Chapter 43: Smashed On a Strong Rock (Shenis)

  "Is today the day of my damnation? Am I doomed to fall by the sword on this field?" Conner Bolden whispers these thoughts in a low volume as he advances with his worn-down men across the field. He can see the front lines now. On the western edge of the open expanse before him, a small band of men moves toward his battle lines with vigor and enthusiasm burning in their eyes. He knows exactly who marches toward him with such haste. His arms feel heavy, as do those of many poorly nourished soldiers in his army. Hunger can forge a man into a better soldier, making him fearless in duty. Yet this level of starvation that grips many of his men saps the power from their bones and wears them down until they become nothing. So they drag on. None in the ranks of the Bruin show any fight in their eyes as the party of Savoy enters the field.

  Conner knows that even with his larger force, his men would suffer devastating casualties if a skirmish breaks out due to their current state. He decides to intimidate the approaching enemy. He also knows that Simon and his party are due from the southern route and could potentially surround the Savoy men quickly, forcing a surrender. All these possibilities collide in the general's mind. He chooses not to let the enemy get close enough for Shenis to see how worn, battered, and exhausted his men truly are. He raises a white flag and signals a soldier to follow him forward to see if the opposing leader, Shenis Savoy, will meet with him in the open field.

  "Is that a white flag?" Fahn asks as she and the others gaze ahead. They can see they're heavily outnumbered, but this comes as no surprise to the men following Lord Shenis. This group forms a ragtag unit of people brought together by life and war. They now march under the banner of the dove as free people who choose to stand in this moment with Lord Shenis. And Lord Shenis is no great warrior or a swordsman of legendary skill. He cannot slice through a hundred men single-handedly, nor does he possess any magical abilities. Nothing about him as a fighter sets him apart, yet these people stand by him.

  "Seems Conner wants to have a conversation. You good to go for that, Shenis?" Dalton asks. He knows that before them, entering the field under a white flag with just one other person at his side, stands the man responsible for sacking his home and slaughtering so many from his childhood—even his family. This man, clad in heavy armor and leading a large force that kicks up dust as they march across the plains. Shenis shakes as the thought consumes him. His fist tightens. He knows he must go and meet his nemesis, but how can he contain himself? He tenses further, his body trembling as his clenched fist pulses for an outlet, for something to crunch in his grip. Then…a hand on his shoulder.

  "My Lord, I am with you. Let us go and meet this bastard." The hand belongs to Highlight. Shenis calms instantly as he reaches up to pat his loyal knight and bodyguard's hand. He makes eye contact with his old friend—the first person to join him on this journey. He nods. Highlight smiles. The two make their way forward from the rest as Highlight fashions a makeshift white flag on his lance.

  "My Love!" Caylor calls as she tries to move forward, but Dalton stops her. "Let me go, I need to be by his side."

  "No you don't, lady." Dalton wraps his arms around her waist as she struggles forward. Misty comes over to console her friend.

  "We don't know what could happen. If you go down there, you both could be in danger. With Highlight, Shenis is safer." Caylor is upset but calms herself as she watches the two men closing in on the spot where they'll speak with Conner. The man of the Bolden clan of Dol stops short of midway between the two forces, giving himself a slight power advantage, but looks back to his ranks to ensure his force's condition isn't readily visible from this distance. He nods in affirmation as he and a quivering soldier stand ready while the men approach. Though under a white flag, Conner remains armed—and so do Shenis and Highlight.

  The distance closes in a few more moments of hanging tension, with both parties keeping their gaze fixed on the other. Steps echo across the plains. They are now within safe distance for proper conversation. Both hold their tongues as they study each other. Shenis looks upon the butcher who slew his family and sacked both Jule and Runsa. He is tall and strong, large in frame with determination burning in his eyes. The general appears confident but not cocky—not the butcher and mindless ape Shenis had expected. He is clean shaven and bald, and has what seems to be concern flickering in his gaze.

  Conner likewise examines this young dove before him. He is nothing like his younger brother was. He could see the youth still in Shenis' eyes, but that youth was cloudy and fading in the light as manhood, responsibility, love and honor had replaced recklessness and dreams of grandeur. Where over a year ago when this all began, war was a simple game for sport and competition to this man among the lords of Wiera, today he knew it was a hell that alters the future and shapes all scopes of life. Conner was impressed. He could see in the young Savoy a wisdom earned through the pangs of life—lessons that don't come cheap and are thus not easily forgotten.

  "I am General Conner Bolden of Dol, servant of House Bruin and its lord Chile Bruin. I am the one who took Runsa several times, and sacked Jule."

  "I am Shenis Savoy, rightful lord of Jule, acting lord of Runsa and ImHolt."

  "Pleasure to meet you in person, lord Savoy." Shenis does not return the courteous remark and offers a lingering silence to fill the air, allowing only the wind's dance upon the grasses to make noise. Conner notices this and seeks to end the hanging silence. "I take it you have hostile thoughts towards me, as is fair." Shenis clenches up and Jai tightens his grip on his lance in reaction to his lord's slight movement.

  "I cannot say that it is a pleasure to meet you." Shenis regains a modicum of sense as he chooses voice over violence. "You slew my brother Hain and perhaps any others in the city who bore my family name."

  "I did. Or at least I gave the order." Shenis is surprised by Conner's quick acknowledgment of these crimes. "And that makes me just as guilty as if I'd swung the very sword or axe myself."

  "So…what is there to discuss?" Shenis furrows his brow as he fights back the impulses and emotions of the youth that still lives in his heart. He is more man now than boy, yet some of the boy still lingers in his soul and seeks to surface at this most inopportune moment. His eyes begin to shake slightly as they threaten to let water flow freely, but his sobriety holds them back.

  "You have fewer men than I do." Conner begins to state his terms. "I wish to pass through Runsa and take my army—both the men here and the men I left in Jule—back to our homeland of Dol."

  "And why should I allow that? So you can reinforce with more brave boys from the massive city and descend upon our plains with even greater aggression than before? Should we just roll over to your desires and let you swallow everything—the major houses, the trade villages on the routes, the minor houses that occupy local family lands barely even spoken of in public circles? Should we just give you the chance to decimate all?" The dove cries with strength in his chest as these truths cut deep. He had seen what fear does to these cities and how it hurts and destroys communities. He had witnessed how the history of families can be so easily ripped from the annals of the future and turned into forgotten mire. He remembered Riserstead and all the other homesteads throughout the lands. Shenis knew he needed to hold his ground now.

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  "I cannot promise what my lord Chile Bruin will desire when I return to him. What I'm asking for is passage for my men who have been too long from their homes. I'll even happily yield Jule to you in the process." Conner offered this up, hoping it would shake the resolve and determination of the young man. He knew that just as his men missed their homes, Shenis missed his halls—halls that were torn asunder during the siege but had since been mostly repaired by Conner's men. The general didn't like forfeiting a prized location and stronghold on the map, but he knew that with his men leaving, he would no longer have the force to control the city. Perhaps this could be the bargaining chip to allow him the chance to deflate the fighting spirit of the youth before him.

  Shenis looks at Jai, his trusted bodyguard, as he considers his response. He knows that Conner has more men. He hears what's being said about regaining Jule without a fight or skirmish. He wouldn't have to risk his life, or the lives of his friends and his wife, whom he can see in the distance being held back by trusted allies. Shenis looks into the eyes of his friend, seeking an answer to the difficult question. Jai's eyes remain strong. Shenis sees this resolve in his friend and finds the strength to reply.

  "There's no passage from here without a toll paid in blood." The young lord sternly replies to the older general. Conner sighs. Though he hadn't put much stock in this ploy, he knew he was still buying precious time for his small band under Simon to get into ambush position and provide a cleaner path to victory on this field. Conner pondered his next words as he sought to keep control of the conversation.

  "You love your people, I hope." Shenis nods. "I love my men. Let us then have a chance to end this whole conflict with the simple swing of our own weapons. Your sword versus my sword. Winner does as he wishes without contest from the other force."

  "You would offer such terms…"

  "I would…"

  "I was not finished, General." Shenis grunts and glares hard at the man standing opposite him. "You are a general of the Bruin, given command of a vast army. I know you are a grand and skilled man of combat with more years under your belt than I have when it comes to war and real fighting. If we stood against one another in combat, I would fall nearly every time."

  Conner smiles. "Nearly... then please, Shenis, why not test fate and see if nearly is here with you today?" The general still seeks to goad the young man into a challenge where he holds a definitive advantage. Though Shenis keeps a cooler head, much to Jai's amazement and joy.

  "No. Nearly is not worth such a risk."

  "Such a risk to your life? Do you not love your people enough to lay down your life for them?"

  "I do—that is why I fight these days. But I cannot allow you so high a chance to escape your punishment for your crimes against Jule." The young lord retorts, then turns and begins walking back to his lines.

  Conner cannot help but nod his head as the young lord, shoulders tense and hands clenched, walks back to his position. Conner finds himself impressed by how this young man—whom he does not see as an equal in combat strength, yet whom the world would view as his better in familial ties and rank—handled the challenge. Conner had expected the rage swelling inside the young man would cloud his judgment and drive him to conflict. Even the bodyguard beside him gripped his lance tightly, expecting a swift strike to follow. But Shenis would not give in to his fury, though tension showed in every step as he returned to his line of men.

  Conner holds his position, then signals his men to advance. He will not forfeit the ground he just crossed and sees this as a chance to further intimidate the men of Savoy—the small band of less than twenty standing against his banded horde. He calls for his squire as the men approach and take position. In the chaos of the forced march and the injuries his men were nursing, he had not gotten a head count of his ranks in quite some time.

  "How do our numbers stand?" he asks the man serving as his war secretary.

  "Standing with us we currently have 148 men including you and I. Ally and Henny remain in Jule with the remaining 60 or so injured men and the medical corps. Simon has an additional sixty men routing to the south, with about 20 of his own troops stationed at Jule as well." Hearing this, Conner knew he still had the numbers—numbers that overwhelmed what Shenis had—but he also knew that disease and fatigue were quickly withering many of the men in his ranks. A few had died on the march across the plains. Most of the men in Conner's service wouldn't be able to handle the smallest of skirmishes, let alone a huge battle. The Bolden general readied his sword as he prayed to Kaya for guidance. He was afraid and nervous of what the future would hold. He figured his best chance, even with the odds in his favor, was to target and slay Lord Shenis quickly and thus break the spirit of those fighting in his lines.

  Conner raises his sword high in the sky. He knows that throughout his campaign he had allowed tyranny and wickedness to become his measure for gaining strength in these lands, even when he had not wished for such things. Yet, he did not regret his actions—only that he regretted how lax he was with his subjugation and his inability to handle the Valtrex forces at Coastal Wharf. "Perhaps this is my punishment for resorting to brutality as I would have in the slums back home. Today I will wager my fate and my life on this battle. Kaya, allow this wretched man the honor of a clean skirmish. Allow me, if I am to fall, for it to be honorable—for though I am a sinner, I wish to purge the evil I have let dwell in my chest. The evil that has led thousands of men and women and children to die at my hands in my time as a commander." Conner prays aloud. His secretary sheds a tear.

  Back at the Savoy line, Shenis moves to a safe distance and lets his emotions pour out. He punches the ground repeatedly while standing behind Highlight and Issachar, using them to shield himself from being seen by the Bruin lines. He slams his fists and rolls on his knees as Caylor rushes in to embrace her man and calm the fury burning in his heart. She understands. The emotional outburst continues in a small torrent, but he regains most of his senses as he rises and kisses his woman before explaining his concerns to his party.

  "We understand, bud." Dalton says, smoking his pipe and paying little mind to the lord's tear-soaked face.

  "No, I need to be more reserved. It's just difficult—I feel so many things flowing through me at once right now. I feel fear for this battle, I feel pride for my house. I feel rage toward that bastard over there who took my home from me. I feel sadness for Hain, Geary, and Lamille and all the others under my protection who have perished. I feel strong and weak. I am undone right now. But I cannot let this drive me toward foolish choices. Am I being foolish, my friends? Should I let them pass through Jai?" He looks to his bodyguard and friend, his oldest companion whom he has spent the most time alongside.

  "This field will be fertilized with their blood." Highlight grips his lance so tight he nearly snaps it in two. The pressure of his gauntlets on the shaft echoes through the group. This somehow brings new resolve to the young lord in the moments ahead.

  "So now that this is settled, we need some general strategy here." Dalton said with a light laugh in his voice as the small band started making preparations for the conflict ahead.

  "MEN OVER THOSE PLAINS LIES RUNSA!" Conner screams with his sword raised high in the air. "BEYOND RUNSA AND THE LONG EXPANSE OF SMALL LODGES AND TRAVELING POSTS LIES DOL!" A loud roar grows over the tired men as Conner paints a picture of warmth and home, of their women and their thighs. Of the crowded but familiar streets. "I HAVE ONE REASON TO MOVE ACROSS THIS FIELD, MY DESIRE TO SEE MY WIFE AGAIN AND SHEATHE MY BLADE WITH HER! STATE YOUR REASON UPON YOUR CHEST! LET IT BE A FIRE IN YOUR BONES! AND THEN FIGHT TO SEE IT DONE!"

  Conner screams these words, followed by a series of howls from his troops as the men smile with their beloved thoughts and the driving forces that keep them moving despite the danger looming across the field. Shenis has always commanded a small force, but he's known for the company he keeps and the odds he's overcome in the past, with his stories becoming whispered legend among the lands. Not grand tales that exaggerate his achievements, but simple sharing of his feats in this war. The men know him—the one who stands between them and Dol.

  Yet on the signal now issued by Conner, they charge with fierce determination. They break from their calm and rested spot with such force that each man kicks up dirt and drives his feet deep into the ground below his boots. To ruin or Dol these unnamed men charge, men of unknown or unimportant families in the eyes of the annals of history charge thundering through the plains.