It was still too early for the Tolnedrans – or anybody else, for that matter – to do anything definitive about the activities of the Angaraks, but at least father’s warning gave Ran Borune time to start getting his legions into better physical condition. Once peace breaks out, professional soldiers tend to become flabby in a very short period of time. Regular exercise is time-consuming, and the soldiers are preoccupied with more important things – such as drinking, carousing, and chasing women who don’t really mind getting caught.
Then in the early spring of the year 4865 – so early in fact that the ice hadn’t yet broken up – the Malloreans began their westward trek across that string of rocky islets between Mallorea and the western continent. Some idiot who’d never actually seen those islands had designated them as ‘the land bridge’. If I couldn’t build a better bridge than that, I’d take up gardening instead.
I think we’ve all berated ourselves about our failure to reason out what Torak would do when his army reached the barren land of the Morindim lying to the north of Gar og Nadrak. The Mrin assured us that Torak had an appointment in Arendia, so we all assumed that he’d march down the Nadrak coast to Mishrak ac Thull and then turn west and cross Algaria to reach the lands of the Arends.
Torak himself was far too arrogant for subterfuge, so it was probably Zedar who sent several regiments of redtuniced Malloreans to Thull Zelik with orders to wander about the streets to deceive the ever-present Drasnian spies. The presence of those Malloreans in Mishrak ac Thull reinforced our conviction that Torak would march directly to the Eastern Escarpment to invade Algaria.
But he didn’t. He went through the forests of Gar og Nadrak instead and invaded Drasnia. To say that we were unprepared for that would be the grossest of understatements. We’d assembled a huge Alorn army on the eastern plains of Algaria to meet the expected invasion, so we’d stripped Drasnia of most of its defenders. We were badly out of position when Torak’s army of Malloreans, Nadraks, Murgos, and Thulls swept out of the Nadrak forest on to the moors of eastern Drasnia. Torak immediately sent about half his army to Drasnia’s southern frontier, effectively cutting off our efforts to rush north to defend our Drasnian friends, and then the Dragon-God’s forces began to methodically slaughter every Drasnian they could lay their hands on.
The carnage was dreadful. Such Drasnians as were not killed on sight were turned over to the Grolims for the gruesome sacrificial rites so dear to the heart of their insane God.
By midsummer in the year 4866, Drasnia had been largely depopulated – except for the few refugees hiding out in the fens. One escape column trekked north into Morindland and eventually reached Cherek. Thousands of Drasnian refugees were taken by ship from Kotu to other lands lying to the north and west, and the crack regiments of the Drasnian army who’d been assigned the impossible task of defending their homeland were literally driven on to Cherek vessels and freighted to the mouth of the Aldur River and forced to march south to the Stronghold. King Rhodar had desperately wanted to mount a defense of Boktor, but father had dragged him to Kotu and forced him to board King Eldrig’s war-boat. I don’t think Rhodar ever trusted my father after that.
Once he had absolute control of Drasnia, Torak paused to regroup and to give the reinforcements still streaming across the land bridge time to catch up to him.
Let’s clarify something here. Torak himself is no military genius. Back during the War of the Gods when he was actually making the decisions, he made so many mistakes that it’s a wonder that his Angaraks didn’t become extinct. The Dragon-God has an almost Arendish fondness for the mass frontal assault and the last stand. The overall Angarak strategy in the forty-ninth century came from Zedar, not Torak. Uncle Beldin has deduced – correctly, I believe – that when Torak sent Urvon to Mal Yaska and Ctuchik to Rak Cthol, he sent Zedar to Mal Zeth to work behind the scenes. Zedar was probably the shrewdest of Torak’s disciples, and the generals at Mal Zeth gave him an excellent education in tactics and strategy. Torak’s heavy-handedness was still much in evidence, but most of the subtlety of the Angarak invasion of the west can be attributed to my father’s apostate brother.
After Drasnia had been crushed, the Alorn Council, joined by King Ormik of Sendaria, met at Riva for an emergency session. Before our meetings began, however, I went through the bleak hallways of the Citadel to have a word with the Rivan Warder. There were several things I wanted him to understand.
Most kings select towers for their place of study, probably because ‘eminence’ suggests elevation. Brand – all of the Brands – have been modest, self-effacing men who know that they’re caretakers more than rulers. Brand’s study was buried deep inside the Citadel, and there were several meeting-rooms nearby where he could conduct the actual day-to-day business of running the Isle. At least that way he didn’t have to climb several flights of stairs to get to his desk.
‘A word with you, Lord Brand?’ I asked him, pausing in the doorway of his slightly cluttered, candle-lit workroom.
‘Of course, Lady Polgara,’ he replied, rising to his feet. He was very tall, and his shoulders were huge. He held a chair for me, and I sat down. Then he resumed his own seat. ‘What can I do for you, my Lady?’
‘You can start by dropping all the formality, Brand,’ I replied. ‘We’re too busy for that.’
He smiled. ‘Bad habits are hard to break, Pol,’ he apologized.
‘I’ve noticed. You’re a very polite and civilized man, Brand, so all your instincts are going to command you to defer to Eldrig. He’s older, and he’s the king of the original Alorn nation. I know that it’s always been the custom to let the King of Cherek take the lead in the meetings of the Alorn Council, but this time we’re going to set that custom aside. In this particular situation, you outrank the King of Cherek.’
‘I don’t wear a crown, Pol,’ he pointed out. ‘Rhodar outranks me, and he doesn’t even have a kingdom anymore.’
‘You’re going to be the Child of Light, Brand. That means that you outrank everybody. I’m not talking about bowing and sitting down first or any of that other nonsense. I’m talking about command. I know that you’re diplomatic enough not to offend Eldrig, but let’s get your position established right at the outset. The time’s going to come when you’ll be getting instructions from something far more significant than any earthly king. You’re going to be the instrument of the Purpose of the Universe. You’ll be issuing some orders that’ll come from the Purpose, and we don’t want Eldrig to start countermanding your orders. Let’s get him into the habit of obedience right at the outset. I’ve been involved in enough wars to know that command has to come from one source. You can’t run a military operation with a committee.’