Terry W. Ervin by Flank Hawk Page B

watching different directions while our charges conferred.
    “I note that you are permitted to wear your brown robes, Master Wizard Golt.”
    Wizard Golt didn’t respond. Instead he studied his bare feet. They appeared dry and rough, like sun-baked sand. “Short Two Blades,” he said. “Inform Colonel Jantz that the Necromancer King’s force has organized and is prepared to advance.”
    Short sprinted off with the message.
    “Shall we hold the center?” asked Wizard Seelain. She hadn’t waited for an answer before striding toward the earthen mound.
    “I would suggest,” said Road Toad, “at least fifty paces either to the right or left of center.”
    Wizard Seelain glanced back at me and I nodded in agreement. She veered to the right. The Keeseean soldiers that stood ready at the base of the mound, and those that lay flat against it, made room for Road Toad to climb to the top. He signaled for the wizards. Pops and I followed them up.
    Wizard Golt asked Wizard Seelain as they surveyed the field leading towards the woods holding the enemy, “When did you arrive?”
    “Just before dawn.”
    “Does the prince know you are here?”
    “Of course he does,” she said.
    “Let me clarify. Does he know you are on the battle line?”
    She ignored his question. “Will the prince’s reinforcements arrive in time?”
    Wizard Golt pressed his body against the earth. “Cavalry, very light and fleet is close. The march of soldiers, heavy footmen.” He shook his head. “The enemy comes.”
    I readied my crossbow and peered over the edge of the mound. I slipped a slice of dried apple into my mouth. It was tart and lightly spiced with ginger, but I lost interest in the taste. Emerging from the woods behind a vanguard of at least five hundred zombies, rumbled twenty panzers. Running beside and behind them came hordes of goblins. And behind them marched armored battle ogres carrying spiked clubs and massive machetes.
    A small pang of despair knotted in my stomach. Compared to the oncoming enemy, the prince’s men, even backed by wizards, looked like a frail levee about to be overrun by an unstoppable storm surge.
    I looked up, seeking the prince and his serpent cavalry. I spotted the dragons, and something else far above them. It was hard to tell, but I thought they were smaller than the dragons. They flew in formations of three, like geese. I was pretty sure it was their buzzing growl that echoed down from the sky. I whispered to Road Toad, “What are those?”
    Grand Wizard Seelain answered my question. “Those are Stukas. Dive-bombers, bearing the same hooked-cross emblem as the panzers.” She squinted, staring up at the circling enemy and flatly stated, “King Tobias just learned of them. They are why I am here.”

Chapter 9
North Pacific Ocean
    2,873 Years before the Reign of King Tobias of Keesee
     
    The nearest American frigate’s radar locked onto the rising ballistic missile just as an enemy torpedo detonated 14 feet below the waterline. The explosive concussion, centered eight feet aft of the foredeck, knocked out radar guidance and communication systems an instant before the frigate’s first surface-to-air missile left its launcher.
    “Fire aft anti-torpedo torpedo,” ordered the missile sub captain. If it worked, it would allow more time to complete their task. Delay the inevitable.
    “Anti-torpedo torpedo in the water,” announced the first officer. “Preparing to launch second missile.”
    “Much noise,” said the sonar man. “Active line of sonobouys. I believe a second torpedo, dropped from a helicopter into the water.” An explosion reverberated through the missile sub. The sonar man held his earphone away from his head, but stared at the screen. “Friendly diesel sub hit.”
    A closer, lesser explosion announced the success of the anti-torpedo torpedo.
    “Deploy decoys,” ordered the captain, for what it was worth.
    “Second missile ready,” said the first officer.
    “Launch second