Emerald of the Elves (29 page)

“Tedi is correct,” reported Twerp. “Watling Flats is just around the bend in the trail ahead. Azmet’s army covers the entire area, but most of them are asleep. Their campfires burn low.”

“Most of them?” questioned Reese. “Do they have sentries out?”

“No sentries,” Twerp shook his little head, “but there are men working to clear the trail on the other side of the field. It seems that quite a few large trees were felled by some type of storm.”

“I think I know that storm,” grinned Tedi. “I wondered how they could guarantee that Azmet would camp in this field tonight.”

“Why all the fairies?” questioned King Altaro.

“Prince Midge brought them to put the sentries asleep,” answered Twerp, “but there are no sentries. We will be used to aid communications instead.”

“Are the Red Swords ready for battle?” asked Reese.

“King Arik’s men are in position,” nodded the fairy. “Three thousand Red Swords await news that we are in position. A thousand Ranger archers will attack from the other side of the field.”

“This will not be a battle,” observed Baron Timor. “This will be a massacre. I cannot, however, feel any pity for a people who would intentionally spread the Black Death. It will take many generations to restore Southland to the city it once was.”

“Any men we lose will be too many,” frowned Reese. “We need every man to repel what Sarac is sending our way. I am going to move my archers into position. I suggest you two lead your men to their positions as well.”

“I will send a fairy when we are ready,” nodded King Altaro as he wheeled to ready his cavalry.

Baron Timor nodded silently and left. Reese used hand signals to move his archers forward.

“I want you to stay with the archers,” Tedi said to Natia. “You are not a swordsman.”

“I know my place,” retorted Natia as she tied her horse to the tether line and followed the archers through the trees towards Watling Flats.

Tedi watched Natia leave and turned to Reese. “I am going to ride forward a bit,” he said. “I want to see if there are any surprises waiting for us.”

“Be careful,” warned Reese, “and silent. We do not want to alert Azmet’s people before the attack.”

Tedi nodded and rode slowly forward. Wylan and Bin-lu followed close behind. When he got close enough to see the campfires in the field, Tedi dismounted. He led his horse forward another hundred paces and tied it to a tree. Wylan and Bin-lu followed his every move. Tedi saw Natia grouped with the other archers at the edge of the field. He quietly moved to her side.

“A little larger than the average Lanoirian patrol,” Tedi mused quietly.

“A little?” countered Natia. “They will be calling this the Field of Blood after tonight. I can see the statue you told me about. It is huge. How did you ever get it off that island?”

“The fairies know how to levitate things,” explained Wylan. “See the wagon right behind it? That is the hut that contains the disease. I sure hope they don’t try to escape with that during the battle. It could wipe out all of the armies here. They haven’t even bothered to unhitch the horses.”

“Are you serious?” gasped Natia. “Could that really happen?”

“One man infected in that hut led to the death of most of Southland,” nodded Wylan. “I can’t imagine what would happen if that wagon turned over.”

“I hear Reese’s cavalry coming,” frowned Tedi. “They are making too much noise. I am going to warn them.”

Wylan nodded absently as his eyes roved over the campsite. He tried to locate specific people in the dimness, but the best he could do was to guess by the largeness of the tents.

“I bet the largest tent belongs to Azmet,” he muttered under his breath as he charted a course towards it.

“Is that where you are going?” Bin-lu asked as he followed Wylan’s gaze.

“It is,” affirmed Wylan with a scowl upon his face. “He killed all of the friends I grew up with. I look forward to repaying him.”

“Where is Natia?” Tedi asked as he returned.

Wylan and Bin-lu turned to look for the gypsy girl, but could not find her. “She was here a minute ago,” replied Wylan. “Maybe she is answering the call of nature.”

“The gypsy girl?” questioned one of the archers. “She said she had a secret mission to do. She is crossing the field now. Look,” he pointed.

Tedi held his breath as his eyes followed the archer’s pointing finger. He watched as Natia stole between two campfires. Swiftly, he turned and dashed back to Reese.

“Twerp,” exhaled Tedi, “I need your help. Natia has gone into the field. I want you to watch over her.”

“Why would she do a fool thing like that?” scowled Reese.

“I am not sure,” frowned Tedi, “but I think she intends to disable the disease wagon. Wylan was fretting over how it might destroy everyone if it crashed during the battle.”

“Go Twerp,” ordered Reese. “Blessed sword, but Wylan might be right.”

“I am going after her,” decided Tedi.

“You are not,” Reese stated sternly. “She has a better chance being alone. Two of you offer twice the opportunity for discovery.”

Twerp launched himself off of Reese’s shoulder and darted through the trees. He soared through the darkness, avoiding the light from the campfires. He scanned the moving people looking for Natia. He had expected to find her crawling along the ground, but he finally spotted her walking calmly. She avoided the campfires in a serpentine path that almost appeared natural. Nobody appeared to pay much attention to her. Twerp hovered high enough to be unseen as his eyes continually swept the people near Natia.

As the gypsy girl approached the center of the camp, people were more numerous. One fanatic took notice of Natia and moved to intercept her. Twerp cast his sleeping spell on the unsuspecting follower. The man took three more strides and tumbled to the ground. Several followers shouted and rushed to the man’s aid. Natia glanced once and then ignored the commotion.

Twerp smiled and darted ahead of Natia as he saw the wagon with the hut on it. Several men stood talking, and Twerp knew that they would notice Natia approaching the wagon. He looked around for a diversion and found a second small group discussing something. With a glance back at Natia to adjust his timing, Twerp cast his sleep spell on one of the men in the second group. The man tumbled to the ground in mid-sentence.  Members of his group immediately knelt over him, and the men in the first group turned to see what the commotion was. Natia slipped under the wagon.

Twerp was on his way to speak to Natia when shouting erupted at the north end of the field. The fairy altered course and soared high into the sky. The followers of Abuud were shouting and pointing towards the forest. Men in the area scrambled for weapons, while others shouted, demanding to know what was happening. Twerp determined that King Altaro’s men must have been heard or spotted. The fanatics started charging towards the forest. Sensing a plan gone awry, Reese’s archers let their arrows fly.

Abuud’s followers started dying and screaming in pain from the deadly hail of arrows. The men who had been charging King Altaro’s position wheeled to attack the archers. Suddenly arrows began flying into Watling Flats from the other direction, and chaos ran rampant through Azmet’s campsite.

Twerp glanced down and saw Natia crawl forward and begin slicing through the harnesses. He scanned the immediate area for anyone who might discover the gypsy princess. Everyone was looking outward towards the sounds of battle.

Some of Azmet’s men raced for their horses. Nassar began shouting instructions and trying to mount a counteroffensive. His loud, calm voice brought a semblance of order to the chaotic battleground. As he gathered the men required to take the battle into the forest, the men on the periphery of the campsite began to inch backwards towards the wagons. Soon, there was a wide ring of fallen bodies encircling the central campsite. The arrows stopped flying as the archers were out of range.

Twerp looked down again just at Natia finished cutting through the harnesses. She slid back under the wagon and hid. Something spooked the horses and they ran from the wagon. Azmet turned towards the new commotion and snarled.

Ranger archers stepped from the woods, ran forward a hundred paces, and formed a new firing line. The archers in the line were widely separated, leaving large amounts of room between any two archers. Reese’s archers duplicated the maneuver along the western side of Watling Flats. Nassar ordered his cavalry to charge the Ranger archers, even as the first hail of arrows was claiming new victims.

As Nassar’s men thundered across the field, Red Swords poured out of the woods. They charged through the gaps in the line of archers and clashed with Nassar’s cavalry. Halmud tried to duplicate Nassar’s charge at the western end of Watling Flats. He also formed a cavalry and sent them towards the line of archers. The Army of the West responded the same as the Red Swords.

As the cavalries clashed, the archers inched forward, tightening the circle around Azmet’s men Shouts below caused Twerp to look down at the wagon again. Azmet was shouting and pointing towards the hut. He ordered several fanatics onto the wagon. Fireballs screamed over the heads of the cavalries and impacted the hut and wagon. Even as the wagon began to burn, Lotfi hastily erected a shield over it. The next set of fireballs impacted the shields, producing a brilliant flare when they struck.

Several of the fanatics fell off of the wagon. Others leaped off to get away from the flames, but two managed to slip inside the hut. Men ran with buckets to extinguish the flames, while Lotfi shouted for other mages to reinforce his shields. As the wagon continued to burn, Twerp tried to find Natia, but he could not. He turned his attention back to the battle.

The Red Swords routed Nassar’s cavalry charge. The fanatics turned and fled back towards the center of the camp. The Red Swords halted and regrouped while the Ranger archers moved forward.

The two fanatics emerged from the hut. Lotfi and the mages moved backwards to avoid contact with them. One of the fanatics leaped off the burning wagon and started running towards the Red Swords. Suddenly, the man fell down with a knife protruding from his back. A fireball slammed into his body, and it burst into flames.

Shouts erupted anew as Azmet pointed towards the wagon. Natia rolled from under the wagon and threw a knife into the other martyr. She started running towards Reese’s men. A fireball instantly engulfed the fallen martyr, but Twerps eyes were glued on Natia. He sped after her while he watched for anyone who might intercept her.

The cavalry battle at the western end of the field finished as Halmud’s men turned and galloped back toward the center of the field. Tedi saw Natia running for her life. While the other cavalrymen regrouped to let the archers move forward, Tedi charged into the campsite. Wylan and Bin-lu followed closely. As Halmud’s returning riders galloped through the camp, Natia threw herself into an empty tent. The men that had been chasing her turned away from the coming stampede. The horses avoided the scattered tents as they ran towards Azmet. Twerp diverted his attention to the central part of the campsite. He watched as the hut burst into flames. Lotfi and his mages scattered.

When the retreating cavalry had passed, Natia leaped out of the tent and started running again. She looked up and saw Tedi and his friends bearing down on her. The entire cavalry of the Army of the West was charging behind them. Tedi extended his arm and grabbed Natia as he approached. He pulled her up behind him. Twerp turned his attention to the rest of the battlefield.

With the campsite in total disarray, the Red Swords, seeing the Army of the West charging, also charged. The cavalries descended upon the fanatical survivors. The archers ran behind to set up a new line if it was needed. As Twerp hovered, Tedi passed underneath him. He listened to the banter of the charging warriors.

“Azmet is mine,” yelled Wylan.

“I have a score to settle with Achmed,” countered Tedi.

“I need more knives,” pleaded Natia.

“Arik is charging too,” pointed Bin-lu.

Tedi pulled two knives from his belt and handed them to Natia. He unstrapped his staff and held it ready as he charged into the enemy’s camp. Azmet’s remaining men scattered as the cavalries of Alcea bore down on them. Men ran in every direction, but Tedi headed straight for the small group trying to rally the fanatics.

“Time for you to get off,” Tedi yelled to Natia. “Work your knives around the edges of the enemy, not in the center.”

Natia nodded and swung both of her legs to one side of the horse. “Head towards that tent,” instructed Natia. “I will get off there.”

Tedi nodded as Natia rose to a standing position, her hand clutching at Tedi’s head. Tedi slowed as he came up alongside the tent. Natia leaped off the horse, and Tedi raced to catch up to Wylan and Bin-lu. He saw Alex and Jenneva riding into battle, the horns of their unicorns already dripping with blood. To their right, Arik and Tanya hacked their way through fleeing fanatics.

Tedi swung his staff viciously as he entered the circle of stalwart fanatics. Heads flew and upraised arms disintegrated. His eyes scanned the group of Azmet’s men until he saw the large brute that he was looking for. He charged towards Achmed.

Wylan leaped off his horse as he rode past Azmet. His body collided with the evil prophet, and they tumbled to the ground. Wylan rose swiftly and grabbed his sword, which had been jarred from his hand. Azmet rose to run away and Wylan called his name. The prophet looked over his shoulder and saw Wylan running after him. He scooped up a sword from a fallen follower and turned to face Wylan.

Wylan clashed swords with the prophet. The doomed fanatic slashed viciously, but Wylan parried each stroke. Seeing his opening, Wylan dropped to his knees and thrust his sword into Azmet’s stomach. As Azmet screamed, Arik swung his sword and decapitated the prophet from behind. Azmet’s body tumbled to the ground.

“Well met,” grinned Arik as he looked down at Wylan. “There is no need to bow on the battlefield.”

“Your Highness,” Wylan grinned back. “About time you showed up, but you are a bit late. This one was already dead.”