Doom's Break

by Christopher Rowley

  "What about those horsemen?"

  "Not seen them yet, but we will. I have a regiment in reserve on the flank."

  "And the pyluk?"

  "The same. We know they're in the woods upstream, but so far we haven't seen any indications that they'll be attacking soon."

  Toshak was studying the ground beneath his observation point. Thru could see that the mot front line had bent back in a bow shape under the pressure of two large assault columns, one at either end of the line. In the center there was relative quiet.

  "I think our enemy thought his hallucination would last a while longer and disrupt us more than it did."

  "It disrupted me, all right. I could barely walk while it was going on."

  "Yes, there's no question that this sorcerer has great power, but the Assenzi knew how to break the spell."

  As they watched, they could see the enemy attacks losing impetus and beginning to subside.

  Suddenly the red light cut off and the drumming slowly faded to nothing.

  Without that awful light it was hard at first to see what was happening. As their eyes adjusted, they noted that the enemy had pulled back both assault columns and was consolidating a position about two hundred yards south of the river, approximately half the distance to the base of the hill on which Toshak and Thru were standing.

  Toshak turned his attention to the woods and sent messengers forward to instruct two regiments to move to the right flank and strengthen the flank guard.

  "I don't think he will want to rest on that line. If we were to break him there, we could destroy his army against the river when the tide comes in later."

  "He will attack again?"

  "He must do something. He can't stay where he is."

  "He likes to disguise his attacks with sorcery."

  As if summoned by the word, a pair of spindly little figures appeared out of the darkness. Melidofulo, the patron Assenzi of Dronned, was one. The other was Estremides, who had been sent by Cutshamakim of Highnoth to assist Toshak during the campaign.

  "Greetings, Masters," said Toshak with a bow.

  "Greetings, General, Colonel. Karnemin's spell of blinding darkness has been broken, I am glad to say," said Melidofulo.

  "Quite dispelled, we might add," said Estremides with a hint of levity.

  Thru, most familiar with Utnapishtim of all the Assenzi, smiled at Estremides's jest.

  "But we can be sure he will try something else." Melidofulo stared down through the darkness toward the river where the enemy army was massed.

  "Colonel Gillo and I were just discussing how the enemy likes to use his sorcery to disguise his army's movements."

  "He is a master of these things," said Melidofulo in a somber voice. "But we can be sure he will vary his approaches. Do not grow complacent, ever, when dealing with this enemy."

  No sooner had the Assenzi said this than they heard horns blare over to the right. A mud-spattered scout appeared shortly afterward to inform Toshak that the pyluk were moving about in the forest. So far there appeared to be nothing organized about the movements, but they were enough to have alarmed the Grys Norvory, in command of the Third Regiment, which held the right flank.

  Thru was sent to the Grys with a message.

  "By the time you get there, I'm sure this message will be irrelevant, Gillo, since the Ninth and Thirteenth Regiments will have joined Norvory on the flank, but it will serve to assure him that I'm keeping an eye on those pyluk, and those horsemen, wherever they are. Moreover, I want you to study the flank and then report back. I'd like to go myself, but think it's better I remain here where I can see the whole field and react quickly to any fresh developments."

  Thru took the message, drained a flask of tea, and turned to go. Almost immediately he bumped into his old friend Meu of Deepford, now the quartermaster general of the army of Dronned.

  "Meu! Or, General Meu, sir!" said Thru with a smile and a salute.

  Meu grinned back. "Stand easy, Colonel." They both laughed. "Well, well, old friend, good to see you. I caught a glimpse of you one time a few weeks back at the palace in Dronned, but you were hurrying away and I was hurrying in to speak to the King."

  "Oh, Meu, that's been the way of it since this campaign began. I've covered a thousand miles and gone through another pair of boots."

  "Where are you off to now?"

  "The right flank. The Grys Norvory holds it with the Third Regiment. General Toshak wants a detailed report on the situation there."

  "Good luck. You'll be glad to know that I've got twenty wagons full of meal coming up the back side of the hill. There should be a very good breakfast for us all."

  "We'll need it. I expect we'll see some hard fighting this day."

  "When this is over, we must sup at the Laughing Fish in Dronned. I have so many questions to ask you about your adventures in the land of the men."

  They parted with a handshake and went their way.

  Thru hurried down the muddy track to the bottom of the hill and then through Shelly Fields to the right flank.

  By the time Thru found the Grys Norvory's command post, the right flank had been strengthened by the arrival of the Ninth Regiment under the command of Colonel Flares and the Thirteenth under Colonel Fladgate. They had taken positions on either side of Norvory's Third Regiment.

  Thru found the regimental commanders gathered at Norvory's post, set up on a hillock that gave a reasonable view of the ground around them. He received a warm welcome and passed on Toshak's message to Norvory while adding a few verbal comments.

  Norvory read the message then sealed it again.

  "Well, General Toshak assures us he's looking out for the pyluk and those men on the horse animals. We can expect some kind of attack before long, I'm sure."

  "Indeed, Grys, the enemy can't accept the position he's in now. His back to the river with the tide coming in during the morning—it will put him in a very dangerous situation."

  "And if I know General Toshak," added Colonel Flares, "he will be looking for a way to exploit that, and at first light, too."

  "No doubt he will," said Thru. "He also asked me to study the ground here so I can inform him in detail about the situation on your front."

  "Well, can't see much right now, but it will be dawn in an hour or so."

  Thru surveyed the scene. On the immediate front, the ground was mostly open. A pattern of dark patches of bare rock mingled with lighter areas where mounds of shells had built up. Small trees, dwarf pines, and oaks were clustered here and there where they'd found suitable soil. About two hundred yards away, the trees thickened and the forest quickly reasserted itself. By three hundred yards out, the forest was a dark mass.

  The regiments were lined up in three ranks, each consisting of two hundred with a mobile reserve of another hundred kept at the back, ready to plug gaps or assist if the regimental front was flanked.

  "Looks perfect to me, almost like being on the parade ground."

  "It's good ground for fighting, quite clear and open. If the enemy attacks us here, we will make him pay."

  "What lies farther upstream?"

  "It's all wild water for miles. No polder on the river Shell."

  "So there are no roads either—"

  Thru's rumination was interrupted by the resumption of the sullen, throbbing drum from the far side of the river.

  "It begins again," said the Grys Norvory.

  "It appears so. We must be ready for the worst."

  Thru walked the length of the flank force position, studying the gulleys and hillocks that broke up the flatness of the plain. The three regiments were well placed on slightly higher ground. Between the left flank of the Ninth Regiment, placed closest to the river, and the right flank of the next regiment over, in the main army position, there was a gap of twenty yards, easily filled by reserves in the case of an attack. Looking along the line of the main army front, Thru dimly saw regiment after regiment in the darkness, waiting for the next move. Pennons flapped in the predaw
n breeze, but otherwise it was quiet on this side of the river.

  The drums throbbed on, however.

  On the right side of the flank position, farthest from the river, the Thirteenth Regiment filled the ground right up to the thickening forest that marked the beginning of the hillside.

  Thru could find no fault with these dispositions. After a final chat with Norvory, he turned back and started up the hillside to Toshak's position.

  The drum had been joined by a whistling sound, like that of a flute played off-key. It scratched and irritated the ears of all who heard it. Slowly it mounted in intensity.

  Thru stared at the river. A mist was rising there, but beyond the dark masses of the enemy troops facing the lines of Toshak and Aeswiren's armies, it was impossible to see any detail or where the strange drumming and whistling was coming from.

  He turned back to the trail. It was muddy and quite steep in places, and coming after all his exertions the day before and through the night, it made him aware of just how tired he was.

  The whistling continued to rise in volume. As it mounted higher and higher, it approached the shriek of a boiling kettle. Thru knew that the noise must have become close to unbearable for the mots closer to the river, let alone the enemy formations beyond them.

  Then the first light of dawn broke through the clouds in the east, and with it came new terror. Thru caught sight of a strange chilly gleam on the ground and turned to look eastward.

  Where the warm, pink blush of dawn should have been, there was instead a silver-etched blackness that grew in intensity with each moment. Thru, and indeed the multitude of men and mots standing on the plain of Shelly Fields, gazed at this phenomenon with awe.

  With the cold, dark light came a chill wind. Thru felt it stir the fur on his face, and he shivered. He turned, with an effort, and continued across to Toshak's position. The strange light from the east limned every blade of grass and every hummock with silver while casting the rest into shades of dark grey to black.

  The whistling from the far side of the river had become a maniacal shrieking, and the drumming had increased in power until it seemed to throb inside Thru's head.

  His legs felt weak. His hands were chilled as if it were midwinter. Then the first edge of the sun rose above the eastern hills.

  Instantly, all who looked in that direction were blinded.

  A great moan of mingled fear and horror rose from the ranks of mots and men on Shelly Fields. Accompanying it came a new sound, bugles and whistles in the ranks of the enemy. They had been warned not to look eastward and to screen the deadly light of dawn with their shields.

  With a roar of "He Who Eats!" the army of the Old One thrust forward in attack. Thru had missed the deadly flash of dawn's light, but he saw its effect on those around him. The mots in Toshak's post were crying out and falling to the ground, unable to see.

  Thru hurried forward and found Toshak shaking his head, grimacing, and rubbing his eyes.

  "General. Thru Gillo reporting."

  "Gillo? Can you see?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "I can only see with my left eye, and that in part only. It's as if my vision were blanked out with black ink."

  Thru had put two and two together. A handful of others were still sighted, like him. "It is deadly to look at the sun—it blinds."

  "Though I was not looking directly at it, the eye closest to the sun is most affected."

  "That confirms it," said Thru.

  "And now?"

  "He attacks."

  Below, on Shelly Fields, the enemy host crunched into the front ranks of Toshak's and Aeswiren's armies. Blinded, many mots and men were hardly able to either defend themselves or flee. They were cut down by the hundreds.

  From the forest on the right flank came another dreadful sound, the hissing roar of five thousand pyluk bulls. Out from the trees they came, a great mass of charging lizards, their spears waving above them.

  The front of the allied position collapsed. The blind staggered about until they were cut down. On the right flank, where Thru had spoken with the confident regimental commanders only half an hour before, there were even fewer with sight remaining. The pyluk fell on the flank regiments and broke them up in a matter of minutes.

  Here and there on the main front there were nodes of resistance. After a few minutes, the worst effects of the blinding light passed, and many mots and some men regained their sight. The fighting turned from an all-out rout to a bitterly fought retreat across Shelly Fields. The Grys Norvory and a company of survivors from the Third, Ninth, and Thirteenth Regiments fought a desperate battle to slow the pyluk onrush.

  All of this was plainly visible to Thru, standing on the hillside above, who observed the Grys's personal pennon still flying there.

  "Are there any regiments asleep?" he asked Toshak.

  "Yes, I sent the Tenth and the Fourteenth to sleep just an hour ago."

  "Where are they?"

  "Back on the crest of the hill."

  "Then I will bring them here. We must stop them on this hill." Thru set off at a run.

  Toshak, able to see with one eye, had found two messengers who retained their sight. In moments, they were on their way to Norvory and whoever they found in command of the main force, now trying to hold a line about a hundred yards from the base of the hill.

  Thru quickly came to Aeswiren's command post. He found much the same situation as at Toshak's. Aeswiren was less affected, however, as were his personal staff.

  "I knew it was some evil weirding from the first gleam, and I told everyone not to look."

  "The right flank is almost lost. The pyluk came on the heels of this evil light."

  "Those cavalry will be up to something soon as well. This is a well-planned assault."

  "Two regiments were sent to sleep in the hour before dawn. I'm going to fetch them. We hope to hold a line on the hill."

  "We will join you there. It will take all our remaining strength to hold such a position. And I expect those horsemen will make it that much more difficult, too."

  Thru went on. He found the Tenth and Fourteenth awake and forming up in a marching column. Colonels Gevery and Besh were aware of the peril and busy kicking life into their regiments.

  The throng of wounded and stretcher bearers had pulled off the track to let the regiments through. As Thru charged by, he called out to the bearers to turn back and follow the regiments.

  "Every mot, every man will be needed. March to the sound of the fighting. Pick up weapons where you can find them."

  When he returned to the hill, he found the battle had progressed to the very lip of tragedy.

  Mots and men mixed together were fighting in a rough line about halfway up the slope of the hill. The hillock that Toshak had used as a command post was now in the midst of the fighting. To the left side were the main masses of Aeswiren's men, still fairly well organized in regiments and holding quite well. On the right, besieged by a vast flood of pyluk, were the mots, who had suffered badly from the blinding light and then the flank assault. Regimental organization had broken down almost completely. They formed an irregular line, in places only a single soldier deep.

  In their favor was the equal degree of disorganization among the pyluk. The struggle between mots armed with sword, shield, spear, and pike and pyluk armed with club and wooden spear was usually settled in favor of the mots.

  Thus the line held. Thru could see Norvory's pennon still flying on the right end of the line. But the situation was dire.

  The Tenth and then the Fourteenth Regiments were coming, and, as they crested the hill and saw the situation, they broke into a run and closed up quickly on the thin line of defenders.

  Behind them came another group, perhaps three hundred stretcher bearers and even some of the walking wounded, who understood that if the fight was lost here, then they would die come what may. Their enemy intended nothing but annihilation for them. So they had dragged themselves back to face death with weapon in hand.

/>   Thru ran over to greet this group. "Any officers among you?"

  A few mots emerged. Thru bade them take charge.

  "Form into a company, three lines. Take what weapons you can find. We're going to use you as a reserve force."

  Thru left them and hunted for Toshak. He found the general's standard flying from a position under a ledge, about a hundred yards back from the front line.

  "Look upslope, Colonel," said Toshak as Thru arrived.

  Thru saw three of Toshak's catapult engines being wound.

  "We will show the enemy that he's not the only one with deadly surprises up his sleeve, eh?"

  At a shouted command, the catapults were loosed. They flung their spears, each seven feet long and tipped with a heavy stone point, over the heads of the mot line and into the approaching masses of the enemy.

  Thru applauded, but the scale of this assault was so small compared to that of the enemy's sorcery that it merely accentuated the gap between their powers. Still, it worked as Toshak expected, sowing seeds of concern among the Old One's men down below them.

  The fighting stabilized. Reinforced and with the slope of the ground favoring them, the battered remnants of Toshak's army were no longer retreating. They held their ground and fought the attack to a standstill.

  The pyluk had by then withdrawn. They were of little use in regular fighting, and against the mots they had taken terrible casualties once the impetus of their charge had failed.

  When the enemy made one final effort, a concerted attack right along the front, there came a threat of a breach in the gap between Toshak's line and Aeswiren's. A dip in the ground there became a void in the line, and the enemy pressed through and began to peel back Toshak's left flank.

  The reserve company was hurled into this fight. It managed to stem the enemy tide and then turn it with the fury of their counterattack.

  At the same time, Aeswiren threw in his own reserve force, a motley crew from the Blitz Regiment mixed up with the Third Regiment. They drove a wedge into the enemy's line and brought his renewed attack to a halt. After a quarter hour of fierce combat, the enemy was called away from the line and stood back fifty yards. Mot archers flooded the lines with arrows. This barrage proved too expensive for the enemy again, and they withdrew another hundred yards, putting them at the extreme edge of the archers' range.