“I will go with him,” stated general Stemple. “I feel a need to see for myself.”
General Ritka shrugged with indifference, and the group headed back into the valley. As they rode through the camp, Colonel Pierce noticed that the mood of the camp was odd. All of the men watched the generals ride towards the large command tent, and that was not unusual in itself, but there was also a look of fear upon many of their faces. Some of the men openly glared at General Ritka. That was not a wise posture to adopt in the Federation army, but the Spinoan general did not seem to notice. Without a word, General Ritka dismounted at the tent and disappeared inside. The squad leader continued onward, leading his men as an escort for the two officers heading to the southern exit of the valley.
The southern exit of the valley was less wooded with large stately trees sparsely populating a grassy plain. The colonel saw three individuals standing boldly in the middle of the trail. One was a man holding a staff, and one was a dwarf, but the colonel’s eyes were drawn to the third figure, a black-cloak. He shivered involuntarily and ordered a halt to the small column.
“We have come to talk,” shouted the colonel.
“Then come and talk,” called back the man with the staff. “Leave your soldiers where they are.”
Colonel Pierce and General Stemple rode forward and halted before the three Alceans. The colonel noticed hundreds of dwarves lurking among the trees, and he felt a shiver race up his spine. He focused his eyes on the dwarf standing alongside the man with the staff.
“Are you also a Knight of Alcea?” he asked.
“I am a Knight of Alcea, Colonel Pierce,” stated the man with the staff. “My name is Tedi. Why have you come here?”
The colonel blinked at the use of his name. He refocused his eyes on the speaker as if evaluating him. While Tedi’s body appeared fit and muscular, he did not even carry a sword. It was hard for the colonel to imagine the Alcean as being anyone special.
“You know my name?” questioned the colonel.
“You will find that we Alceans know far more about you than you know about us,” Tedi replied with a taut smile. “Had you known about us, you would never have undertaken such a poorly advised invasion. I notice that General Ritka chose not to accompany you and General Stemple. Does that indicate that he will refuse to surrender?”
“How do you know so much about us?” asked General Stemple.
“How we know so much is not a matter that needs discussion,” replied Tedi. “You already have enough to think about. Will you act boldly to save the lives of your men, General, or will you sacrifice them out of stubborn pride as General Ritka intends to do?”
“Your knowledge about us might answer that question for me,” retorted General Stemple. “Merely knowing our names does not convince me that you can beat my army in a fight. Why then should I consider surrendering?”
“He is wondering if you know about the other teams,” stated the dwarf. “He holds onto a foolish notion that delaying us here will give some advantage to the other teams.”
Tedi nodded to Doryelgar, the dwarven mage from Talman.
“Fair enough,” said Tedi. “Team Pontek was completely destroyed, as I am sure you are aware. In Lanoir, Team Chi and Team Elmor have already surrendered. I am not sure about Team Barouk. In Targa, Team Danver Shores has surrendered, and all of Force Cordonia is out of the war. That only leaves a handful of functioning Federation teams still in this war, and appropriate Alcean forces are dealing with them. None of your remaining teams have mages or food. Their men are tired and hungry. If you are wondering about Team Caldar, the Alcean forces here at Hendy Valley will not be needed to deal with General Omirro. You will gain nothing for the Federation by having your men die this day. Dwell upon that, General Stemple.”
The general nodded, satisfied that the Alceans did indeed know the complete Federation battle plans.
“We will return to camp and tell General Ritka of your words,” stated General Stemple.
The two officers retreated to the escorting squad and then returned to the valley.
“General Ritka will never surrender,” Colonel Pierce said softly.
“I know,” replied General Stemple. “What do you think about our chances of exiting this valley?”
“They are not good,” answered the colonel. “While I did not see overwhelming opposition at either exit, it would not take a large number of men to close off the valley. The exits are narrow enough to stop us from presenting a broad face to the enemy. Perhaps if we could get a regiment over the top of the ridge…”
The colonel glanced up at the ridge as he spoke, and he suddenly halted, his mouth gaping open as he saw the ridge lined with dwarves. He turned quickly and gazed up at the other ridge.
“They have us surrounded,” gasped the colonel. “Look!”
General Stemple looked at the ridges without a visible display of emotion. “It doesn’t surprise me,” he said calmly. “In fact, I would have been surprised if they were not up there. The Alceans have planned this well. The question now before us is if we can figure a way out of this trap.”
“Do we have a choice?” the colonel asked distractedly as he watched a commotion before them. “General Ritka is the team leader, and there is little doubt to what his orders will be. Much blood is going to flow this day.”
“What is going on?” asked General Stemple as he also focused on the commotion.
“I am not sure,” admitted the colonel as the two officers halted their horses near the large group of men gathered around a pair fighting. “Stop!” he shouted with an air of authority. “Stop it this minute!”
The group immediately noticed the officers and backed away from the scuffle. As the colonel’s eyes focused on the two fighting men, those in the group slowly backed away, getting lost in the maze of soldiers.
“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the colonel.
“He was planning on deserting,” one of the men said, pointing at the other accusingly. “I saw him drop his sword at the eastern edge of the valley. Now he claims that he has lost it.”
“I did lose my sword,” the accused soldier said defensively. “He is lying.”
General Stemple looked at the arm patches of the soldiers and recognized them as his men. He dismounted and walked up to the fighters. He glanced at the accuser and dismissed him before turning his attention to the swordless man.
“Who told you to leave your sword in the eastern half of the valley?” he asked.
The soldier started shaking his head as if the general had misunderstood the situation, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the general interrupted him.
“Do not even think of lying to me,” the general warned in an ominous tone. “I asked you a question and I expect a truthful answer. Disappoint me and you will wish you had not.”
The soldier swallowed hard and nodded shamefully. “We heard the instructions given to you, and we know that General Ritka will refuse to surrender. None of us want to die to dwarves, General.”
“Who told you what was said at the parley?” asked the general.
“No one told us, General,” replied the soldier. “We heard your voices. The whole valley heard it all.”
The general glanced at Colonel Pierce with a worried look on his face. The colonel said nothing. The general returned his attention to the soldier.
“Go find your sword,” he ordered. “I will not have my men taking things into their own hands. I still command the 29th Corps and you will follow my orders until I no longer command.”
General Stemple returned to his horse and mounted it. Without a backward glance at the soldier, he started riding slowly towards the large command tent. Colonel Pierce rode alongside him.
“I have been thinking about the words that were uttered while we were with the Alceans,” the colonel said softly. “If everyone heard what was said at the parley, we will not have a functioning army much longer. They will know about the dwarves and the fate of Gattas and Montero.”