Embers of an Age (Blood War Trilogy) (14 page)

For Vorrul, Pathrale was a greater test of his command than Lathah, if
perhaps
a less spirited one. He turned to look at his Bloodpack. They stirred and shifted in place, eager to be about their work. He nodded his approval. “Spread your fire about and scatter the enemy the best you can. We will own the jungle before nightfall on the morrow,” he added the last to stir their blood
, tasting the lie of it
. Vorrul followed the first volley of mystical fireballs that roared into the sky and plummeted atop the jungle trees. He could only hope to clear the closest portion of the jungle and send his troops in before a sevenday was out.

He turned away from the Bloodpack and drifted toward the rear guard
. He had time to inspect his forces as
he
contemplated his plans. As he walked, Morgron left behind to keep an eye on the relics, a soldier ran to catch up.

“A messenger comes.”

Vorrul grinned in his surprise. “A Pathran messenger so soon.”

“No, warlord, a Lathahn,” the soldier corrected.

Vorrul spun on the warrior. “A Lathahn? Bring him to me!”
His heart sped its pace.

The soldier darted off and the warlord watched him go, curiosity setting his mind adrift. Had the magic-wielding Lathahn given himself up? He had escaped capture thanks to the interference of the Sha’ree, but still his homeland lay in ruins for his defiance.
Did he hope to avoid such a fate for Pathrale?
Perhaps his
weak
conscience has spoken, at last
. Vorrul paced as he waited for the messenger to be delivered before him
. He willed the relics to life and grinned as they lit his blood afire
. He wanted nothing more than to rip the answers to his questions from the throat of the Lathahn who had made a fool of his forces.

At last the warrior returned, bearing with him a Lathahn soldier. He was not the magic-wielder. Vorrul growled as they approached, slowing the meat’s pace. “Who are you and what do you want? Tell me quickly before I devour your legs and leave you to crawl back to your pathetic master.”

The soldier swallowed and bowed his head. “I come with a message from King Olenn of the Lathahn people.”

Vorrul sneered and loosed a barking laugh. “The Lathahn people are meat and nothing more. Your king grovels from a position of weakness.” He turned to the Grol soldier. “Feed him to the Bloodpack.”

“Wait!” the Lathahn cried out. “My king is willing to give you the Lathahn you seek. That is his message to you.”

The warlord raised a hand to belay his order. “This Olenn, he has the other Lathahn?
Is he in Pathrale?
”

The soldier shook his head. “
No, but he knows his course and has the means
to bring him to heel; his family
.”

Vorrul turned his back on the messenger as the words settled in. With the secret of the relics, he could assure his potion amongst the pack. None of the others would dare challenge him. He might even have the power to usurp the
bitch
and free himself from her shackles. He grinned at the last. “And what does your precious king want in return for this generous offer?” Vorrul turned to meet the soldier’s eyes.

“He asks for the release of his people.”

General Morgron came up behind the messenger, his red eyes wide as he looked to his warlord
with impatience
.

Vorrul raised a finger to him and looked back to the messenger. “Then we are agreed. I will free the people of Lathah in exchange for the location of the magic-wielder and the bait to draw him out.” The general glared. “But be certain, Lathahn, should your king attempt to deceive me, there will be no place in all of Ahreele that he can hide from my wrath. I will not simply defeat him and his people; I will hang their rotting corpses all across the realm as a reminder of his deceit.”

“Understood.” The soldier bowed. “My king asks that his people be freed before he
fulfills his end of the bargain.”

Vorrul growled at the demand. “What do I get to show faith in your king?”

“The man you seek, Arrin Urrael, travels to Ah Uto Ree.”

The words stole Vorrul’s breath. He glared at the messenger as Morgron came to stand beside him.

“King Olenn will provide you with the exact path
he
travels as well as the man’s family once he has proof of his people
’s
release.” He met the warlord’s gaze. “
I
must
return to tell the king of your agreement. He has eyes on Lathah that will inform him when you have committed to your side of the bargain, and he will send me with the information you seek and Urrael’s wife and children
, at that time
.”

The warlord chuckled. “Tell your king he has my word. I will send a runner
immediately
to free your people.” He waved the messenger away. “Hurry and pass the message to your lord. I would have this bargain concluded.”

The soldier b
owed once more and headed off, a
Grol soldier guiding him through the
lines
.

“Is this wise?” Morgron asked
after the messenger had gone
.

“It matters naught. Freed, the people of Lathah are little more than rabbits to be hunted down at our leisure. Their king cannot hope to arm them all and have them march on us from behind, and there are no places of sanctuary between Lathah and Ah Uto Ree.” He gave the general a toothy smile. “Their freedom is an illusion to salve the king’s ego, and we still have the meat of Fhen to feed our army as we conquer Pathrale.”

“And if this king betrays you?”

“Then nothing changes. His city is in ruin and cannot be rebuilt or defended against us, and he has nowhere to go where they might be safe. He gains nothing if he deceives us.”

Morgron said nothing.

Vorrul ignored
Morgron’s
silence and the implied disagreement. “Send our
fastest
runners to Lathah and have the meat freed. Tell them to
remain close
and keep an eye on our upstart king
when he should appear
. I would know where they go so we might reclaim the meat before it travels too far.” He set a clawed hand on the general’s shoulder. “Have faith, Morgron. This battle is ours to win.”

Magical fire screeched overhead and Vorrul watched the fiery assault upon the jungle.
His earlier frustrations were gone, wiped away in the wake of the Lathahn messenger.
The magic-wielder was not in Pathrale to frustrate matters, and there was no doubt the Sha’ree traveled with him. It was only the cats to be dealt with ahead.

Vorrul smiled at his fortune.
There was still a chance to bring the magic-wielder to his knees and secure Vorrul’s position at the
head of the pack
for all time
. He could ask for nothing greater.

The Grol messenger’s guts spilled both figuratively and literally, Commander Feragh rode his legion hard into the north of Nurin. If there was any doubt of the messenger’s words,
that the Korme had joined forces with the Grol,
the ruined and charred village of Nurale was somber proof
the
damage
had spread far beyond what Feragh could have imagined
. The Korme had
chosen
the side they felt most likely to win the war and it seemed they might well be right.

Feragh stood upon a hillock, looking toward the border of Pathrale. The Korme were gathered in strength there. They had yet to brave the jungle and push forward, but clouds of black smoke rose up well into the horizon
showing the battle had already been joined
further down the line
.

General Wulvren brought his stallion to rein beside the Commander. “Fhenahr was unexpected, but Lathah?”

“I still can’t believe it possible,” Fer
agh answered, shaking his head.

“We’ve runners out to confirm.”

Feragh pointed a claw toward the wafts of smoke that filled the air over the jungle. “
W
e d
on’t need them
to
.
The dog told the truth
before he died
. Lathah is gone and the Gr
ol assail the Pathran homeland.” He stared down at the milling force that obviously held back. “Our scouts waylaying messengers has kept the Korme in the dark, but it won’t be long before they see the smoke drift and realize it is time to advance.”

Wulvren snarled and sank a little lower in his saddle. He glanced at the commander. “I estimate six thousand, perhaps more. Are you looking to take a toll of them?”

Feragh smiled. “Have we ridden all this way for nothing, general?
” He gestured to the jungle. “While we have no formal agreements with the Pathra, I can’t imagine they would look poorly upon us for helping to ease the pressure on their flank while the Grol press the other.” His smile widened. “If we break the Korme ranks, perhaps the Pathrans will reward us with passage through their land so we might ride out
of the trees
and
surprise
the Grol.”

A touch of the commander’s smile shifted to Wulvren. “The plan, then?”

“We need nothing so complicated as a plan, general. The
foolish Korme
haven’t even bothered to set out a rear guard.” He turned and raised his arm to the cavalry massed behind him, his voice raised. “Ride hard into their lines and split th
em, but stay clear of the front
. I’ve no doubt the Pathra will join the fight shortly. I want to give them no cause to mistake our intentions.” Feragh turned back to Wulvren. “Raise the flags.”

The Commander drew his
broad
sword and spurred his horse forward. He heard Wulvren
sound
the charge behind him
, and then
the general’s voice
was
d
rowned in the rumble of hooves. The hill sped his pace as he raced ahead, eager to draw blood after so long following the trail of battle
just out of reach
. He grinned as he watched the Korme army growing nearer, the fools having not yet noticed the force closing on their rear flank.

Closer and closer he came, his men at his back. At last he heard a muffled shout over the thunder of horses and the Korme army began to react. It was too late to repel the charge.

The Korme warriors were piled thick along the jungle border to keep the cat people inside, so the rear ranks were little more than a mass of untrained cavalry, a couple dozen archers, and the inexperienced young and
near
ly
-
crippled old.

The flight of arrows cast shadows over
Feragh’s
approaching
l
egion, but there were so few in the air as to be ineffective.
The commander
didn’t even hear the clatter of shafts as he rode into the first line of defenders. The crunch of bones beneath his warhorse’s hooves was drowned by the screams of men dying. The moist
thump
of Korme flesh meeting horse flank sounded all around him as he drove
thirty feet into the enemy mass
.
He had yet to put his sword to use.

Like at the Grol village he’d ridden into at Gurhtol, this was not combat, it was butchery. The young warriors broke ranks and
scattered
only to be
cut down without effort.
Feragh kicked a Korme in the face as he rode past, sending the warrior tumbling into his own men. He was trampled in the chaos of stomping boots.

The commander’s men swirled around him, the cavalry splitting off into three groups. The center, at nearly three hundred Tolen warriors, pushed forward slowly, forcing the enemy outward as they dug in. To each side of the main force was a slightly larger group that kept their horses charging in a circular pattern, keeping the momentum going and chewing up the flanks that attempted to skirt the central force.

The Tolen legion ground away at the Korme who struggled to organize. Feragh sat alongside his spearmen and cleaved away at any creature that came close
, which
didn’t have fur and pointed ears.
Vile blood splattered his cheek and he wip
ed it away as he urged his men on
ward. The Korme leaders hesitated to draw
soldiers
from their front lines
and
felt the consequences of it almost immediately.

Wulvren pressed alongside the commander, a sinister grin on his snout. Over and over he speared the luckless warriors pressed into the gauntlet between the circling cavalries
and the point in the center
.
The screams of men shrieked above the horses, and Feragh let out a throaty roar
in reply
. His warriors took up the call and howled as they clashed with the enemy. The Korme morale had already begun to splinter.