Mighty Hammer Down (12 page)

Rommus died there that night at
Mirra’s door.

Chapter 11

Tannis paced back and forth in concern
and frustration. For the last few weeks his suspicions had been
growing, and now it seemed that the waves of unavoidable doom had
finally reached the Medoran shores. But perhaps doom was too strong
of a word for the situation. He had faith in his Legions, and knew
that every last man would die before they let harm come to the
Empire. He looked to the floor as his mind raced for solutions to
endless scenarios. Normally he would clasp his hands behind his
back as he pondered in this way, but today he wore his long black
cape, which made the habit difficult. He knew that the men would
see the gravity of the situation when they arrived and saw him
dressed as if he was riding to war.

A cape was a nuisance, but it served
his purpose. When the army saw him on the field charging off alone
to the front line, they roared with determination. When the men
were falling back, losing ground in battle, he rode out and
inspired them. He could not be mistaken for anyone else, with his
massive frame atop his giant warhorse, all black from hoof to helm.
The sight frightened men on both sides of battle.

Even his sword was black; except for
the sharp, gleaming edge. He moved on the field as if he were the
shadow of a ghost, slaying anyone near him with great ease. His
horse was as eager to ride to battle as he was, and no man seemed
to be able to injure the beast. His name was Rhodiir, which in Old
Medoran meant "shadow of the gods". While Rhodiir was called a
warhorse, he was far too young to have seen an actual war, since
peace had held with the neighboring nations for nearly 20 years. He
had, however, seen plenty of skirmishes with Vindyri who were brave
enough to cross the border and attempt an attack.

As he paced, Tannis thought that
perhaps the time was near for Rhodiir to finally witness a war. He
stopped, his cape curling around him, and looked up at the fresco
on the wall in front of him. It was very old and poorly executed,
so servants had begun chiseling the rock-hard plaster from the
walls in order to make the wall ready for a better painting. The
paint was not really paint at all, but finely ground minerals
applied to wet plaster. The painter only had about one day to
finish each section before the wall would not soak up any more
pigment. The process fascinated him.

Like he always did with any subject,
he compared the process to war. A change was coming. His enemies
had been chiseling at the ways of old in order to replace what they
saw as inferior with something to better suit their tastes. Their
window of opportunity would be small, since any enemy would know
that the eyes of Medora were ever-watchful, and the throats of the
soldiers thirsty for war. These enemies were almost certainly
Vindyri, but the moves could not have been made without Medorans
who shared the vision of their ideal painting. The Vindyri woman
imprisoned at the Star Legion barracks was his only link to
information on the plot. When this meeting was over, he would
return there and finish questioning her.

"Have the men not yet arrived?" a
voice asked from behind him.

Tannis turned around. "No Emperor, not
all of them. We await the Officers and Nobles from the nearby towns
and cities. We sent word only yesterday, so some have not had
enough time to get here."

"We cannot afford to wait any longer.
Let us go to the Forum and address the men who have already
arrived."

"Yes my Lord."

The two of them left the room and made
their way to the north side of the Emperor’s Hall as Tannis’s heavy
boots sent sounds to echo from the marble walls. In some places,
long carpets muted the noise while bringing the place to life with
vibrant colors. People moved aside and bowed their heads slightly
as the two of them passed. Soldiers saluted and stayed at attention
until they were well out of sight. Respect was something that all
people in Medora understood, even if some of them were unwilling to
show it.

"We are mighty, my General. Medora has
seen war before and crushed our enemies in battle. We have had our
dark days in the past, and just as we did then, we will prevail
now."

The Emperor was making an effort to
address his concerns and comfort him, but Tannis thought the man
was more likely saying these words to comfort himself. Tannis
needed no comfort, only a sharp sword and an army behind him that
was willing to follow him. He already had both of those
things.

"General Tirinius," a man behind them
called as he rushed over to them, "a Vindyri Ambassador has
arrived. Shall I send him to the Forum?"

"Under no circumstances!" shouted
Tannis. "Keep him out of the Emperor’s Hall, and make no mention of
this meeting whatsoever to him or any other Vindyri. Send men to
guard him, one for every door and window in the place,
understood?"

The man looked confused,
but saluted. "Yes Lord Tirinius, right away." He turned to leave
but stopped suddenly. "Oh, General, I do have other news as well.
The Vindyri woman we captured escaped
¾
"

Anger flashed in Tannis’s eyes. "How
can this be?" he interrupted.

"No one is certain, sir, but rest
assured, we caught her before she could leave the barracks. We
locked her away in the pit so that she would not be able to escape
again. Commander Soterus had us release the other women once she
was locked away. Everything is under control now, but the Commander
wanted you to be informed of the situation."

Without a word, Tannis turned and
continued on, anger still roaring behind his eyes. When they walked
down the hall and turned the corner, Tannis finally spoke. "These
fools will ruin everything. All it takes is a few simple mistakes
and the whole of the Empire will fall. We already have enough to
deal with without blundering idiots running into walls trying to
find a woman in their own barracks."

"It is easy to see the problems in the
details, Tannis. But look at the big picture. We are taking steps
to avoid this conflict already. Our wheels are forever in motion,
not stuck in the mud."

Tannis thought to mention the horrible
storm of the night before and all the mud it created, but he
thought it was better to hold his tongue. He didn’t want the
Emperor to be offended, nor did he want him to think he was off
daydreaming about symbolism during such a serious time. By morning
the storm had waned to little more than a drizzle, but it still
carried with it a chill that was uncommon in these parts during the
summer. As they passed a window he looked out into the dull gray
mist. Days like this seemed to pull all the color from the world,
leaving it quiet and dead.

They came to a large set of ornate
doors where two guards stood. Upon their arrival, the guards pulled
the heavy doors open and returned to their posts. Marble steps
covered in bright red carpeting led them down to the lower level at
the north side of the Emperor’s Hall. The Forum and all the
surrounding rooms in the North Hall were dug deep into the foot of
the nearby mountain, making the chambers a very quiet and very
well-protected place. The rest of the buildings and roads were
built on top of the mountain as it rose ever so slightly to the
sky. This far south in Medora, the mountains were tall, but did not
rise abruptly like the ranges to the north. The sheer walls of
those northern mountains stretched into Vindyrion and kept people
from entering the Land of the Gods.

They finally came to the doors of the
Forum, and two more guards heaved them open. Inside the
semi-circular room was nearly filled with men talking loudly
amongst themselves. Some of them were clearly angry with one
another, but most were simply complaining and carrying on like they
normally did when called to the Forum. A hush fell over them when
they saw Tannis in his black cape enter the room with the Emperor
following.

Tannis took his time looking up into
the crowd, meeting as many eyes as he could. He made sure to convey
his seriousness and anger so that these men would know this was no
ordinary matter of governance with which they could play their
petty games. Most of the men shrank back with a mixture of fear and
respect, but some rolled their eyes at the spectacle like they
usually did. He made sure to stare at those men the
longest.

Taking the center of the floor in
front of the Emperor’s podium, he finally spoke. "Fellow citizens
of Medora," he said in his booming voice, "we have called you here
on a matter of great urgency, so you will pardon me as I skip the
usual formalities. There are some among you who know what is going
on, but most of you do not. I bring you news of war coming to our
nation."

The people began nervously chatting,
but he quieted them with a raised hand. "We have seen great dust
clouds raised by marching men on the eastern front for many days.
Today is the first day in nearly a week that we have not detected
this movement, but the rains are to blame for that. It is our
estimate that at least half the Vindyri army advances west, but we
cannot be sure."

"The Vindyri are free to move where
they will in their lands," a fat Noble stated. "It is not our duty
to stop them from moving their forces or training them."

"It is our duty to protect our people,
Barchetto," Tannis snapped. To his surprise, many of them men
voiced their discontent with the statement.

"Why should we send our men to war
with little more than smoke in the air as proof of hostility?"
another man asked.

"That is not all the proof," the
Emperor said as he rested his hands on his podium. "A Vindyri has
made an attempt on General Tirinius’s life. An attempt was made on
his son as well, though we do not know much about either. We fear
the city of Brinn is full of spies and assassins, and the time has
come for them to make their moves."

Barchetto laughed loudly. "So it’s a
personal thing then. You are angry because someone got the better
of you and your son, Tirinius."

"This is a matter of importance for
all of us, not for just me. Does it not make sense to you,
Barchetto, that an assassin would strike at the heart of his enemy,
as well as the hand carrying the sword? The Vindyri know that they
cannot confront us face to face, so they send villains to chip away
at our strengths and bring us to our knees before bringing war to
our doorsteps. The troops on the move could not yet know that their
attempt to kill me has failed."

"And what of your son, Tirinius? What
do the Vindyri need with him? He is as unimportant in Medora as he
is in Vindyrion, you know this," said Barchetto down his nose to
the General.

"You will speak with respect to the
General and my father, Barchetto, or I will personally throw you
from this Hall," Uritus said as he emerged from a corner. "And it
makes sense to me to harm the son of the General. Such an
unfortunate event might very well shake the will of any man, and in
turn, his army."

"You see, my son is wise beyond his
years. Even he sees the storm coming when you all refuse to," Piro
said as he smiled to his son.

"Not all of us refuse to, Emperor,"
the Earth Legion Commander said. "I support your war, even if it
has not yet come to our borders." Many men voiced the same
opinion.

"A war with Vindyrion will disrupt
trade between the nations," Barchetto explained. "We cannot afford
to lose the business with them, let alone the foods and grains we
purchase from them. And on the other side of the coin, their nation
would be in much worse shape if they should lose trade with us." He
smiled smugly, content with the point he had made.

"Barchetto, you should be less
concerned with food, grain and coins, and pay attention to the
larger picture," Tannis retorted sharply. "If a nation is
comfortable in their strength, they will risk losing such trade
because they feel they can destroy their enemy and simply take
whatever they want. To assume an enemy is weak or unwilling to
attack only opens the doorway for them to make moves against you in
secret. Luckily for you, I have been looking to the east while you
have been staring at your dinner plate." Most of the room laughed
at Barchetto and his love of food.

The Emperor raised his hands to
silence the crowd. "Barchetto does have a point. Regardless of what
we think they will do, the Vindyri have built a strong nation
alongside us, and we have been at peace for many years. But I must
remind you that years ago, when we were at war with them, we still
thrived. We always have, even during wars long forgotten. To
shatter the peace seems reckless to me, but perhaps there are
reasons for the recent events that we have simply not yet
uncovered."

"We might have uncovered reasons if my
scouts in Vindyrion would return, but they, along with any of our
Ambassadors are suspiciously delayed," said Tannis as he turned to
the Emperor, "All of these events together are cause for alarm,
even if separately they are not."

"I say we should go to war, or at
least build the threat of war so as to knock some sense back into
the Vindyri," said Uritus, "Perhaps putting a little fear in their
hearts will convince them to lower their prices along with their
swords."