‘Listen carefully,Lieutenant. I had a battle yesterday with the person who attackedthis town a few days ago, killing and injuring a lot of yourpeople. I captured him, but nearly lost the Druid Princess Mirandain the fight. Had she died I can say without doubt that her motherQueen Snowbelle would have blamed this town and levelled it. I knowwhere more of the villains are located, but I don’t yet know theirnumbers, and they could vanish quickly. I want a platoon of troopsto bring them to justice. I’m sure that this would go a long way torestoring the town’s confidence in the guards, and the HighWizard’s confidence in you.’
‘Ah since you put itthat way, Captain Brown Bear. I will see what I can do. We needn’tuse wizards to send them. I can authorize their transport via thecommercial transporter.’
‘Good,’ said Aquitain.‘Let’s get moving.’ The Lieutenant left and he and Kami sat in theshade chatting.
An hour before middaythe Lieutenant had assembled twenty-two men wearing chain mail andequipped with cross bows, short swords, water and one day of foodrations. There were three files of seven each, commanded by asergeant and one sub Lieutenant. The troops didn’t look happy, butAquitain felt that this was understandable. They had had no warningto prepare themselves mentally, and were going with someone theydidn’t know or trust.
‘Sub-Lieutenant Crossis equipped with a teleport marker and a communicator. We will havetwo healers standing by. Two wizards are on their way.’
Aquitain had nevercommanded a platoon sized military group before, but he had been incharge of smaller groups or four and six of his grandfather’sguards on a number of occasions. He knew the procedure well, and heknew it was important for the men to know who was in charge fromthe beginning. They waited for five minutes before two wizards camestrolling around the corner chatting. Aquitain hit them with a mindblast and they froze, stunned. Everyone present felt the surge ofmagic, and knew that he had done it.
‘Wizards that are slowwill get people killed. I don’t want these two; get me two othersthat are prepared to move faster,’ said Aquitain so everyone couldhear.
‘That was uncalledfor,’ said Lieutenant Black reproachfully.
‘Immediately!’ Aquitainboomed.
‘Yes Sir,’ said theLieutenant and sent sub-Lieutenant Cross running.
‘Do you men know who Iam?’ asked Aquitain using mindspeak.
‘Yes Sir,’ said onesergeant. ‘You are Wizard Captain Brown Bear, Sir.’
He looked at thesergeant and saw he was the one from the road block.
‘Correct and why am Icalled that?’ There was silence, so he changed to his bearform.
‘Because you are also abear. Sir,’ said the same sergeant.
‘Correct. I normallyfight as a bear, which means I don’t want a crossbow bolt in myrear end. I am also a mind wizard, which means besides tearingpeople to pieces and eating parts that appeal to me. I can get intotheir minds and do nasty things. I will be in mental communicationat all times with sub-Lieutenant Cross and your three sergeants.Follow their commands quickly and completely and I will have nocomplaints.’
Two new wizards camerunning around the corner with sub-Lieutenant Cross, passing thetwo paralysed wizards and coming to a halt beside thesub-Lieutenant, who stood five paces in front of the bear. Aquitainused his power to detect magic and looked critically at the way theyoung wizards were equipped.
‘Lieutenant Black I wasinformed that three wands were stolen from the armoury the nightthe town was attacked. Have any of them been found?’
‘No Sir,’ hereplied.
‘In a skirmish lastnight I captured the person who attacked your town and have himlocked up. He also attacked the Barra tribe of little people andkilled more than seventy of them, and captured a lot of theirchildren. I have been informed of where the children are beingheld, but do not know how many hostiles are with them. The missiontoday will be to clear the area of any hostile resistance andretrieve the Barra tribe children alive and unharmed.
‘No wands were used orfound at the skirmish last night, so we must assume that they maybe where we are going today. The wands were able to allow the userto cast multiple magical effects that would induce a state of fear,paralysis or create fireballs. I will review their effects for yourbenefit.
‘A charge from the wandof fear will affect a circular area about ten paces wide. Mostpeople inside that area will feel like their worst nightmare isabout to attack them. They will run away, cower in terror, and insome cases pass out cold. If you witness this, then you will yellout loudly ‘Fear Attack’ and your file number. Magical fear can bedispelled, and we will try to dispel it as quickly as possible.
‘A charge from aparalysis wand will cause about half the people within a circulararea five paces across to freeze as if their muscles had suddenlyceased to work. If they are moving they will fall over. If they arestationary they will stay locked in that position for a minute ortwo. If you witness this in anyone near you, yell ‘ParalysisAttack’ and your file number. Paralysis can be dispelled and wewill try to dispel it as quickly as possible.
‘A charge from thefireball wand will affect a circular area about ten paces wide. Itwill badly burn any exposed flesh. If you see a fireball coming inyour direction dive for the ground, cover your head and hold yourbreath until after the fire has passed. If fireballs are used,spread out. Wizards are trained to shoot fireballs for maximumeffect. That means they will shoot at people clumped closetogether. After the fireball has exploded try to locate where thefireball came from, tell your friends and shoot a bolt in thatdirection, as the wizard may be invisible and standing therewatching you.
‘If any other magic isused, then either myself or these two wizards will try to dispel itor eliminate its source. You will protect your wizards from anyphysical attack, and they will try to protect you from magicalattacks. You will not be fighting alone. We have allies. There willbe some newman mercenaries, a platoon of Crin fighters and a groupof Barra tribe little people. Examine them carefully
