Alutar: The Great Demon (22 page)

“We don’t have a lot of fairies left in Alcea,” stated Prince Oscar. “We have been sending most of them to Zara to help coordinate the war effort over there.”

“Are our actions in Zara at a standstill?” asked Lord Clava.

“No,” the king shook his head. “The war in Zara has already begun. We can not stop it now. Everything is already scheduled, and the people are in place. We have to deal with this problem ourselves.”

“Do you mean that the Red Swords did not return with you?” asked Lord Markel.

“No one returned with me,” answered the king. “The Red Swords are in the middle of a desert the size of Targa, and they do not have unicorns. They will not be coming to our rescue.”

“The Rangers?” asked Lord Clava.

“Already committed to action,” the king shook his head. “They will be attacking Calusa in the morning, and they have other battles that must be fought immediately after that one. No one is coming from Zara. As I said, we have to deal with this ourselves.”

“Then the fairies that we send out should also be alerting our forces,” stated General Gregor. “Perhaps some of them will be in a position to get here before the Federation.”

“That is worth a try,” conceded the king, “but I think the enemy has been in Alcea for over a week already. I fear that we do not have much time. I want the entire army assembled this morning in the courtyard, and I mean the entire army. Every gate guard. Every patrol.”

“You fear that the enemy is close enough to strike the palace today?” Lord Markel asked with concern.

“No, Lord Markel,” the king sighed with weariness. “I am going to be asking our young men to fight a vastly superior army. I want to personally tell them what is coming towards this city and what is expected of them.”

“You should get some sleep first,” suggested Lord Clava as he noted the weariness in Arik’s face.

“Afterwards,” promised the king. “The only time we can afford to have the walls unmanned is right now, so I will address them this morning. I will keep it short and then get some sleep while the fairies hunt for the enemy.”

“I will issue the orders now,” stated General Gregor as he moved towards the door. “I will have them all assembled by dawn.”

“Make it for two hours after dawn,” Prince Oscar said. “The king might not think that he needs sleep, but I am sure that he does not wish the men to see him as if he were so worried that he cannot sleep himself. It could be counterproductive.”

General Gregor looked to the king, and Arik sighed and nodded in agreement.

“Once the enemy is found,” King Arik continued, “I want the portal they came through found and disabled like the others. There is a Federation colonel somewhere in Alcea that knows where it is, if he is still alive. His name is Colonel Donil, and he is not to be harmed. He is one of Clint’s A Corps men. He followed the enemy army through the portal, and I am guessing that Clint chose him to watch the Imperial Palace because he knows what is important and what is not. I feel confident that he would know the location of the portal.”

“Many of the fairies that are still in Alcea are supposed to be used to signal the people at the submerged Doors,” said Prince Oscar. “Should we be using them to hunt for the enemy?”

King Arik stared blankly at his father for a moment and then shook his head as if to clear it. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a piece of paper and studied it for several moments.

“We can’t afford to use them all,” the king eventually said. “There won’t be enough time for them to get back into position, and that mission is ongoing. We can use the first flyers only, and only for today. The rest stay in position.”

“Noted,” Prince Oscar said with a nod. “If there is nothing else for you to share at this time, I suggest you get some sleep and let us get things moving.”

The king nodded with weariness and left the library. Prince Oscar immediately took command of the meeting and began issuing orders. Within minutes, all of the advisors were gone from the library and off doing their tasks. Prince Oscar turned to leave the room and spotted Prince Midge on one of the shelves. He had not noticed him before.

“You are unusually quiet,” Prince Oscar said to his fairy friend. “Why?”

“I am worried for the Bringer,” Prince Midge confessed. “He has already had a long day riding through the desert and then racing back here.”

“A couple of hours sleep will do wonders for him,” Prince Oscar smiled. “You worry too much.” When the fairy prince’s disposition did not change, Oscar knew the problem was something entirely different. “You think harm will come to him in Tagaret?”

“It does not look good,” frowned the little green man. “Everyone is in Zara fighting the enemy, and no one is left here. Even my own people are spread too thin to help protect the Bringer, and that is a responsibility that falls on me. I feel as if I am failing the Bringer, but he will not allow me to recall my people in Zara. I am sure some of them could be spared from their tasks over there.”

“Have you forgotten who you serve?” asked Prince Oscar. “You may call him the Bringer, but we call him the Warrior King. No small Federation army is going to sack Tagaret while he lives.”

“Small?” balked the fairy prince. “They outnumber the Alcean army by better than three to one, plus they have eight battle mages. The Alcean army does not stand a chance. If your soldiers ever find out what is coming towards this city, half of them will probably flee before the battle starts.”

“There you are wrong, my little friend,” Prince Oscar smiled. “Our lads might be inexperienced, but they will die defending King Arik and Tagaret. There will be no desertions. I think you are just as weary as your Bringer. Get some sleep.”

“I am not tired,” answered Prince Midge. “I slept all day crossing the desert. That is a boring place for a fairy to be.”

“Then perhaps it is time for you and me to retire to my office,” grinned Prince Oscar. “We do some of our best scheming there. We will discover some way to increase our chances.”

Prince Midge brightened at the thought of scheming. He fluttered off the shelf and onto Prince Oscar’s shoulder. The two princes left the library and headed for Prince Oscar’s office. Three hours later, they returned to the library to find King Arik and most of his advisors standing around waiting for word from General Gregor that the troops had been fully assembled. The general arrived just moments after the two princes, and Lord Markel threw open the doors to the balcony. King Arik moved towards the balcony doors, but Lord Clava suddenly stepped in front of him.

“You have no mage for protection,” Lord Clava declared. “Where is the queen?”

“They are all on missions,” answered the king as he moved around the man who had raised him. “I will have to do this alone.”

“Get out there and look for enemy mages,” Prince Oscar whispered to Prince Midge.

The fairy prince needed no further prompting. He darted across the room and sped out through the open doors before King Arik could reach them. The king did not seem to notice as he stepped out on the balcony and gazed over the crowd below. Thousands of Alcean soldiers stood waiting to hear his words. Hundreds of citizens also crowded around the gates to the palace, hoping to hear the king’s words. Arik inhaled deeply as he stared down at the faces of the people he was going to send into battle. After a short pause, he stepped forward and leaned on the railing.

“Soldiers of the Alcean Army,” the king began loudly, “thank you for gathering at such an early hour. As you know, we have sent many soldiers to Zara to battle the Federation on their own soil. The Red Swords, the Rangers, and thousands of our elven and dwarven friends are over there to bring the Federation to its knees. Those battles have already begun, but the war in Alcea is not yet over. Somewhere in Alcea, there is another Federation army, and I believe that it is marching on Tagaret at this very moment. The estimate that I have received indicates a force of twenty-thousand soldiers and eight battle mages.”

King Arik paused to scan the upturned faces. There were many frowns among the soldiers, but that was to be expected. He did not detect any clear signs of fear, and that surprised him a bit.

“Some of my advisors might think that I am crazy for telling you the size of the force coming towards us,” King Arik continued, “but I think that any man asked to put his life on the line for his country deserves the truth, and that is all you will get from me. We will be badly outnumbered, but we are Alceans.”

Several soldiers raised their fists in the air and cheered at the king’s words, but Arik did not pause.

“The Federation has underestimated us before,” the king continued, ”and they are doing so again. I have watched you men being trained, and I am proud to be here to lead you in this coming battle. We are not going to march out to engage the enemy as they approach the city this time. We are going to let them come to our walls. And when they come to our walls, they are going to die.”

Hundreds of soldiers raised their fists and cheered, and the king smiled down at them and nodded.

“That is the Alcean spirit,” shouted King Arik. “Sharpen your swords men, and stockpile your arrows. There is a lot of Federation blood to be spilled beyond these walls, and I don’t wish to trade much Alcean blood for it. I want each of you to take part in preparing the city walls for battle. I want each of you to continue your training. There is time yet to learn a few more things from your mates. Practice your archery and get your range improved. If your armor needs repairing, get it done now. As soon as I get an estimate on when the enemy will arrive, you will be informed, but we will keep a close watch every minute of every day until the enemy does arrive. We will not be caught unawares, because we are Alceans.”

Another round of cheers reverberated off the walls of the palace and the nearby buildings. King Arik looked down and saw the spirit of his men rising. He whispered a silent thanks to Thun, the God of War. That simple act reminded the king of how often he forgot to be thankful for the gods’ blessings bestowed upon him.

“We have a park here in Tagaret,” the king continued. “It is a very special park as most of you probably know. It is the park where the gods appeared to bless my marriage to Queen Tanya. It is the park where the gods declared me to be the Warrior King. Think about that for a moment.” The king paused to let his words sink in. “Do you know why the Federation keeps sending armies over here? They come because they want what we have, but what we have is something that they can never have. We have it because we are blessed by the gods. We have it because we are Alceans. And we Alceans are not about to give it up!”

The crowd roared with approval as thousands of raised fists flew upward. King Arik noticed that it was not only the soldiers cheering, but also the citizens on the other side of the palace wall. He smiled broadly.

“When the enemy arrives before our walls,” King Arik continued, “we Alceans will be ready for them. I say we Alceans, because I will be on the wall among you. Together, you and I will vanquish this massive army sent against us and our families. Together we will crush the Federation and ensure that our children will never have to fight these monsters again. Together we will raise the flag of Alcea over their bodies before we burn them.” King Arik finished his speech with his fist raised high over his head as he shouted, “We will not fail! We are Alceans!”

The crowd went wild with fists raised by everyone. The chant started out as “We are Alceans,” but it quickly evolved into “Arik”. The king watched for a few moments before turning and retreating into the library. Prince Midge immediately followed and perched on Prince Oscar’s shoulder.

“I take back my earlier words,” the fairy whispered in Prince Oscar’s ear. “There will be no desertions. Those shouts were not just for the king’s ears. The people truly love him. They will fight to the very end for him.”

“As will we all,” Prince Oscar said softly. “I think it is time for you to run some errands before the Bringer finds some other tasks for you.”

“Am I still here?” Prince Midge quipped as he leaped off the prince’s shoulder and darted out of the room.

King Arik walked across the room to the large table where General Gregor had spread out a map of Alcea. The Warrior King stopped and stared down at the map.

“Let us see where our forces reside while we wait for the fairies to report back,” ordered the king.

General Gregor began placing wooden figures on the map and identifying the armies they represented. When he was done, the picture presented was bleak in terms of assistance coming to the aid of the city. The king had already expected as much, but he had to be sure.

“It looks like our only help will come from the Men of Tor,” the king declared, “and they will only make it in time if the Federation army is still more than a few days away.”

“The Men of Tor have unicorns,” objected Lord Markel. “Surely, they can make it here sooner than that?”

“They were to relinquish their unicorns after the Battle of Duranga,” replied General Gregor. “Larastrides wanted to take his people back north to replenish the herd. King Arik agreed.”

“The unicorns will carry the Men of Tor to Tagaret,” clarified the king, “but it will take a few days for everyone to get together. We need to send a fairy up there right away.”

“Prince Midge went himself,” reported Prince Oscar. “He left moments ago.”

“The Melbin Guard?” questioned Lord Clava.

“Only the cavalry units could respond in time,” answered General Gregor, “and Melbin does not have a large enough cavalry to make a difference.”

“While I am in favor of calling upon the Melbin Guards,” interjected the king, “we will not depend upon their help. They could only send a couple of hundred riders and even those men would be better used behind our walls. They are not cavalrymen like the Sordoans. They are trained to fight from the ramparts.”

Lord Markel frowned deeply as he watched the king and the general indicate that time was short. After a few more suggestions were batted down, his curiosity could hold out no longer.

“I get the feeling that some of us already know where this army is and when it will arrive,” Lord Markel said accusingly. “May the rest of us be enlightened?”