BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan (35 page)

After taking a deep breath through his mouth,
Baltor continued, “As we have discovered before, there is the
possibility that the enemy shall be using optical illusions,
whether they be dark clouds or actual images. Nevertheless, you
must all trust in my intuition as it continuously guides me, as you
must trust in yours! Do you all understand, Forces?”

The troops boomed out, “Yes, my Sultan!”

Baltor set the megaphone down in the
saddlebag, before unsheathing both swords in one movement. As he
held them crossed over his head, he yelled out, “For the Sharia
Empire!”

The troops boomed out, “For the Sharia
Empire!”

This time, Baltor yelled at the top of his
lungs, “
For the Sharia Empire!!
”

The troops boomed out even louder, “
For
the Sharia Empire!!!
”

After sheathing back his swords, Baltor
continued to yell, “I have one last important thing to mention
before we execute—Major-General Thorn is hereby given a field
promotion to Commanding-General!”

A strong look of pride crossed Thorn’s face
upon hearing this most surprising news about the promotion.

Speaking at a normal tone of voice, Baltor
ordered, “Commanding-General Thorn, order the troops to march to
Scarthan. Once there, Commanding-General Petrol shall lead the
assault team. You will be in charge of the defensive team that
surrounds the city—ensure that no dark gnomes escape from any
direction. Are my orders clearly understood?”

“Yes, my Sultan,” both Thorn and Petrol
snapped aloud, while throwing a sharp salute. Once the salutes were
returned and dropped, Thorn ordered the troops, “Forward
march!”

The army marched.

About two in the morning, the army finally
arrived a quarter of a mile away from the ruined city of
Scarthan.

Even though there wasn’t a single manmade
light at all in the entire city, everyone could clearly see the
ruins of what this once-beautiful city had been. After all, both
moons were nearly full in the night sky, which actually gave off an
incredible amount of light!

After Thorn had ordered all the defensive
forces to surround the entire city, and they had done so, Baltor
then ascended his hawk to about two hundred and fifty feet
altitude, which was just out of range from the most powerful of
gnome archers, and then flew over the city itself.

Meanwhile, he keenly scanned for the largest
congregations of dark gnomes, and once discovered, he would drop an
acid bomb down into the congregation, which caused around
eighty-or-so fatalities and wounded dozens upon dozens more. Once
dropped, he would wave the lit torch in his free hand.

Thus, the assault forces guided by Han knew
exactly where to charge into the city, attack the disorganized
gnomes, and then charge back out of the city before the dark gnomes
could regroup or outflank!

For the next two days and nights, non-stop,
Baltor’s army valiantly fought this way against one hundred
fifty-two thousand, one hundred fifty-four dark gnomes at
Scarthan—never was there a single sign of the black dragon! Because
this battle was fought non-stop, Baltor ordered his forces to fight
for twelve hours, sleep for six hours, and then fight for the next
twelve hours.

On the third day of fierce combat, the
Vispano Forces arrived—fifty thousand infantry soldiers, fifteen
thousand archers, and thirty thousand knights.

With these additional forces, Baltor and his
army quickly decimated the gnome army, especially through the
continuous volleys of arrows shot through the day and night into
the city!

Two nights later, once the last gnome was
dead, Petrol delivered the report to Baltor that he had lost
eighteen thousand, one hundred fifty-two men and women upon the
battlefield … and that very few of the dark gnomes had escaped.

The following night after the victory at
Scarthan, Baltor’s army of one hundred forty-six thousand, eight
hundred forty-nine troops began to march southeast toward the
Galgaa Jungles, but per the report by Travail, they wouldn’t arrive
there for at least two months.

While Baltor slept the following day, he had
a very disturbing dream, and though he could not recall most of the
details, he did see Humonus and some other man riding on a giant
hawk, all engaged in a ferocious battle with the black dragon! And
that somehow, Humonus had gotten mortally hurt, but Baltor could
not remember how or if he had survived!

For this reason alone, Baltor’s first order
upon awakening was for Thorn to locate Traes and tell him to
prepare the hawk for departure as soon as possible, and once ready,
have Traes land outside the command tent. The second order was to
have the troops assembled in formation, and ready to go, in thirty
minutes.

Thorn saluted, before leaving to carry out
the orders.

Twenty minutes later, Praetor was perched
outside the command tent—with Traes standing on the ground and
holding the reins. Already had quite a few of the soldiers
gathered, and many more were on the way.

Baltor used this time to gingerly place the
last two cloth-and-box wrapped “acid bombs” into Praetor’s
saddlebags, one in the left and the other in the right. No one got
in his way.

Once done with that cautious task, nearly
five minutes later, he began to lovingly stroke his hawk’s face
while staring eye to eye the whole time, and smile. Praetor
definitely appreciated the attention he got from his master.
Meanwhile, Traes had already strapped himself into the back of the
saddle, which saddle also had three small pigeon cages strapped
onto it, and patiently waited.

Precisely five minutes later, Baltor sensed
that the time had come for formation, so he stopped petting and
talking to his animal. He next looked over and confirmed that his
Forces were now assembled and in the position of attention.
Travail, Han, Petrol, and Thorn stood in the front of the
ranks—each before his own division of soldiers.

After climbing into the saddle and buckling
himself in, Baltor picked up the megaphone and called out,
“Forces….I must leave you all at this time, as I shall be exploring
the road ahead and get to the war against the gnomes and the dragon
even sooner…the sooner, the better.”

After taking a very deep breath through his
nose, he added, “If I see-or-learn about any threats coming your
way of any kind, I shall send word via one of the pigeons…

“Until I return, which I will, listen and
obey the orders of your superior officers, who are speaking on my
behalf. Senior-Commanding-Knight Travail, as well my
Commanding-Generals Travail, Han, and Thorn—you know all my other
important orders from our last commanders’ meeting, and you are now
in charge…

“Finally, for all that you do, no matter
whether general or private, do it for honor…do it for glory… Do you
understand, Forces of the Sharia Empire?”

The forces boomed out, “
Yes, my
Sultan!!!
”

“Good…carry on.”

With that, Baltor launched Praetor high into
the skies, just before flying southeast at top speed.

In the middle of the Galgaa Jungle—

three days and one hour later…

Cheo, Humonus, Yaush, Salami, Stormea, and
Ray all ate dinner in silence and exhaustion, while sitting around
a large rectangular table set up in the command tent, which dinner
consisted of a small portion of dried jerky and a quarter mug of
water. All the while, the rest of the army, as well the giants,
continued to set up the rest of camp or the temporary stables—they
had already eaten.

Once Cheo saw everyone was done eating, only
a few minutes later, he stood up out of his seat, and then began
the commanders’ briefing by signing, “Gentlemen, just so you all
are aware, I know exactly where we are, even without a map or
having rode the hawk today, as it was Ruling-General Humonus’s
turn…

“Currently, we are camped sixty-six miles due
west of my village, once proudly known by my citizens as
Chao-chu-sha-maen—it should be only about a day-or-two until we
arrive, depending upon our speed. Really, that is all I have to say
right now,’ Cheo signed before he sat down.

As always, Humonus verbally translated all
that Cheo signed.

Salami, in turn, interpreted to Yaush. In
turn, Yaush nodded.

Following the nod, Humonus stood up out of
his seat as he declared, “Thank you, King Cheo. Now, before I say
what I have to say, I first need to know—how are the morale and the
stamina of the troops, Commanding-General Stormea?”

Salami interpreted.

Stormea stood up and replied, “Sirs, for the
most part, the morale and stamina surprisingly aren’t all that
low—there are the occasional negative complaints that the troops
make to my commanders, who in turn report everything to me. I have
personally talked to any of those who expressed complaints, and
attempted to boost their morale. For the most part, my strategies
have worked.”

He purposefully gave a lengthy pause.
Meanwhile, Salami interpreted to Yaush, not only through this
pause, but also through every pause.

Once Stormea saw that Salami was done, he
then continued, “One of the most common complaints from the troops
is the fact that our water and food supplies have been strictly
rationed, and that they are still hungry, or thirsty, after having
consumed their rations…

“The troops are quite aware, or made to be
aware, of the important reasons, sirs, for the rationing—one, we’ve
received no new supply wagons carrying food and water supplies for
nearly two months…

“Two, we haven’t received a single drop of
rain since we entered the Galgaa Jungle a month ago, not even
enough morning’s dew to collect from the leaves. Which leads to
three, your direct order not to refill canteens or water bags at
any of the lagoons or small streams we’ve passed, as they’ve
probably been poisoned by the gnomes…

“Most of the other complaints relate to the
harsh jungle conditions we’ve been enduring rather well—the
non-stop hot and sticky weather, the dense vegetation and trees
that oftentimes become very difficult to traverse, especially for
those soldiers driving horse-drawn wagons or chariots…

“Oh, and of course they complain about all
the leeches, snakes, ants, and all the other sighted predatory
jungle animals—you get the picture…”

After clearing his throat, Stormea concluded,
“Again, sirs, I’d like to reiterate that, for the most part, the
morale and the stamina of the troops isn’t bad.” He sat back down
in his seat.

While Salami interpreted, Humonus waited
until done. Once so, he stood up, looked over at Stormea and said,
“Thank you for your report, Commanding-General Stormea. I know
all-too-well that this is a very tedious war we’re waging. We’re
all hungry. We’re all thirsty. We’re all tired. We’re all homesick.
We need to stay strong and focused…”

Salami interpreted.

Casting his gaze over at Ray, Humonus next
said, “Major-General Ray, for your information, as you were asleep
all day long, there hasn’t been any sighting of the gnome army on
this day—by the advanced scouts, or by myself scouting around on
the hawk. Just because we’ve only had one encounter with the enemy,
this does not mean that a major battle can’t erupt at any moment,
so ensure the troops remain on yellow alert!”

Although this information was intended only
for Ray, as everyone else had been awake all day long and on the
march, Humonus waited for Salami to finish interpreting it
anyway.

Humonus next ordered the general, “Tonight,
we shall quadruple the guards and sub-commanders normally
posted—you and your soldiers will get to sleep tomorrow in the
backs of bunk wagons. That is all I have to say.” He sat down.

Ray crisply replied, “Yes sir!”

After Salami interpreted and Yaush had nodded
his head, no one rose to his feet or said another word, and for at
least the next ten seconds.

Still sitting, Humonus looked around the room
one final time before asking, “Does anyone else have anything to
report? Now is the time to say it…anyone?”

After Salami had interpreted, Yaush stood up
out of his seat and said something that took nearly a minute. Upon
his conclusion, he began to laugh his booming laughter for a few
moments.

Once Yaush had sat back down, Salami
interpreted, “Yaush says that he is very happy to see that the
Valakanese and the Forces of the Sharia Empire are working so well
together, despite the language barriers…

“He also said that none of the Valakanese has
expressed any major complaints, even though so very few of us have
ever been exposed to this type of hot-and-humid weather before.
Even worse than the weather, he half-joked, is the fact that we
Valakanese love to eat a lot—especially Yaush himself! He said he
had to tie a shirt tightly around his waist, so he wouldn’t hear
his stomach grumbling angrily at him anymore…
Ha ha ha!
”

At that, everyone began to chuckle lightly—of
course, Salami’s chuckles sounded like an old man’s cackles.

Perhaps a dozen seconds later, Cheo stopped
laughing, and stood up out of his seat before yawning and
stretching deeply. He then signed, “Well, gentlemen, let’s all get
our rest, for tomorrow’s going to be real busy day, which day will
come before we know it! Goodnight gentlemen.”

After Humonus and Salami had both translated,
everyone rose to their feet while nodding their heads in agreement.
Everyone but Humonus and Cheo exited the tent.

These two men walked over to their individual
bunks, hopped in, covered themselves with a blanket, and went fast
asleep.

Only an hour before sunrise the following
morning, the exhausted guards began the process of waking up the
troops and giants.

Meanwhile, Ray’s final mission before going
to sleep was to wake up Cheo and Humonus and give a detailed report
of the previous night, and so he had already begun to head to the
command tent to do just that.