The Fallen Guardian (The Guardian Chronicles 2) by Steven R. Burke

surrender,” stammered one of the soldiers from the
middle front of the army nearest to him.
    Yukio,
who was not a very patient man to begin with, snapped. He used his psychic
powers to convince several key soldiers to agree with him so that the rest of
the army would agree to move out. Voices began to shout approvals to what the
general had said, and many of the captains barked orders to stand at attention
and to prepare to move out. The discontent and fear evaporated in the air
around the army. Every soldier stood stalk still while waiting for the command
to move out. The downcast looks and shifting eyes were replaced with stern
looks of determination. The general was pleased with his easy manipulation of
his troops.
    “Move
out!” bellowed General Yukio.
    The
reduced army of Nairi began to march at a quick pace toward the cliffs of
Landen. They bent their course directly east once they were within the shadow
of the cliffs. General Yukio rode ahead to make sure that there were no
obstacles or traps that lay ahead of them and then turned his steed about to
check the rear of the army. He wanted to see just how close the wicked fiends
were. He needed to know if they were coming at him with their full strength or
if General Jaali had sent only a portion of his army. He also wanted to
ascertain whether or not his evil sister-in-law was among them. He wanted to
rend her limb from limb more than anyone else. He smiled wistfully at the very
thought of exacting his revenge on the little witch. Beware, Kishi. I will
have my revenge!  You and your high elves will follow in the tragic footsteps
of the Eldar!
    ***
    General
Jaali could see in the distance, probably some ten miles away, the army of
Nairi hugging the cliffs of Landen. They are heading for King Leroy’s
kingdom just like we suspected. I must motivate the troops to move faster. “Let’s
pick up the pace!  We must engage them before they reach the High Plains!”
barked the general. The army picked up the pace so much so that they were
traveling at top speed. The distance between the two armies began to shrink as
they ran full out. It was as though an invisible whip was snapping at their
heels. The general was amazed at their ability to maintain such a feverish
pace. He ordered the archers to the front and sent them on ahead to see if they
could get Yukio’s attention. They ran full out for a few hundred yards and then
stopped to release a volley of arrows. The first barrage hit a couple of the
stragglers and did exactly what General Jaali had hoped would happen. General
Yukio turned about on his steed to face his attackers, and then he bore down on
them.
    The
archers were surprised that the general would rush them all by himself when
there were a couple hundred of them. The moment this thought crept into their
heads, it was replaced by another terrible thought. The troops began to
hallucinate and see things that were not there. Before they had released one
arrow in the direction of the charging mad man, they turned on each other and
began to shoot one another. General Jaali roared in frustration and ordered the
rest of the army to go to the aid of the archers. The soldiers complied with
the command, but they did so with trepidation in their hearts. As they narrowed
the gap, they saw the crazed Yukio reach the confused bowmen. Within a few moments,
every single archer was dead. They died at the hand of one another in most
cases, but General Yukio had killed some thirty plus with his sword.
    The
army came to halt in spite of themselves and stood there transfixed, gazing at
the blood-soaked general. Yukio gave them a wicked smile and jumped on his
horse in one fluid motion. He spurred his beast hard, and they bolted back
toward the Nairi army that was still marching at top speed along the cliff.
General Jaali snapped out of the trance and ordered the bewildered soldiers to
resume their march. They did not react at once, and the general could tell by
the look in their