Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) (31 page)

“I agree,” another of the ogre officers
said. “It was Josiah that led our army today, and we survived against
insurmountable odds. I move that we give this same power to him in tomorrow’s
battle.”

Sounds of agreement came from all sections
of the crowd; it was obvious that this was the choice of the group. The noise
gradually resolved itself into a chant, “Josiah! Josiah!” Finally General
Looran stood to his feet and raised his hands for silence. The noise finally
died down.

“To make this official, I call for a
vote,” he said. “All who are for the leadership of Commander Josiah, please
stand to your feet.”

The crowd rose together, giving a cheer as
they did so. The sound was deafening, and Josiah briefly wondered what the
dwarves were thinking at that moment. He looked at General Looran who
approached him and saluted. The entire assembly snapped to attention.

“What are our orders, Admiral?” Looran
asked.

“If this is indeed your wish,” Josiah
said, “then I will do my best to lead this army to victory. Prepare to move
your troops, gentlemen. We’re falling back to the Pelé River tonight.”

******

The road turned sharply to the south, so
Timothy left it and cut across a field that stretched for as far as he could
see. He looked behind and saw Vladimir staggering up the road. He stopped to
wait for his friend, but he didn’t sit down since he knew that he would not be
able to force himself to get back up. The surrounding country was lit only by
the faint light of a small sliver of moon, so Timothy was unable to rely on
landmarks to guide his steps. Instead, he was following a spell that he had
used the previous day to locate the academy. They had been running three, maybe
four days; the constant running had made events blur together. Every muscle in
his body ached, but he was not about to stop. His mission was crucial, and he
intended to carry it out to the end. Vladimir finally staggered up to where
Timothy stood and doubled over, trying to catch his breath. It was a minute
before he was even able to stand up again, but when he did, Timothy was able to
look into his eyes. They were normally bright, but now had taken on a dull
look. Timothy decided that a real rest couldn’t hurt.

“No, don’t stop,” Vladimir gasped. “Don’t
stop for me. I’ll keep going until I drop. Just go as fast as you can until we
reach the academy.”

“I'm not going to leave you out here in
the middle of nowhere," Timothy said suddenly, almost vehemently.

“Don’t stop for me,” Vladimir said again
and gripped Timothy’s shoulder. “You have to promise me that you won’t stop for
me. This message that we carry is more important.” When Timothy was silent,
Vladimir shouted, “Promise me!”

“Okay, I promise,” Timothy said. “I won’t
wait for you.”

“Good,” Vladimir said. “I don’t think I
can make it any farther, but you can. Run as fast as you can. Get the message
to the academy.”

“I can’t leave you here,” Timothy said,
tears building up in his eyes. “You might die if you stay here.”

“Don't be so melodramatic. You'll come
back to get me once you reach the academy. You promised you wouldn't wait; now
GO!” Vladimir shouted and collapsed onto the ground in a faint.

“Very well,” Timothy said as he wiped his
eyes with the back of his hand. “I’ll leave you the food we have left, as
little as it is." He was so exhausted that he had to think aloud to
maintain his train of thought. "May Elohim protect you.”

Timothy dropped the bag that he had been
carrying beside the unconscious Vladimir. What he did was probably the hardest
thing he had ever done in his life. It went against everything he had ever
learned—to leave a comrade behind—but he knew that it was for the best. Even
so, it took all of his willpower to turn his back on Vladimir and begin to run
again. To forget the scene that he had just witnessed, he forced himself to run
faster. Soon the pain shoved all thoughts from his mind as he flew across the
field toward his mission’s goal.

******

Lemin sat on the northern wall of Saddun,
looking out over the plain on the other side. The small portion of moon that
hung in the sky did little to illuminate the earth, so it seemed probable that
Lemin was not looking at anything. Senndra approached and stood behind him,
trying to work up the courage to talk to him about an issue that plagued her.

“Senndra, sit down,” Lemin said without
turning. Senndra took a seat beside him on the cold stone of the wall and
waited for him to speak again.

“Something troubles you,” Lemin said,
finally looking at Senndra. It was not a question, but a statement.

“It’s not something, sir,” Senndra
responded. “It’s someone. Ever since the battle, Rita has been acting
strangely.”

“Acting strangely? How?” Lemin asked.

“I’m not sure exactly,” Senndra answered.
“If I had to name one thing, I would say that she has become much less trusting
and more cynical. I think that perhaps she is beginning to doubt Elohim.”

“That is definitely possible,” Lemin said.
“That happens to many soldiers after their first battle. When they see the
carnage and brutality of war, they wonder if there can possibly be a God. They
wonder why God would allow this to happen if He did indeed exist. It might help
if I talk to her.”

“Maybe, but I have doubts about that,”
Senndra said. “She came to the first of your talks about Elohim, and while many
of the people that attended came away changed for the better, she didn't want
to talk about it at all.”

“If that is the case,” Lemin responded,
“the best thing you can do is what you have been doing all along. Encourage her
and be a friend to her and continue to show the love of Elohim. Other than
that, you can do nothing.”

“But there has to be some way that we can
make her come to her senses,” Senndra argued.

“There is nothing we can do,” Lemin
answered. “Each person has a free will, either to choose to follow Elohim and
believe His promises or to disregard everything He has said and go his or her
own way. If Rita chooses to do the latter and will not be influenced by
anything, there is no way that you can force her to accept what you know to be
true.”

“That makes me feel helpless,” Senndra
said. “So I can't help her at all?”

“As I have said, continue to act as you
have been,” Lemin answered. “Other than that, you can only ask Elohim to be
with Rita in this time. He is the only one that can change her. Of course, be
reminded that He is all-powerful, and that no matter what happens, it is for
His glory and the good of His people.”

“Thank you, Lemin,” Senndra said after
several minutes of thought. “I needed to hear that.”

******

Josiah watched through the rain as his
army forded the Pelé River and set up camp on the east side. They wouldn’t have
a
good
chance of winning even from this side of the water, but they had
a
better
chance. Their archers could pepper the dwarves as they tried to
cross the river, and their infantry would have an advantage since the dwarves
would be coming out of the water. The problems that Josiah had previously found
with the plan had mostly been rectified, making this the best chance for the
army. The rain had swelled the size of the river to such an extent that there
was only one place that could be crossed for miles in either direction. On the
east side of the river there was a rock-strewn field that Josiah had not
remembered but that would provide excellent cover for archers. Also, the bank
of the river had risen to a point where the dwarves would have to go through a
narrow pass between two rocks as they came out of the river. In this position,
Josiah figured that his men could take on a much larger army. Even with all of
the advantages that the defenders had, the battle was sure to be a bitter one.

Josiah turned to his two messengers that Stanslaw
had provided from his men. Both were fatigued from the march, but they stood
straight, ready to take messages to whoever was necessary.

“Benjamin,” Josiah said to the man on the
left, “go tell General Looran to move his archers and his infantry to the pass
that the dwarves are going to come through. I will meet him there and tell him
exactly where I want his men located.” He turned to the man on the right.
“Jonathan, inform the human officers that I want all of their archers
positioned in the boulder field in a spot where they have cover, but where the
river is still in range. Also, tell the humans to use a third of their infantry
to protect the archers and tell them to send the rest of their infantry to the
pass by the river.”

The two messengers ran toward the bulk of
the army in search of the officers. Soon, the soldiers were moving to their
respective positions, so Josiah walked down to the river to meet the officers.
When he got there, General Looran was the first to greet him with a salute. The
rest of the officers saluted as well, and Josiah returned them all. Then he
began to look over the troops that were available.

“General,” he said to Looran, “you will
position your archers on the tops of the boulders that compose the pass. Make
sure they have cover, but I want them to have clear shots at the river and the
pass. If there isn’t enough room or cover up there, position your men at the
head of the pass so that they have a line of sight down to the water’s edge.
Position your infantry at the mouth of the pass. You will help hold it;
however, keep your soldiers ready to move. If the dwarves manage to cross at
another spot, you will be the one to counterattack.

“The rest of you will position your men
with the ogre infantry. In all scenarios, you will stay at the pass and defend
against the dwarves crossing there. Under no circumstances are you to abandon
your post. If you do, you will be endangering the rest of the army and the
whole country.”

Josiah turned from the river and headed
toward the archers that were positioned to the east. They had entrenched
themselves in the field of boulders, and Josiah saw that they had plenty of
cover. A detachment of infantry had already arrived, and the soldiers were
creating a perimeter around the archers. They had effectively hidden themselves
among the boulders, using the natural defenses to their advantage. It would
take a force of at least three or four times their size to defeat them.

As Josiah approached the soldiers, he
looked for a way to get to the high ground that they occupied. Two steep and
narrow paths had already been blocked up with debris, and the wide path that
was the obvious approach was being filled with boulders to make it only wide
enough for one or two people to pass through at a time. At the narrow pass,
Josiah encountered a sentry who saluted and did not try to stop him. Once he
was past, Josiah saw the true extent of the soldiers’ activity. A system for
moving the large rocks had been developed, and about half of the soldiers were
working to enforce their position with the stone. The other soldiers stood with
their weapons, ready to fight in an instant should the dwarves manage a swift
advance across the river. Josiah spotted a commander that appeared to be in
charge of the working men, so he went to talk to him.

“Are you the one who is giving orders up
here?” he asked the man.

“No sir,” the commander answered. “I’m
just in charge of moving the boulders to block the way. You should speak with
the officer over there.” The man pointed to the pass that Josiah had entered
through on the way up.”

Josiah thanked the man for the information
and headed back the way he had come. As he neared the pass, he began to scan
the crowd for the general. His attention was drawn to several soldiers that
were standing atop a portion of the barrier that had been finished. Most of
these were regular soldiers that were on lookout duty, but Josiah’s sharp eyes
spotted the rank of general on the uniform of one of the older men. He quickly
scaled the pile of boulders and approached the general cautiously, due to his
uncertain footing.

“General,” Josiah said so as to get the
attention of the older man.

The general turned to face Josiah and
saluted, even if it were a bit grudgingly.

“What is your position here?” Josiah
asked.

“We are well-entrenched,” the general
answered tersely. “All of the paths to us have been blocked except for the
small path over there.” He motioned with his head to the path that had been
left through the wall of boulders. “We have all of the human archers in the
army, but that is still less than a thousand. There are even fewer swordsmen,
but we should not need very many of them to hold this location.”

“Very good,” Josiah answered and
considered the information. “I will be here with my two messengers when the
battle begins. I would request that if your lookouts spot any unusual movement
of the dwarf army, they report it to me. Other than that, I will not attempt to
command your men; they are at your disposal.”

“Very good, sir,” the general answered in
a somewhat friendlier tone.

Josiah carefully picked his way to the
front edge of the barrier where a lookout was standing. From this new perch, he
slowly scanned the river and the field beyond it for any sign of movement, but
could detect nothing. He figured that the dwarves would not reach the river
until well after dawn, so he settled down to wait.