5.Death of Chaos
XXIII
THE NEXT MORNING found Krystal and me both in the autarch's private study where Kasee, again, had dark circles underneath her eyes and disheveled hair. The piles of papers and scrolls around her were even deeper than before. The glass on one of the lamps was almost totally black with soot.
“What did you find out?”
“Ferrel's dead. I found where it happened...” I explained about the valley of death and then about the terrain of the spring and where the Hydlenese had placed their troops. I couldn't explain, not in any real way, how terrifying that valley had been or how much power Gerlis really had.
Krystal had heard it all and listened.
“So... there are really only a comparative handful of troops guarding the brimstone spring.”
“For Berfir, ten- to fifteenscore might be a comparative handful. That's still more than fifteen squads.”
“There were a lot more before,” Kasee said.
Krystal frowned. “Did the Duke move them out?”
“Some, but I couldn't find out how many there really were to begin with. There are still about fifteen squads in the valley, with another two squads scattered along the roads. That's not the problem.” I cleared my throat, feeling as if I were fighting off both a chill and chaos infections.
“What about the firebolts? Was it chaos-fire?”
“No... the Hydlenese are using something from the old days-rockets. They're like self-propelled cannon shells, and the powder is encased in iron. When they hit, they explode in fire. The wizard used firebolts afterward.”
“Rockets,” mused Kasee. “The old histories mention them. They were used by Recluce before the fall of Frven. The idea is simple enough, but there seems to be a trick to making them.” She brushed a lock of black and silver hair over her forehead.
From things I had half heard, and recalled, as a child or later, I wasn't sure that the Brotherhood had lost that trick, not after the three black ships I had seen in the harbor at Nylan.
“People don't like to use powder much because a wizard could touch it off,” mused Krystal. “There aren't that many white wizards. It's a risk, but not that big a risk.”
“Would you do it again?” asked Kasee.
I looked blankly at the two of them.
Krystal looked at me and smiled.“Not if I had any choice.”
I felt complimented without knowing why, but I went on. “The powder's pretty much inside steel casings. That's close enough to cold iron that you'd have to have a strong wizard to get it to explode from any distance.”
“There aren't that many chaos wizards any more.”
I frowned, glancing at the overbalanced desk again. “There's something else that still bothers me.” I went on to explain about all the troops and rockets moving north.
Kasee pulled at her chin, half nodding. Her hair was tousled, almost as though she had been tugging at it. “It's probably not that big a mystery. We can't afford a big attack on Hydlen. Berfir has to know that. Either a small body of troops can hold or they can't. Either way, we're not about to rampage across southern Hydlen.”
“But why did he even take the spring?”
“To get the brimstone for the powder to build the rockets to use against Duke Colaris,” answered Krystal. “Colaris has been recruiting for over a year. A lot of soldiers left Gallos after Antonin died, and I've had some reports that there's a new prefect.”
“I heard that in Arastia,” I admitted.
“We don't know if it's true. But Duke Berfir's biggest problem is Colaris, not Kyphros.”
Something about it all still bothered me. Finally, I spoke up. “All of this makes sense except for one thing. Why did Berfir or the wizard or whoever it was use rockets on Ferrel?”
“Maybe it was a mistake,” suggested the autarch. “Sometimes, hotheads don't do as they're ordered.” She and Krystal exchanged faint smiles.
I wondered. Should we just leave the spring alone?
“No.” Krystal answered my unspoken question. “If we intend to act, it should be now.”
“I would tend to agree,” said Kasee. “Why do you think so?”
“Berfir's in no position to block us with much force. If he fails against Colaris, we don't have to worry much. If he's successful with those rockets, he can bring them back south. If we can take the spring and fortify the area, the rockets aren't likely to be nearly as successful against fixed emplacements-if he has any left. They can't be that easy to make.”
I understood that logic... sort of. There was another problem. “How do we handle Gerlis?”
“We don't. You do, if you can. If you would.” Kasee paused. “I can't command you, but we have to try, one way or another.”
I had this feeling I'd been conscripted again. But if she were going to order Krystal into battle against Gerlis, what choice did I have? “And if I can't? He's even more powerful than Antonin.”
“We try to avoid him. Wizard fire isn't much good against rocks. It works best in the open field, and we aren't going to give him that. His rockets won't be that much good against scattered scouts, or troops trained to take cover using the terrain.”
The idea was all right for avoiding rockets and firebolts, but how did you command troops scattered all over mountains? I also was worried about Gerlis. They hadn't felt his power. I had, and merely saying he was more powerful than Antonin didn't exactly convey the feeling of that power.
“Tactics ought to be simple enough,” Krystal noted. “If we hold in emplacements, something like stone shelters or fences-”
“Caves?” asked the autarch.
“No,” Krystal and I said simultaneously. I shut my mouth.
Kasee smiled with a twist to her lips. “When you both talk like that, I have the feeling that I made a real mistake.”
“Powder and fragments do a lot of damage in confined areas. If this wizard could guide a rocket into a cave, I don't think anyone would survive, not unless it were a very deep cave. Then, how would the troops do us any good?” asked Krystal.
I just nodded.
“You need a barrier, almost flat, that the rockets don't penetrate.”
“What about doing what Lerris did again, with fast squads?” Krystal looked at me. “Would you mind leading them back the short, roundabout way?”
“Not if you're leading the main body.” I forced a smile.
So did she.
Kasee looked at me, then at Krystal. “You're not happy about this.”
“I have to do what works. Does it matter whether I like it?”
“No,” answered the autarch. “We have to do something. The last time someone started raiding the borders, we didn't do anything, and look what happened.”
Krystal looked at me. I shrugged. I couldn't fault the logic, but I thought there was more behind Berfir and his white wizard than I really wanted to know, and I still didn't have an answer, not one that I liked.
“How do you think we ought to take the spring?” asked Kasee.
“If we have to take the spring, we should take it from behind, if we can. Yelena can lead a force with Lerris from the east. Berfir just doesn't have that many troops. I don't think, white wizard or not, that he can hold on two fronts.”
“You question whether retaking the spring is wise?”
Krystal shrugged. “There's no easy answer. If we let Berfir hold the spring and he does prevail against Colaris, he can use the brimstone against us. If Colaris destroys him, then we may have lost a lot of troops for nothing.”
“What if we wait?” asked the autarch.
“Unless we can be assured of knowing what happens in Freetown almost instantly, Berfir can probably reinforce the spring faster than we can get there and take it.”
Put that way, even I wasn't sure that going ahead wasn't the best way.
“We'll need to protect the Finest and the outliers we use as much as possible. But we can combine that with taking attention away from Lerris and Yelena. We advance the main body slowly along the direct road, with vanguards way in front of us. That serves two purposes. It makes Berfir, or his wizard, or whoever's in charge, worry about the main body. Lerris, and the others, will take the circular route-not quite so circular as the one he took getting to Hydlen-and hit them from behind.”
“What if there are too many?”
“That's for Yelena and Lerris to find out. If there are, then they don't attack. Lerris can see beyond his eyes a little,” Krystal pointed out.
“A very little,” I confirmed.
“We get close enough to monitor his attack. If they're distracted, that gives us an advantage. We'll need a lot of archers, though, as many as we can find.”
Mainly, from that point on, I listened.
“Lerris...”
“Huhh?” I sat up. I must have been dozing. Kasee winked at me. “Take him home, Krystal. One day won't destroy our plans, and he needs the rest anyway.”
“I'm fine.”
They both looked at me.
Krystal took my arm and walked me out past the guards. “You need rest. You look like a scarecrow. I'm sorry I dragged you here.”
“I'm fine.”
“You will be.” Krystal shook her head. “Do you see how loose your trousers are?”
“Tamra said I was getting fat and sloppy, anyway.”
“When did you start listening to Tamra?” I shrugged. I was clearly going to get some rest. As we walked toward the stables, she squeezed my hand. “I'm glad you're back.”
So was I. I just wished it would be longer before we headed out again.