Angels Blood (3 page)

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All is quiet Night?” 

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Yes we are safe and we should not be disturbed.”

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Then down to business.  First up I’ll describe what I saw out on the road today. Approximately 150 soldiers well armed and well supplied, they had three wagons in tow, none of what they wore was familiar.  In fact, I am sure that these men were foreigners from over the seas.  They are not like any that live in these lands. I also noticed they had a woman amongst them, not armored but cloaked heavily. It is my opinion this woman would be either an adviser or a spell caster.  I’m leaning towards the latter as I did sense a feeling when they rode by.”

Nightwing spoke up,

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Maybe you could show me?”

Wollfen nodded and moved over to her.  Kneeling before her he tilted his head, then he focused on what he had seen and Nightwing’s fingers laced around his head. Wollfen thought back and played through what he saw. When done, Nightwing looked up.  She would also be able to feel what he felt, she was more adept at reading energies.

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She is surely a sorceress just as you surmised and also I think I have seen that armor before, but as you said it is not of this land, but from across the sea.  It comes from a land found at the far corner of the world a full six months sail.”

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So far?  Thank you for that, and what else? Kane?” 

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We were able to find a high point above the village and saw it was burning, but we didn’t enter.  There were not enough escape points if the attacking forces were still there.  But I can say, we saw quite a few fires burning off in the distance too.”

Wollfen considered Kane's words. It was all very worrying, He had been giving it a lot of thought, that many fires meant there were a lot more than 150 men out there. It spoke of a full invasion force in the outlands, but where? There had been so few signs seen and there would have to be at least a thousand of them out there from what little he could deduce.  A thousand men are hard to hide. This was no raid and pillage exercise either if they had come on such a long voyage.  No it was adding up very quickly to be something much larger than he had been thinking.

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It occurs to me that all of this adds up to something very big. The Kingdom’s forces at any one time amount to about 20 000 men in peacetime and no other country or land that I know of can match that and for what appears to be an expeditionary force I feel we are on the edge of a full scale invasion.”

Wollfen looked about, he could see from their faces, they were all in agreement, except for Justin, he simply looked confused.

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Justin?”    

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Sorry I’m sure what you are saying is true, but why kill all those people, lay waste to so many villages? Clear them out?” Yes it was a good question.

Nightwing spoke up once again,

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I entered our town, there were signs of fighting and blood too but no bodies.” 

How could that be? They hadn’t seen any captives and the three wagons Wollfen had seen wouldn’t hold 20 people let alone a township, where were they? That was a disturbing bit of information, it also meant the forces were larger than he had first anticipated, but the same question kept coming back, not only where were the people or even their bodies, but where were the troops holding up?

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Ahem.”

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Yes Keera?”

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Did anyone also notice that apart from the burning towns that the crops were stripped too? I didn’t see any fowl or animals either.”

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Come to think of it she is right,” Solynne quipped. “We were on the outskirts of the town as Nightwing scouted and I remember seeing everything was stripped bare.”

The more Wollfen learned, the bigger the enemy forces got.  To hit so many towns and strip them, take away all that was there so quickly and hit others too meant many of the towns were attacked simultaneously.  It also meant that the thousand he was thinking was even  larger again. So why destroy them? For what reason? They had no real military advantage in doing so.

Kane spoke up,

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It would be what I would do if I was clearing an area to make room for my coming army.  Without any local population in place, there wouldn’t be any word filtering back on their comings and goings.  The enemy being here will get back to the Kingdom anyway, so now, they have no reports from this moment on other than that there is something here.  It will take time for the Kingdom to send out scouts, investigate and report back and even then the Kingdom will be expending resources and men to keep up with what’s going on.  There will be no gossip though to rely on from travelers and trade people since they are all gone. In effect, this area will be in the hands of the enemy and the Kingdom will have no idea of what’s behind the front lines when they become established after the first major battle.”

Mm, it made sense, it was barbaric though.  All those people gone, but they had struck and had established a large area to campaign from.  It had been all too easy. Wollfen kept thinking out loud,

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It also means that when the scouts arrive for a look see, they will see what they think is a smaller force preparing embattlements and defenses.  The Kingdom will react of course, probably with a detachment of say five to eight thousand men initially to deal with them. Lets think, it will be about a weeks ride before they get word and probably another day before they dispatch riders, then a week for them to get here.  They will stay another day and night scouting the forces of the enemy and a week back to the Castle.  Then another week for them to prepare that many troops to get here to battle etc etc. Moving a full contingent of 5,000 men with full supplies, battle gear, mobile hospital and who knows what else will take a lot longer than a week to get here. So the invading force still has at the very least five weeks to be in preparation, probably more.  The enemy could move a lot of men into place and have them dug in quite well by the time the Kingdom tried to do something about it.”

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And there is more.” Nightwing added, “The King who sits the throne has never fought a battle and isn’t the quickest person around either.  He spends his days traveling the coast in the summertime playing with his mistresses on the beach.  Then he is in the north lands playing with those same mistresses during the winter at Hiddensound in the mountains. Word will have to be sent from the castle to the King on the coast this time of year.  The Lords and Warlords of his council won’t make a single decision in his absence.  They are all handpicked men, more interested in their own self absorbed goals than matters of state.”

Nightwing's words were sobering.

“
You are right. The very same things we were about to campaign against are the things that have eaten this Kingdom out from the inside.  For so many years we have had great wealth and no challenges, nothing to worry about.  There hasn’t been a force in over 20 years to challenge this country, now we have grown soft and are totally unprepared for any potential conqueror.  None of the Kingdom’s military from sergeants down have seen a battle let alone a war.”

They all looked around at each other, Wollfen could see in their eyes, ‘So what now?’

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What we have to do is send a messenger to the King directly.  We have to try. Two of you will ride to the coast and find his entourage.  Tell of what you have seen and, well, tell them you saw a blanket of troops covering the hillside at one stage. That should put the wind up him. Also describe the uniform too, that may convey to some of his advisers with him that it is worth taking note. Maybe one or two are familiar with the garb. The King just might act quickly if we are lucky. Also the rest of us will have to split up initially.  Another two of you are to go out and scout for the main force and shadow them for a couple of days, gather what information you can. That’ll be your job Kane and Solynne. Dark, Justin, Keera and I will travel south to the only deep-water harbor at Port Cholandra and see what can be found there.  It can be the only place they could disembark large numbers of men and equipment.”

Wollfen turned to Nightwing,

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You and Loranda will go to the north coast.  You have your status from your old life and your title to call upon.  That will help you get an audience with the King. Do not make any mention of us. I shall expect updates each evening from you after three nights.” Nightwing stood up and he gave her a quick hug, “Godspeed my friend.”

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And also to you Wolf.” And away she went.

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We have all eaten and it is time to move.  This area will very quickly become a dangerous place to be and time is of the essence.  You all know what to do, now don’t go do something silly and get caught eh?”

They all chuckled and started packing to move out.

Later, Dark and Wollfen moved through the night slowly riding along quietly talking as he explained to her the findings and decisions made at the campfire. He understood that she gave way to his leadership and would not question him unless she felt it was important. He liked having her there to bounce ideas off too. After his time was done, he would like to retire to a quiet place and be on a more equal footing with her. He never really liked being a leader, it just happened to be a talent he had. People gravitated to him whenever he stood in and took control. Maybe that’s why he had shunned large populations in the past, trying to get away from all those people wanting direction.

That wasn’t what he wanted now. He may not have cared for them on a day-to-day basis, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to watch them get slaughtered either.  No, the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how much he cared about them.  It wasn’t such a bad feeling, before when he had been putting together his group, it had been frustration and ideals of right and wrong that had driven him to act. Now, it was different, now it was more personal and more about the people than just ideals, he didn’t mind at all.

Dark sat there watching him all the while.  After he had grown silent she thought about what was happening.  She felt a lot of trepidation and also regret, regret for losing out on what they had wanted to do, save the people from themselves.  Well, she guessed they were saving them from something much worse now so maybe their purpose was still valid. She felt a fear at the thought of open battles fought here on the land and wherever else.  She had given skirmishes up when Wollfen had come along.  She had seen enough blood, human and orc alike.  His crusade had promised to be just as exciting and a whole lot less deadly, ‘Ah well, easy come easy go, get over it Dark.’      

She watched him, he was lost in his thoughts again and there for her to see were his emotions crossing his face.  So easy to read, she loved him more than any man she had ever known.  He was her idea of a real man.  She had never come across his like before, caring and considerate, took control when needed and was always interested to hear what she said.  Oh yes, he knew how to please her in the sack too.  Sometimes he could be an obstinate little shit though. Well, no one is perfect are they?

Keera and Justin were following close behind.  The young man was deep in thought too, he had a good upbringing on the family farm.  Justin thought back to those days when his life changed.  Orcs had raided the place and killed his father, mother and sister.  He had been off working over the rise in the fields and hearing the commotion had taken flight into the trees.   When he had returned he had found them there, all dead and partially eaten.  Justin had thrown up on the spot and collapsed.  If only he had tried something.  He had fallen into a funk of self -blame and retribution, wandering the acreage listlessly without any coherent thoughts, a turmoil of emotions.  It was Wollfen who had come across him and saved him. By that time, he was almost starved and would only stare.  All he could remember of that time was Wollfen asking if they had problems with Orcs there before. 

Dark had taken care of him for the next couple of days, even bathed him and he would sit blankly staring.  It had taken a long time before they had gotten through to him.  He didn’t even remember them burying his family. He still felt empty sometimes, but Keera had made a big difference too.  He loved her almost as much as his family, she made his life bearable again.

Keera reached across and stroked his back while they rode.  She could see he was reliving some hard moments and there wasn’t much for it but be here for him, quietly wait for him to come back. Yes, she cared for him, even loved him in a way.  It must have been her maternal instincts she was feeling? They were certainly strange.  She had never had the urge for children but had preferred the rough and tumble of the male’s world, becoming a mercenary those few years ago was second nature. Her life was taking a path she could never have imagined and she found it exciting, even satisfying. As long as it remained that way she would be happy.

Wollfen pulled up,

“
Time to take some sleep. We should be able to get about four hours while it is still dark. Each of us will take an hour watch, the rest bed down.  I’ll go first.”

They had stopped near the base of a ridge, an outcrop of rock hanging over what was a poor excuse for a cave.  There, they laid their blankets out and took their rest. The horses were tethered and given oat bags hung around their heads to eat. Those last four hours of the night seemed to pass quickly for all concerned.