Portals of Infinity: Book Five: Demigods and Deities Page 17

  Felecia coughed rather loudly and I remembered where we were, and broke the kiss.

  "Mmmm, you really are thankful, aren't you?" Evean purred and laughed.

  I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I'll let you get even with me for the tent if you want, that's just how thankful I am."

  I noticed her eyes widen a bit, and then she smiled again and joined us as we all sat down once more.

  "Well, that's certainly not the reaction I was expecting," Felecia said.

  I noticed Jane was almost glaring at me, and First Carso just looked embarrassed.

  I shrugged and smiled and winked at Jane who just sighed and rolled her eyes up at the ceiling.

  "So what are we going to do with General Weiss and his troops when they get here?" I said looking at the map once more.

  "I was hoping we could attack the Barassan army from the rear," Jane said.

  "I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I said. "Even if Eklin's forces reduce the size of the Barrassan forces, they're still going to have a huge size advantage over Holden's forces."

  "Well, we have to do something," Jane said.

  "Yes, but I don't want to see us defeated in detail," I said, "which is exactly what will happen if we keep throwing ourselves at them one small piece at a time."

  "What about the Hiland forces?" Jane asked.

  "There's only twenty thousand of them, and they've marched so much in the last two days, that they'll probably need a day's rest before they'll be useful."

  "What about the rest of the Hiland army?"

  "It will be days before they arrive here, none of us expected Barassa to launch its offensive this early."

  "What about this," First Carso said. "We have to deliver Champion Evean to the Marland forces, which we should be able to accomplish tonight."

  "Assuming there are any Marland forces left," I said.

  "Granted, that is a possibility," First Carso agreed, "However, if Eklin did take our warning to heart, there are some very defensible positions here to the south at the base of the mountains."

  I looked over at the map where he pointed, and nodded as I saw them.

  "We have General Weiss come down immediately; Barassa's scouts won't miss an army of that size moving forward, so they'll be forced to disengage from Eklin's forces, to prepare for the attack. Eklin retreats to the west along this route," First Carso drew his finger along the map, "and once that's done, Weiss retreats back to the west, towards the city before he can be engaged.

  "By then, our troops should be recovered, and we have them dig in here, just east of the city. When Weiss gets there, he joins up with them, and we take on the Barassan forces at that point."

  I looked it all over carefully; to me it seemed like a good idea. Any of their scouts that got a good look at Weiss's army would know they still had a huge size advantage over us. Adding in the Hiland forces would reduce that advantage, and they'd be better rested than the Barassan troops.

  "It could work," I said looking up at the rest of them. "I wish I could go over this with General Weiss and First Young, but I'm going to ride out with the cavalry. I want to get a good look at the terrain, as well as Barassa's army, and what's left of Eklin's."

  "I'll go over it with Weiss, and I'll only let him make changes if I think it makes sense," Jane said.

  I smiled at her, "Don't be afraid to ask Fel for advice, and if First Young makes it here before you leave, go over the plan with him as well, so he understands his part in it. Right now they're all under my command, by royal edict from both King Charles and Queen Rachel. So as of this moment, you're my second in command, Jane. So don't let me down."

  Jane paled for a moment, but nodded, "I'll do my best."

  "That's all I'm asking for, but don't worry about Weiss, he knows his job, and any suggestions he makes are probably good ones, just make sure you understand what he wants to do, and don't be afraid to make him explain it to you."

  I looked at First Carso, "Anything else?"

  He shook his head.

  "Then I guess it's time for us to check on the men and get going."

  I warned Evean to cover up Roden's device on her armor before we went outside. I didn't want to find out if our mounts had the same opinion as I suspected all of the wolats in the Mowok herds did.

  Once we got that problem covered, we were able to proceed without any problems. The other males in the cavalry where all enthralled with her looks of course, and no one complained about having her ride on the back of their mount with them. We just had to make sure to move her around a bit so we didn't wear out any one mount too much.

  We made good time on our ride east. Our riders picked up on scouts from the Barassan army several times, and we did our best to avoid those. Normally we would have taken them out, but we wanted them to know when Weiss was coming, when his forces took the field.

  "Did you really mean what you said to me, back in the temple?" Evean asked me.

  We were walking our mounts, giving them a chance to rest. After this, we'd be in contact with the rear elements of the Barassan army, as we tried to determine the plight of Elkin's army, and hook up with them if we could. As the Barassan army seemed to be arrayed to deal with an opposing force to the south, I was actually pretty hopeful.

  I nodded to her, "I owe you, Evean, you helped me when I needed it, and you helped me save Cameron. The information you provided us with made it easy for us to get in and get away quickly. Hell, if it hadn't been for you, it would have been months finding where they were holding her."

  "So, you'd let me stick a sword through you, and just hold it there while you suffered?"

  I could feel my ears go flat, my tail almost tucking. "I pay my debts, Evean, if you want to do that, I'll suffer through it," I said and gave an involuntary shiver.

  "Why?" she asked looking at me, I could see the genuine curiosity in her eyes.

  I sighed, "Some day, when you have a child, and hold them in your arms, you'll know why."

  "Yeah, Roden told me that as well. He said you'd probably let me do whatever the hell I wanted to."

  I looked at her surprised. "When did he say that?"

  "Oh, a couple of hours ago while I was napping on the back of one of your dogs."

  "They're wolats, not dogs."

  Evean grinned, "Dogs don't last long in Vietnam, kind of sad, after seeing these guys; I bet I would have liked having one."

  "So, can you at least wait until we're done here?" I asked her.

  "For what?"

  "Before you stick me," I sighed.

  Evean laughed, "Oh, don't worry about it. You think I'd waste a favor of that caliber on something as simple as revenge?"

  I smiled, "I don't know if I should be happy about that or sad."

  "Besides, Roden told me to get over it already. He doesn't want any conflict between your god and him."

  "Well, you won't get any complaints from me on that. The whole 'god slayer' thing is getting a bit old."

  "Yeah, but you'll still do it to Tantrus if you get the chance," Evean smiled.

  "Well, wouldn't you?" I grinned back.

  "Honestly, Will," She said and stopped smiling, and looked at me with a rather serious expression, "I don't think I could. I think that's why the other gods are afraid of you, and by association, Feliogustus. You not only destroyed a god, you genocided an entire people. You pulled not just their religion, but their entire culture up by the roots and erased it.

  "You didn't even leave a trace, you were so thorough. I think all the gods know that sooner or later they will be out of the game, that they will retire to their heaven with whatever followers that they have managed to earn. But they all seek to leave their mark on the world Will, and you erased his completely. I can not even remember his name now, soon no one will."

  I looked at her for a moment, "It keeps me awake some nights. Gives me bad dreams. Maybe if I'd been more experienced I would have stopped when Fel told me to," I shrugged, "but it's in the past now and
I have to live with the consequences."

  "Alert!" one of the sentries called, riding in from our perimeter, "We have contact with the enemy!"

  I swore and mounted up, pulling Evean up behind me.

  "How many?" First Carso asked.

  "Looks like a company, Sir. They're coming this way, double time."

  "Well then, first and second company, circle around them and make sure there aren't any other surprises, third on the right flank, fourth on the left, the rest in the middle with me, let's see how they react to a cavalry charge!"

  First Carso got us organized rather quickly. Apparently the Barassan's thought they were dealing with the same tactics that the Mowok's had used, small group hit and run tactics. When faced with a full on cavalry charge of almost a thousand wolats with mounted troops, followed by a second line of just as much, the expressions on their faces where rather interesting.

  Of course, not a single one of them survived to share their discovery with anyone else.

  "That was ... impressive," Evean said in my ear.

  "Yup, you're witnessing the balance of power shifting," I purred. "Everyone is about to find out that Hiland is the new power on this continent."

  "Big words there, William," she chuckled.

  "Uh-huh. Next time you talk to Roden see what he says. You saw what happened."

  "You did outnumber them rather heavily, Will," Evean laughed.

  "And if we hadn't, we would have just ridden away and looked for an easier target."

  Evean considered that, "Good point."

  First Carso rode over then.

  "Well, they know we're here now, so we might as well get to work."

  I nodded, "Have at it, First!"

  We spent the next five hours skirting the Barassan troops, as we circled to the south, and whenever one of our scouts found a favorable situation, we galloped in and attacked. We were wreaking serious havoc in the rear of the Barassan army; I was actually surprised at just how well we were doing. When we finally came to the southern most part of their army, we could tell that they were definitely engaged with the Marland forces, who had managed to retreat to a fairly defensible position under the cliffs.

  At that point Carso ordered us in and we charged in and hit them hard, and kept it up until we had fought our way through them. It took an hour, and we lost about a hundred men, but we caused so much panic on the flank, that we were able to temporarily rout the troops on the flank, and until they were able to reorganize and push us back, we ran wild and killed hundreds of them. When they finally rallied, it was only because our males and our mounts were starting to tire, so we retreated back towards the Marland lines.

  Fortunately, I'd dropped Evean off near their lines early on, and she had run up there to ready them for our retreat.

  "Champion William, First Carso, I'd like to introduce you to General Eklin," Evean said when we finally rode in at the tail end of our troops and dismounted.

  "General, you have no idea how happy I am to see that you took our warning seriously," I said and touched palms.

  "I'll admit that I didn't take it as seriously as I now wish I had, Champion, but it would have been much worse if I had simply ignored it. As it was, when they attacked our rear I'd already given contingency orders, just in case."

  "What's your situation?" First Carso asked.

  "We've taken heavy casualties, a third of my troops are either dead or too injured to fight. But we've been able to inflict heavy losses on them as well now that we're up here in the rocks. They may have us pinned down, but they can't get up here to wipe us out without exposing themselves."

  "So how many effectives do you have left then?" I asked.

  "About forty thousand."

  I nodded, "What are your estimates on the Barassan's army?"

  "I'd put them over a ninety thousand. However you put quite a bite on them just now. I must say, these beasts you're riding, I have never seen the like. What do you call this?"

  First Carso smiled, "They're called wolats, General. And this is what is known as 'Cavalry.'"

  General Eklin harrumphed a little and shook his head, "Always something new to learn," but then he smiled. "At least you're on our side."

  I looked around at our situation, with all of the wolats and their riders up here, it was a bit crowded.

  "I think we're going to have to ride back out of here in a few hours, say before the moon has come up. What do you say, Carso?"

  "Aye, William, and best to do it before they get a handle on how to box us in up here."

  "I take it you have other forces in the area?" General Eklin asked me.

  "Yes, though they're a day away from here. So we won't be able to get you out of here immediately."

  "What we want you to do, General," Evean said smiling and leaning against him. "Is to retreat west along the base of the cliffs, once William and First Carso can bring the other troops to bear. Then you can join up with them and we can counter-attack the invaders."

  "Are you suggesting that I put myself under his command?" Eklin said looking at her.

  Evean smiled that rather winning smile of hers, "Yes."

  I could see that Eklin looked conflicted, but even while wearing armor covered in blood, Evean was not a fem that could be easily resisted.

  "Well, I don't know, Champion Evean, Ruusolf is my king and I am sworn to him."

  Evean smiled and I was surprised that she didn't push or use any cantrips at all as she spoke, "General, Roden is your god, is he not?"

  "Yes, of course he is," Eklin agreed.

  "And in all of your years, has he every set you wrong? Has he not been fair and just, and guided you through all your trials and helped in times of difficulty?"

  Eklin nodded, "Of course. I have never once regretted my faith in him!"

  "As Roden's Champion, you know that I speak for him, and Roden is not happy with King Ruusolf, and his comfortable ways with King Stivik, or Stivik's god Tantrus."

  Eklin looked rather shocked, "What are you saying?"

  "I'm saying that Roden, your god, releases you from your oath to King Ruusolf, he is no longer worthy of your respect. You would be wise to question any orders he offers you."

  "But, he's the king! What we will do without him?"

  "I would say that before you worry about who is going to rule these lands, that we first make sure there are lands to rule, wouldn't you agree, General?"

  I watched as Eklin nodded slowly. "We will have to talk more about this."

  Evean smiled and purred, "Of course, General."

  "You are right however, that the first thing we must do, is defend the land." General Eklin turned to me, "I will put my men at your command, once we are free of this trap."

  I nodded, "Thank you, General. If you don't mind, First Carso and I would like to see to our men, before we head back out."

  "No, by all means. If you need anything, let one of my staff know. We may not have much, but we will share what we can."

  I gave a small bow, saluted, and First Carso and I went off to join the rest of the men.

  "Wow, I think she's even more dangerous than you are," First Carso whispered once we got out of earshot.

  "The smart ones always are," I chuckled. "And Evean is a lot smarter than people realize."

  We rode out three hours later, First Carso being of the thought that the less time we gave them to figure out how to bottle us up in there, the better. Considering that there were no other ways for us to easily leave, I agreed with him.

  General Eklin led his troops down in a feint when we rode out, making them think we were staging a major counter-attack, and after a brief engagement, he retreated back as we turned and disengaged, allowing us to escape relatively unscathed.

  We then spent the rest of the night scouting out the Barassan army's troop positions and launching little blitzkrieg assaults on their positions all through the night.

  By morning we were down to about four thousand effective fighters, but we'd done eno
rmous amounts of damage, as well kept them from getting any sleep.

  "This is working out far better than I would ever have thought," First Carso admitted to me when we finally rode west back towards Marland city to find a place to rest and regroup.

  "Eventually they'll figure out how to deal with us, and it won't be so easy," I warned. "But we will always have an advantage, especially if we don't get cocky about it."

  "It's nice to see morale so high," he smiled.

  "Well, just think about how you want to use them once the main battle is joined."

  "Will you be with us then, William?"

  I shook my head, "I'll be in the front with whatever heavy foot we have. I need to be seen out in front of the army, especially if their champion is out there leading them."

  "Well, better you than me, I think I'm sold on this whole mounted cavalry thing. My days of fighting on foot are definitely over!"

  Sixteen

  Plains East of Marland

  I was waiting with the rest of the Hiland heavy foot as the Holden forces retreated back past our positions. General Weiss had adopted First Carso's plan, with only a few minor tweaks to it. I'd also made two other minor changes after I'd seen the ground we'd be fighting on, to improve our position.

  Jane was now with the Holden troops, and would stand with them as they moved into the positions that had been laid out for them.

  First Wyland turned and smiled at me, "Almost time, William."

  I nodded and checked my weapons and my gear, then checked his, then checked the soldier on my left.

  The Holden soldiers were turning as soon as they cleared our lines and racing for their positions. The Hiland troops were laid out in a bit of a 'V' position, with me at the bottom of it. We'd start advancing once we had contact with the enemy.

  Our biggest problem were our flanks, they wouldn't be up to strength until the Holden army's troops had taken their places within the ranks along either side, so Carso had split his cavalry in two, and put a group on each of the flanks. They'd ride out and fight a delaying action, if necessary, until the lines would be able to hold on their own.