The captain leading the vanguard of the 9th Corps of the Empire of Barouk raised his hand to bring the column to a halt. Far before him a small tent sat in the middle of the Barouk-Ongchi Road. He could see four horses standing alongside the tent, but only one person was visible. It was the first sighting of a Lanoirian in days, and the captain was not entirely sure how to handle the situation. If the 9th Corps still had a cavalry, he would send riders forward to capture the locals and seize their horses, but he had none. He felt sure that the Lanoirians would flee before his foot soldiers could reach the tent.
“They’re flying a flag of truce,” the sergeant behind the captain said with surprise. “What do you make of it?”
The captain squinted into the sun, his hand rising to shield the brilliance from his eyes. Then he saw it. It was a flag of truce, and his reaction was immediate.
“Your squad will escort me, Sergeant,” ordered the captain, “and send word back to General Kolling. I do not want him unaware of this development.”
Twenty men formed ranks around the captain, and the group set off for the tent. The captain kept his eyes on the tent and the person outside it as they got closer, and he soon realized that the lone person was female. His curiosity grew. When they came within one-hundred paces of the tent, the captain called a halt.
“Spread your men out and stay alert,” the captain instructed the sergeant. “I am going to see what this is all about.”
The captain advanced cautiously. The tent appeared to be paper thin, and he could see the silhouettes of three men inside. The men appeared relaxed, and that brought a frown to the captain’s face. The woman also appeared relaxed, although her face showed no emotion. She stood behind a small table that held a teapot and three cups. A decorative rug was spread out before the table, and pillows placed upon it. It was a ludicrous sight in the middle of a major road, and even more ridiculous when one considered the armies marching towards it.
“Welcome to Lanoir, Captain,” the woman said when the captain had reached the area of the rug. “I am Rut-ki, a Knight of Alcea. I would like a chance to speak with General Kolling under this flag of truce. He may bring General Gertz with him if he so desires.”
The captain glanced at the tent and the silhouettes of the men inside. “I must know who the general will be meeting with. Have the men come out so that I might see them.”
Rut-ki smiled and walked around the rug until she stood before the captain.
“The men inside the tent are generals,” she said softly. “They will not leave the shade of the tent until your generals arrive. It is my task to arrange the meeting. I am sure that you understand.”
The captain understood, but he was unmoved by the woman’s soft voice. “I must insist.”
“Then we shall just wait here until they arrive on their own,” shrugged Rut-ki. “I will mention to General Kolling that I was prepared to send two of my mounts to carry him and General Gertz here, but that you refused to carry my words to him. I do not think he will be pleased.”
The captain’s brow creased as he looked at the beautiful horses. He knew that if General Kolling got on one of them that the Lanoirians would never get it back. The offer was tempting, and he knew that it was meant to be. It still bothered him that he was being denied the chance to ensure that the meeting spot was secure.
“I cannot advise General Kolling to attend a meeting when the participants are unknown.”
“I do not recall asking you to advise him,” scowled Rut-ki. “I asked you to carry my words to General Kolling. If he is afraid to meet with me and the generals, then that will be his decision, but I am not about to allow a junior enemy officer to gaze upon these generals. You are not authorized to meet with them. Make your choice, Captain. Take two mounts to carry your generals here, or turn around and walk away.”
There was really no decision to be made. He had to report the incident to General Kolling in any event. He might as well take the horses. He walked to the horses and untied the reins to two of them. He led them back to where he had left his escort and ordered the men to retreat to a safe distance. He then mounted one of the horses and led the other towards the Federation column. Moments later, he halted in front of General Kolling and General Gertz.
“A gift?” General Kolling smiled broadly. “Now those are the type of Lanoirians I want to find more of. Dismount, Captain.”
“The horses are meant to carry you and General Gertz to a parley,” the captain said as he dismounted and handed the reins to General Kolling. “I do not believe them to be a gift. General, there is a woman up there calling herself Rut-ki. She claims to be a Knight of Alcea, whatever that is. There is also a tent with three men inside. Rut-ki claims that they are generals, but she would not allow me to see them. I don’t like the meeting from a security standpoint. Your safety cannot be assured.”
“How do you know that there are three men inside the tent?”
“The sun is illuminating their silhouettes. The men appeared relaxed, but I get an uneasy feeling about the whole affair.”
“We will take a squad of archers with us,” stated General Kolling as he handed the reins of one of the horses to General Gertz and then mounted the other horse.
“I left a squad within range,” replied the captain.
General Kolling merely nodded. “Come, Gertz. It will feel good to ride again.”
The two generals galloped off towards the vanguard, the column of soldiers spreading apart to allow the riders through.
“Magnificent beasts!” General Kolling shouted to General Gertz. “I think they are Occans. I wonder where the Lanoirians got them.”
If General Gertz replied, General Kolling never heard it, but it mattered little. All too soon the tent came into view, and the generals slowed their horses to a walk. General Kolling’s eyes immediately took everything in, and he shook his head at the foreignness of it all. As he rode slowly past the squad of Federation soldiers, he warned them to be alert. The generals halted their horses just past the squad of Federation soldiers and surveyed the scene. The woman stood staring at them, her face emotionless. She carried no weapons, and General Kolling’s eyes moved on. He saw the silhouettes of the generals and let his eyes linger on them for a moment. The men did not appear poised to attack, but their presence disturbed General Kolling for some reason. Perhaps it was because a parley should be a momentous occasion, and the men could not be bothered to exit the tent when they heard the approaching horses. The Baroukan general had no doubt that they had heard his approach. Lastly, General Kolling scanned the trees on both sides of the road. He could neither see anyone waiting to ambush him, nor did he see signs of heavy traffic to and from the road. He nodded with satisfaction and rode slowly forward. He moved near the tether line and dismounted, General Gertz mimicking his moves. Both men tied their horses to the line and turned to face the woman.
“You are Rut-ki?” asked General Kolling.
“I am,” the woman replied. “Come and sit. I will pour you some tea.”
The woman turned her back to the Federation generals in a trusting manner and poured three cups of tea. When she was done, she sat on the rug and waved her hand as an invitation to join her. General Kolling raised an eyebrow and did not move.
“Just who are you, Rut-ki?” he asked.
“I am a Knight of Alcea,” answered the woman. “Are you familiar with the term?”
General Kolling shook his head.
“It means that I am authorized by King Arik to speak and act in his behalf,” Rut-ki explained. “There are a few others like myself. Come and sit, General Kolling.”
“You know my name?” questioned the general.
Rut-ki smiled. “I know much about you and General Gertz. The two of you have been in my country the longest of all of the teams sent by the Federation. You have already had ten days to explore the beauty of Lanoir. What do you think of it?”
General Kolling frowned deeply, not because of what Rut-ki knew, but rather because of her carefree attitude in the presence of a powerful enemy. She was treating him as if the parley was a social gathering and it was time to mingle with newfound friends and acquaintances. It seemed absurd to him. He turned and gazed back towards his armies. Twenty-thousand men stood idle while this woman invited him to tea.
“Your men will not be attacked while we meet,” offered Rut-ki, “if that is what you are concerned about.”
General Kolling spun to face the woman. “As if your armies could afford to attack me. What game are you playing at, Rut-ki?”
“This is no game, General Kolling,” Rut-ki answered. “Your Federation has sent you here to conquer and destroy my homeland. I do not consider that a game. I am here to talk to you with hopes that we might avoid further bloodshed. Is that not worth a few minutes of your time?”
“Further bloodshed?” echoed the Baroukan general. “If you consider picking off a few of my foragers as bloodshed, you are truly in for a rude awakening.”
“Perhaps Rut-ki is talking about surrender,” interjected General Gertz. “If she has the authority of the king to do so, it would avoid further bloodshed.”
“Actually,” Rut-ki replied, “I am talking about surrender. It is the only thing that makes sense for you. Your men are starving, and they are footsore. You are behind schedule, if that even matters any more. You have lost your battle mages and your horses. Why persist on a campaign that can bring nothing but death to your men?”
“How audacious of you!” snapped General Kolling. “You think you can serve tea in the middle of the road and then demand a surrender from a vastly superior force? I told you before that this is not a game that we are playing. I will take great pleasure in reducing Ongchi to rubble when I get there, and I will make sure that you are around to watch. You have no idea what you are up against. You cannot even fathom the forces that are gathering to crush your entire country. Take your pitiful generals and retreat to Ongchi while you still have a few days to offer up your prayers.”
Rut-ki rose slowly and walked to the tent. She threw the flap open and then turned to face General Kolling.
“We know exactly what we are up against General Kolling,” Rut-ki said calmly. “In fact, we know far more about the situation than you do. These are not my generals in the tent but yours.”
General Gertz gasped as he watched the three Federation generals walk out of the tent.
“You would be well advised to hear her words, General Kolling,” stated General Ruppert. “The Alceans know every little detail of our invasion plans, and they have known about them for a long time.”
“You traitors!” spat General Kolling as he noticed that the generals still carried their swords. “How could you sell out to the Alceans?”
”None of us sold out,” declared General Somma. “The Alceans had months to prepare for our invasion, and they used that time wisely. Listen to Rut-ki, Kolling. She truly wants to save the lives of your men, not destroy them.”
General Kolling opened his mouth to continue his tirade, but General Gertz gently touched his arm to halt his words.
“Let us hear what happened to the other teams,” General Gertz suggested.
The rage fell from General Kolling’s face, and Rut-ki let out an inaudible sigh.
“I will leave you to talk among yourselves,” Rut-ki said softly. “I will remind my three captives that I do not accept surrender a second time.”
The Knight of Alcea turned and walked away from the tent.
“What was that supposed to mean?” scowled General Kolling.
“She was warning us not to attempt to rejoin the war by returning to the 9th Corps with you,” answered General Hanold. “We have surrendered and the Alceans have accepted our surrender. To go back on that agreement would be dishonorable.”
“Dishonorable?” recoiled General Kolling. “You have weapons and horses. To refuse your sworn duty to the Federation would be dishonorable.”
“These people have true honor, Kolling,” scowled General Somma. “They do not use the word as a ploy to get something they want. You would be wise to deal with them honorably, no matter what you eventually decide is the correct path for the 9th Corps.”
“Where is General Franz?” asked General Gertz. “What happened to your teams?”
“Franz is dead,” answered General Somma. “The Alceans built a dam since our scouts were here last fall. They destroyed it when the 4th Corps and 18th Corps were most vulnerable. The flood ruined our armies in an instant. We lost five-thousand men before it was over, but we would have lost three times that if the Alceans had not rescued the survivors.”
“Even if you only had a quarter of your men left,” retorted General Kolling, “you could have fought on.”
“We could have,” replied General Somma, “for maybe a few minutes at most. The Alceans had the river lined with archers. Our men had to toss their swords and shields just to stay afloat. There was no possible contest, Gertz. They had us, and they had us good. I am grateful that the Alceans saved as many of our men as they did. If that means that I remain their prisoner, so be it. I will not dishonor my surrender.”
“Then you will hang as a traitor when I take Ongchi,” warned General Kolling.
“Then I will hang,” shrugged General Somma. “I am not fearful of you, Kolling. One side or the other will wish me dead for the choices I have made, but I am at peace with my decisions. Fifteen-thousand young Zarans are alive today because I surrendered. The Alceans have promised to repatriate them, and I believe them. Besides, you will never take Ongchi, Kolling. I have seen what these Alceans are made of, and you will never survive long enough to march your army to Ongchi.”
“Ruppert?” General Gertz asked before General Kolling could respond to Somma’s statements. “What happened to Team Elmor?”
“The Alceans laid a trap for us,” answered the Ertakan general. “There is a section of the road between Elmor and Ongchi that runs along the base of a high cliff. The Alceans call it Hun-lo Heights. The Lanoirians ran a pipeline along that strip of road and sent oil down to cover several leagues of the road. They ignited it while our armies were on it. We had no choice but to leap into the sea. Even then we were not safe. They had enough oil to keep the road burning for days, and they had a huge navy bearing down on us with catapults. We had the choice of surrendering or dying.”
“Couldn’t you have fought your way out?” growled General Kolling. “Fighting is what armies do these days.”
“They had archers on the cliffs and on both ends of the trap,” replied General Ruppert. “They had almost as many men as we did, and they had every field advantage one could imagine. Fighting was not an option, Kolling, and don’t even try to call me a coward or a traitor. Had there been even a small sliver of hope, we would have fought, but we were not about to just throw away the lives of our men. There was no point to it.”
General Kolling frowned, not at Ruppert’s justification, but rather at his description of the forces arrayed against them.
“How many men were against you, Somma?” he asked.
“Around five-thousand,” the Spinoan general answered.
“And you, Ruppert?” asked General Kolling.
“Perhaps fifteen-thousand, but that is a rough estimate.”
“That leaves nothing against us,” General Kolling said quietly to General Gertz. “We are being harassed by a small insignificant group. I think it is time to finish them off. Let’s get back to the column.”
Without so much as a farewell, the two generals of Team Barouk turned and walked away. General Kolling untied the reins of the horse he had ridden to the parley and swung up onto the saddle, but the horse refused to turn at his command. The general growled under his breath and dug his spurs into the horse, but the result was far different than he had expected. The creature reared up in an attempt to dislodge its rider, but General Kolling hung on tightly. The beast brought its forelegs back to the ground and bucked severely. General Kolling was tossed to the ground, and the unicorn’s horn suddenly appeared. The unicorn turned quickly and lowered its head, its sharp, spiraled horn pointing directly at the general’s chest. General Kolling’s eyes widened in disbelief as a voice sounded in his mind.
You ride by invitation only, Zaran, and no invitation has been offered. Should you ever repeat your vicious behavior, I will drag your body along the road until there is nothing left of it.
The Baroukan general stared up at the unicorn, fear and confusion distorting the features of his face.
“Perhaps it is better that you walk back to your column,” Rut-ki said with a slight smile as she approached the group. “It will give you both time to reflect on my offer of food and safety for your men in return for their surrender.”
General Gertz dropped the reins he had been holding as if they had suddenly burned his hand. General Kolling slowly slid backwards until the unicorn’s horn was no longer threatening his chest. He rose and backed away, never taking his eyes off the unicorn. When the two generals had backed up to the protective squad, they turned and walked swiftly towards the column.
* * * *
Three humans and two elves stood in the middle of the Mya-Tagaret Road.
“This is where they will camp tonight,” declared Prince Garong. “They have been setting up the tents in the middle of the road and spreading the camp out around them.”
Alexander Tork turned slowly until he had completed an entire circle. He nodded with satisfaction.
“What is your plan?” asked Princess Rhula. “Maybe we can aid you in some way.”
“I have come to assassinate General Fortella,” answered Alex. “Jenneva and Theos will be magically assisting me. I mean no offense to the Elderal, but I think it might be better if your people were not involved in this. Things are going to be very chaotic tonight, and it is always hard to predict what the enemy will do under such circumstances.”
“We will not interfere,” stated Prince Garong, “but we will not be far away, either. Why only General Fortella? Would it not be better to cut off the heads of both generals?”
“No.” Alex shook his head. “Killing them both would allow a colonel to step up and seize command, and there are too many of them unknown to our people. We cannot risk uncertainty at this point. General Whitman is our preferred leader for Team Mya. He will not be killed.”
“I am not so quick to refuse the help of the elves,” stated Jenneva. “While they may not be able to infiltrate the camp as you can, Theos and I could use their protection. It will be nearly impossible for us to observe all portions of the camp at the same time, and our concentration will be needed to focus on small parts of it.”
“Then protect you we will,” Prince Garong said with a smile. “Where will you be when the chaos starts?”
“We are undecided,” answered Jenneva. “We have looked at the area from the air, but we were unsure of the location of the tents. We will need a place with some elevation that affords us a view of as much of the camp as possible.”
“And not too far away,” interjected Theos as he nodded towards a hill to the north. “That hill is worth investigating.”
“Let us go and investigate it,” suggested Prince Garong. “The advance scouts will be arriving in a couple of hours. We will have to be prepared by then.”
The two human mages and the elven Knight of Alcea mounted their unicorns and flew away, leaving the elven princess and Alex alone on the road.
“How will you enter the camp?” asked Princess Rhula.
“I won’t enter it,” Alex replied with a slight smile as he rummaged in his pack for the Federation uniform that he had used before. “I will already be here. My problem will be getting out. Excuse me while I change clothes.”
Alex walked into the woods and returned wearing the uniform of a Federation colonel.
“Your insignia is wrong,” stated the elf. “General Fortella heads the 2nd Corps, not the 11th Corps.”
“It is what I have available,” frowned Alex. “I will have to hide the patch in some way or think of a reasonable excuse for it.”
“There is time for me to pick off one of the soldiers of the 2nd Corps and bring you the patch,” offered the eleven princess, “but you must decide immediately. The scouts arrive early and settle in to wait for the rest of the column.”
Alex shook his head. “It will be dark. Blood will suffice to obscure the patch.”
Princess Rhula raised an eyebrow. “Human blood?”
Alex chuckled and shook his head. “Neither human nor elven blood. Go slay me something that bleeds while I search for a good hiding spot.”
“Go kill your own game,” the elven princess replied with an uncharacteristic smile. “There is no one better than an elf to find you a hiding spot in the forest. I will pick you a good one.”