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THE ZEEVAN CONFLICT

by Rex Fenris

Chapter 4: The Tides of War

Kain hated the ocean. It was too big, too unpredictable, and too mysterious. He hated the way the ship rose and sank and swayed side to side as it lumbered over the waves. He hated being at the mercy of something as capricious as the winds. He hated the close quarters, the food, and just about everything else about life on a naval vessel. But what he hated most of all was not knowing why he was stuck on this ship, sailing back home after two years of being away from the political turmoil back in Zev.

The large, imposing wolf stood at the bow of the ship. To his left the sun hung just over the horizon. Soon it would be evening, and time to retire for the night. He held a single piece of paper firmly in his paws, lest it be taken by the strong wind blowing at his back.

This simple document was the reason he was on this ship, the reason he was pulled away from his duties protecting the king's new colonies. He looked over it once again.

Lord Kain d'Vaetrek of Red Moon,

You are hereby commanded to return to Aedon, capital city of the

great Kingdom of Zev, by order of his royal majesty King Mathis

Tylemar. You are to depart immediately on the vessel of the King's

Navy which delivers this letter to you. Time is of the essence.

The kingdom urgently requires your services.

You are to return with all of your men and equipment. Replacement

soldiers have been sent and should arrive a few days after your

departure. In the meantime, Count Caladine's men will be able to

look after the colonists on their own.

May Father guide your journey.

The letter bore the seal of the royal court of Zev. What could have happened to cause the King to call him back home so urgently? Had open hostilities between East and West started up again? It was the only explanation that made any sense to Kain. The King must have needed him back home to fight off the armies of Duke Kelwren again. But what if it was something else? Kain sighed, frustrated, and held up the letter again, but was interrupted before he could start reading.

"Hoping to divine some hidden message from the letter, my lord?" came a familiar voice from behind the wolf. Kain turned to see the battle-scarred fox who was his captain, the master-at-arms of his house, and above all else, his closest friend. "Reading that again won't help you make sense of it."

The wolf shook his head, folded the letter, and stuffed it into his tunic. "I know, Zydrik. There's just nothing else for me to do on this damn boat, so here I am," Kain said as he turned back to face the vastness of open sea that lay ahead of the ship. He heard Zydrik walk up and stand beside him. "How are the men?" Kain asked.

"In good spirits. Two years is a long time to spend away from their families. They're excited to go back home."

"And the horses?"

"I don't think they're too fond of the ocean, but they're fine."

"And the equipment?"

"The captain said all of the gear was slowing us down, so we tossed it overboard."

"And the-wait. What?"

Zydrik laughed and clapped Kain on the back. "Everything is fine, Kain. Just try to relax and take your mind off of all of this political nonsense you dwell on all the time. I know how much you hate not knowing what's going on, but sometimes you're forced to go in blind. We've been out to sea for one day and you already look about ready to jump into the water to push the boat along faster. You should find something to occupy your time. Like fishing."

Kain glared at the fox, but the wide grin on the fox's scarred muzzle soon had the wolf laughing as well. "Maybe I should just tie a rope around you and toss you overboard to see what we can catch. I've never had shark before, I hear it's quite delicious."

"I'll make you a deal, we'll spar for it and the loser gets to be the bait," Zydrik said with a smirk. Kain just rolled his eyes. Zydrik was, to Kain's knowledge, the best swordsman alive. Despite nearly fifteen years under the fox's tutelage, Kain had never even come close to matching the fox's skill with a blade. Whatever Zydrik lacked in refinement, he made up for with his unmatched skill and unquestionable loyalty.

Kain's mood didn't stay light for long. His thoughts inevitably returned to the mystery at hand, so he forced himself to think of something else. "I wonder what we've missed in two years. I can't figure out whether I'm excited about returning home, or dreading it."

Zydrik shrugged. "I couldn't care less. Here, there, what does it matter? So long as I have something to keep me busy and a few pretty vixens to keep the bed warm at night."

"I suppose I know where your priorities are. Sooner or later you're going to have to pick one to settle down with."

The fox laughed and shook his head. "Are you kidding? The last thing I need is to settle down with some female and watch her hips swell. Then I'll have two people nagging at me. I'll leave the marriage to you nobles."

"Have you forgotten already? You're a member of the gentry now, Sir Anteran." Kain emphasized the honorific, mostly because he knew how much it irritated Zydrik. "You're expected to settle down and marry just like I am."

The fox grumbled and spat over the side of the boat. "Don't remind me. That's the reason we're out here in the first place, remember?"

"Do you think the king is still mad at you?" Kain asked.

"Count on it. He's part of the old aristocracy, they aren't known for having short memories." With that, Zydrik turned, and began walking away.

"Is there some reason you came up here?" Kain called out after him.

"Yeah, the captain said dinner's in five minutes," Zydrik called out over his shoulder.

"But you've been up here for almost five minutes already!"

"I guess you'd better hurry up then!"

Kain grumbled, shook his head, and set off after the fox.

Dinner was served in the captain's private quarters. A small table with a white tablecloth had been placed in the center of the room, surrounded by four simple wooden chairs. Four places were set around the table with fine silver utensils.

The captain and his first mate, both otters, rose from their seats as Kain and Zydrik came through the door. Both wore the elegant dark blue uniforms of the Royal Navy. The captain, probably in his thirties, had a youthful gleam in his eyes as he approached the two, bowing first to the wolf, and then to the fox.

"Lord d'Vaetrek, Sir Anteran, I'm so pleased I could trouble you to join me for dinner this evening. I'm afraid during the frantic rush to get you and your men aboard I never had the chance to properly introduce myself. I am Captain Oran Leomaris, and this is my first mate, Commander Kellan Marcas." The younger otter bowed to Kain and then to Zydrik as he was introduced. Once the formal greetings had been disposed with, the four sat down around the table, where the captain's servant, yet another otter, though probably only fourteen years old, had poured them each a glass of wine.

"We thank you for the use of your ship, Captain. I know this was all on very short notice," said Kain, taking a sip from his glass. It was a sweet white wine and was better than he expected it to be, though he didn't consider himself a connoisseur.

"The King's Navy is at your service, my lord. Though could I beg you to tell me the reason for this journey?"

"We know only as much as you do, Captain, if not less," Kain replied. "The summons I received from the king was as urgent as it was vague. In fact I was hoping that you might be able to shine some light on this whole situation."

"Have open hostilities with Duke Kelwren started up again?" Zydrik asked.

The captain shook his head and said, "Not that I am aware of. So far as I know the last battle that was fought against the Duke's armies was over two years ago. The battle of Stonefall Ridge, if I'm not mistaken. Wasn't your lordship present with the king's army at that battle?"

"Yes, something like that," replied Kain. He clenched his fists involuntarily. He tried to force himself to relax and push the memories of the battle from his mind. Now was not the time to lose his composure. But as the conversation dragged on, the wolf found that he couldn't focus on any of the words that were being spoken. The memories of that day came flooding back to him.

It had been a cold, clear winder's day. It had snowed the night before, blanketing the landscape in white. Only a few white clouds floated through a beautiful cerulean sky. The serene beauty of it contracted strongly with the ugliness about to unfold.

Kain was up on a small hill, astride his horse. He wore a full suit of heavy plate armor and his black cloak, accented with silver, bore his family crest. Zydrik was there with him, as well as Derryth and Gavin, the two wolf brothers who had been his personal guards since he was a pup. All waited upon their horses, wearing the same black and silver colors of the d'Vaetrek house.

Before them stood some two thousand soldiers, a sea of black and silver that was the army that Kain commanded. The archers were setting up behind a line of pikemen, who were behind a line of swordsmen.

Kain turned as he heard a pair of horses approaching from behind him at a swift trot. He recognized both of the riders. The first, a white fox, was Lord Arlen, the governor of the small town they were defending, Stonefall Ridge. The second, a skunk whose name eluded Kain, was his captain, who commanded the small contingent of soldiers and militia the town had at its disposal. They joined Kain and his men atop the small hill overlooking the field below.

"This is all? Where are the rest? The king promised he would send his army to protect us! There can't be more than a few thousand men here," the fox said anxiously. He looked as though he struggled under the weight of the armor he wore, which didn't fit him properly.

"Two thousand, actually. The King is too busy playing patsy with the Duke to be bothered to send any of his soldiers," Zydrik grumbled.

"But there's supposed to be a truce! The Duke said he wouldn't attack during the negotiations! We shouldn't even be here!" Lord Arlen complained.

"The Duke lied and the King was foolish enough to believe him!" barked Kain impatiently. "How many men do you have?"

This time the skunk spoke up. "We have two hundred archers, and about three hundred pikemen, my lord, but they're mostly militia. Most of them haven't even been in a battle before. All of our soldiers were sent off to fight for the King."

"Send all of your archers down and spread them evenly through ours. Send the rest of your men behind our right flank. I'll hold them in reserve until I need them. Just do what my officers tell you to do and you'll be fine," Kain ordered, indicating the appropriate positions with his paw without even bothering to look at the skunk. He was too focused on the battlefield.

As the skunk moved off, shouting orders to the assembled locals below, Kain watched as the disheveled militia from the town began to position themselves behind his soldiers. Most of the militiamen from the town were either too young or too old, and what little armor they had was mismatched and in poor repair. Hopefully, if everything went according to plan, he wouldn't need to use them much, though the extra archers would certainly be helpful.

"The soldiers are spread out so thin. How are you going to be able to hold the pass?" asked Lord Arlen, who sounded a bit calmer now. "I thought the Duke's army had thirty thousand soldiers."

"The whole army does, yes, but the Duke isn't expecting there to be any resistance here. He knows the King's army isn't moving because of the negotiations. I don't expect he'll send more than five thousand men, probably with one of his less experienced commanders. That will hopefully be just the advantage we need.

"When they attack they'll probably come straight for the center of our line, which as you can see is significantly weaker than the flanks. The units in the center will then feign a rout and fall back about a hundred yards, where they will be reinforced. Then the units I'm holding back at the flanks will sweep across them.

"Finally, I'll signal Lord Fournier of Ruskin, who is hiding around the ridge to the south with four hundred cavalry, who will then swing around the enemy force and attack them from behind."

The white fox looked dumbfounded as Kain explained the plan to him. "But, they still have so many more men."

"We have the advantage of position. We have rocky hills on either side of our line, so we can't be outflanked. Furthermore, my soldiers are heavily armored whereas the Duke's army is mostly made up of lightly-armored skirmishers since the East has no good supply of iron to make heavier armor," Kain explained. "If we can hold them back here, it will keep the Duke away from the northern shores of Zev."

Such was the plan, but when the Duke's army arrived later in the day, nine thousand men strong, Kain was no longer so sure he had enough men to pull off the maneuver. His men were outnumbered more than three to one. Without reinforcements from the king, he was left nearly alone. Lord Fournier had even been reluctant to send any of his soldiers with Kain. The King had been so convinced that the negotiations were going to work, he had ordered not only his own army, but all of the other lords and their armies to stand down. This had left the mountainous northern shore of Zev, along with some of the largest iron mines in the kingdom, almost completely undefended.

When the attack finally came later in the afternoon, the Duke's forces did exactly what Kain was expecting them to do. However, despite things going according to his plan, the sheer number of eastern soldiers was almost too much for his men. Kain and Zydrik both quickly found themselves caught up in the melee, trying to keep their lines from collapsing.

An hour into the battle, Kain had been bloody and ragged when he heard one of his officers shout to him that more soldiers were joining the battle from the west. Count Vincent Caladine, a supporter of the king, had arrived with two thousand cavalry, which he charged into the heart of the enemy formation.

Before the day was over, the Duke's army had been forced to retreat. The cost of the victory, however, was enormous. Over half of Kain's men had been killed, and hundreds more were grievously wounded. Many didn't survive through the night. Over a thousand of his men were dead because the King refused to see reason, because the King refused to even consider that the Duke was going to betray him. Kain's repeated pleas for reinforcements had fallen on deaf ears.

Had Count Caladine not arrived when he did, Kain and his men would have been massacred, and the Duke would have gained control of the entire northern region of Zev. Naturally, everyone credited the King with the victory as the senior commander on the field had fought in his name. That was the way of things. Nobody remembered the sacrifice Kain's men had made.

When news of the battle at Stonefall Ridge reached the King, it gave him much-needed leverage in his negotiations with the Duke. That was the last major battle before the official truce was finally declared. While there had been occasional skirmishes since then, the past two years had been relatively peaceful.

It took a conscious effort for Kain to unclench his fists underneath the table. Commander Marcas was talking to Zydrik and had started on some random story about his youth in the Royal Navy. The fox listened politely, but Kain knew him well enough to know that he was painfully uninterested in the story. In fact, Zydrik was mostly only interested in stories about females and battle, which were the two activities that occupied the overwhelming majority of his time.

The thought of that brought a small smirk to the wolf's muzzle. Being stuck out here on the sea for so long where there wasn't a female to be found for hundreds of miles in any direction was going to drive Zydrik mad.

Kain waited politely for the commander to finish his story before he chimed in. "Captain, about how long do your expect this journey to take?"

"Oh, that depends on how the wind treats us, but I imagine we'll arrive at Zev in about three or four weeks," the captain explained.

"That's good to hear. I'm eager to get back and find out what's going on," Kain said.

The captain's servant soon returned with their meal. Kain was impressed with the fare. It was a delicious looking chicken dish served with steamed vegetables and fresh fruit, most artfully prepared. He had certainly not eaten so well on his journey out to the colonies two years ago.

The assorted small talk continued for about an hour after they had all eaten. The servant was busy refilling wine glasses long after they had finished with their meals. As the event dragged on and Kain finished his fifth glass of wine he could tell that he was getting a bit tipsy. Zydrik, however, was even further along than he was. The fox was swaying in his chair as he illustrated the more glorious details of the story he was telling with wild movements of his arm, and nearly fell over twice.

When the fox began telling a story that was familiar to Kain, one that involved three young, drunk vixens, the wolf decided it was about time that the festivities ended. He rose from his chair, a task that was far more difficult than it should have been.

"Captain Leomaris, Commander Marcas, thank you for your generous hospitality. I think it's about time Sir Anteran and I turned in for the night," Kain explained apologetically.

"Nonsense! I was just getting to the good part!" Zydrik protested, but Kain shot him an icy glare that promptly silenced the intoxicated fox. Both of the otters rose as well, and Kain noticed by the way they wobbled as they got up that they were probably just as drunk as Zydrik was.

"It was our pleasure, Lord d'Vaetrek. Thank you for joining us. We shall see to it that you and your men arrive back at Zev as soon as possible," slurred Captain Leomaris.

"Thank you, Captain," Kain said as he ushered Zydrik out the door. In the hallway outside of the captain's quarters, Derryth and Gavin stood waiting for them. The two wolves were in their usual stoic form, and approached Kain and Zydrik as they walked outside. "Would you see to it that Zydrik makes it to his bed in one piece?"

"Of course, m'lord," said Gavin, the younger of the two wolves, as he guided the grumbling fox away to the lower decks. Derryth remained with Kain and followed him as he walked back out to the bow of the ship.

The stars shone down brightly from a clear sky. A few of the ships crew scurried about the deck of the ship going about their duties. Kain was content knowing nothing about how to run a ship. He worked his way back to the bow of the ship where he had been standing before.

The nighttime sky was beautiful and the full moon overhead reflected off of the waves ahead of the ship. There was still a strong southern wind blowing which made Kain's black and silver cloak dance through the air around him. Even without the other wolf's scent on the wind, Kain knew that Derryth was standing behind him. The two brothers, Derryth and Gavin, shadowed him wherever he went. In his youth Kain had been annoyed by their constant presence, but he had grown accustomed to it after a time. It was their job to protect him, and they were good at it. Were it not for them he probably would have died at the battle of Stonefall Ridge, like so many of his men had.

"My lord, it's getting late. Do you think you will be retiring soon?" Derryth asked. Kain shook his head.

"No. I think I'll stay up for a while. I have a few things I need to think about," he explained.

"I will remain here with you until you retire then, my lord."

"I know, thank you Derryth." Kain sighed. He'd known what the other wolf was going to say, of course. He knew what to expect from his men and the people around him, and he liked it that way. But now everything was going to change.

Kain took the folded up letter from out of his tunic, crumpled it up in his fist, and threw it overboard, letting the wind carry it out to the vast, empty sea.