Night had fallen. Lysander stood in the inn his men had commandeered for his command center. He had planned to be celebrating in city hall by this point. But these damned desert men had put up more of a fight than he had expected. Pitched battles were still occurring in the northern quarter of the city. He had sent messengers out for his men to pull back. It didn’t matter at this point if those fighting in the north slipped out of the city.
Liam Donal sat in a chair across from where Lysander stood over a map of the city, put together hastily from various scouts’ reports. He was nursing his left arm. One of those damn guerillas had managed to attack Liam as he was being escorted to the inn. It had been a suicide mission, but had he succeeded, it would have dealt a blow to the whole campaign. He had been quickly killed, but not before coming far too close to success.
Three men had died defending Liam and the desert man had still scored a hit with his dying breath. These people were very serious. Lysander didn’t like the idea of giving them the night to hunker down, but they had had most of the day. He honestly wasn’t sure what more they could do to secure the center of town. Besides, any time they spent on improving their defenses was time they weren’t sleeping.
And that was fine as far as Lysander was concerned. He had more men, the ability to call in even more reserves, and he could ship in supplies from Kandara if that became necessary. The thought led to another curse from Lysander. He didn’t have the patience for a long siege.
“Calm down, Lysander.”
Lysander looked over to Liam. He hated being told to calm down. If anything, it just stoked his temper more.
“Calm? How can you be calm? You were assaulted and nearly killed!”
“But I survived. And that’s because I kept my wits about me. Getting angry only leads to mistakes.” Like this whole campaign, Liam thought to himself. But that was a thought he dared not express.
“I’m well aware of that, Commander. I’ve survived many a duel in my day.”
“And I’m aware of that,” Liam responded. “But this isn’t a duel. It’s a war. And sometimes, those take time. Which we can afford.”
“Can we? The orders I received made it seem the Emperor wanted swift action. And every day we delay is more time for the rest of the desert men to fortify. That pillar of smoke must be visible for miles!”
“It is,” Liam nodded. His outriders had reported being able to see the column of smoke twenty miles out, even from the ground. He was quite sure it was visible even farther, but that was as far as he had sent his men to patrol. “But from the reports I’ve read of
Dhetheru and Dhe-emok, they are walled cities. And something tells me the ‘City of
Lysander grunted at this. He really wished there had been more intercourse between the Empire and the desert realms. Then, he would have decent intelligence. But Debobat was the only city that men of the Empire regularly visited. Men would pay for that oversight with their lives.
At least, with no need for surprise, he could rely on the griffins to scout the other cities, which would provide some intelligence. Assuming they ever got there. He slammed his fist onto the table. Duels were so much faster. If only….
A thought sprung into Lysander’s mind. “I know how we can end this tomorrow.”
Liam raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. But there was a note of concern just barely peeking through. “And how’s that?”
“I will challenge their leader to single combat tomorrow. If he wins, we leave the city. If I win, they surrender.”
“And get shipped to Osh’riyo for Laris’s questioning? I doubt they’ll agree to that.” Rumors had circulated throughout the ships that Lysander and his men had ridden from Kandara as to what was happening in Laris’s dungeons. Those rumors had passed to the griffin riders and to Liam’s ears.
“And why not? It will save their lives and they may think they can best me. After all, they’ve done this well.”
Liam was unconvinced. But it would end things with a minimum of bloodshed. “Well, you’re certainly welcome to try in the morning. Just remember, if you do fall in battle, it’ll be me who has to explain to the Emperor why the campaign failed.”
Lysander chuckled. “Don’t worry, Liam. The only thing you’ll have to explain is why I don’t deserve to be named Commander myself.”
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