The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 46: These Imperials are crazy

Working behind enemy lines was certainly not an easy task for the Alliance scouts. The Imperials arrested anyone they caught outside the towns and villages without an identification card. Of course, the Alliance provided their scouts with forged Imperial documents, but that was a double-edged sword. If the forgery was detected, any Imperial with more sense than a pebble would add one and one and know that a spy of the enemy was standing before him.

Or in this case: two spies.

Syrenno and Lazio were on the road between Valysar and Volon Therys when they met a mounted patrol of the Imperial Army. It was impossible to avoid the encounter; on the left the Rhoyne flowed, too broad and too strong a current to swim through; on the right, cornfields stretched to the horizon, where the riders could easily catch up with the two men traveling on foot.

So they went on as if they had nothing to hide or fear. As the riders got closer, Syrenno realized that they were Dothraki. They wore the same steel helmets and dark gray uniforms as the Imperial foot soldiers, but the curved arakhs of the nomadic horsemen hung from their hips. In addition, their bronze-colored skin and madel-shaped eyes were unmistakable.

The leader of the troop brought his horse to a halt in front of the two. "Papers," he demanded brusquely.

Syrenno and Lazio pulled out their forged documents stating that they were simple farm workers. The Dothraki looked at the papers, but most likely he couldn't read at all. But the stamp, which showed the three-headed dragon of the Targaryen, could not misinterpret even an illiterate person. With a gruff growl, the man returned the identification cards and he and his soldiers continued on their way.

"Who just thinks up such things?", sighed Lazio, visibly relieved.

"These Imperials are crazy", said Syrenno simply.

"If we lose the war, we will soon have something like this at home too." Syrenno and Lazio both came from the Free Cities.

They walked south along the road for a while without anything special happening. Then a dark shape appeared on the horizon that looked suspiciously like Drogon.

"You have better eyes, Lazio", said Syrenno. "Is it the dragon?"

The two scouts did not have a telescope with them, because the Imperials would immediately suspect them if they caught them with it. But Lazio, who had been a lookout on a merchant ship from Lorath before the war, had eyes like an eagle.

Lazio shaded his eyes with one hand and stared at the southern sky. "It's Drogon", he stated. "From here, however, I cannot tell whether the Empress is sitting on him. Maybe the beast is just on a foray." He paused. "Moment. I see a marching column that is still far away from us."

"Let's take a closer look at that", decided Syrenno. After all, their main task was to keep an eye on the movements of the Imperial troops.

They took cover in a dense bush by the roadside. After a while the Imperial vanguard passed them, about four thousand Dothraki horsemen. An endless worm of light infantry followed.

"It's a pretty big army", muttered Lazio.

"I can see that too", Syrenno grumbled back. Now heavily armed line troops came into view - and war elephants. The pachyderms carried heavy ballistae on their backs.

"Five hundred", Lazio estimated the number of war beasts.

"Damn it", said Syrenno. "The Imperials have not used elephants in large numbers since the Battle of Volon Therys. Now they are probably planning an important battle."

While the scouts watched the passing troops, a shadow fell over them. Startled, the two ducked lower as Drogon rushed overhead. Even Syrenno could now make out the silver-haired figure sitting on the dragon's back.

"What a big beast", he marveled.

The army worm rolled past them for hours. There were well over a hundred thousand soldiers. An endless column of pack animals and carts followed. Some large covered wagons caught the attention of the two scouts.

"When it gets dark, I'll take a closer look", Syrenno decided. He had been a very successful thief once before he was caught in Norvos and given the choice of losing a hand or serving the First Magister.

"Sure it's worth the risk?", doubted Lazio. "If they catch you..."

"They won't. And now be quiet."

The gods meant well with Syrenno. Thick clouds hid the moon and stars. The Imperials had lit watch fires around their riverside camps, but there were many dark areas in between. Infiltrating the camp wasn't that difficult if you only had patience and nerves.

Syrenno stalked silently past the Imperial guards under the cover of the tall grass. Sometimes he would get within three feet of them and they would not notice anything. After about an hour he had worked his way up to the covered wagons that he and Lazio, who was waiting at a safe distance from the camp, had noticed.

At each of the wagons - there were ten, but there were others elsewhere - two soldiers were posted. That proved the cargo was important.

Syrenno considered disabling some of the guards, but decided against it. If the Imperials noticed someone was missing, they would likely sound the alarm, even if the former thief hid the unconscious soldiers in the grass.

Again persistence and patience paid off. When the opportunity arose, Syrenno slipped unseen under the tarpaulin of one of the wagons. It was difficult to see in the dark, but it appeared that this cart was loaded with components for heavy trebuchets. The spy examined another cart. This one had loaded barrels. They were tightly closed so Syrenno couldn't just look what was inside, but they gave off a sulphurous odor. The next cart was also loaded with barrels that were labeled with the warning that wildfire was in them. The infiltrant continued his inspection. Eventually he came across some strange constructions: long wooden poles with a cardboard cylinder attached to one end. Here too, Syrenno noticed a faint smell of sulfur. As he looked around, the agent noticed that some of the rods were winged, with these strange, sulfur-smelling cylinders attached to the ends. He had no idea what it was.

"These Imperials are crazy", he muttered.

Syrenno memorized every detail of the constructions so that he could make a drawing of them later, then carefully set off on his way back.