MA02 Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin Read Free Book Online Page B

advice to the king was to immediately strengthen our own army that we might adequately perform our sworn duty of defending the realm.”
    “Sounds like good advice to me,” I interjected, hoping to improve my status with the general by agreeing with him.
    Badaxe responded by fixing me with a hard glare.
    “Strange that you should say that, magician,” he observed stonily. “Grimble’s advice was to invest the money elsewhere than in the army, specifically in a magician.”
    Itsuddenly became clear why we had been received by the guards and the general with something less than open-armed camaraderie. Not only were they getting us instead of reinforcements, our presence was a slap at their abilities.
    “Okay, General,” Aahz acknowledged. “All that’s water under the drawbridge. What are we up against?”
    The general glanced back and forth between me and Aahz, apparently surprised that I was allowing my apprentice to take the lead in the briefing. When I failed to rebuke Aahz for his forwardness, the general shrugged and moved to a piece of parchment hanging on the wall.
    “I believe the situation is shown clearly by this,” he said.
    “What’s that?” Aahz interrupted.
    The general started to respond sharply, and then caught himself. “This,” he said evenly, “is a map of the kingdom you are supposed to defend. It’s called Possiltum.”
    “Yes, of course,” I nodded. “Continue.”
    “This line here to the north of our border represents the advancing army you are to deal with.”
    “Too bad you couldn’t get it to scale,” Aahz commented. “The way you have it there, the enemy’s front is longer than your border.”
    The general bared his teeth.
    “The drawing is to scale,” he said pointedly. “Perhaps now you will realize the magnitude of the task before you.”
    My mind balked at accepting his statement.
    “Really, general,” I chided. “Surely you’re overstating the case. There aren’t enough fighting men in any kingdom to form a front that long.”
    “Magician,” the general’s voice was menacing. “I did not reach my current rank by overstating military situations. The army you are facing is one of the mightiest forces the world has ever seen. It is the striking arm of a rapidly growing empire situated far to the north. They have been advancing for three years now, absorbing smaller kingdoms and crushing any resistance offered. All able-bodied men of conquered lands are conscripted for military service, swelling their ranks to the size you see indicated on the map. The only reason they are not advancing faster is that, in addition to limitless numbers of men, they possess massive war machines which, though effective, are slow to transport.”
    “Now tell us the bad news,” Aahz commented drily.
    Though I’m sure he meant to be sarcastic, the general took him seriously.
    “The bad news,” he growled, “is that their leader is a strategist without peer. He rose to power trouncing forces triple the size of his own numbers, and now that he has a massive army at his command, he is virtually unbeatable.”
    “I’m beginning to see why the king put his money into a magician,” my mentor observed. “It doesn’t look like you could have assembled a force large enough to stop them.”
    “That wasn’t my plan!” the general bristled. “While we may not have been able to crush the enemy, we could have made them pay dearly enough for crossing our border that they might have turned aside for weaker lands easier to conquer.”
    “You know, Badaxe,” Aahz said thoughtfully, “that’s not a bad plan. Working together we might still pull it off. How many men can you give us for support?”
    “None,” the general said firmly. I blinked.
    “Excuse me, general,” I pressed. “For a moment there, I thought you said ...”
    “None,” he repeated. “I will not assign a single soldier of mine to support your campaign.”
    “That’s insane!” Aahz exploded. “How do you