Free Alutar: The Great Demon by Richard S. Tuttle

western gates, the gates that led to Blood Highway. The citizens of Valdo paid no attention to the soldiers, but the Spinoan soldiers watched them pass with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. A few of the Spinoan soldiers actually followed the Aertans to find out where they were going. When the five men dismounted at the stables of an inn and entered the common room, the Spinoans followed. The five Aertans sat at an empty table and ordered meals and a pitcher of ale. They seemed unaware of the crowd watching them until a bold sergeant approached them and stood near their table.
    “The 29 th was sent to Sordoa alongside our 21 st ,” stated the sergeant. “Why are you back and they are not?”
    The five Aertans looked at one another as if there was something they wished to avoid saying. Finally, one of them glanced at the Spinoan sergeant.
    “Look, we are just on our way home to Giza and want a decent meal for a change. Let us eat in peace.”
    The sergeant was not about to back off. “Are you deserters?” scowled the sergeant. “Is that why you are afraid to talk about it?”
    One of the Aertans rose and faced the sergeant, his face a mask of outrage, but one of the other Aertans rose and eased his countryman back to his seat.
    “What’s the story?” demanded the sergeant. “We have a right to know when our mates are coming back home.”
    “Then ask your general,” snapped the outraged Aertan. “Go ask him why your mates aren’t coming home, and leave us in peace.”
    Gasps flooded from the mouths of the soldiers gathered in the common room as they began to get the feeling that something had gone wrong in Alcea. A corporal eased his way past the sergeant and sat next to one of the Aertans.
    “Don’t be angry with us,” the corporal said softly. “We only want to know how things are going over there. Wouldn’t you want to know if you were in our place?”
    The outraged Aertan shouted, “No!”
    One of the other Aertans sighed heavily and looked the corporal in the face. “Don’t mind him. The sergeant made a mistake even hinting that we were deserters. We are anything but. The truth is, we were assigned as personal guards for General Stemple. Our task was to get the general to safety when the battle went the wrong way. There were ten us originally, but we are the only ones who made it back.”
    “It went bad enough to retreat?” asked the corporal.
    “Retreat?” echoed the Aertan. “It was more like a rout. We ran into hundreds of dwarves. They were invincible. Our arrows couldn’t pierce their armor, and our swords couldn’t get close enough to strike them. They waded into our ranks with those huge battleaxes and just cut men down like stalks of grain. We never stood a chance.”
    “So you ran?” taunted the sergeant. “You cowards ran from the face of the enemy?”
    The outraged Aertan leaped to his feet and picked the sergeant off the floor with one hand. “Coward?” he shouted as he tossed the sergeant across the room. “I am no coward. I’ll take every one of you on right here, right now.”
    The sergeant bounced off a table and tumbled to the floor. The Aertan started towards the Spinoan soldiers standing around the common room, but the Spinoans backed away. Two of the other Aertans rose and grabbed their friend and dragged him back to the table as the sergeant picked himself up off the floor.
    “Don’t taunt him,” pleaded one of the calmer Aertans. “He had very close friends in the 15 th Corps with Team Pontek. They were wiped out to the man. The dwarves didn’t let a single man from that team survive.”
    The innkeeper moved to the Aertan table and leaned down to speak softly. “The food and ale is on me, lads, but you better get yourselves out of here quickly. That sergeant just slipped out, and I suspect he is coming back with some friends. You will end up in cells for sure if that happens. Get home to your families.”
    The Aertans grimly nodded their thanks to the