Mindbender (16 page)

“Conner, your father and I have agreed on a strategy that is quite different from the one we announced to the world,” Alexander said. “He wrote a letter for you and asked that I give it to you once we were well away from the city.” Alexander produced the folded piece of parchment stamped with the seal of Ithilian and handed it to Conner.

The Prince of Ithilian read the letter and a fierce smile spread across his face. “I like this plan much better,” he said. “But I don’t understand why I was excluded until now.”

“Your uncle Cassius is in league with Phane,” Alexander said gravely. “He may have helped the enemy abduct your sister.”

Conner’s face went crimson red and fury flashed in his eyes. “I’ll kill him for this,” he said with coiled rage. “He has never supported my father, but this is treason. Why isn’t he in chains as we speak?”

“Because I asked your father to let him continue with his treachery,” Alexander said. “He’s far more useful to us as a conduit of disinformation. If he were arrested, it would alert the enemy that their plans have been compromised. If our ruse works, it will accomplish two things. First, the forces in Grafton Province will drop their guard because Abel has indicated a willingness to meet their demands. Second, the enemy on Ruatha will adjust their strategy to defend against an army coming through the Gate behind them. Hopefully, that will buy my father some time to protect the people of New Ruatha and Northport.”

Anatoly chuckled. “I’m glad to see you were paying attention during your strategy lessons.”

“I must caution you, Lord Reishi,” Jataan said, “Prince Phane has ways of spying at a great distance. It would be wise to not speak of this again.”

Alexander knew as well as anyone how valuable information was. He had used his unique magical talents to gather information time and again. He nodded to Jataan. “Point taken,” he said, then turned to the Rangers. “Lieutenant Wyatt, return to the legions at the Gate with Prince Conner’s honor guard and offer General Brand any and all information you can about Ruatha. Draw him a map of the area around the Gate and assist him in any way he requires to make his legions ready for battle with the Reishi Army Regency.”

“Understood, Lord Reishi,” Lieutenant Wyatt said.

Conner briefed the commander of his honor guard and they continued north toward the Gate with the Rangers. Alexander turned east with his friends and Conner to skirt the city and head south toward Grafton Province. They each had a spare horse and plenty of supplies so they could travel fast and avoid stopping in any towns where they might be recognized. Alexander’s plan depended on surprise.

Chapter 11

General Talia sat on his horse, looking out over the impromptu fortification. His legions had dug in across a wide swath of the valley not ten leagues from Kai’Gorn. After carefully scouting the entire area looking for the right conditions for his battlefield, he’d chosen this piece of ground because it was strewn with rocks and small boulders for miles in all directions. It was useless as farmland because years of wind had worn the topsoil away to bedrock and left a hard and barren field.

His men had worked tirelessly for the better part of a week to prepare the place to defend against an all-out assault by the Andalian Lancers. Talia knew that his first strategic objective was to eliminate the deadly threat posed by the formidable cavalry from Andalia. Once they were out of the way, the infantry defenders of Kai’Gorn would fall easily to his superior numbers.

Everything was in order. Most of his men were sleeping per his instructions. They had worked day and night to erect the berm of rock that would provide the last line of defense against the Lancers. General Fabian had taken five thousand heavy cavalry and was waiting for the signal to engage the enemy from their flank once the Lancers were fully committed to the attack. The infantry and archers all knew their jobs and were in place.

Five thousand light cavalry on loan from Kevin’s legion of Rangers had gone to spring the trap. The battle would take place tomorrow. General Talia went over every detail of his plan again in his head and tested each part for flaws and weaknesses. Reports from multiple sources told him that there was just over a legion of Lancers in the area surrounding Kai’Gorn. He outnumbered them by a factor of five but their giant rhone steeds and their powerful magical lances made them a dangerous force. He knew his infantry wouldn’t stand a chance against them in the open, so he’d taken every precaution and made every preparation to ensure that this would be a very one-sided battle.

All that remained was to wait and hope that the Rangers could goad the Lancers into a fight. Talia was confident in that part of his plan. The Andalians were known for their arrogance and quick tempers. No doubt, their sense of superiority stemmed from the power of their steeds and lances. But Talia knew that the Lancers were not effective within the walls of a city. Their favored battlefield was an open plain where they could bring the speed and weight of their steeds to bear. Talia had selected this location for that reason as much as any other. He wanted to provide them with a battlefield that would inspire confidence and prompt them to act without carefully evaluating the situation.

The Rangers had been harassing the enemy for the past three days, using hit and run tactics. For a brief charge, the rhone were faster than any horse, but their size limited their endurance; the light horses favored by the Rangers were easily able to outdistance them. Talia used this to his advantage. He instructed the Rangers to break into units of five hundred and attack relentlessly when and where they could. His purpose wasn’t to cause great damage but to frustrate and anger the enemy while dropping breadcrumbs back to his prepared battlefield. He wanted the Lancers to learn of his encampment and decide to end the threat once and for all.

Wizard Rand was also a vital part of Talia’s plan. Rand was an illusionist. His talent was rare and quite powerful when used creatively. It was Wizard Rand’s magical calling that had led Talia to adopt this particular strategy. He knew better than most that deception is the most powerful weapon a general has at his disposal—the more convincing the ruse, the more deadly the result. His plan hinged on the wizard, and after seeing a few demonstrations of Wizard Rand’s capability, Talia was quite certain that he would do his part.

When he saw one of the Ranger raiding parties returning in haste, his heart quickened. The time for battle was nearing. The report from the Rangers confirmed that the Lancers were massing north of Kai’Gorn. They would arrive by midmorning a day hence. Talia went over his plans again, scrutinizing every detail for flaws and weaknesses. He was a meticulous man who understood that victory often hinged on the most mundane parts of any plan.

He spent the rest of the day walking through his army and talking with the soldiers. Many had served under his command for years and knew his leadership style. He was as proud of them as they were loyal to him. Before he went to sleep that night, he went over his plans yet again just to make sure everything was in place. He had confidence in his soldiers and their commanders. Everyone knew their part and everyone knew the stakes. Everything within his power had been done, but he worried about those things outside of his power and those unforeseen events that always seemed to arise during battle.

The next morning, the stage was set. Everyone was in place. His commanders all reported ready and awaiting orders. General Talia sat on his horse atop the little hillock looking off into the distance where the enemy was stirring up a cloud of dust that left a brown smudge across the horizon. He surveyed the battlefield.

His forces were arrayed behind a berm of stones that stood eight feet tall and stretched for a mile or more in each direction. Rank after rank of men with shields and pikes were lined up facing the berm. Behind them was rank after rank of heavy infantry. And behind them all were a dozen ranks of archers with ample arrows for their task.

When a messenger brought word that the enemy was an hour away, General Talia ordered the first signal. A whistler arrow streaked into the air, sending out a shrill squeal that could be heard for miles.

Wizard Rand unleashed the spells he had been preparing all week. General Talia watched as the entire berm of stone vanished from sight, leaving a clear path between the advancing enemy and his troops. Rand’s spells would hold for several hours.

The trap was set.

Talia schooled his emotions as he went over the details again. His part was done. He had laid the foundation for victory in this battle. Now all he could do was wait and set the different elements of his plan into motion when the time was right.

The enemy advanced until they were within a hundred yards. They stopped to form up into a giant front a thousand wide and ten deep. They were disciplined and well ordered despite their arrogance . . . or perhaps because of it. They knew that the enemy before them was no match for their superior mass supported by the awesome power of their force lances.

What they saw on the battlefield was a wall of heavy shields forming an interlocking line. Behind the shield line was a row of men with long pikes resting on notches cut into the side of each shield. Behind them was row after row of infantry followed by archers. Against a normal cavalry charge, the formation was a good defense, but against the magic of a force lance charge, the wall of shields would be shattered before the first Lancer reached the tip of a pike. They would crash through the line and trample the infantry under hoof. Before the enemy could regroup, the Lancers would be into the archers. By then, their lances would be ready to discharge another deadly blast of magical force.

The Andalian Lancers began their charge. General Talia gave the order and the second signal arrow streaked into the sky, putting his forces on notice that the enemy was beginning their attack. General Fabian would start moving toward the battlefield from the left flank and the Rangers would begin approaching the Lancers from the right flank.

The thundering gallop of the giant rhone steeds was deafening even at this distance. Talia understood why they were so feared. It was a terrible noise that would have unnerved him if he hadn’t made such meticulous preparations for this battle.

The enemy came closer and the men on the battle line braced for the attack that they would never feel. General Talia smiled at the theatre of it all. His trap was about to be sprung. All across the battlefield, his soldiers had dug deep pits in the stone. They had worn out hundreds of pick axes and chisels breaking the rock so they could use it for the berm that was now hidden by Wizard Rand’s illusion. Each of the pits was covered with a few boards, then a piece of canvas and a layer of dirt to make it look like the rest of the rocky plain.

The first Lancer crashed into a pit and was impaled on a number of very sharp wooden spikes. Another fell and then another. They didn’t let up on their charge but pressed on with anger and determination. A tenth of their number fell into the pit traps before the rest passed into the kill zone.

General Talia commanded the third signal arrow. The high-pitched squeal could just be heard over the thunder of the advancing enemy. As one, the archers released a volley. Thousands of arrows rose in a high arc floating over the infantry and the invisible stone berm. They seemed to hang in the air for a moment, frozen in time, before they came crashing down into the advancing Lancers. Their plate armor and heavy shields defended most of them against the attack but a few dozen more fell. Talia knew his archers would have little effect, but he also knew the Lancers would be expecting an arrow volley. Deception so often played on expectations.

More arrows rose into the air. The Lancers leaned into their charge as they neared the line of soldiers—and then the trap was sprung. The first line of Lancers crashed headlong into the invisible berm of stone. It flickered into view now that contact had been made, but it was too late. The Lancers had too much momentum. Rank after rank of the giant steeds hurtled into the barrier. The thunderous crash reverberated through the air. Sounds of bones snapping and lances shattering could be heard for miles. Men screamed in fear and wailed in pain.

The next volley of arrows descended into a jumbled mass of fallen rhone and men and peppered the survivors with deadly effect. Another volley rose into the air before General Talia saw his heavy cavalry come over the small rise and charge along the outside edge of the stone berm toward the remains of the Andalian legion.

General Talia ordered the fourth signal. The last volley fell into the enemy with withering effect, leaving less than a quarter of the enemy Lancers still standing. Many were wounded and all were in disarray as the cavalry crashed into them from the flank. Those Lancers that met the cavalry on the leading edge of the attack fell quickly. The rest turned and ran away from the cavalry charge and straight into five thousand Rangers arrayed before them. Before they could react, the Rangers had loosed their first volley of arrows.

The Lancers lost unit cohesion and started to scatter. Some fell to the cavalry behind them while others were killed by the deadly accurate archery of the Rangers. Some few more turned and ran back through the field strewn with pit traps. Fewer than five hundred escaped the battle alive, but the Rangers gave chase without pause and harried them relentlessly until they had run down and killed every single Lancer.