“What is the message?” asked the noble.
“The Alceans knew that the attacks were coming,” replied the demonkin, “even before the use of the portals was complete, and they did not seem overly concerned as they should.”
“Where have you gotten this information?”
“By way of Artimor,” answered K’san. “He sent a human to me with the information. He says that you have a spy in the upper echelons of the Federation, one who was capable of sharing the locations of the portals and the timing for the attacks. He further suggests that you use the portals to send additional armies to Alcea, armies that will not be expected.”
Lord Kommoron nodded. “Do you believe Artimor’s words and agree with his thoughts?”
“The Claw of Alutar has powers far beyond my own,” the demonkin conceded. “I must put faith in his words.”
Lord Kommoron nodded. “The message has been delivered. Return to your world, but be aware that this portal may not be available for a while. I have need to move it to the palace.”
The demonkin bowed slightly and departed through the portal. Lord Kommoron turned and left the special room. He returned to the sitting room where Grand General Kyrga waited.
“Send a message to Camp Destiny,” instructed the noble. “Tell General Tauman to relieve General Montero of his command. Montero is to be brought back under guard. Tauman can appoint one of his own colonels to take Montero’s place, or he may promote one of Montero’s colonels. I will leave that up to Tauman. Additionally, I want Tauman’s 1st Corps readied for war.”
“Readied for war?” gasped the Grand General. “In Zara or Alcea?”
“Alcea,” answered the noble. “I want from you a list of every person who had intricate knowledge of the locations of our portals in Alcea.”
The Grand General opened his mouth to answer the question, but Lord Kommoron held up his hand to belay the answer.
“I do not want an impromptu answer. I want a definitive one. Think hard before you submit the list. Lives will depend upon it.”
Chapter 35
Uses of Magic
Six unicorns flew over the Coastal Highway north of Tagaret. When they were about halfway to Miram, they slowly descended and landed on the Coastal Highway. Within minutes Alcean Rangers greeted them. The black-suited warriors bowed to the king and queen.
“Where is Colonel Vidson?” asked King Arik.
“He is meeting with Colonel Jaynes on the hill to your right,” answered the Ranger. “I will have you escorted to him.”
The king nodded and one of the Rangers ran into the woods and returned mounted on a horse. He silently beckoned the king and his party to follow him. Alex and Jenneva passed the king and queen to follow the Ranger, leaving Theos and Balamor behind the royal couple. The Ranger led the small group through the forest and up a trail to a small makeshift camp just shy of the summit of the hill. Colonel Mitar Vidson, the head of the Rangers, stood waiting for them as if he had been expecting them. The colonel bowed to the king and queen.
“David will be with us in a moment,” stated Mitar. “We were just discussing the last fairy report out of Tagaret.”
“We were promised six-thousand Alcean soldiers,” quipped Colonel David Jaynes as he walked out of the trees. David was the head of the Red Swords, and he promptly bowed to the king and queen. “Now I understand that we are just getting the six of you. I guess we got lucky.” David grinned broadly and winked at Alex.
Both David and Mitar had known Alex since the day he first joined the army in the reign of King Eugene. They had been among the men that had accompanied Alex on a deadly mission into the northlands to spy on the goblin armies, and their lasting friendship had been forged in those frozen lands.
“Tell us about Team Miram,” suggested Alex. “What are we up against?”
“We have a wily opponent,” replied Mitar. “While the other teams in Alcea are commanded by a single general, Team Miram is not. Bledsoe has allowed General Kozinski to retain command and control of the 17th Corps, although Bledsoe has the ultimate authority. This allows the 7th Corps and the 17th Corps to work independently or together depending on what the situation calls for.”
“And they have been clever in using that capability,” added David. “For example, to get around the problem of us attacking the foragers, the two armies now split just before setting up camp. Both armies leave the road on opposite sides, and they converge at the campsite. This traps a fair amount of game between the two armies while not allowing us the opportunity to pick off stray foragers.”
“Clever,” conceded Alex. “What about the black-cloaks?”
“We were ordered not to enter the camp to kill them,” frowned Mitar. “I think that decision might come back to haunt us. The black-cloaks have been making night flights. I suspect that they might be visiting other teams. If so, they will now be especially wary about assassination attempts. Our window of opportunity may have been closed.”
“The black-cloaks have not visited Team Danver Shores,” interjected the queen. “Adan reported that their black-cloaks all perished last night. I am sure the gypsies would have noticed if there were visitors.”
“That still leaves Team Mya,” frowned the king. “My order may have been a poor one in retrospect, but I was not willing to sacrifice my best people to eliminate the black-cloaks.”
“We will find another way to remove the black-cloak threat,” declared Queen Tanya. “Where is Team Miram now?”
Mitar waved the group towards the top of the hill. Just before the crest was a small dugout and Mitar waved for the others to enter.
“It is too small for all of us,” stated Mitar, “but David and I have seen enough for now.”
Balamor decided not to enter, and so did Jenneva and Theos, allowing Alex, Arik, and Tanya to occupy the dugout. Alex immediately reached into his pack and removed the elven scope that had been given to him by Galdan many years ago. He raised the scope to his eye and gazed at the approaching armies. After a minute, he passed the scope to the king and exited the dugout. Several minutes later, Arik and Tanya exited the dugout and Tanya returned the scope to her father.
“The armies are not totally segregated,” Alex stated. “The eight black-cloaks ride together.”
“Between the two armies,” nodded David.
“What do they do when the armies split?” asked Alex.
“They become the tail end of the 7th Corps,” answered Mitar. “What are you thinking?”
“I am thinking that they need to die,” answered Alex. “Can you estimate where the armies will split?”
“I think so,” answered Mitar, “but they have only pulled that maneuver twice so far. How precise an estimate do you need?”
“Bow range,” answered Alex.
“They will have physical shields up, Alex,” frowned Jenneva. “They would be fools not to.”
“I agree,” interjected Theos. “They might not bother with physical shields in the middle of twenty-thousand men, but I would almost bet that they erect them when they become exposed like you are talking about.”
“Alright,” mused Alex, “but it is an opportunity nonetheless. We will have all eight of them together, and there will not be a whole host of soldiers in the way. And we have three battle mages of our own. We should be able to develop a plan to eliminate them.”
“And get away alive?” frowned David. “Once you attack the black-cloaks, both armies will move to converge on your position. Mitar and I will not be able to get all of our men in close enough to support the mages without being detected and spoiling your surprise.”
“Then we need a diversion,” grinned Alex. “A diversion that is sure to capture the attention of both armies.”
“I’ve seen that look in your eyes before, Father,” stated the queen. “What are you planning?”