Where Darkness Treads: Book Two—Of Tears & Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Five: Change of Plans

Today, marked the eighteenth day since they had abandoned the burning City of Etria. The enemy scouts had withdrawn, Maska noted, for there was no sign of them anywhere to be found. The road to Kandalare had been left to the refugees and soldiers to travel upon, beneath a soft steady-rain.

They were now about two days ride from Kandalare. Maska had been waiting for a certain message for some time. When a henna falcon, swooped in for a landing, he anxiously waited to see if this was it. The fleet bird's handler retrieved and handed him a small tube.

Despite the steady rain, Maska had managed to keep dry, beneath his oil-cloth hooded cloak. Quickly, he unsealed the small tube and read the note underneath a flap of his raingear.

"Well, what does it say?" King Tarran asked anxiously.

"General Anktar's forces are beginning to gather in an enormous encampment, over thirty days march from the Dragon's Maw, on foot. It is only a matter of time before the enemy will begin to march towards the mountain pass," Maska promptly replied.

King Tarran turned to General Gaden, who was Lead Commander of the Dawnbreaker Mounted Brigade, who sat astride his powerful coal-black courser, beside him. "Spread the word, I will be departing with most of the mounted soldiers. Our destination is now Fort Belton. Captain Bennington and Captain York, and the men under their command will see to the safe arrival of everyone else who is traveling to Kandalare."

The king studied the men around him for a minute, with a critical eye, then nodded. "We need to finish the last of our preparations for General Anktar's arrival. We have done everything we could reasonably expect to accomplish, plus a great deal more. We need to hold Bemenah's dark forces as long as possible at Fort Belton."

"Do not worry, my friend. We will make sure the enemy pays dearly for every foot of land they take. This is only the beginning of the battle for Kandalare; General Anktar will find out we have a few surprises of our own," Maska said with a grin.

King Tarran and Maska, along with the bulk of the men upon horseback now began the march towards Fort Belton. Roughly, they numbered just over eighteen thousand mounted men and women. With limited breaks for sleep and rest, they would now travel night and day. They needed to arrive at Fort Belton as soon as possible. Once General Anktar's army regrouped, it was the next logical place which would be attacked.

Everything now hinged upon this battle. Regular reports from scouts sent to gather information on the travel conditions of the higher mountain passes were favorable. Recent storms had dropped many feet of snow in those higher valleys. The enemy would have to travel through the Dragon's Maw to reach Etmindor. Once, the coming battle at Fort Belton ended, the surviving troops would withdraw over the last remaining bridge spanning the Narne river. Immediately afterward, the bridge would also be burned. The next defensive position would be the mighty Narne River, itself.

During this time of the year, frequent rainfall turned the Narne River into a massive, uncontrollable monster. Its sheer size and currents were an immense force to be reckoned with. In the past, armies had met their demise along its treacherous length.

Along the bluff overlooking the southern bank of the river, were immense defensive bulwarks of wood and stone. Behind the huge fortifications, were some twelve massive trebuchets. They stood ready to unleash a rain of destruction, upon Bemenah's Elliana's Wrath. Fortunately, their defenses were not bound solely to the large weapons. Conroy had also developed a smaller, yet effective catapult, which could be pulled behind a horse. There were now over fifty of them, waiting to be unleashed upon the enemy at Fort Belton.

"We need every idea Conroy can come up with, in order to wage this war. I personally asked him to develop something to aid our men, when the enemy sends in their winged fighters. Such a weapon would provide an enormous advantage in countering their attacks," King Tarran informed him.

"Each day, the winter snows grow closer. It means every day, General Anktar will become more desperate to move his armies, through the Dragon's Maw. He will be facing a lack of food, inadequate protection from the cold, and our forces," Maska said, smiling grimly.

"The last of the walled, tower garrisons have now been completed. Each of them, now holds their full complement of soldiers, it will be no easy task for mere raiding parties, to capture one of them. If the attempt is made, the soldiers garrisoned there should be able to hold the enemy at bay, until reinforcements arrive," King Tarran added.

"I have ordered two hundred of my fighters, to split up in groups of four. Their sole purpose is to hunt down and destroy the enemy scouts. Since the watch tower garrisons have been built and our militia is growing daily, we can afford to hunt down their spies," Maska commented with a grin.

"It will certainly help a great deal. I believe we have managed to eliminate most of our information leaks in Kandalare. The more of them we kill, the more blind our enemy becomes," King Tarran stated, while pulling his oil-cloth cloak tighter around himself.

"My friend, I'm glad I took your suggestion, and offered a field commission to Findle, the trapper. He has proven to be everything I hoped he would be, and more. He knows the North Country far better than most and has a better nose for danger than a war-hound."

"It would have been a shame to not use a man of his talents. Its men like him which will aid us immeasurably in this war. He is as bold as brass, but also has enough God-given sense to know there is a time for fighting and one to depart, should the risk of danger become too great!" Maska commented, while pulling an apple from a leather pouch.

"Speaking of risk of danger, I must confess to having a certain measure of uneasiness, as the Black Dragon has been conspicuously absent for a while. While I hated the attacks upon elements of our forces, at least we knew where he was. It is enough, to drive one mad, I tell you!" King Tarran said with exasperation. "We have got to figure out a way to destroy its evil, once and for all. The threat of Sadeene's attacks ties up a large portion of our forces, this cannot be allowed to continue."

"My friend, at this time we must be content with the fact the Black Dragon can't be everywhere at once. When we travel, we need to do so safely and go as fast as we can. As for me, I'm grateful there is only one dragon we must contend with." Maska looked at him grimly.

"Are you suggesting there might be more than one? Could there be others? I shudder to think of such a possibility, yet pray it is not true, for it speaks of a future dominated by unspeakable evil," exclaimed Tarran.

"Yet we must consider such a prospect, for until the Black Dragon appeared, who knew such creatures existed? We must accept all possible outcomes and realize we haven't seen all the evil Bemenah will unleash upon us." Maska slapped a biting fly on his neck, leaving a b****y trail, which he promptly wiped away with his gloved right hand.

"Right now, we can only face the dangers head-on, which we know about. If the beast is elsewhere, then he is not bothering us!" King Tarran exclaimed. "So, proceed we shall!"