“What do we know about how Grulak will attack?” asked Rejji.
“I asked Winus that very question,” stated Wyant. “Because of the food, Grulak will come with every man he has. He will also want them all here to have clear superiority over the free tribes.”
“That is a massive army,” frowned Blaka. “How can we possibly hope to last against that?”
“By splitting it up,” murmured Rejji.
“Precisely,” smiled Wyant. “There are basically three factions to Grulak’s army. There are the original Jiadin who will remain loyal to him no matter what. They number around five thousand. Of those, one thousand are considered to be his elite troops. Both of these groups must be destroyed to end the Jiadin threat to Fakara. The third group is the converts. They are the largest segment of his army and also the least loyal. If we can get that group not to fight, we will have victory.”
“Most of them are followers and will do what they are told,” stated Adger. “Asking them not to fight is not going to work. It would be easier to kill them, and I doubt we have the men to do it.”
“I was not suggesting that we ask them,” continued Wyant. “There are other ways to help them make up their minds. I think this is a crucial area where we should spend some time discussing ways to whittle down that large force.”
“That is if we can even get them separated,” posed Yojji. “How do you plan to accomplish that?”
“What Winus said,” continued Wyant, “was if there was some urgency relating to his discovery of Ghala, that Grulak would depart with his original Jiadin immediately and order the rest to follow.”
“That would separate the original Jiadin from the rest somewhat,” agreed Blaka, “but the Jiadin are excellent warriors and five thousand of them is a serious threat even to a much larger force. His elite are among the finest fighting men I have ever seen. A lot of our lads will fight to the death, but their skills are not up to the Jiadin elite.”
“I agree,” frowned Adger. “Our men have had many years without any serious battles. The villagers in our area have actually become friendly and offer their tribute without argument.”
“Your men still train don’t they?” asked Rejji as he remembered his time with the Zaldoni.
“Of course they do,” answered Adger, “and there is many a decent fighter among them, but in a one-on-one clash with the elite, we would be outclassed. My twenty-five hundred men would lose the battle against a thousand elite.”
“But we have more than just your twenty-five hundred men, Adger,” interjected Yojji. “What is the key to getting Grulak to come with his five thousand Jiadin earlier than the rest? You said some urgency, but what do you mean?”
“I am not sure,” frowned Wyant. “It has to be something other than us defending Ghala, because if that is the situation, he can travel with his whole army.”
“What if Winus was under attack by us?” queried Blaka. “Would Grulak rush to save Winus?”
“Not a chance,” Wyant shook his head. “Winus has only five hundred men and we would defeat him before Grulak left Vandegar, besides it is Winus who will be sending the message via his magician. That is along the line I was thinking earlier though. If we were seen to be using Ghala as base to strike out from, that would cause Grulak to act sooner, but other than Winus, what is there for us to attack?”
“The only thing we want to attack is Grulak,” sighed Adger. “Let us leave this question for later and concentrate on a plan for when we do manage to separate the two forces.”
“If Grulak possessed something that would allow his men to proceed here by traveling day and night without tiring, would he use it?” asked Rejji.
“If there were no downsides to it, he would be a fool not to,” replied Blaka. “Is this just a youthful question or do you have access to magic as well?”
“Not magic,” responded Rejji, “but I do know of such a fruit. It fills your body with tremendous energy and you feel as if you can continue forever. I know because I have eaten some.”
“Then perhaps it is something you should save for our armies,” chuckled Blaka. “We are likely to be the ones needing energy.”
“What I was thinking was a little different,” declared Rejji. “If Grulak had a limited amount of this fruit, say enough for only a thousand men, would he further split his forces?”
“Enough for his elite forces you mean?” replied Wyant. “I think he would. If we can create the urgency, Grulak will want to get here as quick as possible. He would feel quite comfortable with only his elite if he knew the rest of his army was coming behind him. I seriously question the wisdom of providing anything that will improve their fighting energy though. The elite will be tough enough to kill as it is.”
“Actually this fruit will make them easier to kill,” smiled Rejji. “There is a penalty for the extra energy. The extra energy will sustain you as long as you keep moving, but once you stop, you will sleep soundly for days. I used it to march through the night and slept for two days afterwards.”
“That means the elite will be as good as dead,” cheered Blaka. “Why not give it to all of them?”
“I could never get that much fruit,” sighed Rejji. “It only grows in one place. As it is, we need enough for the men and the horses. That is two thousand fruit just for the elite.”
“And we have to convince Grulak to use it,” added Yojji. “We also need a way to transport it to him without raising his suspicions.”
“I have already checked, and it will fit in the two wagons we seized from the slavers,” stated Rejji. “Bakhai has joined the two wagons together and lined the bars with wooden boards so the fruit does not fall out. Four horses will be needed to haul it.”
“This is sounding better already,” nodded Adger. “Assuming that the elite don’t rest until they reach here, we can have Winus’s men dispose of them.”
“Why wouldn’t we just kill them ourselves?” asked Blaka.
“Because we won’t be here,” smiled Adger. “We will be ambushing the other four thousand original Jiadin.”
“Where?” asked Wyant.
“I do not know yet,” admitted Adger. “Personally, I would like a spot where bows will play a major part. The original Jiadin are not as good as the elite, but they are formidable foes. It also will have to be accomplished quickly or we risk having the regular Jiadin catch up while we are still battling.”
“I think it would be helpful for the battle ground to be on the path of the regular Jiadin army though,” interjected Wyant. “I want them to see the bodies of their brothers. Any losses we have should be removed.”
“You seek to demoralize them?” quizzed Yojji.
“Absolutely,” nodded Wyant. “I want their ranks decimated by desertions. The more of them we can scare off, the less our losses will be.”
“I have an idea,” Bakhai said softly. “The Jiadin will not know that Winus has switched sides, will they?”
“No, they shouldn’t,” Wyant responded. “Why?”
“What if he sent a rider every hour towards Vandegar,” suggested Bakhai. “Each rider could announce to the approaching army how badly things were going for them. After twenty or thirty such warnings, I think anyone would be demoralized.”
“That is an excellent idea,” grinned Wyant. “Each report would be increasingly desperate.”
“And the final warning would be the bodies of the four thousand original Jiadin,” added Yojji. “I think we are on to something here. If they are scared enough, there will not be too many of them at our wall.”
“There shouldn’t be any at our wall,” corrected Wyant. “If we let them get this close, their hunger will drive them on towards our food supplies. I think we should plan for a final confrontation in the Valley of Bones. The valley is huge enough to hold both armies easily and we can block the exit to the east. If we can force them to retreat, they will have to go west. I doubt there will be much left in them to go south to another pass, especially if they would just end up meeting our forces again.”
“Which means the ambush of the original Jiadin should take place on the western approach to the Valley of Bones,” interjected Adger.
“An excellent place for an ambush,” approved Yojji. “Our bowmen would have a height advantage and we could block the western entrance to the valley.”
“There are also sufficient forests in the area to conceal our forces that will attack their rear,” nodded Adger.
“So, we have a plan,” declared Wyant. “There are still some issues to be resolved, but I think we have a much clearer idea of what has to come together to win this war. We will have to start this plan rolling soon, before Grulak decides to start his whole army out this way based on information from someone else. We need the spacing between the three segments of his army and that can only happen if we are the ones to alert him of what Ghala holds within her walls.”
Everyone agreed and the three tribal leaders drifted off toward their armies.
“I would like a dozen of those fruits before we give them to Brakas,” requested Wyant.
“Why?” quizzed Rejji. “You know of the aftereffects.”
“Yes, but they won’t matter for my use,” responded Wyant. “I want to send out scouts to notify us when the segments of Grulak’s army starts moving. The men can sleep all they want when they return. I am fearful that if the timing is not wide enough, that our plan can fall to pieces rapidly. If that happens, I want to know about it as soon as possible.”
“Bakhai will bring some back when he returns,” agreed Rejji.
“Good,” smiled Wyant as he turned to leave. “This may actually work so don’t let my pessimism affect you.”
“Where am I going?” asked Bakhai after Wyant had left.
“I want you to check out the Valley of Bones,” requested Rejji. “It is the one part of the plan that I am not happy with. Two huge armies meeting there may gain us victory, but I fear that we may lose too many warriors on both sides. I have another solution in mind.”
“Why do we care how many men the Jiadin lose?” questioned Mistake. “They are our enemy. We should want them all dead.”
“They are our enemy today,” declared Rejji, “but I fear we may need all the warriors we can find for the Time of Cleansing. It would be foolish to kill them today and wish we could recruit them tomorrow. Bakhai, take Mistake and Mobi with you. I think our jungle friends will help us in this battle.”
“What are we supposed to do when we get there?” asked Bakhai.
“I want you to be familiar with the terrain of the Valley of Bones,” smiled Rejji. “On your way back, set up the wagons of lygrims and bring Wyant his dozen. Come and I will explain my plan to you.”
***
“I will pay you a hundred times the value of your horse,” pleaded Brakas.
“You don’t have that much gold,” sighed Yojji. “Use your own horse.”
“I will give you my horse in addition to the gold,” begged Brakas. “I only need your horse for a day. I just have to get out of this city. It is driving me crazy.”
“It’s a wonderful city,” smiled Yojji. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to leave it for even a short time. Besides, if you just want to be free of the city for a few hours, you can walk.”
“You don’t understand,” implored Brakas.
“Yojji,” called Adger, “I need to talk to you right away.”
“Sorry, Brakas,” smiled Yojji as he and Brakas walked towards Adger.
“Yeah, I am sorry too Brakas, but this will be a private conversation,” Adger stated seriously. “Perhaps Yojji will pick up your talk later.”
Brakas stopped as Yojji met Adger and the two tribal leaders turned and entered Adger’s house. Brakas stood and pouted as they slammed the door. It was bad enough that nobody would sell him a horse, but now they even excluded him from conversations. Odd, he thought, they never treated him that way before. Brakas looked up and down the street and saw nobody paying any attention to him. Swiftly, he stole across the street to the rear of Adger’s house. He lowered himself to sit below Adger’s window and pretend that he was just resting while he eavesdropped on the conversation. He would find out what was so secret that they would exclude him. He had noticed the preparations for war going on and had a pretty good idea that they would be discussing the war plans.
“Greetings, Blaka,” Yojji said. “I did not know this was a war council.”
“Well war is coming, Yojji,” Adger stated. “There can be no doubt about that. It is only a matter of time before Grulak finds out where we are all hiding.”
“I don’t see how we can stand against Grulak,” declared Blaka. “The odds are just too great. I do not mind a good battle, but this stand is suicide. None of us are going to survive this.”
“I am,” Adger said. “That is why I asked the two of you here. I have come up with a brilliant plan. I trust both of you like brothers, so I wanted to share it with you.”
“If you have a way out of this coffin we are living in, I definitely want to hear about it,” nodded Yojji. “Just so it doesn’t involve going over to Grulak’s side. I would rather die than fight for that vermin.”
“As would I,” added Blaka. “What is your plan?”
“We will not only leave Ghala,” explained Adger, “but we will get rich doing it. You understand that Grulak plans to attack Khadora after he wipes out Ghala, right?”
“That has been his plan all along,” agreed Yojji.
“Well I propose to fight for Khadora,” Adger said.
“Preposterous,” scowled Blaka.
“And what clan is going to have us?” asked Yojji.
“We will be our own clans,” detailed Adger. “We know much about Grulak’s plans for Khadora. The information we have is worth a tremendous amount of gold to the Khadorans. We can tell them which clans have conspired with Grulak and the fighting capabilities of his different armies. We can warn them of the approximate time that Grulak will attack and which passes he will use. Think about it.”
“Okay,” argued Blaka, “we have valuable information for the Khadorans. So they give us more gold than we can carry. What do we do then? Gold will do us no good back here in Fakara. Not with Grulak still around.”
“You miss the point, Blaka,” lectured Adger. “We don’t just sell them the information. We point out the clans that have been working with Grulak and demand their estates. The Khadorans will happily help us wipe those clans out. Look at it from their perspective. They get rid of three clans that were going to be part of an attempt to seize the whole country and replace them with three clans that will fight on their side.”
“Do you really think they will go for it?” asked Yojji.
“I know they will,” smiled Adger. “I have been corresponding with them via the Khadoran ships that have been delivering the food here. I received their answer today. They will help us defeat the clans loyal to Grulak and give us their estates. In addition, they will donate one thousand gold for each man in our armies.”
“Count me in,” declared Yojji.
“Me too,” nodded Blaka.
“There is a catch,” stated Adger. “We have to be in Khadora well before Grulak. We will need the time to battle the clans and then regroup for Grulak’s attack.”
“So we leave tonight,” proposed Yojji.
“We can’t leave until I accept the proposal,” sighed Adger. “That means we must wait for the next ship before leaving. If our armies cross the border before they receive the acceptance, they will treat us as hostile forces and attack us.”
“But they may make it too late,” protested Blaka. “We have no idea if Grulak is already marching his army this way.”
“It might not be so bad,” offered Yojji. “Rejji has discovered a fruit that gives you boundless energy. It allows your army to travel day and night without tiring. In fact, it fills you with energy and makes you stronger.”
“Well, I am glad for Rejji,” scowled Blaka, “but he is not about to give any to us, especially when he finds out we are leaving.”
“No he wouldn’t,” chuckled Yojji, “but that won’t stop us from taking it. He sent a man out today to retrieve two wagonloads of it. Well, actually two wagons tied together. Takes four horses to pull it. I will send a couple of men out to make sure the driver has an accident.”
“Excellent,” grinned Adger. “Have your men leave the wagons and horses in that stand of sevemore trees where the river bends. You know where I mean?”
“I know the place,” agreed Yojji. “It is a perfect place to hide it. Nobody would see it from the road and it is not too far out of the way.”
“Once our armies get to Khadora, Grulak is finished,” declared Blaka. “I would give a great deal just to see his face when he realizes that he has been outmaneuvered.”
“No doubt about that,” laughed Yojji. “He might as well dive off that pyramid of his. With his allies gone, Khadora ready for him, and our armies in place, Grulak is history.”
“Let’s not celebrate until we get there,” admonished Adger. “We still have to wait for the ship to arrive before we can leave. That could be up to a week. Just keep your men making normal war preparations and nobody will notice anything.”
Brakas heard the chairs moving as the three tribal leaders stood at the end of the meeting. He rose swiftly and hurried back through the stockade and climbed to the platform that ran along it. He watched Yojji signal to one of his men. The man nodded and gathered five others. They mounted their horses and rode out through the gate in the stone wall. Brakas turned and sat with his back to the wall. He mentally calculated how long the walk would take him to get to where the wagons would be left.
Brakas rose and went back through the stockade gate to the new section of the city. He wandered around seemingly aimlessly while always getting closer to the stone wall. When Yojji’s men returned through the gate, Brakas smiled. He allowed them several minutes to leave the area and then proceeded directly to the gate.
“Open the gate,” ordered Brakas.
“You are leaving the city on foot?” questioned one of the guards.
“I am going for a walk as Yojji suggested,” scowled Brakas. “Do you have any objections?”
The guard shook his head and opened the gate. Brakas walked swiftly through the gate and along the road leading away from the city. When he was out of sight of the wall, he ran to the stand of trees where the river bends. He slowed as he entered the trees and cautiously approached the wagons. He looked around for the body of the driver and could not find it. Chuckling inwardly, Brakas climbed onto the seat of the wagon and headed west.
He wasn’t quite sure where he would find General Winus, but he knew the wagons made enough noise to be heard and were too large to miss for anyone keeping watch. He rode for several hours before being halted.
“It is Brakas,” he called out. “I must speak with General Winus immediately.”
One of the sentries jumped up to the seat of the wagon and directed Brakas along a trail to the Jiadin camp. They entered the camp and Brakas halted the wagons outside the general’s tent. Winus exited the tent as the noise of the wagons reached him.
“Brakas,” greeted Winus, “you have been gone a long time. Are you pedaling fruit these days?”
“Very funny,” Brakas scowled as Zygor walked over to see what the commotion was. “This fruit may very well save the day for the Jiadin. These wagons must get to Grulak immediately.”
“What is so special about the fruit?” questioned Zygor.
“It provides unlimited energy and strength,” promised Brakas, “and Grulak will need it to get to Ghala in time.”
“In time for what?” questioned Zygor. “And what interest does Grulak have in a destroyed fishing village?”
“Ghala is no longer a fishing village,” boasted Brakas. “It is the largest city in Fakara and home to the free tribes.”
“You have seen the free tribes there?” asked Zygor.
“Every one of them,” smiled Brakas. “Rejji is there too. In fact, he is the leader of Ghala. It is his city. He has food brought in on ships and stored in warehouses. They have great herds of wasooki and clova and more grain than they can eat. Thousands of homes have been built in the last few weeks. They also have a great stone wall guarding the entrance to the city now.”
“You have done well, Brakas,” smiled Winus. “This is what we have been waiting for. Everything in one neat package, just waiting to be taken.”
“Indeed word must be taken to Vandegar,” agreed Zygor. “The fools think a stone wall will protect them. If it were a mountain, it would still fall to the might of the Jiadin. That still does not explain the need for the fruit.”
“There is a complication,” frowned Brakas. “I overheard several of the tribes plotting against Grulak. They are planning on leaving Ghala and going to Khadora with information about the Jiadin attack. They also plan to help the Khadorans defeat Grulak. We must get enough men here quickly enough to block their escape from the city or the attack on Khadora is doomed.”
“We have men here already,” declared Zygor. “We will block the city until the army arrives.”
“That will not be nearly enough,” Brakas shook his head. “Yojji, Blaka, and Adger were the three I heard speaking. That is over ten thousand men who plan on leaving and I am not sure it is limited to just those three tribes. They would run over this army without breaking stride.”
“He is right,” frowned Winus. “We need the elite here and quickly. They will be able to contain the tribes until the rest of the army arrives. This is what Grulak has been waiting for. We must get that wagon to him immediately. I would suggest it leave right now.”
“I will go with you, Brakas,” stated Zygor. “I must make sure that this information arrives and you have the habit of getting lost when you are needed most.”
“May I speak with you alone, Zygor,” asked Winus. “It is important.”
Zygor nodded and Winus led the magician into his tent.
“I think Brakas should remain here,” Winus declared. “He is the only Jiadin that can penetrate the city. I would like to send him back to Ghala. He may be able to sabotage things that will delay the departure of the tribes. Time is our enemy now.”
“That is the first intelligent suggestion I have heard from you, General,” smirked Zygor. “I do not need anyone for this trip anyway. I will test out the stamina this fruit delivers by feeding some to the horses hauling the wagons.”
Zygor spun and left the tent with Winus right behind him. He extracted four fruit from the wagons and fed them to the horses. He climbed up on the seat and started the wagon moving. Brakas moved to join Zygor as the wagon started to leave and Winus grabbed him by the arm to detain him.
“You are not going,” Winus declared. “I am sending you back into Ghala.”
“Not a chance,” growled Brakas as he watched the wagon leave the camp. “I am too close to being discovered there. I have completed my assignment with fantastic results. Besides, I want to be here when Grulak arrives. I am sure I will be promoted for this.”
Winus frowned at Brakas’s refusal, but realized that there was little he could do to force the spy to return to Ghala.
“Where is Zygor’s tent?” asked Brakas. “I need to catch up on my sleep.”