Chapter Twenty-Five - The Dead Who March

Alldel was in a state of unprecedented uproar. Women and children were being evacuated to neighboring villages away from the approaching Rhodhinian army. Adric didn’t know how Thale would have managed it all on his own. There were so many people coming and going from his office, asking for advice, giving report, complaining, or whatever else they could think of, that Adric was surprised he didn’t bar the door. When there wasn’t anyone in his office, Thale was digging through documents fine tuning battle strategies, studying their research on wraiths, and checking his armor.

Adric couldn’t help thinking about Daea and Garrin. He liked Garrin and hoped they would be okay. He wished Garrin could be here with them. He thought of Gaden. He would be riding at top speed toward Alldel at this moment. If he knew Gaden at all, he knew Gaden would be here on time. Verrik walked into Thale’s office.

“All four legions have checked in, sir,” he said.

“Very good. Have you assigned a new field marshal?”

“I have. I hope you’ll find him satisfactory,” he said.

“Who is he?

“I’m gambling on Elric’s return.”

“That’s a big gamble,” Thale said.

“I know. But I also know Elric. He will be there.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“I have a backup plan.”

“Let’s hear them both,” Thale said.

“Assuming Elric makes it back, I’ll be leading legion one.” Thale nodded at this as if to say,

“Of course…” Verrik paused.

“What?” Thale asked.

“I uh… I put Gaden Arnhadson as the field marshal for legion two.” Adric glanced at Thale, trying to get a read on his thoughts. He thought for a moment, pinching his chin between his thumb and forefinger. And then he nodded.

“Yes… I like it. I think you have made good choices. Gaden is unproven, you know that?”

“I do, but he shows quite a lot of promise.”

“Agreed, who knows, maybe this could be a permanent assignment for him.”

“Joining the army straight in as a field marshal… not bad,”

“No, indeed.” Thale agreed.

“Silly question…” Adric interrupted, raising his hand. “How many in a legion?”

“Three thousand six hundred fifty six,” Verrik answered.

“So we are fourteen thousand six hundred strong?” He asked, doing the math quickly.

“Yes,” Verrik said.

“Lorlean estimates put the Rhodhinian army around twenty thousand.”

“Yes, well we’re counting on the human instinct to survive,” Verrik said. “A wraith can hardly follow that.”

“What’s the second plan in case they don’t show up?”

“In the event, Elric and his party do not make it, I’ll take over as grand marshal, Ivar will take my place, and I’ll have one of the commanders take over for Gaden.”

“Alright. Get them ready.” Thale told him. Verrik bowed to Thale and left the room.

“Are you going to be okay?” Thale asked Adric.

“Of course.”

“You know what your job is, don’t you?”

“I have a rough guess,” Adric answered, afraid to say for sure.

“If this truly is a two-pronged attack, Roman or Seevus himself will be here. Whichever one of them is not will be in Soceria. Your job will be to find the one that leads the march to Alldel and keep him away from the rest of us.” This is what Adric had been expecting. He nodded. A wave of apprehension started to creep up on him. He had never done battle against another person with a staff of power. But then, just as he began to have those thoughts, a sensation, much like the voice which helped him distract the necraphym, began to pass through him, and he felt eased. He couldn’t explain exactly what it was, though he would have guessed the tamtan. Whatever it was, it gave him the confidence to let the thought go. He would be fine.

Adric wasn’t sure if he wanted time to stop, or if he wanted the battle to get underway so he could get started. It was one of those odd times when you dread what’s coming, but are ready to get started, nonetheless. He felt as though he would be more comfortable if the battle would just start. At least then he could see what they were facing, and he wouldn’t have to wonder any longer.

“Suit up,” Thale said. “It’s time. We’ll be meeting on the front lawn. You can report there as soon as you are ready to go. Adric swallowed hard, stood and left Thale’s office. He wondered if he would see it again. He wondered if Thale would see it again. And then he wondered what would happen to Alldel if Thale didn’t make it.

Adric went back to his cabin to take care of his last-minute business. He put on his battle armor. It was heavy, but he could move, surprisingly. There was a handy satchel that Amos had given him. It held both his sword and the Staff of Alldel. Both of these items fastened tightly around his back, he made to leave. When he turned to go, however, he found he was blocked by a beautiful young lady standing in front of his door.

“Were you just going to leave?” Karina asked.

“Were you going to leave at all?” Adric answered.

“I was hoping to see you one last time. You’re going to war.”

“I’ll be fine,” Adric said, dryly.

“You can’t make that promise, and you certainly shouldn’t try to make it to me.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I have a duty.”

“Yes. And I can see you have changed so much.”

“I’m still Adric.”

“You aren’t the same Adric I knew,” she said. It wasn’t a complaint, but it didn’t quite feel like a compliment either.

“People change, Karina.”

“Yes. And some more quickly than others I might add.”

“I can help these people.”

“And you should,” she said. She was always so agreeable. For once, he wished she would put up a direct fight. Regardless of the tense moment, a sort of magnetism drew him closer to her. He watched her eyes rise upward as she followed him closer to her. He was almost a whole head taller than she was. She looked up at him, his hands on her shoulders. He embraced her, tightly. He tried to put a lot of missed embraces into it.

“Come home when it’s done,” she said. They kissed one last time, and she left his cabin. He wanted to go after her. For some reason, their meeting didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in their relationship. He knew he hadn’t allowed her much time with him, but he thought she understood his position. Still, maybe that wasn’t fair. But he didn’t have time to go after her. He didn’t even have time to sit here and consider what their meeting had meant. He had a duty, as he told her. He had to go. Adric picked up his things, and he left the cabin.

He met Thale in a clearing just outside the citadel. Behind them, thousands of armed men stood, weapons in hand, ready for battle. The commanders were getting their legions lined up and in place. While they were doing this, the field marshals huddled around Thale and Adric.

“Ordinarily, Elric would be having this meeting with you. As it is, he is not here. We hope to rendezvous with Elric and his party at the blockade. You know what is at stake. You know what we fight for. If we are unsuccessful, Seevus will claim this land, and we cannot allow that to happen. We must hold Aelwynn. We will ride to the blockade point, and we will wait for them there. You know how this works. You will follow Elric’s signals and guide your legions accordingly.” They all nodded to him, and they fell into ranks with their respective legions.

As one, the Alldelan forces began to march from their home. Women and children waited as they marched by. Some of them were holding flowers. Some of them held out their hands to the soldiers, and they made contact as the soldiers marched by. Others sobbed silently for their loved ones as they were swept away to fight. And then where had the day gone? As the lines of men cleared the last hill, Adric saw five men standing out in front of them. He couldn’t help a smile as he recognized the face of Gaden standing before him. Gaden dashed forward and embraced Adric like a brother.

“Am I glad to see you?” He said with a huge smile on his face.

“Looks like Amos had a gift or two for you!” Gaden said, pointing to the staff on his back.

“That’s one word for it,” Adric told him. How did you know where to meet us?”

“We met a couple of Lorleans on their way back home, and they told us where Alldel would be making a stand,” Gaden said. Adric noticed Verrik was giving orders to Elric, and then he came over to Gaden to have him fall into ranks.

“Take care of yourself, Gaden,” Adric said.

“I’ll see you when it’s all over.”

“Keep my back for me.”

“And you,” Adric said, and they turned away from each other and lined up the blockade. They waited silently for several minutes. Such was the mood that the only noise being made was the passing of the wind of the plains. And then a cry came.

“OVER THE RIDGE!” They gazed out over the hills. Sure enough, there they were. It looked like a vast black blanket covering the hills in the distance like an invisible hand was dragging the blanket closer to them.

“Hold fast!” He could hear the marshals shouting behind him.

“Steady!” The wall of wraiths drew closer and closer. Battle horns could be heard raging from the opposite side of the field. Drums were beating. Soldiers from the Alldelan force blew their trumpets back in protest. They could now hear the wraiths marching. Every step they took was a loud thud against the earth as armor crashed around them. Every other step they took, they heard the sound of twenty thousand wraiths shouting the word,

“March… March… March…” The sound was thunderous. It cut straight to his heart, instilling fear and dread with every shout. The noise of battle had begun. He heard the chinking of armor and shields as hundreds of Alldelans knelt behind their shields on the front line. Spears were being inserted through the tiny gaps of their shields. They were bracing for the charge.

“I really hoped the Lorleans were wrong,” Thale said. Adric and Elric were standing on either side of him. They said nothing in response. “People are about to die. Wives are about to lose their husbands. Children are about to lose their fathers. Mothers are about to lose their sons.” The ground was now shaking. They could feel the army marching toward them. They could make out their filthy rags, their leathery skin, and their deathly shrieks. And then, as they took their final steps in their approach on Alldel, the battlefield went quiet.

Two armies faced each other. Nearly thirty-five thousand soldiers were standing, waiting on the order to kill. Adric could hear the creaking sound of bowstrings being drawn behind him. Metal clanked and scraped as swords were drawn. The wraiths didn’t seem to have been led by anybody. Nobody was in front commanding them. They stood there, saying nothing, doing nothing.

Then, without warning a single arrow flew silently through the air from the Rhodhinian army. It bounced off one of the shields on the front line near legion two. One of the garrisons nearby panicked and released his arrow in response. Upon loosing his arrow, others near him let theirs fly as well. Before order could be restored, three wraiths fell as they were pierced, and the Rhodhinian army charged. Elric and Thale both fell back into ranks as quickly as possible, jumping the front line, and taking battle posture. It was like being engulfed, sucked into a relentless current. The noise of battle grew exponentially as men screamed from being pierced by Rhodhinian spears, having never even had a chance to take one swing at them. They fell to the ground, lifeless. The first casualties were decided, and the battle had begun. Adric spun around on the spot, the tamtan kicking in, and he vanished in search of the leader.

Gaden was dashing through the crowd. He was in his element, looking for gaps in the battle. He knelt down and was loosing arrow after arrow. More than once, an Alldelan garrison covered his back as wraiths snuck up on him. He soon found Gaila, and they stood back-to-back, picking off wraiths one at a time. Gaila had dispensed with the small-time weapons. Gaden could hear a loud crack every time Gaila let loose on his bow. Thunderstring was in action, today.

One of the wraiths had soon set his sights on Gaden as well. He charged at him, and Gaden took his shot, but he missed. The wraith was too fast for him. Gaden held his bow in his left hand and then unsheathed his sword with his right. Drawing his weapon quickly, he engaged the wraith, blocking each of his blows effectively. But the wraith was so fast, Gaden couldn’t get him on the defensive. The wraith was pushing Gaden backward so fast, he felt he would soon be out of the battle completely.

And then the wraith made a mark. He collided with Gaden so forcefully that Gaden’s sword went flying twenty feet in the opposite direction. He was defenseless. The wraith charged him down. And then Gaden thought of the pub where he used to practice hand-to-hand combat every day. The thought of home invigorated his spirit. He could almost smell the beer on the wraith as he imagined a drunken contender ready for the fight. He grinned wide and placed his bow across his back, taking a battle posture.

As the wraith approached him, Gaden knelt quickly, ducked his head, and caught him around the middle with his shoulders. He lifted the wraith with all the force he could muster into his legs and flipped him over backward. The wraith staggered back up and ran back at Gaden. Yes, this is just another match back home. He thought to himself. As the wraith approached, Gaden spun on the spot and landed a solid kick directly in the wraith’s gut. Had he been alive, it would have winded him, but as he was not, the wraith simply stood up and charged yet again. Gaden was going to have to bring the battle closer to his sword. This time, the wraith jumped. Gaden saw his chance.

“Bad move!” He yelled, and he hit the ground and rolled under the wraith. He stopped near his sword, grabbed it with his left hand, and spun around just in time to run the wraith through on his approach. He saw the wraith wretch. A black substance spewed from his lips, and then he became quite still. Gaden pulled the sword from the wraith’s middle, and then sheathed it, repulsed by what had just happened. He looked around, trying to gather his bearings, and he saw Elric taking on four by himself. He was fantastic. Gaden pulled out his bow and picked off two of them. Elric caught Gaden’s eye and winked across the battlefield to his friend.

“You’re still alive then,” Avan said as he approached Gaden.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’m out of arrows.” Avan laughed.

“Stay by me, I’ll cover you.” Gaden once again grabbed his sword and went to battle against the army of wraiths. Avan began following him, picking up stray arrows, whether Alldelan or Rhodhinian as they walked down the field. He could see Avan taking some on with his fists as Gaden had done, and Gaden turned to finish the job for him.

The effects of battle didn’t begin to take their toll on him until they started to see Alldelan soldiers who had fallen. Sometimes they nearly tripped over dead bodies. The smell was becoming strong. Blood drenched the earth beneath them. Gaden noticed the bottoms of his boots were wet with blood. His legs were splattered, and it made him sick.

And then his heart stopped. There was a deafening, blood-curdling shriek. He looked up and found himself face to face with a seven-foot-tall, winged beast. Horns stood on top of his head from somewhere behind his ears. His face was skull-like, and he smiled at Gaden. Gaden had never seen anything like this creature before. He quickly nocked an arrow and pointed it at the creature.

“Stay where you are!” Gaden ordered. He did notice that the creature wasn’t holding any kind of weapon of his own. The necraphym simply laughed. His voice boomed. It was unnaturally deep and powerful, penetrating the air with incredible ease. He could feel it in his chest. His black face seemed to stare right into Gaden’s soul. Gaden released the arrow. The creature simply flicked it away with his wing tip.

“What the…”

“It’s no use.” The creature boomed. Gaden nocked another arrow, and let it go, but got the same result.

“What are you?” He asked. But the creature only laughed at him again, walking toward him all the time. Gaden was starting to panic. He nocked two arrows and let them go. Still nothing. The necraphym kept knocking them away with his enormous wings. He grabbed for his sword and charged at the beast. If he wanted to play the game that way, then Gaden could play along. But the necraphym grabbed his sword by the blade and pulled it from Gaden’s hand as though Gaden were a child who didn’t deserve the toy he had.

“No way!” Gaden yelled. He turned quickly, while at the same time pulling another arrow, and releasing it, hoping this time to catch him off guard. But the necraphym did not sweep the arrow away. Instead, he spread his wings and took to the sky. The wind he generated kicked up the dirt beneath him. Gaden shielded his face and started to watch in amazement, but his eyes caught something that made his heart stop. No more than ten feet from where the Necraphym had been standing, he saw Elric. His back was turned, and Gaden’s last arrow was flying directly toward him.

“ELRIC!” Gaden shouted so loudly he thought his throat was sure to tear. Gaden watched, his hands in his hair, helpless. As though in slow motion, he saw Avan, who had seen what had just happened, nock an arrow and release it with incredible speed. He had tried to intercept the arrow in mid-flight. It was a very near miss. It was a shot worthy of a wood nymph. But it was no use. The task was too great. Gaden saw Elric turn to see who had shouted his name. He had turned just in time to see the arrow soaring toward him. Gaden saw Elric’s eyes go wide, and then shock etched his face as Gaden’s foolish attempt to bring down the necraphym sank itself deep into Elric’s heart. Elric’s mouth opened slightly, and he dropped to his knees. He put one old hand to his chest, almost as though he had to feel it to believe it had happened, and then he collapsed onto his side. Gaden ran to Elric as fast as his legs would carry him, and he slid in the dirt to his side.

“Elric, Elric!” He yelled, shaking his friend on the ground. But Elric did not move. His eyes were still open wide. Gaden reached for the arrow but thought better of it. Elric’s blood covering his hands, he slapped him across the face as though trying to provoke some kind of response from him. But Elric just lay motionless in Gaden’s lap.

“No… I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean it… I didn’t mean it for you!” Gaden said, as though the sentiment would negate the effect. He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. He sat there, in the middle of the battlefield cradling Elric’s lifeless body in his arms. He was totally unaware that Gaila was covering for him. Gaila, so fast and nimble, was able to keep the area clear to allow Gaden time to mourn the damage he had done. Gaden felt someone by his side, and he looked up into Thale’s face. There were tears in his eyes.

“Gaden, you have to get up,” he said.

“No!” Gaden pushed Thale away.

“Gaden, there’s nothing you can do now. You have to get up. We need you!”

“We can still save him.” Gaden sobbed impractically.

“You can’t save him, Gaden. Get up, it isn’t safe here.” Thale urged him, pulling at Gaden’s shoulder. But Gaden was too strong for Thale. And then Gaden felt two people pulling at him. Avan and Thale were both pulling Gaden up, and finally, Gaden yielded to them. Gaden looked at Avan square in the eye and began to shake his head. Avan grabbed Gaden by the head with both hands as though to stop him shaking back and forth.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said through a trembling lip. “It wasn’t your fault. I tried to stop it. I wasn’t fast enough!” He said, losing his composure.

“Let’s finish these demons!” Gaden said to Avan through clenched teeth, tears still falling from his blurry eyes. “Let’s finish them!” Avan nodded, and they turned, back-to-back with each other and began picking off wraiths one at a time. The two best archers Alldel had to offer, and they were standing in the center of the battle, rotating as, together, they began to clear the battlefield.