Chapter 37 – Journey to the Last Battle.
They had located Mwenda, he had been spotted out by the old quarries again.
There was a hasty meeting of the council. Llewellyn decided not to consult them or ask for their involvement, this time he was just going to tell them what was happening.
“We will not go mob handed with the entire council, I will go with Flintock, Faraji, who is a Guardian Wizard, plus a small handful of other fighters to re-arrest the Master.”
They murmured approval at the idea of a Guardian Wizard being present.
“Who is in this small group of fighters?” asked Aneta Stepanek of Goleuedigaeth.
Llewellyn didn’t really want to tell them, because he knew some were jealous of him and his family. But in the end, he decided not only to tell them but tell them why as well.
“Gwen, my wife, who is also a Guardian Wizard. Glynda, who wields the Dragon Slayer, and my two sons Jonathan and Thomas. Because Jon has tremendous firepower, greater than any of you, Tom for his healing powers should anyone be injured and Samuel the Dwarf, because he fights where Glynda fights.”
“But they are just children, they should not be allowed to fight in such a battle.” Penvro Dey of Wrth y Môr said indignantly.
“They have never fled the battlefield unlike some here present,” Llewellyn said forcibly and with some hint of venom, and then reminded them that the last time we did battle, apart from Sugreev Sridhar of Gwir, and Govannon Staley of the Elven community, who both led their armies into battle, no one else raised a wand. Once the battle was finished, only Thomas, Glynda and Flintock stayed to help the wounded, while Flintock, Faraji and I returned with the prisoner. Everyone else left the scene leaving the same group who are going today to complete any unfinished business. The rest returned to Blaenoraid, despite having done nothing, to enjoy a hero’s welcome from the assembled townsfolk.
That seemed to settle it, the shocking speech was still resonating in their ears when Llewellyn and Flintock disappeared from the council chamber.
“Is he allowed to talk to us like that?” asked Lintang Ananas.
“He is if it is true, and every word Llewellyn spoke was correct,” answered Aneta Stepanek.
“Listen up,” Llewellyn said, “this is the plan, we will not apparate straight in case Muenda has set a trap. We will apparate to a position about ten miles from where he is, we will then fly, fast, close to the ground and spread out to make us more difficult to spot and target. From about a mile out, we will walk, slowly and carefully in the same formation, well distanced and silently. Once we sight the target, we will stay well-hidden and bide our time.”
“Then what?” Gwen asked.
“Until we see what he’s up to, we don’t really have a plan. Jon, can you arrange for a few hundred Red Dragons to be on standby in case we need them?”
“Consider it done.”
“Try not to kill him,” Faraji said, “it may not be good for my health or that of your friend Funsan.”
“I will not come to any harm if Muenda dies,” Flintock said to correct his great uncle.
“It is you I worry about, I am already old, quite old, but you are too young to die. If I die when my brother dies, so be it. But you, my great nephew, you must not.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.”
“There will be no one dying, it’s not part of the plan,” Llewellyn said.
“I thought we didn’t have a plan,” Tom said cheekily.
“We do have that bit. The plan is that no one gets killed.”
“What about the people of Kenefick, aren’t they going to help?” asked Glynda.
“I don’t think so, they look to me to be better at ceremonials and posturing, not sure they know how to fight anymore,” Llewellyn answered.
“That’s my kinsfolk you’re talking about.”
“Well do you think they would be any use in a fight?”
“Probably as useful as a cocktail umbrella in a hailstorm.”
“Exactly. Now, heads down for the night, we leave at first light.”
The next morning, as the spring sun was just raising its sleepy head above the mountains, they were gone. The sun had not risen another hairsbreadth when they appeared at the pre-chosen rendezvous point, about ten miles from the last reported position of Muenda. The quarries had been abandoned for several hundred years, so vegetation had returned, trees and shrubs abounded, always useful when you didn’t want to announce your arrival.
They mounted their staffs, spread out, and flew low and carefully, keeping only a few feet above the rock-strewn terrain, winding around the trees, bushes, and shrubs. Once they were roughly a mile out, they dismounted, stowed their staffs, then continued by foot, wands at the ready.
The dodged, almost commando style from tree to tree, bush to bush, shrub to shrub, always keeping low, then for the last hundred yards, Llewellyn placed an obscuration spell ahead of them to lessen the chances of being noticed. They didn’t want to cloak invisible because of the immense concentration needed, and they all needed their wits about them.
They approached the clearing where Muenda was with extreme caution. They didn’t want to show themselves yet.
“Tom,” Llewellyn whispered, “cloak yourself invisible and move around the back of the quarry with Ren to see what Muenda’s doing. But put up a force shield as you go.”
Ren first went into sparrowhawk and then invisible. Tom followed suit and they crept forward slowly and silently up a small escarpment overlooking the small quarry. They then moved quickly back to where the others were.
“He’s there in the entrance to a cave with Big John and a few other Elites having a chat.
“This is no time for wind-ups, what’s happening really?”
Tom repeated what he had seen.
“Right, regroup and back to the city. This puts a whole different light on how we move forward.”
Once back within the city walls the first stop for Llewellyn was the wizard guard’s headquarters. The others returned to the hideout.
“Marley, my good man,” Llewellyn said addressing the head of the Wizard Guards, “we have a problem.”
He explained what had been seen out at the quarry.
“Does the boy tell the truth?”
“Of course, he’s my son, anyway, why would he lie?”
“Scared by the thought of the fight?”
“Don’t be absurd, he didn’t flee the last battle like one of the elders, he stayed and fought and then cleaned up the mess, and it was he who took off Muenda’s hand on our first encounter with him. He is not a coward,” Llewellyn’s voice raised up as he grew angry at the suggestion.
“Sorry, just checking.”
“How many Wizard Guards are there?”
“Well, that’s a secret that we have never divulged to anyone, ever.”
“Marley, I am the Elder of Elders, your secret will die with me,” he said in a more relaxed and calm manner.
“All in all, we have just over five hundred officers on active service.”
“Five hundred! I thought there was about two dozen at most.”
“That’s the way we like it and that’s what we wish people to think, so let’s keep it that way, not even your family must know.”
“Well, there are in total two-hundred and twenty-four people who came over from Kenefick, do you think you could send a team into their camp and place all that remains in cold iron shackles?”
“No problem, I can send in a sizable group who could easily overtake the camp and shackle them. When do you need this done?”
“How about right now?”
“Give me an hour, I need to go and do reconnaissance and formulate a plan, then we go in.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Okay, but we do this without you, there will be members of my team who you might know, and we don’t want any covers broken.”
Llewellyn reluctantly agreed and left.
One hour later he was back.
“Very punctual Elder of Elders,” said Marley, “we have assessed the situation, thirty-eight are unaccounted for, but we traced their threads, and they too are in the vicinity of the quarry where Muenda is situated.”
“How did you do that without being seen?”
“Quite easily, we follow the thread to where they ‘landed’ but are only there for a nano-second, just enough to see the location, but too quick to be seen.”
“Thirty-eight, that is not good news.”
“On the contrary, we can trace each one of them, have a perfectly timed and coordinated attack, and have them stunned, shackled and extradited a few seconds before you move in with your team.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Llewellyn said, “it’s a pity we can’t do that with Muenda, but he will have set up boundaries which neither team could cross so easily.”
“I know we cannot touch the main prey, he is your job, and not one that I envy.”
“It is of the utmost importance that no one from the camp makes an escape to alert Muenda and the others.”
“They won’t, before we even enter, we will send in stun bugs, have you ever seen one?”
“Seen one? I’ve never even heard of them.”
“Here, I’ll show you; they look like tiny flies,” Marley spoke as he held up a glass jar full of insects, “quite small, they are of course completely magical, not real bugs at all. They will be sent into the camp, and once each one has landed on a target, boom, the whole camp is unconscious simultaneously.”
“Excellent, but remember if anyone tries to flee, they must be stopped even if you have to use lethal force.”
“Don’t worry, it will not come to that, we are skilled and well-rehearsed.”
“You will have to leave some Wizard Guards at the camp in case any of the others return.”
“If they do, then lethal force may have to happen. However, the better plan is for us not to go now as you originally suggested, but to take out those in the camp only one or two minutes before your attack, if we move now and you don’t act for several hours, that leaves too much time for word to somehow reach the other contingent. Meanwhile, the camp is being closely watched for anyone leaving or returning. If anyone leaves on foot for any reason between now and then, we will take them at once.”
“Good point, I should invite you to our planning meetings more often.”
“Being devious is just one of my talents.”
“Right, we move out one hour before nightfall, lengthening shadows and less light will be to our advantage.”