The Game of Fates Read online

  Though it was hard to see what most of the chores had to do with being battle ready, the older, more experienced warriors knew differently. It was all about being one up on the enemy. If you’re more prepared, you’re more confident. If you’re more confident, you’ll fare better. It was a simple principle, but hard for the young warriors to see. Their discipline was enough of a reason, however, and soon they set to the tasks assigned them with determination. Before long, the entire company was doing everything from brushing the packdogs’ fur to sharpening blades.

  Seeing his company anxiously engaged in the tasks given them, Durik gave Kabbak the responsibility of ensuring his equipment and his wolf were taken care of and then locked himself in his room with a sheaf of parchment and a charcoal pen from Kiria.

  Once Manebrow was satisfied that everyone was about their tasks, he set off to see Krebbekar about the food issue.

  Chapter 8 – Forging the Company

  Durik’s servant Kabbak had pulled most of his master’s equipment out of the room just after first meal, leaving his master undisturbed, and Durik was now both hungry and thirsty. As Durik went looking for food, he saw that some of the equipment was back; his shield and a pouch were sitting outside Durik’s door. After inspecting and admiring the patching job Kabbak had had done on his shield for a moment he set it down and walked out of the quarters just before time for second meal.

  Blinking in the full light of the sun, he held a parchment in one hand and had the charcoal pen in the other. On the porch several of the warriors sat passing stones of differing coarseness around, sharpening the blades of spears, swords, and knives to a fine, but durable edge. In the yard Terrim was examining Firepaw’s feet while Kabbak held the big wolf’s head in his lap, gently running a brush through his fur. In the distance Durik noticed Kiria and her two younger brothers playing tag around one of the large trees that ringed Lord Krall’s lake. It struck him as strange that the three siblings, who had been through so much, were able to play like nothing had happened. Surely he thought they’d have been marred by the experience. He knew at least he was different after so much blood and death.

  Seeing his leader emerge, Manebrow stood up from his seat in the corner of the porch, quickly wiping the dust of the sharpening stones from the blade of his axe. “Well, sire,” he started, “the larders of the Krall Gen have been opened wide to accommodate us. Second meal is cooking for us as we speak, complements of Lord Krall’s personal chefs as luck would have it! And, in case you’re wondering, they said they’d support us for the duration of our stay here in this fine gen.” Then, almost as an after-thought, Manebrow added, “It appears that being the captain of Lord Krall’s house guard gives Krebbekar a bit more political clout.”

  Durik smiled. “And who would have convinced them to do such a thing for us? I didn’t know you had a silver tongue.”

  “Well, I uh… well, you know, just watching out for the company,” Manebrow smiled.

  “Well, what do you make of that, second?” Durik said, pointing to Kiria, Karto and Lat who were now chasing each other along the tree line, laughing like they had not a care in the world.

  “Well, sire,” Manebrow started in a much more subdued tone, “you can’t blame them for trying to blow off a bit of steam. They’ve been through much the last couple of days and I thought it best to let her help her younger brothers deal with it.”

  Durik hadn’t expected justification for why Kiria wasn’t working, but he nodded and grunted his approval. “How do you suppose they do it? You know. How can they play like they’ve not a care in the world when for all they know their father is dead and their whole world is shattered?” Durik’s own mind reached back to the memories of his own parents’ brutal death during the orc raid six years now in the past, and he felt an old, familiar ache.

  Manebrow’s signature eyebrows lifted. “Well,” he began, “for all that, they’re still little. The only way they know to deal with it is to play, I suppose, the same as my three sons are likely doing right now, I’d imagine.”

  Durik nodded. He remembered it had been some time before he felt like playing again after his parents were killed, but everyone is different, he thought. “Well, shall we do our after-talk now or wait until after second meal?”

  “Now’s fine, sire.”

  With that, Manebrow gathered up the company. Durik called to Kiria, who left her little brothers playing while she came for the meeting. Soon the bulk of the company was seated on the porch while Durik stood in front of them. Off to one side Manebrow leaned against the porch and Kiria had parchment out to take notes.

  “Is everyone enjoying the morning’s activities?” Durik asked. There were several groans from various warriors in the company. “Well, as I hear it, Manebrow has got us in with Lord Krall’s cooking staff.” This time there were cheers from the assembled crowd. “It looks like we’ll be getting resupplied with weapons, trail rations and such here shortly as well.” Again there were cheers, though more muted. “Well, I brought everyone together to talk about what happened these last couple of days. I think it’s absolutely critical that we discuss both what went right, as well as what went wrong, if we’re going to get and maintain a competitive edge over our enemies. I’ve only got a few rules. First, we’re not here to lay blame on anyone, so don’t. Second, everyone’s comments matter. Third, I won’t hold anything you say here against you, and I expect the same from all of you. Understood?”

  There was not a warrior in this group who had not been through one of Manebrow’s after-talks. Durik’s servant Kabbak had not made it through the entire year of training, but even he’d participated in a few of them. Kiria, on the other hand, had not. She found the openness and honesty that the fusion between Durik’s and Manebrow’s leadership styles brought to be refreshing; a definite change from the constant political positioning of their gen’s council members. As she looked around herself, she could see that the other warriors all trusted Durik. Soon, Kiria watched with admiration as Durik pulled comments from the assembled warriors as though he was plucking fruit from a tree. She got so caught up in watching him that she forgot for a time that she was supposed to be taking notes.

  Suddenly Durik’s voice broke into her daydreaming. “Did you get that last one, Kiria?” he asked.

  Kiria started. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that, Terrim?”

  “Well, perhaps a better way to say it is that we didn’t pack the dogs’ packs in such a way that we could easily shift pieces of their loads to other dogs, like when we had to carry the casualties in the ant tunnels before you leaders arrived with the wolves,” Terrim said.

  “Ok,” Durik said, pointing to Kiria, “so one point is that we need to pack the packdogs so that we can easily shift their loads to other dogs if necessary.” Kiria began writing furiously.

  “Yes. That’s right,” Terrim said.

  “Good point,” Durik said and turned his attention to Ardan. “Ardan, what did you think of our scouting?”

  Ardan laughed under his breath. “Well, sire, it was passable, though I don’t think we paid as much attention to it as we could have.” He saw that Durik was looking for more than that and continued. “I think the results speak for themselves. Those vagabond orcs we fought early the first day might have seen us first, but we were smart enough to set out a sentry, so we ended up catching sight of them before they could ambush us.”

  Keryak broke in, “Yeah, but you’ve got to admit we weren’t exactly expecting to see orcs on the path here.”

  From the back Arbelk chimed in, “I think we saw a lot of things we weren’t expecting to see.” With that everyone laughed.

  “Agreed,” Ardan said, enjoying the laugh as much as everyone else, including Keryak. “That’s my point exactly. Because we followed good practices and put scouts and sentries out, even though we weren’t expecting to see anything unfriendly out there, we ended up ambushing those orcs instead of them ambushing us. I think we need to keep it up, and perhaps focus on scout
ing even more, even when we’re not expecting to see any enemies.”

  Durik nodded and pointed to Kiria. “Agreed. That’s a standard we should keep. In fact, we should probably put more emphasis on it now with the addition of Morigar’s team.”

  As Manebrow looked at the rest of the company, he could see the effects of Durik’s character on his fellow warriors. They talked openly, honestly, and they were excited about the company. If there was one thing good leadership did, it was to create a powerful, positive energy; energy to get them through the hard times and to give them that competitive edge. There wasn’t much a group with such energy couldn’t do.

  Just as the conversation began to wane, one of Lord Krall’s kitchen staff arrived to tell the assembled group that second meal was ready for them. Closing the discussion quickly, Durik turned the company back over to Manebrow, who had them quickly secure their equipment before heading off to eat.

  The discussion at second meal started light, until Durik mentioned the dragons. Durik had gathered his three sub-leaders around him before the meal and had told them what he knew about what lived in and around the Hall of the Mountain King as well as about Morigar’s mission to find out about the remnant of the Bloodhand Orcs. Of course, when he mentioned the pair of dragons, Manebrow, Ardan, and Gorgon all perked up. There were many questions, most of which went unanswered. Finally, it had come down to trust, trust that Durik’s information was correct and that the dragons would leave for long enough, or trust in each other that they’d figure out what to do if that wasn’t the case.

  With their attention refocused on their eventual departure, the leaders all talked for some time about responsibilities and reorganizing more effectively. In the end they split their two teams into three; a leaders’ team that also had responsibility for the packdogs, then two warrior teams that were organized for scouting and climbing as well.

  “With the addition of Morigar’s team, Durik and I have decided to put Ardan fully in charge of my team,” Manebrow said. “I will be his second only, and no longer a team leader.” Laying his hand on Ardan’s shoulder, he looked his old friend in the eyes. “This is well deserved,” Manebrow said.

  Ardan just smiled. He was sure Miratha would be terribly excited for him, as this would almost certainly get him the elite warrior mark he had sought after for so long, and give him the wealth he would need to provide for a family…

  Manebrow didn’t know the extent of Lord Krall’s generosity until he and Krebbekar visited the various merchants and craftsmen to fill his and Krebbekar’s lists of needed supplies. The first place Krebbekar took them was to the mines. Manebrow thought it a strange place to get the supplies he needed, but soon they were talking with the dog master that cared for the dogs that pulled the carts in the mines, as well as the riding dogs that served the few ore caravans the Krall Gen sent out. Before he knew it, Krebbekar was leading a pair of sturdy packdogs and a pair of equally sturdy riding dogs and Manebrow had a riding dog for Kiria to replace Starshine, her mount that had been killed by an assassin’s arrow.

  Thanking the dog master, who was none too happy with this particular order from Lord Krall’s minister, the pair led the dogs back toward the lake to the weapon smithy. Manebrow asked for and was given a replacement spear for Durik, new javelins for Jerrig, a pair of crossbows for Kiria and Kabbak with two cases of bolts each, and a full hundred arrows with broad hunting tips in leather cases. Krebbekar needed much less, just a couple dozen extra arrows with quivers. Sharing the packdogs, Krebbekar and Manebrow soon had the equipment loaded and were on their way.

  After a visit to the local leather worker to acquire belts, straps, and replacement pouches, the pair led the dogs to the ration keeper for the Border Guards. Lord Krall had again been generous with them and the pair left with their dogs fully weighed down. Back in the Kale Gen meat was more of a luxury than a staple. Here that was obviously not the case. Between their two groups, they were carrying enough salted and smoked meat to last for at least two weeks.

  His list filled, and all the dogs weighed down to capacity as well, the pair of grizzled warriors returned to the caravan drivers’ quarters just before third meal. They were met with excited shouts and offers to help unload. Bringing order to the gleeful group, Manebrow set about designating what was to be offloaded and what was to be left. In a matter of a few moments the company’s equipment was separated from Krebbekar’s and Krebbekar was on his way.

  For much of the afternoon Durik had been with Krall and the three Krall Gen warrior contingent leaders, relating every piece of knowledge, every tactic learned, and everything that had happened in his company’s encounters with the ants, and contributing to their battle plans. Durik found Krall the younger to be a thorough listener, inquisitive and knowledgeable in his own right. After some time with the older heir to the throne and his council, Durik had discussed with them every aspect of their coming campaign and had learned perhaps more than he had ever known before about supplying, forming, and sustaining a large force.

  Finally, toward the end, the biggest question of all was asked. Did he think one hundred and fifty troops would be enough? Durik hesitated. He thought about the swarms of hunter ants, the host of workers with their ant commanders, and the queen’s own warriors. In his estimation, the workers could be easily dealt with by killing their commanders from a distance. The warriors and the hunters, on the other hand, were independent and therefore more dangerous. He also didn’t know if what had come after their little company was the bulk of their hunters, or if there were many more that had been held back. When he answered, it was deliberately cautious.

  Durik did think that, if they used their melee troops on the hunters, and kept the workers disorganized with their archers, that they would fair well. However, he stressed one last time, the key they had found was to get the troops into a confined space where the ants could not surround them. Krall and his contingent leaders all nodded their agreement, and with that the meeting was over.

  As Durik left the council chambers, he felt stronger somehow, and yet saddened; stronger, because he’d proven himself in the eyes of the Krall Gen leaders, and saddened, because he felt in his heart that there was some chance that many of his fellow kobolds may die in the Krall Gen campaign against the giant ants. He pondered on these things as he made his way back to his company’s quarters.

  When evening came and third meal was over Manebrow gathered the company on the porch of the caravan drivers’ quarters. For the remaining time before third meal Durik, with the advice of his three elite warriors from time to time, had been working on the company rules. He’d even begun to get some understanding of how armor changed things from Krebbekar, and had included this knowledge. With the added planning that Durik, Manebrow, and the team leaders had done, Durik was now ready to bring everyone together, reorganize the company, and establish the standing orders for Durik’s Company.

  As the warriors gathered, Krebbekar and the two Border Guard scouts arrived, though Morigar was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing stools from just inside the doorway, the Krall Gen warrior team sat off to one side. This was not their meeting, politics being what they were, but Manebrow had invited them so that they could get a better understanding of the warriors they would accompany.

  “Good evening, fellow warriors,” Durik started. “We all know that we barely had enough time to inventory our equipment and say goodbye after the Trials of Caste three days ago. Because of the lack of time we didn’t get the opportunity to establish rules for the company. Also, after a couple of days on the trail, we’ve found it necessary to make some changes in the organization of the company.” Durik looked at Manebrow. “Manebrow, are you ready to form the teams?” he asked.

  “I am sire,” he said as he walked up in front of the company from his place next to the porch. Durik withdrew a couple of paces, but stayed around so that everyone could see that they were united in this. “I’m sure that, by now, everyone has heard about Trallik’s exile for his treacher
y, as well as Arloch’s traitorous death as he attempted to kill Kiria. Well, because of their loss, we’ve had to do some switching around, and we’re also taking this opportunity to reorganize things in a bit more efficient manner.” Manebrow could see that Trallik’s exile and Arloch’s death were news to Kabbak, and Kiria and Terrim both looked surprised by part of the news. Noting this, he decided he needed to keep the leaders group better informed.

  “As such, the following changes apply immediately. First, the company is now composed of three teams; Gorgon’s team, Ardan’s team, and the leaders’ team. Second, in accordance with rule one of the Standing Orders which Durik will read shortly, everyone shall be part of a pair so that no one will ever be left on their own. Both incidents of treachery happened when members of this company were allowed to wander off by themselves.”

  Manebrow could see that Jerrig still felt guilty for having let Trallik go into the queen’s lair alone, but he didn’t have the time to deal with that right now.

  “Therefore the composition of the teams is as follows: Gorgon’s team consists of two pairs; Gorgon and Jerrig, Arbelk and Troka. Ardan’s team consists of two pairs; Ardan and Keryak, Tohr and Kahn. The leaders’ team will be led by Terrim, who will be paired with both Kiria and Kabbak. Durik and I will be nominally part of that team as well.

  “Now, the team leaders, except for Terrim, know how they’re going to break down their responsibilities within the teams. Each of the two warrior team leaders will give responsibility for scouting, healing, dealing with obstacles, and climbing to pairs within their teams. You’ll have time after this to do that, and then we’ll divvy out equipment as we agreed upon earlier today. Terrim’s team, however, will have a different mission than the rest of the company. Other than leadership tasks, which is what Durik and I will be doing, Terrim and his two companions will have responsibility for our four packdogs. Additionally, they’ve got the responsibility for carrying any casualties we might take along the way. To carry that out, they have Kiria’s riding dog and will be given others as the situation warrants.