Tactical Meetings

A few days after the Alasta army marches out of Uthgraal, "Prince" Tallus, Crown Prince Kanus, and all the other major commanders in the army are in a large tent, where the most important of them are leaning over a table with a map, while the rest, like Tallus, are squished to the side.

The place nearest the door is, after all, where you go when your presence, not participation, is required.

The main general – a young-looking 2nd gate mage named Baalri, addresses the crowd with a grim look on his face. "Well, we all thought this next battle was going to be easy, but some of our spies sent us news. Kaalhyme is leading the Alsa'ree army."

"D*mn it!" one of the dukes slams his fist on the table. "They must have switched out the generals secretly."

Another duke next to him calmly adds, "There's no use turning back now. We've already set out, and if we don't score a victory, the king's going to lose a lot of support from the smaller nobles, and we'll lose nearly half our army.

Of course, the generals and officers here have good reason to be afraid of Kaalhyme. Out of all the enemy generals, Kaalhyme is by far the most cunning. Despite the kingdom outnumbering the barbarians at every turn, Kaalhyme has a reputation among the Alasta men for turning every battle he touches into a defeat for Alasta.

And… while all this important tactical discussion is going on, Tallus' mind is wandering in a completely unrelated direction.

'I heard that brother found out about Haalfrin. Does he think Haalfrin is with me? Is he going to think that I have some secret supporters, now that I have a mage in my camp?'

Tallus is right to be worried about this, since the moment his brother thinks of him as a threat, he'll take more serious measures to get rid of him.

'Oh, I wish Haalfrin would just find some excuse to leave my camp. I can't afford to have brother misunderstand anything!'

Tallus is so wrapped up in his pessimistic thoughts that he completely misses the rest of the briefing.

Once the meeting is dismissed by General Baalri, he says, "I have letters in a box at the front of the tent. The letters are in alphabetical order, and they have all of your assignments written on them.

Tallus barely even bothers to find his assignment and read it… Sure enough, when he opens it up, he learns he's being sent to the front line again.

… Surprise, surprise…

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All the way over the mountains, further up the northern roads, there is another war tent with its own circle of captains, tacticians, and generals huddled inside. Unlike the Alasta dukes, barons, and knights, the men here all wear open-chested clothing and long beards; if it had a colder time of year, they'd all be dressed in animal pelts.

The man at the head of the table is a little shorter, scrawnier, and younger than the other clan chiefs here, but since he's the only 2nd gate mage in the room, he's by far the oldest one present. Most notable of all, however, is his clean-shaven face, which stands out in a room full of buff men with bushy beards.

"You have your orders!" the young man says sternly, "Carry them out."

"But General Kaalhyme!" one of the older-looking chiefs refuted. "You can't be serious! What about your own safety?"

"I told you that we don't have enough people to have a score of mages guarding me during the battle; we need all the help we can get in the front lines, or else those southern b*stards will overwhelm us."

"Listen," Kaalhyme says as he points his finger at a spot on the map, "I'm going to put my tent here, on this cliff face, where I can see the battle clearly and give orders."

"But... You'll be vulnerable up there!" the same chief protests.

"I know it's a calculated risk… but to make you feel better, I'll keep 3 mages with me. Besides, you already know that I'm a 2nd gate mage myself. I'll be able to handle myself well enough."

One of the chiefs who had kept quiet the whole meeting speaks up, "I know the Alasta generals are after your head, Kaalhyme. If they know you're up on the cliff, removed from the rest of your army, they'll do anything they can to take you out. If you're so isolated, they'll be able to corner you and kill you."

Kaalhyme leans forward and considers this for a moment. "If they send men to climb up the cliff to kill me, they'll be easy pickings for our archers up top. If they send a large batch of troops around the cliff up the slopes, the journey will take too long, and we'd have won the battle by then. If they send some elite mages after me… I'll just have to trust my own skills…"

There's a moment of silence. "Oh, don't give me that worried look," the general assures them, "I'm a 2nd gate mage, so I can handle most of what they send at me."

Seeing that his men are still unhappy with his lack of protection, Kaalhyme rubs his nose in embarrassment, "I'm flattered that you all care about me so much…, but really? War is dangerous for everyone. Yeah, they might send mages too powerful for me, but we don't have enough soldiers to be picky. Now move out! We have to get to the battlefield ahead of the enemy!"

The chiefs all finally give up on convincing their general, so they all scoot out of the tent and go back to portions of the army to move them out.

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Soon after the Alasta army moves out, Haalfrin is called back to Prince Tallus' tent and updated on how the next battle is supposed to go – how they were going to intercept the North Clans' armies before they reach the safety of the mountains.

(What nobody in the kingdom's army knows is that General Kaalhyme had delayed his own army's march so that they'd run into each other on a battlefield of his own choosing. Plus, if he lets the Alasta army march quickly, thinking they're going to intercept him, he can just let his men sit, rest, and be in their best shape when the two armies meet.)

So, after several weeks spent marching all day and sleeping all night, and only stopping briefly to rest, all the soldiers are tired and worn out… but they're still pushed faster and faster by their officers, as they don't want to let the barbarians "get away" to safe ground.

Naturally, this backfires when the barbarians suddenly stop in their tracks once the Alasta army is nearly upon them. General Baalri thought the Alsa'ree were desperate to get to their fortress, so he was pushing his men very hard to catch up to them.

...Instead, his army marches into the clearing next to Gahl cliff, and the Alsa'ree are there, waiting for him. While his men are worn out, the barbarians are well rested and waiting in formation.

It's now that the battle ensues.