13 Day War (59 page)

“We have no idea what is waiting for us out there,” frowned the colonel. “That is why I wanted to join you for the parley. I thought it might give me a chance to size up the enemy forces.”

General Ritka opened his mouth to berate the inferior officer, but he did not speak, his thoughts mulling over the words of the colonel.

“Are we ready to parley?” General Stemple said as he stepped into the tent. “I am anxious to see what a dwarf looks like.”

“A dwarf?” scowled General Ritka. “Even you are infected with silly notions about long-dead creatures?”

“I am fairly confident that dwarves exist,” frowned General Stemple. “While I have not personally seen one, enough of my men have to remove all doubt in my mind. Aren’t you even curious, Ritka? They are creatures of ages gone by. It will be like looking back through the pages of history. Not many men ever have such a chance.”

General Ritka sighed and shook his head. For a moment, silence ruled the tent, but General Ritka eventually looked up at the colonel with decisiveness.

“Get a parley party formed, Colonel. We are going to see a dwarf.”

* * * *

At the northern exit of Hendy Valley, two humans and two dwarves waited impatiently.

“Ritka is not coming,” stated Captain Azule as he looked at the rising sun. “We had better prepare for battle.”

“If Ritka comes at us with the full force of his armies, we are finished,” added Captain Orteka. “Maybe we should bring your dwarves around from the southern exit, Prince Darok.”

The dwarven prince shook his head. “The fairies have not reported any organized movement within the camp. I think it is premature to move our forces around.”

“I agree,” interjected Kroto, the dwarven mage from Cazra. “Your mercenary companies will be enough to keep the Federation armies bottled up until help arrives, if help is needed. Let’s wait and see.”

Moments later, a tiny green man glided down out of the sky and landed on the shoulder of the dwarven prince.

“A party is heading this way,” announced Chip. “Two generals and one colonel are being escorted by a squad of riders.”

“Can you identify the colonel?” asked Prince Darok.

“It is the one called Pierce,” answered the fairy. “He is a Spinoan from the 21
^st
Corps.”

“Well done,” nodded the dwarven prince. “Alert Tedi and the others that the game is about to begin.”

The fairy darted upward, and the prince turned to the mage.

“Are you sure that the entire valley will hear the words spoken here?” asked Prince Darok.

“I guarantee it,” answered Kroto. “Signal me when you wish me to start and end.”

Prince Darok merely nodded. Silence reigned as the two humans and two dwarves waited for the enemy to arrive. Behind them concealed in the trees were two-thousand mercenaries, the only Alcean force presently between the Federation armies and the city of Trekum. They did not have long to wait.

As the Federation officers approached the northern exit, Colonel Pierce’s eyes scanned the forests looking for signs of the extent of the Alcean forces. He could see men hidden among the trees everywhere he looked, but he could not see any dwarves. Up ahead, sitting astride beautiful horses, two men waited for the parley to begin. One of the men was badly scarred on both cheeks, and the colonel felt the need for his eyes to move on. He focused his attention on the other man.

“Who are you to speak for the Sordoans?” bellowed General Ritka as they approached the Alceans.

“I am Captain Azule of the Sarga Mercenary Company,” stated Azule. “My companion is Captain Orteka of the Kadin Claws. I could extend a welcome to our country to you, General Ritka, but the fact is, you are not welcome in Sordoa.”

“Nor any other part of Alcea,” scowled Captain Orteka. “You may have come here to invade our lands, but all you shall find is death, just as those who followed Gattas and Montero found when the dwarves annihilated them. By the grace of King Arik, though, you will be given a chance to surrender. Will you do so?”

“You pompous fool,” spat general Ritka. “You, a mere captain of a mercenary company, are dictating terms to a Federation team leader? Have you no idea of the force that I lead? I have enough men to crush all of Sordoa, and I will do so. I am not so foolish as to believe in your mythical dwarves, and while I do not know where you learned of the names of Gattas and Montero, I will not for one moment believe that you Sordoans have done anything but run from their advancing armies.”

“Now that is a pity.” Prince Darok’s voice boomed as he and Kroto stepped out of the forest and walked forward, the rising sunlight glinting off Prince Darok’s silver and gold armor. His huge gleaming battleaxe held in one hand. “It is usually wiser for a moron to remain silent than to announce his stupidity. Show him, Kroto.”

The three Federation officers stared in disbelief as the two dwarves approached. They watched as the one called Kroto untied a large sack and reached into it.

“Behold the head of General Gattas,” Kroto said as he pulled the head from the sack by its hair. “And the head of General Montero,” he added as he pulled out the other head and held it up for all to see.

“So you think we dwarves should run and hide from the mighty Federation armies, do you, Ritka?” scowled Prince Darok. “You had better think again. My people are not very endeared to the Federation whose forbearers enslaved some of my kin. In fact, we take particular pleasure in pummeling the likes of you.”

General Stemple’s face paled as he gazed upon the severed heads, but General Ritka’s face grew scarlet with rage. The Spinoan general’s hands curled into fists.

“You asked by what authority we were asking for your surrender,” Prince Darok continued. “I am Prince Darok, a Knight of Alcea. I serve as the voice and sword of King Arik wherever I go. I have been authorized to accept your surrender. In fact, the king has, unfortunately, mandated me to seek it. Should you choose to accept, I would be bound to let my human compatriots escort your men to safety until they could be repatriated to their homeland. Personally, I hope you refuse to suffer such an indignity as surrender. I could take great personal satisfaction from killing you.”

“Not in this lifetime, dwarf!” shouted General Ritka. “Before this day is done, it is your head that will be impaled upon a pike.”

General Ritka roughly turned his horse and rode back towards the valley, but General Stemple and Colonel Pierce remained, their eyes fixed upon the heads of the two defeated generals.

“How did they die?” General Stemple asked softly. “Did they refuse to surrender?”

“They were not given the choice,” answered Prince Darok.

“King Arik now believes that we Alceans should endeavor to avoid killing your men,” interjected Captain Azule. “All over Alcea the king’s forces are seeking the surrender of all Federation teams. Very few Federation teams still exist as a threat.”

“That is hard to believe,” frowned Colonel Pierce. “I have been to Alcea before, and your nation does not have the soldiers available to go up against all of the Federation teams.”

“In the Federation,” replied Captain Orteka, “your lives are centered around the army. That is not true in Alcea. Our armies are small, but all of our people will fight you. Your generals had not counted on dwarves and elves fighting by our sides, but they are Alceans, too. Even our civilian populations will rise up against your armies. Such is the case of thousands of mercenaries such as the Kadin Claws, and we are formidable warriors.”

“Ritka will never surrender,” stated General Stemple. “Surely, you are aware of that?”

“Then he will die,” shrugged Prince Darok. “I will see to it personally.”

“If your men wish to surrender,” stated Captain Azule, “they can do so, regardless of what General Ritka decides. They are to leave their weapons on the eastern side of the valley and then retire to the western side. Any man on the eastern side of the valley will die.”

“As will any man on the western side who still holds a weapon,” added Captain Orteka. “If your men are surrendering, it would behoove them to eliminate any man in the western half with a weapon, for such an armed man endangers them all.”

General Stemple nodded and turned his horse around. Colonel Pierce followed and the two men rode slowly back towards General Ritka and the squad escorting them.

“What are you thinking, Colonel?” asked General Stemple.

“I don’t know what to think,” admitted the colonel. “I would not have believed their stories had they not produced the heads. We were supposed to meet up with Gattas and Montero today. If the mercenaries and dwarves have enough of a force to annihilate Team Pontek, it does not bode well for us being cooped up in this valley. I think we need to at least check out the southern exit from the valley. “

General Stemple nodded. “We might be able to find better ground for a battle against the Alceans. Will Ritka allow it?”

“I would be surprised if he is not already planning such a scouting mission,” answered Colonel Pierce. “He will see this valley as a good defensive position but a lousy offensive one. If he wishes to carry the fight to the enemy, he needs to find a way out of here.”

“What took you so long?” snarled General Ritka as General Stemple and Colonel Pierce approached the escort. “We do not have time to wile away. Pierce, I want you to scout out the southern exit. See if we can extricate ourselves from this valley without the enemy being aware.”

“I will go with him,” stated general Stemple. “I feel a need to see for myself.”

General Ritka shrugged with indifference, and the group headed back into the valley. As they rode through the camp, Colonel Pierce noticed that the mood of the camp was odd. All of the men watched the generals ride towards the large command tent, and that was not unusual in itself, but there was also a look of fear upon many of their faces. Some of the men openly glared at General Ritka. That was not a wise posture to adopt in the Federation army, but the Spinoan general did not seem to notice. Without a word, General Ritka dismounted at the tent and disappeared inside. The squad leader continued onward, leading his men as an escort for the two officers heading to the southern exit of the valley.

The southern exit of the valley was less wooded with large stately trees sparsely populating a grassy plain. The colonel saw three individuals standing boldly in the middle of the trail. One was a man holding a staff, and one was a dwarf, but the colonel’s eyes were drawn to the third figure, a black-cloak. He shivered involuntarily and ordered a halt to the small column.

“We have come to talk,” shouted the colonel.

“Then come and talk,” called back the man with the staff. “Leave your soldiers where they are.”

Colonel Pierce and General Stemple rode forward and halted before the three Alceans. The colonel noticed hundreds of dwarves lurking among the trees, and he felt a shiver race up his spine. He focused his eyes on the dwarf standing alongside the man with the staff.

“Are you also a Knight of Alcea?” he asked.

“I am a Knight of Alcea, Colonel Pierce,” stated the man with the staff. “My name is Tedi. Why have you come here?”

The colonel blinked at the use of his name. He refocused his eyes on the speaker as if evaluating him. While Tedi’s body appeared fit and muscular, he did not even carry a sword. It was hard for the colonel to imagine the Alcean as being anyone special.

“You know my name?” questioned the colonel.

“You will find that we Alceans know far more about you than you know about us,” Tedi replied with a taut smile. “Had you known about us, you would never have undertaken such a poorly advised invasion. I notice that General Ritka chose not to accompany you and General Stemple. Does that indicate that he will refuse to surrender?”

“How do you know so much about us?” asked General Stemple.

“How we know so much is not a matter that needs discussion,” replied Tedi. “You already have enough to think about. Will you act boldly to save the lives of your men, General, or will you sacrifice them out of stubborn pride as General Ritka intends to do?”

“Your knowledge about us might answer that question for me,” retorted General Stemple. “Merely knowing our names does not convince me that you can beat my army in a fight. Why then should I consider surrendering?”

“He is wondering if you know about the other teams,” stated the dwarf. “He holds onto a foolish notion that delaying us here will give some advantage to the other teams.”

Tedi nodded to Doryelgar, the dwarven mage from Talman.

“Fair enough,” said Tedi. “Team Pontek was completely destroyed, as I am sure you are aware. In Lanoir, Team Chi and Team Elmor have already surrendered. I am not sure about Team Barouk. In Targa, Team Danver Shores has surrendered, and all of Force Cordonia is out of the war. That only leaves a handful of functioning Federation teams still in this war, and appropriate Alcean forces are dealing with them. None of your remaining teams have mages or food.
 
Their men are tired and hungry. If you are wondering about Team Caldar, the Alcean forces here at Hendy Valley will not be needed to deal with General Omirro. You will gain nothing for the Federation by having your men die this day. Dwell upon that, General Stemple.”

The general nodded, satisfied that the Alceans did indeed know the complete Federation battle plans.

“We will return to camp and tell General Ritka of your words,” stated General Stemple.

The two officers retreated to the escorting squad and then returned to the valley.

“General Ritka will never surrender,” Colonel Pierce said softly.

“I know,” replied General Stemple. “What do you think about our chances of exiting this valley?”

“They are not good,” answered the colonel. “While I did not see overwhelming opposition at either exit, it would not take a large number of men to close off the valley. The exits are narrow enough to stop us from presenting a broad face to the enemy. Perhaps if we could get a regiment over the top of the ridge…”

The colonel glanced up at the ridge as he spoke, and he suddenly halted, his mouth gaping open as he saw the ridge lined with dwarves. He turned quickly and gazed up at the other ridge.