“I will,” Chloe said, flying up and kissing him on the cheek. “For luck,” she said before vanishing in a ball of light. Jack adjusted his cloak and started moving through the forest.
Alexander gently disentangled his mind from Chloe’s and lay back on his bed. Much would be decided in the coming hours, but for now all he could do was wait.
He woke with a start, not even remembering dozing off. The warning horn blew again. He reached out with his all around sight and took in the camp springing to life in preparation to meet an attack. He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled on his boots. Yasim was waiting for him at the door to his tent, as expected.
“Report.”
“The force that entered the forest ahead of us is moving into position for a dawn attack from the north,” Yasim said.
“They seem very determined for bandits,” Alexander said. “How confident are the Lancers in the outcome of a battle?”
“Very … though I doubt it will come to that,” Yasim said. “If everyone is smart, the Lancers will not go into the forest and the bandits will not come into the meadow.”
“Stalemate … until I go looking for the Stone.”
“Yes,” Yasim said.
Shouts came from another direction, toward the little valley where Alexander had been ambushed and where the Stone had been hidden. He smiled when he saw Tyr leading a small band of men up to a Lancer guard post.
“He’s certainly persistent,” Alexander said.
“Perhaps too much so,” Yasim said, looking to the Lord Protector for instruction. The look he got back said it all.
“I will return shortly,” Yasim said. Alexander moved to get a better view, two over-armored guards trailing behind him.
As the Royal Assassin approached Tyr, the shadows around him began to coalesce into something more substantial, forming into two small flying creatures that looked almost like dragons, wing and claw and fang. Both darted out, closing the gap between him and Tyr with alarming speed, ripping into Tyr with soundless ferocity, yet falling on empty air. Tyr and Edric both vanished, their projections interrupted by the attack. Failing to draw blood on their first attempt, the two creatures turned to the four men escorting Tyr, tearing into them with such sudden viciousness that Alexander actually felt a little flutter of fear in his stomach. The four men died screaming. Their horses bolted, but not quickly enough to survive the onslaught.
The shadows vanished, and Yasim ordered Lancers to search for Tyr and his men, but before they were ready to leave, a flare of orange fire streaked into the sky from the west side of the big meadow and hundreds of men answered the signal at the top of their lungs.
“It seems that Tyr has assembled a substantial force as well,” Yasim said, returning to Alexander.
“Nightshade to the north and Tyr to the west,” Alexander said.
The Lord Protector stomped up. “I hope you know where you’re going,” he said to Alexander. “We can hold this position for as long as we want, but I can’t guarantee your safety within the forest.”
“It’s close … within an hour’s walk due west,” Alexander said.
“Tyr’s men are dug in that way,” Kagosi said.
“Well … that’s where we have to go,” Alexander said.
The sky was just starting to lighten when Alexander saw Jack moving ever so cautiously through the camp. Alexander turned to conceal his cloak pocket from his guards.
“The Lancers are at a disadvantage in the forest,” Kagosi said.
Jack got closer.
“That’s where the Stone is,” Alexander said with a shrug.
Jack slipped the pouch containing the Sovereign Stone into Alexander’s pocket, then backed away slowly and quietly, fading into the morning shadows.
Alexander felt a little thrill of victory … now for the escape.
“We’re very close, Lord Protector Kagosi,” he said. “Now is not the time to falter.”
“We’ll lose a lot of Lancers,” Kagosi said.
“I believe you’re right,” Alexander said, without a hint of sympathy. He was discovering what a window it was into the minds of his enemies to pretend to be one of them. Trying to see things from their perspective was a challenge, but the insight it offered was invaluable … and frightening.
“By your order, Lord Reishi,” Kagosi said, turning on his heel and stomping away.
As light broke over the treetops, a great battle cry went up from the north.
“Looks like the brigands have decided our course for us,” Yasim said. “Come, you will be safer in the command tent.”
Alexander followed, his eyes to the sky. Yasim led him to a large tent on the highest hill in the meadow, which was only five or six feet higher than the surrounding area.
A volley of arrows rained out of the trees, most bouncing harmlessly off the Lancers’ armor and shields, but a few finding flesh. The Lancers withdrew out of bow range and the bandits fell back into the forest.
Soon the entire camp was up and mounted; some squads lined up on the perimeter while others positioned themselves to respond to any incursion with a charge. Whatever else they were, the Lancers were well-trained heavy cavalry.
One squad unleashed their force lances into the tall grass bordering the tree line, blasting three men who were trying to sneak into the camp. So far, the enemy to the north was just probing. Tyr’s small army let out another battle cry. The jungle went very silent for a few moments, and then nine six-inch-diameter bubbles of liquid fire arched over the trees and splashed randomly into the camp, sowing seeds of panic and confusion.
When they were splashed with fire, several rhone raced off into the river, others fled into the trees. Tyr’s forces attacked into that moment of confusion, racing into camp through the few perimeter guards still standing their post. One of the reaction forces blasted two men so hard they landed forty feet away in a jumble of broken bones. Tyr’s men ignored the perimeter guards, slipping between them, turning the camp into a melee with most of the Lancers doing everything they could to remain mounted and stay in groups. When they could bring their lances to bear, the result was devastating, but that became harder and harder as Tyr’s pirates moved into their midst, cutting at their legs, then dashing away to strike at other targets.
A horn blew, calling for the Lancers to fall back and consolidate forces. Over their heads, Kagosi launched a spinning ball of force shards three feet across. It hit in the middle of Tyr’s advance force and exploded, sending magical blades in every direction, flaying flesh from everyone nearby and leaving a patch of blood and carnage where dozens of men had stood only moments before.
The bandits from the north attacked en masse, using the distraction of Tyr’s probe to gain a few steps toward the guards before loosing their arrows. Two Lancers fell. The rest charged, blasting the row of archers back into the dirt. A second row of archers sprang up from their hiding places inside the tree line and loosed several volleys of arrows in rapid succession at the exposed guards, bringing them all down and wounding their rhone.
Men poured over the ridgeline, charging into the meadow through the gap they’d opened in the Lancers’ line. The van met a force-lance charge that washed them away like smoke on a breeze, but the second wave was on the Lancers before their force lances could fire again, dragging them off their rhone and stabbing them to death.
The Lord Protector faced their front and began casting another spell, lobbing grapefruit-sized orbs of red force, one after the other, into the tree line. Each orb exploded on impact, sending the attacking bandits flying with each hit. It wasn’t long before they withdrew, but not before they’d killed over a dozen Lancers.
“We’re losing men,” the Lord Protector said. “Tell me where the Stone is and I will send a platoon of Lancers to retrieve it.”
“No, I have to go myself,” Alexander said. “It’s the only way.”