Army of the Dead (32 page)

“I cannot contact Teramar,” Zatho reported when the premer stopped talking.

“I specifically stated that every mage in my command was to be taught the air tunnel spell,” scowled Doralin. “If you don’t know it, you are worthless to me.”

“I know the spell,” sighed Zatho. “I have tried contacting Teramar all morning. I am receiving no reply.”

“Then try Vandamar,” snapped the premer. “I must have more mages and more food, and I must have it immediately.”

“I cannot contact Vandamar either,” reported Zatho. “Nor can I contact Alamar or Duran. In fact, there is no one that I can contact with an air tunnel.”

“What?” shouted Premer Doralin. “You claim to know the air tunnel spell, but you are incapable of contacting anyone? Explain yourself immediately.”

“I cannot explain it,” Zatho replied defensively. “I have contacted all of those places before, but no one is answering my call. I do not understand it.”

“Could it be the storm?” interjected General Valatosa. “I have heard that unusual wind patterns can disrupt an air tunnel.”

“I cannot say for sure,” answered Zatho. “I have never had problems with the spell before, but it is not working now. I will continue to try contacting someone.”

“Yes, you will,” scowled the premer. “You will continue to try until you do contact someone. Leave me.”

Zatho backed out of the tent while the premer glared at the man. General Valatosa watched with dismay.

“This invasion is not going as we expected,” he said softly.

“You are a master of understatement,” snapped the premer. “We have lost three quarters of our men since leaving Motanga. Those that are still alive are ready to bolt at any moment, and the nightly attacks by the Sakovans have our mighty warriors staying up all night in fear. We are slowly starving to death, and our lone mage has no idea how to practice his craft. And you say that all is not going as we planned?”

“We still have close to eighty thousand men,” General Valatosa offered meekly. “We have inflicted heavy casualties on the Sakovans, and they have nowhere to run. All is not lost.”

“Over two dozen soldiers were caught this morning trying to desert,” replied Premer Doralin. “Tomorrow it may be hundreds. The next day will be thousands. We cannot hold this army together long enough to exterminate the Sakovans if we do not get food. It is that simple.”

“What are you suggesting?” frowned General Valatosa. “Are you thinking that we should abandon our mission?”

“I am seriously contemplating a pull back to Alamar,” Doralin sighed heavily. “I do not look at it so much as a retreat, as I do a regrouping. The men need to eat and replenish their strength.”

“But our orders are to pursue the enemy and annihilate them,” Valatosa reminded the premer.

“I know our orders without your reminding,” scowled the premer, “but I also know the capabilities of our armies. We cannot defeat the Sakovans without regaining our momentum, and the Sakovan raids are stealing that momentum from us. The battle at the ridge stole our energy. It wiped out our mages and brought fear into the hearts of our men. I would prefer to remain here and regroup if that is possible, but without fresh supplies I see no option other than returning to Alamar.”

“We have ten thousand men in Alamar,” nodded General Valatosa, “and ten thousand more in Duran. We could rotate those troops into the main army and let some of those in our ranks take a break from the fighting. Perhaps the idea of a regrouping does have merit.”

“I am leaning that way,” admitted the premer, “but I will give Zatho some more time to communicate with someone first. If food is soon to arrive, we will hold here. If not, we will return to Alamar.”

“Let me send some men back to Alamar,” suggested General Valatosa. “Perhaps they can find out what the delay is with the food deliveries. It cannot hurt anything, and it may speed the caravans towards us.”

“Do it,” nodded Premer Doralin. “Send a thousand men to Alamar. Give them permission to execute anyone in Alamar who is holding up the food shipments.”

Princess Alahara led the elves single file through the narrow opening to a small cave. There was only room enough for a few elves inside the cave where she had hidden with her sister so long ago. She moved in the dark to the tunnel that led to a long chamber that ended up overlooking the mineshaft. Several dozen elves followed.

Princess Alahara had timed the visit to the mine perfectly. When she arrived at the ledge overlooking the shaft, the slaves were coming up in buckets, their long day of labor at its end. She gazed down at the kruls that were rotating a large wheel by walking in a circle and pushing spokes attached to the wheel. The turning wheel powered the buckets needed to haul the slaves up from the depths of the mine.

The princess gritted her teeth in rage as she watched the slave master wield his whip. The whip was not used on the kruls turning the wheel, but rather on the elven slaves who he deemed were not moving fast enough. She fought the compulsion to attack immediately, knowing that the other overseers would be the last to come to the surface. She did not want any Motangans to get away, and she did not want to have to go deep into the mine to capture them. There were other targets to attack before the day was done.

As the elven warriors gathered in the crawl space above the pit, Princess Alahara let her mind drift over the invasion plan, looking for any flaws that may cost elven lives. The three southern cities had been taken from the Motangans with little loss for the elves, but those cities required people to keep the conquered Motangans under control. While Avalar’s army was heading north to attack the Motangan armies out of Vandamar, Alastasia’s army was required to stay behind to govern the three cities. The elves were taking no chances of the Motangans regaining control over the ports.

Princess Alahara had been chosen to attack the far spread sites where elven slaves were held. As she freed the slaves, they were sent to the southern cities to relieve elven warriors. Those warriors were then sent out to hunt down kruls encamped in the forests of the southern half of the Island of Darkness. The mine where Eltor had been enslaved was among the last places to be attacked before Alahara and Alastasia regrouped their armies and joined with Avalar to march on Vandamar.

The sudden silence of the whip drew Princess Alahara out of her musing. She peered over the edge and gazed down at the Motangans. The slaves had all passed into one of the corridors leading off the great chamber. The Motangan overseers were now coming up in the buckets. She knew that the kruls would soon be dismissed for the day.

“When the word is given to dismiss the kruls,” Alahara ordered softly, “I want them all taken out immediately, before they leave this chamber. It is far safer than fighting them in the tunnels. Tamar, have men ready to rappel into the chamber. The enemy is fairly concentrated near this chamber at this time of day. It will save a great deal of time if we can kill most of them in the next few minutes.”

Tamar nodded silently and started instructing his men as to what he wanted done. Within moments the elves were ready to attack. A dozen archers sat at the lip of the edge above the great chamber. Three other elves sat back from the edge; each of them had one end of a rope wrapped around his body. The rest of the elves stooped low, ready to toss the ropes over the edge and rapidly descend into the great chamber.

The slave master shouted, his whip cracking the air as the last overseer exited the bucket. The kruls instantly stopped pushing the wheel. Before the echo of the whip had died, a dozen arrows flew from the edge overlooking the room. Three ropes were tossed over the edge and elves raced to descend into the great chamber. Another round of arrows flew into the room, and shouts and screams filled the air.

Princess Alahara saw the kruls struck by the first round of arrows. The huge beasts howled in pain, several of them immediately falling into the abyss. The second round of arrows caught the last of the overseers who had not yet left the great chamber. The slave master had managed to survive the two rounds of arrows, as he was at the far end of the chamber, but he did not escape Alahara’s compulsion spell. The large man’s face contorted with confusion as his body moved towards the rim of the pit. Fear replaced the confusion, but he continued forward until his body toppled over the edge of the rim. His scream lasted for several long seconds before ending suddenly.

Princess Alahara followed the elven warriors down the rope. Distant sounds of shouting entered the great chamber from each of the tunnels leading off of it. Within moments, freed slaves, both elven and human, started pouring into the great chamber.

“Do not panic,” Princess Alahara shouted to the elves and humans alike. “You are being freed by the forces of King Avalar of Elvangar. Gather at the entrance to the mine and get the gates open, but do not leave until you are told to.”

The princess continued to direct the slaves as hundreds of them flowed into the great chamber. The humans looked at the elven princess with confusion, but the elven slaves grinned and bowed slightly as they hurried past. They knew that their day of liberation had finally arrived.

* * *

King Avalar stood back from the edge of the rise watching his men divide into two groups. One group went to the east and the other to the west. Both groups walked silently in single file, and King Avalar decided to join the western group. He stepped into the line of warriors and followed the elf in front of him. The long silent walk eventually ended, and the elven warriors drew arrows from their quivers. Avalar gazed across the hidden canyon. He saw a long line of elves facing him on the opposite rim of the canyon. He had no fear of discovery as his men were far enough back from the edge to avoid detection. He waited patiently until that line of elves stopped moving.

When King Avalar was satisfied that his army was ready to attack, he raised his arm skyward. A thousand elven warriors nocked arrows and watched the king intently. When Avalar suddenly brought his arm down, the elves stepped forward to the edge of the rim and fired.

In the belly of the canyon were two thousand Motangan soldiers, prepositioned by Vand’s disciple. The Motangans shouted with alarm as the elven arrows flew into their ranks, but there was little defense that they could offer. Another round of elven arrows flew into the Motangan army, and the soldiers began to run towards the mouth of the canyon, but none of them were allowed to exit the death trap. In mere minutes, the slaughter was over. Nothing moved on the floor of the canyon. King Avalar issued terse orders, and the line of elves moved into the canyon to make sure that no one had survived. When he was sure that the task was complete, King Avalar directed his army to the next hiding place of the Motangans.

* * *

StarWind and HawkShadow stood outside the great tent in the Sakovan encampment, concern clearly etched into their faces. Healing mages scurried around tending to the wounded outside the tent, but none of them entered the tent itself.

“I am worried about her,” StarWind said softly. “There are no healing mages inside the tent to keep an eye on her. Healing takes a great deal out of the mage. How long can she keep this up?”

“Healing is something that I know little about,” admitted the assassin. “I only know that the worst cases get to be inside the tent. Normally those outside the tent receive little attention from the mages as they must concentrate on the severally wounded.”

“Well that is certainly not the case today,” frowned StarWind. “Do not misinterpret my feelings. I am thrilled with what Lyra is doing, especially with StormSong and SunChaser, but I fear that Lyra will reach the limit of her endurance. That is dangerous for a mage. It is possible for a mage to lose her magical ability by pushing it too far. There have even been cases where death has resulted from over exertion.”

“Lyra will not lose her magical ability,” interjected StormSong as she came up behind the couple.

StarWind whirled to stare at StormSong. Her face beamed with joy, and she smiled at her friend. StormSong looked as fit as she ever had.

“You look wonderful,” smiled StarWind, “but your knowledge of magic is minimal. You are not a mage.”

“No, I am not,” replied StormSong, “but I am a Sakovan.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked HawkShadow. “We are all Sakovans. What does that have to do with Lyra burning herself out? She has been inside that tent all day. Even you mentioned how much your healing appeared to take out of the Star.”

“I have no doubt that Lyra’s work today will push her to the limits of her tolerance,” replied StormSong, “and I am concerned for her too, but not in the same way as you are.”

“Explain yourself,” frowned StarWind.

“Lyra is using magic to heal our brothers and sisters,” declared StormSong, “but not only magic. Healing magic is only capable of doing so much. Lyra has far exceeded those limits.”

“Well,” shrugged StarWind, “Lyra is the most powerful mage in the Sakova. I would be surprised if she could not heal better than any of the others.”

“You are not listening,” replied StormSong. “It is more than magic. Lyra is filled with the spirit of Kaltara. He is using her to heal the critically wounded.”

“An interesting theory,” commented HawkShadow.

“It is not a theory, HawkShadow,” frowned StormSong. “I felt it. I cannot explain the feeling to you, but Kaltara was within me. I should have died from my wounds, but something kept me going. When Lyra took my hand, I felt an inner warmth that I have never felt before in my life. When she prayed for me, I felt Kaltara within me. He will protect her.”

“Then what is your concern?” asked StarWind. “If Kaltara is guiding her, you should have no concerns.”

“My concern is that Lyra will continue long after Kaltara has told her to stop,” frowned StormSong. “I know that sounds foolish, but Lyra is driven to heal everyone. I do not think she can accept the fact that not everyone will be healed. When that time comes, then your fears about her burning out will be valid.”

“Well I am not going to let the healers keep me out of that tent any longer,” StarWind said with determination. “I will stay by Lyra’s side as long as is necessary to ensure that she does not hurt herself.”