Once they were out of the pass, the troops spread out into their formations. Across the large field, the Kalian Army was in place and waiting for them. He had to admit that the sight of the Royal Army was impressive. All had matching uniforms, shields, and weapons, and they covered the entire rise that led up from the field at the mouth of the pass. His own troops lacked the polished armor and matching uniforms of the Kalian Army, but they were ready for battle just the same.
Kadrak sat upon his stallion at the head of his army and signaled for his messenger to gallop forward and deliver his demands. No one could say that he attacked without first giving his enemies the option to submit to his will. No one could say that he was not a benevolent leader.
* * * * *
“Is he serious?” the baron said as he finished reading the message that had just been delivered. He chuckled and looked at his generals. “The Wielder Kadrak wants to give us the opportunity to surrender,” he announced. “All we have to do is accept him as our new king and join our troops with his army. What do you say?”
Gavin joined with the other generals in laughing and suggesting what kind of counter offer they should send. A message was soon written and sent back to the Balthan Army. Gavin watched as the messenger quickly rode back to the invading army. His stomach was still in knots, and he hadn’t slept much the night before. However, he did feel better about their prospects in the bright light of the early morning.
From the command area at the top of the rise, it was easy to see that their own troops far outnumbered those of the Balthan Army. While the opposing army’s troops were formed up in loose, slightly disorganized looking formations, his own troops were perfectly consistent in tight formations. It appeared the only hope of the invading army truly was the wielder Kadrak who was at their lead.
It was unfortunate that the archers hidden at the mouth of the pass hadn’t been able to bring down the leader and instigator of the conflict. He wondered if they had been able to escape or if they had been killed. He assumed the latter. It was unfortunate because they had been some of the best archers in the army. He wondered how the wielder had avoided their arrows.
He watched as the messenger delivered their reply. Perhaps they would soon find out just what the wielder was capable of. Gavin steeled himself. There was a palpable sense of anxiety and anticipation in the air. Everyone knew that the battle was about to commence.
* * * * *
Kadrak crumpled up the counter offer and let it fall to the ground. He had known that the Kalians wouldn’t accept his offer, but when it was all over, he wanted them to remember that he had given them a chance to avoid the destruction that he was about to rain down on them.
He took off his cloak and tossed it to Gilrod. It wasn’t as cold outside of the pass, and as soon as he began working the ambience his body would be plenty warm. He led his stallion a short distance away from his troops and out into the open field. He was still far out of the range of the Kalian archers, but close enough for them to see who it was that would defeat them. He stared defiantly at the large army standing solidly in his way and raised his arms to the sky. He concentrated and with a smile began his attack.
Numerous small balls of fire appeared in the clear sky above the Kalian troops and began falling towards the earth. He kept them falling until he had created over a hundred. He then dropped his arms and watched as the last of them crashed into the ranks of the army. He surveyed the effects of the barrage. It appeared he had struck several troops but most had merely hid behind their shields to avoid the fire. The troops were surprisingly still all standing firm in their tight formations.
Kadrak stared back at the disciplined troops with a grin. It appeared that he would need to be a little more forceful. He raised his hands into the air once again and concentrated. Let them try to hide behind their shields again. He smirked as the air began to buzz and crackle.
* * * * *
Blaize sat upon his horse at the top of the rise. His troops were on the left flank of the army. It felt strange for him to be watching from the back instead of being down in the midst of the troops. He watched with satisfaction as his troops stood firm and refused to budge as balls of fire rained down on them from the clear sky.
The wielder Kadrak truly had a power that he didn’t understand. It had been awe inspiring. He glanced to the other leaders near him to judge their reactions to the display of power. Some were wide eyed while others watched impassively as the rain of fire ended. He glanced back at his troops, happy to see that they had effectively used their shields to block the fireballs. If that was the best the wielder could muster, he wouldn’t be much of a factor in the battle.
As if in answer to his thoughts, the wielder raised his hands towards the sky once again. Blaize looked on as the air began to crackle. Suddenly, bolts of lightning appeared out of thin air and began to slam down into the middle of the army. Bolt after bolt slammed into the ranks. He watched with a cringe as soldiers were seared in place or their bodies were launched into the air by the force of the explosions. Apparently the wielder had only been testing the army with the fireballs.
Several of the troops began to panic and run, but the majority stayed firm and brave in the face of such an unexplainable attack. Blaize steadied his horse as a bolt of lightning struck not far below where all of the generals were watching from. He turned and found Commander General Gavin looking very pale. The young commander was obviously terrified, but to his credit, he kept his horse still and stood his ground.
The barrage of lightning bolts continued for several minutes. The previously quiet morning was marred by the loud claps of thunder and the dull explosions that accompanied the lightning. There were also cries of surprise and anguish from the soldiers who happened to be in the bolts’ way. Blaize looked on helplessly at the destruction. He now understood why the Balthan cities had fallen so quickly.
The bolts finally stopped and an eerie quiet once again settled over the field of battle. The bolts had caused many fatalities but not nearly enough to hamper the large army. The soldiers remained firm, apprehensively waiting what might come next.
Blaize’s eyes were drawn back to the sky above the army. A small ball of fire appeared and began to spin. It grew larger and got brighter as it spun. When it was roughly the size of a horse it stopped spinning. It hung silently in the air for several moments before dropping straight down. The soldiers underneath the falling ball of bright fire quickly brought their shields up.
He watched with amazement as the ball of fire fell straight through the soldiers’ shields and slammed into the ground. Nothing was left where the soldiers had previously been. As if the dropping of the ball of fire had been a signal, the Balthan Army erupted with yells and charged forward. Fortunately, no more balls of the spinning fire appeared nor bolts of lightning. It seemed to Blaize that the barrage of magic attacks had come to an end for now and the physical battle would now take center stage.
He quickly surveyed his troops and was pleased to see that despite the wielder’s attacks, they were firmly in their formations and ready for the onslaught. He watched as the Balthan Army covered the open space between the two armies and crashed into the frontlines of the Kalian Royal Army. It was as if a quiver rippled through the entire army at the impact, but the Kalian Army held firm.
Blaize shook away the astonishment from the wielder’s attacks and focused on the details of the battle that was erupting before his eyes. The Balthan Army pulled back and attacked several different times throughout the morning but had no success in breaking through the frontlines. The Kalian soldiers were strong and disciplined and didn’t budge in the face of the multiple attacks.
At one point around midday, the opposing army surged against the left flank. Blaize quickly commanded a few adjustments and reinforced his side with some of his cavalry. The Balthans were pushed back once again, losing any advantage they had gained in the brief surge. By mid afternoon it became apparent that nothing much would be decided by the end of the day. It was evident that the Kalian’s wouldn’t be beaten easily. What was left to be seen was if the Balthan Army would ever be able to push them from their position.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the Balthans were trudging away from the field back into the pass. Blaize took stock of the casualties from the day and was pleased to find that the day appeared to be a victory for their army. It was obvious that the Balthans hadn’t gained any ground. What would truly determine whether the day could be considered a victory for Kalia was how many actual casualties there had been.
Blaize watched as his own troops began ascending the rise and heading back to the camp. They looked tired from the long day of fighting but were mostly upbeat. He doubted the Balthan soldiers were feeling anything but frustration. He knew that both of their previous attacks had ended in victory for them in less than a day. They would find no such success here. He hoped that the soldiers would be discouraged enough after another day or two that they would just turn around and head back to Balthus.
He watched as the last of the Balthan soldiers disappeared into the pass. He gave the battlefield one last sweep before turning, walking to the command tent, and ducking inside. He took a seat at the command table and waited patiently for the reports to trickle in of casualty numbers on both sides. It soon became apparent that the day had indeed ended in a victory. The Balthan Army had lost nearly double the number of soldiers that they had lost.
Aside from the initial show of power from the Balthan wielder, the battle had played out as had been expected. The less disciplined and less skilled Balthan Army had fallen before the trained soldiers of the Kalian Army. If the casualty ratio held steady, the Balthans would have no choice but to turn back after another couple of days.
Blaize wondered why the wielder hadn’t continued to rain his destruction down on them throughout the day. Obviously there were limits to the wielder’s power, but he found it hard to believe that the wielder Kadrak would have brought a smaller army against them without the ability to do more than had been done today. He suspected the next day wouldn’t be as easy for the Kalians.
They would need to be prepared for what the wielder might unleash the coming day. He supposed that Kadrak may have thought that his show of power would be enough to sway the battle more than it had. From the reports they had received on Kadrak, he knew that the wielder wouldn’t make the same mistake again. He had some ideas of what he would do if he had the same powers as the wielder. When all of the generals were present and the reports had finished coming in, he was prepared to offer his opinion on how to prepare for the coming day’s battle.
* * * * *
Kadrak was anything but happy with the results of the day’s battle. Not only had the Kalians stood firm against his barrage of elemental attacks, but his own army had not fought as if they even cared to win the battle. Apparently his troops needed to be reminded that their supplies would only last so long and that they were trapped in the pass.
He pulled up in front of his tent and dropped from his stallion. He angrily tossed the reins to one of his servants and ducked inside. As frustrated as he was with his troops, he was also frustrated with himself. He had wasted too much energy with his initial attacks. The barrage of fireballs, lightning, and the ball of liquid fire had left him drained and had little effect on the Kalians. It had shown them his power but had not caused the same frantic reactions as it had in the Balthan cities he had previously conquered.
He could have used the ambience to do more damage later in the day but had wanted to see how his soldiers would do on their own. It was obvious that his troops wouldn’t be able to defeat the Kalian Army without his help. In fact, it appeared that they would be easily defeated. He shook his head in frustration and waited for Gilrod to arrive and report in detail on the outcome of the battle.
While he waited, he devised a new plan of attack for the second day’s battle. Now that he had already shown the Kalians some of what he was capable of, he would use the ambience sparingly in conjunction with planned attacks and maneuvers. He would first target the Kalian Army’s archers and remove them from the battle. He would then strike simultaneously with the soldiers’ attacks, amplifying their potency. He supposed that the combined effort would be enough to turn the tide of the battle.
The unfortunate truth was that the battle would not end quickly. Even with his new plan, it would take several days to weaken the Kalian Army to the point where they would be able to gain the advantage to win a decisive victory. He didn’t want to wait several more days. He wanted the battle to end swiftly.
However, he knew that the only way to accomplish that would be to unleash the hidden galdak warriors upon the Kalians. He was still uncertain that he wanted to reveal his secret army. He didn’t know how much he could trust the galdaks, and he didn’t know how his own troops would respond. He was tempted to signal the galdaks the next morning but knew it would be best for him to wait just a little longer.
He would wait. There were enough supplies left to test his new battle plan. If the results weren’t as good as he hoped, he would then signal his hidden warriors. One way or another, he would defeat the Royal Kalian Army within the next several days.
29
Kalista stared up at the deep blue sky overhead. Several birds soared through the air in large, lazy circles. Everything seemed so peaceful. It was hard to imagine the destruction and death that was most certainly occurring only a two day’s journey behind her.