Emerald of the Elves (27 page)

“How is it that you did not know your own identity?” questioned Mustar.

“I had a battle with Alutar in the Aquina Universe,” related Egam. “I finally managed to banish him to a created Universe when I decided that I could not destroy him. The effort cost the lives of many elves and my memory. The elf healers did what they could for me, but it was not enough. Hoping that the humans had some knowledge that the elves did not, the elves shoved me through a Junction with the cloak the humans had made for me. It was a piece of clothing that I cherished for the love that went into creating it, but for the elves it was the butt of many jokes. The humans had spelled my name backwards.”

“And that explains why you have not aged since I was a mere student so many years ago,” nodded Mustar. “I must say that I feel privileged to have held your counsel over the years.”

“It also explains my concern for the Darkness,” replied Egam.

“Yes it does,” agreed Mustar. “In fact, it brings new light to the problem. I could see Alutar creating a spell just to harm you. Where is the Demon now?”

“Once again he is confined to his prison,” answered Egam. “I have destroyed his ability to see Junctions. Sarac was to have freed him, but the Collapse intervened. Alutar is sealed in his prison with no escape until the end of Sarac’s reign.”

“Another thousand years,” mused Mustar. “One would think that such an intelligent beast would have spent the last thousand years preparing better.”

“Perhaps he has,” Egam gasped. “Perhaps he has.”

“What are you thinking?” inquired Mustar.

“You are correct that Alutar is intelligent,” explained Egam. “I destroyed his ability to see Junctions, but not his ability to scheme and reason. Alutar was out of his prison before the Collapse. I witnessed the land that he ravaged with my own eyes. He made his bargain with Sarac and anointed him as the Dark One. The Ancient Prophecy began.”

“We know all this,” nodded Mustar. “What of it?”

“Why, once he was free,” posed Egam, “would he return to his prison?”

“A good question,” pondered Mustar. “Why would he even bother to deal with Sarac if he was free? What did Sarac have to bargain with?”

“I do enjoy discussing things with you, Mustar,” smiled Egam. “The Universe that Alutar blighted was Sagina. There was nothing there but ogres and fairies. While Alutar might have been free, he desired movement between all of the Universes. That would be the one thing that Sarac had to bargain with.”

“Of course,” nodded Mustar. “Sarac planned to collapse the Universes which would have given Alutar total freedom, but Sarac would have had to stop Alutar from seeing the Junction he passed through.”

“And what better way to do that then to demand that Alutar return to his prison?” posed Egam. “Alutar would never be so foolish as to trust Sarac, so he must have incorporated a safeguard in the spells that he taught to the Dark One.”

“According to the Ancient Prophecy,” asked Mustar, “what releases Alutar?”

“The end of Sarac’s reign,” replied Egam. “That would be another thousand years of prison for the Demon.”

“Even if Sarac is killed?” inquired Mustar.

“No,” Egam shook his head. “Only if Sarac’s reign runs to completion.”

“And this is a good deal for Alutar?” questioned Mustar. “Why? Wouldn’t he rather play with ogres and fairies?”

“Why indeed?” frowned Egam. “I fear that I know where this conversation is leading, and I do not care for the conclusion.”

“As you shouldn’t,” agreed Mustar. “Alutar has arranged his own escape. Perhaps the reason that the Darkness affects the Mage so, is because the Darkness is the essence of Alutar.”

“Which is why it gets stronger as it covers less area,” nodded Egam. “What then happens when the last bit of Darkness is destroyed?”

“We have no way of knowing for sure,” shrugged Mustar, “but my guess is that it will coalesce into Alutar himself. It would set him free.”

“A situation that would be much worse than having the Dark One around,” sighed Egam.

“Indeed,” agreed Mustar. “You must stop the Children of the Ancient Prophecy from fulfilling their quest.”

The Council Chamber of the Royal Palace of Tagaret was packed with people. King Arik sat at the head of the table. Konic Clava sat on his left with the rest of the councilors. Oscar, General Gregor, and the Rangers sat on the right. Sergeant Trank and Zackary Nolan stood guard by the door. Sergeant Tember was standing at the far end of the table.

“The Army of the West is following him,” continued Sergeant Tember. “Whether or not they catch up in time is a question that can best be answered later. It depends upon how fast Azmet’s men move.”

“What is your best guess regarding Azmet’s arrival here in Tagaret?” asked General Gregor.

“If he moves at the same rate as he did between Klandon and Mya,” shrugged Sergeant Tember, “he would arrive here in two days.”

“Let’s assume that for now,” responded the general. “How long before the Army of the West will be here?”

“Three days,” answered Sergeant Tember.

“So the Army of the West will be too late,” concluded General Gregor. “That was not difficult to determine,” he added with a frown. “How do our defenses look, Konic?”

“We need more time,” Konic replied. “The citizens are working hard and long every day, but we can not possibly be finished within the fortnight. There is just no way that it will happen before Azmet’s army is upon us.”

“A more pertinent question is the food supply,” interjected Oscar. “We are still in need of a great deal of supplies. Our wagons are having to go farther out each trip to find a decent supply of food. If it comes down to a siege, we are ill-prepared to weather it right now. We have brought in fresh soil to rejuvenate our internal farms, but that will take a while before we start producing any quantity.”

“I doubt that our enemies will wait until we are ready,” sighed Duke Zalski. “Is there some way that we an entice Azmet to a different target? Something that would be appealing enough to him to make him turn aside and waste time on it?”

“I cannot think of anything,” General Gregor shook his head. “Alex, do you have any ideas?”

“I do not think that Azmet is the real problem,” Alex replied. “His army will attack and we will defeat him. The main problem is defeating him while losing as few men as possible. We are going to need the men for when Sarac attacks.”

“I think we all understand the importance of Sarac’s eventual attack on Tagaret,” frowned General Gregor, “but I hardly think we can dismiss the threat of Azmet’s army as being inconsequential. Do you have a plan for defeating them so soundly that we should not worry about it?”

“No army should be underestimated,” answered Alex, “but it should not be overestimated either. Azmet has a great number of men in his army. The biggest threat that they put forward is that his men are willing to die. In fact, many of them look forward to dying in battle. Still, his army is poorly trained. It is not well-equipped either. What he has, General, is a lot of bodies. He has a lot more than us as a matter of fact. I do have thoughts about how to handle Azmet, but I would like to hear from the king first.”

Arik felt the eyes of everyone focus on him. He knew that Alex was throwing the conversation to him on purpose. Alex wanted the king’s advisors to have faith in Arik’s judgment, but Arik still felt exposed with everyone watching him.

“Our city is not ready to be attacked,” King Arik said nervously. “Nevertheless, we have an enemy army approaching. My thoughts would lean towards taking the fight to Azmet instead of waiting for Azmet to arrive here to threaten our city.”

“Exactly,” grinned Alex. “We have the benefit of communications on our side. We can coordinate an attack at any place of our choosing. That gives us the benefit of terrain, the element of surprise, plus a better equipped and better trained army.”

“I agree,” nodded General Gregor. “That lessens the threat of disease inside our walls. Our food supplies can continue unabated, and our construction can continue. Where should we attack?”

“There is a large field west of here,” declared Alex. “About a half day’s ride. It would be the perfect place to attack Azmet.”

“But that means leaving the city unprotected,” protested Alan. “Can we be assured that another enemy will not seek to take advantage of that?”

“I propose that we leave the Alcea regulars here,” responded Alex. “That would provide six thousand men to protect Tagaret while we are gone.”

“You would use only the Red Swords to attack?” questioned General Gregor. “Isn’t that bordering on optimism?”

“I don’t think so,” countered Alex. “I would take the Rangers as well. That would give us four thousand highly skilled men from the east and six thousand men from the west. We would all be mounted, so anymore would probably get in the way.”

“So you are counting on the Army of the West,” posed General Gregor. “How do you plan to get them to the battle on time?”

“That should not be hard,” interjected Tanya. “They travel with wagons. Unlike most armies, they will refuse to abandon their wagons if the trail is blocked. From what Wylan described to me, one wagon carries the statue of Abuud and the other the hut with the disease. Even if Azmet is willing to forego all of the other wagons, he will not be willing to leave those two behind.”

“So we block the trail,” nodded General Gregor. “I like it. I can think of several spots along the river trail that are narrow and could be easily blocked.”

“Won’t that set off alarm bells for Azmet’s people?” asked Duke Tredor. “I know it would make me suspicious.”

“Sure it will,” replied Tanya, “but what is he going to do about it? All we will be telling him is that we know he is coming, and that we seek to delay him. He won’t know why we want the delay.”

“He must know that we are fortifying the city,” shrugged Oscar. “If he doesn’t know, I am sure he will assume that. That knowledge would not cause him to abandon his most potent weapon.”

“Do we have a decent estimate of Azmet’s army?” asked General Gregor.

“At least ten thousand men,” answered Sergeant Tember. “It could be as high as twenty, but we really don’t know. He left a thousand in Cleb and another thousand in Klandon. He did not leave any in Mya.”

“So we are looking at our ten thousand men against his ten or twenty thousand,” reasoned Alan. “Is that correct?”

“As close as we can tell,” nodded Sergeant Tember.

“What about leaving a path for some of his army to desert?” inquired Jenneva. “Perhaps we can panic them enough that many would seek to avoid battle.”

“Against a normal army,” frowned General Gregor, “I would heartily welcome that thought. With Azmet’s men, they are fanatics. I doubt there would be much desertion.”

“Unless Azmet dies early in the battle,” interjected Arik. “Azmet’s death would show a certain fallibility on his part. What if we could convince his soldiers that Abuud had abandoned Azmet?”

“An interesting thought,” nodded Alex. “That certainly would spare many of our casualties. I doubt there could be another Azmet any time soon. The followers would not believe it. That is another weakness of Azmet’s army. There can be no substitute leader.”

“How would we do that?” asked Duke Zalski.

“With magic,” smiled Jenneva.

“He has mages, too,” reminded Arik. “I am not suggesting that they are a match in skill level, but they may understand what is happening and try to thwart it.”

“Noted,” Jenneva nodded. “The most important thing is to destroy his disease wagon. That must be done with fire. I will make that my goal.”

“You are planning on going with the army?” questioned General Gregor.

“I am,” answered Jenneva. “As Alex said, we must lose as few men as possible. I aim to do my best to see that the outcome is favorable to King Arik.”

“Excellent,” smiled General Gregor. “I think we have a working plan for dealing with Azmet. I would like Alex and Jenneva to stay behind after this meeting so we can discuss the actual tactics of the operation. Is there anything that I am forgetting?”

Nobody responded and the meeting broke up. The councilors filed out of the room, as did Sergeant Tember. Everyone else stayed.

“There is the issue of the defecting Black Devil,” General Gregor said after the door was closed. “While I had my doubts in the beginning, his information appears to be valid. He has pointed us to over a dozen Black Devils in the city so far.”

“Are you sure they are truly Black Devils?” asked Jenneva. “The reason I ask is that it is rare for a Black Devil to turn against Sarac. In fact, most of them have cast a spell that makes it impossible to disobey Sarac.”

“But not all of them,” retorted General Gregor. “I was skeptical, too, but his information is good. Each of the men accused responded to the signal of a fellow Black Devil. They appear genuine.”

“That is good I suppose,” frowned Jenneva, “but I would still proceed carefully. What is the defector’s name?”

“Tashlan,” replied the general. “Have you heard of him?”

“No,” Jenneva shook her head. “I have other news as well. We have finally located the list with the Book of Things on it. If the records are correct, the book was returned to the temple of Risa in Caldar.”

“Really?” Arik said excitedly. “That is great. Elderal is not so far from Tagaret. That means that clear skies will be over this city when we get the Emerald of the Elves. That will do wonders for the spirit of the citizens.”

“Their spirit is pretty good already,” smiled General Gregor. “You have the natural instincts of your father and your grandmother. You are truly a king the people will gladly follow.”

“But not just yet,” frowned Alex. “This means that Arik must leave the city. I suggest that he leave with the army. We can head south to Caldar after the battle.”

“You mean to take King Arik into battle?” questioned General Gregor. “Isn’t that playing with fire? We cannot afford to lose him now.”

“I cannot be the type of king that sits on my throne when others are putting their lives on the line,” declared King Arik. “If there is a battle to be fought, I shall lead our men in the charge. I also must fulfill the Ancient Prophecy. My participation in that endeavor is required. It is not something that I can delegate to others.”