“As long as you had twenty-thousand men clumped around you?” scoffed the sergeant.
Corporal Chitor shrugged and nodded. “If you mean that I am afraid to face the dwarves, you are right. I admit it, but this waiting every day for them to finally attack is far worse than fighting. I wish they would just kill us and get it over with.”
“I am not ready to die,” the sergeant scowled. “Maybe we should just kill them instead.”
With frustration, the sergeant turned and hurled the rock into the trees. It was merely his way to ease the tension by using force in some way, but his eyes widened as he heard the rock strike something metal. The rest of the men near the perimeter also heard the noise in the woods, and they all jumped to their feet. Their act of alarm saved the sergeant’s life. Something shiny shot out of the trees, firelight glinting off its polished surface. The object tumbled end over end in a fast and furious flight that ended in a solid thump and a gurgle as one of Sergeant Turang’s men fell to his knees. The stricken soldier teetered on his knees before falling to the ground, a small polished ax protruding from his chest.
Shouting erupted in the camp, and the soldiers all dropped to the ground rather than grabbing their bows and firing in defense as they had been trained to do. The sergeant cursed loudly when he realized that he was the only man standing, but none of his men rose to their feet. As much as they feared to be punished by the sergeant, they feared the dwarves more. Sergeant Turang walked to the fallen man and pulled the small throwing ax out of the soldier’s chest. He glanced at the ax and then gazed into the trees. He imagined a grinning dwarf hiding in the darkness as he raised his hand in a defiant gesture.
“Are you crazy?” Corporal Chitor called up to him from the ground. “You do not stand in the open and insult a dwarf when he is only a few paces away. Get down!”
The sergeant shrugged. “He already threw his ax. If he wants to fight, he will have to come out of the shadows.”
“You are nuts, Turang,” retorted Chitor. “They have a dozen of those small axes hanging from their belts. Besides, it might not be just one dwarf.”
The sergeant’s face paled as he understood what the corporal was telling him. He felt a great need to immediately drop to the ground, but soldiers came running from deeper in the camp to see what was happening, saving the sergeant from embarrassment. As the first of the soldiers arrived, the sergeant casually stepped back, keeping at least one of the new arrivals between him and the trees at all times.
* * * *
General Kolling stepped out of the column as it stumbled to a halt. Whatever the problem was, the general was sure that Colonel Ednor would advise him shortly. As the Baroukan general waited, he gazed up at the night sky and shook his head with disappointment. The moon should have been bright this night, but angry clouds drifting over the coast had darkened its glow and eradicated the stars. He cursed his bad luck, and he cursed night marches.
“General Kolling,” Colonel Ednor said when he had located the leader of Team Barouk, “we have trouble. The enemy has destroyed a bridge ahead.”
“Why am I not surprised?” scowled the general. “I wish these Alceans would just come out and fight like men. Is the river fordable?”
“It is,” answered the colonel, “but I ordered the column stopped. I have men searching upstream and downstream for a more suitable crossing point.”
“Why?” frowned the general. “If we can get across it, why bother searching for alternatives?”
“It doesn’t feel right to me, General. We have crossed dozens of streams and rivers, and the enemy ignored those bridges. I think this particular bridge might hold some significance to the Alceans. I thought it would be wiser to search out alternatives than to play the hand dealt by the enemy.”
“We are already far behind schedule,” snapped the general. “Get our men across that river, and do it now.”
“As you command,” replied Colonel Ednor. “I will see to it immediately.”
The Baroukan colonel turned and ran towards the vanguard of the column. When he arrived, he stopped and gazed at the ford as he tried to catch his breath. The opposite shore of the river was dark, the forest extending to the edge of the riverbank. The colonel frowned as he surveyed it. The river itself was running swiftly, but it was neither a great torrent nor exceedingly deep. He turned and waved a captain forward. The captain hurried to the colonel’s side and gazed across the river.
“I want your company to get across the river and set up a defensive perimeter on the opposite shore,” commanded the colonel. “Signal me when the bank is secure.”
The captain saluted the colonel and retreated to his men. Moments later, one hundred Federation soldiers gathered on the near bank of the river. The captain’s hushed orders were brief and the men of the company nodded in understanding. One squad immediately moved down the bank and into the river while the other four squads stood with arrows nocked. The lead squad moved quietly out into the river, expecting trouble from unseen foes, but nothing happened. The squad slowly made their way across the river and climbed up the opposite bank. The twenty men spread out, creating a semicircular zone of protection for the rest of the company. When the short perimeter was established, the squad leader signaled the captain to send over the rest of the company. Four more squads slid down the bank and into the river, their arrows secured in their quivers, and their bows strapped to their backs.
The larger part of the company was halfway across the river when the enemy struck. All twenty of the first squad fell in the first volley of arrows. The second volley of arrows was already speeding towards the men in the river before anyone understood what was happening.
“Archers!” shouted Colonel Ednor. “I want withering fire on the opposite shore, and I want it now!”
The men in the river were caught midstream. Some of them tried to complete the trek across the river while others turned and tried to flee. Some even tried to nock arrows midstream and fight the unseen enemy, but all of the choices made were illusory grasps at the unobtainable. Within seconds of the opening barrage, all of the men were dead. The Federation archers in the vanguard of the column stepped up to the riverbank and fired volley after volley of arrows into the dark forest, but silence was the only victim. After a few minutes, Colonel Ednor gave the order to stop shooting, and an eerie stillness fell over the river. The colonel turned to select another company to attempt the crossing, but he frowned as he gazed at the men standing before him. Of the four captains who had gathered near the river when the column had halted, none of them were currently visible. The vanguard of the mighty 9th Corps of the Empire of Barouk had suddenly become bereft of company commanders.
Chapter 27
Day Nine
As General Pryblick, commander of the 8th Corps of the Empire of Barouk and team leader for Team Danver Shores, approached the rendezvous place, he noticed the crude sign on the side of the road. He shook his head and then turned his gaze to the assembled officers waiting for him. General Mackle, commander of the 12th Corps of Ertak, was already present, but Pryblick ignored the other general and rode straight towards his own colonel.
“What is the meaning of that, Dukirk?” General Pryblick asked as he pointed to the crude sign. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“Not unless it is an Alcean joke, General,” replied the colonel. “None of our men would dare to do such a thing. I have sent two men on ahead to verify the condition of the bridge.”
“Two men?” balked the general. “We are in enemy territory, Colonel. Why didn’t you send a company?”