Warriors [4] Theros Ironfield by Don Perrin

listen,” Huluk continued, “I believe that Nevek and I, along with this human, are the only survivors of the army. The elves tricked us, routed us completely. Send your best runner back to the village to update the garrison commander. Tell Blevros that I am alive and not as well as I could be, but better than the elves had planned. Tell him that the army has been defeated, and to make whatever preparations he has been ordered to make by the Supreme Circle in this contingency. Further, tell …”
    Huluk wavered, sagged, collapsed. The young officer yelled for two of the large warriors to aid the senior officer. Theros, standing to the side, was forgotten. He quietly cleared his throat to get the officer’s attention.
    “Sir, I think that we should make a carrying seat from two strong branches and take Commander Huluk back to the village. He is not well, and I think his fever is returning.”
    The officer clearly did not want to take advice from a human—slave or no slave. “Fetch branches,” he ordered his men. “We will make a carrying seat for the commander.” He glared at Theros, daring him to say something.
    Theros kept a straight face, did what he could to make Huluk more comfortable.
    The minotaurs returned with two straight branches, each about six feet long and about six inches wide. They had cleared off the attached branches and twigs with their axes. They held the poles like a stretcher, then lowered the poles to permit Huluk to straddle them. The minotaurs lifted the poles, allowing the commander to sit on them with only mild discomfort. Theros found a small branch to use as a crossbeam and asked for some rope. One of the warriors produced a length. He cut it in two, and the two of them secured it across the two beams, forming a backrest.
    They were once again mobile. Huluk barked at the junior officer. “Don’t you damned well drop my axe! It’s been in my family for more than ten generations. Lose it or damage it and you will face me in battle! I’ve already lost a valuable breastplate.” He glanced at Theros and winked. Itwas the nearest the minotaur would ever come to an apology or to thanks.
    Theros, understanding, smiled and nodded.
    The officer grunted, obviously not understanding. He fastened his own axe to the holster on his back. He carried Huluk’s axe with the sort of reverence usually reserved for religious objects.
    They headed for the village on the run.

Chapter 12

    It was good to be back on board a ship. For seven years, Theros had lived on or around ships like this, a long galley—one of many evacuating the minotaurs from their failed colony on the coast.
    Once Huluk had been safely transported to the village, the governor had met with him. It was confirmed that the Third Army was indeed destroyed, and that the elves were planning to eradicate the minotaur encampment from “their” land. The governor immediately sent a swift corsair to the Supreme Circle with a request for aid.
    It had been an extremely orderly evacuation. The governor had ordered the defenses strengthened, and used his small force effectively to stall the elves on their march tothe village and harbor. They had laid traps and ambushes, forcing the elves to abandon their heavy cavalry in the dense woods. The elves were forced to fight in ways in which the minotaurs were superior.
    Those minotaurs not capable of fighting had been ordered to dismantle parts of the encampment. Tools, stores, war machines and personal belongings were all crated up and stacked by the pier, waiting for transport.
    Ships stationed at the harbor were loaded and sent back to the minotaur homelands. All of the necessary equipment and belongings were put aboard, as were the females, children, slaves and wounded. Both Theros and Huluk were among the passengers. Nevek, now a junior officer in the garrison, stayed behind to aid in the defense. Huluk had personally recommended him for the field promotion. The governor agreed. Nevek’s horns