A city lost, p.14
A City Lost, page 14
If we start to get serious, then you really need to worry.”
“Good,” Cal extended his hand to clasp the warrior’s wrist, “When we get to Mythra, I’d like to see your serious side.”
Reglan grinned this time, “I think that can be arranged.”
Cal got up from where he had been sleeping and glanced about the small camp. Soldiers were going about clearing up ready to move out, horses were being saddled and spares were loaded with provisions.
He nodded as he took the sight in, before spying Farsighter and quickly making his way to him, Reglan following behind.
“When do we leave?”
Farsighter looked from the Galorn former Royal Scout he was speaking to when Cal interrupted.
“As soon as you load up your mount.
This is Kayl, he’ll be leading the detachment following you if this works.” Cal nodded his acknowledgement of Farsighter’s introduction.
“I’ll be honest, I thought you’d defer to one of the Rangers for that. Not that I’ve anything against the Scouts,” he quickly added.
Kayl was not a tall man, several inches shorter than Cal, but he had the look of someone who was naturally fit and strong through a lifetime of hard, outdoor work. A look Cal sported himself, even if he was not fully aware of it.
“I would have thought so to, if I’m being honest.”
“We each bring our own skills to this endeavour,” The older man looked between the two of them, “I have no doubt that the Rangers are the much better fighting force.” Cal could see the twinkle in Farsighter’s eyes that told him and Kayl that he was not being totally serious with that statement.
“In the woods I would not be joking, and that is why the Rangers to a man will be coming with me on the return.
The Scouts know the area immediately to the west of the trail between Mythra and Churek. They are the people you’ll need most when you reach that point.”
Both of the younger men nodded their agreement, “It makes sense.” Cal replied. Then to Kayl, “I guess you and I need to talk through a few things before we get to Mythra itself.”
“That would be helpful.”
Having returned to collect his bedroll and pack, Cal quickly loaded his horse up and made his way to where Edir, Faruk and the brothers waited, ready to start out.
“Cal,” Faruk greeted him, “I have to ask a question and these ignorant savages keep laughing when I ask it.” He bobbed his head in the direction of the others, an act that only served to start the brothers smirking.
Cal shrugged at the desert warrior, “Ask away.”
“What is a wood like?”
Cal stared at him for a moment but quickly caught himself when he saw that Faruk was less than impressed at his silence.
“Apologies, my friend. It’s just not the question I was expecting from you.”
“I can’t help the fact that I was born, and until very recently have lived my life amongst the dunes and scrubland. I have never seen a wood.
I’ve seen the occasional small copse about the fringe of the great J’dar Desert. How much bigger would a wood be?”
Cal smiled, “My friend, a wood could be anything from ten or twenty times the size of a copse of trees, to something truly staggering, such as we head for now.
The Wraith’s Wall stretches from the Middle Sea to the south, along Galorn’s entire eastern border and on to the northlands above the J’dar.
It would take the best part of a day to travel along the only trail leading through it but that is a route we cannot take, obviously. Instead we will make our own trail. How long that will take we don’t know yet.”
Faruk seemed to ponder this for a while before tutting, “I think you make fun of a poor tribesman as well. You couldn’t possibly have that many trees all in one place.”
Shaking his head, Cal’s only reply was, “You’ll see.”
Even though they had set off in the dark, they made quick progress with the assistance of Faruk’s knowledge of the desert. He easily kept them clear of soft sands that would have bogged the horses down and led them to the grassland that made up the small strip of land between the desert and the wood.
Faruk had never been here, as a member of the western J’dar tribes he only ever came as far east as Churek, and even then, only very occasionally. The rising sun was in their eyes so several of the soldiers had been ordered to scout ahead and ensure they were not ambushed.
The rising sun also had the effect of rendering any detail of what lay ahead of the group impossible to discern, meaning that they were less than a mile from the Wraith’s Wall before Faruk got his first clear few of the ocean of trees they approached.
The entire group came to a halt as Faruk stared, slack jawed at the incredible sight before him. Trees stretching to the horizons in both directions was something so far outside his experience that he was totally at a loss for words.
Birds rose from the tops of the trees, causing Cal, Farsighter and most of the men they were alongside to quickly sweep the area of the disturbance with their eyes, but after a few moments they relaxed as they saw the lone figure of a wolf making its way along the edge of the wood.
“An omen, Old Wolf?” Cal glanced at his mentor.
Farsighter laughed, and several of the nearby Rangers joined him. “Only that it must be breakfast time. That’s what she’ll have been after.”
No order was needed after that as the men quickly identified a small dip in the land that would allow them to take a break and eat a quick, cold meal before they started off again.
Sentries were posted and rotated after half an hour so that they could eat as well.
Cal ate quickly, then made his way to the lip of the depression they had temporarily settled in so that he could study the edge of the wooded area they now approached.
After a few minutes Farsighter joined him.
“It doesn’t look that sinister, does it?”
“Not from here it doesn’t,” Farsighter agreed, “I think we may find that a lot of the supposed impenetrability of the Wraith’s Wall is more to do with the fact that nobody really wanted to find another route through it.
That could be both good, and bad news for your plan.”
“Perhaps.” Cal looked as if he was going to add something to that when his head abruptly turned to the south. After a pause he spoke again, “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“What?” Farsighter looked at his protégé as if he was bereft of his senses. Then he thought he knew what Cal meant. “Tamala?”
“No,” Cal shook his head as he laughed, “although I think Tamala may want to discuss this.
It’s Maris, she’s half an hour south of us.”
“Maris? The Makkisen?”
“Yes. Guess I’ll be trading mounts in a short while.” With that Cal headed back for the makeshift camp to organise his kit. Farsighter could not help but notice that he seemed to have suddenly gained a lot more confidence in his stride.
Imperial Army
Collett stared at the wall of his office, or rather, at the figure that had just appeared in front of it. His hand was already reaching for his sword, resting against the other wall just behind him.
“Steady Commander.” A calming hand was held out.
“Asrak?”
“Fortunately for you, yes.”
“I think your brother Eshek has more important things to worry about than an old warrior still trying to organise a new empire for his dead friend’s daughter.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You’re still likely to be a thorn in his side before this is all over.”
Leaning back in his chair and relaxing from the instant reaction he had when the Source Guide appeared, the Commander asked the obvious question.
“Why appear in front of me?”
Eshek grinned, “Because your Empress is likely surrounded by several guards whose reactions would probably not be quite quick enough to stop their immediate urge to attack a dark figure appearing out of nowhere.”
Collett returned the grin, “Probably accurate.”
“Where is Calmagyr Ironsson?”
“Now that,” said Collett, regarding the man opposite, “is a very good question. One I thought you would be able to answer better than me.”
“The last I heard was that he was heading for the forges under the mountains, but I’ve already been there and found no sign of him.”
Collett stood and went to the small table in the corner for a pair of cups and a bottle of spirit. The spirit in question was made on the Outer Isles and Collett had been very surprised when Adjutant Westrom had managed to find some.
“You’ll probably need this.” He poured two generous measures and, after passing one cup to Asrak, sat back down again.
“According to Garron, he’s decided to rescue the prisoners from Mythra.”
Asrak nearly spat the mouthful of liquor he had just taken all over the table. “He’s what?”
“That calm, all-knowing demeanour of yours is slipping.” The former commander of the Boraan army gave Asrak a quizzical look, “I thought you had ways of knowing where people were?”
“I usually do,” the Guide looked disturbed as he spoke, “but for some reason I can’t follow mister Ironsson.
I thought originally that it was something to do with that sword or bow he carries, but I’ve had a chance to see each up close since and can find nothing in them that would cause such a problem.
What’s his plan for Mythra? Surely, he’s not launching an invasion with seven of them?”
He could see Collett take a moment to do the counting in his head, “Just himself, Lady Edir, Faruk the brothers and Maris?”
“That would be seven, yes.”
“Of course not,” Collett sighed, “He’s not that stupid. He’s going to try and co-opt Farsighter and his force, so assuming no losses so far for either group, he’s got forty-three.”
Asrak just stared at the old warrior for nearly a minute before finally speaking again.
“Forty-three? He’s attacking an entire country with forty-three men? What in all the God’s names did you teach that boy!”
“Don’t look at me, I’m his commanding officer and he sent a vague message with Garron that he was off to meet up with Farsighter and then rescue the prisoners.”
“Hang on a minute, I thought Farsighter took a dozen of each from the Rangers, Scouts and Guides.”
“I won’t ask how you know that, but yes.”
“So thirty-seven and seven is forty-four, not forty-three.”
“Ah, Maris didn’t go with them. Cal sent her back to her own people, apparently on some sort of mission of her own.
I don’t know for certain, but I’m willing to guess Cal’s trying to arrange transport for the prisoners once he’s freed them.”
For the first time since appearing in the room Asrak smiled, “Oh, that’s clever.”
“Well, it makes it easier to get horses, or whatever, to where they need to be if you can just ask them, but I still don’t see it as being quite as clever as you appear to think.”
“Think about it my dear Commander. How helpful would it be if you could field a force to transport your rescued people that was capable of independent thought and fighting if necessary. All without relying on a rider to guide that mount.
They will provide quick, reliable transport and swell the size of the force he has to operate with all in one fell swoop.
I’m actually quite impressed.”
Now Collett sat silent for a minute. “You know, I’d thought about the better ability of the Makkisen to transport the prisoners, but I never thought to take into account their fighting ability.
To be fair, I wasn’t even sure that they could fight.”
“Oh, they can fight. It’s a sight to behold if you rub a Makkisen up the wrong way.” Asrak started to laugh. “Do you know what, I wouldn’t put it past Cal to actually pull this off. Gods, I’d love to see Eshek’s face if he does.”
Collett raised his cup to toast his young friends endeavour, “But that still leaves the question of what can we do to help him?”
“He needs an army at his back. We won’t be able to help the attack, but we have to be there to cover his escape.”
“We need a plan.”
“Yes, we do.”
Collett quickly led Asrak through the corridors between his office and Myriana’s private rooms. He knew that the Empress was not in any kind of formal audience as he would have been informed, even if his presence was not actually required, so he was slightly taken aback when the guard outside her door ushered him in to find another sat talking with the young ruler.
“Kormick, I didn’t know you were here. I thought Chancellor Vilstrom had you running back to Mid’gra?”
“Avrim, good to see you to.” He smiled as greeted his old friend, “and your guest is?” He glanced intently at the Source Guide.
“And more to the point,” Myriana was attempting her older, more imperial tone of voice, “why do you not greet me first?”
“I like your uncle more.” Collett was not intimidated with his Empress’ command voice. He had thirty years more experience at giving commands and had also been know upon occasion, many years previously, to have changed said Empress’ nappies.
“You see what I mean, uncle. I’m the Empress but everyone that’s important to my empire makes fun of me, and because they’re important I can’t do anything about it.” She looked back to the commander of her armies, “And why are you making Asrak wait.”
Kormick’s jaw dropped. “This is Asrak?”
“I see word of me has reached even fair Galorn.”
“Be nice Asrak, my uncle’s not as strong as he once was.” There was twinkle in Miri’s eyes as she spoke.
“What do you mean not as strong. I’ll have you know…” Kormick stopped as he saw his niece stifling laughter.
Pointedly turning his attention back to the Source Guide he decided to just ignore her.
“Collett brought me here as there are things that we need to discuss. I wouldn’t go so far as to call a full council meeting, but those you consider essential should be there.”
The Empress thought about that before giving her answer, “We need Maargsson and Harlin or Vorston, either of the dwarves. Harlin will agree to anything that Vorston accepts.
Uncle,” she looked toward Kormick, “I think you need to kick Vilstrom out of his office, if only to avoid complications if he doesn’t accept something you do.”
Kormick nodded his agreement and quickly left them to get his Chancellor.
“Qar’a has already given me leave to speak on behalf of the Principality of M’ur, but I would say it’s only polite to ask him.”
“I’ll fetch Chancellor Qar’a,” Collett spoke as he made his own way toward the door. This left Myriana alone with Asrak. After a moment of uncomfortable silence the Empress spoke.
“I don’t suppose you can fetch Maargsson and Harlin?”
Asrak laughed, “If Harlin was at Dwarfhome, then I could probably fetch him, but my understanding is that they are both to the north with the Helmer and Western J’dar trying to intimidate their eastern neighbours.
I can travel in much the same way as Tamala in that I need to know a place well to be able to open a portal. It’s just that I’ve been doing it four thousand years longer and have travelled to a lot more places than her.
Her gate to Bora was impressive in that it used a slightly different technique and I note that she’s not tried that one again since.
I might be able to duplicate it to locate our two absent comrades, but there are a lot of Helmers and J’dar up north at the moment. Even if I got the method right, it could still take a while to find them.”
Myriana slumped slightly, “Oh.”
“Do you really need them, Empress?”
She gave him a quizzical look, “What do you mean?”
“This meeting is to decide what the Empire is going to do, you can brief them both once we’ve decided and started to move.
Send a messenger pigeon asking them to meet you at Dwarfhome. We can work that into just about any route we decide to take once you’ve figured out a course of action.”
The young ruler contemplated this for a short while before responding, “That would make sense.
It does raise another question though.
Why are you now giving us direct aid? I’m not going to refuse it, but my understanding was that you were required to ensure some sort of balance was maintained and as such couldn’t take a direct hand in what was happening.”
“That would be correct,” His face had taken on an almost scolded look, with a hint of anger, “but for that to work then both sides of the balance must work together.
As Cal once surmised, I represent what people would call light, and Eshek dark.
If Eshek had stuck to just advising the Mythraan and then the daemons, there would actually have been very little I could have done about it. But now Eshek himself takes a hand in affairs not meant for him, and his recklessness is risking an awful lot more than I think even he realises.”
Myriana lowered her head as she absorbed that information, and the two sat in silence awaiting the other’s return.
Collett, with Qar’a in tow, was last back to the Empress’ rooms. He found that Miri had organised for a few extra chairs and a small table, just large enough for the six of them to sit around.
He had noticed before that when serious work needed to be done, or decisions made, his young Empress placed very little concern over formality. Except for the fact that the group was made of five very serious men and one absolute ruler of an empire, it could almost be mistaken for a family gathering. Probably something that one of them had thought of in order to dispel rumours.
Once Asrak had been introduced to Vilstrom and Qar’a, he had quickly appraised them of the situation with regards to Cal’s attempt to rescue the M’ur prisoners.
“Can he truly rescue them?” Qar’a knew people that had been lost to the Shaler and Mythraan assault of M’ur’s northern lands.
