The giant nodded and extended an arm, muscles moving like stones in a sack beneath his skin. The sun shone dully from metallic fingernails.
'It is impressive, is it not?'
'It's hideous. What happened to you?'
'I became worthy of the Crown, Ullsaard. Give it back to me and I will make your death quick.'
Ullsaard took a few steps back and drew his sword.
'You don't expect me to die without fighting, do you?'
'You are a good warrior, Ullsaard, but you are not invincible.' Orlassai-Erlaan drew his own weapon, its wickedly serrated blade catching the light. 'Do you think you can stop me?'
Ullsaard swallowed hard and his mouth was dry. One stroke of that sword would cleave him in half. It was at that moment he remembered telling Erlaan that a warrior fought with his mind as much as his sword. He desperately wracked his brains for an idea.
'Have you become as savage as the army you lead?' said the Askhan king, sheathing his sword. 'What would your father think of this behaviour?'
'I am no savage,' Orlassai-Erlaan replied. 'What do you mean?'
'Would you break the truce of parley? Do you remember what happened to the last man that crossed me in such a way?'
The monstrous king hesitated and he looked more youthful than ever in his uncertainty. With a coy smile, he lowered his blade.
'Forgive my manners, I have picked up some bad habits from my minions,' said Orlassai-Erlaan. 'My father is dead, Ullsaard. He thinks nothing of me now, but I would honour his memory. You wish to talk terms of your surrender.'
Ullsaard forced a laugh.
'Not of my surrender, no,' he said. 'You might be able to kill me, but your army will be destroyed.'
The other man did not share Ullsaard's humour. His frown was frightening to behold and for a moment Ullsaard thought he would be struck down regardless of his opponent's claim to civility.
'Little has changed from our last encounter, Ullsaard,' Orlassai-Erlaan said. 'I have a few thousand less men, but four legions are still not enough to match us. This is no barbaric horde you face, it is a trained army.'
'Depends what you consider training to be,' said Ullsaard. 'I'm happy to put your tactics to the test if you are. I reckon the odds are pretty even. Let's see which of us is the better commander, eh?'
Again Orlassai-Erlaan paused, a flicker of nervousness crossing his face. Ullsaard felt a little glow of hope growing within and pushed home his point.
'You know how good I am, but how good are you, Erlaan? You've seen one battle, and a straightforward one at that. I don't doubt that sword of yours could match a hundred men of mine, but a commander wins battles with his plans, not his blade.'
'This is a trick,' said the other king, shaking his head. 'You are scared and seek to outwit me.'
'Or I have outwitted you already and I'm just pretending to be scared.'
Orlassai-Erlaan's lips rippled with a snarl.
'Words, Ullsaard. You used to fight your battles with armies, now you use words.'
'I'm told I have to be more of a politician if I am to be a good king,' Ullsaard replied. 'Come on, what's your answer. Kill me and be cut down by my avenging army, or are we going to do this properly?'
'I will rip you to pieces!' Orlassai-Erlaan's bellow almost felled Ullsaard with its ferocity. 'I will destroy your army and all of the empire will know me to be the true king. They will beg me to take up the Crown and lead them.'
'Fair enough,' Ullsaard said with a shrug. He looked up at the sky. 'Shall we start things in an hour? I wouldn't want to rush you.'
'Your insolence earns you a slower death, Ullsaard. I will feed your balls to you and strangle you with your gizzards. When you are screaming for me to release you from your agony, remember your flippant remarks.'
'I'll try to,' said Ullsaard, tapping himself on the side of the head to indicate he was committing the words to memory. 'When your army is shattered and you stand alone against ten thousand spears, you should remember that I offered you the chance to avoid it.'
Ullsaard turned away and started back towards his army. He heard the Mekhani king's growl and tensed, expecting a blow to land upon him. He would not give Erlaan the satisfaction of seeing him look back. Heart hammering, Ullsaard fought the urge to run and kept his pace slow and steady.
He made it all the way back to his pavilion, shooing away his officers as they crowded around him, before his legs gave way. Unseen, he staggered into his bed space and flopped down onto the bedding, shaking uncontrollably. He wanted to throw up, and was glad that his body had not betrayed him earlier, because it had been an effort of will to stop his bowels from emptying themselves. Taking deep breaths to calm down, he closed his eyes and rolled to his back.
'I better win,' he muttered.
II
Orlassai-Erlaan stormed back into the camp, bellowing for the army to assemble. While the warriors gathered in their tribal groups, the war engines were lifted from their positions and the behemodons roused. Eriekh emerged from somewhere, dodging between the assembling fighter bands.
'We attack?' said the priest. 'Your conversation with the usurper went so well?'
'Not well at all,' Orlassai-Erlaan growled. 'He has something planned, wanted us to fight in an hour's time. I suspect he has reinforcements arriving. We must crush his army before they arrive.'
'Why leave the defences of the camp?'
'You call these defences?' Orlassai-Erlaan snarled, waving a hand at the ditches and earth ramparts. 'They will not protect us. We are losing, Eriekh. Unless you have received some word from Asirkhyr that he has brought my second army from the desert, we do not have the luxury of waiting.'
'We have yet to fight a battle, and you concede defeat?'
'Ullsaard has trapped us here, leaving a trail of unburnt fields and intact towns like a line of seed to capture a bird.' The king-messiah smashed a fist into the side of his helm in self-remonstration. 'And I walked blindly into his snare! While we remain here, more legions will descend upon us. We must break through Ullsaard's army and into Okhar, and send word to Asirkhyr to bring fresh troops to us.'
'What is your plan, mighty Orlassai?' a voice asked from behind. He turned to see the group of shamans, eyes averted from him.
'All-out attack,' replied the king. 'Extend the army past the right flank of the Askhans and envelop them. Use the behemodons to engage their left flank and stop them reinforcing. When we have encircled the end of their line, redirect the beasts against the centre and scatter all opposition.'
'As you command, lord of the skies, watchful guardian of the deserts,' said the shaman, bowing low and backing away. The group held a brief conference and then hurried off in different directions, calling out for others.
'And where will you fight?' asked Eriekh. 'What if they withdraw to their camps?'
'I am going to kill Ullsaard,' said Orlassai-Erlaan. 'His death will not win the battle, but it will certainly shorten the war. He has brought us here for a reason; he cannot simply let us walk away this time. He needs to win this battle as much as we do.'
The first tribes were already pouring from the camp, spreading out along the road towards the Askhan army. The ground trembled as behemodons lumbered forward between the clusters of warriors, the crews in the howdahs shouting and laughing down at those forced to walk.
'And have you anything to add to our strength?' the king demanded of Eriekh.
'I am not a master of the sword,' the priest replied. 'Our powers are subtle, and I possess no particular skill for battle. Remember the other gifts we have bestowed upon you, not just that fine body. Lead your army, let them hear your voice, let them see the slaughter you wreak. I shall do my part to aid you, do not fear for that.'
