Read Online Forest For The Trees (Book 3) by Damien Lake - Free Book Online Page B

think I
would do.  Sir.”
    Slowly, deliberately, the man with the gray hair
unfolded his arms.  He stepped to the edge of the diorama.  His eye settled on
a point near the green army.  When his words finally reverberated in the
enclosed room, they carried the considerable weight of a senior diplomat
chastising his aide for a bone-headed blunder that had caused a foreign
dignitary to declare a blood feud.
    “You made an error in your…presumptions.”
    After a long moment, Marik was forced to ask, “Error,
sir?”
    “The fire with which Faustus caused the stampede.  The
northern valley is far too vast to be covered in such a short span of time with
fire, despite the summer heat.”  He bit his words off with sharper force than
he had previously.  “You would need to spread half the army across the area to
do the job properly.”
    “I…”  Marik sternly commanded himself not to swallow
visibly in front of this man.  “I would still say it is the best plan, and the
one that would cost Basill’s forces the least amount of men.”
    “That is why Faustus left the job to the geomancer traveling under Basill’s banner.  Clearly, it was an instance in which a user
of magic was of greater practicality than a division of fighting men.”
    The answer, obviously the truth, made Marik hold in an
oath.  He, of all people, should have instantly thought of magic as the means
to accomplish such a feat as sparking wild fires.   Except I will never think well of it , his inner voice stated flatly.  No matter how long I
have it, use it or am near it, I will never see it as a proper tool a warrior
should use.  Only steel and skill are what make a warrior’s heart.
    His reluctance to accept the magic had skewed his
judgement in laying out the strategy for this reenactment.  Hesitantly, he
probed, “A geomancer wouldbe a better choice for starting a wild fire. 
So…I suppose that’s how Faustus chose to handle it.”
    “Your ideas for handling a battle against two
formidable enemies are simplistic.”
    Marik stood his ground.  “Yes, sir.  But the more
complex an idea is, the less likely it is to work out the way you hoped it
would.  Especially in turbulent situations.  From what I’ve seen, simple ways
are the best, the easiest to alter in an instant, and…it might be simple, but
most times a single, well-placed blow causes worse damage than a fancy piece of
sword work that uses most of its momentum in trying to confuse an adversary.”
    “Simplistic plans can be easily seen through.”
    “If it’s effective because it’s simple, then it
probably would also be hard to counter.  And if it wasn’t enough, I’d come up
with a simple backup plan.  If you try to be complex just so your enemy won’t
guess what you’re planning, then you will probably outsmart yourself. 
Complexity is not my strongest point.”
    Marik said the last before he considered the impact it
might have on his credibility later when he reported on the bull-creatures.  He
winced inwardly, then stiffened instinctively when the knight-marshal sharply
assaulted him with an angry glare of burning ice.
    Whatever the man intended to say, he imprisoned it
behind his teeth.  Marik feared he’d insulted the man when those teeth ground
for several moments before, with strained reluctance, the knight-marshal
grunted, “Except for your oversight regarding the geomancer, your… guess is correct.  That is exactly how the battle proceeded, and what Faustus chose
to do in service to Basill Cerella.”
    He stepped away with a gesture of his head that anyone
would understand was a command to follow.  Five steps toward the door, the old
soldier abruptly stopped to glance back at the recreated valley.
    “You don’t know why that model was built.”
    “No, sir, I don’t.”  The scowl that elicited made the
mercenary realize it had been no question, but rather a statement of fact.
    “It was built on command of Faustus Hueart.  Yes,”