Parno's Company (The Black Sheep of Soulan Book 1)

by N. C. Reed

  “Look, lad!” Darvo pointed, one hand still on his glass. “You were right!” Parno adjusted his glass down and saw immediately what had gotten Darvo’s attention.

  The Nor had been massing a new attack inside the trees. Parno could see man shaped figures, now awash in flames, running through the trees, spreading flames even as they ran. Some of the flaming pitch had landed squarely on troops preparing to enter the battle, setting them ablaze along with the trees and brush.

  Parno swallowed at that, imagining how horrible it must be in those woods. He had unleashed that hell himself.

  You had no choice, he reminded himself doggedly. They invaded your home, killed your people. They’re to blame for this, not you.

  “It’s war, young Prince,” Cho Feng spoke almost in his ear. “If you cannot bear the result, you should not start a war. You are defending your people and are not the aggressor. This is the price they pay for belligerence.”

  Parno nodded at that, not trusting himself to speak. What Cho said was true but that didn’t change the facts. He continued to watch in silence as the flames spread, great columns of smoke rising into the sky. Thankfully, no more human torches were visible and the din of the battle kept the screaming of the burning men from reaching his ears, but it was easy enough to imagine.

  As the minutes past, the battle began to ebb. Parno didn’t notice it at first, so intent was he on the fires, but Darvo did. He examined the line and noted that the Nor were actually beginning to pull back, heading toward their own lines. Whether to help with the fire or using it as an excuse to escape the battle, he didn’t know…or care.

  Gradually the other Nor noticed this and they too began to pull back. Slowly at first, as if reluctant to give up their advantage, then faster and faster.

  Ten minutes later, the front was quiet again.

  There was no cheering this time. No one had the energy.

  *****

  “Let’s start moving the men, Darvo,” Parno said quietly. The flames across the battlefield had spread, even now burning their way across the ridge to the front and down into the valley beyond. The valley where Parno suspected the Nor had their camps.

  Good riddance

  “Are you sure, lad?” Darvo asked. “There’s still enough light for them to try again.”

  “They won’t try again, not today,” Parno sighed. “It’ll take them the rest of the night to get straightened out, I’d imagine. We’ll leave a force here to watch and give warning, but I want everyone else, and everything else, behind the third line before dark.”

  “There’s a lot of equipment to move and a lot of wounded to carry out. The men need rest and food. Let’s see to them while we can so that they can rest tonight. They’ll need it tomorrow. The Nor will come calling with blood in their eyes after this.”

  Darvo took one more look at the fires blazing out of control on the other side of the pass, and nodded.

  “I’d say you’re right. Very well, lad. I’ll get things moving.”

  Parno watched him go, lacking the will, or the energy to follow.

  He had won. For now.

  *****

  It was nearing darkness when Parno stumbled over to his own small camp. His steward had already prepared his meal and Parno sat heavily in his camp chair, eating without really tasting his food. He was hungry, but had no desire to eat.

  The tally of dead and wounded had come in and the news was not good. Landers regulars, the 11th Soulan Cavalry, had suffered nearly thirty percent losses. Theirs had been the unit nearly over run when the ballista had exploded, creating a hole for the Nor to exploit. The two militia battalions had suffered nearly as much, both losing nearly twenty-five percent of their number.

  Chad’s men had fared better, with losses of just under ten percent, as they had not seen any fighting early on. The Provisional Battalion had escaped with only fifteen percent losses, which Parno thought was extraordinary, considering.

  His own men had lost roughly eighteen percent of their fighting strength. Unlike the other units, however, Parno’s regiment was still in good shape. Thanks to a very rigid training regimen, the Black Sheep, (he still smiled every time he thought of that name), were far tougher than the other troops. But they had also been fighting since before dawn.

  After withdrawing from the second line, Parno had decided to place Chad’s men, along with the Provisional Battalion and the 12th Tinsee Militia Cavalry, on the line to start the day. He would allow Landers’ regulars and the 8th Mounted to form a reserve along with the Black Sheep.

  The reserve would be behind the line, out of direct combat, but every archer in those units would be pressed into service, firing over the line into the Nor masses.

  The third line was more compact. Located at the start of the narrowest part of the Gap, the line was one hundred yards shorter than the first and second had been and was anchored into the rock walls on either side. Darvo had taken great care with this line’s construction, as well, knowing that it would be the best defensive position of all. There was a slight grade for the Nor to climb as they tried to attack, which would help, and the range of Soulan artillery and arrows would be aided by the grade, if only slightly. At this point, Parno would take all the help he could get.

  “Evening, milord,” Karls Willard called as he walked into the light of the fire.

  “Hello, Karls,” Parno smiled. “How are you?”

  “I’m well, milord, thank you. How are you?” Parno could hear the concern in Karls’ voice.

  “I’m good,” he assured the young Colonel. “How are the men?”

  “Ready to go, believe it or not,” Karls shook his head. “They take great pride in the fact that they are in better shape than the ‘real’ soldiers and, honestly, they are. Ready to go, I mean. I’ve never seen men more able, I think. You did well, milord.”

  “We did well, my friend,” Parno corrected gently. “There’s more than me involved in this. You, Darvo, Cho, everyone who helped train and prepare them. They’ve made me proud. All of you have.”

  “We don’t want to disappoint you, milord,” Karls said sincerely. “They were wondering why they were to be in the reserve tomorrow,” he added, eying Parno closely.

  “I want them rested,” Parno said bluntly. “They are in better shape and better prepared than the rest. Tomorrow’s fight will be ugly, I fear, after what I did this afternoon. The Nor will be out for blood come morning. If they manage to break the line, I want the Sheep ready to fall on them and hopefully close any holes in the line.”

  “I’ll pass that along,” Karls smiled. “It will make them happy to hear it.”

  “We’ve managed to do well, today,” Parno said suddenly. “If we had only one brigade of troops or even just two more regiments to call upon I would feel confident of outright victory. As it is,” he shook his head, “I think we can hold tomorrow and perhaps the day after.”

  “We might surprise you, milord,” Karls ventured, though he felt the same way himself. “And we’ve definitely bloodied their noses.”

  “That we have,” Parno nodded thoughtfully. “Even if they manage to overrun us and get loose into the valley, we have so weakened them that a single cavalry division, well led, should be able to run them to ground.”

  “Well, that’s what we were fighting for,” Karls noted. “Anything beyond that is just icing.”

  “True enough,” Parno chuckled. “I just wish I could see a way for some of us to live through it. That would make it a true victory.”

  “If it helps us win the war, then it’s a true victory, even if none of us live to see it,” Karls replied solemnly. “That’s the important thing. That Soulan lives.”

  “Yes,” Parno agreed. “That is the important thing.”

  “You two look like something the cat drug up,” Darvo Nidiad said lightly, walking up to the fire with a plate in hand.

  “You don’t look any better, sir,” Karls shot back, grinning.

  “I’m not as young as you child
ren,” Darvo sniffed. “Man my age has a right to look a bit long after a day like this. You two, though, ought to be fresh as daisies on a spring morn.”

  “I am,” Parno replied with a straight face. “So long as the daisies have been trampled underfoot by a herd of stampeding cattle, that is.” All three men laughed at that and it made them all feel better. Cho Feng joined them as the laughter was dying down.

  “When one can laugh, then all is not lost,” he smiled. “I see that you are all in high spirits.”

  “Might as well be,” Darvo shrugged philosophically. “Not much we can do, otherwise.”

  “True,” Cho nodded. “You all did very well, today. I am very proud to be a part of your company. I have never seen better fighting, nor better leadership.”

  “It wasn’t that great,” Parno remarked. “We lost the first two lines on the very first day of battle.”

  “No,” Cho objected. “You lost one and surrendered the second for a better position. You have also made the enemy pay a heavy price for the little ground he did gain today. You have no reason to feel badly, Parno. You and your men have done great things this day. Far better than you had any right to expect.”

  “I agree,” Darvo added, talking around a mouthful of food. “We did do well, lad. We’ve butchered the Nor today at every hand’s turn, and with just a fraction of their strength.” He put his now empty plate down.

  “I’ve ordered some scouts out to see if they can find out what damage the fire may have done to the Nor and I’ve ordered the fires lit again. Captain Moore’s men slipped out this evening, early, and moved the last of the mines as well.”

  “Good,” Parno looked shocked at that. He hadn’t even thought of those things.

  “Well, I get by,” Darvo smirked. “I still don’t entirely trust those wizard gimmicks of Finn’s, but I have to admit they have made the difference. Without them, we couldn’t have held out as long as we did.”

  “We may have to learn to get by without them,” Parno said sourly. “We’re using them faster than I’d hoped. Over half of what we had ready are gone and Finn has only been able to replace about half of what we’ve used. We should be okay for tomorrow,” he added, seeing Darvo’s concern. “After that, we’ll have to see.”

  “After tomorrow I doubt they’ll make much difference, lad,” the old soldier said softly. “If we suffer as many casualties tomorrow as we did today, we’ll not be able to hold this line, nor likely the last, either.”

  “Then we might as well use up everything tomorrow, right?” Karls asked brightly. “No sense in wasting them.”

  “Ah, the enthusiasm of youth,” Darvo’s sarcasm was thick. He looked to Cho. “Have you ever seen the like?”

  “Age brings wisdom, it is true,” Cho smiled, “but without the strength of youth, the wisdom is less usable, I’m afraid.” Darvo guffawed at that.

  “I think that’s the best way I’ve ever heard that put!”

  *****

  Most of the fires were out.

  General Brasher looked at what remained of his camp, anger coursing through his very bones. Just when he’d been sure of victory the enemy had launched the pitch, catching his next division in the process of marshaling for a follow-up attack.

  Sure victory snatched from him in the blink of an eye. The fires had spread wildly and many of his men now lay in the woods, little more than ash. Most of the division he had been about to commit to battle had died in the blaze as had many others.

  “Sir.” Brasher turned at the sound of his second in command.

  “Report,” he said dully.

  “We’ve managed to put out the majority of the fires,” came the hesitant reply. “But, …sir,…we’ve. . .we lost more than half our train, sir. Most of our supplies are gone as well as a goodly supply of arrows. Horse fodder and tack, farrowing equipment, almost all is a total loss.”

  “Have the wagon train commander executed for incompetence,” Brasher ordered.

  “He. . .sir,…he died fighting the fire.”

  “Execute his deputy, then!” Brasher demanded.

  “Yes, sir.” The man knew better than to object. Brasher looked at him.

  “I want every man still able to draw a sword or a bow ready to attack one hour before dawn.” Brasher’s voice betrayed his rage. “Every man. Any wounded who are able to walk will join the attack as well. I want every possible man on that field by sun-up, beating down those damn defenses, and I want that entire rabble slaughtered to a man. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” his second nodded. “I’ll see to it at once.”

  “Go.”

  Brasher watched the man run away, snorting in disgust. He was surrounded by incompetents. The Emperor would be furious at this loss and likely take it out upon Brasher himself.

  Only a victory now could save him…and that was uncertain.

  But he would have victory if it cost him the lives of every man under his command. Soulan would fall, and he, Brasher, would do his part in seeing it happen.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Parno was up long before sunup, walking the line, inspecting his defenses. Most of his troopers were still asleep. Cooks were working already, preparing a hot meal for the men. It would be the last meal for many of them, Parno knew. Maybe for all of them.

  It would be today, Parno knew. He hadn’t bothered sharing that with anyone. There was no point. His men and his commanders had great confidence that they would hold, but Parno knew better. The Commander across the field would be furious after the fire, with blood in his eye and on his mind.

  In his place, Parno would muster every last man capable of carrying a sword or drawing a bow and carry the fort by sheer weight of numbers.

  He expected no less from his opponent.

  “Good morning, my Prince,” Cho Feng’s soft voice carried to him. Parno turned to see Cho wearing his own armor this morning, two slim swords strapped across his back. He frowned at that.

  “Good morning, Master Feng,” he tried to smile. “You’re looking rather military this morning.”

  “Today will be different, I think,” Cho shrugged casually. “I thought it best to be prepared for that.”

  “You know, then?” Parno said, eying his teacher closely.

  “One last day, Parno,” Cho smiled. “One last day of glory. Yes, I know.”

  “You don’t seem worried about it,” Parno smiled crookedly and Cho returned it.

  “There is no need of worry. One’s fate is not always in his hands.”

  “You could leave, you know,” Parno said softly. “No one would blame you. This isn’t really your. . . .”

  “Don’t finish that, Parno,” Cho warned, his voice hard. “I have trained you and your men. I have worked with you, ate and slept with you, and rode with you. This is now my land as well as your own. If I were to leave then I would blame me, no matter what anyone else said.”

  “I know,” Parno sighed. “I just didn’t want this to be how you were repaid after all you’ve done for me.”

  “My payment has been my freedom and the opportunity to see my hard work come to fruition.”

  “Fair enough,” the young prince smiled. “Will you walk with me? I need to have a look at the lines while there is time. I don’t expect to get the chance, later on.”

  “I will.” Cho replied.

  The two walked together then, master and novice, teacher and pupil, in silence.

  *****

  Darvo and Karls were seated at Parno’s campfire eating when Parno and Cho returned from the inspection. Both looked up as the other two came walking in.

  “Mornin’ lad,” Darvo spoke around a mouthful of bread. “Cho.”

  “Morning,” Parno replied, while Cho nodded in greeting. “The line looks good. I think we’ll do okay for at least a while.” Parno and Cho accepted a tray of food each from a steward and settled in to eat.

  “This line’s some shorter,” Karls agreed, “and it’s anchored good. We put a bit of extra effort
into this one, as the Colonel thought this would be our best place to make a strong stand.”

  “I concur,” Cho nodded. “This is very good ground. Ideal for a force so small as ours.”

  “You look some different than usual, Master Feng,” Karls noted. “Nice armor.”

  “I thought that it might come in handy,” Cho explained. “No sense in missing out on everything.” Karls chuckled quietly at that. Parno looked at his youngest subordinate.

  “How are the men?” he asked.

  “Ready,” Karls nodded. “They’re quiet, but confident. I think they know that this is probably it today. They’re concerned, of course, but unafraid. Or at least,” he added, “they aren’t letting their fear rule them. They know what’s at stake and they don’t want to let you down, either.”