Once they were on the road again, the day passed without incident. Very few were foolish enough to attack a unit of Lancers out in the open.
The second night brought them to another fortification: ten-foot log walls with a well-spiked berm before it and a shallow moat filled with oil-soaked hay ten feet in front of that. Twenty-foot towers rose from each corner and the whole courtyard was a common space shared by livestock and people alike. It stunk.
Alexander took his meal to his tent, quietly drawing a magic circle after he’d finished eating. He slipped into the firmament moments later and appeared before Jataan, Lita, Anja, and Jack, who were all sitting around a small fire in the forest.
“Lord Reishi,” Jataan said, standing.
“We’re two days from the big meadow,” Alexander said. “Here’s my plan …”
Chapter 27
The last leg of their journey across the plains brought them to the slaver camp at the edge of the western province where Alexander had been brought after he was captured in the forest. The place had been largely transformed into a well-fortified forward operating base for the Lancers working to put down the local resistance.
Despite their rhone steeds and force lances, or perhaps because of them, they were having very little success against the people who’d chosen to stay and fight for their homes. Alexander could see poor morale in the Lancers’ colors everywhere he looked.
Commander Udane led Alexander and his escort across a muddy courtyard and into a wooden building, which had been hastily made from rough-cut lumber but looked sturdy enough. They went upstairs to the war room, a conference area with maps and rosters pinned to the walls and littering the large, central table.
Udane unrolled a map in the middle of the table, setting weights on each corner to keep it from rolling back up. He pointed at a mark and said, “We’re here.”
Alexander pointed to the big meadow and said, “We need to go here.”
Kagosi and Yasim shared a quick glance.
“A day’s travel through dangerous territory,” Udane said. “I don’t recommend it.”
“Your recommendation isn’t required, Commander,” Alexander said, “but your assistance is. I will expect an escort capable of meeting any challenge we might find along the way. Have the men ready to leave in the morning. Where are my chambers?”
Udane looked to the Lord Protector before nodding curtly to Alexander. “If you’ll follow me, Lord Reishi, I’ll show you to your quarters.”
Once there, Alexander dismissed Udane with a gesture and bolted the door, scanning the room for anything out of the ordinary. The closer they got to the Stone, the thinner the veil of lies wore. His escort team had never been able to hide their colors, but even their forced deference was beginning to erode. Alexander rubbed his neck where the collar had chafed him.
Moments after he lay down for the night, an alarm horn blew. When he opened his door, he found Yasim standing there.
“What’s happening?”
“An unknown force approaches.”
Alexander headed for the battlements, trailing Yasim behind him.
He found the Lord Protector on the northeastern tower. He was in the midst of casting a spell. Alexander looked out into the night, seeing a dozen men hiding in the shadows near the walls.
Shards of reddish force began appearing over the Lord Protector’s head; each held its initial position for the count of a heartbeat before darting off into the night toward the men probing the camp’s defenses. At first, a shard appeared every second or so, then two, then five, then ten at a time, all streaking toward the target area, ripping into anyone caught in the open. The barrage lasted for nearly a minute, sending hundreds of deadly magical blades at the enemy, tearing into the ground and stones, littering the area with mutilated corpses. Alexander saw two men flee into the night after the terrifying spell had run its course.
He’d wondered about the Lord Protector’s calling. A force mage was formidable … Alexander regarded him with renewed caution.
“Do we know who they were?”
“Not yet, Lord Reishi,” Kagosi said. “Our men will investigate their remains and report.”
“Well done,” Alexander said, walking away before he had a chance to respond. He suspected either Tyr or Grant was behind the probing attack and decided that it didn’t matter much, considering how forcefully the Lord Protector had repelled their advance. Another frontal assault was highly unlikely.
The warning horn blew again just before dawn. Again, Alexander found the Lord Protector on the northeastern tower.
“Report,” Alexander said.
“We estimate a force of five hundred skirting our position and entering the forest on foot.”
“Any idea who they are?”
“Brigands and bandits,” Kagosi said. “The ones I killed last night were known associates of Nightshade.”
“Interesting,” Alexander said.
They set out at first light with the bulk of Udane’s forces riding escort, two hundred Lancers, leaving a minimal guard force in the base camp. Kagosi and Yasim were becoming more anxious by the hour, but Alexander was getting calmer and more centered. The time for battle would arrive soon enough.
The Lancers seemed nervous as they wound through the forest on well-worn trails that, nevertheless, confined and constricted their ability to move and charge.
Alexander pulled up next to Udane. “Doesn’t seem like the best terrain for Lancers to operate in,” he said, off-handedly.
“It’s not,” Udane said. “If it were up to me, we’d burn the entire forest to the ground. See how well the resistance does against us out in the open.”
“You could change your tactics,” Alexander said.
“What do you mean?” Udane asked.
“Wear lighter armor, go in on foot, and learn to use a bow,” Alexander said.
“We’re Lancers,” Udane said, spurring his rhone ahead.
They reached the meadow just after sundown, setting up camp in the rapidly encroaching darkness.
“We should discuss our plans for tomorrow,” the Lord Protector said.
“It’s simple enough,” Alexander said. “We go search around the forest until I find the place where I hid the Sovereign Stone.”
“Commander Udane has expressed serious security concerns,” Kagosi said. “Perhaps it would be best to send Lancers to retrieve the Stone, so that your safety will not be compromised.”
“I’ll have a hard enough time finding the spot myself … there’s no way your men would be able to find it without me. I have to go myself.”
“As you wish, Lord Reishi,” Kagosi said.
That evening, Alexander noticed that the security force around his tent had doubled. Now that they were getting close, the Andalians were getting nervous. Yasim nodded ever so slightly to Alexander when he entered his tent.
“Are you ready, Little One?”
“Yes, My Love.”
“Jack should be waiting for you.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Alexander linked his mind with Chloe, watching through her eyes as she flitted through the aether, passing right through the trees of the forest. She flew with unerring precision, following a straight path between Alexander and the Sovereign Stone, and found Jack at the prearranged spot, covering a broken and rotting tree stump with his body and hidden by his magical cloak.
“Whoa!” Jack whispered when Chloe materialized inside the tree trunk, bringing the Sovereign Stone and Alexander’s pouch with her in a dazzling flash of light. “You certainly know how to make an entrance, My Lady.”
“Be careful, Jack,” she said. “Everyone in the world is looking for this.”
“Tell Alexander that everything’s in place,” Jack said, slipping the Sovereign Stone into the pouch and securing the pouch to a lanyard he wore under his armor.