Forgotten Realms - Empires - Dragonwall Part 31

There were two ranks of heavy, armored cavalry in front and three ranks of unarmored cavalry in the rear. The charge gained momentum, and soon the Tuigan were streaking across the plain unopposed.

All at once, the first rank of horses crashed to the ground, spilling armored men in every direction. Where no enemy had been standing, a line of pikemen appeared. They drew their swords and began hacking the unhorsed cavalry to pieces.

The second Tuigan rank charged forward. A wall of fire erupted in their path. Those that did not perish in its flames pulled up short. Moments later, several artillery legions appeared on the Tuigan flanks. Trebuchets and catapults began raining boulders down on the line.

The barbarians responded by rus.h.i.+ng their light cavalry around to outflank the artillery. No sooner had they broken formation than several legions of gnoll longbowmen appeared on their wings. Clouds of arrows began sailing into the light cavalry.

"Enough!" the khahan growled. "This is not real!"

The illusion faded immediately. An instant later, all that remained below the hill was the snow-covered battlefield.

Batu admired the artistry that had gone into conceiving the plan. From what the Shou knew of Tuigan tactics, Sza.s.s Tam had foreseen every detail correctly. "I look forward to battling you, Zulkir," Batu said, bowing slightly.

"Your plan seems bold and ingenious.""And it will no longer work," the khahan observed gruffly.

"Yes," Jochibi agreed, a note of suspicion in his voice. "Why reveal your intentions to us?"

An icy smile creased the zulkir's thin lips. "Because I have better things to do with your army than destroy it."

"This is not your army to do anything with, stillborn kid of a sickly goat!"

Chanar interjected.

"Only a fool would need to be reminded of that, Chanar!" the khahan snapped. "Now be silent. I wish to hear the zulkir's words."

"Your wisdom is as magnificent as your t.i.tle, Ill.u.s.trious Emperor of All Peoples," the zulkir responded, a mocking glint in his eye. "I have shown you what will be if we fight. Now, let me show you what could be."

Again, the Tuigan army appeared at the base of the hill. This time, it was spread out over a much larger area, practically the entire plain. The terrain seemed strange. There were dozens of villages scattered around a small, unwalled city. Most of the hamlets east of the city, and the city itself, were burning. The barbarians were riding toward a lake on the western side of the plain. As they traveled, they paused only long enough to loot and set fire to every settlement they crossed.

As the armies moved forward, the zulkir said, "You are looking at Rashemen, a land on our northern border. We have been trying to destroy its people for many years, but a great lake lies between us and them.

"When you appeared out of the wastelands," the zulkir proceeded, "I thought you were nothing more than an army of thieves. Now that I have seen the cunning of your generals and the might of your army, I know I was mistaken."

The zulkir motioned at the field below. "You will be destroyed if you invade my land, which we call Thay. Still, it will not be an easy task, and the battle will greatly weaken us."

As Sza.s.s spoke, the illusory Tuigan forces continued to ride toward the lake. They crossed ground and moved at such an incredible pace that Batu knew he was seeing in minutes what would take days to accomplish in reality.

"While I was pondering this unpleasant thought," Sza.s.s continued, "it came to me that you are the tool we need to destroy Rashemen."

"We are n.o.body's tool!" the khahan objected.

The zulkir rolled his eyes in impatience, but said, "Of course not. I only meant to imply that together we might succeed where neither of us could alone."

"You may continue," the khahan said after a pause. "I am listening."

The zulkir smiled confidently. "Good. My proposal is this: Thay will attack Rashemen's southern flank. In the meantime, you will ride north, then invade Rashemen from the east. With her forces occupied in the south, there will be nothing to oppose you."

The Tuigan army reached the great lake on Rashemen's western edge and began to regroup.

"What do you get out of this?" Jochibi asked.

Sza.s.s looked toward the scar-faced officer. "A wise question," the zulkir acknowledged. "The answer, I hope, is Rashemen. As you ride through, you will rip her entrails out, leaving nothing but devastation in your wake. It will be an easy matter for us to follow through and finish the job.""A treacherous plan," the khahan said thoughtfully. He turned to Batu.

"What do you think?"

The Shou did not hesitate to answer. "I will fight wherever the Tuigan travel," he said. "But I think the greatest battles lie in Thay-"

"Along with the surest defeats," interrupted the zulkir.

"What does that matter?" Batu answered, shrugging. "In the end, every soldier falls on the same battlefield."

The khahan nodded. "Wisely spoken." He turned to Jochibi next. "You?"

"Thay is a deathtrap," he said, glancing at Batu. "Yet, how can we trust the zulkir to keep his word? How do we know that what he shows us is real?"

"If it was not, would I show you this?" the zulkir countered, pointing at the illusion.

Batu returned his attention to the mirage. Most of the Tuigan army had regrouped. They were camped on the lakesh.o.r.e in the winter, and the wooden skeletons of a fleet of s.h.i.+ps were just beginning to take shape. A moment later, a ma.s.s of weary and ragged looking soldiers appeared on the Tuigan's southern flank. They charged, taking the camp by surprise and pinning the barbarians against the lake's icy waters.

"Who are they?" the khahan demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"

The zulkir shrugged. "They are exhausted soldiers from Rashemen. As for the meaning, I don't know. Perhaps they are a routed army fleeing before our advance. Perhaps Thay has lost the war, and the soldiers of Rashemen have rushed north to deal with your invasion. I cannot answer, for that area of the future is closed to my eyes."

"If this is to be our fate, there is no reason to aid you," Jochibi said. "Why trade death in one place for death in another?"

"Because you are capable warriors. Therefore, what you see in Rashemen is not certain death," Sza.s.s Tam countered. "On the other hand, what you saw in Thay ..." He let the sentence trail off.

The khahan raised his hand for silence. "I have decided," he said. He allowed a moment to pa.s.s, then made his p.r.o.nouncement. "You will pay us a tribute of ten thousand kegs of wine. For that price, we will invade this Rashemen and leave Thay to do as it will."

"It is an insult to ask tribute," the zulkir responded. Yet, for a man who had just been insulted, he seemed surprisingly calm. "You have not conquered us."

"I conquer everything I see," the khahan responded, fixing his gaze on the zulkir. "Besides, as you yourself have admitted, even if I fail, Thay will be greatly weakened. Perhaps Rashemen will conquer you, not the other way around."

The zulkir's eyes narrowed, and he regarded the khahan with hateful respect. "I proposed an alliance, not surrender terms."

The khahan shrugged, then glanced at Batu. "As my general has said, every soldier falls on the same battlefield. I see no reason ours should not be in Thay."

"A glorious choice," Batu said, allowing a grin of antic.i.p.ation to creep across his lips. "The best fighting is here."

Sza.s.s Tam scowled at Batu's eagerness, then addressed the khahan, "I will not give you so much as a flask of wine in tribute, now or ever."

The khahan frowned. "Then we will let fate decide," he proclaimed."Wait," the zulkir responded, raising his hand as if to stop the khahan.

"Here is what I will do." He motioned at the wizards behind him. "I will send these four mages with you as guides."

For the first time since they had appeared, the wizards showed some emotion. The woman opened her eyes, and the jaws of the three men dropped in astonishment. The zulkir's image immediately grew translucent and began to waver.

"Look!" Jochibi said, pointing at the illusion in the plain below.

Like the zulkir himself, the illusion had grown translucent and fuzzy. Yet, it remained clear enough to see that the four wizards were standing on the sh.o.r.e of the lake, and that they had somehow parted its waters. The khahan's army had mounted and was rus.h.i.+ng through the watery canyon toward the other side of the lake, leaving Rashemen's haggard warriors behind them.

Batu turned back to the khahan. "I'd suggest we take the wizards," he said.

"To me, it looks like they're worth much more than ten thousand kegs of wine."

"A wise recommendation," the zulkir commented, speaking to Yamun Khahan. "Do we have a bargain?"

"We do," Yamun replied, nodding grimly. He turned to the Shou, then pointed at Chanar. "Batu, send your quiver-bearer to your troops. They are to return to my camp."

Chanar started to object, but a sharp look from the khahan silenced him.

His face red with fury, he turned to obey Yamun's order without allowing Batu the pleasure of repeat ing it.

As Chanar descended the hill, the zulkir addressed Yamun again. "Before you leave, Khahan, there is the matter of compensation for the wizards I am sending with you."

"What compensation?" the khahan growled.

"I am loaning you my a.s.sistants," Sza.s.s said. "It is only fair that you give me someone of equal value." The zulkir s.h.i.+fted his glance to Batu. "Perhaps I could have the services of the Shou general?"

The khahan scowled. Before he could object, however, Batu said, "I'm not interested, Zulkir."

"Are you sure, General?" Sza.s.s asked. "Think of what you could accomplish with fifty thousand gnolls and a circle of fifty wizards."

"All the gnolls and wizards in Thay would not equal one hundred of the khahan's warriors in fighting spirit," Batu replied, looking toward Yamun. "No matter what you offer, I ride with the Tuigan."