Chapter 61- The Earth Roared
The New State Army assembled for march at the sun's rising. The rains had ended, leaving everything wreathed in a fine mist of steam. As Flik looked around, he could see that the last preparations were underway. A wagon full of Fire Spears was creaking towards his men, driven by Tsai. There was a girl with a blue robe and beige pants sitting beside him. Flik immediately saw the family resemblance between the two of them.
Tsai brought the wagon to halt and said, "Sir Flik, the Fire Spears are prepared. There are three hundred and twenty remaining."
Flik examined the wagon closely. The visual inspection confirmed that there were fewer spears than previously. "That few? What's happening to them, Tsai?"
"They are like any other tool that has been crafted; they wear down and break over time. You must take care with them, Flik. My skills are sufficient to maintain them, but we'd need a factory to make new ones."
Flik knew that a good deal of his unit's strength depended on the Fire Spears. Still, there was no use complaining to Tsai about that. He smiled and replied, "Thank you for taking care of them. We'd be much worse off without them."
"Hopefully, they will help put an end to this war. That's the only reason I can stomach my work. If you'll excuse me, Sir Flik, but I must make my own preparations for the upcoming battle." He turned to the girl next to him. "Tomo dear, I'm grateful for your help on the spears, but now you must return to the castle. I don't want you to have any part in what's going to happen."
Tomo shook her head vehemently. "What about you, Father? What would Mother think if you were killed on some battlefield? Why don't you ever come home to reconcile with her?"
Tsai tried to look severe, but failed. "Darling, now is not the time for this discussion."
"When is the time, then? When are you two going to make up?"
Tsai cast an embarrassed glance at Flik, then returned to his conversation with his daughter. "Can this wait for some better time? Tomo, there are things that your father needs to do."
"You spend so much time with your spears," Tomo shouted. "Why can't you spend even a little with your family? What if you die and I never see you again?"
"Hopefully when I return, the war will be over," Tsai answered. "We'll have lots of time to talk about things then."
"That'd better be a promise," Tomo demanded.
"I promise." Tomo seemed pleased by this answer and consented to jump down from the wagon and head back for the castle. Tsai glanced once at Flik and said, "A man is both blessed and cursed to have a daughter. She never fails to get her way in the end."
Tsai left to take his position in the march. When everything was ready, the army began to move. Like before, Flik had been assigned the lead position, responsible for scouting ahead of the main body. Soon his mounted archers had fanned out down the road and into the surrounding countryside.
The mist of early morning quickly burned away, replaced by scorching heat. Flik had prepared several extra water canteens, yet found himself rationing the liquid before noon. By that time, he'd already received several reports of heatstroke from his men. Behind him, he could see the huge column of dust the army was kicking up. Undoubtedly, there'd be more attrition back there.
Even so, they kept up a steady pace and camped outside the walls of South Window. Stragglers wandered into the lines all throughout the night, some collapsing of exhaustion before finding their units. In the morning, reports from the Winghorde said that the Highland Army was still on the east bank of the Dunan River, and that Radat remained free. Another grueling march would be required to get the New State Army to the beleaguered town, hopefully before it fell.
Again Flik led his cavalry out in the early morning. He had forty fewer riders than the previous day, all men who were simply too exhausted to keep up. He could only hope that he wouldn't lose that many today. He didn't get any luck with the heat, which returned with oppressive force. Riding through the countryside, Flik got the impression that the whole land was suffering from the weather. The crops and orchards of the great manors appeared to be wilting. In those conditions, one spark might be enough to set off an inferno.
In the afternoon, Flik and his men arrived at the site of the battle one month ago, overlooking the town of Radat. He could see Highland encampments running up and down the eastern shore of the river, but none on the South Window side. The bridge spanning the river had been torn down, and the wide water seemed to be holding the Highlanders up, for now.
He sent men back to report to Riou and Shu, then rode down into the town for a closer inspection. The streets were empty, but Flik did find the men of the town militia down by the river docks. They were preparing a number of fire barges, should the Highland Army attempt a crossing.
The captain of the militia walked with Flik a little apart from the rest of their men before confiding, "I don't think we can hold them long, nor do I have the men to adequately patrol all of the river. It's possible that some part of the enemy has already crossed, though I've found no evidence of it."
Flik nodded. "Is there anything else happening? Have the Highlanders sent any spies across?"
"No, nothing like that. However, we've noticed that the river level has fallen in the past couple of days. I don't know what it means. I can't imagine that the Highlanders could block all the estuaries of the Dunan Delta, could they?"
"I don't think so." But Flik wasn't as confident as his answer. He knew that Luca Blight wasn't the sort of general to sit still and waste an opportunity. Moreover, Luca now had the services of the great strategist Leon Silverberg. The light was low in the west, and Flik could see the enemy's encampment falling into the shadow. What scheme were those two planing in the darkness?
He left his men to camp in the town and rode Nightstar back up to where the New State Army was preparing to spend the night. As was typical, Riou and Shu were gathering the generals to discuss the upcoming battle. Flik quickly recounted his talk with the militia in Radat.
"There is no doubt that the enemy is already across the river," Shu surmised. "The only questions are the place of the crossing and the number of soldiers that have crossed."
"We have to find them and smash them," Viktor replied. There were murmurs of assent from the generals.
"The terrain does not work to our advantage," Shu answered. "To the north of Radat, we've got both marshes and woodlands. To the south, the land grows increasingly rough. Moreover, once we find their crossing point, we'll have to leave a force to cover Radat, in case the enemy's move is merely a feint."
"That's a lot of ground to cover," Freed said. "Can we afford to spread the army out that much searching for them?"
Shu nodded. "It is a matter of applying the correct generals to the correct tasks. We may be outnumbered, but if we can concentrate against one part of the enemy, we will have the advantage. Now" -he picked up a pointer- "I would like you to regard the bluffs south of Radat. They offer a natural defensive position overlooking both the river and the city. I believe it would be best to occupy those heights with a detachment of infantry. Kiba-"
"I will do it," Ridley interrupted, taking a few steps towards Shu and Riou. "I beg the honor, for me and my kobolds."
A slight frown appeared on Shu's face. "I cannot assent to that, Lord Ridley."
The kobold general growled, baring his fangs. "Do you not trust me to hold such a vital position? You doubt my ability?"
"I don't doubt your ability or dedication, General." Shu sighed, then added, "I simply believe that you are best suited to other tasks."
Ridley turned to Riou. "Please, Lord Riou, let us kobolds hold the van. In the last battle, we were asked to dishonorably turn our backs to the enemy and run. I understand why that was necessary. Now, I wish for my men to hold the forward position. Let us prove our valor to the whole army."
"Lord Shu, let Ridley have that position," Riou responded. "He will certainly be motivated to hold it."
"I agree," Kiba said. "General Ridley is one of the finest commanders in the whole of our army. There's no reason to refuse him."
"I see that I won't have my way with this," Shu conceded, tapping his foot. "Very well, General Ridley, I order you to take the bluffs south of Radat and hold them against any Highland crossing. Do not hesitate to call for reinforcements should the enemy come against you in force. Now then, let us move on to the rest of the assignments."
Shu quickly went over the other positions he wanted scouted. Flik found himself given the task of riding north along the edge of the forest to make sure that no Highland units were flanking the New State Army. As he listened to the briefing, his eyes darted back to the commander of the kobolds. Flik was no expert at reading kobold faces, but even he could see the pride in General Ridley's smile.
When the briefing was finished, Flik risked the darkness to ride back to his men in town. He spent the night in fitful rest, bothered in part by the heat and mosquitoes, but mostly by the threat from Highland. After a while, he got up and paced down to the smashed sluice gate, staring out over the water. The light from the nearly full Blue Moon reflected off the river. He couldn't see anything from the far bank.
Before dawn, he and his men were riding west out of Radat, preparing to follow the woods north. When the sun came up, Flik was in the rolling pasturelands, scanning the forest and plains for signs of intruders. There was plenty of birdsong, but little else that he could hear, or see.
"Looks to be a quiet day," Sergeant Tarrance said.
"It's still too early," Flik replied. "Besides, I'd rather find the enemy. At least we'd know what they're doing if that happened."
"I hope someone else finds them first. I'd rather not have our unit chewed up this time."
Flik shrugged. "You shouldn't have joined the mercenaries if you wanted a long life expectancy."
"Better this than infantry. You've always got a chance if you've got a horse."
"I'm not disagreeing," Flik said, patting Nightstar's mane.
Suddenly, the earth roared, rocking back and forth under Nightstar's hooves. The shaking lasted only a few seconds, but staying atop his horse commanded all of his attention during that moment.
When he recovered his wits, the first thing Flik heard was Tarrance yelling, "What the hell?" His senior sergeant was all but drowned out by a cacophony of upset birds. A great flock of them was scattering out of the treetops, obscuring the rising sun.
Flik tried to shout commands, but another tremor rattled the ground, causing the trees to sway back and forth. Nightstar whinnied and reared, forcing Flik to hang on for dear life. She finally settled, but was hardly calm, with her ears pinned back. He was lucky; many of his men were on the ground, some with broken limbs. There was a giant pillar of dust forming back to the south, near Radat. He knew that was where the trouble would be.
A blast of horns startled Flik. Cavalrymen, in the blue and white of Highland, were riding out of the forest, heading straight for his mercenaries. Flik's reaction was instinctive.
"Fire Spears, attack!" He pointed to the onrushing enemy with his blade. The men around him, hearing his orders, recovered their composure and turned their Fire Spears on the Highlanders. Individual gouts of flame reached out for the enemy, snatching at those men and horses that couldn't avoid them, igniting the dry grass, and curling up against the canopy of the forest.
It wasn't enough. There hadn't been enough time to form a solid wall of fire, and now Flik could see the enemy pouring through the gaps. More cavalry and infantry were streaming out of the woods south of him, cutting his men off from the rest of the army. This was no place to make a stand against overwhelming numbers.
"Fall back!" Flik ordered. "Fall back, follow me!" He hated the command, because it would force him to leave the severely wounded behind.
The mercenaries struggled to get free from the fighting. They'd been disorganized by the two quakes and had fallen out of company order. Small clumps of mounted archers galloped towards the west, away from the Highland Army. Flik turned Nightstar towards the largest group of men, about seventy, where he found his most senior sergeant in command.
"Rossgard, we must act as rearguard, or the enemy will scatter us all over the plains."
"I agree," the sergeant replied somberly.
Highland cavalry was still pursuing them. Flik let one group get close, then had the men turn and use the Fire Spears, followed by a volley of arrows. Fire consumed the foremost of the enemy, and the men behind faltered, for a moment. Flik didn't linger over his triumph, for he could see more Highlanders on either flank. He led his ragged little group back to the west.
Several more times he stopped to launch vicious counterattacks, trying to keep the Highlanders from getting around to cut of his retreat. He left smoke from grassfires in his wake, along with corpses from both sides. More of his men rallied to Flik's side, drawn by the stability of command. Meanwhile, Flik caught glimpses of the greater battle that he was a part of. Jeane's lightning flashed out of the cloudless sky to the south, followed by the white dome of Riou's Shield Rune.
More and more Highland infantry were marching out of the forest behind Flik, filling the gap between his men and the rest of the New State Army. He realized that this was no localized ambush, but that he was facing a large part of the Highland Army. He also knew that he had to find some way to get back to the main army, or he'd be overwhelmed.
"This way!" he shouted, turning Nightstar to the left, to the south. He was going to have to cut across the path of his pursuers, but his men could break free if they got past. "Ready Fire Spears!"
Sweat dribbled into Flik's eyes. He shook his head, hearing Nightstar's labored breathing in counterpoint to his own. All around him, he could see men and horses tiring rapidly. Ahead was a group of Highlanders, charging towards him, attempting to deny the way.
"Short burst, Fire Spears!" An uneven wave of fire raced ahead of Flik and his men. Though some of the Highlanders were caught under the flame, it didn't deter the greater number of them. Flik's throat felt dry, even as sweat rolled off his cheeks and chin. "Ride through!" he rasped. "Ride through and don't look back!" He drew his blade, focusing on the enemy as they drew near.
He almost died by the first sword. All Flik saw was a flash of reflected sunlight, but he parried automatically, metal clanging against metal. Nightstar whinnied furiously, and Flik tried to recover his wits. Had he nearly blacked out? There was no time for further thought, as there were men and horses all around him. Of her own volition, Nightstar kept galloping forward.
Another Highlander pressed close. Flik slashed out, his sword slicing through the two cheeks of a bearded soldier's face. A spear crunched against Flik's shield. He grunted, shrugging the weapon off, and continued riding. He pressed through a gap in the fighting, heading for the open plains.
"What's this?" a voice taunted. "Do you run so easily, Blue Lightning?" A rider blocked Flik's way. A rider with short silver hair, a black coat, and white cape. Culgan.
Their swords met, grinding and screeching together. "You'd flee too," Flik answered. He could see the first of his men breaking through to the other side of the Highland formation.
Both men were winded. Culgan tried to muscle Flik's sword aside. Flik hung on grimly. "You should've listened to me in South Window," Culgan said. "Today I will run you down and drag you before Luca Blight."
"You didn't last time." Flik gathered himself and called on his lightning rune. He was rewarded by blurred vision, a sign that he was more exhausted than anticipated. He hardly saw the burst of lightning that flared out of the rune. All he was truly aware of was the fact that Nightstar was running free again.
Flik nearly collapsed on Nightstar's neck. He had the terrible urge to wretch, but forced himself to sit back up in the saddle.
"You all right, commander?"
Flik could see a blurry image of Rossgard riding next to him. He nodded, unsure of his voice, then craned around to look to the rear. The only way he was able to distinguish between his own men and the Highlanders was that the enemy appeared as an indistinct mass of blue.
"Where's our army?" Flik gasped.
"Didn't hear you," Rossgard shouted back. How could the man still have his voice?
Nightstar's gait began to break down, rattling Flik's teeth in his mouth. Rossgard pulled ahead momentarily, then turned back. "Form on the commander!" he ordered. "Prepare to defend the commander!"
Amazingly, the mercenaries did. "No," Flik whispered. He shook his head for emphasis.
"Commander, take my horse," Rossgard offered. "He's still got a little left in him." Through a haze of exhaustion, Flik saw the senior sergeant dismount. Flik stubbornly remained on Nightstar. He wasn't about to trade places to save his own life.
Two more figures approached on horseback: Tengaar and Hix. Flik could see streaks of sweat and dirt on Hix's face. "Hold on just a little longer," the youth called out. "I can see reinforcements on the way!"
Flik's vision began to tunnel. "All right," Rossgard replied, remounting his own horse. He turned away from Flik, shouting to the men, "Fire Spears, ready!" Flik slumped down onto Nightstar's mane, smelling her sweat, even as the fire's roar filled his hearing. Then everything went silent and black.
Flik jerked awake, just as somebody said, "Here, take this." A canteen was pressed into his mouth, and he reflexively swallowed water. It revived him, a little, though he had a pounding headache. "What happened?" he croaked.
"Just a touch of sunstroke, I think." The voice belonged to Rossgard. "Stay down for the moment, you'll want to rest for a bit. You'll also want more water."
Flik was lying on the ground, staring up at the cloudless blue sky. "I meant with the battle."
"The Matilda Knights saved our asses. They've driven off the Highlanders for now. Can you stand? We've got to get moving soon. The army's retreating."
Those words hit Flik in the gut. He'd hoped to be done with retreating. "Is it because they got around us?" he asked.
"Something happened up front, but I don't know more than that."
Time passed, and Flik could hear horses coming back. These were his own men, returning to check on their commander. Groaning, he struggled to his feet. He was lightheaded, but his vision was clear. "Is Nightstar okay?"
"In better condition than you, sir. She knows when to stop."
"If I had the strength, I'd write you up for insubordination," Flik mumbled, unsure if he was even heard.
Rossgard pointed to Flik's horse. Her mouth and chest were flecked by white foam, but she stood strongly. When Flik staggered over, he could feel heat radiating off her. He rubbed his forehead. In the distance, he could see columns of smoke from fires raging on the grass. However, the pillar of dust over Radat was by far the largest of them all.
Flik needed help from Hix to actually mount his horse. Nightstar was only up to a walk. Very slowly, Flik and his remaining men made their way back to the main army. As Rossgard said, they were retreating, but the damage was less than Flik feared. For the most part, individual units were in formation, showing little sign of panic. The Matilda Knights had followed Flik back and settled into the rearguard. It was then that Flik first heard the rumor, though it wasn't confirmed until the army stopped for the night and the generals assembled. They were short one member.
Viktor pounded the table with his fists. "Damn, damn, damn!"
"At least we have visual confirmation that Ridley was captured and not killed," Shu said calmly.
"We will have to pray that Luca Blight shows him mercy," Teresa said, bowing her head.
"We have to organize a rescue," Viktor replied. Flik nodded in agreement, along with several other generals.
Apple shook her head. "You forget the situation. The enemy now occupies Radat, and they have a significant force poised north of us, on our flank. Not only that, but they have the services of a powerful earth mage from Harmonia, as was established in today's action."
"That would be Bishop Sasarai of Harmonia," Luc commented. Then he sneered. "I know him well. He's formidable, but nothing that I can't take care of."
Shu nodded. "I'll leave that in your hands, as we discussed."
"Wait," Flik interrupted. "What do you mean, 'you know him'?"
"I'm not going to tell you that." Luc's voice suddenly sounded petulant. "I don't have to tell idiots about my past."
Flik gripped the edge of the table with his hands. "What the hell is that about? I just want to know why you're so confident!"
Viktor put a hand on Flik's shoulder. "Hey, let's not fight with kids, okay?"
Luc's sneer was back. "Yeah. You should be embarrassed, losing your temper like that. You might do something stupid on the battlefield again." Before Flik could retort, the wind mage teleported with a flash of light.
"Damn. I hate his superior attitude," Flik said.
"We should focus on the matter at hand," Shu commented. "Luca Blight has forced his way into South Window, and now we must stop him."
"He'll aim for South Window City next," Klaus said. "He has nearly three times our numbers, so he doesn't need to be tricky. We must plot a strategy to wear him down while conserving our soldiers. Retreating to more defensible ground would be prudent."
"A conventional strategy will only lead to our defeat," Shu countered. "The enemy strategist is Leon Silverberg. He is never one to lose an advantage due to caution. The Highland Army will undoubtedly press on quickly after this victory. It is my intention to use that aggression against them. We will attack!"