Book 5, Chapter 8: Morry’s Story
I took your spear out of your hands, mounted my horse, full of anger, determined to take as many of those betrayers with me as possible. Racing up the hill, they were waving their hands and their arms at me, the way they do. But nothing happened.
Mages don’t wear armor, which made this easier than it had any right to be. My lance ran the first man through without even breaking. That was unfortunate, since I was hoping to use the broken shaft on the next cloth wearing mage. But it would have taken too long to yank it out of him, so deep had it gone.
What’s that? I kept your spear in my left hand. Yes, over the saddle. It was the only way I could hold it and attack with my lance.
Some of them were vanishing at this point. Beams of light, streams of shadow, down from the heavens, then they were gone. I charged toward those who remained. My horse barreled into the next and trampled him while I sliced your spear across another’s neck. Let me tell you, Princess, I was glad for their lack of armor.
More of them waved their hands at me, their faces full of surprise. I simply stabbed the next one’s neck and he weakly grabbed hold of the spear as I yanked it out and turned for another target. He tried to hold himself together, I think, and fell bleeding.
My horse reared up and smashed a mage’s face in. She collapsed without moving. Then I held the spear overheard and chased down one who thought running would help.
The rest of them must have realized I was wearing the iron. That’s why I don’t think they can detect it from very far. If they could, they would have fought differently.
More vanished up into their light. Two remaining wizards were focused on the hillside. I turned my horse to charge them when it suddenly rose up. Dirt, stones, grass, a wall of earth in front and toppling over. So much weight, I knew it was the end.
But I could see the ground beyond underneath it – the mage had lifted it too far! I kicked my horse and we raced for that empty space, straight into the wave. I got thrown, my horse must have stopped, I don’t know why. Perhaps seeing the earth in front of us or fear or some other reason, but I crashed through the wall of dirt, hitting all manner of rocks and tumbling into the soil at its bottom.
I found myself in a gorge. Sore and battered, from hitting all those stones. Soft dirt at my fingertips, body resting in water. It was oddly quiet here, screams were distant, the dripping of water continuous.
I raised myself up, took in my surroundings. Your spear was nowhere to be found. Looks like this time, it was lost it for good. Nor my greatsword, but I have no idea how that left my body. It was strapped on my back and should have held.
My left arm was sore, probably twisted it, and my legs took a beating. But I managed to pull myself up and limp through the mud toward its edge, which was a high and muddy wall. I searched for the best place to climb out. That’s when, the strangest thing. It began raining dirt. At first it fell about me gently. Then, bigger and faster and bigger clumps, stones, even bits of wood. I stumbled as quickly as possible to the side, pebbles and grass and blocks of mud hitting my armor and helmet.
No, you don’t have to apologize, Princess. And I am glad you didn’t find me buried under all that.
At that point, one of the mages fell into the hole or crevasse or whatever this was, slid right down in front of me. His head jerked up and I stomped on his hand as hard as I could.
He screamed, pulling it toward him. “Wait! You don’t understand!” Then he turned around and tried to climb back up.
I grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him down the mud wall. He scrambled at the dirt, trying to get away, but all he could do was drag more mud toward him.
“Please!” he said. I pushed him into the dirty water at that point and put my knee into his back.
Well, ok. Yes, he said more, Princess. “She’ll kill us all, just like before,” that kind of nonsense. It didn’t matter to me. That’s what he got out. I wasn’t in the mood to argue, so held him under the muddy water while the rain and dirt and stones fell around and on us.
Smarter men, veterans with combat experience, they might have stopped moving quicker than this guy. To fake being drowned. But that’s a difficult decision to make when you’re panicking. I therefore held him under until well after he stopped moving, just in case.
The dirt rain slowed. It was a surreal beauty. The air was smokey, the sunlight streaming through red and thick, the last of the dirt and dust falling gently into the gorge. I waited there for a long while, to make sure this guy was dead and let myself calm down from the battle. I didn’t think I would survive if more mages were waiting for me up top.
After that, it took a lot of effort to climb out. The dirt was wet, it kept sliding me down. But, I fought the pain in my arm and legs, dug in, made handholds and footsteps in the most gently sloped side, and eventually crawled to freedom.
The battle was long over by that time and the battlefield was a mess of the dead and injured. It appeared their army took worse than ours, and for that I was glad. Those soldiers looked pitiful and wretched, their side of the battlefield torn up and burning, steaming in some parts, but they were invading our lands and knew what to expect. I wondered at this, though. For it meant their own mages were either bested or fled the field, which you’ve confirmed for me tonight.
I didn’t know then what you just told me, that Etienne had caused all that. Ok, Princess, most of that. Anyway, I’d known it was a mage battle, just not who fought who.
You, Brundle, and your horses were nowhere to be seen. I needed to find you and him, help get things organized if I could. Figured he would have dragged you kicking and screaming away from the battlefield and maybe you’d be assisting the healers. In my state, I wouldn’t be much help to others here, regardless. So, I set off back to our staging area.
As I moved through the forest, I came across the strangest sight. The trees were all cut down, perfectly cut, right about four feet of height. I was able to locate the source of the cutting, which was a burned-out part of the forest. And that’s how I knew you were alive. The burn marks, the precision, it was similar to the blast you loosed at me up in Bechalle’s tower.
No, you don’t have to apologize for that again. You missed, after all.
I soon tracked your blasts the other way, following the downed trees. Sure enough, a few mages were cut down. Four bodies, Princess. You got four on that end.
From there, it wasn’t far to the staging area, where our baggage and healers were. I heard it first. Wails of the injured. Shouting, lots of shouting. As I came closer, sobbing and misery, but when I broke through the tree line, what struck me the most was how organized everything was. For ours is an experienced army, with the aftermath of many battles behind us.
Hospital tents were set up already, and more were being erected. The injured were everywhere around them and the able-bodied were doing their best to provide comfort, ale, and bandages. For this perhaps, Princess, your one servant for every six soldiers was a good idea. No children getting in the way, no wives desperate to find their husbands. But Reese and Echo were never so busy as this, I’m sure.
“You there!” called out someone near the hospital tents, “if you’re able, we need to get a fire going to boil water.” He shook his head, “Never seen so many wounded before. Not like today.”
“I need to find the command tents first. I’ll send whoever I can to help you after.”
The man squinted at me, “General Morrentz?”
“Yes.”
“You look terrible. I didn’t recognize you under all that mud. The command tents are on the opposite side here, toward Castle Dernammouth.”
“Thank you. I’ll send who I can.” As much as I wanted to help them, I needed to find out what was going on, what state you were in, and how many resources we had left. It was a chore to get around the hospital tents, and no less than three more people accosted me, two to check on my condition. I was covered in dirt and blood and staggering along. It was kind of them.
One of my Companion Cavalry was on the other side, leading his horse toward others. I stopped him, “General Brundle, where is he?”
“General Morrentz! It’s good to see you alive. I feared the worst after watching you charge the mages. General Brundle is over there,” he pointed a few tents down, “organizing what’s left.”
“How many of the Companions survived?”
He looked down, “All those who did not follow you.”
“Ah. That’s unfortunate. As brave as they were, they should have listened to the retreat horns. What are you lot up to? The medical tents need all the help they can get.”
“We’re returning to the battlefield to rescue any who couldn’t make it here on their own.”
“Good man. It’s a mess, the battlefield. I just came from there. The enemy won’t be putting up any resistance, so you can rest assured on that front.”
“That is good to hear, General.”
“I won’t keep you.”
It was a short walk to the tents he pointed out. Sure enough, Brundle was inside, pointing at maps on the table, giving nearby officers orders.
He looked up, “Morry! My gods, man, you survived!”
I entered and we clasped hands, “I did. And I’m glad to find you alive. Where is the princess?”
Brundle looked around, “You have your orders. Clear the tent.” The men did, and Brundle poured me an ale, passed it over. “I don’t know how to say this. After you rode on the mages, the princess, she, ah-”
“I’ve seen her do strange things. It’s no secret for me.” You’ve probably never passed through a wave of earth, nor had dirt rain down on you, but one thing I can say, the ale never tasted so good and it was soon finished.
“Then you know. Good. Princess Cayce lit up like a bonfire. Only much hotter and brighter – I couldn’t look at her directly – and then loosed an enormous attack on the Ketzillian mages. She, Morry, I don’t know how to describe this, but she pushed me away before attacking the enemy. With incredible force, but I took no injury.”
I put my hand on his shoulder, “I’m glad you made it off the field unscathed. What happened with the princess?”
“I didn’t stay. She commanded that I leave. Our army was fleeing and disorganized and she very clearly had a plan. Perhaps was our only hope, given what I watched her turn into and do. I took the horses and fled with the rest of the men. And have been here ever since.”
Picking up the ale jug, I poured myself another. “Don’t feel guilty, Brundle. She would have wanted you to do exactly what you did. You’ve rescued the men as much as anyone can.”
“I’ll feel guilty later. I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to her.”
“What’s the state of the army?”
“In shambles. That’s not a question I have an answer to yet. Probably two thirds injured, maybe less. We haven’t begun to count the dead. None of our commanding officers have shown up yet. You’re the first. Gun, Rand, Treleal and his children, and Maitlan, all missing. I think perhaps there’s twenty thousand men in fighting condition if we need to. And we’ll need to if the Ketzles regroup.”
“They won’t be regrouping. When I left the battlefield, the Ketzles were in much worse condition than our army.”
“Princess Cayce succeeded then. We’ll have to attack their remnants anyways. To make sure they’re completely defeated. Your Companions are our most intact regiment. They’ll be leading the attack on the remaining enemy, when we regroup. It’d be good to have you at their helm.”
I shook my head. “Had she succeeded, she’d be here. Brundle, you’ve got this well in hand. I’ll need a couple war horses and a couple pack horses. I’m going to find her.”
“General Brundle!” a man called from the entrance, “It’s the princess!”
We both turned. “And? Where is she?”
He was breathing deeply, catching his breath. “I’m just from the battlefield. Princess Cayce exalted Duke Maitlan. He sent me here to tell you and that he’s securing the wounded.”
“Is the princess with him?”
“No, sir. She, uh, ran into the forest. Duke Maitlan sent me here to inform you.”
Setting my cup down, I asked the runner, “What do you mean, she set off into the forest?”
“Just that, sir. After exalting the duke, she simply turned and ran into the forest.”
“Do you know why?”
“No, sir.”
“Dismissed and thank you. Wait outside and I’ll attach you to one of these groups going to tend the wounded on the battlefield.” Brundle turned to me, “Actually, you take that man and go back to the field. He can show you where she headed off. Then, have him join Maitlan. You can take my horse and the princess’s. Yes, she’s here, I brought her myself. Take whatever supplies you need. I apologize, Morry, that’s the best I can do.” He looked past my shoulder to the men waiting outside the tent, “I’ve got to get this army organized.”
“Of course. And thank you, Brundle. You’ll get the army together. And remove the invaders.”
“Find the princess. And bring her back.”
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