Chapter 19

                                    

                                              
Chapter 19 
                          
          
                          
         

                          
              Semati stood on a hill overlooking the ending of the battle of Lessanri.  He wore only a light kilt, sandals, a bag slung over one shoulder, and a sort  of loose cape which appeared to be made of fine fishnet.  The cape was an important item, however; while wearing it, he was invisible to most viewers.  He took a bright red cap from his bag and put it on.  Now, with a little concentration he could see through the smoke and murk, and for longer distances than was normal. Its main drawback was that after about an hour's use, the wearer would suffer an incapacitating headache for about three hours.
                          
	He began to peer into the smoke, beginning at the nearest point and sweeping across the field, gradually looking farther and farther. The force that had broken the grenadier line had been left in the midst of the enemy to defend itself with the help of five guns and a regiment of cavalry, all that Hoysen would spare them.
                          
	Hoysen had not followed up the first attack, but had concentrated his forces elsewhere while Marshal Grichen rushed to reinforce the endangered section of his line.  The upshot of it was that after a hard fight, the Surcan Army of Pratogla drove the Eastern Empire from the field. 
                          
	The grenadiers redeemed themselves in a fiercely fought rearguard action which, while it nearly annihilated them, allowed Grichen to pull out most of his cavalry and a bit of his infantry.  All the artillery, however, and the bulk of the infantry, were taken or destroyed. 
                          
	Now, as Semati saw the field it was a wreck of bodies, equipment, horses wandering riderless, men wandering aimlessly, looking for their units, looking for plunder, or all three.  A few groups were gathering the wounded as well.  Semati found his quarry at last, where he had hardly expected to see him, in the midst of those who had, unintentionally, served as a diversion for Hoysen's main attack.
                          
	He surveyed the little group, not more than a battalion in strength now, many of them wounded, all begrimed with smoke and dirt, and weary to death.  Whiskeyjack was one of the few unwounded, though his uniform showed signs of wear and tear.  He sagged slightly in his saddle, and Semati felt sure of his triumph.  He removed the cap and began to make his way towards what seemed to be Whiskeyjack's destination.
                          
	In long and careful strides he crossed the field.  Most did not see him, and the few who did thought him to be an apparition from the gods.  There was, for some time after, a Society of the Apparition of Lessanri, a society which believed that the Apparition was a spirit which would come again, ushering in a New Age, the Age of the Perfect and Prosperous Society.
                          
	Semati knew nothing of this, nor did he care.  It took him some time to reach the area to which Whiskeyjack had been going, and longer still to find the Trickster.  He was unsure as to the limits of Whiskeyjack's abilities, but he would be unsurprised if the Trickster were one of those who could not be deceived by the Cape of Invisibility.  The approach must therefore be one of stealth.
                          
	And that stealth must be accompanied by speed, for there were too many people around, and sooner or later one of the few who could see him would decide to do something about him, and the attention attracted by getting Whiskeyjack away would be bad enough.  The attention attracted in fighting free of a bunch of soldiers, no matter how easy for the ex-Keeper of the Sixth Portal, would be too much. He had to wait until Whiskeyjack, after purchasing some blankets from some of the soldiers, moved a little way off from the rest.  By now it was nearing full dark, which made it much easier to move unseen.  Even as he went, Semati felt a strange feeling, almost a premonition of something about to happen.  But there was no definable shape to it, so he pushed it to the back of his mind.