General Mobami, Tedi, and Natia rode south after their meeting with General Barbone, but they did not rush as the rest of the Sordoans did. An hour later, they caught up to one group of Sordoan horsemen, and they stopped to talk.
“Are your men ready?” asked General Mobami.
“They are ready,” replied one of the horsemen.
“Good,” replied the governor. “Your group will have the tail end of the 10th Corps. If it has already passed by and you are presented with the vanguard of the 22nd Corps, break off the attack. We are only seeking to cripple Omirro’s men. Understood?”
“Understood,” replied the horsemen.
“A fairy will give you the order to attack,” the governor added as he started riding south again. “Good luck.”
Tedi frowned in confusion as they continued southward. “There couldn’t have been more than one-thousand men there, Governor. Is that enough to bloody the 10th Corps?”
Governor Mobami smiled. “The valley they will be attacking in is narrow, as are the next six valleys. I have divided up my men to attack in all seven valleys in quick succession. So quick, in fact, that Omirro’s cavalry will be racing from one attack to the next.”
“I don’t understand,” said Natia. “Why would his cavalry move? I thought he had spread them out to protect all of the valleys?”
“He has,” replied the governor, “but with a twist. The fairies overheard new instructions given to the Federation riders. Each Federation company has a horn, and they are to blow it when an attack occurs so that the cavalry can rally to counterattack. I have worked out an attack plan that will keep them riding instead of defending the column. The attack will begin in the center valley. It will be a large and sustained attack. Before it is over, the valley to the south of it will be attacked, and so on, right up to the vanguard. Those forwardmost valleys have more of my men assigned to them than the others. After the vanguard is attacked, our attack will resume in the center valleys and work towards the rear. There will be no Federation cavalry at all to repel the later attacks, so I can use less men in those valleys.”
“The first attack group will have heavy losses then,” frowned Tedi.
“It will,” the governor agreed solemnly, “but there is no way around that short of General Omirro surrendering, and that is not going to happen.”
“Do you think he will surrender after the attacks?” asked Natia.
“Truthfully?” sighed the governor. “I think a reasonable general would, but General Omirro will not. If we had been successful at getting General Barbone to surrender, Omirro might give in after the attacks, but that hasn’t worked out, either. No, Omirro will need more than one bloody lesson before he understands that his cause is hopeless.”
“What if we could kill General Omirro?” asked Natia. “Would General Barbone surrender?”
“Right now?” asked the governor. “I don’t think so. He has not yet come to grips with surrendering just the 22nd Corps, never mind the entire Team Caldar, but if General Omirro should happen to die during the upcoming attacks, I think Barbone might just capitulate. This coming round of attacks will show him that we can tear his team apart before he reaches Trekum, and he already knows that we have been speaking the truth to him. It is not far from there to realize that his cause is lost. I would try to have my most forward group kill General Omirro during the attack, but the general will not be foolish enough to be caught in any valley when the horns start blaring. He will keep confined to a forested section of the Coastal Highway where he is safe.”
“He is in the vanguard then?” asked Tedi.
Governor Mobami nodded. “He is surrounded by one-hundred horsemen.”
“Won’t those riders rally to the attacks?” asked Tedi.
“And leave the general unprotected?” The governor shook his head. After a moment of thought, his eyes brightened. “They will not abandon their protection of the general, but if the attack is timed properly, they could be drawn away. If we time the forwardmost attack to coincide with the general’s passing through that valley, the company protecting him will have to respond. They will be the only portion of the column between the general and my horsemen.”
“So it is possible to kill Omirro?” asked Natia. “Why not do it?”
“It is possible,” the governor replied hesitantly, “but not by my men. The company escorting the general will not be drawn off very far. They will position themselves between the general and my men. They will most likely form a cordon across the Coastal Highway between the general and the fighting until reinforcements arrive. That will leave Omirro open for an assassination, but it will take a rather brave individual to hide in the forest before the column arrives.”
Natia frowned. “What is the catch? There is something that you are leaving out. It does not take a particularly brave person to hide in the woods and send an arrow into the general.”
“His escort will not entirely desert him,” answered the governor. “That would be unacceptable. There will always be three of four riders to surround the general, and they will make him dismount and get in the center of them. We have already seen this on more than one occasion when they thought danger was near. No archer can shoot an arrow through a horse. It will take killing the general’s protectors and then the general before trying to flee, and fleeing will not be easy. Their outrage will demand a thorough pursuit.”
Natia chuckled anxiously. “I feel as if you just set me up for that. Did you have this planned all along?”
“No,” the governor replied solemnly, “and I am not suggesting that you attempt it. In all probability, the attempt will fail, but you asked me for my opinion.”
“Adjust your schedule to accommodate the assassination,” stated Tedi. “We are already spilling more blood than I care for. If killing Omirro will hasten the end to this conflict, I will do it.”
“Not without me,” declared Natia. “Don’t even think about leaving me behind.”
Tedi smiled at his wife. “I would not think of going without you. We do this together or not at all.” He turned to the governor and said, “Show us where we need to be to accomplish our goal.”
* * * *
Colonel Verle was riding alongside General Omirro in the vanguard of Team Caldar when he heard the distant horn. The colonel and the general exchanged concerned looks.
“Go see what it is,” ordered General Omirro.
Colonel Verle nodded and turned his horse. He raced back along the Coastal Highway, foot soldiers hugging one side of the road to let the horsemen pass. He had to slow down well before reaching the area of commotion as other horsemen were also responding to the call. The congestion on the road irritated the colonel, and he shouted for the infantry to get off the road. The foot soldiers tried to make way, but there were just too many soldiers on the road to clear it completely without halting the entire column, and they had been ordered to keep moving unless they were directly under attack.
The pace of the horsemen picked up a bit, and Colonel Verle finally heard the sounds of fighting. Having come all the way from the vanguard, Colonel Verle was among the last to reach the valley. When he broke into the open, he saw the Sordoan horsemen fleeing from the battle. Some of the 10th Corps cavalry were giving chase, but the colonel knew they would not go far. Their orders were to not stray out of sight of the column, and the chasers soon broke off contact and returned towards the column.
Colonel Verle gazed around the valley. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground, both Sordoan and Zaran. Some horse bodies were scattered around the valley as were unmounted horses from both armies. He shouted for the horsemen to grab the free horses before they could wander off, but his order was never carried out. Before the men could comply, another horn blared in the distance. The response from the cavalrymen was immediate, and all of the riders surged towards the Coastal Highway.
The colonel spurred his horse, determined not to be at the rear of the pack, but others had the same idea. Worse for the colonel, the pack now included the cavalrymen who had been at the rear of the column. Well over one-thousand riders tried to race down the road alongside the infantry. By the time the colonel made it to the next valley, the battle was already over. Once again, he could only gaze upon the dead and wounded. A puzzled frown fell over the colonel’s face as he pondered the timing of the two attacks. The two valleys were not that far apart, but they were far enough apart to preclude the same Sordoan warriors participating in both attacks. He nodded to himself, figuring that both attacks were meant to occur at the same time, but the Sordoans had not managed to coordinate it properly. That thought instantly dissipated at the sound of the third horn.
As Colonel Verle joined the pack for the race to the next valley, a nagging thought surfaced. The attacks appeared to be heading towards the vanguard. If he could rally enough riders to follow him, he might be able to skip the next attack and reach the vanguard in time to repel the Sordoans before they struck there. The colonel stood up in stirrups and shouted as loud as he could.
“Colonel Verle coming through! Clear the road! Rally to the vanguard!”
The cavalrymen before him heard the shouting, and they understood the words, but there was little they could do about it. Unless the infantry yielded the road, the cavalrymen were forced to follow one another. The colonel seethed with frustration.
“Halt the column!” he shouted. “Get off the road now!”
The soldiers were confused. They had been ordered not to halt the march unless they were attacked, yet they recognized the colonel’s voice and sought to obey his command. The footmen near the colonel dutifully shuffled into the woods, and those behind them halted the column, but that did not ease the congestion. The soldiers before the colonel had not heard his command and they marched on until he repeated the call to halt. When he eventually reached the next valley, the colonel called for the cavalry to follow him and pressed forward towards the vanguard. The riders within the sound of his voice dutifully obeyed and followed the colonel, while those who had arrived earliest chased after the retreating Sordoans.
Colonel Verle continued to shout at the foot soldiers to get off the road as he led the charge southward, and as he was the lead rider, it eased the flow for those behind him. Feeling good about anticipating the Sordoans’ next move, the premature sound of the fourth horn shot through his body like an arrow. He rose up in his stirrups and gazed along the road. In the distance he could see the Sordoans tearing into the infantry ranks, and he cursed silently. He was too late to head off the attack.
While racing towards the enemy, Colonel Verle saw members of the vanguard cavalry leave General Omirro and rush to block access to the Coastal Highway. He nodded with satisfaction at the efficiency of their maneuvering, but he knew that those one-hundred cavalrymen would not engage the enemy. Their purpose was to deny the enemy access to the road. Only Colonel Verle and the riders behind him could chase the Sordoans away. He shouted a spirited charge and led the cavalry in a charge to repel the enemy.
The colonel was almost at the valley when distant movement caught his attention. He looked beyond the vanguard cavalry and saw four riders squared off. He knew that General Omirro stood in the center of the four riders. That was standard practice whenever the fight was brought to the general, but the movement he detected was not normal. He frowned as he watched two of the riders fall from their horses. His frown gave way to raw rage as he saw a man step out of the forest and swing his staff. The staff tore through horse and rider in a spray of blood, and Colonel Verle shuddered with revulsion.
“They are after the general!” the colonel shouted at the top of his lungs. “Rally to Omirro! Rally to Omirro!”
The fourth rider fell from his horse as a young woman stepped out of the forest. The man with the staff swung again, and Colonel Verle’s teeth bit through his lip as he watched the staff connect with General Omirro’s neck. The general’s head flew through the air and the woman raced after it. The colonel dug his spurs into his horse in an attempt to gain revenge by killing the Sordoan couple, but chaos claimed the battlefield.
The Sordoan horsemen turned on the vanguard cavalry and engaged them, but not fully. It was as if the Sordoans hit them just hard enough to stiffen their resolve and then they turned and fled. At the same time, a fifth horn blared, but it was far in the distance, well past the center of the column. Some of the horsemen that the colonel was leading gave chase to the fleeing Sordoans while others tried to turn around and respond to the new attack. Colonel Verle ignored both and tried to race towards the attack on General Omirro, but the vanguard cavalry had closed ranks to repel the Sordoans, and they refused to yield to him.
“General Omirro has been attacked you fools!” the colonel shouted. “Get out of my way!”
The vanguard cavalry immediately parted, but it was already too late. The colonel ordered men into the forest to search for the assassins, but they were never found. Colonel Verle halted the column and ordered a report of the casualties. When the report arrived, General Barbone arrived with it. The Spinoan general glanced at the headless corpse of General Omirro and shook his head with disgust.
“How did this happen?” he asked.
“Two assassins must have been waiting in the woods,” answered the colonel. “I think the attacks were meant to draw off his protection so that they could strike.”
“The attacks were meant for much more than a mere diversion,” replied General Barbone. “The 10th Corps has suffered severe damage. There were seven attacks in all.”
“I heard the horns,” spat Colonel Verle. “No loss can be measured against the loss of General Omirro.”
“Omirro was just a man,” stated General Barbone, “the same as you and I. I know that you had a close relationship with him, but thousands of your men have died this day. Do not treat their deaths as inconsequential.”
“Thousands?” frowned Colonel Verle. “I only saw hundreds of bodies.”
“There were no horsemen to repel the Sordoans at the last three attacks,” replied General Barbone. “Our famed infantry line of defense is rather ineffective against the Sordoans’ reliance on horse bows. Our losses were great. Where is Omirro’s head?”
“The woman took it,” the colonel replied distractedly.
“Woman?” asked the general.
The colonel frowned and nodded, but he did not answer. The general waited patiently.
“I have seen her before,” the colonel finally said. “Both of them in fact, but I cannot place where it was.”
“We have met few Sordoans on this trip,” stated the general. “Perhaps you saw them last fall when you were here? Maybe you shared a campsite with them?”
The colonel shook his head. “I remember each person we met clearly, and they were not among them.”
“Well, it hardly matters at this stage,” shrugged the general. “We need to get this column reorganized. I will be taking over as the leader of Team Caldar, but I am going to need your help holding the 10th Corps together. Your men are shaken up, Colonel, and you have lost a fair number of officers. I would like your recommendations for promotions to fill the ranks.”
“It was in Aerta!” exclaimed the colonel. “I saw them both in Aerta over a year ago. General Omirro and I shared a meal with them on the shores of the Sea of Tears. That is where I saw them. They said that they were merchants.”
“Over a year ago?” echoed the general. “Are you sure?”
“I am certain,” asserted the colonel. “They claimed to be Tyronians, but how can that be?”
General Barbone stared at the body of General Omirro and sighed with weariness. “Did the man use a staff? And was the woman’s belt holding many knives?”
“You know them?” the colonel asked while nodding.
“They are Knights of Alcea,” answered the general. “You have just verified what they have told me, but you have also told me more than they did. That you saw them in Aerta over a year ago tells me that they have known about this invasion a lot longer than we have known about it. You and I and two-hundred-forty-thousand other Federation soldiers are on a fool’s mission, Colonel. We have been sent to Alcea to die.”
“I do not understand,” frowned the colonel.
“Nor do I completely,” admitted the general, “but we will let the Alceans explain it to us. Put out a flag of truce. We need to talk to Governor Mobami.”
“A truce?” balked the colonel. “For what purpose?”
“To negotiate the terms for our surrender,” answered General Barbone.
“Surrender?” the colonel echoed, his voice rising with incredulity.
“If the terms are favorable,” replied the general. “Team Pontek and Team Gortha no longer exist. I know that General Omirro thought the Sordoans were lying, but they have already proven that to me. The 10th Corps is in tatters, leaving only the 22nd Corps to stand against the enemy. In addition to the horsemen plaguing this column, Trekum is defended by thousands of elves and dwarves. We are incapable of winning, Colonel, but even if there were a chance of success, we have been sent here to die, and I will not sacrifice my men for Emperor Jaar or any of the dark masters that he bows to. Enough Ertakan and Spinoan blood has already stained these lands. Put out the flag of truce.”
* * * *
The ten colonels of the 2nd Corps of the Empire of Barouk faced off against the ten colonels of the 24th Corps of Aerta. No one had drawn his sword yet, but the mood in the camp was tense. Behind the two groups of colonels the members of the two armies stood, warily eyeing up each other. At the center of it all, Colonel Hershey stood toe-to-toe with Colonel Tamora.
“You need to get your men under control, Hershey,” scowled the Baroukan colonel. “We are here to fight the Alceans not each other.”
“That might have been true before,” spat the Aertan colonel, “but the death of General Whitman changes everything. We mean to have the assassin hung, and we won’t take no for an answer.”
“Point him out,” challenged Colonel Tamora. “We don’t care much for assassins in the empire. And while you are at it, how about we hang General Fortella’s assassin?”
“What does Fortella’s death have to do with us?” scoffed Colonel Hershey.
“The assassin was seen entering Whitman’s tent,” retorted Colonel Tamora. “Even your own guards admit to that. How is it that he did not kill Whitman? Could it be because he worked for Whitman?”
“That is absurd,” countered Colonel Hershey. “Why would General Whitman want Fortella dead?”
“To seize control of Team Mya,” answered Colonel Tamora. “That is exactly what he did, isn’t it?”
“This is getting us nowhere,” interjected one of the other Baroukan colonels. “We have both had our generals assassinated, and it is ludicrous to think that anyone in this camp had anything to do with either death. Can’t you both see that the enemy is trying to play us one against the other? Instead of marching on Tagaret, we are standing here quarreling while the enemy hurries their defense preparations. Tamora, we need to start marching the 2nd Corps towards Tagaret. Hershey, you should be leading the 24th Corps right behind us, but I won’t assume to tell you what to do.”
“He’s right,” Colonel Tamora said in a conciliatory tone. “Our mission is to capture Tagaret. That is something I think we can both agree on. Whatever ill feelings exist in this camp have to be put aside until we return home. Let Grand General Kyrga investigate things and take the appropriate action. Agreed?”
Colonel Hershey sighed and nodded. “Agreed, but I will lead the 24th Corps as I see fit. I do not acknowledge you as the leader of Team Mya.”
“Fine,” shrugged Colonel Tamora, “but I will be following General Fortella’s attack plan. I will not deviate from that. If the 24th Corps wants a part of this fight, you will have to follow that plan as well.”
Colonel Tamora did not wait for a response. He turned to his fellow colonels and signaled for them to get ready to march. Colonel Hershey sighed nervously and turned to his fellow colonels. They all looked at him questioningly.
“What are we going to do?” one of them asked softly.
“I am not sure why General Whitman chose not to march towards Tagaret,” Colonel Hershey replied, “but I can guess. I think he wanted the other teams to arrive there first. We have already lost a day here so I think we have fulfilled his desires. I think we should follow the 2nd Corps, but at our own pace. Have the men prepare to break camp after the 2nd Corps gets underway.”