Erik And The Dragon ( Book 4) (34 page)

“He admitted to working with Tu’luh the Red,” Erik said. That is why he is not allowing you to attack the orcs that lie at your gates. He wants to weaken Ten Forts.” The old man looked to the warriors behind him and they fidgeted nervously. Erik looked around, scanning the men before him with his gift and discerning their intentions. “I know you serve your kingdom loyally,” Erik said. “I know that you fight here because you believe in protecting our homeland.” Erik stepped between Eddin and the other men. “I am asking only that you arrest this man. Have him tried by court as is his right, but as of now he is relieved of command.”

“And who do you say should lead in his stead?” the old man shouted.

“I will,” a booming voice thundered from the back of the keep.

Erik turned to see a man with salt and pepper hair bouncing gently with each step that his large, black horse took. A great sword hung in front of him, and a pair of javelins were slung across his back with only the slender, deadly points visible above the man’s shoulder. His face was disfigured, and a patch covered his left eye. He dismounted less than gracefully, limping toward them with a dragging left foot. It was then that Erik realized who it was.

“You all know me,” the man bellowed. “What say you, will you fight for me once again?”

Erik turned to see all the warriors in the yard take a knee and bow their heads. The old man put a fist to his heart and pledged his allegiance. The others nearby quickly added their oaths to serve him.

“If you will not take Lepkin’s word, then you will accept mine. I am Mercer, your former commander. I now know that this worm who grovels on the ground before you is responsible for my unfortunate retirement.” Mercer pulled a piece of paper from an inside pocket within his green cloak and held it up for all to see. “This is a letter from Eddin Finorel, detailing my schedule and patrols during my time here at Ten Forts. Come and inspect it for yourselves, you will see that it is indeed written by Eddin’s own hand, and he is responsible for conspiring to kill me. It was by the luck of the Gods that I survived his treachery.”

The old man came forward and took the letter from Mercer. He opened it and read the contents. He then handed it back to him and addressed the others. “It is written by Eddin’s hand,” he confirmed. “The signature matches all the seals I have carried for him before.” The old man then walked over to Eddin and spat on the ground in front of him.

“I am not whole in body, but I am still alive and well in courage and spirit,” Mercer shouted. “I say it is time we stop sitting on the walls, and we take the fight out to our enemy!” A chorus of cheers went up along the walls. “Pass the word along, let all of Ten Forts know that their rightful commander is back, and I intend to stay until our mission is finished.” Mercer then approached Erik and Lepkin.

“I’m glad to see you changed your mind
.” Lepkin said.

Mercer nodded grimly and frowned. “A
fter Tillamon’s burial, I went to Patrical’s house. That is where I found this letter. After that, there was no way I could sit at home in good conscience while this dog betrayed my men.” Mercer stepped forward and yanked Eddin from the ground. “Go ahead, Eddin, try and deny that you attempted to murder me. Tell me it isn’t so.”

Erik watched as Eddin grinned wickedly and laughed in Mercer’s face. Mercer pushed him away and motioned for his men to take him away. A trio of burly warriors were quick to step in and remove the traitor.

“That might have gone very differently had you not arrived,” Lepkin said.

“What is the situation?” Mercer asked, changing the subject.

The old man stepped up then and answered for Lepkin. “Commander, sir, I am Kranson Millwort. I was transferred here two years ago from the eastern border. I am the officer in charge of the scouts. I would be happy to report on our current situation.”

Mercer turned to face the old man. “Then by all means, continue with the report.”

Millwort nodded. “Three thousand orcs arrived and set up the main camp directly in front of our fortification here. They are currently building siege rams, catapults, and siege towers armored with shields hung over the front.” He then pointed to the west. “Seven thousand and five hundred more orcs are spread along our entire wall all the way along our border in several camps. None of them are quite as large as this main camp before us, but they are all well prepared.”

“All from one tribe?” Mercer asked.

Millwort shook his head. “It appears as though there are at least four tribes working together in this assault.” The old man then pointed to the east. “Another three and a half thousand are spread out along the rest of our wall to the east. Though, they are not preparing for assault so much as digging in and erecting fortifications.”

“Hemming us in to the middle,” Mercer said. The old man nodded. “How long do your scouts say we have until they are able to use their siege equipment?”

“Not long, sir, maybe one more day, maybe less.”

Mercer nodded and smoothed his wavy hair back with his right hand. “Well then, what is our situation?”

“Currently Ten Forts is ten thousand strong. We are spread on a rotating basis. Three hundred from each fort patrol the walls at all times, for a total of three thousand men along the walls at any given moment. Another three hundred patrol the inside of the forts, or along the interior of the walls along the forest floor, making sure there are no weak spots. The third set of three hundred will be at rest, so that way we always have fresh reserves.”

“That tells me what nine hundred from each fort are doing, what about the remaining hundred?”

“A mix of forward scouts, mid-level officers, dispatch riders, chefs, and porters. The officers usually rotate their duties along with their men.”

“Very well,” Mercer said.

“Sounds a bit thin to me,” Lepkin noted.

“Sir?” Millwort asked.

Mercer nodded in agreement. “In my day I kept no fewer than two thousand soldiers in each fort, and often as many as three thousand. I would never let the total garrison fall below twenty thousand men.”

“The orcs have been more docile in recent years,” Millwort assured him.

Mercer eyed the man coldly. “I suppose there is little we can do about it now in any case.” He turned to Lepkin. “Come, I want to see this camp that is infesting my fort.”

“What are your orders, commander?” Millwort asked before they walked away.

“Have you any battle experience?” Mercer asked.

Millwort nodded. “I have endured several engagements with Tarthuns in the east. I have also slain the occasional orc during my scouting duties.”

Mercer nodded. “Then gather five of your best scouts. Tonight we are going to see if we can’t dissuade our guests from building catapults.”

Millwort bowed his head. “As you command.”

Mercer, Lepkin, and Erik then walked through the main building, up a seemingly endless staircase that spiraled directly up to the roof. From there the three of them walked to the edge and looked down to the area beyond the wall. From their vantage point they could see thousands of orcs busy about a camp sitting behind three rows of stockades and pikes. Off in the distance they could see a couple of large machines being wheeled into place.

“Looks as though they will be ready just as Millwort said,” Lepkin commented.
“You could have the archers fire on the camps.”

Mercer shook his head. “No, they look to be just out of range,” he said. “Our arrows would fall short of the mark. Better to let them think we are waiting, and then sneak out and slit their throats in the night.”

“That will take more than five men,” Lepkin pointed out.

“I will send some of the junior officers out to assign men from each fort so a similar attack is sent against each enemy camp.”

“Even still, that won’t put much of a dent in the enemy,” Lepkin said.

“What about us?” Erik asked.

Mercer looked at the boy questioningly.

“How do we get to Tu’luh with the orcs here?”

“We must deal with the orcs first,” Mercer said.

Lepkin nodded. “We have no choice. The only feasible route to Demaverung is to take the road south into the orcish lands. One must then travel two hundred miles west before a path through Verishtahng will open up.”

“Is there no other way?” Erik asked.

Lepkin shook his head. “The fort farthest west from here sits on the border with Verishtahng, and the mountain Demaverung is due west from there, but the way is impassible. The terrain is too fierce, with rivers of lava and animals the likes of which could tear through a small army. To go in directly would be suicide.”

Erik’s shoulder slumped. “So the dragon has played his hand well, and is still a step ahead of us.”

Mercer p
ut a strong hand on the boy’s shoulder. “We will cut the orcs down and send them running back to their stone hovels with their tails between their legs. Just give me a couple days.”

Le
pkin scoffed. “That’s optimistic,” he said. “Perhaps you don’t remember how the last encounter with the orcs went.” Lepkin shook his head. “It lasted for two months, and that was in the dead of winter when we thought the orcs would quit for lack of food. I would not bet that this army will be any less committed. The orcs never pull their punches.”

Mercer shrugged. “
I remember,” he said.

“We also had close to three times the number of soldiers garrisoned here during that battle,” Lepkin added.

Mercer frowned. “I remember,” he said again, this time his voice was soft and lacked the confidence and bravado. “Well, then let us hope the men we have with us now are ready to dig in.” Mercer then turned and went back down the stairs, leaving Erik and Lepkin on the roof.

“Couldn’t Lady Dimwater use her magic to take us to Tu’luh?” Erik asked.

Lepkin shook his head. “The wizards that have joined with the dragon would sense her magic, and they would lay a trap. It would be less dangerous to jump into a bed of poisoned spikes.”

“Well, couldn’t you and I change into our dragon forms and fly to him?” Erik asked desperately.

“I admire your courage, Erik,” Lepkin said with the resignation clear in his voice. “You are still too young to change safely. Even if you did survive, I would still be subject to the book. If by some miracle we did make it to Tu’luh’s lands, his wizards and the firedrakes would descend on us like hornets. We could probably take a few of them down, but eventually we would fall, and Tu’luh would win.” He placed a hand on Erik’s shoulder. “Our only choice is to fight through the orcs.”

Erik stepped to the edge of the building, slipping out from und
er Lepkin’s hand. “Or we could sneak through them,” he said. “What if we go with the scouts tonight, and while they attack, we slip beyond the enemy. It would be perfect. The orcs would be distracted and we could get beyond them.”

Lepkin shook his head. “We don’t know how many more might be on their way here,” he said. “It would gain little if we snuck through three thousand only to find ten thousand a few miles farther down the road. I’m afraid there is little we can do. If I thought there was any chance to succeed, believe me, I would take it.” Lepkin started for the stairs. “Come on, we should get settled in. We are going to be here for a while.”

The rest of the day seemed to drag on as though it were a year to Erik. Soldiers rushed about around him, oblivious to his presence. Dimwater and Lepkin planned with Mercer and other officers while Marlin and Tatev carved out a corner for themselves in the great hall to study books and meditate. Jaleal was nowhere to be seen. Erik had last heard that he was volunteering to go with the scouts to sabotage the catapults. Erik envied him. He wished he could go with him, but there was no way he could convince anyone to let him go. Worse still, Mercer and his officers wouldn’t even give him an assignment. It was as if they counted him for nothing more than a boy.

When he could no longer tolerate being treated as an invisible liability, he retired to the guest chamber he had been given. He flopped onto the sturdy bed and tucked his hands behind his head as he looked up to the ceiling. What was he to do now? He couldn’t very well wait for months while the orcs pinned the whole garrison down. Yet, Lepkin and the others would most certainly be involved with the battle. That would certainly speed up the resolution, but would it be enough? Would Tu’luh be able to launch his attack before Erik’s friends could subdue the orcs?

After a while his exhaustion got the better of him and he drifted off to sleep. It was a restless, dreamless sleep that did little more than offer his disquieted mind a reprieve from his worries. He woke, nearly toppling out of the bed as he awkwardly rolled on to his side. He swung his feet down to the floor and reached up to rub his eyes. His left hand was asleep, tingling with fiery needle-like sensations in his palm and fingers. He stood up and went to the window.

The half-moon hung low in the sky, obscured by a thin veil of silvery clouds. He wondered if the scouts had already gone out yet. He silently wished them success, especially Jaleal. He looked along the wall and saw the active patrols walking along the top. He wondered whether the next night would be as peaceful. He had never seen an orc, but he had heard much about their prowess in battle. At Kuldiga Academy he had even read a few accounts of the struggles between the orcs and the humans. Each one was an exceptionally brutal, nasty affair that even made glory-hungry apprentices shudder and shake with fear.