Meta Gods War 3 Read online

  The world suddenly seemed so much smaller. It was like the universe contracted and there was only his family now.

  “Sir,” a voice barked.

  Cam turned as Arter and his sons pushed through the marching men. They stood with their backs straight in glorious new heavy leather armor and saluted him, shields hooked over their right arms, swords at their side.

  “Well, look at you,” Cam said. “You look like a true personal guard.”

  A smile broke across Arter’s lips. “I hope so, sir.”

  “What do you have to report, soldier?”

  “We found the wolves during our training mission,” Arter said. “They’re in an encampment not far from here.”

  “How many?”

  “As far as I can tell, they haven’t gained in number.”

  “That’s good. I need you to assemble my family. Miuri, Key, and Felin. Find them, bring them to me.”

  “Yes, sir.” Arter saluted.

  “And Arter? Send word to the general staff. I want the army down the switchbacks and camping at the base of the mountain by tonight.”

  “I’ll have it done, sir.”

  “You’re dismissed.”

  Arter turned on his heel and marched off, followed by his sons.

  Cam watched him go then climbed back on top of the cart.

  The Mansion’s walls stood tall and thick with millions of years of rock and history. His army swarmed toward the plateau and toward the confrontation that would decide all their fates.

  But for Cam, his entire world was now in this place, in these rock walls, and in the people that lived there.

  He gripped his father’s sword and swore he’d return.

  16

  The war council convened under flickering lamplight.

  Cam sat at the head of a long wooden table. Camp Wardens moved through the dim tent, offering the general staff drinks, moving maps, unfurling documents, and taking away empty mugs. He watched Brice and Theus argue over the proper placement of the heavy infantry, listened to Key needle at a few of her Captains for letting the men pitch their tents too close together, and felt Felin’s eyes rake across the assembled men and women.

  Most of the faces were familiar. He’d picked them himself, chosen from his family and friends. Gwedi and Miuri sat at the opposite end of the table, speaking in low tones to a bearded man named Lagon. Arter loomed over it all, his eyes watchful, his hand resting on the pommel of his Mansion-steel sword.

  Cam brought the gathering to order by standing. He felt all eyes move toward him as he stared back at them. He felt the weight of the moment and the uncertainty of the future hang heavy over his shoulders, but he refused to let it bend him down.

  “Thank you all for coming,” he said.

  “You’re the Head General,” Brice said. “When you order a council, we show up.”

  Cam gave her a half smile. “Thanks all the same.”

  “We need to talk about supplies,” Lagon called out. “These Elves here think we don’t have much grain to last the march.”

  “We’ll worry about that later,” Cam said. “And I’m sure Gwedi and Miuri are right in their assessment.”

  Lagon grunted and leaned back in his chair, crossing his big arms over his burly chest. Miuri winked at him and Gwedi rolled her eyes.

  “We need to discuss troop deployments,” Theus said. “If we hold the heavy infantry on the right flank—”

  Cam raised a hand. “We’ll speak of that later as well, Theus.”

  Theus closed his jaw shut and leaned back in his chair.

  “What are we discussing right now, then, General?” Theus asked.

  Cam took a breath and steadied himself.

  “The wolves are camped nearby, at the base of this ravine.” He reached out and placed a finger on a large map of the area. The others leaned forward to get a better view. “My scouts inform me that their numbers are swelling as more and more wolves move down from the north. For now, though, I believe we’re evenly matched in number, although we aren’t matched in experience.”

  “The heavy infantry can break their backs,” Brice said, pounding a fist on the table.

  “And the light infantry will sweep them aside,” Key said.

  Cam held up a hand again. “I have no doubt,” he said. “But half our army is made up of fresh conscripts, and the other half is exhausted from the first march out.”

  “Not to mention they’re all poorly equipped,” Lagon said. “We barely had enough time to make a spear for every man, let alone give them leathers.”

  “Shields and spears will be enough,” Cam said, “if we can get them to fight in formation.”

  Key snorted. “I doubt that,” she said. “It took the Medlar fighters months to learn how to work together.”

  “We don’t have months,” Cam said. “We have days, at best. Truly, we have more like hours. I doubt the wolves will let us rest and gather strength.”

  “What do you suggest, then?” Theus asked.

  “I want to hit the wolves now,” Cam said. “I want to find them and pick a fight as soon as possible.”

  “Assuming they’ll even take the bait,” Brice said. “You’ll let them pick the ground.”

  “True enough,” Cam said. “And they’ll take the bait.”

  “It’s a risk,” Key said. “We might walk right into a trap.”

  “But we’re fresh now, and the men haven’t had time to get afraid.” Cam shook his head and brushed his fingers over the map. “I don’t propose a full-on battle. I want to take our greenest recruits, put them under your command, Key, and go pick a fight.”

  Key leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “What makes you think that’ll do anything more than get a bunch of people killed?”

  “They need to learn,” Cam said. “And you’re the best teacher I know. But you’ll have to accelerate your course.”

  “So you suggest some practical experience.”

  “Exactly.” Cam stood up straight. “We’ll pick a fight with the wolves and chip away at their numbers. If we can maneuver the army around their flank and take up a position here, to the north of the valley, then we can cut them off from reinforcements.” Cam jabbed a finger at the map.

  “That’d leave a clear path to the Mansion,” Miuri said, leaning forward with a frown.

  “I agree,” Cam said. “Which is where your father comes in.”

  “My father doesn’t have the numbers to hold against the wolves.”

  “Not in open combat. But up those switchbacks? I think your father could slaughter a few thousand wolves before they got close to being overrun.”

  “And then what?” Gwedi asked. “You want to just sacrifice my people?”

  “Not at all,” Cam said. “He’d fight a retreat back to the Mansion and close its doors. The wolves won’t be able to break in fast enough. I’d bring the army up their rear and smash them against the gates.”

  Gwedi tapped her finger against her jaw. “I can see how it might work. But you’re putting a lot of the risk on my people.”

  “Your people are more experienced than mine,” Cam said. “I think they can handle it. But I can offer you a brigade of armored fighters if they need help.”

  Gwedi snorted and waved that away. “Don’t insult me.”

  “Good.” Cam grinned at her. “I had a feeling you’d see things my way.”

  She grinned back and shook her red hair. “I’ll see what my Lord has to say about this,” she said.

  “I have a feeling my father will agree,” Miuri said. “It’s a good idea, Cam.”

  “There’s a lot that’s uncertain,” Cam said. “Getting around the wolves will take more than a few pitched battles, assuming they even let us.”

  “That’s where I come in,” Key said.

  “Exactly. You’re going to lead the charge and kill as many of them as you can. Make them think we’re being aggressive, when really we’re trying to cut them off.”

 
“Then we’ll meet the Elves in the middle,” Key said.

  “Right.” Cam took a deep breath. “It’s a risky strategy, I know. But I’m banking on a few things.”

  “Which are?” Theus asked.

  “The wolves are desperate,” Cam said. “They thought they’d come into our valley and sweep over us like we were nothing. But I destroyed their plans when I freed the army, and now they’re reeling from that blow. I think they’re desperate to finish this as fast as they can, and if I present them with an open path to the Mansion, they’ll take it.”

  He watched the faces around the table. Some of the older Generals frowned at each other, and Cam could only imagine what they were thinking. But more than a few looked back at him with real interest, like they were sizing him up and liked what they found.

  “It’s a solid strategy,” Brice said, nodding her head. “I think it just might work.”

  “We’ll have a long road ahead of us,” Cam said. “But I believe there’s a way out of this if we work together.”

  “And only if we work together,” Miuri said.

  Cam noticed several of the older Generals give her sharp uncertain looks.

  “It begins tomorrow,” Cam said. “We make our stand here. There’s no other choice. We fight or we die, and either way we die. So we might as well take as many of those bastards down with us in the end, and maybe even send them home with their tails shoved down their throats.”

  A few laughs echoed out. Cam clasped his hands behind his back.

  “Lagon,” he said, “come to me after this and we’ll discuss the supply issues. I can request more from Galla if necessary. There are some perks to being married to the Lord of the Mansion.”

  More laughter, though Cam noted some subdued faces. He hoped Felin noticed as well.

  “For now, though,” Cam said and released his hands from behind his back. He leaned forward on the table, looming over the map. “It’s time we talked details. We have an army that’s half-bruised and half-green, and we can use any ideas to help shore up our strengths before the wolves find all the cracks in our armor.”

  The table broke out into discussion and Cam let it wash over him. Brice gave him a smile and a subtle but approving nod, and Key fell into conversation with Theus about the best battle tactics to use against wolves.

  This wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t what he imagined leading an army would be. He had enemies at this table, he knew, and enemies waiting nearby. Any one of them could finish him and doom the whole Mansion to ruin.

  And yet he felt more alive and in charge of himself than he ever had before.

  He only hoped that feeling could get them through the nightmares ahead.

  17

  The forest swayed around Cam. Trees shivered in the wind. He could smell fresh pine and dirt. His boots cracked over dead twigs as he walked at the head of his guard formation. Arter stood close to his shoulder and Janter stood on Cam’s other side.

  Key led a formation of light infantry ahead of them. Five hundred men in leathers and shields marched through the forest. It sounded like a hive of bees buzzing in a winter cavern.

  They moved down a slight slope toward the bottom of the valley.

  The forest continued to rustle. Wind blew loose hair from Cam’s head. He tried to tuck it back but the wind pulled it loose a second time. His hand gripped his pommel and his nerves skittered along his arms and legs.

  Key called a halt up ahead. The trees thinned into a rocky expanse that rolled toward a wide, shallow stream. Beyond the stream, arrayed in loose ranks, wolves stalked from between the stones and bushes. Cam halted his formation and kept the high ground as Key began her march again. She brought her men to within twenty yards of the stream and stopped.

  “Will they fight?” Arter asked. His voice was tense and soft.

  “I don’t know,” Cam said.

  “How many do you reckon?” Janter asked.

  “Shut up,” Vorn said. “You can’t just ask the General questions, you know.”

  Janter bristled and bumped shoulders with his twin brother. “I can too. Dad just did it.”

  “Dad’s the Captain,” Vorn said. “Shut your face up.”

  “But it’s just Cam,” Janter said.

  “Boys,” Arter barked. “Shut your damn mouths.”

  Cam smiled a little. He felt like he was back in the Medlar village again. Janter and Vorn were inseparable back in those days. Cam couldn’t remember a time when he saw either one alone, even though they were constantly at each other’s throats.

  “I’d guess six hundred,” Cam said. “Maybe more. I can’t be sure.”

  “I think you’re right,” Arter said. “Even numbers.”

  “But they’re on the other side of the stream,” Cam said. “And I know Key won’t cross it.”

  “Just wait and see.”

  The wolves stalked forward. They didn’t move like a Human army. Their numbers were jumbled and uneven, stalking in small groups of three or four. Cam guessed those were something like miniature packs, or little squads within the greater host of their army. The wolves had to have some way of organizing, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to fight effectively at all.

  But Cam knew they could fight. He’d seen it himself.

  The wolves continued to approach. Key’s men fell into a tight shield wall and waited. They looked like an iron and wood turtle halfway out of its shell. Cam felt his own hands tremble as he watched the wolves continue to come forward, not slowing down, not showing any sign of hesitating.

  “They’re still coming,” Janter said.

  “What are they gonna do?” Vorn asked. “That stream’s ten feet wide.”

  “Maybe they don’t mind getting wet.”

  “It’s cold,” Janter said. “They don’t want to fight soaked through.”

  “Boys,” Arter said. “If I have to tell you again, I swear I’ll send you both down there.”

  “Yes, Father,” the twins said in unison.

  Cam tried to keep the smile from his face and failed.

  Down on the field, Key’s men lowered their spears. He could hear Key shouting orders and saw her blond hair blow in the wind as she marched within the formation behind the third line. Her voice barely made it to his ears, and he couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was clear enough: steady, steady, steady.

  The wolves kept coming.

  “My god,” Arter whispered. “They’re not slowing.”

  “They’re going faster,” Cam said. “They’re charging. But right into a stream?”

  Key’s men braced themselves. Cam could see their uncertainty.

  The lead wolves made it to the stream bank. Cam expected them to plunge into the water and stomp across, getting their legs and underbellies soaked in the process.

  Instead, they jumped.

  “Holy shit!” Janter said. Cam felt the men around him bristle.

  The wolves flung themselves into the air. Their long, lean bodies hurtled over the stream, seeming to hang in the air before smashing back down to earth at the far bank.

  Each wolf jumped. Some landed short and had to scramble up the far side, but the vast majority made it with ease. Cam watched Key’s men take a few steps back.

  “Push forward!” Cam shouted. He took a few steps toward the host down below. “Push forward!” He saw Key running up and down the lines, screaming something indecipherable.

  But her men continued to back off as the wolves landed and gained their footing.

  If they rushed the wolves and charged as they tried to land, they’d be able to take the bank and slaughter the wolves. But instead, they hesitated.

  The wolves roared forward.

  “Fucking Urspirit help us,” Janter said.

  “Shut up,” Arter barked.

  Cam watched as the first wave of wolves smashed into Key’s men. The line buckled, but it didn’t break. The wolves jabbered and snapped their jaws over shields and spears. Screams echoed through the valley. Men impaled wo
lves, tossed limp bodies down to the ground. More came and the corpses began to pile up.

  Some men fell. Cam watched them topple, get dragged out from the line, get torn to shreds. The men in the back stepped up to fill the gaps. More and more men were torn to pieces, and Cam watched in horror as the column began to move backwards.

  More wolves threw themselves across the gap as their comrades won them space.

  “They’re going to get overrun,” Cam said. “Her lines aren’t long enough. She didn’t expect them to jump.”

  “What can we do?” Arter asked.

  Key ran along her lines and Cam watched as the rear men began to push forward. The front lines fell, one after the other, and the reserves were forced into the fighting. Key stretched her wall out as wide as she could but the wolves fought for the right flank and were beginning to slip around the formation’s side.

  “We have to go help,” Cam said.

  “There are only fifty of us,” Arter said. “What use will we be?”

  “I’m not letting them die down there.” Cam started forward.

  Arter grabbed his arm. Cam whirled around and stared at his Guard Captain in the eye. His nostrils flared in anger and his hand gripped the pommel of his sword so hard he thought he might break the metal.

  “Release me,” Cam said.

  “You can’t go,” Arter said. “We don’t need to die here. This is just one battle.”

  “Key’s down there,” Cam said.

  “And she knows what she’s gotten herself into.”

  Cam wrenched his arm free and turned toward the battle. “Stay if you wish,” he said. “But I won’t leave her to die.”

  He ran forward. The wind blew the stink of dying wolf and excrement into his face. He held his sword steady as he dodged trees and bushes and moved past the loose ranks. The sounds of fighting got louder, a din of slashing blades and snapping jaws. He couldn’t see the full picture of the battle as he got closer, but he could taste the fear and blood in the air.

  His Guard charged after him.

  Cam pulled his sword as he got close to the wolves fighting for Key’s right flank. He summoned his flames and gathered as many as he could in a ring of ash and death. He swirled it about his sword and kept it churning along the blade. As he reached the beasts, he unleashed everything he had and let it burn through them in a wide arc.