moment to glance over our moving army.
It didn’t look like much of an army at all. With our wagons and animals, and many people wearing dirty clothes, our group of hundreds appeared more like we were a small town evacuating because of the war. But then I caught sight of my peers. Michael, Charlie, and Reuben walked ahead of the group of girls—Aliana, Kataleya, then Eden, Hadley, and Remi. Every one of them met my gaze, and I could see in their eyes the same thing I felt deep in my heart.
“I don’t need hope. I have courage.”
For a moment, Ray and Graham stared at me in silence. I could see them both slowly realizing what they had gotten themselves into and the responsibility that came with it, as the boys straightened out and immediately looked older.
“I’m staying,” Ray told Graham. “But it might be best for you to take your family north because we know what would happen if you go back to Drayer.”
“I will ask if that’s what my father wants,” Graham said. His slightly juvenile voice was the only part of him that gave away a hint of his age. “He might want to take my mother somewhere safe, but I’m going to stay. I’ve seen what Valinox’s army did to our people. It will be worse for the people of Lycast. I want to help them.”
Ray turned to me “You were there for us in our time of need. We will do the same for you.”
I touched his shoulder and nodded before I took off above everyone.
I flew over our small army and landed well in front of Leon, the king, and Byron at the lead. I needed somewhere I could practice the rev spells Leon had written for me. Now that Hadley had reminded me of something I should’ve realized on my own, I was confident I could learn at least the simpler spell in a short amount of time.
Easy now, I spoke to my mana like it was a wild horse. Let me have control.
I did the same thing I had tried a hundred times before but with one small change. I wasn’t just going to alter the frequency of my mana by slowing its vibrations. I would need to communicate with my mana.
I had learned to speak to my mana already. It was the only way I could remedy extreme sicknesses and injuries, like the stomach infection of the young man in Kataleya’s hometown. Why it had taken me this long to realize that I needed to communicate with my mana to perform a rev, I wasn’t sure. Perhaps I had gotten too used to casting without thinking.
The initial part of Leon’s spell was easy. It only required the four notes of dvinia. Even the second part was simple now that I had practiced it yesterday.
Control, I reminded myself. It was the only thing I needed to do differently.
I lowered the final note, uuD, a whole octave. My mana obeyed.
It felt as though my spell suddenly had a mind of its own. It thrashed, wanting to explode, but I pacified it with pushes of my mind. I felt as though I was working with a dog I had trained for years. I knew exactly how to change the nature of my mana to make it less volatile.
It all happened in less than a second. I cast the spell, shifted a single note while the rest remained unchanged, and pacified my mana to keep it from causing the spell to erupt.
There was considerable strain even though the process was quick. It reminded me of the first time I’d lifted myself. It was going to take some getting used to, but there it was, my energy now hovering in front of me without any effort from my mind to keep it intact.
I walked toward the translucent barrier and tested its firmness with a push of my hand. It wasn’t large or thick, as I had used a small amount of dvinia out of fear that it would explode into my body again, but it was strong. The spell felt alive, as if some other sorcerer had control over it. It pushed back against my hand, firmly at first but weaker after each breath I took.
Soon I could push my hand through it, but surprisingly it did not break. The rest of it still held around me, even enclosing my wrist and making it difficult for me to pull my hand out.
“Fascinating.”
This mana behaved so differently that I began to wonder whether revs were something planned out by the demigods who had toyed with mana so long ago or whether it was a byproduct of the result of their manipulations. Or maybe it was something that had existed before demigods started changing the rules. Perhaps revs were how spells used to work. Once cast, they were out of the control of the sorcerer.
Before I could cast another, I noticed Failina flying back from her scouting trip to the north. She flew straight toward me—not behind me to inform the king of anything. To me. Something was wrong.
She landed in front of me. “Harold felled trees ahead. We have to get them moved. Fetch Leon while I inform the king and fetch Airinold. We’ll meet you there.”
“How far ahead?” I asked.
“Two or three miles.” She took to the air in a rush.
The same distance from us as Valinox’s army.
Leon was leading the group, making him easy to find. I landed in front of him and informed him of the situation.
“I thought Harold wanted us to remain alive,” Leon said as I crouched for him to climb on my back. “Doesn’t make sense. What else did Failina say?”
“That’s it. I don’t understand it, either.”
I took him off with me, no harness. We flew north along the road. Soon I spotted the trees lying in our way. No wonder Failina seemed worried. They were some of the largest trees in the forest.
“A-taint,” Leon exclaimed. It was a phrase I hadn’t heard before. Given that his usual expression was “Airinold’s taint,” I figured he was modifying it now that we had actually met the demigod he used to demean every time he said it.
“If Failina really thinks the four of us can move those trees,” Leon said, “then she’s never tried to move a tree before.”
“You have?” I asked.
“I chopped down trees a long time ago when I needed some extra coin. I didn’t last a week. I’m telling you now, there’s no way we’re moving these trees.”
“Even with two demigods?” I asked.
“Look at the size of these,” Leon said as we descended in front of them. “They must be thirty yards long. They’re probably over ten thousand pounds.”
“We just have to roll them off the road,” I reminded Leon. “Just so there’s enough room for our wagons.”
Most of our belongings had to be transported on wheels; that meant wagons. If we could push the fallen trees to the sides of the road, against the sloping rocks, we might be able to squeeze by. There was no hope of getting them back into the forest on the other side of the narrow road because of the small hill we would have to haul them up.
Leon was shaking his head. “It’s not going to work.”
Failina landed with Airinold on her back. “Lina…” Airinold complained as he stepped off. “These are too big to move.”
“That’s what I was saying,” Leon agreed.
“We have to at least try,” Failina said as she marched up to the nearest one. “Everyone push this end with wind, dvinia, or your hands—Airi.”
The first of the three trees was lying almost perfectly perpendicular to the road. I cast with the others and put all my strength into the spell, hammering the side of the sawed-off end of the massive trunk with dvinia. Airinold grunted as his feet slipped against the loose dirt of the road. Leon and Failina both groaned as they blasted the same end with wind.
Our sorcery ricocheted off, forcing all of us but Airinold to stumble away. He stopped shoving and turned around. Leaning against the trunk, his gaze settled on Failina.
“How could Harold have cut down these trees so quickly? Has there been a new felling technique since I transformed into Gourfist?”
“No, it is strange,” Failina said. “Even with the best saws, I don’t see how he could’ve….” She shot a look south as she seemed to realize something. “Father save us.” She soared into the sky.
I decided to join her as she hovered high above. She produced a spyglass and had a look. She gasped.
“It must’ve been Valinox who cut them down,” she said. “And now he’s sending horsemen after us.”
I took the spyglass for a quick glance. They were four or five miles away, but I could see a clear stream of men, no doubt on horseback, separating from the mass of troops.
CHAPTER EIGHT
During the short flight back to our army, Leon expressed a thought that made me even more eager to get to the king so we could figure out a plan.
“If I were Valinox, I’d send fire mages on horseback around us and set the fallen trees and surrounding forest on fire. We’d have no choice but to turn and face them, unless we abandon our wagons.”
I had wondered what Valinox was planning by sending a few hundred cavaliers straight at us. We would be able to defeat them without too much issue, but Leon was right. They were going to ride around us and set the woods on fire.
“So what do we do?” I asked Leon as I descended toward our army.
“The way I see it, we have two choices. We either attempt to intercept them to keep them from going around us, or we unload the supplies and livestock that will slow us down and try to maneuver around the roadblock before it is set on fire.”
We landed in front of the king. Failina and Airinold came down just after us. There didn’t need to be much of a formation to our army. Our numbers had shrunk so much that getting from the front to the back, to defend ourselves from charging horsemen, for example, could be done quickly. Therefore, most of my peers stayed near the front.
Between them and some of our strongest archers in the back marched the rest of our army. I had seen these men fight. Most of them were decent at best, but only with bows. Almost none of them could stand toe-to-toe against one of Valinox’s dteria mages. If his horsemen set fire to the roadblock and slowed us down enough that we had to face his entire army here on the road, it would be the end of us.
Leon informed the king, “Valinox cut down three huge trees. It is likely to take us all day to move them out of the way, and we don’t have that kind of time. There are a few hundred horsemen coming our way. I figure there are a handful of fire mages among them who are going to set the fallen trees on fire, along with the woods nearby. There will be no way through the flames if we let them get there first. I propose some of us set up a line of defense in hopes of stopping them. Everyone else needs to get going, and I mean now.”
“He’s right,” Airinold agreed.
The king spun around “Byron!” he called, and the officer came running.
“What is it?” Byron asked, but the king was busy asking Failina a question.
“How far to the roadblock?”
“Two or three miles.”
“Could you stop the horses with a blizzard?” the king asked.
“I could until Valinox meets me on the mountains and puts an end to it, which would happen immediately. Jon could stay with me for protection but he, alone, isn’t going to stop Valinox from interrupting me.”
“Then it’s not worth it,” the king said. “What about forming a bridge of ice over the roadblock?”
“The trees are very large,” Failina answered. “An ice bridge would need to be either long or steep, and it would be slippery as well. I’m not sure our wagons would make it up. The making of the bridge would take me hours, and I would be vulnerable to Valinox’s interruption during this time.”
“What about a tornado?” the king asked.
“I cannot conjure one powerful enough to move something as heavy as those trees.”
“Then we better plan to go around,” the king said. “Fly to the rear, Failina. Inform everyone they are to move hastily. They must plan to move three miles with no breaks without overexerting themselves. We can’t lose a single wagon.”
“We should slaughter some of our larger livestock,” Byron suggested. “In case they fall too far behind and would otherwise have to be abandoned.”
“Go to the rear and see to that.”
“You should set fire to a couple wagons now,” Leon told the king. “Like the livestock, it’s better to destroy what we’ll need to part with rather than see it fall into Rohaer’s hands.”
“We cannot lose a wagon, especially if we are to lose livestock. We are already low on supplies.”
“I realize that, but you’re gambling lives and the rest of our supplies on a couple wagons if you don’t get rid of them now.”
“No. Go now, Leon. Go, Jon. Make sure everyone is moving efficiently.”
I made it to the center of our traveling army with one toss of my body, using the dvinia only once more to assist in my landing at the side of the road. I did not know these people by name, except for Ray and the Craw family, who I spotted among our troops. It seemed that everyone knew something was wrong as they fell silent.
“Fire mages protected by other sorcerers on horseback are on their way from the south. There’s a roadblock a few miles ahead. Everyone has to get there as soon as they can without abandoning our supplies. It would be unwise to run or panic. We must not overexert ourselves. Help each other. The fire mages plan to set the woods on fire before we get to the roadblock, which would force us to face Valinox’s army or abandon everything.”
Everyone’s speed picked up. I hovered above them.
“The king has set the pace,” I announced as I noticed the front of our army moving quicker ahead of us. “Keep up and ask for help if needed. Not a single person or wagon is to be left behind.”
“Jon,” called Ray from below me.
I didn’t know what complaint he might give me, and I wasn’t going to give him a chance. I spoke as I landed.
“Graham, you and your father will be needed to get the wagons up the hill into the forest when we reach the roadblock. It’s short, but steep and rocky.”
Graham’s father asked, “Would it be better to pull the wagons up where the road more evenly matches the woods?” He glanced over. There was no hill here, the trees threatening to encroach the road we walked upon.
“There is too much in the way if we try to go through the forest. It’s faster to take the road until we reach the fallen trees, then haul the wagons up.”
“How are there fallen trees?” Ray asked.
“Valinox must’ve chopped them down.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Ray said. “Does he know about what happened with the rest of your army?”
“He must have seen them leaving.” It was the only explanation for his aggressive push on our fort, and now this roadblock. Had we more men, our fort might still be standing.
I pushed wagons, lugged bags, and cleared rocks from the road—anything I could do to keep us moving quickly. We could only go as fast as our slowest person, and it didn’t take long for them to come to light.
Graham’s mother, taller and heavier than most men, quickly fell behind. Graham and his father stayed with her, urging her to keep going, but it soon became clear that she was either going to get herself killed or put the rest of her family in a very dangerous predicament.
It was easy to convince them to allow me to put her on my back and take her ahead of everyone else. Although she appeared afraid to fly with me at first, she put on a brave face for her son and did what she had to.
I took her to the roadblock and set her down in the woods. “Wait here for the rest of us,” I said.
“Please bring Graham here.”
“I will not do that. We need his strength hauling the wagons.”
“He is still a boy. He should not be involved in this.”
“I agree, but that is not enough reason to exclude him.”
I perhaps could have been swayed except for the fact that I knew Graham would want to help us. He wouldn’t let me take him, and I wasn’t about to tell his mother that I would.
I explained this to her. She appeared to realize I was right as she showed me a worried look but did not reply.
On my way back, I saw how much Valinox’s horsemen had gained on us. They rode their animals hard. Leon was right. We weren’t going to make it past the roadblock in time without abandoning more of our belongings now.
I landed back at the front of our army. It was strange to see his majesty jogging. Like a bear standing up on its hind legs, the king seemed a bit awkward but capable, as if running and perhaps using a weapon was something once common to him. He always carried a sword with him, after all. I was certain I wasn’t the only one who would rather not see him have to use it.
“We aren’t going to make it in time,” I informed him as I jogged beside him. “We should start prioritizing what we’ll need the most and abandon the rest, or we might lose it all.”
“We need everything we have left,” the king huffed. “Grains, bread, medical supplies, arrows, animals—there’s nothing we can spare. Need I remind you we have two armies to worry about? It is unlikely we will find a place of shelter and resource until at least one of them is defeated. You and the others can make it work.”
“That’s not possible, sire. If we aren’t going to leave anything behind now, we are likely to lose everything…and some lives, as Leon said.”
