(Dragonkin) Dragon Rider (38 page)

   "They were first seen by the scouts yesterday morning." Feran replied. "But they are still three week's away at their current pace."

   "Do you think they will keep that pace?" Kyler asked.

   "No, not really. "Feran replied. " But they are still at least two week's away, even if they do decide to move faster."

   "So we have at least two weeks until the battle begins." Darik said. "And possibly more."

   "I expect them to move faster once they get closer to the castle." Javen said. "And try to surprise us."

   "The leader will not speed up." Darik informed them. "He does not believe the castle can hold out against his forces, or that the empire can send enough men to do them any good."

   "How can you be so sure he thinks that way?" Commander Fracher asked. "Do you use some kind of magic that allows you to read his mind?"

   "No, I was in their camp for several months." Darik replied. "And heard them speak of how weak they believed the empire to be, many times."

   "You were in their camp?" Commander Fracher asked. "Were you their prisoner?"

   "No, I was conscripted into the mage king's army as a mid level mage." Darik informed him. "Until we were sent to ambush Menimeth."

   "You tried to kill the king?" Commander Fracher asked the mage, with a look of horror on his face.

   "No, if I remember it correctly, Darik killed more of Arnoran's solders that day then we did." Commander Rayden said.

   "Yes, I believe he did." Litlorn agreed. "Or at least five of them anyway."

   "No, he killed more than five I think." Javen said. "But I was a little busy at the time, to keep count."

   "It was more than five, if you do not count the one Donderan killed." Kyler added.

   "He killed five or six at one time." Captain Dorben said. "Which actually saved Menimeth in the end."

   "You said you were a mid level mage." Commander Fracher said. "I was under the impression you were more than that."

   "He is." Menimeth said as he walked through the door, and into the tavern where the men waited. "He is a Supreme Master Dragon Mage, and only a dragon knows more than he does."

   "Except you." Darik said. "But then, you are half dragon, are you not?"

   "He is right, you do have the magic of the dragon in you."

   "Yes, and he knows it too."

   "That is because he is very smart, and studies the ways of the dragon."

   "He does appear to fight like one." Litlorn said. "Captain Brandt was right about that."

   "I wish Captain Brandt was here now." Menimeth said. "He was always very good at planning things."

   "Why is he not here then?" Commander Fracher asked. "Do we not need all the advantage we can get?"

   "He is very far to the west." Litlorn said. "It would take two years to go there and back by horse."

   "Why is he so far away?" The Commander asked. "Is he on some secret mission?"

   "No, he lives there." Menimeth replied. "He is the commander of the forces of the kingdoms far to the west, and across the Wilderlands from the empire. There are no people or villages for hundreds of miles between us, and the land is unforgiving in that vast wilderness."

   "It sounds like you have been there." The commander said.

   "I was born in the kingdoms in the west, and crossed that wilderness no more than two years ago." Menimeth told the commander. "But that was before I found my dragon."

   "Or before your dragon found you." Litlorn said.

   "Before we found each other."

   "As my dragon says, before we found each other." Menimeth said. "But we are together now, and that is all that matters."

   "You are the king, but you are not from this land?" Commander Fracher asked. "How is that possible?"

   "Because he is the dragon rider." Captain Brannor replied. "And this is the Great Dragon Empire."

   "But if he is not from the empire, then why did you choose him as the dragon rider?"

   "The rider is not chosen by the empire." Litlorn said. "The rider belongs to his dragon, and the dragon belongs to his rider, that is the way of dragons."

   "This is a strange land, but I will get used to it someday I guess." The commander said. "There are many wonders here we never dreamed of in the lands where I came from."

   "It was once common place for elves, dwarves, and dragon riders, to roam the lands of magic." Litlorn said. "But with the rise of Arnoran, all of that changed."

   "But these wonders still exist here in the empire." Commander Fracher said. "And that gives hope to the men."

   "That it does." Commander Rayden agreed. "And the will to fight the mage king to protect it."

   "The men are ready for the coming battle." Feran said. "Our biggest problem will not be getting the men to attack the enemy, but to keep them from attacking until the time is right."

   "That is true." Javen added. "The men under my command speak of nothing else."

   "We cannot afford to lose men in this battle." Menimeth said. "So we will try to overwhelm the enemy quickly when the time is right."

   "Then we need to familiarize the men with the plan of attack." Commander Fracher said. "If we are to receive the fewest causalities."

   "You are right." Menimeth said. "Have all of your captains meet us here tomorrow morning and we will go over the plans."

   "As you command." Commander Fracher said. "I will see to it right away."

   "As will I." Javen said.

   "I will see to it commander." Dorben said to Commander Rayden. "I will go to each camp and relay the orders."

   "Thank you Captain Dorben." Commander Rayden said to his friend. "I will see you when you return."

   "I will inform the captains of each realm." Kyler told Menimeth. "Including Hobie."

   "When you find Hobie, tell him there is a room in the inn for him." Menimeth said. "I would like him to stay with the rest of us."

   "Yes Sir Meni. " Kyler said, as he followed the others out the door.

   Menimeth looked at the map on the table, and asked Feran about the changes made to the land around Argnon. He asked about the hills, and the stream that flowed into the castle, as well as the placement of the patrols and scouts.

   Menimeth did not want Chidren to receive any information, which would cause him to change his plans for the attack. He wanted him to believe he had the superior force, and that the solders of the west would try to hold them off from inside the castle. With that in mind, he formed a plan to surround the forces of the enemy, so his new type of warfare would be the most effective.

   It would not be long now Menimeth thought, as he looked at the map. The time was coming when he would face his old enemy, and he was looking forward to the fight. He had chased the killer for many years, and across many miles, and now it would come to an end at last. The first battle of the second Great War was about to begin, and when it was over, the face of the western realm would change forever.

Chapter Thirty-One

   The ground began to rise as the siege weapons moved farther from the fords, and into the wild land of the western realm. Gaston was forced to add more horses to the ones that pulled the siege weapons already, which depleted the amount of cavalry he would have available if the army was attacked. He tried to change the teams as often as he could, so all of the horses would be able to be used when they reached Argnon, but at the pace Chidren had them at, it made it almost impossible.

   Chidren did not believe the cavalry was necessary to defeat the solders at the castle, but he did believe they would be needed to capture any of the solders of the empire that tried to flee to the east. Gaston on the other hand, remembered the defeats they had suffered in the south and east, and thought the empire was not as weak as Chidren would have them believe.

   For several days the ground steadily rose as the solders of the mage king put the fords behind them. The horses were getting tired much faster now, and the army was forced to slow down once more, which made Chidren angry all over again. The men were getting tired as well, and Mareston could see the affect it was having on them, but he could do nothing about it. When the grade became too steep for the horses, and the siege weapons were forced to slow down until more horses could be attached to them, it gave the men the break they needed.

   Gaston added more horses to get the siege weapons moving faster, but they were still having a hard time pulling the weight. Soon he had riders with ropes pulling the weapons, as well as the ones that were attached to the weapons, and they began to make better time.

   Gaston went to Mareston that night when the camp was set up, and voiced his concerns about the coming battle. The men who rode with the cavalry that were placed there by Chidren, were not as important as the twenty men that had ridden with him for the last several years, and he feared Chidren would sacrifice them for no reason.

   "At the pace we are moving, the horses will not be useable when we reach the castle." Gaston said. "To be without a cavalry could cost us men needlessly in the battle."

   "I believe the land will level off soon." Mareston said. "But I will try to keep the pace a little slower if I can, until it does."

   "That will help, but you know Chidren does not care about the men." Gaston said. "He wants to reach the castle as fast as he can, regardless of the condition of his solders."

   "Yes, But he believes that the castle will fall quickly once we arrive." Mareston replied. "And then he can return to Kath."

   "I am concerned with the plans for the attack." Gaston admitted. "We are rushing into the fight without proper information on the forces that will face us."

   "From all we have learned since we arrived in the western realm of the empire, it is in total disarray and cannot defend itself against a large army. However, from the losses we have sustained since the warrior in the dragon armor arrived, I would have to reevaluate that assessment."

   "Do you think he has united the empire?" Gaston asked.

   "I don't know, but clearly the solders of the empire are not as weak as Chidren believes." Mareston replied. "We have lost close to one thousand men since the warrior appeared, and every attempt to kill him has failed."

   "What about the stories of the dragon?" Gaston asked. "Do you think they are true?"

   "Chidren says that Arnoran killed them all, back in the Great War." Mareston replied. "Just before he was caught by the spell which caused him to sleep for five hundred years."

   "But the stories are all the same, regardless of the source." Gaston said. "Can they all be just a ploy to scare our men?"

   "When I was in the south, we were attacked by the western regents men." Mareston said. "The sound that I heard as I was riding from the chapel was like nothing I have ever heard before. Yes I think the stories are true."

   "Then what are we to do?" Gaston asked the old solder.

   "I don't know, but I do not trust Chidren's military experience." Mareston replied. "So far he has done everything wrong."

   "We travel in the land of the enemy but we have no outriders or cavalry to protect the men if the enemy attacks." Gaston said. "And at the pace we are moving, the men will be tired before we can reach the castle."

   "When we do reach the castle, stay with the main force, and let the men Chidren assigned to the cavalry do the running around." Mareston told the cavalry leader. "If the attack does not go according to Chidren's plans, we may not be sacrificed to allow him to escape."

   "That is the best idea that I have heard since the plans were changed, and we were all recalled to the camp." Gaston said. "If it does go bad, we will have as good a chance of escaping as Chidren."

   "All of the veterans of the wars in the east that are here with us, are with me in the plan to attack the castle with a bit more caution." Mareston said. "They are dismayed by some of the choices our leader has made along the way, and are afraid he does not know anything about siege warfare. There are enough men who are no better than outlaws to attack the castle with blind faith, when Chidren gives the order, that we do not need to be among them."

   "I hope we are not attacked before we reach our objective." Gaston said. "For the cavalry will not be able to help if we are."

   "I know the land will level off soon, and, before we are within two weeks of the castle it will start to drop again." Mareston said. "I learned that from the months we sent the men out as brigands."

   "If that is the case then we may yet have mounted solders to fight with when the battle does begin." Gaston said, feeling better about the condition the horses would be in when they arrived. "But I am still worried about my men."

   "As am I." Mareston said. "But we can only wait and see if Chidren's information is correct."

   "That is true." Gaston replied. "And we will find out soon enough."

   It was well after midday of the next day, and more than two weeks after crossing the fords, when Chidren called a halt to the march and ordered the camp set up. Mareston did not question the orders, but made sure they were carried out as quickly as possible.

   "Tell the men we will be leaving again at first light." He told Mareston. "Have my tent set up. And bring me the chest with the stone."

   "I have already ordered the tent set up, and I will have the chest brought right away." Mareston replied, and walked away in the direction of the supply wagons.

   "Have your men ride patrols around the camp." Chidren said to Gaston when he arrived. "We will be staying here for the night."

   "Yes sir." Gaston replied, and rode back to where his men waited, to carry out his orders.

   Chidren sat in the tent, and waited for the box to be brought from the supply wagons. He had ordered the camp set up earlier than usual, because the time had come to report their progress to the mage king, and he needed to use the stone in private.

   The conversation lasted far longer than usual, and Chidren was told many things by the mage king. The castle was to be taken regardless of the cost to his men, and he was to report back to Kath when it was done. The regent was to be held in the dungeons along with his wife, and the traitor was to be killed as soon as he was found. The others he could do with as he pleased, but Arnoran made it clear that the punishment for failure would be harsh.

   The men built their fires, but did not set up tents for the night, because they would have to get up earlier the next morning to take them down again. The days of moving at the pace Chidren demanded, was taking its toll on them, and the men needed all the rest they could get. Most of the men cooked their supper and went to sleep, hoping to be rested for the miles they would put on the next day. Their supper consisted of mainly meat, but they also received, a loaf of bread for every four men. It was not the best diet that the men could have had, but it was more than enough to keep them going until the castle was taken.

   The next morning, as the men began to make their way to Argnon once again, Mareston made sure the pace was slower than in the days before. The ground had begun to level out, and by the end of the day, was no longer climbing. The trees grew fewer in number as they moved farther southeast, and the siege weapons were able to keep pace with the army, without the need for the extra horses. That gave Gaston his cavalry back, but the horses still needed to be rested if they were to be of any use when they arrived.

   Mareston was surprised at the lack of concern Chidren showed in the slower pace in which the men traveled, and wondered why. He was even more alarmed when Chidren ordered Gaston to assemble the cavalry, and ride ahead of the main army. He was ordered to use his outriders once again, and to keep watch for spies along the way. At least he was using his solders in the way they were designed Mareston thought, but that worried him even more. Something was not going quite according to Chidren's plans, but he did not seem to be all that concerned about it.

   The traveling was easier now that the land had become level again, and the men covered enough ground each day that Mareston believed they would reach the castle within the two months Chidren had planned. His biggest concern was the condition of the men when they arrived at their destination, and their ability to use the siege weapons in the attack. If they were too tired, the attack would be slower, and the defenders would have more time to prepare for it.

   Chidren believed the castle would surrender when they saw the weapons to be used against them, but Mareston did not. He expected to have to storm the walls, and reach the gates before that happened. The losses in the south had taught him not to under estimate the empire, or those who defended it.

   Gaston rode far enough ahead of the main army, to reach the place where they would be camping for the night, and had the men rest the horses for most of the day. He did that for two straight days, and by the end of the second day, felt the horses had recovered from the many days of pulling the wagons. The patrols he had sent out during that time had seen no sign of the forces of the west, or even signs of a scout or lookout. It seemed strange to Gaston that they had not, and that they had seen no signs of the patrols, which would normally protect to people of the land around the castle. He expected them to avoid the towns that they had burned, but for them to abandon all of the people of the north did not seem right.

   With the horses better rested, Gaston kept within sight of the main army, as they made their way slowly southeast. The trees began to give way to the farmlands of the west, but there were no people in the towns and villages they passed along the way. The fields were bare and the buildings were empty, and Gaston saw no reason to burn them and give away their position.

   The main army was two weeks from the castle when Tarkrin spotted the scout, and reported it to Gaston. It was the first sign that the empire was aware of their progress, and he did not want the man to return with his information.

   The riders searched for the scout, but to their surprise, he was nowhere to be found. It was not until several hours later that Tarkrin, Gaston's best tracker, discovered the tracks, and reported them to Gaston. He followed the tracks for several miles, but they began to get harder to locate, and soon disappeared completely. It was obvious that the scout who had made them was no longer in the area, but Gaston believed he would be seen again when they were closer to the castle.

   That evening when the army caught up with Gaston and his cavalry, Chidren was informed of the scout and his escape. He was angry about the lost opportunity for information, but agreed with Gaston on the possibility that the scout could be captured closer to the castle. Chidren did not believe the information the scout could have gathered about his army, would help the defenders of the castle in any way, but the information he carried about the defenses of the castle would be of great importance to him.

   Gaston waited beside the fire, for the rider he had sent to search the area ahead of the camp, to return. He hoped the rider would see the light of a campfire, which would mark the place where the enemy scouts hid, and return with the location of their camp. It was not until sometime later that the information he sought reached him, but it was not what he wanted to hear. The rider found the remains of a fire, but it was hours old, and the men who had used it were long gone.

   Mareston arrived at the campsite used by Chidren at the same time as the messenger, and listened as he gave his report. Chidren was furious by the news, and he knocked the messenger to the ground, before turning to Mareston.

   "I will not stand for anymore failures." He said. "This had better be the last bad news I receive."

   "There was no need to hit the messenger." Mareston said. "His was not the failure."

   "He brought the message." Chidren replied.

   "Then I will have the messengers report to me." Mareston replied. "And I will relay the information they bring to you"

   "Why?" Chidren asked in a harsh tone. "It will just take longer for me to receive the information we need."

   "The messengers are not responsible for the reports they bring," Mareston replied. "And should not be punished for doing their job."

   "I care nothing about those men." Chidren said. "Why should you?"

   "Because they are under my command." Mareston said. "And it is the commanders job to protect his men."

   "Have it your way." Chidren said. "Just see to it that I am informed of all that happens."

   "We will be at the castle in less than two weeks." Mareston said. "There is a chance that we will have another scout to capture before we do, but if not, it is because they hide in their castle."

   "We will see." Chidren said, and dismissed the old solder with a wave of his hand.

   Gaston sent riders out at night for the next three nights, but they could find no trace of the enemy scouts. He doubled the outriders as they traveled each day, in an effort to better their chances of locating some sign of the enemy, but found nothing that led them to believe the enemy scouts were anywhere near their location. What tracks they did find, were many days old, and always ended within a few miles of being discovered.