Times Like These Read online

"He pulled back to the command center to oversee the disposition of the troops."

  "Does that mean we're not encircling them anymore?"

  Estrella shook her head. "I don't know, you'll have to ask him."

  By then they'd caught up with the troops, who appeared to be digging in, but where they'd been setting up in an encircling line in the past, it now looked like they were setting up fire control bases. He'd have to ask Chad about it.

  "Can we can a helicopter back to the ranch?" Sean asked the first officer he came across.

  "Not yet, they're still putting spells on them to protect them from magical attacks. But I've already called for ground transport, Sean."

  Sean nodded and sat down on his butt. "I need to talk to Chad, but I lost my radio during the fight."

  "Well, I'd offer mine," the officer said, "but I don't think it'd fit on your head."

  Sean snorted and stretched out. "Anybody got anything to eat? I still got this horrid taste in my mouth."

  "I'll see what I can find," he said and quickly walked off.

  Twenty minutes later they were riding in the back of a noisy, but well-armored vehicle as Sean finished eating a large pork shoulder they'd found for him. Stretching out, he took stock of his condition. His mana levels were low, but they were regenerating now that he'd had a bite to eat and was resting. Shifting back to his hybrid form, he cast a silence spell on the vehicle and moved to one of the seats.

  "I did that!" he called out as the driver was suddenly looking around, a bit shocked.

  "Oh! Thank you, Sir!"

  Sean just shook his head. "How long until we make it back to the ranch?"

  "About an hour, Sir."

  "Great. Get on the radio and arrange for someone to pick us up somewhere up ahead."

  "I think the helicopters are still down, Sir."

  "Yeah, I'm sure, tell them I'm not asking, I'm ordering."

  "Ahhh..." The driver hesitated a moment, but obviously realized quickly that this wasn't his argument. "I'll tell them, Sir."

  "Thanks."

  Sean sat down, and with nothing better to do, he looked at the magic missile spell that was still sitting in his buffer. As spells went, it was a pretty simple little thing, but as he waded into it, he found its simplicity to be deceptive. If you just flung them out there without a target, they'd be drawn to anything over a certain size, living or otherwise.

  It took him a while to figure out that the ones that had been draw to the helicopter and the equipment weren't targeted at all; in fact, he'd bet they'd all been intended for people and not machines or equipment. But the electrical current in the devices fooled them into thinking they were living beings and drew them in like a magnet.

  That gave him a few ideas for ways to protect against such attacks in the future.

  The next thing he figured out about the spell was just how disruptive it was, for was all that it was weakly powered. Against living beings, it only did a little damage, but the effect it had on the body's nervous system was a lot like that of a taser. Sean could understand why that damaged electronic equipment, but he was at a loss as to why it had killed the helicopter.

  Oh well, he'd tell Daelyn how it worked and leave it to her to figure out.

  "Helicopter's here!" the driver called out, and Sean felt the vehicle stop.

  "Thanks!" Sean said and followed the girls up out of the vehicle. Keeping their heads down, they ran over to the Black Hawk that was idling there for them. Jumping up in the back, Sean waved to Trey, the pilot.

  "Happy to see you're still with us, Trey!" Sean shouted as the crew closed the doors and Trey lifted them off the ground.

  "Happy to still be here!" Trey called back.

  "Pass on that I expect all section heads and leaders to be in the conference room by the time we land!"

  "You got it, Sean!"

  Reaction

  Prince Talt was 'dressing down' one of his subordinates, which in this case meant he had slaughtered the ridder that had displeased him, and was feasting on his life essence. The problem, Talt had always observed, was that once you became a prince, your requirements for food increased accordingly. Like everyone else, he was quite looking forward to setting foot out on the fruitful plains of this legendary jagtområder.

  To be able to once again gorge himself as he had not done in far, far too long would be a wonderful feeling. He knew as a prince he would be able to journey to the jagtområder well before Sladd, his king, did. With the power he would quickly gain from the huge bounty of food there, he would easily be able to challenge Sladd and take the throne for himself.

  He felt it then, a sudden weakening of his power! Jumping to his feet and drawing his sword, Prince Talt looked around his own throne room. Nothing was out of place, and his guards and servants were looking at him with obvious concern. Taking a moment, he took inventory of his vassals, going through them one by one, then he came across it... Lord Holigart was gone. Not just dead to reform in his hall when his soul had gathered back up to be reborn at his utsade, but gone, truly gone—his soul and his power consumed by another!

  "Where was Lord Holigart's duty today?" Prince Talt demanded, turning to his personal scribe.

  Penna quickly ran though his notes and answered.

  "My Prince, he is at the main hellige point. His task is to lead his troops out of the fort and attack the cursed forces of the lions."

  Prince Talt swore; this couldn't be the work of one of the other princes then, or even King Sladd.

  "Huvudskydd," Prince Talt said, turning to one of his guardsmen. "Send a runner to the hellige. Find out what time Lord Holigart went through the portal and what happened to him!"

  "At once, my Prince!" Huvudskydd said and dashed out of the room. One did not tarry when the Prince was angry, unless one wished to feed him as well.

  Dropping back down into his throne, Prince Talt reviewed his options. Holigart was dead; there were no doubts as to that. He would need to raise up a new lord to take Holigart's place, one to bind Holigart's people to them so his power would not stay diminished. A great deal of Prince Talt's position came from the fifteen—now fourteen—lords that were bound to him. If he did not act quickly on this, one of the other five princes of King Sladd could send in their own man and steal Holigart's people away for themselves.

  At least none of them would know he'd lost Holigart, as the lord had been in enemy territory.

  "Penna, I need the names and status of all of Holigart's lieutenants."

  "Yes, my Prince. Are you seeking to promote one?"

  Prince Talt nodded.

  Penna paged through his book until he came to the listing of Holigart's people.

  "Well then, my Prince, allow me to begin," Penna said as he carefully read the list aloud.

  Prince Talt was just finishing up the discussion with his scribe regarding who he would be favoring to take over for Holigart when a runner was escorted into his throne room by one of his guards.

  "I bring news of Holigart, my Prince," the runner said, still panting heavily as he knelt before Prince Talt's throne.

  "Speak," Prince Talt said with a gesture.

  "Holigart was killed and eaten by a lion."

  "I thought as much; how did it happen?"

  "When Holigart first lead the charge, a lion appeared on a nearby hill and challenged him to personal combat while questioning Holigart's bravery and abilities. Holigart attacked, with his army supporting him. The lion used magic and fought Holigart for a quarter-daer, until the lion finally rose up, grabbed him by the head, dragged Holigart up on top of a hill were all could see him, and then he ate him."

  "He drained his soul?"

  "I do not know, my Prince. They said the lion ate lord Holigart, a piece at a time, tearing huge chucks out of him and swallowing them. As his troops watched."

  Prince Talt sat back in his chair and blinked. He then turned to his scribe.

  "Penna, has any lion ever eaten one of ours in this manner before?"

&nbs
p; "Not that I know of, my Prince."

  Prince Talt nodded. "Interesting." He then returned his attention to the runner. "What was the reaction of Holigart's forces?"

  "They dug in, my Prince. Without him to lead them, they did not know what to do next. The report I was given said they did not stop out of fear, but because they did not know what to do."

  "So they were too terrified to press forward, and too terrified to retreat," Penna whispered with a soft laugh.

  Prince Talt tried not to laugh as well; his scribe Penna most likely had the right of it. Still, at least they did not retreat.

  "Thank you, you may withdraw."

  "Thank you, my Prince," the runner said and, getting up quickly, left the room.

  "Huvudskydd," Prince Talt, said turning to his guard once more.

  "Yes, my Prince?"

  "Send a runner to the Hellige. Let them know that I am proud of them for not retreating. That I will assign a new leader to them shortly. Then send a second runner to lord Körsbär. Let him know he is now in charge of the attack."

  "As you will it, my Prince!" Huvudskydd said and quickly left the room.

  Dismissing the rest of his court, Prince Talt made his way back to his quarters. The small keep he was staying in was one he often used for those times during a pass when he needed to be nearby to oversee his people and his troops. Like most of the princes, he knew being too far away from the center of things could often end up with you no longer being a prince.

  He did not bring more than one lord with him to these things, however. They were his powerbase after all, and risking more of them than he absolutely had to would be foolish. It would take several days for Körsbär to arrive and take leadership of Talt's forces.

  This would mean that King Sladd would assign another prince to take over the fight for now. That did not sit well with Prince Talt. A great many of his plans had been prefaced with him being the first into the large feeding zone south of where the portal had opened in the jagtområder. Now he would have to refigure everything. Especially if he was going to take on Sladd before he had a chance to feed as well.

  Ξ

  Sean strode into the conference room with Cali and Estrella behind him. They’d taken the time to visit the armory, strip off their armor, and take a quick shower to get all the blood, gore, and dried pieces of dead djevel off.

  Sean figured the extra time would give the others more time to assemble for this surprise meeting. Plus, he knew his armor was now in serious need of repair.

  "Where do things stand, Chad?" Sean asked as he sat down. In front of his seat was a large pile of hamburgers on a tray. Grabbing one off the stack, he passed it to Cali, then another to Estrella, then one each to Roxy, Daelyn, Roberta, Jolene, and Peg, before sticking one in his own mouth. The first two he knew were almost as hungry as he was; the rest were more out of habit. He liked showing them his affection, and he made sure never to miss an opportunity, especially a public one like this.

  "They've managed to push out anywhere from a half mile to a good mile from their fort by the gateway. That puts the line we have to defend at almost six miles long. The only thing that stopped their advance was the stunt you pulled with eating their leader."

  Chad sighed and shook his head. "Stopped most of them in their tracks, and I can only guess, as the word went round, it stopped the rest of them, too."

  "They're scared," Estrella volunteered between bites.

  "Really?"

  She nodded. "The king may rule, and the princes may be his might, but to the average demo..." Estrella glanced at Cali, who smiled, "...djevel, their lord is their everything. You have a connection with your lord because you work on their land, you work under their protection, you swear your allegiance directly to him. Not to the king, or a prince, but to him." She took another bite of her hamburger.

  "You can be sure more than a few of them felt it when he died. Then to see him just being torn up and eaten? Yeah, they're scared now. They know if it can happen to their lord, it can happen to them."

  What she said made Sean pause a moment.

  "Do you think King Sladd felt it?" he asked her.

  Estrella shrugged and swallowed what she'd been chewing on.

  "Kind Sladd? I don't know, the lords aren't sworn directly to him. But Prince Talt?" Estrella nodded slowly. "Oh, I'm sure he felt it all right. When I killed that lord centuries ago, his prince knew about it almost instantly."

  "Who is this Prince Talt?" Chad asked.

  Sean grabbed another burger before answering.

  "King Sladd has six princes. Each prince has a number of lords. The king gets power, magical power and I guess other things, from his princes. His princes get it from their lords. Prince Talt owned the lord I killed today."

  "And Prince Talt is?"

  "King Sladd's A-Team," Sean said between bites.

  Chad nodded. "Got it. Right, continuing on. With a six-mile front, it's going to be a lot harder now to stop them when the next push comes. But at least we know where they're all headed."

  "We do?" Gloria asked.

  "Reno, Mom," Roxy said.

  "Ah!"

  "Know this," Chad continued, "I'm moving all our troops into these staging zones." Chad pulled out a laser pointer and highlighted the drawn formations on the big map against the wall. Sean could see he'd obviously been hard at work.

  "I've also notified Roloff to get the dwarves mobilized and to watch for small groups trying to sneak past the city's defenses."

  Roloff nodded as Chad mentioned his name.

  "How long do you think we have?" Sean asked.

  "I think we'll start seeing small groups of stragglers in a few days. I don't think their army will be able to get past ours for at least a week."

  "The best Chad and I can project," Maitland said, speaking up, "is if they continue to reinforce at their current rate, we'll see a number of skirmishes over the next three days as they try to push further away from the gateway.

  "We both agree we won't really be able to do much more than slow them down; the geometry of the situation allows them to attack any one spot with more force than we can defend. So we'll just slowly pull back and let them expand their holdings."

  "However," Chad said, taking back over, "eventually they’ll have enough of a force here that they're going to stop being happy with what we're letting them take, and they're going to form up for a full attack and advance on Reno."

  Sean looked thoughtful for a moment. "How long before they overrun the ranch?"

  "Three, maybe four days."

  Sean noticed there were a lot of shocked expressions around the table.

  "And this is why I got us an airfield to the south," Sean said, tapping on the table. "Evacuation starts now. Understand? That's an order. Move out all the supporting staff like we planned it. We'll leave a fuel depot and some mechanics here, as well as a small holding force. We can keep staging out of here for now, but in two days, I want all our logistics forces at Mindren-Tahoe Airport. We'll stage the troops out of the Guard base at Reno international for now, but our base is going to be at Mindren."

  "Won't the mayor and the rest of the city council panic at that?" Peg asked.

  "Don't care," Sean said with a shake of his head. "We'll defend Reno as long as we can, but let's be realistic here; you have a starving army looking at more food than they've ever dreamed of. The closer they get, the harder they're going to fight."

  "Yeah," Chad said with a heavy sigh. "Sooner or later, Reno is going to fall. It's just not very defensible."

  Vincent Powers, the liaison with the magic user councils, spoke up next.

  "What should I tell the councils?"

  "Anybody north of the city needs to move, and they need to move now," Chad replied.

  "I've already told them they need to evacuate anybody who isn't part of the fight," Sean added. "Make sure they understand that unless they're bunking with the troops, where it's safe, they need to head south to Vegas, and they need to do i
t tonight."

  Vincent nodded. "I'll make sure they get the message.

  "What about Carson City?" Oak asked. "How long until they get that?"

  "Fortunately there are several passes between here and Carson City they'll have to use if they want to bring any force to bear. We've only got one to the north of Lake Washoe, and an even more defensible one just north of Carson. Maitland and I are pretty confident we can hold Carson against the djevels."

  "Carson City isn't the problem, however," Maitland said, looking around the table. "Once we lose our ability to contain the djevels, they can head in any direction. Salt Lake is to the east, and Sacramento is to the west, with innumerable towns between here and there, as well as to the north of us. While most of the djevels will probably want to concentrate on Reno because it's close, we're going to be fighting them all over."

  "Which comes back to why we’re moving to Mindren and not Reno for the long term," Sean said. "We're going to have a lot of our army in the field. They’re going to need resupply daily. If we set up to do that out of Reno, when Reno falls, they're all screwed."

  "What about flights out of other cities? Surely we're not the only ones fighting this war, are we?" Gloria asked.

  "We're working on it," Chad said. "But right now, we are the only ones fighting this war. Everything is concentrated here, and focused here. It's changing, and will continue to change, but going to war isn't like flipping a switch. There's a lot to be done to ramp things up. We've got several million troops here now, but if Estrella's estimates are correct, we're going to need millions more."

  Sean raised his hand, stopping all conversation.

  "Okay, I think we've heard enough about that. We need to get back to what's important, the evacuation. Now, Oak, Roxy, I know you've started on this already with the gear that was sent south. Let's get a priority list together and get cracking!"

  Sean watched as everyone nodded, and he let Roxy take over. He knew Roxy and Oak had worked out a pretty detailed plan; they'd all just thought they had a few more weeks before they'd have to implement it.