Rage of a Demon King

The two women obeyed, Helen gripping Luis’s legs while Karli put her hands on his shoulders, being careful not to touch the wound. Roo began to sew.

  Throughout the night, Luis lay in a fever. He awoke enough to take a drink of water. Once they had to restrain him from attempting to scratch off the poultice that Roo had put on his wound.

  Karli and Helen sat in the corner, with the children gathered around them, sleeping the best they could. Roo slept across the doorsill, sword in hand.

  In the morning, Luis looked better. “I think his fever’s broken,” said Roo.

  “Should we move him?” asked Helen.

  Roo gritted his teeth. “I don’t think we should, but we can’t stay here. If those soldiers that rode by yesterday were Kingdom cavalry, the enemy will be here sometime today. If they were enemy soldiers, we’re already behind the lines.”

  Luis’s eyes opened, and he whispered, “I can ride.”

  “I wish we had something to eat,” said Karli. “He needs it to regain his strength.”

  Roo said, “With luck we’ll be in Wilhelmsburg by midday. We’ll eat until we pop.” He grinned at the children, who tried to smile.

  They got the horses saddled and, with a great deal of difficulty, managed to help Luis into the saddle. Roo said, “Do you want me to tie you to the irons again?”

  “No,” said Luis, blinking against the morning sunlight. “I can manage.” He looked at his heavily bandaged shoulder and said, “What did you do to my shoulder?”

  “Salt water and a poultice,” said Roo. “How is it?”

  “It itches like nothing I’ve ever felt.”

  Roo said, “I think itching’s good.”

  “Only if it’s happening to someone else,” said Luis.

  Roo took the reins of his horse, and Luis gripped the horse’s mane at the withers. The children rode as they had before, and Roo led them all down the road, eastward.

  Erik rode quickly through the town and shouted, “Burn it!”

  Men at the western edge of Wilhelmsburg ran through the town throwing torches. The larger stone buildings would be gutted, for most had bales of hay placed inside, and the buildings with thatched roofs caught quickly.

  By the time Erik reached the eastern edge of the town, the western half was fully engulfed in flames. Erik waited until all his men were out of the town, then said, “Let’s move.”

  Since before sunrise, soldiers billeted at Wilhelmsburg had been moving eastward, heading for a ridge line that they would defend for another week if possible. Erik knew that as they moved closer to Darkmoor they were going to encounter more towns like this one, Wolfsburg, Ravensburg, Halle, and Gotsbus. All would provide close support, but all would have to be torched before the defenders withdrew.

  Robert d’ Lyes rode over, obviously very uncomfortable on the horse Erik had secured for him. “How are you doing?” asked Erik.

  “Only the thought of another day walking in the heat convinces me this is a good idea, Captain.”

  Erik smiled. “She’s a gentle animal. Don’t saw on her mouth and pay attention, and she’ll take care of you. Remember to keep your heels down.”

  Erik turned and rode off, and the magician tried his best to keep up.

  Roo lay back against the wall of the gully, his sword held close to his chest. The despair had almost been overwhelming when they had reached a point down the southern trail where they could see the smoke from Wilhelmsburg. Roo didn’t have to see the town to realize it had been put to the torch.

  They had halted on the road, trying to decide what to do: risk skirting the flaming town, trying to overtake the fleeing Kingdom army, or turn back north and take the less-used road into Ravensburg. While they debated, a shout from across a large clearing told them that they had been spotted by horsemen.

  Roo took them into the woods at once, hurrying the frightened group as best he could. He found a gully that quickly deepened, turned to the north, then turned east again. He had shooed them all along, and had doubled back, sword in hand. Luis had followed, his dagger in his left hand. He was weak and disoriented, but he was willing to fight.

  While Karli, Helen, and the children huddled deep at the end of the gully, against a steep wall of rocks, trying to keep the horses quiet, Roo and Luis waited just beyond the first turn in the gully.

  Voices came from a short distance away, and Roo recognized the speech as being from Novindus. Luis nodded, and his thumb flexed along the hilt of his dagger.

  The sound of horses approaching caused Roo to crouch, hugging the bank. The voices grew louder. “Some tracks in the mud. Look fresh.”

  “Keep it down. You want to send them to ground?”

  The first rider came around the bend, looking backward over his shoulder, saying, “When you pay me, you give me orders, you—”

  Roo sprang upward, striking straight into the exposed area under the man’s right arm. The sudden thrust stunned the man, and Roo yanked him from his horse.

  The horse shied, moving up the gully, past Luis.

  “What did you say?” said the other rider.

  Roo saw a dagger at the fallen’s man’s belt and pulled it, tossing it toward Luis. For all his fatigue and illness, Luis still managed to place his own dagger between his teeth and caught the one tossed him without missing a beat.

  Luis flipped the blade in the air, caught it by the point, and pulled it back behind his ear and let fly with it just as the second rider came around the bend. “Hey! I asked—” the man said just as the blade caught him in the throat.

  He gurgled as Roo dragged him from the saddle. Roo dumped the body next to the first one and with a swat sent the horse after the one heading toward Karli, Helen, and the children.

  Roo signaled and he and Luis headed back to where the others waited. “They’ll be here any second,” said Roo.

  “What do we do?” asked Karli.

  Roo pointed to the rocks, a twelve-foot bank. “We climb up there. They can’t follow.”

  He didn’t wait, but started scrambling up to the top of the rocks. When he got up there, he could see glimpses of the other riders through the trees, calling questions back and forth, inquiring about the two missing men. Roo motioned for Willem to climb up, and he held down his hands, so Helen, who was taller than Karli, could hand up Helmut to him. The littlest child stuck out his lip as if about to cry, and Roo said, “Please, baby, not now.”

  As Roo took his son into his arms, Helmut cut loose with a pitiful wail, as if all the fear, hunger, and fatigue he had endured for the last three days were coming out at once. Luis turned and drew his dagger, for only a moment later, Helmut’s cry was answered by the shouts of the horsemen.

  Abigail and Nataly scrambled up the rocks, pushed by their mothers. Willem climbed without aid. Luis looked up, perspiration running off his brow, and said, “I can’t make it.”

  Roo said, “Climb! It’s just a short way.”

  Luis had one good hand, and that shoulder was the damaged one. He reached up, gritted his teeth, and pulled. He found toeholds, and took a deep breath. He let go and tried to push himself upward, grabbing frantically with his good hand, his withered right hand scraping uselessly off the rocks. Roo leaned over and grabbed his wrist. “I’ve got you!”

  Roo felt his arms’ stretching as the larger man hung like dead weight. Nearly out of breath, Luis said, “Let me go. I can’t do this.”

  “You’ll do it, damn you!” said Roo, yanking hard, though he knew he couldn’t pull the man up by main force.

  Luis tried to climb, making little progress, as two riders turned into view. “There they are!” shouted one.

  “Let me go!” said Luis. “Get away!”

  “No!” shouted Roo. To Helen and Karli he said, “Get the children back into the trees!”

  Roo pulled and Luis struggled, as a rider came into close proximity, with a sword drawn. “You the bastards killed Mikwa and Tugon? We’ll settle—”

  An arrow lifted the rider from his saddle and a
second took the rider behind him out of his seat as well.

  Strong arms reached past Roo and took Luis’s wrist, lifting him easily to the edge of the rocks. Roo turned and looked up into a strange, alien, but handsome face. The elf smiled and said, “You seemed troubled, stranger.”

  “You could say that,” said Roo, leaning back on his elbows, panting. Another elf appeared, shouldering his longbow. Roo flexed his left arm and said, “I don’t know how much longer I could have held on.”

  A man in a black tunic came to stand next to the elf and a familiar grin split a dark face as he said, “If you aren’t the sorriest-looking jokers I’ve had the misfortune to see, man, I don’t know nothing.”

  Luis grinned and said, “Jadow. Glad to see you.” Then he fainted.

  “What’s wrong with him?” asked Jadow Shati as he knelt next to his old companion from the campaign down to Novindus.

  Roo said, “Shoulder. He’s got a wound and it’s inflamed. Loss of blood, the usual complaints.”

  “We can care for that,” said the elf. “But we had best get you and your children away from here.”

  Roo stood up and said, “Rupert Avery.”

  The elf said, “I’m Galain. I’m on my way to bring messages to your General Greylock.”

  “General?” said Roo. “Things have changed.”

  “More than you know,” said Jadow. “Let’s get some distance between us and those other riders, and we can talk.”

  “How many of you are there?” asked Roo as he walked behind Jadow and Galain.

  “Six elves from the Elf Queen’s court, and a light company.”

  Roo knew a light company was ten squads of six men each. “Where are they?”

  “A half mile that way,” said Jadow. “Our friends here have remarkable hearing and told us there were horses over here, so I thought we’d check things out.” He put his hand on Roo’s shoulder. “We’re on our way to Ravensburg. Care to come along?”

  Roo laughed. “Thanks. We could do with some company. Now, what do you have to eat?”

  22

  Ravensburg

  Erik smiled.

  Kitty seemed to fly into his arms, barely giving him time to dismount. “I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she said.

  He kissed her and hugged her tight. “Me too.”

  Soldiers milled about the stable yard of the Inn of the Pintail, and Nathan and Freida approached. Freida hugged her son, then Nathan shook his hand. “Congratulations!” said Nathan with a grin. “Made a Knight-Captain and married.”

  Freida said, “Why didn’t you send word? When this girl first came to me I thought her mad, married to my boy.” She fixed Kitty with a dubious look. “But after a while she told me enough to convince me she knew you quite well.” Then she smiled.

  Erik blushed. “Well, things were pretty confused and we had to act quickly.”

  “So she tells me,” said Freida.

  Nathan said, “You look all in. Come inside and have a bath and some food.”

  Erik said, “I will, but first I have to start getting people out of town. You’re all going to have to be on the march by the day after tomorrow.”

  “Leave?” asked Nathan.

  Erik nodded. “The enemy is no more than five days behind, perhaps as close as three, and some of his cavalry units may be closer. We’ll defend the town for as long as we can after you leave.”

  “Then?” asked Nathan.

  Erik looked down, almost ashamed to answer. “We’ll have to burn it to the ground.”

  Nathan went pale. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  Erik said, “I know. I’ve already put Wilhelmsburg, Wolfsburg, and a half-dozen villages to the torch.”

  Nathan ran a hand over his leathery old face. “I never thought I’d see it again.”

  Erik remembered he had lived through the sacking of the Far Coast, years before. “I can only tell you it’s absolutely necessary.”

  A very tired-looking figure in a grey robe rode awkwardly into the courtyard and pulled up next to Erik’s horse. Robert d’ Lyes got off his horse, his trembling left knee barely able to support his weight as he dismounted. He looked almost bowlegged as he turned to Erik. “Do you ever get used to this?”

  Erik smiled. “Mother, Nathan, this is Robert, and he’s just learning how to ride.”

  Nathan winced in sympathy. “Come inside. I’ll pour you some wine to ease your discomfort.” Nathan signaled to Gunther, his apprentice, to take the magician’s horse. The boy ran over, smiled at Erik, and looked questioningly at the former smith’s mount.

  Erik said, “I’ll be needing her for a while. I’ll be back later and then you can tend her for me.” To Nathan he said, “I’ll be billeting men here and in every other inn in the town, the Growers’ and Vintners’ Hall, and any other place I can find. So expect a fair amount of shoeing and tack repair between now and when you leave. You’re the only man in Ravensburg besides our company smith who can repair weapons and armor.” He looked regretful as he said, “Don’t expect much sleep for a few days.”

  Nathan shook his head and said, “Come with me, Robert, and I’ll join you in a glass. I think I’m going to need it.”

  Kitty kissed Erik. “Hurry back.”

  Freida kissed him as well and whispered, “She seems a fine girl, Erik, if a little odd at times.”

  Erik grinned. “You don’t know the half of it. I’ll be back for supper.”

  As his mother turned away, he said, “Any word of Roo?”

  She stopped. “Two of his wagons got here a couple of days ago. I think they’re over at Gaston’s. But we haven’t heard anything of him. Why?”

  “He was on the road, and . . . it’s been difficult.”

  Freida, who never had any use for Rupert, but knew how close her son was to him, nodded and said, “I’ll say a prayer.”

  Erik smiled. “Thank you, Mother.” He remounted and headed back out into the town of Ravensburg, to oversee the deployment of the men and get ready for the destruction of the town in which he had lived most of his life.

  Roo said, “How are you doing?”

  Luis said, “Better.” He was riding beside Roo and indeed looking better.

  From ahead, Jadow turned and said to Roo, “Man, considering that you almost killed him with that poultice, he looks positively reborn.”

  “Well, I thought that was the moss Nakor had showed us.”

  The elves had removed Roo’s concoction, found the correct ingredients for a healing poultice, and re-dressed Luis’s wound.

  Jadow’s soldiers had secured enough mounts from the raiders they had killed so Roo, Luis, and the women could ride. The elves were all on foot, so two of them led the horses with the children, while Karli and Helen kept a close eye on their offspring.

  They had moved from the scene of combat and made camp. Jadow dispensed with the full entrenchment, since the elves made excellent outer sentries, and Jadow decided the extra two hours a day of movement was more necessary than defensive security.

  Twice since leaving that camp in the morning, they had reports of other companies moving south: Kingdom forces to the east, and invaders to the west. It was clear that they were heading straight toward the next battle. Roo knew enough about the surrounding countryside to understand that after Ravensburg the only town of size was Wolverton and the countryside around that hamlet was not conducive to a stout defense. They would hold for a while at Ravensburg, then fall back to Darkmoor.

  “How far to Ravensburg?” Jadow asked Roo.

  Roo said, “We’ll be there in less than an hour.”

  “Good,” said Luis. “I could use a taste of that wine you and Erik used to brag on so often.”

  “You’ll not be disappointed,” said Roo. Then he thought of a large portion of the Kingdom army already being in Ravensburg, and said, “Assuming there’s any left when we get there.”

  Ten minutes later they approached the first Kingdom camp, located behind a very defe
nsible rise in the road. They hailed the guards and were passed without question.

  As they rode along, they saw more and more elements of the Kingdom army digging in. Roo said, “Looks like they’re fighting along ten miles or so of front.”

  Jadow pointed over his shoulder, to the north. “We’ve been turning them this way for weeks. We left behind enough men to ensure they don’t try to feint this way, turn back, and break through north of us.”

  Roo knew the local terrain as well as anyone. “Even if they get past you that way,” he said, “they’re still going to have to turn south when they try to climb Nightmare Ridge.”

  “That’s the plan,” said Jadow.

  The closer they came to the town of Ravensburg, the more frantic the activity. The road they traveled ran parallel to a low ridge line, a series of interconnecting hills, that had been planted with grapevines for years.

  Soldiers were cutting the large vines, some as big as small trees, piling them, along with anything else they could find, to form breastworks along the top of the ridge. While no winemaker, Roo had spent enough time growing up among them to know what a loss those vines would be. Some were three hundred years old, rootstock that would be impossible to replace. He noticed that workers were madly cutting vines, saving them for grafts, in the hope they could someday return to these vineyards and start over. Roo silently wished them luck.

  They reached Ravensburg in midafternoon. Roo saw Erik supervising the establishment of a barricade across the main road. He waved and Erik rode over.

  “Roo! Luis! Jadow!” said Erik, relief obvious on his face.

  Galain waited until greetings were exchanged, and said, “Captain von Darkmoor?”

  “Yes,” said Erik. “What can I do for you?”

  Galain produced a scroll and handed it to him. Erik read it and said, “Good.” He pointed toward an inn across the square. “If you’d like to eat, go there and tell them I sent you.”

  “Thank you,” said Galain.

  Erik looked at Karli, Helen, and the children and said, “If you’d be so kind as to continue leading those horses, I’d appreciate it.” To Karli he said, “Tell my mother I sent you and don’t let her give the children too many sweets.”