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Date Posted: 06:53:36 03/06/00 Mon
Author: Belamore
Subject: Lake Tampion Sound- Day 3

Lake Tampion Sound- Day 3

The seven foot knight, Sir Blekangus in full armor, save a
helmet stroked his rope-like braided mustache. He stood on the docks of
Tampion Sound, ears perked, listening. He could hear the echos of
chopping and the muffled voices of shouting men bouncing from the
forests to the right and from the Canaday border walls on the left and
skimming along the quiet lake. "The Tancan are indeed making rafts and
barges to cross the lake. Admirable, that has never been tried before.
War Lord El Mayan Tankan must have employed a mercenary strategist.
He is not that smart." Blekangus looked down at the short fat Ringular,
who was quicker on his feet than a man of thin stature.

Ringular turned and looked behind him as his forty horses helped along
with mule and oxen to pull the 12 catapults from Tampion Castle toward
the docks.

"Four to the right flank!" The Earl of Tampion shouted. "Four to the
left and four in the center." The Earl stood on a wagon tongue and
whipped at the oxen himself, pulling a towering catapult.

"For a little man, he is not afraid to dirty his own hands. Gaspar
Vander is more farmer than Earl, but I will fight beside that man with
pride." Blekangus walked toward the struggling oxen. Ringular
followed.

"You there, take one hundred men and move all of the boats down the
canal to the south. We need them to cross the lake when we finish off
the horde. Keep them out of range. If they are taking the time to
build transportation, they will be able to use their catapults from
their rafts and barges." Blekangus commanded and his man obeyed.

"Cross the lake? After the battle? With less than two thousand
strong...and less after the battle?" Ringular looked down at the graves
of two of his men who had died during the night from the wounds they
received in the east. "Even if we destroy the 20,000 Belamore said are
preparing to cross, Tankan has fifty to sixty-thousand more. Without
the advantage of the lake, we would be cut down in an open land battle
as the eastern garrisons and my men were."

"Samuel...soak those bundles of wood well in oil and move them to the
catapult positions there and there. Gather more boulders and rocks."
Blekangus surveyed the work and ordered another man to take fifty men to
move log redoubts back to the sand behind the docks, sighting that the
horde would be aiming for the docks and not behind them. "Light the
torches along the docks so the Tancan can see what they are shooting at
and blind to what is behind." He looked down at little Ringular. The
Tancan will be spread twenty miles long in ranks of three or maybe four
waves. My men alone can attack and roll up their southern flank and
never fight more than three hundred barbarians at a time. I need but
five hundred of my own elite men at arms. Tankan has spread his line too
to lay siege and will never expect me to cross and do a flank attack.
If the Jax gets here in time and we do employ the dragon...they can keep
the horde busy and reek havoc in Tankan's order...I trust Belamore and
his wisdom in battle," he smiled. "I will find it interesting to fight
beside a dragon and a Griffin."

"But if Jax does not come we will not be able to topple the catapults
and sink his boats and barges of troops...If the Tancan take Tampion,
they take the canal to the Aquarian Ocean and our trade lands to the
south are lost. Canaday will starve."

The mighty laugh of Blekangus boomed into the night and could be heard
for miles. "My little friend, when this battle ends, we will cross the
lake by walking across the Tancan dead like stepping stones." Blekangus
reached down and took the yoke of two stuck oxen, knee deep in a mud
hole. He raised the yoke, oxen and all, upon his shoulders and walked
forward until the oxen were on dry ground. Then he pulled the yoke and
together with the oxen brought the catapult through the mud hole. Not
even winded he drew his giant sword, half the length of a lance and
said, "I shall make a shish-ka-bob of ten Tancan at a time..." He
laughed again and for a moment the hammering and chopping stopped across
the lake. The Tancan must have felt that the God of the Canaday was
laughing. The sounds across the lake continued.

continued...

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