13 Day War (50 page)

“You owe me an explanation,” she said simply.

“I do.” Alex nodded. “Duke Everich’s estate had a very unique feature about it. Of the people assembled tonight, only Arik and I knew about it, and Balamor and Theos kept the king’s mind shielded, so there was no chance of Artimor learning the secret as long as we did not tell anyone else.”

“What feature?” asked Jenneva.

“An access hatch to the city sewers,” grinned Alex. “It was one of the reasons that Everich bought the estate. It allowed him secret access to his minions of the underworld. The day that you and Tanya were struck down during the Battle of Tagaret, Arik and I used the sewers to sneak onto this estate and destroy the nest of black-devils hiding here. That led to the plan used tonight. As soon as everyone entered the front door of the mansion, Arik led them out the back and into the sewers. That is why the timing of our arrival was so critical. We only needed a few moments of distraction to give the king time to make good his escape.”

“Are you sure that they did escape?” frowned Jenneva.

“I am certain,” smiled Alex. “I timed it myself this afternoon, and Arik knew the numbers well before we left the palace. Let’s get back there and inform them of Artimor’s death.”

“And then what?” asked Jenneva.

“The king will make a speech to the citizens in the morning. He will explain about the demonkin and the tainted boots. The people will be told to destroy any boots bought from Artimor or repaired by him. The irritability and sickness will simply disappear.”

“So I am free to join you in battle up north?” asked Jenneva.

“You are. In fact, the others will be coming with us.”

“The others?”

“Arik, Tanya, and Theos,” stated Alex. “I am not sure about Balamor.”

“The king and queen are going into battle? Is that wise?”

“They must,” nodded Alex. “Although getting rid of the boots will cure the sickness, it will not happen overnight, and the soldiers cannot march without boots. The army will be of no help against Team Miram, and the Rangers and Red Swords cannot handle the enemy alone. Besides, they are still the Warrior King and Warrior Queen. They will be fine.”

Jenneva sighed anxiously. It was not that she doubted the skills of Arik and Tanya, but things grew chaotic during a battle. She knew that anything could happen.

* * * *

The gypsies crept through the tall grass as silently as myrics. When they reached the bank of the river, Adan rose slightly and glanced around. He saw no one. Sticking a finger in his pocket, the King of the Gypsies woke his fairy. Instantly a chubby male fairy shot out of the pocket and landed on the gypsy’s shoulder.

“Take a look around, Moth,” ordered Adan. “Let me know if any of the Federation soldiers are within hearing distance. We are going to make a fair amount of noise tonight.”

Moth waddled to the end of Adan’s shoulder and threw himself off. His wings beat furiously, and for a moment it appeared as if he would fall to the ground. He did not. Moth’s strong wings soon propelled him upward at a furious pace and the chubby fairy disappeared into the night sky.

“I guess Prince Midge has run out of able recruits,” frowned Kyle. “Moth should not be used in the field.”

“What are you talking about?” quipped Laman. “Moth is a great fairy. He is easily worth one and a half of any other fairy.”

“Knock it off,” Adan said to the men from Lavinda. “Moth is already rather self-conscious about his weight. The other fairies rib him mercilessly. We do not need to add to his misery.”

“But can he function?” countered Kyle. “I did not speak to hurt his feelings. I am truly concerned about his ability to do the task and remain unseen. He is rather large.”

“Moth has performed admirably,” answered Adan. “He has never failed an assignment, and I do not expect that to change tonight.”

Several minutes passed in silence before Moth returned. He glided down out of the sky and landed on Adan’s shoulder with a thud.

“The Federation soldiers are nowhere near the bridges,” the fairy reported. “They are all within their camp.”

Adan raised an eyebrow at the report.

“You seem concerned,” Kyle said suspiciously.

“No,” Adan shook his head. “It is just unexpected. I thought once they discovered that there was no way to go north that they might post sentries by the bridges to secure them. It is their only way out of the swamp.”

“Let’s remove the bridges before they discover their mistake,” suggested Laman.

Adan nodded as he rose to his feet and signaled his men to advance. Laman and Kyle moved towards the bridges to supervise their removal, but Adan remained in the grass. He turned his head and looked at the fairy.

“You did well, Moth,” Adan said with a smile. “Now I need to send you on a more dangerous mission.”

“No danger is too great for the fairy people,” Moth replied. “How may I serve the King of the Gypsies?”

“I need to get word to Mandel and Hortice,” explained Adan. “They and their men are hidden in the swamp near the Federation camp. They will be difficult to find, even for a fairy.”

“Fairies can find anyone,” boasted Moth.

“I do believe that to be true,” Adan said with a smile, “but you should know by now that gypsies can hide rather well. You will need to stay close to the surface of the swamp to find them, and great dangers exist at that level, especially for creatures as small as yourself.”

Moth shuddered at the thought of being eaten by one of the giant reptiles, but he replied with courage, “I will deliver your message. What shall I say to them?”

“Tell them that the bridges are being removed,” instructed Adan. “They are now authorized to begin their portion of this mission. You are to stay with them until they are done, Moth, just in case they need to send a message back. Find a safe place to wait and let Mandel and Hortice know where you will be. Above all, do not let the Federation see you.”

“You can count on me,” the fairy said reassuringly. “Fairies are never seen unless they want to be seen.”

Adan chuckled as Moth rose in the sky. He felt for the chubby fairy, and his thoughts turned to Caroom. Caroom had been a giant of a gypsy, and his size had made him a bit of an outcast. Adan often wondered how much of an impact those hurt feelings had in the play of events. In the end, Caroom had turned against the gypsy people, and he had died for that betrayal, but Adan wondered if the gypsy people had made it easy for the giant to turn against his own people by making him feel as if he was not one of them. Adan shook his head as if to clear it of such thoughts and walked towards the bridges to watch them being dismantled.

Moth soared high over the swamp, but he approached the Federation camp with the night sky in mind. Being careful not to get between the enemy and the moon, the fairy gazed down at the inhospitable terrain. He could see no gypsies in the swamp, and he suddenly remembered Adan’s instructions to fly low. Banking into a steep dive, the fairy shot downward with great speed. The tall grass rose towards him at a dizzying pace. He flared his wings out wide to slow his descent, but it was too little, too late. The tall blades of stiff grass whipped his body as he plowed through them, and he tumbled to the ground.

Moth pushed himself off the ground, the muck of the swamp sticking to his hands and oozing over his feet. He looked around, but he could not see a single pace in any direction. The grass was thick and tall, and he was stuck in the middle of it. He started tromping through the maze, but he had only gone a little ways when the noises around him caused him to halt in fear. He heard something large slithering through the grass to one side of him, and something very large soared directly overhead, its wings momentarily blotting out the moonlight. Moth shuddered with fear.

The fairy hesitantly turned towards the slithering noise, his eyes as large as buttons. Frozen with fear, he listened to the sound coming closer. Suddenly he saw the grass stalks moving and then he heard the hiss. A giant snake lifted its head up and sniffed the air, its forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. Moth panicked. He screamed and ran, his tiny feet sloshing through the muck. The snake must have sensed its prey for it darted towards the fleeing fairy. Moth bounced off stalk after stalk as he hysterically raced for his life, the sounds of the slithering snake gaining on him with every step.

Eventually, Moth ran out of the patch of grass. He broke out into the open to find himself on the edge of a body of water. He flapped his wings furiously, but he was too exhausted to propel himself off the ground. He just could not get off the ground. Tears came to his eyes as he turned around and watched the giant snake approaching. The slithering beast halted as its tongue detected the fairy. It raised its head and lunged at Moth. The fairy closed his eyes and whimpered. The fairy trembled as he waited for the strike that would end his life, but it never came. Moth opened his eyes and saw the head of the snake mere inches from him, and then it was gone, flung off to some distant place by a large hand.

“You shouldn’t play in the swamp, Moth,” said the voice. “It is a very dangerous place, especially for fairies.”

Moth frowned in confusion. He turned and saw an arm sticking out of the water, a human arm. He turned further and stared into the mud-covered face of Mandel. The gypsy was submerged in the water of the swamp, only his head and arm were above the surface.

“You saved my life,” Moth said with awe and reverence. “I thought I was going to die.”

“You just might have,” Mandel said compassionately. “It happens to the best of us, but you are alive now. Rejoice and be thankful. What are you doing out here?”

Moth tried to stop his body from shivering, but he could not. He blushed with embarrassment, knowing that the gypsy had witnessed him cowering in fear. He was ashamed.

“Adan sent me to deliver a message to you and Hortice. The bridges are being removed and you are authorized to start your part of the mission.”

“Excellent,” smiled the gypsy. “I will inform Hortice and the others. Do you need help getting aloft?”

Moth broke down and cried. His head grew light and his limbs trembled so badly that he could not stand. He dropped into a sitting position and let the tears flow freely.

“I meant no slight by my words,” Mandel said softly. “You have been through a trying ordeal. Even a gypsy would appreciate some help under those conditions.”

“A gypsy would not cower in fear,” mumbled Moth. “I am fat, and I am useless. And now I am a coward. You should have let the snake eat me.”

“As long as you are assigned to Adan,” Mandel said caringly, “you are a gypsy, Moth.” Mandel reached out and cupped the fairy with his hand, holding him securely. “I have known fear in my life, and I know what it does to a man. You have no need to be embarrassed. You trying to fight off that snake would be the same as me trying to fend off a dragon. There would be no option but to run for either of us. Calm yourself and then I will give you a boost to get you flying.”

Moth shook his head. “Adan wants me to stay with you, in case you have need to send a message back.”

“And you are willing to stay in the swamp?”

“It is my duty,” answered the fairy. “I have no choice.”

“We always have a choice, Moth.”

“I will not abandon my duty,” declared the fairy.

“Then you are far braver than you think,” smiled Mandel. “Every man knows fear at one time or another. That is nothing to be ashamed of, but it takes true courage to stand firm in the face of fear. Let’s find a reasonably safe perch for you while Hortice and I teach the Federation a lesson.”

The gypsy moved silently through the water. First he joined up with Hortice and passed along Adan’s message. He then found a small tree for Moth and placed him on a branch as high as he could reach.

“If the light is good,” Mandel said in parting, “you will have a good view of the action. If you need to, you can glide off your perch to any one of us. Stay dry, my friend.”

Mandel sunk back into the swamp and moved off towards the enemy encampment, which was well lit with roaring campfires. When he drew close to their perimeter, he met up again with Hortice and the others.

“The black-cloaks have split up,” stated Hortice. “There are four of them to the right and four to the left.”

“I will take the left,” stated Mandel. “Take half the men and focus on the mages to the right. It is early yet, so they will not be anxious to confine themselves to the tents. They will probably try to keep near the fires so that the stinging flies and mosquitoes don’t eat them alive. Try to kill them when they wander off to relieve themselves, or anytime that you can get one of them alone. When you have killed them all, return to Moth’s tree.”

Hortice nodded and selected three men to join him. Mandel led the other three men to the left. The grassy island where the Federation armies were camped was relatively dry ground, but watery channels ran through it in all directions. Sometimes the channels were so narrow that you could step over them, but other times they were wide enough to force you to go around them. Almost all of the channels were fairly deep, even the narrow ones. The setup was ideal for the gypsy mission, and Mandel’s men soon split up to cover as much of the left portion of the encampment as possible. As was Mandel’s nature, he took the most precarious section for himself, never willing to order a man to do something that he would not do himself.

Mandel was a patient warrior, which was necessary this evening. It took nearly three hours before he finally managed to get near a black-cloak relieving himself. The mage broke away from a group of soldiers near one of the big fires, and the soldiers were glad to see him leave. Mandel anticipated the mage’s path and slowly moved through one of the channels to get close. He eased a reed and a myric quill out of his small quiver and fed the quill into the reed. As the gypsy got into position, he spooked one of the large carnivorous reptiles that had been resting in a dark spot on the mud bank. The large creature slithered off the mud and disappeared under the water. Mandel tried not to think about it. He had run into the creatures several times already, and so far they had not tried to attack him. He hoped his luck endured through the night.