Zenak by George S. Pappas Read Free Book Online

for his soldiers swelled inside of him.
    â€œSo, we march now?” Habor asked.
    â€œWe march now,” Zenak said. Then he walked to his waiting mark Gam and mounted him. Gam whinnied and stamped, his razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the sunlight. He knew battle was near. Zenak raced Gam up to the highest hill in the camp, raised his sharpened broadsword, and yelled, “We march!” His great voice resounded throughout the large camp.
    The marksmen, at the sound of Zenak’s command, jumped on their marks and bellowed out the rough battle cry of the marksman. Then they rode to the long ridge that lay just past their camp and lined up fifty deep. The line stretched along the ridge like a terrible giant snake resting and wait­ing for its next prey. Zenak and Habor rode to the front.
    â€œI assume that Captain Lokos and his men have already ridden, to make sure there are no more enemy encampments be­tween us,” Zenak said.
    â€œHe left before the sun rose and found nothing,” Habor answered.
    â€œExcellent, but I expect Tabilo knows then that we will attack,” Zenak said as he regretted sending Lokos out before the rest.
    â€œMaybe not,” Habor said, “for Lokos rode parallel with Tabilo’s army but did not get any closer than we are right now. He is waiting to march in when he hears the sounds of our hooves on the ground. As a matter of fact, I doubt Tabilo even knows that we are here for no scouts, other than presently dead ones whom we found spying on the camp, have seen our encampment.”
    â€œHabor, you are truly a great commander,” Zenak said, “much more efficient than I am.”
    â€œI have to be,” Habor said. “You haven’t the time for de­tails. You are the king,” Habor smiled broadly at Zenak for he knew that Zenak did not care for being king but ruled any­way because he felt the people of Deparne deserved a just ruler.
    Zenak smiled at Habor and said, “Sound the march.”
    â€œSound the march,” Habor ordered the bugler. The bugler sounded his trumpet three times and immediately after the third note the great war marks started trotting toward battle. The ground beneath their huge hooves shook like a great earthquake in progress and the air around them thundered louder than any storm any man had heard. They rode until they were one karn from the mercenary camp. They stopped and once again lined up.
    Zenak now surveyed what he saw. The enemy camp was caught in a terrible surprise and all the mercenaries were scurrying around getting their defenses up. In no time, however, the scurrying stopped and the marksmen were placed for defense with their shields in front of them. Zenak admired the enemy’s effi­ciency. There were some 70,000 of them. Behind them were 25,000 archers equipped with longbows. The longbow could easily shoot a lethal arrow one-half a karn away; it was a dangerous weapon.
    The two armies stared at each other now as if to stare one another down, but their concentration was broken when, mysteriously, three riders appeared out of the air and rode between the two armies. The riders were dressed in purple robes and were cloaked. They stopped their marks for a moment right between the armies. It looked as if they were conferring with each other and then they disappeared only to reappear a second later next to Zenak and Habor. Zenak and Habor reared back a little.
    They didn’t trust magic.
    â€œSocians,” whispered Habor to Zenak.
    â€œNo doubt,” Zenak said as he warily looked at his guests.
    One of the three riders rode up to Zenak and Habor. The two warriors could now see his white face and long unruly black beard, his eyes as black as the sands of the volcanic isle of Kera. He stared long and hard at the two, and then he slowly surveyed the rest of the standing army. Every man he looked at averted his eyes from fear. Then he spoke. “Oh, great King Zenak, we have come from