13 Day War (73 page)

Sergeant Dilney did not wait for a response. He turned and continued his run towards the center of the camp. When he arrived, he found the general in the midst of total chaos. He quickly explained what had transpired in the north, adding in the fact that men from the west were fleeing from the attackers. He then mentioned what his own man had told him of the east. The general shook his head and sighed heavily.

“Colonel,” the general said to Colonel Shellard who had been standing close enough to hear the report, “I want our command center moved northwest. We need to be closer to the action. Send out runners to tell every regiment commander that they are to gain control over their men and report to me at the new command center. We are gathering in force to present a proper defense.”

“We are abandoning the barricades?” the colonel asked with a frown.

“Blast the barricades, Colonel. Did you not hear this man’s report? We are losing control over our army. Plant a flag one-thousand paces northwest of here and call it the command center. I want the entire 17
^th
Corps to gather there and present a solid circle of shields to the enemy. The Alceans do not have enough men to beat us unless they can scare our men senseless. I will not allow that to happen.”

Colonel Sawar of the 7
^th
Corps of the Empire of Barouk had just finished checking on the southern perimeter of Team Miram’s camp when the ground began to tremble. He was already halfway back to the command tent and torn as to which way to go. He did not think the earthquake was natural. In fact, he felt it was the opening salvo of a battle with the Alceans. Figuring that General Bledsoe must have felt the trembling as well, and understood its significance, he turned around and began running back towards the southern perimeter to organize the defense. That was when the fierce winds struck out of the south. The first gust of wind lifted the colonel off his feet and slammed him into a tree. Pinned to the tree by the ferocious windstorm, the colonel raised his arms and covered his face. Pebbles and twigs blasted the colonel’s body, but the wind carried something much more ominous, the sounds of battle.

After a while, the winds abated enough for Colonel Sawar to push off the tree. He struggled against the wind as fast as he could towards the southern perimeter with his eyes barely open. He had covered more than half the distance to the barricade when the wind suddenly died. The colonel opened his eyes fully and saw that the enemy was already past the barricade. He saw the king and queen of Alcea in shining white and gold battle attire riding at the head of the Alcean army. He gawked at the horns protruding from the unicorns’ heads and watched with amazement as both the king and queen swung their long, two-handed swords with seeming ease. Federation soldiers on both sides of the royal couple fell with mortal wounds, but the most gruesome deaths were the two red-clad soldiers who were unfortunate enough to be in the way of the charging unicorns. The unicorns lowered their heads in unison and gored the soldiers with their long horns, flipping the gutted bodies aside without breaking stride.

The colonel anxiously glanced right and left of the royal couple and saw Alceans as far as he could see in each direction. The Federation soldiers along the southern perimeter were retreating before the enemy charge, but not in a panic. The Federation soldiers retreated in as orderly fashion as possible given the sudden onslaught. Here and there a shield wall was established, but the Alceans quickly outflanked the uncoordinated efforts. The colonel knew that it would take some organization to prevent a rout. He turned around and ran towards the center of the camp.

As he ran towards the center of the camp, the colonel came upon troops rushing towards the fighting. He waved for the men to halt and then called for the company commanders to gather around him.

“We need a defensive shield line right here,” stated Colonel Sawar. “I want it to eventually spread the entire width of the camp with wings to protect our flanks, but we will have to start it smaller until more men arrive. For now, form it two rows deep and as long as we can. We will lengthen it later.”

The company commanders nodded in understanding and began deploying their men. Colonel Sawar, knowing that his orders would be carried out, broke into a run for the large command tent. When he arrived, he saw that the tent had been destroyed. He glanced around and found General Bledsoe issuing orders to several colonels. He ran to the general to report.

“King Arik and thousands of his men have penetrated the camp via the southern barricade,” the colonel reported. “Our men are not able to repulse them, but I have started a shield line a fair distance behind our front lines. We need more men to reinforce it.”

“I have already given the orders,” the general replied calmly, “but I am keeping several regiments in reserve. I doubt that King Arik is the only Alcean leading an attack this night. The Alceans do not have the numbers for a single frontal attack. It would be suicide. He is probably trying to draw our men southward so he can attack from another angle.”

“You are correct, as usual,” stated General Kozinski as he walked towards General Bledsoe. “I just had a report of an attack on the western perimeter. I am going to need to pull the 17
^th
Corps regiments away from the southern battlefront.”

“How serious is the western fight?” asked General Bledsoe. “Is it a full attack or a feint?”

“I believe it to be a serious attack,” answered General Kozinski. “I have reports of several thousand men, and they are not skirmishing. They are charging into the camp. Our forces have not been able to form a line yet.”

General Bledsoe frowned deeply. “I did not think the Alceans had enough men for a fight this large. Several thousand men in each of two prongs already surpasses the estimates our black-cloaks gave us.”

“The black-cloaks did not know about the men on unicorns,” General Kozinski pointed out. “Evidently the Alceans have gotten reinforcements from somewhere. We will just have to deal with what they have.”

“Agreed,” General Bledsoe responded. “Send someone to check the northern perimeter. I will send someone to the east. I want to know exactly what we are facing.”

“I have already sent a man north,” replied General Kozinski. “I will let you know what he reports.”

General Bledsoe nodded silently, and General Kozinski left to return to his own men. The Baroukan general sighed thoughtfully and then addressed Colonel Sawar.

“You can have seven regiments, Colonel. Build your shield wall, but keep me informed of the enemy’s progress. Something about this attack doesn’t sit well with me.”

“How do you mean, General?” asked the colonel.

“It strikes me as a desperate ploy,” answered General Bledsoe. “The Alceans could ignore this team and fall back to their city walls, but they are instead attacking our camp at night. That tells me that at least one other team is still in play.”

“How does that knowledge help us?” asked Colonel Sawar.

“It tells me that this attack is not meant to merely harass us,” answered the general. “They mean to finish us off tonight, or die in the attempt. I can’t imagine how they can possibly hope to succeed, but I am sure that is their goal.”

“You always taught me not to underestimate the enemy,” frowned Colonel Sawar. “If the Alceans truly think they can win, they must have resources that are unknown to us.”

“Indeed,” replied the general. “Those men on the flying unicorns were never reported before. That is why I am holding three regiments in reserve. Go build your shield wall, Colonel, and try to capture the Alcean king. If we can capture him, we will not only win this battle, but also this war. If you cannot capture him, kill him.”

Hovering in the darkness over the two Federation officers, a tiny pair of ears heard the entire conversation. As the colonel left to form his shield wall, Prince Midge shot up into the night sky and headed south. The fairy prince darted over the Federation camp until he saw the Bringer and the Red Swords. He dropped out of the sky and landed on King Arik’s shoulder just as the Bringer was delivering a deadly stroke to a Federation captain. The severe movement of the Bringer’s shoulder almost sent the fairy prince tumbling from his perch, but Prince Midge grabbed the king’s ear and hung on, his tiny feet swinging in the air.

“There are gentler ways of getting my attention,” King Arik quipped. “What have you learned?”

“They know that Alex is attacking from the west,” reported Prince Midge, “but the worst news is more personal. General Bledsoe is keeping three-thousand men in reserve, and they are gathered all around him. He has also ordered your capture or death to force an end to the war. It will be very hard for you to get close to him. Also, there is a shield wall ahead of you. Not more than five-hundred paces from here.”

King Arik slowed to let the Red Swords take the lead while he pondered this new information. Queen Tanya slowed alongside him.

“General Bledsoe is more clever than I gave him credit for,” stated the king. “He must suspect that I am coming for him. If we manage to break through the shield wall, we will be stuck between two large portions of Bledsoe’s army. That is not a position I want to be in. We need to draw those three reserve regiments away from the general or I will not get close to him. Get to Alex and tell him what you have told me. Ask him to draw off Bledsoe’s reserve. Inform him that he can use the men from Tor if needed. After you do that, return to spying on the general and inform me when the reserves leave his side.”

“For the Bringer!” Prince Midge said loudly while saluting.

The fairy prince shot upward and the king turned to the queen. “Wake Bantam and send her to find David,” Arik said. “I want the Red Swords to fall back.”

“Wake me?” complained Bantam. “Even a fairy would find it impossible to sleep through this battle. I am on my way.”

The blue fairy shot out of Tanya’s pocket and sped into the night sky. Moments later a horn blew and the advance of the Red Swords immediately halted. The Alceans promptly turned their horses and galloped away. Shouts of victory roared through the Federation lines, but Colonel Sawar frowned and shook his head in confusion. He saw no victory in the Alcean retreat. In fact, it was Federation bodies littering the ground, not Alcean. He wondered why the enemy had given up on a successful charge and suddenly left the battlefield.

“Do we give pursuit?” asked one of the company commanders.

“No,” the colonel replied loudly so that everyone heard him. “We hold this line until instructed otherwise.”

* * * *

Prince Midge soared high in the sky and descended rapidly at the western perimeter expecting to find the Alcean Rangers, but he found it desolate. Hundreds of Federation bodies littered the ground, and he turned eastward to follow the trail of destruction. The sounds of battle alerted the fairy prince long before his eyes could detect the Alcean Rangers. The black-clad men on their black horses seemed to merge with the darkness. The fairy prince darted through the Alcean warriors until he saw the white unicorn that Jenneva rode into battle. As he expected, Alexander Tork was close by. He swept down and landed on Alex’s shoulder. He quickly repeated the Bringer’s message.

Alex whistled sharply, a signal to the Alcean Rangers. Kaz immediately turned around and galloped westward. The rest of the Alcean Rangers broke off contact with the enemy and followed.

“Your message has been delivered, Prince Midge,” stated Alex. “Tell Arik that we will draw off the reserves.”

“He already knows that,” replied the fairy prince. “Unless you have a real message for the Bringer, I will not be returning to him just yet. I will be going to spy on General Bledsoe.”

“Then spy well, my little friend.”

Prince Midge bowed to Alex and then shot into the air.

“What a ham,” commented Bitsy as she shot out of Alex’s pocket. “Spying is no great feat for a fairy.”

“It is a talent your people have mastered,” smiled Alex. “I need you to take a message to the men of Tor. On your way, I want you to observe the camp between us and the northern perimeter. Report on your observations when you return.”

Alex gave the fairy a rather detailed message for Lieutenant Montbalm and then sent her on her way. While he waited for her return, he explained to the Alcean Rangers what they were going to do.

* * * *

General Kozinski, commander of the 17
^th
Corps of Spino, stood in the center of a huge circular shield wall. He watched as a portion of the shield wall peeled open to let the cavalry enter. One of the returning riders rode up to the general and dismounted.

“The enemy broke off and retreated towards the western perimeter,” reported Colonel Shellard.

“You did not pursue them?” questioned the general.

“No,” replied the colonel. “My regiment took heavy losses fighting the Alceans. I could not afford to allow them to be sucked into a trap.”

The general frowned. “A trap?” he echoed. “Are you saying that the Alceans did not retreat because their cause was lost?”

“The Alceans gave better account of themselves than we did,” the colonel replied. “They may not be as numerous as us, but I will not besmirch their fighting skills. I think we are up against the Alcean Rangers. They are the finest fighters in all of Alcea. No, General, I do not think they retreated because their cause is lost. I think they meant to draw us into a trap. I refused to oblige them.”

General Kozinski’s brow creased with concern. For a moment, he said nothing, pondering the potential effects of the colonel’s decision. He did not like not knowing where the enemy was, but eventually he realized that there were only three things the Alceans could do. They could attack the shield wall directly, which would be a fatal mistake on their part, or they could drive south to attack General Bledsoe, but the Baroukan general had three regiments protecting him. That made such a move unlikely, leaving the third option as the most probable.

“Take your men and head to the northern perimeter,” ordered the general. “I want the men posted up there to join us here. I will not leave them isolated and exposed to attack.”