Portals of Infinity: Book Five: Demigods and Deities Page 16

  I nodded, and looked at the map. "Do you think they could make a forced march, or not?"

  "Half of them could, the other half," First Young looked embarrassed, "Well, half of those are levy troops, and I'm not sure they can do it."

  I nodded again and sighed, "I really hate splitting up my forces, especially when going up against a larger opponent. But General Weiss's concerns are valid, and I have an obligation to protect the temples and the city."

  I looked up at General Weiss, "March your troops out as soon as possible, do not take orders from anyone in Marland, other than Champion Jane at Fordessa's temple. We're not there to save their army at the price of our own. Once we get there, we'll examine our options and see what we can do."

  I turned to First Young, "I hate to do this to you, Young, but pack them up and march them out about an hour after General Weiss leaves. Get them to Marland city as quickly as you can, with as many as you can."

  "What will you be doing, William?" General Weiss asked.

  "I'm going to take the cavalry and ride ahead, and see what we can learn and if necessary wreak a little havoc of our own."

  "But you've got only a few thousand of them!" General Weiss said surprised, "You'll be crushed!"

  I smiled, "Yeah, and they'll think the same thing. First Young, have somebody recall the lookouts, First Carso, tell the troops to saddle up, we'll be leaving shortly." Everyone nodded and got up and went to work.

  I went back to look at the map, none of the lookouts had reported any large fires to the east, so we suspected that the Marland forces were waiting for morning to attack. The rider we'd dispatched to Rivervail wouldn't be there for a few more days, and even then it would take them a week to march down to Marland from there.

  But they'd know that the fighting had commenced. At least the weather was holding, and I hoped it would continue to do so, even if it was rather cold.

  "Sir, Champion Sir!" A male called and rushed into the tent. It was one of the messengers from up on the ridgeline lookout.

  "Yes, Sergeant, what is it?"

  "Your man Styles, Sir. He's fairly certain that they've started moving across the water, Sir."

  "Really?" I said surprised.

  "Yes, Sir. He said they appear to have a lantern or some sort of light on each of the boats. Probably to keep from hitting each other or such."

  "I see, how many did he count?"

  "He couldn't really tell, Sir, but there were a lot, dozens he thinks."

  I nodded, "Okay, thank you Sergeant, please inform your superiors and whomever else you usually report to, dismissed."

  He saluted and left, I took one more look at the map and left as well.

  Less than an hour later we were mounted and moving out. I'll say this for Weiss's people; they were packed up and on the march as soon as we were.

  "Impressive," I remarked to Carso as we rode pass them.

  "They held the Mulanders off for years with an army half the size of the Mulander army," Carso said. "They've got a pretty solid officer corps. Holse can't wait to raid them once we've become united," He laughed.

  "When this is over, I'll have a few words with King Charles. Maybe we can work something out earlier," I said thoughtfully.

  "What do you think we'll find when we get there?"

  I shook my head, "I haven't a clue."

  The next hours were not very enjoyable, it was cold, and being out on the plains to the south of the capitol when the wind is blowing was not terribly enjoyable. We got off once an hour to walk our mounts and let them rest a little while, and then mounted back up and rode on.

  The temperature continued to drop, and there was frost on the ground when the sun finally stared to rise.

  "I hope we don't lose anyone to the cold," I sighed.

  "At least we have the pelts for it," Carso noted. "The Barassan's however...," he turned and grinned at me.

  "I'll take all the help I can get!" I smiled and nodded up ahead, "Well, there it is."

  We could see the city off in the distance; it was still about an hour's ride from here.

  "Didn't you ride in there once before?" Carso asked.

  "Yup, and I bet they still remember it. Going to be an interesting reception."

  "What's our first destination?"

  "Fordessa's temple. After that, we'll see."

  When we finally rode up to the city, the gates were closed and there were soldiers on the walls.

  "Who be you, and where are you from?" One of them called down.

  "I'm William, the God Slayer. Champion of Feliogustus and the current leader of the combined armies of Holden and Hiland."

  "What do you want here, William?" He said, not quite insultingly, but I could tell he was unhappy.

  "Why to ride through so I can save myself the trip of riding around." I smiled winningly, and then triggered my champion's aura. "However, I am also here to tell you that we are the lead elements of the army, which is coming here to defend the city and the land, from the Barassan army, which landed last night on your shores, well behind your own army, which is now cut off." I smiled again. "So do please, open the gates!"

  I was actually surprised when the gates opened, and I led my troops inside. A male wearing a Third's rank insignia ran up to me, "Sir! His Royal Highness King Ruusolf summons you, that he might discuss these matters!"

  "Take them to the Temple, get them fed, and wait for me. If Champion Jane shows up, listen to her."

  "Yes Sir, William."

  I slid off Tom, my wolat, and handed the reins to one of the sergeants and told Tom to go with them.

  "Well, lead on," I said to the Third and waved to him.

  He took me down the main avenue about five blocks, then turned left down another one and went two more blocks, and there was the castle. It was rather old, and sat next to a small park. It wasn't a bad looking place actually; it had obviously been kept up by the ruling family. It wasn't as nice as King Stivik's, from what I'd see of that from a distance, nor as nice as King Charles's, but it was fairly large and tall. According to Rachel, Marland was the oldest city in the area, possibly the continent, and the castle had been built long before the city. That probably explained the rather plain architecture.

  There were guards at the front gate, and the gates looked to be in excellent repair. I was led down a short hallway, and then into a room on the left hand side. I paused a moment before I followed the Third in, mostly because I'm just naturally suspicious. The room was rectangular in shape, probably thirty feet long, and fifteen wide. There was a door on the right hand wall at the far end, and two arrow slits placed rather high off the floor that allowed some light and fresh air to enter the room.

  Seated on a rather nice and slightly elevated chair was a rather heavy middle-aged male, which I guessed to be King Ruusolf. There were about a dozen well-armed and armored guards in the room, six to either side of the chair, and several, I assume servants, were scattered about, all of which were rather young, and rather attractive looking.

  "So, you are, William the God Slayer," he said looking at me.

  "King Ruusolf I presume?" I said and gave a small bow.

  "Kneel before the King!" One of the guardsmen said.

  "Blow me," I smiled back at him.

  He blinked confused and Ruusolf did not look happy for a moment, but he schooled his face and it quickly passed from his features.

  "I said kneel!" The guard said and took a step towards me.

  I looked at Ruusolf, "Are we really going to do this?" I sighed.

  He said nothing but watched as the guard drew his sword.

  "I commanded you to kneel!"

  "Do you worship Feliogustus?" I asked as he wound up with his sword to attack and everything slowed down.

  "No, I worship...."

  His voice died at that point as his head and his body where now separated from each other. I hadn't drawn either of my swords; I'd instead used the rather large dirk I wore because he had been rather close.


  The speed and strength of my attack had not gone unnoticed and they all stared at me in surprise, except for Ruusolf who seemed to be contemplating something.

  "So, Your Highness, you summoned me?"

  "What does the Champion of Feliogustus want with my Kingdom?"

  "The temple to the Goddess Fordessa lies in this city; I am here to see that the temple is protected."

  "And is that all of why you are here?"

  I smiled at him, "I'm also here as the Queen of the Hiland's husband and consort, and leader of her armies."

  I could see him twitch at that statement.

  "And what does that mean?"

  I shrugged, "It means that you should have come and visited and made nice to Queen Rachel before she sent me down here to save your," I almost said 'fat ass', "kingdom. She does not want Barassa to have possession of this city, or points further west, and I am here to make sure that does not happen."

  "Our army has the situation well in hand," King Ruusolf said to me.

  "No, unless your army pulls something incredibly brilliant in the next day or two, I expect to see them wiped out and Barassan troops in the new city laying siege to the old one."

  "They're still landing their troops in the farming town of Seawick," Ruusolf smiled. "General Eklin has them well in hand."

  "You don't know then that they landed an army more than twice the size of yours behind your army? About twelve hours travel from here?"

  "I've had no reports of such a thing!" Ruusolf said loudly, and for a moment I could see he looked worried.

  I sighed, "You invite me in here, you let one of your men attack me, and then you refuse to believe anything I tell you. King Ruusolf, I have a war to fight, and if I'm lucky I might even be able to save some of your army. So if I may be excused?"

  "Are you always so rude to your betters?" He snapped.

  "No, are you?" I smiled, "Don't forget your place, Ruusolf; I'm a god's champion, and I'm married to a queen. I'm also the only thing right now standing between you and a Barassan pike with your head on it. I don't know who your advisors are, but I would suggest you get new ones!"

  "Leave me!" He thundered and pointed to the exit.

  "Thank you," I smiled and gave him a nod, and then I turned and left the room.

  The Third who had led me here came running to catch up.

  "Allow me to lead you to the Temple of Fordessa, Sir," He said.

  "What, no words about me insulting your King?" I said glancing at him.

  "I'm a follower of Feliogustus, Sir. If you are rude to King Ruusolf, then I can only believe that he deserves it."

  I smiled at him, "I've never been a fan of those who always try to play everyone off of one another, while they sit back and smile."

  "There are many here who are not very happy about the influence that King Stivik and his court have had here."

  "Do they still have influence?"

  He shook his head, "Not after yesterday when they invaded, though to be honest it's waned a bit over the winter, once it became obvious that their campaign against the tribes on the plains had failed."

  "I have to wonder why he ever sided with them, or the Mulanders, in the first place."

  "Well, Sir, far be it from me to criticize the king, but the Marlander policy has always been one of strict non-involvement with any of the surrounding kingdoms. We traded for what little we needed, but largely we were self-sufficient, and our army was large enough to keep all of the smaller states around us, away from us."

  "But Barassa isn't a smaller state," I pointed out.

  "Well they aren't now, but they were when Ruusolf's father died and he inherited the kingship. Rather than take heed of those who have preached caution and urged for a change in policy, Ruusolf believed that as long as King Stivik could feed his economy off of the smaller states surrounding us, that they would leave us alone."

  "So survival by being last eaten?"

  "Yes, and rather than build up for when the day that we were last came, he decided to believe Stivik's promises of friendship, and claims of leaving the peaceful citizens of Marland alone."

  I shook my head, "You seem to be fairly well educated for a Third, ummm Third...?" I trailed off.

  "Third Adams, Sir. And my father was a First in the army of Ruusolf's father, King Ruungolf."

  I nodded; I could see the temple now, and the assembled riders of the cavalry unit waiting outside.

  "Well, thank you Third Adams. By the way, any idea why he set that man of his on me?"

  Third Adams smiled, "Seth was one of the remaining followers of Tantrus in the castle. He was quite the bully and as the Captain of the King's guard, had an influence well beyond his abilities.

  "I suspect his attack was purely his own idea, he often forced our king into certain choices, by taking matters into his own hands. And because King Ruusolf was rather afraid of him, he was never removed."

  "Well, he's certainly removed now," I smiled.

  "And King Ruusolf now fears you. As you did not pander to his vanity like Seth did, he no doubt hates you as well, Sir. I would advise keeping your eyes open around him, if you gather my meaning, Sir."

  I nodded, "Thank you, I'll be sure to put a good word in with Feliogustus the next time I see him, to thank you for your help. Luck and skill be with you, Third Adams."

  Third Adams 'blushed', his ears out flat to the sides from the compliment, as he bowed and then left.

  I turned and went up the steps and entered the temple.

  "Ah! There you are!"

  I turned and looked to the left, and Felecia was there with Jane and First Carso.

  I smiled and stepping over I touched paws with Felecia, but I gave Jane a hug. "You're looking good; I can see working with Fordessa agrees with you."

  Jane looked a bit startled at first, but then smiled slightly and gave me a hug back, as Felecia smirked and First Carso looked confused.

  I smiled at First Carso, "We go back a ways."

  "If you say so, William," he shrugged.

  Jane smirked, "I rescued him from an evil bitch once, he was very grateful."

  I laughed, "That you did, and yes I was. So, what do we know?"

  "Let's go sit down in my office and we can discuss this," Felecia said. "I just finished helping First Carso here get his men settled and arranging for a meal."

  I nodded, and she then led us through the temple, and into the back, pausing only to bow at the altar as we passed it. The rest of us doing the same.

  "The Barassan army landed early last night," Jane said after we had sat down and Felecia had sent for food and refreshments. "I watched them do so personally. I don't have an exact count, but I'd estimate their size at about eighty thousand, mostly medium foot, with some archers. I didn't see any heavy foot at all."

  "From what we were able to gather from those fleeing Seawick, they landed at least ten thousand heavy foot there," Felecia said, picking up the conversation as Jane unrolled a rather detailed map on Felecia's desk. "The best estimates that we have for the size of the forces in Seawick, are between twenty and twenty-five thousand."

  I nodded and looked over the map.

  "Do we know how many of the invading force is headed this way, and when they'll be here?"

  "None of them are heading this way," Jane told me. "I arranged for a set of signal fires, should they be observed heading this way, before I left last night. But it appears that the Barassan general is not going to divide his forces further."

  "What about General Eklin and his forces?" I asked. "I sent warnings about the ambush, but he marched anyway. Do we know if he at heeded my warnings at all?"

  "General Eklin was ordered out to Seawick, by King Ruusolf himself. I don't think he was happy about it, however he had to do what his king ordered him to do."

  I nodded, "Well then, hopefully he isn't an idiot, and is taking at least some precautions. If our estimates are right, they're probably engaged right now."

  Felecia looked up at me and
nodded, "Yes, and this leads to our first real issue."

  "Well of course it does, Eklin is outnumbered two to one, and if Barassa gains a foothold here, dislodging them will be a lengthy and costly undertaking," I sighed looking at the rest of them.

  "Ah no," Felecia said and looked a bit annoyed; I noticed Jane was sort of smirking at me.

  "We have another god helping us, William, he's the third most popular god in Marland, and his champion has managed to arrive, just a few hours ago. Eklin and a large part of his army follow him, so we want to get his champion to Eklin as soon as possible, and well, your cavalry is our best bet for that, so we want you to take them there.

  I remembered then Fel's offhanded comment some few months ago about the 'god of warriors and whores' or something like that. I shrugged, "Hey, if Fel and Fordessa are okay with it, I'm not going to complain."

  "Are you sure about that?" Jane snickered.

  I went "huh" and then I heard someone else enter the room.

  "Hi, Will! Miss me?"

  I turned, eyes wide in surprised. It was Evean! I took two steps and grabbed her and looked at her. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

  "Roden's got a lot of followers here now," she said smirking, "we managed to convert about half of the followers Tantrus lost when you burned down his temple here."

  "You're not angry, are--" Jane started and then stopped as I hugged Evean rather fiercely.

  Evean looked at me rather surprised. "Well, hello to you too, Will!" And recovering she winked.

  "I can't thank you enough for what you did for me, Evean," I said softly. "I know Roden wasn't happy with you for doing it, but you did it anyways."

  "Well, if I'd known I'd get this kind of reception, I wouldn't have thought twice about it," Evean purred huskily at me.

  I laughed and took a step back, looking her up and down. "I had no idea that armor could be made to look so sexy."

  "I heard you got Cam back?"

  I nodded again, "And thanks to you, I'd kiss you, but I don't feel like getting drugged again."

  "Oh, I'm not wearing any lipstick," Evean smirked.

  So I pulled her in close and kissed her, she still tasted nice and kissed better than any woman I had ever kissed in my life, but I could tell she was enjoying it this time as well, as I was focused completely on her.