Alutar: The Great Demon Read Free

will give that order,” interjected Clint. The Alcean Ranger was known in Zara as General Forshire, Commanding General of the A Corps. His Federation uniform gave credence to his words. “Kyrga will order a sizeable portion of the 31 st Corps towards Calusa. He will immediately reinforce the Vinafor garrison with General Tauman’s 1 st Corps.”
    “And leave Camp Destiny unguarded?” asked King Myer of Tyronia. “What of the portals there?”
    “The Federation has already learned that all of the Alcean portals have been sunk in the sea,” answered Clint. “Camp Destiny is no longer worth guarding. The 1 st Corps remains in the hidden valley because it is not needed elsewhere. He is perfectly placed to react to problems on either side of the Barrier.”
    “Is A Corps in position to attack the 1 st Corps?” asked Garth.
    “We are at full strength in the Dark Forest near Camp Destiny,” Clint replied with a nod. “I have two thousand men ready to seal the exit from the hidden valley. It will take them a long time to overwhelm us.”
    “What of Olansk?” frowned Garth. “I thought you were to leave a sizeable force there to block any undesirable Federation movements.”
    “I have three thousand men in Olansk,” smiled Clint. “Granted, most of them are recently released prisoners, and they have no mobility because we have no horses for them, but they can block the roads through Olansk. I saw no need to leave my trained men just to guard a road. Their blood is needed to block Tauman’s exit from Camp Destiny.”
    Garth nodded, but it was evident that he was growing uneasy about the readiness of the Zaran groups so far.
    “There is one concern that I do have,” Clint offered. “There are dozens of black-cloaks in Camp Destiny. While I am confident that I can contain Tauman’s army in the valley for weeks if need be, I do not understand enough about magic to determine if those black-cloaks can cause me a problem.”
    “They most certainly can,” offered Sigfrid, the Royal Sorcerer of Korocca. “While your men might be able to block the exit from the tunnel, black-cloaks can easily fly over the peaks and attack your men. Your force would be destroyed in minutes.”
    “Those black-cloaks would also be extremely vulnerable while in flight,” Garth retorted, “but your concerns are well stated. Perhaps the A Corps is not the right group to attack Tauman.”
    Garth sighed as he turned and looked around the room at the various groups assembled. He mentally berated himself for not taking a more active role in the planning of the war in Zara, but he had been consumed with the war in Alcea. Eventually, he sighed again and nodded to King Myer of Tyronia.
    “We have the men necessary to storm the keep,” frowned King Myer, “but as Queen Romani said, it will be bloody on both sides. We also have black-cloaks and a K’san to deal with, and the loss of Theos hurts in that regard.”
    “There are two main problems,” interjected Karl Gree. “We have not been able to infiltrate the keep. That means that our losses will be high when we storm it. The second problem is the large Federation army present in Ur. Once we commit to attacking the keep, General Marashef’s army will attack our rear. The truth is, there will not be many Tyronian Patriots left after we win. Even if you could come up with more troops to help us, they would never get into the city without a fight.”
    Garth sighed and shook his head as he saw Baron Stikman rising to his feet. He did not know why the Koroccan baron was rising, but he knew that trouble was soon coming to the Council of War.
    “What is the purpose of all of this?” groused the baron. “It serves no purpose to rebel when all of the good people die in the battles. Somehow you Alceans have managed to remove 240,000 Federation soldiers from Zara. I am not sure how you accomplished that feat, but I applaud it. Let it end there. The Federation has only 80,000 men left, and they