Talon shuddered at the thought of such terrible destruction. Still, it was the enemy they were talking about. “Ah, very nasty indeed.” He sized the king up and down, looking at him with a new light. “I underestimated your prowess.”
The young king nodded. “Be sure not to do it again.”
“Of course, Sire. At any rate, such tactics should bring the odds in our favor. I will notify the mages as well.”
With that, he left the king to mull over the future. The old general first went to the lieutenants of all the infantry and cavalry divisions to give them their new orders in private, and they all complied. He watched closely to make sure they made no mistakes in their positions and gave them a few small words of encouragement to boost their morale.
Then he marched up to the more powerful wizards and revealed the king’s plan to them, which was to their liking. Their leader noted, however, that no such spell had been attempted in several years, and they could not guarantee a successful casting, even with their numbers and experience.
This worried General Talon some, but he shoved the worry aside and wished the wizards the best of luck at casting the spell.
* * * * * * * * * *
It’s time, Christopher thought. My army is ready.
He could see the enemy general far off with his arm outstretched, waiting for Christopher’s side to respond. The war would not be started until both generals decided to begin, and even though his troops were ready, he waited atop his horse for a moment, not wanting to give the order just yet. He bowed his head in silent prayer to Nivek, Stone-Grip for a moment, then he too raised his arm and nodded his head at the enemy general.
The broad man nodded as well, and both armies moved simultaneously. King Christopher’s soldiers started marching at a standard pace towards the enemy, seemingly in no rush. In reality, he’d given them orders to wait until his mages had cast their spell before engaging if possible.
He watched them advance while he fell back to the middle field position next to General Talon. The two would advance with the cavalry when the time came.
The young king spared a glance at Talon, wondering what the big man was thinking. Was he worried about the events of the day?
His fingers brushed the burnished metal of the plate armor underneath his tunic. It was the fabled Blessed Armor, said to turn any blow while leaving the wearer free to move about. He smiled wryly and hoped it would live up to its name.
Fusong’s troops moved a little as well, but at an even slower pace than his own troops, like they too were waiting for something.
King Christopher supposed their restraint was supposed to scare him, but it wasn’t working. The young king had plenty of tricks up his sleeve that would skew the odds, even if there was a trick or a trap waiting for them.
Then, suddenly, a gigantic fireball launched from Fusong’s mages, striking into the heart of Christopher’s forces marching infantry and setting part of the field ablaze.
He thanked the gods that the fireball had hit far in front of him, then despaired as he thought about the men lying charred and lifeless on the battlefield who would not be so lucky as to return home after the war.
A single tear streaked down his cheek in memoriam, then he ordered his remaining troops to scatter and run past the fire before getting back in formation on the other side. Fortunately, most of his troops made it safe around what was now a funeral pyre for the unlucky few, thereby only slightly setting back his plans.
He called for the cavalry to march, and they strutted onto the field right as a rather large portion erupted into flames right in front of him, obscuring his view.
His horse whinnied and reared, almost throwing him from the saddle, but he stayed on.
“To me, men, to me!” he cried. He pointed towards a portion of the field that was not on fire with the tip of his sword.
“There!” he cried. “Head there!”
Several nods greeted him and his force headed in that direction.
When he finally made his way around the charred mess, he found his ground troops locked in combat with the enemy’s vanguard, chaos ensuing around both of them.
He spared a glance for the enemy general, who was spouting off profanities at his mage force. The young king guessed the field was supposed to erupt into flames while his troops were still on it and not after the fact, and was suddenly glad that the man’s gambit had failed.
He turned to face Talon. “Where are our mages?”
“I’m not sure, my liege. I would have thought they’d have been ready by now, sire,” the big man replied.
“Mages!” he barked. “Cast that blasted spell now!” He hoped his voice would carry over the roar of the flames behind him, but wouldn’t count on it.
He turned his attention toward the melee in front of him and gave the order to charge.
* * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, back beyond the firewall, the final preparations were being made for Christopher’s counter-strike.
One of the mages was using firesight to see through the flames and get the coordinates right for the kallorquake. They had one chance at this and couldn’t afford to mess it up like Fusong’s mages had.
“I believe we are ready now. Jerek, did you get the coordinates?” The
