Fires of Memory

by Washburn, Scott;

  “Are you sure of this, Atark? An attack by night would be safer. We could do as we did with the Varag scum.”

  “No. It will not do, Zarruk. It must be in the daylight. The other noyen must see exactly what happens. There must be no doubts left in their minds. Then they will spread the word. It will spread and spread like a wildfire before the wind.”

  “It is not that I doubt your power, my old friend. I do not claim to understand what it is that happened to you. I hear your words, but it sounds more like one of the Great Tales from long past. But still it is a mystery and men fear the unknown. The path that you would lead us on is a new one.”

  “It is not new at all. Our sires long gone tread it just as we do now. To the east.”

  “But it is new to us. We are not our sires.”

  “Do you doubt that we can defeat this band that lies north of us?” Atark stared intently, raising an eyebrow. Zarruk snorted and shook his head.

  “No. We could destroy them with our arrows and our numbers alone if the will was there. But…but these are not mere Varags. These are the King of Berssia’s own men. These Whitecoats have the gunpowder weapons and the courage to stand and use them. They could slay many of our young men if you fail to do what you have promised, Atark.”

  “I will not fail. The fire is in me and straining to be let loose.”

  “And what then? Even if we prevail here, the king will send more soldiers to take his vengeance. Can your powers stop them all?”

  “Perhaps it can. You have seen what I can do. Soon you shall see more.”

  He paused as one of Zarruk’s wives brought them food and drink. Atark looked at the woman and thought of his own wife. His beloved Shelena. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. The rage threatened to loose the fires even now. Too soon. Too soon.

  “We will strike when the time is right.”

  * * * * *

  “How far?” demanded Captain Vargos.

  “A full day’s ride behind us, Lord,” said the Varag scout. “But they come fast. Two, three days and they catch up.”

  “How many?”

  “Five hundreds. Maybe more.”

  “By the gods,” muttered Captain Deerin. “Where are they all coming from?”

  “More important: what are they doing here?”

  “It’s not just some raiding party, that’s for damn sure.”

  “No. Over two thousand of them in three separate groups. This is not just a raid,” said Vargos, nodding grimly. Matt looked nervously over his shoulder. Another group of Kaifeng. Somewhere off to the west. Behind them, but getting closer fast. The first group had been bad enough. The column had pressed on the day after they spotted it and he was relieved that they did not get any closer. They just paced them, twenty miles to the south. But then the second group was spotted. It was nearly as large and it was off to their north. Now this. They were boxed on three sides, and the safety of the pass and the fort was still four days’ ride away.

  “They’ve got us ten-to-one, Var,” said Deerin. “I like a good fight as much as the next man, but this ain’t quite fair.”

  “No. But so far they don’t seem inclined to fight.”

  “Probably just waiting until all their friends show up.”

  “Maybe. Well, I don’t intend to wait for all of them. We are going to make camp tonight as usual. Then, two hours after dark, we are going to quietly saddle up and ride like hell. Leave the campfires burning and ride like hell.”

  Deerin nodded. “They’ll spot it quick enough, but it should gain us four or five hours. Hard on the horses, though.”

  “It’s going to get a lot harder. But we have to reach some defensible ground. If we can get to the hills and find a decent spot, we should be able to hold off these bastards until we can get help from the fort.”

  “Right. You going to send off a messenger?”

  “Not yet. We’re too far out. There are probably Kaifeng scouts all between us and the hills. A single man would not get through. When we get closer to the hills, then I’ll send one. Or three.”

  “All right. I’ll spread the word.”

  The sun went down and they made their camp. Captain Vargos laid the fires out carefully so that when they moved no one would be silhouetted against them. Matt ate a skimpy dinner and then lay there in the dark waiting for the order to move. He wasn’t too nervous. The enemy was still miles away. They might be spotted, but they weren’t going to run into swarms of Kaifeng tonight. It had been a long day, and he had almost dozed off when Vargos came by and shook him. “Time to go,” he hissed. Matt sprang up and quickly saddled his horse. The mare’s head came around to look at him as though he was crazy. Matt fastened on his sword belt and he was ready.

  The word was passed and the column set out on foot with the men leading their horses. It seemed like there was an awful lot of noise, but hopefully it would not carry too far. They trudged along for about a mile, and then they were given the order to mount up. Matt gratefully climbed on his horse. There was no moon, but the sky was clear and the stars gave enough light to see a bit.

  They walked the horses for an hour, then trotted for an hour, got down and led the horses on foot for half an hour, and then trotted again. Alternating in this fashion, they rode through the night. Finally, just as dawn was breaking in the east, Vargos let them stop and rest. Matt immediately collapsed in an exhausted sleep. But only for an hour. The captain had them up again and back in the saddle before the day was old.

  Matt scanned the horizon for any sign of pursuit but saw nothing. Maybe they had given the enemy the slip. But by the noonday halt, the Varag scouts were coming in to report. They had managed to steal a march on the Kaifeng, which was good, but the enemy was now riding hard to make up the distance.

  “All those bastards have their own remounts, too,” snarled Deerin. “They can ride four miles to our three and always have a fresh horse.”

  “But we’ve gained half a day on them,” insisted Vargos. “If we can keep moving tonight, they won’t be able to catch us until afternoon tomorrow at the earliest. By then we will have reached the foothills.”

  “Can’t do it, Var. The horses will never stand that pace. We’ll end up on foot—still thirty miles short of the hills.”

  “We have to try, dammit! If we don’t keep moving, they’ll surround us. And as you pointed out earlier: they have us by ten-to-one.”

  “All right, all right. But you’ll have to let them rest some.”

  “Yes. Then let’s rest now, in the heat of the day. Two hours.”

  The day that followed was the toughest Matt had ever experienced. They would ride until the horses were stumbling and the men nodding, and then after an all too brief rest, they were in the saddle once more. Another night came and it became difficult to keep the men and horses from wandering off. By morning, four of the Varags and two of the troopers were missing. No one knew if they had collapsed, unseen, or drifted off in the wrong direction while asleep in the saddle. And there was no possibility of going back to find them.

  After the morning rest, a dozen of the horses refused to move any farther. Some of the pack horses were unloaded and used as mounts, but it got worse once they were moving again. Horse after horse began to collapse. Soon, only a few of the pack horses remained. But then, just before noon, a hazy line of blue appeared on the eastern horizon.

  “The hills! We might make it yet,” said Vargos.

  “Maybe,” said Deerin, always the pessimist. “Look.”

  They all looked where he had pointed, and for the first time, Matt could see their pursuers. Far to the south he could just make out a dark blur on the plains. Vargos took out his small telescope and confirmed what they had feared. The Kaifeng were closing in on them at last.

  “They still have a long way to go. If we push on, we can still get to the hills first.”

  So they did push on. The blue line of haze became actual hills that could be seen, with mountains beyond. The men’s spirits rose. If they
could find some rocks to take cover in, they could stand off any number of these savages! Soon after, however, a second party of Kaifeng was spotted to the north. They were a little ahead of the column and angling to cut them off. Vargos hurried their pace and changed their line of march slightly to the south. The horses dropped faster. The last pack horse was pressed into service. Then, men had to ride double. Two small men on a big horse. Ration bags and blankets were dumped to lighten the load. Only water and weapons were retained. A line of abandoned gear littered their trail. The hills drew closer, but so did the Kaifeng. They could be clearly seen a few miles to their north and south now. And in their rear, the following group was no more than five miles behind them.

  Matt was so intent on watching their pursuers that he was startled when his horse’s hooves clattered on rock for a moment. He looked ahead in surprise and saw that they had reached the first of the hills. It wasn’t much of a hill, just a rocky rise that dipped back down into the grass after a hundred yards, but the real hills were just beyond. And the mountains after that. Captain Vargos ordered the three Varags with the strongest horses to head for the fort to seek help. The men quickened their pace and drew ahead.

  “Come on, lads!” cried the captain. “Not much farther now, and then we can rest. Close it up! Close it up! Don’t let those bastards catch you now when we’re almost there!”

  But the Kaifeng were closing in fast. A few galloped in and loosed some arrows. They did no harm, but they were a warning of what was to come. Another group came closer. They fired their arrows and then a few scattered shots from the troopers’ musketoons drove them away again, yelping in high-pitched voices.

  The ground was rising and the last of the tall grass was left behind. Vargos halted the column on a hillock to let the stragglers catch up. At the same time, he conferred with the officers.

  “We can’t make the pass, Var,” said Deerin. “Look. The bastards are in front of us.”

  It was true, the northern band had beaten them to the hills. They were about a mile to their east and could easily block any move toward the pass. Matt had no clue if the messengers had gotten past in time. The southern batch of Kaifeng was closing on them.

  “All right! That way!” said Vargos. He pointed, and Matt saw a jumble of rocks at the base of a substantial hill about a half-mile away. “We can make a stand there. Come on! One last rush!”

  The tired men whipped their exhausted horses into motion again, and they trotted toward the hoped-for refuge. Strangely, the Kaifeng did not dash after them. They could have made a race of it, but they did not. Matt gasped in relief when they reached the rocks.

  “Dismount! Get the horses back up the hill! Then start piling up those rocks. Make some cover!”

  It was as good a spot to defend as they had any reason to expect. The hill behind them was quite steep, almost a cliff, and it rose up and up and joined with even higher hills farther on. It would take the Kaifeng hours to get anyone up there. So their rear was secure. They could form themselves in a half-circle with their flanks anchored on the hill. The horses were pushed back against the cliff and a few men left with them. The rest began piling up rocks and the odd bit of wood they could find. The Varags were not too happy about fighting on foot, but the men of the Regiment were dragoons, trained to fight on horseback or afoot with equal confidence.

  “We need to get some cover built up,” said Vargos. “Without it, the damn Kaifeng can just circle around and shower us with arrows until we’re all dead. Their bloody bows can fire farther than our musketoons—faster, too.”

  “But they are afraid of the guns,” said the Varag hetman. “They think they are cowards’ weapons, and it is a disgrace to be killed by one. They will fear to get too close.”

  “All the more reason to build up some cover. Deerin, you take the left of the line, and I’ll take the right.” He looked to Matt. “Lieutenant, I want you and half your platoon to stay with the horses.”

  “But, sir!” protested Matt.

  “Don’t ‘but, sir’ me, soldier! I want you to be our reserve. Keep your horses saddled and be ready to make a counter-charge if they break through somewhere. And have someone standing ready with the spare ammunition. It’s important, Matt.”

  Slightly mollified, Matt nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good, get going.”

  Matt grabbed Sergeant Chenik and he helped him round up the men. All the rest of the horses were unloaded and their saddles and any surviving gear were added to the breastworks. Unfortunately, those breastworks were not terribly impressive. There were a few large boulders and some medium-sized rocks that were too heavy to move, but not all that much that could be readily piled up. There was no real wood at all, just some brush and bushes that were uprooted and added to the defenses. Still, in a remarkably short time there was the semblance of a defense line. If the men crouched down, they would have some cover against distant arrows. Any fired on a higher trajectory that would fall straight down on them would require the Kaifeng to get close enough for the musketoons to be effective. There were a few unfortunate gaps in the line, but they could be covered by gunfire.

  Matt looked out from his position and could see that the Kaifeng had all united in a large group on a hill about a mile to the northwest. There seemed like an awful lot of them. But they weren’t doing anything except standing there. Resting their horses, perhaps? Matt couldn’t tell. Down below him, the defenses were as complete as they could make them. Captain Vargos called the men to attention and then distributed them along the line.

  “Fix… bayonets!” he commanded. The rattle of iron on iron had a comforting sound to it. The dragoons’ musketoons were about six inches shorter than a proper musket, but they could still mount a bayonet. If the Kaifeng got close, they could come in very handy. The Varags had no bayonets and looked far less confident than the dragoons. Still, they could be counted on to fight bravely since there was no possibility of flight. And some of them were superb marksmen.

  Then they waited. The Kaifeng were still just sitting there. Matt shook his canteen and considered taking a drink. It felt like it was about a third full. His mouth was parched. Better save it. There was no water here at all. If it became a siege, things were going to get nasty. The sun was dropping into the west and still nothing happened. If night came, perhaps they could slip off and make it through the pass after all.

  A sudden blast of odd-sounding horns from across the small valley told him that the Kaifeng were not going to lay siege to them. There was a flurry of activity among the enemy and they seemed to be forming a battle line. Matt wished they had some artillery. A few three-pounders would make them think twice!

  “All right, men!” shouted Vargos. “Wait for the command to fire! Don’t waste your ammunition! Hold steady, listen to your officers, and we’ll all come through this.”

  Matt hoped that he was right. He looked to his own small command. “Everyone be ready to mount up. Listen for my order. Or just watch me if you can’t hear. If they need us down there, they’ll need us in a hurry.”

  “Looks like they’re going to come straight at us, sir,” said Sergeant Chenik. “Silly buggers.”

  The Kaifeng were in motion. A solid mass of horsemen was trotting down the hill into the little valley. They were packed in tight. Not a good formation to fire bows from and then wheel away. An excellent target for musketry. Matt could hear their shrill war cries and the brazen blaring of their horns. They did not seem to be coming very fast, but Matt knew that was an illusion. He’d been in many a drill and he knew that an enemy making a charge always appeared to be a safe distance away until suddenly they were here.

  “Hold your fire. Check your priming. Wait for the order.” Matt could hear the sergeants down behind the line, riding herd on their men.

  “Silly buggers,” said Chenik again, referring to the Kaifeng who were about four hundred yards away. “They’re going to pay a stiff price to…what the bloody hell is that?” Matt’s head jerked up at his s
ergeant’s cry of astonishment. What was he…?

  Then he saw it – off on the far hill. There was still a crowd of dismounted Kaifeng there and something was happening. A red smoke was rising up and then there was a flash of light bright enough to be seen in the afternoon sun. But the flash did not dissipate. It hung there, a ball of golden fire. Then it seemed to explode, to shatter, into a cloud of smaller lights. A swarm of tiny fireflies. Fireflies that came straight toward them at an incredible speed.

  “What are those?” cried one of Matt’s men. Others along the defense line were shouting and pointing. The Varags were starting to fall back in confusion.

  “Stand fast! Stand fast!” snarled Captain Vargos. He swatted a Varag with the flat of his sword and shoved him back into line. The men steadied, but their eyes were on the fireflies as much as the charging Kaifeng. The enemy horsemen were three hundred yards away when the cloud of sparkling lights swept past them. They came on with a terrible speed. Matt instinctively held up his sword as if to ward them off. The fireflies reached the defenders and…

  Bang! Boom! Pow!

  The line was wrapped in a cloud of billowing smoke and flashes of fire. Muskets and pistols were going off in a ragged volley, but there was far more smoke and flame than… Matt had only an instant more before another batch of the sparkling fireflies swarmed at him and his men.

  Wham!

  Something punched him hard in his back and he fell to the ground, swathed in smoke. There was a rippling pop of pistols and musketoons firing all around him. Bullets bounced off rocks and zipped past his head. Men shouted, screamed, and cursed. There was a large explosion behind him and then all the horses were screaming, too. He lost the grip on the bridle of his own horse as it yanked away. Then he was in the mist of two hundred panicked horses, bolting in all directions. He threw himself next to a large boulder and hung on. The smoke was thick in his eyes and his nose. Shouts and screams rang in his ears. What had happened?

  After a moment, most of the horses seemed to have left his immediate vicinity. He pulled himself up and looked to the defense line. From what he could see through the billowing smoke, it was a shambles. Men were rolling on the ground in pain. Some lay there and didn’t move. One Varag actually seemed to be on fire.