The wagons rolled across the Vandegar Plains and approached the Vandegar Temple. The Jiadin soldiers followed the path of the incoming fruit with ravenous eyes. Zygor snarled as the soldiers began following the wagons and he kept the shipment of fruit moving until he spotted Grulak’s elite troops. He halted the wagon and spryly jumped down from the seat.
“This fruit is not to be touched,” Zygor shouted. “Take the horses and feed them, but guard this shipment with your lives. If a single fruit is taken, you shall forfeit your lives.”
Zygor sprinted into the temple and bounded up the long flights of stairs to the platform at the top, where he knew he would find Veltar. Indeed, Veltar and Grulak stood at the edge of the platform gazing down at the commotion in the Jiadin camp.
“I hope your have brought me the head of Rejji as well as that load of food,” snapped Veltar as he whirled towards Zygor.
“Not the head,” smirked Zygor as he came to a halt in front of Veltar, “but something even better.”
“Nothing could be better than the elimination of that fool,” spat Veltar. “Tell me what it is that should please me so.”
“I have located Rejji,” began Zygor, “and also the free tribes. They are building a city where Ghala once stood. They also have great quantities of food. Probably enough to feed our armies.”
“Rejji and the tribes have joined forces?” growled Veltar. “You think this is good news?”
“That is the good news,” nodded Zygor, “but there is also bad news. Several large tribes are preparing to leave within the week. They are defecting to Khadora and plan to be instrumental in Grulak’s defeat. They must be stopped.”
“Ghala is a long way from Khadora,” interjected Grulak. “We will crush those defecting tribes on our way to Ghala.”
“If you can find them,” declared Veltar. “I do not think they would be foolish enough to head for this temple on their way westward. Did you order Winus to block the exit from the city, Zygor?”
“Winus is incompetent,” spat Zygor. “He could not block a dog from biting his tender parts. Besides, he has less than five hundred men. How could he stop large tribes from leaving the city?”
“And whose fault is the low number of Winus’s men?” charged Grulak. “I have heard the reports of your carelessness with my men.”
“Enough,” shouted Veltar. “Shut up both of you. We need a way to stop those tribes from leaving.”
“I brought that solution with me,” smirked Zygor. “Those two wagons contain a fruit that supplies unlimited energy and strength. The defecting tribes were planning on using it to flee Ghala. I have deprived them of it. With the fruit, our elite forces can be at the gates of Ghala before they try to leave.”
“Magical fruit?” questioned Veltar. “How do we know it is not poisonous fruit delivered to make our elite forces incapable of attacking Ghala?”
“I wondered about that too,” nodded Zygor. “I fed it to the horses hauling the wagon. It was amazing. They did not tire the whole trip. The first night when I became drowsy myself, I also ate one. I have not slept in days and I feel full of energy. We should get the army moving immediately and trap all of our enemies in Ghala before they split up.”
“It will take a day for this massive army to break camp,” frowned Grulak.
“We cannot spare a day,” stated Zygor. “We know where they are now, but if some tribes defect, they may all defect. We should strike while we can.”
“Take whatever forces are ready now and march towards Ghala,” ordered Veltar. “All they have to do is contain the enemy in Ghala long enough for the rest of the army to arrive. I will go with you to make sure that nothing happens to allow Rejji to escape once again.”
“How much fruit did you bring?” queried Grulak.
“There should be enough for a thousand men and their horses,” replied Zygor. “It is all they had.”
“Then the elite shall have it,” decided Grulak. “The rest of my most loyal followers will have to do without it, but the elite are good enough to contain the enemy while they catch up.”
“Zygor, Grulak will order the rest of the army to make ready to leave tomorrow. You should get some rest and travel with them. Make sure they keep up a fast pace. With only five thousand troops to contain the enemy, it is important that the bulk of the army arrive as soon as possible. I want this portion of the plan completed so we can move on to Khadora.”
Zygor nodded as he watched the men below trying to pull the horses away from the wagons. The scene played through his mind as he entered the temple and sought a place to sleep. He wondered why the horses would use their new strength to stubbornly refuse to eat. Only as his eyes closed, did it register that they were not using their strength to refuse, but were already fast asleep, a sleep so deep that they did not care about nurturing their own bodies. Alarm raced through his body as he struggled to get up and warn Veltar of the devastating counter effect of the fruit, but his body refused to obey. As his mouth opened to shout an alarm, his vision blackened and he succumbed to unconsciousness.
***
The leaders of the free tribes milled about in the empty warehouse. Laughter and shouts of bravado hid the nervousness and anxiety that filled the building. The leaders boasted of the easy task before them, while secretly wondering how many of their men would never return from their mission. Sunlight flooded the room as the door to the warehouse opened and Wyant and Rejji entered. The room immediately fell to silence. The door swung closed and Rejji and Wyant stopped, facing the gathered leaders.
“Leaders of the free tribes of Fakara,” Rejji stated loudly, “and now citizens of Ghala, the time for action has come. The long days that your people have invested in building our future has been a time of great fellowship for us all. There remains one major task in bringing peace and prosperity to our nation. We all know what that task is, and it is no small feat. Today we begin to remove the scourge that has plagued Fakara and kept us poor and desolate. When this campaign ends, Fakara will no longer be a nation of tribe versus tribe. We will end the period of our history of the tribes raiding villages and living off the poor and begin a new era of Fakarans helping Fakarans.”
Rejji gazed around the room, making eye contact with each leader.
“We are a proud people,” he continued, “and we have developed a brotherhood in the tribes. Now it is time for the brotherhood of Fakarans to replace the tribes. From your days spent together building this great city, you have all seen how we can live and work together in peace. Now we will learn how we can fight together as one against a common foe. Put aside your feelings of tribe and embrace the feelings of a greater brotherhood that will mark a new beginning for Fakara. Today we reclaim Fakara from the clutches of poverty and ignorance. Marshal Wyant will outline our plan of attack. May God watch over each of us.”
The applause started weakly, but soon the room thundered with a chorus of optimism. The leaders shouted their promise of victory and defeat of the Jiadin in a deafening roar that surely was heard well outside the walls of the warehouse. Wyant smiled and waited for the noise to die down before addressing the crowd.
“You men make me proud to be a Fakaran,” he grinned. “We have developed a plan that will take us to victory. How costly that victory will be depends upon how well we work together. We are expecting the Jiadin to arrive in three groups. We will have confirmation of that before we attack. Our first goal is to eliminate four thousand of Grulak’s original Jiadin. They are seasoned fighters and I will not mislead you by saying this will be easy, but I think we will have both surprise and location on our side. The location is going to be the western approach to the Valley of Bones. I have selected three of you to lead the three prongs of this attack.”
Wyant signaled for the three chosen leaders to come forward.
“Blaka will lead the northern prong,” continued Wyant. “Your group must leave before high sun today. You will travel north to a pass through the Bone Mountains and back south on the other side. Your troops must get close to the headwaters of the Meliban River, but they must remain hidden until the signal is given. Adger, you will command the southern prong. You will head south and skirt the Qubari Jungle to the pass near the headwaters of the Qu River. Like Blaka, you must then go north to the headwaters of the Meliban River and remain hidden from sight until the signal is given.”
Wyant gauged the reactions of the assembled leaders and saw no discontent with his choices of group leaders.
“Yojji,” Wyant said, “your group will leave last. You are to enter the Valley of Bones and hide. You must let Grulak’s elite pass by without seeing you. Do not engage them. They are not our target. When the elite have exited the valley to the east, you must secure the western exit from the valley. Place your archers so that they can riddle Grulak’s Jiadin when they attempt to enter the valley. Use the rest of your force to block the entrance into the valley. When you are first engaged in battle, have your archers fire signals to Blaka and Adger. The northern and southern prongs will close in and complete the surrounding of the Jiadin. Every one of those four thousand men must be killed. There will be no prisoners taken in this battle. When the battle is won, strip the Jiadin bodies of their weapons and remove our own dead from the battlefield. I want the rest of Grulak’s men to see a slaughter when they arrive, but not to have access to the weapons.”
“Why is this?” asked one of the leaders. “The Jiadin armies that come after will surely have weapons of their own.”
“They will when they enter the Valley of Bones,” nodded Wyant, “but not when we allow them to leave.”
“We are to stop the four thousand from entering the valley, but not the huge bulk of Grulak’s men?” questioned another leader. “This does not make sense to me.”
“We will not engage the bulk of Grulak’s men,” replied Wyant. “We want them to give up the fight rather than battle them. The same is not true of the original Jiadin. What we are aiming at is destroying the original Jiadin and convincing the bulk of converts to Grulak’s cause that the war is over. After the battle of the four thousand, Yojji’s force is to leave the valley to the west and join with Blaka and Adger. They will hide until the huge army has entered the Valley of Bones. After they have passed, I want all three groups to form a corridor heading west. Those in the Valley of Bones who agree to surrender will exit the valley without weapons. They may go their own way and make a life for themselves in Fakara. I want the corridor of troops to impress upon them that any change in heart will mean their death.”
“If all of our troops are parading west of the valley,” asked one of the leaders, “what is going to make the Jiadin surrender? Why won’t they just continue their march to Ghala and destroy all we have built here?”
“That is my responsibility,” interjected Rejji. “General Winus has come over to our side. He will be sending out riders to the approaching converts that the war is already lost. We are hoping for enough defections to limit the enthusiasm of the remaining army. I will turn back the rest of them before they exit the Valley of Bones. Those who refuse to surrender will be killed. That is all I will say about it for now.”
“What of the elite?” asked a leader. “You have made no mention of them except that they are to be allowed to proceed.”
“General Winus and his men will deal with them,” answered Wyant. “We should use the time available to us wisely. Blaka and his prong need to be getting ready to leave soon. The sooner we all leave Ghala, the better chance we have of being in position in time to play our parts. Adger, Blaka, and Yojji will detail which men are to be in which group. Strike this blow for Fakara, men.”
***
Bakhai, Mobi, and Yltar stood concealed at the edge of the Qubari jungle. They watched the long stream of Fakaran warriors as they rode by just outside the edge of the jungle.
“That is a large number of men,” Mobi stated.
“Yes,” frowned Bakhai. “I hope Rejji knows what he is doing. This could turn out very poorly.”
“Do you think the free tribes will switch sides?” questioned Mobi.
“Not at all,” answered Bakhai. “I think Rejji was very effective at winning their hearts. I think seeing how Grulak uses the tribes shows them the folly of the lives they have been leading. I do worry about them being caught between Grulak’s forces though. What if the elite did not eat the fruit?”
“If they did not eat it,” interjected Yltar, “then the groups will not be separated. Do not worry about the Astor’s plan. Kaltara will not let him down. What we must worry about is our part. As soon as this Fakaran army is out of sight, we must gather our forces and head for the Valley of Bones. It will feel uncomfortable to be out of the jungle. I just hope it will be over soon so we may return quickly.”
***
Brakas stared into the darkness at the ceiling of his tent. Sleep had not come easy to him after his initial night with Winus, when he had slept all night and all day. His abnormally long sleep that night still troubled him. The wasooki he had been eating every night since also bothered him. There were no free-roaming wasooki in Fakara anymore and Winus’s troops had not been out raiding villages. He had wondered where Winus was getting the meat. Adding to his puzzlement was the daily plea from Winus for Brakas to return to Ghala. Correctly summed, Brakas knew that things did not add up properly, but he could not find an answer to the riddles.
The footsteps and talking outside his tent in the predawn hours caught Brakas’s attention and he crept to the tent flap. He peered out and saw one of the sentries escorting a soldier to Winus’s tent. He recognized the soldier as one of Grulak’s elite and excitement coursed through his veins as he realized that Zygor had gotten to Vandegar and delivered the fruit. The siege of Ghala was about to begin. Anxious to hear about the plans of Grulak, Brakas quickly got dressed and slid out of his tent. Knowing that Winus would frown upon his inclusion in the discussion, Brakas stole around the rear of the general’s tent. He listened closely and frowned as he realized that he missed most of the conversation already.
“Show our guest to a tent where he can get a couple of hours rest before we leave in the morning,” ordered Winus. “Return promptly so we can discuss what needs to be done.”
Brakas hid in the dark and listened to the receding footsteps. He stayed still in the blackness of the night to avoid detection until the sentry returned to the command tent.
“He is settled in,” the sentry reported.
“Good,” stated Winus. “Check on him in half an hour. If he is sleeping, kill him. We will be breaking camp in the morning. I want everyone up at first light and ready to move out.”
“Where are we heading, Sir?” quizzed the sentry.
“We are going to wipe out Grulak’s elite,” the general declared. “Every last man must be killed.”
“General, I mean no disrespect,” the sentry said nervously, “but we are no match for the elite. Even if it was even odds, they would carve us up quicker than we carve up those wasooki we got from Ghala. You are asking your men to commit suicide.”
“No offense taken, soldier,” chuckled Winus. “Your assessment is quite valid. What is missing from your knowledge, though, is the fact that they will all be sleeping like babies. The fruit Zygor delivered has a very nasty aftereffect. It makes you sleep like the dead for days. We shall have no trouble completing our task.”
“Ah, that is why you asked me to check on our visitor,” nodded the sentry. “If he ate the fruit, he will be out soundly. You are cunning, General. I will make sure all is ready in the morning.”
“I am sure he ate the fruit,” smiled Winus. “There is no other way he could be here so quickly.”
Brakas felt a tremor of rage race through his body as he listened to the treachery inside the tent. He thought briefly of trying to save Grulak’s man in the tent and swiftly brushed aside his concerns. There was no sense in revealing his knowledge to save one man, while endangering himself. He silently cursed himself for being too late to hear the location of Grulak’s elite as he eased himself away from the general’s tent.
Brakas slipped quietly into the trees at the edge of the camp as he pondered what to do. He had at most two hours before the camp began to arise. It was clear to him now that Winus had changed sides some time ago and had been in contact with Ghala. He shivered when he realized that Rejji and the free tribes must have known his identity while he was in Ghala. They had used him to sucker Grulak, but they had underestimated him too. Grulak’s elite would not sleep forever and if it was Winus’s job to slay them, then Brakas had to stop them from carrying out their mission.
Slowly and silently, Brakas crept to the tether lines that held the camp’s horses captive. He severed the lines, pausing frequently to hear if anyone had become aroused because of the gentle noises coming from the horses. When he was done, he took a horse and led it back to his tent. He retrieved his sword and his meager belongings. Quietly, he mounted the horse and began shouting.
“Enemy in the camp!” he yelled.
He continued yelling at the top of his lungs at he urged his horse faster and headed for the tether lines. Soldiers began swarming out of their tents and shouting for instructions. Mayhem reigned in the dark of the night as Brakas screamed and forced the horses into jolting away from danger. Brakas cackled loudly as the horses stampeded into the night and curses arose from the camp of General Winus. After an hour of scattering the horses, Brakas halted and tried to figure out how he should go about finding Grulak’s elite forces. After careful deliberation, he decided there was little he could do if he did find them and the most amenable plan was for him to ride towards Vandegar and alert whatever forces were left there.
***
Wyant nodded to the rider and told him to get some sleep. He turned and strode through the stockade and found Rejji and Mistake in the center of Ghala.
“The last rider has just come in,” Wyant reported to Rejji. “So far it looks promising. There are indeed three groups coming as we had hoped.”
“Then it is time for us to leave,” nodded Rejji. “Have we heard from Winus about the destruction of the elite?”
“Not yet,” frowned Wyant, “but I am sure that he has accomplished his task. If my calculations are correct, Yojji should be beginning his attack about now.”
Wyant, Rejji, and Mistake went to the corral and mounted their horses. The people of Ghala waved to them as they rose out the gate in the stone wall. They rode quietly as they headed for the Valley of Bones. It was just past high sun when they crested a hill and saw the Jiadin campsite. The camp was tidy and the fires were cold as they rode between the rows of tents. Wyant searched for signs that Winus had already been there and frowned when he could not find a single body or slashed tent. There were no signs of a battle or massacre.
Alarm raced through Wyant’s body as he spotted the carriage, because a carriage meant that Grulak had not ridden with his men and been forced to eat the fruit. He could have easily slept in the carriage during the trip. He turned to Rejji to point out the carriage as a lightning bolt shot down out of the clear sunny sky. The lightening struck Rejji’s horse with an explosive force and Rejji went flying through the air.
“Dismount,” Wyant shouted to Mistake as he jumped from his horse.
“So you would rather travel with children than join my forces, Wyant,” called Grulak as he stepped into the clearing with Veltar far behind him. “A pity. You always did seem to be cowardly.”
Mistake hurled a dagger at the hooded magician as he raised his arms to call up another spell. The distance was too far for her throw to be accurate, but she raced towards the mage as he reacted to the threat. Wyant drew his sword and advanced menacingly towards Grulak. Veltar sneered as he swiftly raised his arms again and Mistake jumped to the right just as a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground where she had been. The magician backpedaled as Mistake reached for another dagger. As she cocked her arm, she saw the magician casting another spell. She dove further to the right as dust and stones flew through the air where the lightening bolt had struck. She continued her roll and sprang to her feet, swiftly unleashing another dagger towards the mage. The magician frowned as the dagger soared towards his body, which was still moving backwards. The dagger missed him by inches and he raised his arms once again.
Wyant closed with Grulak and their swords clashed. Grulak whirled and slashed down hard on Wyant’s shoulder. Wyant gave way under the force of the strike and rolled away from Grulak. Grulak charged after him, but Wyant managed to pivot and kick Grulak’s legs out from under him. They both scrambled to their feet and faced each other.
Mistake tossed another dagger as she leaped further to the right to avoid another bolt from the magician. She knew that she had little chance of hitting the mage, but her knives were disrupting his concentration and allowing her to slowly spiral in closer to him. She frowned as she continued to roll away from the blast as she wondered if she would run out of knives before she got close enough to kill him. She knew that only her speed was keeping her alive.