Magician’s End (22 page)

He remembered reading an account of the battle for Krondor when the Kingdom seized its first foothold on the Bitter Sea, ages before. Krondor had been a mere hill fort, stone and wood palisades surrounding a basic town of wattle-and-daub houses. But it had been well defended and could be resupplied from the sea.

The battle had begun and became a useless siege, and in the end the leader of the attacking Kingdom forces, Prince Leontin, brother to the king and the Duke of Salador, had led a sunrise attack on the last day. By noon it appeared as if the attack had been successfully repulsed, as the attackers withdrew, but a small fire had started, not in the wood of the rampart but in a small clump of brush in the surrounding trench at the foundation of the rampart, and suddenly three timbers collapsed. Prince Leontin saw that gap and turned his forces and hit it with everything he had, and by sundown the Kingdom possessed Krondor.

The Kingdom of the Isles had its foothold in the Bitter Sea because a bush caught on fire.

That lesson had stuck with Hal while others had not. He and his father had discussed it and his father had been clear on this one subject: the battle plan must remain fluid, changing from the instant you make contact with the enemy. It was the commander who could best adapt and respond on the spur of the moment who would emerge victorious.

Hal peered into the night, trying to imagine what he would be doing now if the war had never begun. He and his brothers would still be in bed asleep, but within two hours or so they would be dressing to break fast with their parents.

That life seemed a thousand years away.

Hal heard something. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew it was something out of the ordinary. He snapped his fingers loudly, and Ty turned to look at him from the other side of the camp. Hal pointed twice towards the origination of the sound, then once in a circle motion around the camp, then he made a downward pushing motion with his hand, and Ty nodded that he understood.

Ty awoke each man quietly, motioning for silence, and within a minute the camp was up and armed. Hal motioned to Captain Reddic that he was going out to take a look, and indicated that a soldier named Minton should accompany him, knowing from conversations along the trail that the lanky, redheaded soldier had been a practised hunter and tracker before enlisting.

A quick move through a gap in the brush at the far end of the camp put them outside the perimeter. Hal and the soldier quietly circled around, moving towards the source of the sound, weapons at the ready.

The trees were sparse in that direction and the lines of sight fairly clear, despite the darkness, but there was nothing to be seen. As Hal was about to return to the camp, he heard a noise, faint but unmistakable. A horse’s snort and the faint rattling of a bridle. Hal pointed and motioned for Minton to make a circular approach from the opposite direction.

After a minute, he heard someone riding away. The soldier reached Hal a few moments later and Hal said in low tones, ‘Someone led their mount this way. Then when they thought they were safely away, they mounted up.’

Minton knelt and looked around in the dim moonlight. ‘I can’t be sure until dawn, sir, but I’m pretty sure that’s the mark of a boot heel next to your toe.’

‘Let’s get back to camp.’

They hurried back. ‘One rider, scouting us for certain, road off to the south,’ said Hal.

Ty raised an eyebrow in question, and Hal said quietly, ‘I think we leave early.’

Ty nodded once and Captain Reddic said, ‘As everyone’s up, let’s be out of here as soon as we can. If someone is expecting us down the road, let’s surprise them by being early.’ He pointed to the soldier Hal had been scouting with. ‘Minton, I want you down the road now. Quiet as you can, and back here the second you see anything I need to know.’

‘Captain!’ said the man and hurried to saddle up his horse.

‘Cold meal,’ said Reddic, ‘and in the saddle when the eastern sky turns grey.’

Men hurried to follow orders and grab what they could to eat while getting ready to ride. Hal came to the captain and said, ‘I think we’ll ride along with you for a bit longer.’

‘Always glad for the extra swords, my lord,’ Reddic said softly. Nodding at Ty, he added, ‘If I remember right, would that be the young man who bested you at the last championship at the Masters’ Court?’

‘Yes,’ said Hal. ‘That’s Ty Hawkins.’

With a smile, the captain said, ‘Well, Ruthia smiles on me, for if I’m gaining two extra swords, the two finalists at the Masters’ Court is all I could ask for.’

‘I hope we don’t disappoint,’ said Hal.

‘Rider coming!’ shouted the horseman taking point. Instead of their usual place at the tail of the column, Ty and Hal were now riding directly behind the captain.

‘It’s Minton,’ said Reddic.

‘Looks like he’s in a hurry,’ said Ty, drawing his sword.

‘I don’t see anyone behind him,’ said Hal, motioning for his friend to put his weapon away.

Minton pulled in his mount at the last moment, and the horse almost squatted, it came to a halt so fast. The soldier turned and pointed down the road. ‘About a mile that way, Captain, they’re waiting for us.’

‘How many?’

‘About thirty-five, maybe forty. They scouted us, for certain. I found tracks between our camp and where they’re waiting, just off the road. Followed them and got above them.’

‘Any idea of who they are?’ asked Hal.

‘No uniforms, tabards, or banners, sir,’ said Minton to his captain. ‘But they’re organized and their position is as good as you’d want.’

‘Archers?’ asked Reddic.

‘Couldn’t see any, but that doesn’t mean some of those lads don’t have horse bows.’

‘Can we get in behind them?’ asked Reddic.

Minton grinned. ‘As a matter of fact, I believe we can.’

Hal said, ‘Captain, do you have any bowmen?’

‘Four,’ answered the captain. ‘I know what you’re going to suggest.’ He turned to Minton. ‘You said you got above them. Good location for archers.’

‘Once they get to it, yes, sir, but those ambushers will see them if they set up before the fighting starts.’

‘I don’t care,’ said the captain. ‘If they have archers, I want someone to take them out before they turn around and see us coming from behind.’

Hal said, ‘If you’re going to do that, you’re going to need someone coming up that road, to hold their attention.’

‘What are you thinking?’

Hal smiled. ‘They’ll need to see your point, a man in a Bas-Tyra tabard, so what I’m thinking is, they do see your point rider and a lot of dust a half-mile behind.’

‘Couple of riders dragging brush?’ said the captain.

Hal nodded.

‘Sound idea.’

Ty threw Hal a sceptical look. ‘And I suppose we’re the ones volunteering to drag brush?’

Hal grinned. ‘And miss the fun?’

‘Oh, in that case …’ Ty shrugged.

The captain motioned Minton away, giving them privacy. ‘Actually, I was going to suggest you and your friend do just that.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I would have a problem if anything …’ He left the thought unfinished.

‘As you really have no idea who we are, Captain, how could you have a problem?’ asked Hal. He leaned close. ‘Right now I need to know why this ambush is being set for your men. I need one of those men up ahead alive. Preferably more.’

‘Yes, my lord. Just try to not die under my command, please?’

Ty had to stifle a laugh.

The captain detailed three men to act as point and brush-draggers, instructing them to wait for half an hour then start down the road. To the point rider he said, ‘If these bastards have half the wits the gods gave cattle, they’ll wait until you ride through to hit what they think will be the full column. If you see any sign of them, ride straight ahead where we will be waiting behind them.’ He turned and yelled, ‘Mount up!’

‘Sir!’ came the reply as the riders followed orders.

Ty and Hal were only a moment behind, and when everyone was formed up, Captain Reddic shouted, ‘Minton! Lead the way.’

‘Sir!’ answered the scout and he set off at a posting trot until the column was moving behind, then took his horse to a canter.

Hal glanced at the lightening sky in the east and realized the false point rider and ‘column’ would be leaving exactly as the sun rose, which would have them arriving at the ambush when expected. He glanced over at his companion.

‘You’re having too much fun,’ said Ty.

Hal could not resist a laugh. ‘After all the politics and skulking around, the hiding and dodging, I’m ready for a stand-up fight.’

‘As I said, too much fun.’

They left the road a short time later and moved up a dry river bed, overgrown with enough brush that it was clear the river that once had run here had shifted its course years before. Minton said, ‘Captain, we need to leave the horses here.’

Everyone dismounted and tied up their mounts. Minton pointed to some tracks. ‘This is where I found they’d left the road. Good thing, too, or I’d have ridden right into them.’ To the captain and everyone behind, Minton said, ‘From now on, hand signals only.’

Captain Reddic reached into his belt pouch and said, ‘Muffle your scabbards.’ He removed a thick piece of cloth, lifted his sword, wrapped the cloth around the blade, then pushed down on the hilt. The blade now would not betray his position by clanking.

Hal and Ty were given cloth by a pair of soldiers and followed the captain’s example. The soldiers then dropped all their other gear where they stood – packs and belt-pouches – so that nothing would rattle, then secured their round shields to their backs, till they looked like a bunch of black-and-gold turtles.

The captain nodded and had the men form up in two columns, then motioned for Minton to lead.

Hal was impressed. Thirty well-armed soldiers were usually heard before they were seen. And palace guards and garrison soldiers lacked trail discipline. He was now convinced there was more to this particular troop than an escort for a message rider. All the soldiers at Crydee were trained for forest duty; the nature of the region demanded it, but Bas-Tyra was an ancient city surrounded by farmlands with no forest within three days’ ride. And what scattered woodlands they had in that duchy didn’t provide cover for outlaws, poachers, and fugitives.

But these men were trained for stealth, and Hal now knew why the Duke of Bas-Tyra’s mystery man Jaston had attached Ty and Hal to this detail; this was a special unit of infiltrators, or assassins. Hal’s father had told him of such, though Crydee had never had the need for soldiers of this type, but in the Eastern Realm, warfare was not always overt.

They reached a split where what appeared to be a dry rivulet turned into a game trail that wended upwards into the rocks. Minton pointed and pantomimed archers, and the four bowmen headed up the indicated trail. Minton then held up his hand, fingers spread, and pointed down, indicating they needed to wait five minutes before moving again.

Hal stood motionless, scanning faces. There was nothing about this band of soldiers to suggest anything out of the ordinary, but he was now certain looks were deceiving.

Minton held up his hand when the five minutes passed and directed them down the dry river bed. Like thieves at night, the remaining twenty-six soldiers, their captain, Hal, and Ty moved silently down the draw, their boots barely making any sound as they carefully lifted and placed their feet.

They came to a large outcrop and Minton motioned for them to circle around it. He held up one finger, and the captain turned and relayed the instruction, which Hal took to mean they’d move in single file.

For what seemed an hour but was only five or six minutes, they moved around the large rock and down another draw, then found themselves moving into dense woods. Hal realized they were moving back towards the King’s Highway, moving down from the north.

Minton turned south-east and as they came out of a thicket of trees, pointed to what had to be the ambush. Hal craned his neck and after a moment saw movement in the rocks above what must be the gap where the highway cut through these hilly woods.

Captain Reddic motioned and the column moved slowly around in a broad, looping course until they were just north of the highway, directly behind the ambushers.

The King’s Highway cut through a natural pass about a hundred yards across, flanked on both sides by rock formations: the one to the north where they had circled, and another to the south several times as large. Minton had been smart enough to scout out the shortest route to the ambushers’ rear.

Hal looked high into the rocks to the north and saw nothing, to his relief. He knew that if the archers were in place, the second they heard fighting below, they would pop up and help bring a quick end to the struggle.

Captain Reddic knelt and the rest of them followed suit. Then he leaned forward and pointed to the end of the line, held up seven fingers, then pointed to the rocky position to the north of the road. After that, he pointed to a small clump of trees and the last seven men in line got up and scampered to that position.

He motioned for the other men to follow him, and moved in a south-westerly direction. If the ambushers were evenly divided, the northern contingent would come under bow fire from above, Hal realized; hence the unequal division of their forces.

Hal was thanking Ruthia, Goddess of Luck, that they hadn’t been noticed, when a voice ahead whispered, ‘I see dust!’

The men in the rocks shifted position and now Hal could see their entire deployment.

Captain Reddic seemed to be counting silently; then with a single motion, he stood and slowly drew his sword. Silently, the men in his command took their shields off their backs and silently drew their weapons. Hal and Ty did so as well.

The captain held his blade aloft for only a moment, then made a single downward cut, and started a slow, measured run, Ty and Hal a step behind the other soldiers who knew what was coming. They jogged along silently, then broke into a sprint. One of the ambushers heard the movement and turned, shouting alarm, and the fight was fully joined.

Besides having the element of surprise, it was clear that Bas-Tyra’s soldiers were far deadlier fighters. The shouts from the north told Hal that the other side of the road was under attack as well.