“Our men will be exhausted by the time we get there,” frowned David Jaynes. “That is supposing that we can even get to them before they reach Tagaret. Even if we left this very moment, I doubt that we would arrive in time to stop them from reaching the walls of Tagaret.”
“The Red Swords will not be going, David,” replied the king. “We have only enough unicorns for the Men of Tor and the Rangers. You and the Red Swords will be left here to secure the prisoners from the 7th Corps and the 17th Corps.”
“Two-thousand men against ten-thousand?” questioned Mitar Vidson. “And those two-thousand have been up all night fighting the Battle of Duranga. You are risking much with this plan.”
King Arik nodded. “We do what must be done. May the gods be with us.”
“Prince Garong and the elves of Elderal will also be with us,” interjected Alex. “Perhaps we can also order the Army of the West and the Cordonian Army to accelerate their movement eastward.”
“Prince Garong and his people will be a welcome addition,” stated Queen Tanya, “but the others will not be battle worthy. They are too far behind. If they race to make it to the battle, they will be exhausted.”
“Understood,” countered Alex, “but their arrival would be a powerful inducement for the 24th Corps to surrender. The sight of another twelve-thousand men behind the Aertans will guarantee an immediate surrender. I am confident of that.”
The king nodded and turned towards the fireplace where Prince Midge was holding court on the mantle. The fairy prince was sending and receiving fairy messengers to and from every spot in the kingdom, keeping abreast of the other teams.
“Can the Army of the West arrive in time to be a factor, Prince Midge?” the king asked.
“That depends on where the battle is held,” answered the fairy prince as he held up his hand to forestall a reporting fairy. “They are incapable of reaching Tagaret today, even if they push hard, but if the battle were held further west, the odds would improve greatly.”
“That would give our people less time to prepare for battle,” frowned Mitar Vidson.
“Watling Flats,” Alex said decisively. “It is a half day west of the city. It is the perfect battlefield for what we must do.”
The king nodded solemnly. Watling Flats was the battlefield where King Arik defeated the prophet Azmet and his followers of Abuud. It was the battle that had cost Wylan his sight. The sudden thought of Wylan stirred great emotion in the king’s heart. He wondered how Zalaharic was making out with the healing of Wylan and Sheri.
“General Barbone surrendered Team Caldar yesterday,” Prince Midge announced loudly, “and Bin-lu reports that Rut-ki has managed to devastate Team Barouk. He is anticipating the enemy’s surrender this very morning.”
Shouts of joy filled the common room, but the celebration was short lived.
“That leaves only Team Mya threatening Alcea,” declared the king. “I want this war over today. Alex, you are familiar with Watling Flats. Go there immediately and survey the battlefield. I will be along shortly with the Rangers and the Men of Tor.”
Alexander Tork nodded. “Jenneva will be joining me. May I also take our red-headed friends?”
The king raised an eyebrow at Alex’s request to take the mages with him, but he did not need a lengthy explanation of the reason for the request to answer it. Instead he looked to the queen for her response. Theos was, after all, supposed to be protecting the king.
“I see no problem with that,” answered Queen Tanya. “My magic will be sufficient to protect you here. Give Alex whatever he needs.”
The king nodded, and Alex turned to leave the meeting. Jenneva, Theos and Balamor followed. Without a word, they mounted their unicorns and took to the air. Before they had even risen far, Alex woke Bitsy and sent her on her way to find Prince Garong. An hour later, they landed in the great meadow called Watling Flats. For several moments after they landed, Alex sat on Kaz and gazed around the meadow. Flashes of memories of the Battle of Watling Flats flooded his mind, and he sighed with sadness. It was not a sadness for the outcome of the previous battle, for the Alceans had won a decisive victory, but rather a sadness for the amount of blood that has already been spilled to live in peace. He shook off his emotions and turned Kaz to the east. The others followed.
When he reached the eastern edge of the meadow, Alex continued along the Mya-Tagaret Road for another half league. That half league of road was bordered on both sides by thick forest. He dismounted and stared up at the treetops. The mages had also dismounted and they also stared up, wondering what was going through Alex’s mind.
“How does a tree mine work?” Alex asked softly.
Jenneva raised an eyebrow. Alex had never shown much interest in magic, and she could not remember him ever asking how a spell worked before.
“It is a magical force that swiftly expands the saps within a tree,” answered Balamor. “That rapid expansion of saps blasts apart the fibers of the tree. It all happens so quickly that it results in a large explosion, sending slivers of wood flying in all directions. The upper part of the tree, no longer having anything to rest upon, crashes to the ground.”
“But how is it aimed?” asked Alex. “And what determines the size of the blast?”
“It is an area spell,” answered Jenneva. “The size can be whatever the mage wants it to be, within reason, but there is seldom reason to vary it. As for aiming it, think of it as throwing a stone. If the tree is fairly close, it is hard to miss, but if you choose a tree quite distant, the odds of missing increase. What is going through your mind, Alex?”
“I want to create a barrier of abatis across this road,” answered Alex, “but there is not time for our men to do it. We have only hours before the 2nd Corps will arrive.”
“And you want us to use tree mines to fell the trees?” scoffed Theos. “I don’t think that will work as you expect.”
“I think it might,” Alex responded distractedly as he drew his knife and approached one of the trees.
Alex knelt next to the tree and gazed upward and then looked back at the road. He dug his knife into the bark and cut some of it away. When he was done, an elliptical bare spot appeared on the trunk. He stood up and backed away.
“If one of you could fashion a tree mine to destroy only the portion of the tree that I have exposed,” Alex said, “we will find out if you will make good lumbermen.”
Jenneva grinned. “Alex used to be a lumberman, Theos,” she said. “I think this just might work. Let’s move back and I will give it a try.”
They all moved back and Jenneva cast the spell. A large chunk of the tree exploded outward in a flurry of wooden splinters, but the rest of the trunk remained unscathed. For a moment it looked to the mages as if the spell had failed to achieve their goal, but then the tree groaned loudly and leaned towards the west. They watched in amazement as the large tree crashed to the ground, landing squarely in the center of the road with its uppermost branches facing the west.
“Excellent!” grinned Alex. “I will mark all of the trees I need felled. If the three of you can work together to share the work, we will be done in no time.”
“Why here?” Theos asked with a puzzled expression. “I thought the battle was to be fought in the meadow, and we are over half a league east of that.”
“The 2nd Corps has already lost its cavalry,” explained Alex. “If we account for the loss of their horses and the riders who rode them, this place will mark the location of the vanguard when the tail exits the meadow. The initial attack should occur here. The men will try to rush back into the meadow, but I want them greatly bloodied before that happens. If Prince Garong can accommodate the plan, his elves will be lining both sides of the road between here and the meadow. The Rangers and the Men of Tor will then attack the rear of the column.”