“Indeed,” replied the general. “Those men on the flying unicorns were never reported before. That is why I am holding three regiments in reserve. Go build your shield wall, Colonel, and try to capture the Alcean king. If we can capture him, we will not only win this battle, but also this war. If you cannot capture him, kill him.”
Hovering in the darkness over the two Federation officers, a tiny pair of ears heard the entire conversation. As the colonel left to form his shield wall, Prince Midge shot up into the night sky and headed south. The fairy prince darted over the Federation camp until he saw the Bringer and the Red Swords. He dropped out of the sky and landed on King Arik’s shoulder just as the Bringer was delivering a deadly stroke to a Federation captain. The severe movement of the Bringer’s shoulder almost sent the fairy prince tumbling from his perch, but Prince Midge grabbed the king’s ear and hung on, his tiny feet swinging in the air.
“There are gentler ways of getting my attention,” King Arik quipped. “What have you learned?”
“They know that Alex is attacking from the west,” reported Prince Midge, “but the worst news is more personal. General Bledsoe is keeping three-thousand men in reserve, and they are gathered all around him. He has also ordered your capture or death to force an end to the war. It will be very hard for you to get close to him. Also, there is a shield wall ahead of you. Not more than five-hundred paces from here.”
King Arik slowed to let the Red Swords take the lead while he pondered this new information. Queen Tanya slowed alongside him.
“General Bledsoe is more clever than I gave him credit for,” stated the king. “He must suspect that I am coming for him. If we manage to break through the shield wall, we will be stuck between two large portions of Bledsoe’s army. That is not a position I want to be in. We need to draw those three reserve regiments away from the general or I will not get close to him. Get to Alex and tell him what you have told me. Ask him to draw off Bledsoe’s reserve. Inform him that he can use the men from Tor if needed. After you do that, return to spying on the general and inform me when the reserves leave his side.”
“For the Bringer!” Prince Midge said loudly while saluting.
The fairy prince shot upward and the king turned to the queen. “Wake Bantam and send her to find David,” Arik said. “I want the Red Swords to fall back.”
“Wake me?” complained Bantam. “Even a fairy would find it impossible to sleep through this battle. I am on my way.”
The blue fairy shot out of Tanya’s pocket and sped into the night sky. Moments later a horn blew and the advance of the Red Swords immediately halted. The Alceans promptly turned their horses and galloped away. Shouts of victory roared through the Federation lines, but Colonel Sawar frowned and shook his head in confusion. He saw no victory in the Alcean retreat. In fact, it was Federation bodies littering the ground, not Alcean. He wondered why the enemy had given up on a successful charge and suddenly left the battlefield.
“Do we give pursuit?” asked one of the company commanders.
“No,” the colonel replied loudly so that everyone heard him. “We hold this line until instructed otherwise.”
* * * *
Prince Midge soared high in the sky and descended rapidly at the western perimeter expecting to find the Alcean Rangers, but he found it desolate. Hundreds of Federation bodies littered the ground, and he turned eastward to follow the trail of destruction. The sounds of battle alerted the fairy prince long before his eyes could detect the Alcean Rangers. The black-clad men on their black horses seemed to merge with the darkness. The fairy prince darted through the Alcean warriors until he saw the white unicorn that Jenneva rode into battle. As he expected, Alexander Tork was close by. He swept down and landed on Alex’s shoulder. He quickly repeated the Bringer’s message.
Alex whistled sharply, a signal to the Alcean Rangers. Kaz immediately turned around and galloped westward. The rest of the Alcean Rangers broke off contact with the enemy and followed.
“Your message has been delivered, Prince Midge,” stated Alex. “Tell Arik that we will draw off the reserves.”
“He already knows that,” replied the fairy prince. “Unless you have a real message for the Bringer, I will not be returning to him just yet. I will be going to spy on General Bledsoe.”
“Then spy well, my little friend.”
Prince Midge bowed to Alex and then shot into the air.
“What a ham,” commented Bitsy as she shot out of Alex’s pocket. “Spying is no great feat for a fairy.”
“It is a talent your people have mastered,” smiled Alex. “I need you to take a message to the men of Tor. On your way, I want you to observe the camp between us and the northern perimeter. Report on your observations when you return.”
Alex gave the fairy a rather detailed message for Lieutenant Montbalm and then sent her on her way. While he waited for her return, he explained to the Alcean Rangers what they were going to do.
* * * *
General Kozinski, commander of the 17th Corps of Spino, stood in the center of a huge circular shield wall. He watched as a portion of the shield wall peeled open to let the cavalry enter. One of the returning riders rode up to the general and dismounted.
“The enemy broke off and retreated towards the western perimeter,” reported Colonel Shellard.
“You did not pursue them?” questioned the general.
“No,” replied the colonel. “My regiment took heavy losses fighting the Alceans. I could not afford to allow them to be sucked into a trap.”
The general frowned. “A trap?” he echoed. “Are you saying that the Alceans did not retreat because their cause was lost?”
“The Alceans gave better account of themselves than we did,” the colonel replied. “They may not be as numerous as us, but I will not besmirch their fighting skills. I think we are up against the Alcean Rangers. They are the finest fighters in all of Alcea. No, General, I do not think they retreated because their cause is lost. I think they meant to draw us into a trap. I refused to oblige them.”
General Kozinski’s brow creased with concern. For a moment, he said nothing, pondering the potential effects of the colonel’s decision. He did not like not knowing where the enemy was, but eventually he realized that there were only three things the Alceans could do. They could attack the shield wall directly, which would be a fatal mistake on their part, or they could drive south to attack General Bledsoe, but the Baroukan general had three regiments protecting him. That made such a move unlikely, leaving the third option as the most probable.
“Take your men and head to the northern perimeter,” ordered the general. “I want the men posted up there to join us here. I will not leave them isolated and exposed to attack.”
Colonel Shellard saluted and mounted his horse. He rode a short distance to where his company commanders were waiting and explained their orders. With a shouted order to the shield wall, the defensive ring opened to allow the colonel and his men to leave. Colonel Shellard’s regiment was already down to half-strength from the fight with the Alcean Rangers, and he did not cherish the thought of riding through the woods with the Rangers unaccounted for. He led his men onto the Coastal Highway that split the camp in two and headed north. Well before he reached the northern perimeter, Colonel Shellard knew that trouble was brewing. A fiery glow in the distance lit the night, and soon the sounds of shouting reached his ears. He drew his sword.
“Prepare for battle!” he called to his men.
As the colonel drew nearer the barricade, he frowned in confusion. The flames he had seen from a distance were coming from the burning barricade, but the enemy was not attacking, unless you could call a lone mage standing in the middle of the road and sending sheets of fire into the wooden barricade an attack. The shouts of alarm came from the defenders of the perimeter as their arrows failed to harm the mage and their efforts to extinguish the flames were met with more flames. The colonel sheathed his sword, and his men followed his example.