Lord Korven’s fighting tactics had been seriously hampered by the fact that he was not only forced to wage conventional warfare against the troops of Coeranys, but also fight constant defensive actions against the landrunners, who pursued hit-and-run guerilla warfare against the advancing army. They would strike at night or during a heavy rainstorm, inflict heavy casualties with their powerful longbows, then retreat into the swamps, where every effort to pursue them had only resulted in the loss of more men. And once again, the emperor’s army had been forced to turn back in defeat.
Meanwhile, Lord Arwyn had not remained idle. With his army considerably strengthened by troops from Taeghas, Talinie, and Brosengae, he had attacked Avanil. He had waited until his spies informed him that the Army of Anuire was marching on Coeranys and after calculating how long it would take the emperor and Lord Korven to reach the River Saemil, he launched a devastating two-pronged attack on Avanil. He had split his army, sending part of his forces through the forest east from Seaharrow and across the border into western Alamie, then south to Avanil, while the rest of his troops marched east from Brosengae, crossed the border into Avanil, and attacked the capital city of Dalton, where Lord Kier of Avan had his stronghold.
With a good part of his forces on the march with the Army of Anuire, Lord Kier was left with only half his normal complement of troops. He had anticipated the possibility of an attack from across the border of Brosengae and had concentrated most of his defensive garrisons along the twenty-mile stretch of open plain between the southern tip of the Seamist Mountains and the coast. What he had not expected was an attack through western Alamie, which was not only a lengthy route, but also entailed marching an army around the outer borders of the territory claimed by Rhuobhe Manslayer.
The temptation for the Manslayer to conduct hit-and-run tactics against the rearguard of an army marching around his territory would have been irresistible, or at least so Lord Kier had thought. Besides, an army on the march from Seaharrow through western Alamie would have had to cover some four hundred miles to reach Dalton, with at least one hundred and fifty of those miles through thick, old-growth forest that would leave them likewise vulnerable to guerilla tactics. What the Duke of Avanil failed to take into account was the possibility that Rhuobhe Manslayer might be perfectly content to let such an army pass around the borders of his territory unmolested, if he knew they were en route to attack other human forces. If such an advancing army was defeated and found itself forced to retreat, he could then attack it on its return march, when the troops were weakened. On the other hand, if they were successful, he could wait until they had departed and attack the losers.
And that was precisely what he had done, though there had been no way for Arwyn to know that for sure in advance. As Aedan’s father had told him so many times before, considering the possibilities was everything in life. Arwyn had simply assessed the possibilities and gambled on the odds. Successfully, as it turned out. While half of Arwyn’s army moved against the garrisons protecting the border between Brosengae and Avanil, the other half had marched through the forests of Boeruine, around the northern tip of the Seamist Mountain range and Rhuobhe’s territory, then crossed the border into western Alamie to slash and burn their way south toward Dalton. It was his way of making Duke Flaertes pay the price for sitting on the fence and failing to declare for him.
Michael’s third expedition against Coeranys was delayed by the necessity of having to conduct forced marches all the way across the Heartlands to come to Lord Kier’s rescue. En route, they passed through the Duchy of Alamie, marching through the capital of Lofton in a show of force to induce Lord Deklan Alam, Duke of Alamie, to declare himself for the emperor. Naturally, with an army marching through his capital, Lord Deklan had hastened to reaffirm his loyalty to the empire, whereupon Michael resorted to the same ploy he had used with the Baron of Ghieste. He had ceremoniously knighted Lord Alam’s eldest son and appointed him to command a portion of Alamie’s troops on the campaign to western Alamie, thereby making certain Lord Alam would not experience a change of heart once the army had departed.
In western Alamie, they found only the devastation left behind by Arwyn’s army as they had marched south on Avanil. Farms and villages were burned, livestock slaughtered, fields of crops razed and trampled to the ground. Western Alamie would not soon forget Lord Arwyn, and when the Army of Anuire reached the capital of Haes, Duke Flaertes did not need any prodding to declare in favor of the emperor. The Army of Boeruine had not paused in their march to lay siege to Haes, but they had laid waste to every town and village in their path, and the capital was jammed with refugees and wounded who had lost their homes and come to their lord to seek refuge and redress. What Lord Tieran had not been able to accomplish by diplomacy, the Archduke of Boeruine had accomplished with the sword. Duke Flaertes acknowledged Michael as the rightful ruler and gave him half his troops.
They had then made haste from Haes toward Dalton, and when they crossed the border into Avanil, they found even more destruction. Scouts had been sent on ahead and they returned to report that the two halves of Arwyn’s army had reunited and had laid siege to Avanhold, Lord Kier’s castle. When Arwyn learned that the emperor’s army was on the march to Dalton, he had given up the siege and crossed the border into Brosengae. He had declined to offer combat to the emperor, but his purpose had been accomplished. He had punished Flaertes for failing to take his side against “The Pretender,” as he referred to Michael, and though he had been forced to give up his siege of Avanhold, he had destroyed much of the city and had decimated Lord Kier’s inferior forces.
Michael had chafed to pursue him into Brosengae, but Lord Korven had convinced him that it would be unwise. Their troops were tired from slogging through the marshes on the failed campaign in Coeranys and the long forced marches across the Heartlands. Moreover, Arwyn had torched the fields and killed all the livestock at the crofts around Dalton, much of which was still in flames, thereby rendering the emperor unable to reprovision his forces. And to make matters still worse, the Manslayer had waited until the Army of Anuire had crossed the border into Avanil and then launched a series of savage raids against the beleaguered Duchy of western Alamie. Michael had to send out parties of rangers to scour the countryside for available provisions, then turn back to give aid to Duke Flaertes in his attempts to stop the Manslayer’s depredations.
When the army finally returned to Anuire after the long and disastrous campaign, the troops were utterly worn out. Many had fallen in combat with Rhuobhe’s elves, while others had succumbed to sheer exhaustion, hunger, and disease. It was then that Michael had vowed he would never again fail to come to the aid of loyal vassals because his troops could not arrive in time. And remembering their journey from Tuarhievel to Anuire, he had struck upon the idea of marching through the Shadow World.
Ever since, the Army of Anuire had fought almost continuously as Arwyn’s forces struck out across the Heartlands and sporadic rebellions broke out throughout the empire. No sooner would the emperor’s army have to respond to one of Arwyn’s forays than another outbreak of warfare would erupt elsewhere in the empire. The goblins of Markazor launched an assault on the human holdings in that embattled province. Osoerde was attacked by sea raiders from Ghamoura. The gnolls of Chimaeron, emboldened by the internecine conflict in the empire, launched repeated raids against Coeranys, causing the recalcitrant Duchess Eugenie to appeal to the emperor for help in repelling the invaders.