The Caravan Road (8 page)

Running, dodging, hurdling over obstacles at times, Alec moved rapidly back towards the square.  As he approached it he looked down a side street and saw the soldiers in question moving in the same direction as him, marching down a parallel street, at a slower pace than Alec traveled.  He put on a burst of ingenaire energy and sprinted ahead, then reached the square with a minute to spare.

“He’s back!  Duke Alec is returned!” someone recognized him and started to herald him.

“Get back!  Everyone seek safety; soldiers are coming,” Alec shouted out a warning as he took a position in the center of the square.  The level of activity in the square increased as people started to run for cover, urging their animals, gathering their belongings, and otherwise trying to vacate the imminent battlefield.

“We’ll help you, your highness,” Alec heard a voice, and turned to see the man he had healed earlier, the father of the red-headed girl, holding a hatchet, at the head of a small column of other marketplace denizens, all similarly armed with simple weapons.

If Alec were to let such untrained citizens attempt to fight the practiced veterans of the palace guard, the result would be a horrific slaughter, he foresaw.  But he felt touched by the loyalty the men had so quickly pledged to him, and their offer to fight on his behalf.  He looked around at the physical environment of the market square, then motioned towards an alley.  “Do any of you have bows and arrows?” he asked.  Less than half the men raised their hands.

“Everyone who has them, go to that alley,” he told them.  “The rest of you, go to that alley over there,” he pointed in the opposite direction.  “Once you’re there remain there silently until I signal to you to attack,” he instructed, then watched the mob separate into two portions that went their separate ways.  When each was in place, Alec engaged his light energies to create invisibility shields that hid each group from sight.  The rest of the square rapidly grew empty in short order, and Alec stood alone in the empty space, able to hear the sound of the approaching soldiers, who emerged into view within minutes, and came directly towards him when they found no other obvious target.  Alec let them approach, carefully walking backwards at a slow pace, drifting to his left, towards the alley where his armed supporters waited.

He stopped when he was within ten paces of the alley, and examined his pending opponents.  The column of soldiers was over two score in number, but the two men at the front of the column were the ones he focused on.  They displayed such an arrogant air of smooth confidence that Alec was sure they had to be Ajacii, a pair of imposing warriors sent to investigate and avenge the circumstances that had felled one of their fellows.

“I am the Duke Alec, rightful leader of Valeriane.  I command you all to kneel in acknowledgement of my sovereignty in the city, or be prepared to face the consequences,” Alec spoke first.

“Whoever you are,” one of the presumed Ajacii said, “whatever you are, you are accused of murder for the death of the Marquis of Thermore.  Surrender your weapons and submit to capture.”

“I’ve fought two Ajacii before,” Alec replied in a careful tone.  “They were good.  Abelard and Isial: I fought them long ago, and it was a hard battle, but in the end I was alive and they weren’t.  Don’t tempt fate – surrender and acknowledge my rule now.”

“I am little impressed by your ability to cite mythology,” the other Ajax replied.  They two were not twins, but they shared dark brown hair and round faces that sat atop stocky, muscular bodies.  From the rear they might have seemed to be twins, Alec guessed as he looked at them closely.

Alec knew that his Warrior abilities were strong, but his use of them was rusty.  Other than his struggle earlier in the day, he’d not fought a battle for a purpose in over a decade, not since the last time he had cleared a gang of bandits off the caravan road.  And he intended to split the stream of ingenaire power he called upon, which would diminish his Warrior strength to some degree.  He would need to be very careful with this match, and take his time.

Alec proceeded to engage his Spiritual ingenaire energy while keeping his Light energy flowing, then added the stream of power from the Warrior portion of the Ingenairii realm.  All three flows of energy coursed smoothly through him, the Light power maintaining the camouflage for his small bands of supporters, the Warrior power coiled and ready to propel him into battle, while the Spiritual power separated the two, preventing his body from shutting down by insulating the two conflicting energy sources from one another.  All three energies would be less than maximal, but Alec was strong in his ability to handle the powers, strong enough to utilize great resources from each.

“I have given you the option.  Do you refuse to concede?  Do you want to suffer the same fate that the marquis received?” Alec asked.  “If so, stand guard,” he warned, and raised the sword he still carried, the sword he had confiscated from one of the earlier soldiers he had faced in the square.

The two Ajacii spread apart, taking up separate positions as they drew their own swords with the astounding speed Alec knew they were capable of.

Alec was calling upon his Light power to the fullest level he could manage with his multiple streams of energy, straining to maintain the two invisibility shields that were protecting his followers.  His Warrior powers would suffice, he was sure, but not one hundred percent sure.

The two Ajacii came at Alec at once, causing him to block one sword thrust with his own blade as he drew a dagger from his bandolier and barely deflected the other sword with his smaller weapon.  The men immediately attacked again, and Alec knew he was going to have to change his plans as he jumped high in the air and flipped backwards to escape.

He signaled to the archers in the far alley, and a small flurry of arrows immediately launch
ed
skyward, then fell to the paving stones of the square, some striking the soldiers who stood in support of the Ajacii, astounded by the inexplicable appearance of the weapons.

One of the Ajacii took a fraction of a second to observe what was happening among his followers, and in that moment, Alec threw his dagger at his opponent, a perfect toss that the Ajax managed to barely block with his sword in a delayed reaction.  The second Ajacii closed on Alec quickly and tied him up for several seconds in an intense fencing match that brought their blades into continual contact as each of them thrust and parried.  The first Ajax began to approach the match,
lead
ing Alec to realize that he
would have
to
focus
more of his e
nergy
on his own battle. 

Alec dropped the invisibility shield he maintained in front of the archers, so that the soldiers could see where their antagonists were, and the column began to advance towards them.  A moment later Alec dropped his other invisibility shield in front of the second group of local militia, and signaled for them to advance and attack the undefended rear of the duke’s soldiers.

With tha
t
he dropped his Light and Spirit ingenaire powers, and focused all his energies on his Warrior abilities.

Bolstered, Alec flung three of his daggers in blindingly fast succession at the further antagonist as he continued to hold off the closer Ajax with his sword.  Two of the knives reached the flesh of the approaching attacker and he fell to the ground with a cry of pain.  Seconds later a noisy clash occurred in the square as the small mob of armed tradesmen fell upon the back of the column of soldiers, hacking with hatchets and knives and pipes to destroy the force that had preyed on them in recent months, unleashing all the frustration and hatred they had bottled up.

Alec paid no attention to the distracting occurrences as he focused on the Ajax he was now fighting one-to-one.  He swung his sword with his full strength and disarmed his opponent, knocking his sword to the ground, then firmly placing a foot to hold it down as his own requisitioned sword point pressed against the man’s throat.

“Do you surrender?” Alec asked.

“No. Never.  Go ahead and kill me,” the combatant said defiantly.

“I won’t do that,” Alec said, and instead he dropped his Warrior energies and tapped the Air ingenaire abilities, then wove a curtain of hard-pressing air all around the Ajax, creating an invisible prison that held the man in place as Alec turned and ran to help his followers in their faltering battle against the trained soldiers.

There were bodies on the ground, archers running to join the battle, and a generally bloody and chaotic scene occupying the center of the square as Alec arrived, and
amid the confusion
his men were suffering losses.  Alec plunged into the battle, a tremendous fighter even without his ingenaire powers engaged.  More importantly, the soldiers feared him, and shied away from him.  Several turned and fled from the square as they recognized that the man who had battled the Ajacii had joined their skirmish, while a few ot
hers surrendered immediately, and
yet others
continued to try to fight.  A few minutes later the battle was over, with Alec and his followers the bloody victors.

Alec split his energy stream into three portions again, using Spirit powers to insulate his continuing Air energy usage, which still held his captive Ajacii, from his new need to call upon his Healer energy.  He hurried among the bodies on the ground, restoring health to those who were not already dead, both his own followers and the duke’s soldiers alike, until he came to the body of the man he had healed earlier in the day.  The stocky man was dead beyond resuscitation, causing Alec to pause for a moment, thinking about how the man had nearly lost his life the first time trying to defend his daughter, and then used his restored life to try to help Alec.

He rose and went to two more bodies that he was able to treat, then stood, his healing work complete, and saw the local residents were creeping out of the doorways and hiding places, coming to examine the results of the battle.  “You,” he pointed to a pair of his erstwhile supporters, “protect the dead here, gather them all in one place.  Don’t let anyone abuse the dead soldiers or loot any of the bodies.  Make sure they’re all treated with respect.”

Among the approaching citizens Alec recognized the young red-headed girl he had rescued at the start of the day’s battles, and he momentarily sighed.   He looked over at the captive Ajax, still standing captive in his invisible cage, then walked over to greet the girl.

“Your father called you Carla, didn’t he?” Alec asked, thinking that the name was an exotic one, a name he’d never heard before.

She nodded brief affirmation before she spoke.  “Is he alright?”

Alec allowed his Spirit energy to contact the girl, and he carefully extended his hand to reach out and take hers, so that he could extend comfort and condolences to her.  “Your father fought bravely today to help me; I needed his help.  But he did not survive the battle with the soldiers.  His body is over there, and will be treated respectfully.”

Carla broke the contact with Alec and ran to the spot where the bodies were laid, then knelt by her father, tears dropping softly.  “Which soldier killed him?” she asked when Alec arrived to stand silently behind her.  “Will you kill him?”

“We don’t know which one it was.  In a battle it’s difficult to point at one man and say he is the one,” Alec answered.

“Why don’t you kill them all?  Kill all the soldiers, so that we know the killer is dead!” Carla asked with a fierce agony in her voice.

“I don’t want to make another girl mourn the death of her father as well,” Alec answered
, thinking already about his need to take his next step
.  He needed to carry on with his approach to the palace, as much as he wanted to comfort the girl.  “Is your mother in town?  Can you get someone to help you claim and treat your father?”

The girl did not look up at him, and her hair had shifted to fall over her ear, blocking her face from his view.  “I’ll go get mother and the neighbors.  We’ll take him from here.”

“When I’m in the palace in a couple of days and control the city, please come see me, to let me know that your family is doing alright,” Alec told her.  He reached down and let a gentle stream of Spiritual energy run through him and into her, knowing that it would do little good at a time of such deep pain.

He removed his hand from the top of her head and walked away, to confront the captured soldiers.  “You can choose to support me as the real Duke of Valeriane, or you can choose not to, and suffer any consequences,” he told them as he walked among them.  He was still maintaining his Air energies to hold the Ajax in place, while he also held his Spiritual energies, and he walked among the captive soldiers now, feeling the reactions they were experiencing, judging which he could accept as followers of his own, and which would have to be rejected.

“Is there a place we can use as a prison, to hold our captives?” he asked one of the citizens who had fought for him.

“There’s Arley’s locker,” the man replied after a moment of hesitant thought.

“Take those three and him,” Alec motioned towards the soldiers he wouldn’t trust to be faithful, “And put a guard over them to keep them out of trouble,” then he watched as the protesting men in uniform were escorted out of the square.

“You,” he addressed those who remained, both captive soldiers and citizen militia, “are my army.