Chapter 15: 15. Preparing for War

Preparing For War

General Ajani didn't look quite so tense as he had the first time Keir had met him. The tall man looked like he hadn't had a good nights sleep in ages, but he didn't look like a man facing execution anymore. He did look rather curious about the four Lleial soldiers and the two ghostly soldiers who were standing ramrod straight beside the door, yet he didn't say anything.

“Mage Keira, it's good to see you on your feet. I was told it was touch and go for a few hours,” the general said.

“Your healers are quite good at their work. I'd like to avoid any fighting as strenuous as the last battle for a week or two, but I'm ready to do my part to defeat the demons,” Keir replied.

“Have you had lunch?”

“I had a little to eat with the Lleial elders while we discussed potential plans and strategies, but wouldn't say no to a light meal.”

General Ajani paused at the mention of the Lleial elders. “Lieutenant Labardi, tell the kitchen we need something light for lunch, including Mage Keira's associates.”

“Yes, sir,” the one armed officer said.

Opening the door to his office, General Ajani motioned for Kier to enter. “Your associates can wait out here, my aide will make sure they get what they need.”

“Of course,” he said, eyeing his bodyguards to see if they'd try to follow him. The four just stayed where they were, motionless as statues. He nodded and gave them a small smile for their professionalism.

Stepping into the office, he took a seat across from the general. Papers, most of them written in sloppy handwriting, with what looked like charcoal rather than ink, were piled high on the desk. It looked like they were in several different languages, which would make going through them a hellish venture.

“I need to thank you for your assistance in the battle. If it wasn't for you we would have been overrun,” General Ajani said.

He nodded, accepting the thanks. “I'm not used to fighting in the front-lines like that, but I'm glad I could be service. Hopefully next time it won't be quite such a near thing.”

“I hope so as well, which is why I'm meeting you now. I need to know what you can do to help us survive, so we have a proper plan when they hit us again.”

Keir allowed himself a genuine smile. He loved working with professionals. “I'm told we should be free of any large scale attacks over the winter, but come spring we'll be facing several hundred thousand demons. Is that accurate?”

“Yes, that's how they fight. Five years ago when the demons first attacked the South through the Dar Isthmus, they were pushed back by a new type of fire weapon. It clung to their skin and couldn't be extinguished. We held them there for two years, then they came in the millions, by land, sea and air. They used their flying demons to cut off supplies to the isthmus. When we were weak from hunger, they attacked with a new type of demon that was covered in a thick slime. The fire couldn't burn them, and they spit the same slime to extinguish the fires before they could kill more than a handful of demons. The South is now wiped clean of humans. They'll do the same here.”

“If the situation is so hopeless, why are you here?” Keir asked.

The man laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laugh. “Because I'm too stubborn to die without taking as many of them with me as possible. I came north to discuss strategies and trade for new weapons that could help Khabir survive. Then I learned my family was killed and Dhahabi, the last coastal city was in ruins. With no way to return home, I offered my services to whoever would have me. I helped hold the demons back for six months at the Bijel River. Defended the survivors of Bogat as they fled into the Sal Mountains, then marched back into the hell of the Zelena Forests. Somehow, I eventually ended up here, with nowhere else to go.”

Placing his elbows on the desk, Keir leaned forward looking the general in the eyes. “I need to know, are you willing to fight to survive, or are you simply fighting to die honourably surrounded by a mountain of dead?”

“My death is a foregone conclusion,” the man said, his voice low, “but I'll fight to my last breath to give the people under me a chance to survive. Tell me what you can do, and if it seems like there is even a chance of success I swear to Nynner the Shield Bearer, to support you with all my power.”

“Good enough. First we need to go to Kodor. The ruins will have supplies we need, and there are some items there I need to retrieve.”

“I've been wanting to go there for the last three months, it's not that easy. Scouts say its crawling with demons.”

“Give me two weeks and we'll have a true army of the dead ready to defend the pass, as well as another army of ghosts and banshees to travel with us.”

The general nodded. “Very well, I'll start preparing soldiers, carts and horses for the expedition. We'll leave when you have the undead forces ready. Now what do you think we can do about the demons that will be coming to kill us all?”

“We need to give them more targets, keep them dispersed, hit them while they're in small numbers. With the bodies we're sure to find in Kodor, I'll create raiding groups. I can link a hundred or so skeletons and zombies to a semi-intelligent ghost. The ghost will scout for demons, lead the dead to them and guide them in the fight. If they need to, the ghosts can call to each other joining their dead into a large group until they have enough to destroy the demons. I used to do something like it in areas that were far from most villages and towns, where I needed to keep control but didn't want to use living soldiers.”

“If you spread them out far enough the demons won't be as focused on this area. I like it.” The general tapped his fingers on the desk, before asking, “Could you create some ghosts or fast moving dead that will follow my scouts?”

“Of course,” Keir said. “They work best with someone living to lead them.”

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“I know there are refugees hiding in the hills and forest in the region. Small groups that keep moving can usually avoid the demons for at least a few months. Some of our scouts got in touch with a few of these groups before the demons cut us off. I'd like to bring as many of them here as possible, we need the workers and soldiers.”

“We're on the same page, general. I was going to recommend the same thing. If you have the scouts ready we can send them off tomorrow morning.”

“I'll have thirty scouts ready at dawn. The sooner we get the refugees here the better. When can you start creating dead in large numbers?”

Keir considered the question carefully. He needed to push himself not only to survive the demons, but to strengthen his position. Leaving himself exhausted however, would lead to him making a mistake, and that would ultimately get him killed. “I can raise five hundred skeletons and zombies tomorrow, and five hundred everyday after as long as I have the material. But I'll mix in several dozen flesh golems, ghouls, ghosts, banshee's, and spectral warriors when I raise them.”

“What can the ghouls, banshees and spectral warriors do? I've read about your campaigns, but I focused on the movements and logistics, not the dead you created. I didn't think I'd ever see them, much less use them in battle,” the general said, giving him a bemused smile.

“Ghouls are improved zombies. They're smarter, faster and stronger than the typical dead. I typically used them to guide zombies and skeletons into situations where sending a human would be suicidal or a waste of resources. Banshees are much like ghosts, able to fly and generally intangible. But they can create a shriek that stuns an enemy from several yards away. If they work together or use all of their magical energy they can shatter stone. The spectral warriors are ghosts as well, but they're attached to something physical, usually a weapon and armour. They don't use as much energy to fight as ghosts do, so they last longer,” he explained. If General Ajani had been a mage, he would have gone into detail about the different magical weaves, how ghosts used a large amount of energy to become solid, and other details, but for now it was best to keep things simple.

“We have an armoury full of old weapons and armour that are outdated. We're using some of them but most are too worn out to use. Would they work for your spectral soldiers?”

“Perfectly,” he said, grinning savagely. “The magic will make them usable again, and the spectres will do any maintenance necessary after they're created. If they've been used in the past they'll be even better. The ghosts will take some of the energy from the weapons, using it to form an ideal body. It's how I created my dread knights. Armour and barding that was too badly damaged to reuse, formed the base of the spectre. Most were simply more skilled than regular ghosts, but a few seemed to pick up the emotions and mannerism of the former owners.”

The general wrote some notes on a clean piece of paper. “I'll have a work crew go through the old armoury and storage rooms, and start cleaning them out. I don't think we have much barding, would old saddles and tack work for creating spectral cavalry?”

“It will.”

“With your dead, I can finally start properly training the soldiers I have. By the time spring is here, we'll have something capable of at least hurting the demons.”

“Hurting the demons isn't enough for me,” Keir said. “I've learned that merely hurting the enemy isn't good enough. They have to be crushed so they can never attack again.”

General Ajani took a crystal bottle full of an amber liquid and two small glasses. Filling the glasses he placed one of them in front of Keir. “This is one of the last surviving bottles of rum from the Alsukar region, the finest you'll ever have. I think it's appropriate I share it with you. It's been years since anyone has talked like you, hurting the demons has been the best most of us can hope for.”

Taking the glass, Keir sniffed it, getting a pleasant smoky, caramel aroma from it. If the customs of the South hadn't changed in three hundred years, he needed to say something special. “Thank you, Ajani. This won't be the last rum Alsukar makes, we'll take the land back and send all the demons straight to hell while doing it.”

They tapped the glasses on the table, and took a sip. The flavour was exquisite and smooth. The alcohol made him feel lightheaded.

“This is very good,” he said.

“The best. Do you have any other ideas?” Ajani asked.

“Not off hand. We'll need to see what supplies we can get from Kodor, what we have to work with in general, and how the men handle working with the dead. I'm sure we'll both think of things we can be doing in the next few weeks. But I need something from you.”

Ajani raised his eyebrow in question.

“I'm starting a school for necromancers. I have eight students and one teacher. Starting tomorrow at dawn, I need to make sure they have a breakfast and supper. A few other supplies like paper, pens, tables and benches would be helpful.”

“I'll make sure you have them. Do you want a stove, clothes or anything else? It's going to get cold soon.”

“No. I'll give them robes. As they learn magic they'll learn how to keep themselves warm or freeze.”

The general nodded, sipping his drink. “About going to Kodor, you said there were items you needed to retrieve, what are they?”

“My research notes,” Keir answered. “Kodor was where I did much of my research that most people would have frowned upon. If I can get them, I'll save myself weeks or months of research to create some truly interesting weapons of war.”

“It's been three hundred years, and the Eldritch Council has spent the entire time collecting and destroying your notes and research. How do you know they're still there?”

Keir grinned. “Because if they'd discovered my lab and read my notes, they would have destroyed my Heart.”

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