Alutar: The Great Demon (20 page)

* * * *

Chimene ran a small flower stand just inside the northern gate of the city of Calusa in Karamin. Her flowers were nothing special, and she did not have many customers, but the Rhodan warrior tended to her cart every day. She had become a familiar sight to the guards tending the gate, and they often made advances towards her. When the advances were crude, she bit her tongue and ignored them, but other times she appeared receptive to kind words, although she never courted friendship with the guards, nor let herself get into a situation that would preclude her from staying near the gate. When a lone captain arrived at the gate, his horse lathered and spent, Chimene edged closer to the guards to hear his words.

“You’re killing that horse, Captain,” one of the guards commented in a friendly fashion. “You needn’t ride that hard to alert the kitchens to make something up for the return of Colonel Atman’s troops.”

“Nobody is returning,” snapped the captain. “I am all that is left of five regiments. Save your lip for someone who will appreciate it. And get me a fresh horse.”

“You are the lone survivor?” gasped another gate guard. “How is that possible? Who attacked you?”

“The rebels,” scowled the captain as he dismounted and handed the reins to one of the men nearby. “At least I think it was rebels,” he continued in a weary tone. “The truth is, I never saw them, but it is hard to imagine that the rebels are capable of the slaughters I saw. Thousands of men were killed, but I never saw a single body of the enemy.”

“How could your brothers be killed and you not see the enemy?” questioned another guard.

“I was with Colonel Cidel,” answered the captain. “We were supposed to block the far side of the mountain, but no one ever came our way. When we returned to the canyon, we saw evidence of fighting. I was sent into the canyon alone to count the dead. When I returned, Cidel’s regiment was dead. There was no sign of the enemy.” The captain shook his head with weariness. “Where is that fresh horse?” he demanded. “I have to report to General Salaman, and my beast will not make it that far.”

While a guard ran to get a fresh horse, one of the gate guards asked, “Are you sure that they are all dead? Maybe some others survived?”

“It is possible,” sighed the captain, “but I doubt it. I counted almost four thousand bodies in the canyon, but I could not count the ones who were burned together in heaps. Colonel Atman is dead for sure. They took his head for a trophy.”

The gate guards grimaced as the runner returned with a fresh horse. The captain mounted the horse and rode quickly away towards the castle. As soon as he was gone, the guards huddled to discuss his story.

“The coward,” one of the guards spat. “I bet he ran at the first hint of battle.”

“No,” argued another guard. “Captain Borgund is a pretty good officer. I have been out on patrols with him, and I have never seen him afraid of anything.”

“Well,” retorted the first guard, “he was sure afraid of something today. A cavalryman never runs his horse that hard. That beast won’t survive the night.”

“Seeing five thousand of your brothers dead on the battlefield would be enough to scare me,” commented a third guard. “I thought the rebels were just a ragtag band. How could they possibly kill half of an army?”

“And without losses,” frowned another. “Granted they might have carried off their dead, but only if there were not many of them. No army is going to cart off a thousand bodies.”

“There were enough of them alive after the first battle to still destroy Cidel’s regiment,” one of the guards pondered aloud. “That makes me think that we are not being told the truth about the rebels. There has to be a lot more of them than just one thousand.”

“And they have to be more skilled than we are being led to believe,” agreed another guard. “Those attacks must have taken a fair amount of strategy. Do you think Salaman will send for reinforcements?”

“I hope so,” worried one of the guards. “We only have half an army left.”

“No reinforcements will reach us anytime soon,” commented another guard. “Calusa is the end of the road on this side of the Barrier. No one is coming to save us.”

As the guards continued to talk among themselves, Chimene quietly packed up her cart and wheeled it away. She smiled inwardly as she headed towards the warehouse of Sidney Mercado to report the news.

General Forshire sat alone in the Dark Forest, less than a league from the entrance to Camp Destiny. The men of the A Corps had left the area days ago, leaving the general of the A Corps alone in the woods to keep watch on the Federation camp until the dwarves arrived. Many men would have found the cold camp and solitary existence dull, but Clint used the time to think about the upcoming battles and ways to minimize the losses to his men. He had used Peanut to keep watch on the entrance to Camp Destiny as well as other communication tasks, and he felt confident that General Tauman’s 1
^st
Corps was not planning on going anywhere, at least until he was ordered to do so. Camp Destiny maintained a relaxed posture, that of an army awaiting further instructions. Out of the night sky, a tiny, green fairy floated down out of the trees and landed on Clint’s shoulder, next to the ivory bars indicating his status as the Imperial General of the Federation.

“Report,” Clint said softly. “Has he turned up?”

“He has not,” frowned Peanut. “I searched the entire grounds of the Imperial Palace, but Colonel Donil was not found.”

“Did you try following Colonel Taerin to see if he spoke to anyone about Donil?” asked Clint. “Did you check the dungeons?”

“I checked the dungeons yesterday,” scowled Peanut. “Do you not listen to my reports?”

Clint sighed anxiously and nodded. “I am sorry, Peanut. I do not mean to take my frustrations out on you, but I am concerned about Donil. He is a good man, and he would not abandon his post unless his life was threatened.”

“I doubt that he would even leave then,” the fairly smiled. “Your men are devoted to you. You have a valid reason to be concerned. Something bad has happened to the colonel. I thought briefly today of exposing myself to Colonel Taerin to learn the truth of the matter.”

“No,” Clint replied quickly. “While I believe Taerin to be a good man, we cannot reveal the existence of the fairies to him at this time. There is too much at stake right now, and there is no way to stop what is coming in the next few days. No single man is worth such a revelation. Not Donil. Not me. You chose wisely by remaining hidden. I will go to Despair as soon as the dwarves relieve me.”

“They will be here in mere minutes,” announced the fairy. “I flew over them on the way here. I sensed Pebble’s presence.”

“Then you need to check on the entrance to Camp Destiny while I wait for them,” instructed the Ranger. “I will be bringing some of them in for a closer look. Alert me if anything is amiss.”

Peanut saluted and leaped into the air. He disappeared among the foliage, leaving Clint to wait for the dwarves. The wait was not long. The agreed upon signal was sounded from the forest surrounding the small clearing, and Clint responded in kind. A dozen dwarves slid out of the darkness and revealed themselves to the Federation general.

“Prince Darok?” Clint asked with a warm smile. “I didn’t know that you would be coming tonight.”

“Dwarves are always itching for a good fight,” grinned the dwarven prince from Dorgun. “There is no one left to kill in Alcea, so it seemed neighborly to come here and help our brothers in Zara.”

Clint rose and greeted the Knight of Alcea. He then turned and bowed respectfully to King Drakarik.

“Now that is a sight to behold,” laughed the dwarven king of Tarashin. “Imagine a Federation general bowing to a dwarf. May we see much more of that behavior before all of this is done. Where are your men, Clint?”

“I sent them on ahead to Vinafor,” answered General Forshire. “They do not have the means to travel as swiftly as I can, and they need to be on the Lombardi Road two days from now. That is if everything goes according to plan.”

“Do you have concerns about that?” asked Prince Darok.

“I have concerns about many things,” frowned Clint. “We are depending a great deal on how we think the Federation will react to events. If we guess wrong, our whole plan could fall to pieces rather quickly.”

“Well you know how they think better than most,” mused King Drakarik. “Will they do as we expect them to?”

“I have had a few days to dwell upon that question,” answered Clint, “and I think they will, but I will remain concerned until it is over. Events other than the ones we are creating could cause them to alter their usual reactions.”

“Do you know of any such events?” asked Prince Darok.

“Not exactly,” Clint replied, his brow furrowing deeply. “My man in the Imperial Palace has gone missing. While Colonel Donil is not cognizant of our attack plans, he is aware of who I am. He is also aware of our use of unicorns and fairies. There are also some planned assassinations by the Badgers that might cause reactions we have not totally planned for. Let’s face it; this is a risky proposition that we are involved in. Get your men settled in, and I will take you and a few of your people to view the entrance to Camp Destiny.”

“The night is young,” Prince Darok offered with a note of gaiety in his voice. “Sit and enjoy a keg of fresh mountain ale with us. There is plenty of time before dawn to view the entrance.”

“I would like nothing better,” Clint replied with a slight smile, “but I must journey to Despair this night in search of Donil.”

Prince Darok nodded solemnly, knowing that the human could not rest while his man was in danger. King Drakarik quietly issued orders to his men and then signaled for Doryelgar and Floro to join the group. The two dwarven mages quickly complied, and the group of five left the clearing and headed for the entrance to Camp Destiny. Minutes later, Peanut descended out of the sky and reported to Clint. The Ranger nodded in satisfaction and silently brought the group to rest in the forest near the entrance to the tunnel.

“There are about one hundred men here at all times,” Clint softly explained to the dwarves. “They are rotated once a week. The last rotation was two days ago, so you should not have a problem with that. The black-cloaks are another matter. They are replaced every four hours. That rotation will be critical for your timing. You won’t want to attack just before new mages are due to appear.”

“We can handle four black-cloaks,” boasted Floro. “I could roast those two down there now with a single spell, and they wouldn’t even know what hit them.”

“Do not use offensive magical spells,” warned Clint. “The black-cloaks inside the valley are always monitoring for them. Such spells would have the 1
^st
Corps responding in force.”

The Tarashin mage raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he nodded in understanding.

“The tunnel entrance is between the two black-cloaks,” Clint continued. “It is hidden by an illusion. I suspect that the mages have a way of alerting the larger camp about any problems out here, so I would suggest that your archers make them the first victims.”

Clint continued telling the dwarves about Camp Destiny for over an hour, detailing everything he could think of about the small outpost guarding the tunnel and the larger camp inside the valley. When he was done, there were few questions left to be answered. He withdrew to the dwarven camp along with the dwarves and then wished them well. Mounting Aeron, Clint took to the sky and flew to Despair.

While Clint varied his approaches to the city of Despair, his most usual route was to have Aeron fly low over the Elfwoods and glide over the Despair River in a desolate area. He did so this night. He then donned an old gray cloak and picked up some animal traps he kept hidden in the forest. He draped the traps over the rear of his saddle and rode through the southern gate. The guards there had become accustomed to the visits of the old trapper and merely nodded at him as he passed by. Once inside the city walls, he left the traps in a hiding spot in one of the many alleys. He removed the cloak and then rode to the Emporium Inn. There he stabled Aeron and then snuck onto the grounds of the Imperial Palace through the hidden door in the hedges that Kyrga had used on visits to see the priest. He entered the Imperial Palace and went straight to Colonel Taerin’s quarters. He knocked on the door, and it was answered rather quickly for the hour of the day. Even though dawn was a couple of hours away, Colonel Taerin was fully dressed and appeared to be wide awake.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” the colonel said softly. “Come in.”

Clint raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he silently entered the colonel’s quarters and waited for the door to be closed before speaking.

“You were expecting me?” General Forshire asked the colonel.

“I do not know how Donil contacts you,” the colonel nodded, “but I know that he has not done so in days. Yes, General, I was expecting you.”

“Where is he?” Clint asked brusquely.

“It is not what you think,” Colonel Taerin said quickly, noticing the menacing tone in the general’s voice. “No one in the palace is even aware of his activities here. He was very good at keeping a low profile, but I fear that he is in danger.”

“Where is he?” pressed General Forshire.

“I do not know,” frowned Colonel Taerin as he waved for the general to sit. “After you were here the last time, Kyrga began acting strangely. Do you remember the large tent that you saw on the palace grounds?”

The Imperial General nodded and sighed as he sat down. While he wanted a quick answer to his question, he knew that Colonel Taerin would give the answer in his own way. Demanding a faster response would only slow things down. He sat and waited for the answer to his question.

“I awoke one night to strange sounds coming from the grounds outside my window,” Colonel Taerin continued. “I looked out and saw soldiers marching into the tent. I thought little of it at first. In fact, I tried to go back to sleep, but the noise continued for over an hour. Knowing that the tent could not possibly hold that many men, I decided to go out and investigate. I found the exits from the palace guarded. I was not allowed to leave the building. I sought out Grand General Kyrga, and he told me that an exercise was being performed and that I should go back to bed. I returned to my room and sat at the window for another hour while men continued to march into the tent. The parade ended with eight black-cloaks and then the torches were extinguished and the guards at the palace exits were removed.”