Chapter 47 – What Honor Demands

Before noon of the next day, Flik was once again standing on the piers of the kobold side of Two River, watching as the last of his men disembarked. It did not surprise him that Shu wanted to move quickly on this mission, but it was a surprise that the strategist had decided to come along. Shu was riding a chestnut mare and conferring with Rossgard.

Hix and Tengaar were also with Flik, the latter wearing a pair of tan breeches and dark riding jacket. He'd done little to dissuade her from joining Hix, knowing that she would not be swayed, but her presence created some predictable problems.

"Flik, your men are ogling me again."

He glanced at Tengaar and sighed. "And?"

"Tell them to stop," Tengaar demanded. "It's very rude. I don't remember them being this rude two years ago."

Flik couldn't deny the truth of her statement. Even as he watched, several of his men were surreptitiously regarding her. Of course, they didn't do anything more than look, not with Hix riding protectively next to her. "Two years ago, you were still a little girl," Flik explained. "You're not so little any more. It's only natural that some of my men will take an interest in you."

She was not pleased by the news. "Order them to stop!"

"If I gave that order, my sergeants would roll their eyes and my men would probably start laughing. There's no way you can expect me to police the thoughts of every one of my men. I've already made it perfectly clear that anyone who comes close to hurting you will answer to me personally." Flik's patience was running out. "Now, get over it or get back on the boat. It's your choice."

"Don't think you can get rid of me that easily," Tengaar snapped. "I'm staying. But a true warrior from Warrior's Village would never stoop so low as to have lewd thoughts."

Actually, Flik was certain they probably did, but he didn't argue the point with her. Shu broke off his conversation with Rossgard and walked his horse over to Flik. The last soldiers were getting off the boats.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Shu said.

"Okay. While you take Rossgard's company and head for Riou, you want me to ride in the direction of Greenhill and create a diversion. Is that right?"

Shu nodded. "It is imperative that you draw Highland's attention away from the northeast for at least three days. After that, you should move to rejoin us."

"I can do that."

Once the mercenaries were in formation, they set off, riding through Two River down the road to Greenhill. They rode beyond the forests north of the city. At this point, Shu took Rossgard's company and led them off to the northeast, while Flik took the remaining three companies -Tarrance's, Jerrim's, and Danel's- and continued on.

Flik kept the pace easy, for the day was hot, and he didn't want to tax the men and horses too early. They began to pass farms and villages, many of which were strikingly empty. The crops in the unattended fields were growing, but so were the weeds. Passing by one such field of immature corn, some of the men stopped for a moment of foraging. The sergeants, seeing Flik watching this, quickly hustled the soldiers back into the column. Tengaar nodded approvingly.

Flik knew that a lot of the people had fled south into Two River province. Indeed, they were probably heading for Dunan Castle, increasing its population while seeking protection from Highland. But those neglected lands were a bad sign. Who would harvest the crops when they ripened?

Hix was also studying those fields. "How are you feeling?" Flik asked.

The young man started, then made eye contact with Flik. "I'm okay." He lowered his voice so that Tengaar wouldn't hear. "But I'm a little nervous. I don't know how I'm going to do when I have to fight. You know that I don't want to hurt people."

"Yes, but you were willing to fight to save Tengaar."

"That's different," Hix answered. "When Tengaar's in danger, I don't think about any of that stuff. All I think about is protecting her." Flik nodded; now he understood why Tengaar was so adamant about coming along. Hix continued speaking. His next question caught Flik off guard. "Flik, does the killing…hurt you?"

"I," he swallowed. "I try not to think about it too much." Realizing how cold this sounded, he added, "It's not that I don't think about it. It's just that, when I'm fighting, I'm trying to survive and to make sure that my men survive. There's no time to think about the enemy. And when I'm not fighting-" he paused, sorting through his thoughts. "I've always fought for causes that I think are right: protecting people from an invader or for people's freedom. I try not to commit wanton acts of cruelty or atrocities. And I don't enjoy the killing." He looked at Hix, to see how he was absorbing the points. "That's really all I can say. Until we figure out some way for all of us to live peacefully, all I can do is protect people as well as I can."

Tengaar turned from watching the sergeants hauling men back into the line and trotted over to Flik and Hix. "Hey, what are you two talking about?"

"We were just talking about how he's going to protect you," Flik answered. Hix blushed and rubbed his scalp. The column got moving again.

Further north, the villages had people in them, but they were tense and angry. An old man finally told Flik that Highland was sending around foraging parties to collect food and weapons. Anyone who resisted brought down a terrible reprisal on their whole village. He pointed down the road, shaking his head sadly. A nearby village had been razed, all because a hidden assailant had shot a Highland officer during one of their patrols.

Flik and his men came upon the village not too long after that. They had plenty of advance warning, for it stood out as a charred blot amidst greenery. The northwest wind brought the smell of ash and worse things. Though there had only been a few houses, every last one of them was now a burnt ruin. An assortment of crows and larger carrion eaters were perched on those shells, warily watching as the mercenaries entered.

A large, brown dog looked up from worrying a long bone. The bone still had flesh on it. The flesh still bore the remains of clothing. With its bloody muzzle open in a pant and its tail wagging happily, the dog began to trot towards Flik. Before Flik could think to give any orders, several arrows whistled past him, striking the dog in the neck and flank. It whined once and then collapsed on the ground.

All Flik could do was shake his head sadly as one of his men rode by to collect the arrows. It wasn't the dog's fault that it had been forced to eat human flesh to survive, but it had to die all the same. No animal that developed that taste could ever be trusted.

He looked around the village once more. The birds had been disturbed by the shots, but many of them were returning to their perches, greedily eyeing the dog's corpse. Both Hix and Tengaar were pale, which didn't surprise Flik. They had not seen this level of atrocity during the Liberation War. He wondered if Jowy had approved this attack.

The sun was deep in the west, painting the sky above the distant mountains in red. No one wanted to camp anywhere near this place, so Flik led his men through this dead place, turning west when they came to the intersection. As they left the village behind, he could feel anger beginning to grow within him. He could see it in the faces of his men. They would need a good night's sleep to work out their emotions. Flik resolved to stop at the next good position.

Suddenly, they stumbled upon Highland soldiers. Their camp had been hidden behind a slight rise in the land, the smoke from their fires obscured in the haze of the setting sun. The Highland sentries were utterly surprised to see Flik and his men. For a moment, nobody moved. Then, with the images of the burnt village stoking his anger, Flik's sword was in his hand, and he rode Nightstar past the pickets, straight for the center of the camp. He could see that this was one of the Highland foraging parties. There were wagons with foodstuffs and caged animals, and even a herd of cattle.

The enemies were not prepared for battle, scrambling up from fires and grabbing for their weapons. Flik slashed at one such man and rode on, heading for the commander's tent. All around him, the Highlanders were beginning to run, but at the center of the camp, there was a little more resistance. He had to pull Nightstar up short in the face of several spearheads. The commander was already mounted, pointing with his sword and shouting to try and rally his men. Flik knew he had to end this battle before they began to recover, or the mercenaries would take heavy casualties.

Flik blocked one of the spears with his new shield, then extended his sword arm and cast a bolt of lightning at the enemy commander. The commander's horse reared, and its rider fell backwards to the ground. However, the Highland soldiers didn't appear to be disheartened. For a moment, they kept driving Flik back with their spears.

An arrow smashed into the shoulder of one of the Highlanders, causing him to drop his spear and clutch at the wound. More arrows hissed by Flik, and his men came up to help him. This was too much for their opponents, who turned and ran, throwing down their weapons. Flik, his anger still hot from seeing the burned village, heeled Nightstar after them. He led his men in pursuit until he became aware that the fires were dwindling behind him and he could see nothing in the darkness ahead. Here he called an end to the chase.

About thirty of his own men were with him, including Tengaar and Hix. Flik noted that Hix's sword had blood on it. Flik closed his eyes, wondering at the impulsiveness that led him to charge straight into the battle. He knew that those were not the actions of a wise commander. Clearing those thoughts from his head, he turned Nightstar towards the camp and led the men with him back to the tents.

Now that his head was clear, Flik could see that the encampment hadn't been very large. There'd probably been no more than a hundred soldiers in the patrol. He ordered some of his men to start securing the supplies, while he sent others to summon the three senior sergeants to him. Then he guided Nightstar in the direction of the commander's tent.

Just before he got there, Flik spotted a group of his men standing in a circle. Instinctively sensing something wrong, he rode over to see what was happening. One of the mercenaries spotted him, calling out to his fellows. They all turned to face Flik, and he could see fear and guilt written on their faces. On the ground in front of them was the corpse of a Highland soldier. A corpse whose hands were bound.

"What's going on here?" Flik asked. He was certain he already knew, but he wanted to hear what they had to say for themselves.

"He was hiding in the tent," one of the men answered. "Tried to jump the first guy who came in. He had a knife." Flik did not see one on the corpse. "He might've killed you, sir," the soldier concluded.

Flik stared at the speaker until the man looked away. The story was a lie, but how was he to deal with it? Every one of the men had a bloody weapon, but so did Flik. He looked at each of them, putting names and histories on the men. It was inevitable that some of the mercenaries had come from criminal backgrounds, men who had been thieves or murderers before they'd joined his unit. He picked out three men in the group that he suspected as having such a past.

But he couldn't accuse them based solely on suspicion. Moreover, he couldn't accuse all of them just because they were all there. A small voice in the back of Flik's head whispered that he ought to let them go, that they'd given the Highlander nothing more than he deserved, based on what Highland had done to the village.

Flik quashed the thought; he would not tolerate killing prisoners. Even if he couldn't bring the perpetrator to justice, he could make that point. Honor demanded that he do so. Tarrance, Jerrim, and Danel arrived as he was deliberating. Each senior sergeant studied the scene. Flik saw that they understood the situation.

"Tarrance," Flik barked. The guilty men started at the harshness of his voice. "These men have volunteered to be a burial detail. They will dig proper graves for each of the fallen enemy. They will not eat and they will not sleep until they have finished. Let this be a lesson that all the men should heed. We will respect the dignity of our opponents, even if they refuse to do the same for us." He took one last moment to read the expressions on the soldiers' faces. "Tarrance, get this detail moving!"

"Yes sir!" The senior sergeant called over guards to disarm and keep watch over the burial detail. The men of the detail meekly surrendered their weapons and marched out to begin the work. Flik retired to the commander's tent to hear the casualty reports. Four men had been killed and nine wounded during the skirmish. They'd captured more than a hundred head of cattle and numerous pigs and chickens, not to mention sacks of grain.

After hearing the reports, Flik ordered the senior sergeants to make sure that the pickets were watchful tonight. Then he explored the commander's tent. It contained only two rooms, and he found that a dinner had been set in the second room, which served as the sleeping quarters. He had no qualms about eating the food.

When Flik had finished, he opened up the trunk at the foot of the bed. It contained several uniform changes and a number of documents. He read the papers, learning that the commander's name was Geoff Angleson, a minor noble. His orders were to patrol and collect provisions from the villages around Greenhill City. The orders also directed him to respond with "overwhelming retribution" against any village that resisted. The documents were signed by Captain Harrod.

Flik pondered the news. Jowy was not the one who had ordered the atrocities. For some reason, that was a great relief to Flik. However, that meant that Jowy was no longer in command at Greenhill. Where was he now?

As Flik was putting the papers back into the trunk, his hand scraped against something at the very bottom. He pulled out a necklace with a tiny golden locket. The Circle Rune was etched onto its face. Casually clicking the trinket open, he found a few strands of blond hair on the inside, tied together with a piece of string. Making sure that none of the hair fell out, Flik closed up the locket and put it back in the trunk.

His mind flashed back to the Highland commander who'd tried to rally his men. That must've been Geoff Angleson. After he'd been hit by Flik's lightning, his comrades had pulled him away from the fighting. Flik didn't even know whether he was still alive. He wondered how Geoff felt about the orders. Was this man who had his lover's hair next to heart possibly the same person who burned the village and left corpses to rot?

Flik set aside those thoughts and left the tent to make a quick survey of the camp. His men had butchered some of the livestock and were setting them to roast. He'd put a tight guard around the alcohol that they'd gathered. He did not need any more breakdowns in discipline. Moving on, he found that Tengaar had appropriated a tent of her own, and Hix diligently stood guard outside. Hix was subdued, still absorbing the things he'd seen on this day.

When Flik was satisfied that everything was in order, he retired to the commander's tent and tried to sleep on the cot. The dreams that followed were a strange jumble. He found himself back in the burnt village, facing the dog again. However, the dog suddenly grew into a giant golden wolf and rushed straight at him. He brought up his shield to ward the blow, but the wolf had changed into Luca Blight, who laughed shrilly and swung his sword into Flik's shield. Flik wasn't able to withstand the force of the attacks. His shield shattered and he had to face Luca blade to blade. On the second clash, Flik's sword snapped, rendering him helpless. All he could do was stare up into the wild eyes of the monster.

He sat up and fumbled in the darkness, unsure as to where he was. The cot, not designed for sudden movements, collapsed under Flik, depositing him onto the packed dirt floor. That was when he recovered his wits and remembered that he was inside the tent. He picked himself off the ground, rubbing at his bruises, and walked out of the tent. Looking at the sky, he could see that the nearly full Scarlet Moon was setting in the west and the east was becoming pale. Dawn approached.

Not wanting to linger in this vulnerable position, Flik got his men moving early. The mercenaries gathered the supplies they could easily carry, set the rest of the livestock free to roam, and then set the camp on fire. Flik didn't like burning the goods, especially when they belonged to the people of Greenhill, but he couldn't let the Highland army come back and take them again. He didn't have the time to find any rightful owners.

With the pillar of fire and smoke at their back, Flik led his men west, in the direction of Greenhill City. As he rode along, he felt for the golden locket that he carried with him. He did not know if he would ever meet Geoff Angleson, but he couldn't leave that treasure to the flames. Returning to the task at hand, he watched as several of Jerrim's men passed him, heading out to scout in front of the main force.

The morning was bright and clear, only a few wisps of white marred the blue sky. The mild air of dawn quickly became warm, and then hot. It was not going to be a good day for hard riding, even with remounts. For the two hours, the ride was uneventful, but with the sun rising higher in the sky, the scouts returned with the news that a large force of cavalry was approaching from Greenhill.

Flik turned his men off the road, heading towards the southwest. A few minutes later, he saw the first of the Highland cavalry, their scouts. He kept the pace at a trot; there was no need to exhaust his horses yet. A larger body of Highlanders came into view, close to a thousand riders. They were moving quickly to the south, trying to intercept Flik before he got around them.

These were not Culgan's men, Flik decided, after studying their flags. Culgan understood about the Fire Spears and wouldn't make such an impetuous move. This commander had obviously never seen Fire Spears in action. Flik intended to teach him a lesson.

"Ready Fire Spears!"

That command raced up and down his formation, and they spread out, forming into a long line. The Highlanders increased their pace to a charge, obviously hoping to break Flik's feeble line. They weren't going to get the chance.

"Fire Spears, attack!"

Coming at a gallop, the first ranks of the enemy cavalry had no chance to avoid the fire that rushed in on them. The majority of the riders were unscathed, but their attack was halted. Now Flik called for his own men to gallop, opening up the distance between them and the Highlanders. With the flames separating them, he turned back to the west, then the northwest.

Once he had regained the west road, Flik reduced the pace back to a walk. The Highland commander seemed content to keep his men about a half-mile back, blocking the direct route back to Two River. Through the rest of the morning and into the afternoon the slow chase continued. Flik allowed the roads to guide him, and he turned north once he was west of Greenhill City. Here the land was more wooded, the road winding back and forth around hills and copses of trees.

It was a fairly pleasant ride, except for the fact that Flik had to be on guard for any sudden lunges by their pursuers. At one point, he was startled by a distant cry. Looking up, he saw a griffon soaring overhead. Several of his men readied their bows, but Flik ordered them to hold their fire. The griffon circled once and flew away to the north.

Late in the afternoon, the Highland commander finally made his move, detaching half of his men to try and race around Flik's left flank and get in front of him. Flik had his men lay down a wall of fire to the west using the Fire Spears. After this was done, he brought the pace up to a canter. The tactics were effective. The flames forced the flanking movement to detour, and the mercenaries were able to stay ahead of both Highland groups.

Flik pushed his men now. They were well to the north of Greenhill, and the eastern forests gave way to rolling plains. He led his unit out onto them, abandoning the road to go cross-country. The setting sun was at his back. Only when the Highland forces were well out of sight did he allow the pace to slow. Even so, he set double pickets when they stopped for the night.

The following morning dawned with a layer of mist over the terrain. Flik and his men proceeded to the east cautiously. He knew that this was the day he was supposed to meet up with Shu and Riou, but he still had to avoid the enemy long enough to do so. Much to his chagrin, when the mist began to burn off in the middle of the morning, the Highland cavalry was only a mile behind him. It appeared that the chase was going to continue.

It did not last very long. As Flik led his cavalry around a set of hills, he caught sight of another set of warriors. A long column of knights was approaching his position, their red and blue surcoats radiant in the sunlight. There were at least a thousand of them. Leading this force were Shu and Riou, with Rossgard's company in the van. Flik quickly turned his men towards their allies. The Highlanders, seeing these reinforcements, hesitated and turned away, deciding not to give battle.

The path to the south, back to Two River City and Dunan Castle, was clear.