In An Age Before – Part 175
In Eriador, on 29 Nínui, King Arvedui was greeted with a sodden morn of late winter wind and grey clouds hanging low o'erhead. The night's cold rain was slowing, and he doubted there would be any pursuit this day. Wholly occupied with plunder and revels shall our foes be now, curse them to Udûn. 'Twas a somber day to match his somber mood, for after almost two thousand years, Fornost had fallen the past night.
Surely Elendil rolls in his grave this morn, Arvedui thought as he gazed out a window into the courtyard of the hunting lodge. 'Tis on my watch that the great fortress of the north has been lost. E'er shall I be recalled as the king who failed to defend the Kingdom of Arthedain, a last king who faltered at the test.
His thought turned to his people, somewhere further to the west, soaked to the skin, chilled, and fleeing their home in fear. Ye gave me your allegiance, your trust, and I could not defend ye. I am sorry, more than words can tell.
"I pledge to thee this day, that if by the grace of the One I should come to the throne of Arthedain, I shalt discharge my kingship with all nobility and honor due the office, and act for the welfare of my people and all free peoples, to shield them from evil and the Great Enemy." The words of The Oath of Argeleb were words the king had lived by all his life.
Perhaps I may live up to at least a part of my oath, 'to shield them from evil and the Great Enemy'. I shall buy them such time as I can, to reach Lindon and safety, even if 'tis the only thing I do. Yes, I have lost the kingdom, and yes, the fortress is fallen, but so long as my people survive, I shall not count myself wholly a failure, despite what later lore may tell.
"My lord," a soldier had knocked on the open door, "a breakfast has been made, for we found the larder well stocked. Pray come and join us ere it goes cold."
"Thank you, I'll be just a moment," Arvedui said as he turned from the window. "Is Commander Celegon at table?"
"Aye, your Grace," the soldier said, "and he bid us cook what was fresh. That which can travel well is being distributed amongst the Men as rations."
"Very good," the king said as he joined the soldier and they walked to the large dining table.
There they found Celegon and half the company, a score and four, eating in the first shift. The king gestured for his Men to remain seated and joined them, taking an empty chair and adding food to a plate and cider to his cup.
"Hast thou set the watches, Commander?"
"Aye, my lord, watches in fours, with three hours rotation. No Man shall have to stand but once each a day and a half in this weather."
Arvedui nodded his approval and said, "I doubt we shall be assailed this day, and so those not on watch should rest and tend their gear. Once battle comes, t'will be a hard fight and best met with such strength as we can recover."
As they ate, the king and his commander openly discussed the goals and strategy for their campaign with their Men listening in, a new situation for many, as aforetime such decisions had been made in the general staff council and then conveyed down the chain of command to the soldiers. Yet now they were afield and whether sergeant or king, or common Man-at-arms, all would be immediately affected and 'naught could be hid. 'Twas best for the Men to understand the whys as well as the whats.
"Our goal now is to buy time for the flight of our people," King Arvedui said, "and I deem that 'naught more than this can we accomplish, for we are too few to assail yonder foe on our own account. If Fornost is to be retaken, t'will not be by this company."
"In the forested Hills of Evendim, we have the advantage of rough terrain but poorly known to our enemy," Celegon said.
"More than this, we are all mounted soldiers now, and regardless of prior training and assignment, we shall gain by our mobility, for ye are all able horsemen," the king said to those gathered at table.
'Round him Men nodded in agreement. None wished to be afoot facing such a horde as they had seen the past night. They also readily agreed that an assault on Fornost or the Host of Angmar would be folly.
"As a mounted force we shall strike against those sent in pursuit of our people," their commander said.
To this the soldiers pounded their fists on the tabletop and stamped their feet with enthusiasm whilst voicing their approval.
"Aye, we shall fall upon them, yet we seek to turn such aside, not slaughter them outright," Arvedui told them, desiring to temper their mood, "for hatred aside, our goal is also to preserve our own lives in hope of rejoining our people in Lindon."
To this, the soldiers also murmured in agreement, though all longed to slay any such as they could, whilst risk was inherent in their profession and accepted. In their hearts they each knew that they would feel reluctance when ordered to withdraw, rather than pursue an enemy driven to retreat.
"I deem that much of the Witch King's cavalry perished by fire after they charged through the gate," the king told his Men, "and though I know not what count remains, 'tis surely less than we saw aforetime on the field. Some of these, I believe, shall be sent against us, for footmen cannot constrain a fleeing column that already enjoys a lead of many hours and is guarded by our own soldiers. Besides, the Witch King shall need his infantry to explore and occupy the city."
For a while they continued to eat, but then the king spoke again, saying, "in the storerooms here are kept the accoutrements of royal hunting parties, and amongst them a great many hooded cloaks of dark green. Distribute these amongst the Men that they may blend into the wood the better."
"My lord," one of the soldiers said, having actually raised his hand to speak. At a nod from the king, he continued, saying, "would it not be worthwhile to keep watch on the fortress from the verge of the forest, thereby to have the greatest warning of any coming 'nigh?"
"Indeed so," Arvedui agreed, "but such scouts we shall not send forth 'til the evening. I believe t'will take the enemy this full day to find ways into the fortress and assure themselves that no defenders linger and no further traps have been set. Thereafter, they shall be occupied for a time with feasting, plunder, and desecration."
"Recall too that they have just endured a winter march from Carn Dûm," Celegon added. "I wager they shall be less than eager to charge into strange lands pursuing a hostile army."
"An army whose cavalry may well outnumber those still left from Angmar," the king added. And having had no part in the battle, our knights shall be only too willing to embattle any foes that come 'nigh, Arvedui thought.
In fact, the cavalry of Arthedain still counted o'er four and one-half thousand knights, of whom not a single one had been slain in the Fall of Fornost, for there had been no actions by the cavalry. They now outnumbered the surviving Easterling horsemen by well 'nigh twenty-five to one.
Those knights had ridden through the night, and they had urged the tired people of Fornost on whilst forming both an advance party and a rear guard. Some of the infantry marched alongside the column of wagons and carts, yet just as many rode, for they had taken every horse from Fornost. So 'twas that in shifts, Men traded off, alternately riding or walking, and the column made better time than t'would have had it been composed of marching infantry alone. Fear had sustained the fleeing citizens through the night, and at dawn they had covered four leagues. They didn't pause 'til an hour after dawn, and that mostly to rest and water the horses.
After two hours, during which time rations were distributed for the morning meal and fodder provided for the horses, they resumed their march, finally staying their flight at noon. By then, they had come seven leagues and all were soaked by the rain and chilled to the bone. Now fires were kindled and all rested, Dúnadan and horse. Though they were still in the flat lands west of Fornost, the soldiers knew that they could only push the civilians so hard. They had all been awake through a night of fear, and half a day of flight. And now those who were battle hardened prayed that the Valar would keep them safe from pursuit in these first, most hazardous days. Yet with each hour on the road, they drew further from the Witch King's host and their jeopardy diminished.
The column rested 'til nightfall, and then they took to the road again. The knights knew that the Emyn Uial lay five score miles west from Fornost, and this was their first goal. They had covered the fifth part of that distance in the roughly seven hours of their previous march. With good fortune and no delays, they could see the forested hills ahead on the fourth day, and there, by the grace of the Valar, they would disappear. By then, the Knight Commander expected the people of Fornost would be cursing him to Udûn as a merciless driver of thralls rivaled only by Sauron Gorthaur.
Through the night, the refugees of Fornost fled, and they continued as they had on the past day 'til noon. That pattern was repeated on 30 Nínui, 1 and 2 Gwaeron, and on the morn of 3 Gwaeron the people saw the dark Hills of Evendim rising directly ahead. That day they camped 'neath the eves of the forested hills. On 4 Gwaeron they followed a forest track 'twixt pines and mixed hardwoods where a stream paced them in peace, and there, forty-seven thousand Dúnedain, noble and commoner, soldier, knight, and civilian, vanished from sight.
Many a muttered curse could be heard through the early afternoon of that day, for the Knight Commander pushed the folk onwards 'til three hours past noon. 'Twas the first time they had not stayed their march when Anor reached her zenith, yet he deemed this the time to trade their night marches for day. In the mid-afternoon the column stopped in a fair meadow amidst the rolling hills, where a stream fed lake lay reflecting the bright sky, and there he bid the people pitch their camp and rest, for they would not continue at nightfall, but rather in the hour following dawn. They had come eight leagues since entering the hills.
When he saw that all was being ordered in the camp, and after assuring that a groom had attended his horse, the Knight Commander dismissed his squire, doffed his armor, cut a green branch, and went to the lake with only a sack containing a ball of string, a fishhook, and a lump of soap. Though the year was still young, he had hope and needed to relax. There he spent the afternoon lying upon the grass, his hook baited with a worm he had dug from the bank, and he dozed in the sun 'til a sizable bluegill took the bait. The Knight Commander wasn't a greedy Man. He stuck the single fish in the sack, tied it closed with the string, and set the whole back into the water. Then he stripped, took his soap, and waded out into the cold water of the lake.
After his bath, the knight dressed and kindled a small fire. He cleaned his fish and cooked it clamped 'twixt sections of the branch that had served as his fishing pole. He ate watching the sunset, barehanded as he had when he was a boy, and couldn't recall enjoying a better day in many months.
Along with much of the camp, the Knight Commander enjoyed a night's sleep. Waking in the morning to his squire's greeting, he dressed, broke his fast, and then readied himself for the day's ride. The morn was sunny and the mood in the camp much improved from the prior afternoon. Indeed people greeted him with smile rather than muttered curses, which brought a smile to his own face.
Not only did the night's rest prove good for him, but for his Men and for the refugees as well. He drove them forward from the hour after dawn 'til dusk, and they came seven leagues. They repeated their march the next day. 'Round noon the day after, the column left the Emyn Uial and rode into the flatter lands that sloped down to the River Lhûn. Now they turned due west from west northwest. Three days later, they came to the old north ford 'nigh the juncture of the two main branches of the river. As they crossed the Lhûn, the Knight Commander breathed a sigh of relief. They had safely come two hundred fifty miles with no sign of pursuit, and the coming night would be spent in the safety of Elvish lands. The column turned south southwest, Mithlond lay one hundred seventy-five miles ahead.
The following morn, that being 11 Gwaeron, the Knight Commander announced that they would have a day of rest, and this was welcome to all. He deemed the most dangerous part of their journey was done and they had made good time, averaging o'er twenty-five miles each day. Now, instead of forcing their march from dawn to dusk, he could let the people depart camp at the second hour and make camp in the last hour of evening. Marching two hours less each day would still bring them to Mithlond by the 20th.
During the night of 29 Nínui, the Host of Angmar finally breached the inner walls of Fornost. Yrch and Hillmen nervously walked the walls, but they found neither defenders, nor traps hidden there. The staircases leading down from the walls and into the fortress were easy enough to find. When sufficient numbers had climbed up the gates, the ladder, and joined the first invaders atop the wall, those first few hundreds descended into the inner courtyard, and there they set a perimeter to await the arrival of reinforcements and their master.
Because of the cumbersome manner of their entry, it took three full hours for three thousands to gain the wall. These gathered in an increasingly bored and rowdy rabble at the bottom of the stairs, and there they milled and bickered in the cold rain. As the sodden night ended, the Tor fled to their muddy pits to avoid the coming dawn.
In the morning of 30 Nínui, the Ringwraith ordered his remaining cavalry to make a circuit of the fortress. They cantered off down the southern wall towards the southeast corner of Fornost to begin their survey of the perimeter. Their horses would return to a sullen walk as soon as they were out of sight 'round the southeastern turret, thereby to lengthen the Easterlings' unsupervised time. They all recalled that the Nazgûl's previous order had gotten most of their people killed.
Twenty-seven thousand of his infantry Tindomul set to guard the broken gates and to keep watch on the lands outside the city to the south, east, and west in case of any counterattack, for he had not seen Arthedain's cavalry and feared a sudden onslaught by the king's mounted troops. He half suspected that they had lain hidden outside the fortress, to fall upon him in an unguarded moment as his host reveled in their victory. And yes, by now he knew what had become of the Wainriders in 1944, as they'd feasted in North Ithilien to celebrate their victory 'nigh the Morannon.
Now after he had ordered his defense of the fallen fortress, he climbed the rope ladder and ascended the leaning gates to their top, then climbed the wooden ladder and gained the wall walk. There he took a survey of the inner courtyard where his troops milled about and only a few suspiciously eyed the dark entrances to the surrounding buildings. Tindomul could imagine with ease a counterattack coming from those buildings, taking his undisciplined soldiers by surprise, and with volleys of arrows, slaughtering them as they fled back up the staircases and onto the wall walks. He shook his head in consternation. This would ne'er do. They would have to clear the fortress forthwith ere some calamity robbed him of his greatest triumph.
Down the staircase the Nazgûl strode, and the space at the bottom opened as his Yrch and Hillmen shied away from him in fear. Had he still a face, t'would have borne a wide grin. Tindomul gave orders, breaking the gathering into companies and sending them forth into the surrounding buildings with orders to, "check every room! Leave none living! I reserve the king and queen alone. Bring them before me, alive. Their defeat shall be only the beginning of their torment."
In high spirits the Hillmen and Yrch hastened into the buildings of the city, seeking after any they might slay, despoil, abuse, or eat. Both cadres were now motivated, for they had been given free rein to indulge their malice. Plunder came first to the minds of the Hillmen. Cruel sport and feasting to the Yrch. Only a few amongst each group wondered if they would even recognize the king or queen should they find them. Most of those in both groups considered that part of their orders not at all, for accidents could always happen.
Aside from torturing Arvedui and Fíriel, Tindomul looked forward to one other boon he would preserve from Fornost ere he chopped down every tree and toppled every wall. The Palantíri of Amon Sûl and Annúminas were known to be in the keeping of the Kings of Arthedain. Were they here in the citadel? Had Arvedui sought to hide them, or had he arranged for them to be removed and housed elsewhere? In 1409 he well 'nigh had the Stone of Amon Sûl in his grasp when Cardolan fell, yet it had escaped him. Whereas aforetime, the loss of one had incurred harsh words from his master, perhaps now he could redeem himself and more by bringing Sauron two. He would show the Lord of Fire his worth, and upstage that petty Easterling king, Khamûl.
Samar' Khand, Tindomul thought derisively, what a hole in the desert that realm is.
Most of the 30th was spent with three thousand of his host rampaging through the city and another twenty-seven thousand keeping watch and growing bored outside it. The Nazgûl remained occupied with securing Fornost and ne'er realized that his few surviving Easterlings had spent a good four hours on a slow circuit of the city, returning to the gate only for the noon meal. There they waited and grew bored, and all outside the city grew resentful as well, for the choicest plunder would already be claimed whene'er they were finally allowed access.
In the forest to the northwest of the fortress, a small troop of scouts watched for any movements from the Host of Angmar. So far, all they had seen was a company of some two hundred mounted Easterlings making a circuit of the walls, and that had been in the late morning. From their position, the mass of the host was out of sight to the south of the city. Indeed they had observed almost 'naught. The Witch King had made no appearances. No fires raged, no buildings collapsed, no pall of smoke rose o'erhead, and no walls had been razed. The citadel still stood and the king's tower appeared untouched. The scouting party was relieved at noon and returned to the hunting lodge with very little to report to the king.
This Arvedui considered very good tidings indeed. He deemed the Nazgûl had been forced to spend valuable time securing the fortress, and indeed that would prove a great task. The city was vast. Its walls enclosed an area of well 'nigh a square mile. 'Neath the buildings lay a labyrinth of levels and tunnels and hidden ways. 'Twas to be expected of a population center occupied continuously for two thousand years.
In an Age before, Fornost had been home to o'er three hundred and fifty thousand Dúnedain. Perhaps fifty thousand of those lived at least part time beyond the walls on family holdings, or traveled for business and trade. Yet in the time of its first building, it had been a true citadel of kings and the largest outpost of the Army of Arnor. Even when the actual capital had thrived at Annúminas, Fornost had been populated by 'nigh a hundred thousand knights and soldiers, and half again as many military support personnel. The civilian populace had included the tradesmen, merchants, entertainers, government officials, and nobles who provided the goods and services needed by the king's warriors.
The population had fallen drastically with the partition of the kingdom in T.A. 861, yet in the early days of Arthedain, it had remained a heavily occupied stronghold, especially after the abandonment of Annúminas. But with the passing of the years, and the wars and the plague, the population had continued to fall, 'til in the reign of Arvedui, but fifty-seven thousands had called the Northern Fortress home. By then, eight of ten mansions had long been deserted, parks and gardens had grown untended, streets filled with shops and taverns had been boarded up, and whole neighborhoods had lain empty. T'would take the Witch King long to assure himself that no hostile parties still called Fornost home, and even longer to discover all its hidden passages and chambers.
Now though King Arvedui rightly understood that t'would take the Ringwraith many days to examine all parts of the city, and find no enemies lurking thither, Tindomul had other concerns. He had an army of thirty-odd thousand unsavory characters, and with the war against Arthedain won, they had little to do. He needed to find tasks to occupy their minds and hands lest they quarrel and slay each other. On 1 Gwaeron, he ordered another five thousands into Fornost to hasten the exploration of the fortress. Yrch and Hillmen vied for that opportunity, and no few died with knives in their backs after the order came. Plunder aside, 'twas more comfortable within the buildings than out on the field before the gates.
When Tindomul questioned the Easterlings about their circuit of the walls, most said 'naught. Walls were walls. A few who had ridden at the fore of their company remarked on the faint imprints of hooves and wheels left in the bottomland behind the fortress. By then, a day and a half had passed since the first of his troops had invaded the city, and as yet not even a single defender had been found. E'er suspicious, a notion presented itself to the Ringwraith's mind.
In the evening of 1 Gwaeron, Tindomul ordered another five thousands into the city, bringing the total to thirteen thousands. Fornost had proved unexpectedly complex, a 'nigh endless warren of houses, shops, official buildings, alleys, avenues, gardens, courtyards, and barracks. Some of the Yrch had stumbled onto hidden passages leading 'neath the fortress, and these too had proved extensive. And as yet, not a single Dúnadan had been found.
By the morn of 2 Gwaeron, the Nazgûl was convinced that none would be found. He ordered the Easterlings to make another circuit of the walls, and with many a grumble, they mounted and rode off. This time, they were required to make note of any trails leading from Fornost, the direction in which they led, and a best guess as to the count that had taken them. Again, the Easterlings took their time about it. Indeed they took rations with them and stopped 'round the northeast corner of Fornost to have a leisurely noon meal. As yet, they had found 'naught.
'Twas only when they came to the northwest corner of the walls that the Easterling cavalry marked 'aught. As they had seen aforetime, a faint trail of wheel ruts and hoof prints led away to the northwest. After the rains three nights ago, no true count could be made, yet it seemed that no few had ridden away. A handful followed the trail for a couple hundred yards, just to assure themselves that it continued into the woods, and then they returned to their company and continued their slow circuit back to the gate. All this they reported to the Nazgûl in the late afternoon, and Tindomul was wroth.
It seemed very likely to him that the king and all his people, his soldiers, and his cavalry had fled, and at the very least, the civilians had a lead of three days. Because of the king's gambit and the immolation of his cavalry, he had now but two hundreds ahorse to send after them. A twinge of fear nibbled at what had once been his heart. He could feel an unraveling of his plans. The Dúnedain had escaped him, and now he was also convinced that he would find no palantíri in Fornost. A shriek of rage escaped him and cowed all in his host.
When he finally mastered himself, the wraith ordered his cavalry to follow the trail and to report on the flight of the people of Arthedain. They would be far too numerous for his two hundreds to successfully assail, but with confirmation of his suspicions, he would send a greater force after. In the open, without walls to hide behind, and with civilians to protect, ten thousand of his infantry would make quick work of them.
Now the Easterlings and their examination of the trail from Fornost was marked by the king's scouts, and they reported back on all they had seen. And now the king expected some assault. Most likely t'would be the same cavalry his scouts had seen, two hundred-odd mounted Easterlings. Only mounted troops could cover the distances the peoples' lead of three days had created. Arvedui rightly assumed their purpose would be to scout the refugee column and then report back to the Ringwraith, who would then launch a mass pursuit. He only wondered whether the enemy horsemen would be dispatched immediately, or in the following morning.
Now that question was answered but an hour later when scouts hastened to the lodge. Out of breath and excited by the urgency of their tidings, they told of the Easterlings having returned to following the trail at once. The Witch King must have ordered them hence without delay. On the other hand, the cavalry approached the forest at only a walk. They hardly seemed strongly motivated to haste. Their laziness gave the king and his company scant but sufficient time to mount and ride out to meet them.
King Arvedui ordered his Men to ride, not down the trail leading from the road, but straight through the woods to intercept their approaching foes. Quietly and at a walk, they proceeded, for the distance was but a furlong 'twixt road and lodge, and the king sought not to present its entrance trail with a charge. Soon they heard chatter in an Eastern tongue floating through the trees, and up ahead, the movement of the mounted column. They were still some distance from the stream that crossed the road, and so they had not yet come to the trail leading to the lodge.
The king lowered his spear and his Men did likewise. His gaze swept o'er them, and seeing them ready, he gave them a grim smile and then he charged. From the stillness of the woods, the Easterlings heard the sudden beat of hooves from close by to the north, and then the king and his Men were upon them ere they had time to do more than mark the direction of the coming attack.
In the scant moments it took for the king's soldiers to pass through the lines of the Easterlings, they slew eighteen with spears, and then, as had king Araval's cavalry in 1851 when they had assailed the Host of Angmar amidst the North Downs, Arvedui led his Men on through the forest. They stopped after three furlongs to rest their horses, and attend to an unlucky sword cut on the arm of one of their number. Behind them, the shocked horsemen from Rhûn sat on the road with their swords and shields ready, looking to the south whither their foes had disappeared, but none rode back to offer combat. The silence had returned to the forest.
The survivors looked to each other. They looked down at their dead, and then back into the surrounding trees. The Men who had assailed them on a sudden had not been girded in armor as knights. They had carried no standard and they had displayed no colors. If 'aught could be said of them, they had appeared as hunters, or brigands. The Easterlings weren't even sure if they had been Dúnedain, for it had all happened too fast.
In the aftermath, a few dismounted to check their fallen, and one wrenched a spear from a dead comrade. 'Twas no military field lance, nor the long, knife-bladed hewing spear of a footman. Rather, its head was shorter and broader, akin to the leaf-pointed hunting spears used to take boar, bear, or other large animals. He raised the weapon, displaying it to the others, and then fell dead with an arrow in his eye. 'Round him, several others fell, shafts springing from their throats, chests, or eyes.
Again, those upon the road searched the forest as they peeked from behind their shields, but none could be seen there. The silence had been unbroken. 'Twas as if the arrows had sprung from their targets by magic. Amongst the riders there arose much muttering, as Men recalled bits of tales told by the Yrch, of vicious ghosts who visited death upon invaders in Eriador.
At the head of their column, the one appointed by the wraith as a leader stood in his stirrups to order the riders hence, but when he opened his mouth to speak, a shaft appeared there, the arrowhead erupting out the back of his neck. Blood fountained up 'twixt his teeth as he choked. Next to him another Man died, shot in the face. Then the Easterling cavalry broke, and they wheeled their mounts and kicked them to a gallop, fleeing archers they couldn't see and riders they couldn't chase.
Their return to Fornost aroused the wrath of the Ringwraith when they reported what had come to pass. They had lost two dozens and could only vaguely describe the attackers. Embarrassment and exaggeration made their count 'nigh one hundred. The archers, they had ne'er seen at all. Of the trail, they testified that they had followed faint, weathered tracks into the forest along an unpaved country road. When those tracks had been made and by how many was beyond their ability to discern. They had come less than a league from the fortress when they had been assailed, viciously and without warning.
Tindomul was vastly disappointed in them. There were far more details that they couldn't remember or hadn't seen than those that they could accurately recall. For a moment, the wraith actually pondered the possibility that the Easterlings had met none and were only covering for those who had deserted. Then he dismissed the notion from his mind, for their fear was real. He could smell it on them 'neath the stench of horse.
Unlike his cavalrymen, the Nazgûl had little doubt about who and what had assailed his troops. Archers who could not be seen were certainly Laiquendi. They always were. Those sneaky Wood Elves had been hiding in that same forest on the night he had besieged the fortress, and obviously, they still lurked 'nigh. The riders who had charged through his Men were almost certainly knights of Arthedain despite their appearance and weapons. They had been too coordinated and too deadly for road brigands, and their tactics were all too familiar. The current king's grandfather had done exactly the same thing to his column as they marched through the North Downs in 1851. 'Twas as he had expected. The previously absent cavalry of Arthedain in all their thousands skulked but a few miles away, and they were probably in league with the Green Elves. Had he still teeth, he would have been gritting them.
Tindomul's anger also warred with a sense of premonition. Could past failures be repeated? He had taken the fortress, but could he hold it? He deemed that he was surrounded by enemies, and truth be told, his own troops were not so bright as to count intelligence in their favor. And then there was the fortress itself, still not completely cleared or occupied after three days. He could not be sure that at least some of the thousands of infantry who had also vanished from the siege were not populating some hidden stronghold within the city, and with their superior knowledge of the urban setting, soon to begin ambushing and slaughtering his soldiers, company by company, ere they vanished again. Had he still a throat, he would have groaned. His strategy had worked and Fornost had fallen, so why had his victory become fraught with such uncertainty?
To Be Continued