Chapter 15
The next morning was beautiful. It seemed a harbinger of good things to come. A bright orange glow traveled across the horizon as the sun rose steadily and slowly. While the sun rose, battle formations were being assembled. All two thousand Vechengschaft were mounted on horses. This was a drain on Dachwaldian resources but had been considered necessary by General Sivingdon. “Speed is essential!” he had repeated over and over the prior night. However, not all two thousand were cavalry. All Vechengschaft were given some training in riding and fighting on horseback, but of the two thousand soldiers gathered for this manhunt, only a thousand were true cavalry. The others were longbowmen, halberdiers, and other men-at-arms. The plan was for these troops to divide up into five groups of four hundred men each. Sivingdon named the groups Company A, Company B, Company C, Company D, and Company E. Company A was to go all the way to the extreme southwest of Dachwald; Company B, south-southwest; Company C, directly south; Company D, south-southeast; and Company E, to the extreme southeastern border between Dachwald and Sodorf.
Each company had expert trackers. Sivingdon hoped they would be able to find some tracks in the fertile regions of the south. If they rode fast, they’d make it to the southern farms within a day or two, and if they rode even faster they just might make it to the border in that amount of time. Sivingdon couldn’t help but think it was at the very least slightly suspicious that apparently all the damage had been done in the south and Dachwald’s longtime enemy, Sodorf, just happened to be directly south.
As the companies spread out across the vast southern countryside of Dachwald, they were appalled by what they saw. Destroyed crops everywhere, looking like the aftermath of a surprise visit from a hundred thousand locusts, even though no one had seen any large swarms of insects. Women crying. Children too, but mostly because Mommy was upset. If they had the understanding Mommy had about the situation, their tears would have been all the more bitter. Men trying to salvage what precious little remained of their crops, mostly to no avail. They weren’t crying. But their faces showed the situation was taking its toll.
Don’t worry. We’ll avenge you, General Sivingdon thought.
Some people cheered when they saw the Vechengschaft come marching through. Most of the southern Dachwaldians had never seen the Vechengschaft. They’d read stories, of course, but never seen them in person.
“LONG LIVE THE VECHENGSCHAFT!!” the hapless farmers cheered as the heavily armored soldiers plodded along by them. They had very little hope left, but they were pinning what little remained onto these armor-clad supermen.
“Get the BASTARDS!!” an old woman yelled out. “They’ve ruined everything; I don’t know what I’m going to eat!”
One of the Vechengschaft halberdiers turned, faced the woman. “Don’t worry, ma’am, we will. We damn sure will.”
Sivingdon simply couldn’t believe the devastation. Never in his life had he seen destruction on such a scale. He was traveling with Company B, going south-southwest. He expected any minute to come across an enemy force and was strongly looking forward to spilling blood and releasing the full fury of his anger onto this enemy, who he was now becoming more and more certain had to be the Sodorfians. The damn Sodorfians.
(please let it be the Sodorfians, please!)
No enemy sightings.
However, reports did begin to trickle in about supposed tracks that had been found leading from some of the farms and heading south into Sodorf. When these reports reached Sivingdon, his already burning temper began to reach its boiling point.
“How far did you follow these tracks, and how many men does it appear we might be dealing with?”
“Sir,” replied Efenktor, the head tracker, “all of the trackers I’ve spoken with report they followed these tracks to the very border between Sodorf and Dachwald. Our laws forbid us from entering Sodorf, but I’m sure if I were allowed to cross the border I could most certainly trace these tracks to their source and lead our forces to them. Based upon the tracks, it looks like this vandalism was the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. This is an act of war.
“However, for us to cross Sodorf, not only would you have to authorize it, but King Duchenwald and at least one-half of the senate would also have to approve. It’ll take several days for a messenger to ride back to Castle Dachwald with a message from you requesting to cross the Sodorfian border . . . that is, assuming you do want the trackers to cross. Once your message gets to Castle Dachwald, it would take a while before they approve such a measure . . . if they approve it at all. And then, of course, the message will have to be brought back to us by horseback. This could all take a week or more. If it rains between then and now, all hope of tracing these tracks back to their source will be lost.”
Sivingdon thought these words over carefully. He knew asking the senate and King Duchenwald to permit his troops to cross the Sodorfian-Dachwaldian border would be tantamount to asking for a declaration of war.
“Efenktor, find your swiftest messenger. I want him to go to Castle Dachwald as swiftly as possible and ask not only for permission to cross the border, but to also engage any enemy combatants we come across.”
Efenktor’s face turned slightly pale.
“General, this probably won’t sit well with the senate. We haven’t been at war in 830 years; the feeling amongst the senate is very pacifistic; they’ll nev—”
“Do as your told!” Sivingdon responded gruffly. He didn’t need to be reminded of just how lousy the senate was when it came to getting anything accomplished. He knew. He knew all too damn well.
“I’m all too aware of their pacifistic sentiments. They make me sick! But we must try to get their approval!”
And having said that, he dismounted and removed a piece of paper from his saddlebag. He began writing the message, and once completed he put his seal on it.
“Go now. I want you to deliver this personally to King Duchenwald. You’re one of the fastest messengers I have, and not only that—you’ve seen with your own two eyes the damage and the tracks leading from the southern farms into Sodorf. Be sure to mention to them that all the way from the far eastern borders to the far western borders there are tracks heading southward into Sodorf.”
“Yes, sir,” Efenktor responded without argument. General Sivingdon had a reputation for going beyond words if forced to give a second reprimand.
Efenktor took the sealed message and got on a large black horse. He dug his spurs into its sides and took off at a full gallop towards Castle Dachwald.