They did not have to wait long before four grizzled Dwarfs joined them. Hilum nodded to each of them as they arrived and then, as the last of the four sat down, bobbed his head to Peg for him to give the brief.
Peg coughed quietly and then spoke. “The enemy are concentrated around the front gate. They consist of Cavalry and infantry, but there are a number of priests with them; you’ll recognise them, because they are dressed in black robes. Unfortunately, for us, they are powerful in the use of Mogya. What is in our favour is that the Elves have already attacked. They have driven them into a tighter group, which really helps us.” He paused briefly and then continued, “Hilum and I watched Primero battling alongside the Elves. Primero, Bray and Gwion have taken out a large number of their priests so I don’t think the enemy will be letting many more of them join in the battle, which again is in our favour.”
Peg bent down and began drawing a rough map in the soil. He then drew the valley that they were going to lead the enemy into and said, “We are going to lead the enemy into this valley. The Dwarves and I’ll be in the group that attacks them. We’ll then race into this small valley, which narrows considerably, about half a mile up it. This will enable us to set up in formation without the enemy getting around us. As soon as the last of the enemy are in the valley, Partic and Dineerim will lead the Centaur Regiment behind them, cutting them off from escape.”
Peg then nodded to Petifoot, and continued, “When the enemy are bottled in the valley, Petifoot you will guide the Nunnupi to a cliff above the valley floor and your archers will take out those in the middle.” He then scanned the assembled faces and asked, “Are there any questions?”
As they listened, the Dwarves ran their hands down their beards, trying to see if they could find fault with the plan; seeing none, they shook their heads.
Peg glanced at the two Centaurs and then at Petifoot. Partic winked at him and smiled, letting him know that the plan was a good one. Happy that they knew what was happening, the assembled Commanders moved away from the logs and began organising their troops.
Peg remained, chatting with Partic for as long as possible. However, after a while, he noticed that the Centaurs had formed up, holding their black-bladed swords across their muscular chests and were ready to go, so he wished his friend, “Good luck,” before moving across to where Petifoot was standing.
As the Centaurs trotted out of the clearing and began to make their way to their final rendezvous, Partic called to Petifoot, “The signal will be a burning arrow.”
Petifoot nodded his understanding to Partic, as the huge Centaur finally departed. He then saw Peg coming towards him and threw up a smart salute. Peg returned the salute by thumping his chest twice and then asked, “Are you certain of where you’re going?”
Petifoot nodded and then replied, “Don’t worry Sir, we’ll be ready.” He then clambered onto his horse and, after checking to see if the Nunnupi were ready, rode out of the forest towards the distant valley.
Peg, rooted to the spot, watched the Nunnupi as they went, hoping that nothing would go wrong. He knew that Petifoot was an able Commander, but he wanted so much to be leading them. Shaking his head, he shrugged off the thought, knowing that his position with the bulk of the force that would be attacking the enemy was far more dangerous.
Hilum was waiting in the centre of the clearing with the Dwarven Legion formed up behind him, so Peg moved across to them and took up a position in front of Hilum.
Peg was more than aware that although Hilum was commanding the Dwarven Regiment in place of Omni or Obli, he was giving up overall control to him, because of his Royal position. This made Peg a little unsure of himself, but he knew that he was honour bound to do the right thing, so he glanced at Hilum, who smiled and then nodded, before calling, “Let’s go then.”
On his command, the Dwarven Legion marched out of the forest in double time, as silently as they could. Hilum sent a small party of scouts forward, so that if any of the enemy were between them and Antia, they would be able to alert the column.
The burly, experienced Dwarves marched in silence, except for their equipment, which creaked quietly as they ran. Racing over the uneven ground the warriors kept one eye on the ground in front of them, and the other on Antia.
Peg kept going until he could see the first of the enemy camps. He glanced at the sky and knew that morning was coming very quickly, but dawn’s thin light was producing enough shadows to hide his troops from view. However, he knew that he did not have long before the day would be bright enough for the enemy to see them.
Peg held up his arm, bringing the Dwarves to a halt. He then moved forward to a slight rise in front of them and lay down. Pulling out his telescope, he scanned the area to see if the sentry positions were still in the same place as earlier. As he peered through the telescope, Hilum formed the Dwarves into six separate wedge shapes. Once they were ready, they pulled their round shields off their backs and placed them together, so that each shield overlapped the next. Peg stood up, drew his sword and moved back to the Legion. He pointed out the sentry posts to Hilum and then said, “Let’s go.”
The horde of aggressive Dwarves charged towards the enemy, covering the short distance so quickly that the enemy did not know that they were under attack. The Dwarves were moving so fast that they nearly overtook the much shorter Peg, but he dug into reserves of energy that he rarely tested and kept abreast of them. They smashed into the first few enemy camps, smothering them like a tidal wave. Peg sliced his blade across the throat of an enemy warrior, who had not yet managed to get his helmet over his bloated face, and kicked another in the stomach, as the wedge of Dwarves followed him, slicing a swathe through the enemy. The soldier he had kicked stumbled back and sent another flying as he fell into him.
Hilum saw a group of enemy warriors forming up to attack, so guided his wedge towards them. He lifted his shield, as he sprinted towards the enemy and drove it into the closest silver-armoured warrior’s chest.
He then brought his axe down in a deadly arc, which split his opponent’s helmeted head, spraying a crimson fountain over his companions. The Dwarven Legion hacked through the enemy at ease for a few minutes, before the silver-armoured soldiers finally organised themselves to repel the attack.
Peg saw that the enemy were getting ready to counter attack, so called, “Retreat!”
On his command, the entire Dwarven Legion charged back up the hill towards the Great Forest. They ran for a few minutes before Peg dared look back over his shoulder; the enemy had not given chase.
Peg had expected this; he knew that it would take more than one attack to get the enemy to chase them. He broke into a walk, forcing the Dwarves to slow down and took a deep breath. Turning to Hilum he said, “Let’s stop here.”
When the column had halted he continued, “We have enough darkness left for one more attack. Prepare yourself for greater casualties on the next attack.” Peg knelt down, grabbed a few twigs and then placed them as if they were enemy defences. With a stick, he began to draw the route that they would have to take next, as he said, “We’ll have to move to the south east of the city for our next attack. The enemy will be set up to repel us from the east. Although the enemy troops that we’ll be attacking will be on alert, they won’t be as ready to repel an attack.”
Peg narrowed his eyes, and when he was sure that he had the Dwarves’ attention, added, “They will be in formation, but probably under orders to either move to defend, or reinforce the troops in the east.”
Hilum grinned evilly and growled, “Let’s get them then.”
Peg nodded and stood up. He waited until the six individual wedges had reformed into one long column of three ranks and then broke into a jog.
They then moved back to the edge of the forest and skirted around to the south east of Antia. It took half an hour for them to get around and the sun was beginning to rise.
Knowing that they would have to attack soon, Peg crept forward and took out his telescope to spy on th
e enemy. He could see that just as he had predicted the enemy were milling around in reinforcing pods that would be able to move at a moment’s notice. However, Peg spotted their error. Every one of the enemy was facing the direction of the Dwarves’ last attack.
With a smile on his lips, Peg returned to the Dwarven Legion and reported what he had seen to Hilum. He paused briefly, before whispering, “If we move to the south we’ll be able to come up behind them. This means that on the third attack they will follow us, because they won’t like being caught unaware.”
Hilum nodded and then sent the order for the column to split into their six wedges. The four Company Commanders took up their positions at the front of their troops and waited for Peg or Hilum to give the order to move.
Once the two Generals had taken their places, Peg led the troops further south. He kept going for a few minutes and then halted. He turned his wedge to face Antia and waited for the others to do the same. When the last of the wedges was facing Antia, Peg gave the order, “Charge!”
The six formations sped towards the enemy soldiers, who were still facing the east. They swept through them as easily as they had before. Peg stabbed an enemy soldier, slashed another and then killed their Commander, before they realised what was happening. The Dwarves ran amok for a few minutes more, before the enemy started to get themselves into formation. Again, Peg waited until the enemy were ready to repel them and then hollered, “Retreat!”
The Dwarves charged back the way they had come, the rear most ranks having to fight a rear-guard action as they ran. This time, the enemy chased them further than they had before, but just as they had the last time, they broke off their charge when they were a mile away from Antia and returned to their lines.
Peg led his troops into the forest and when he entered a small clearing, he stopped. Hilum immediately began checking their casualty rate. He called to the four Company Commanders, but only three of them came. One of them, an incredibly heavily set Dwarf, even for them, with a long grey beard, growled, “Barim fell protecting our rear as we ran away.”
Hilum’s face dropped as he replied, “Thank you Bilum. I know you and your brother were close, but rest assured that he died gloriously.”
Bilum’s chest puffed up, as he replied, “I know he did, he died as he lived.”
After they had reported their losses, the three Company Commanders returned to their troops. As Bilum moved back, slightly slower than the others, Hilum called, “Bilum tell your brother Harigun that he has been promoted and will take Barim’s company.”
Bilum showed no outward emotion, but tears glinted in his eyes, as he nodded and ran to the troops at the rear. Peg waited until Hilum returned, before saying, “We must march back to our original position as quickly as possible.”
Hilum nodded and sent a runner to pass the command throughout the column. It took a few minutes, but eventually the message passed to every warrior and the wedges formed up into one column, waiting for Peg to lead them to their next position. Peg then took to the front and began pushing north through the Great Forest. The sun was now high in the sky and morning was fully born. Peg knew that the enemy would be able to see his troops before they could attack, so he had to come up with a plan.
Pushing through the foliage, Peg’s mind was racing, trying to think of how best to attack. Hilum moved behind the Nunnupi king in silence, he could tell by Peg’s body language that he was toiling with an idea.
After a few moments, he tapped Peg on the shoulder and said, “There is a series of rocks in the west that form a natural labyrinth. If we follow them we’ll come out slightly west of our first attack.”
Peg nodded, smiling as the answer presented itself. He kept pushing through the trees until he came to the limit of the forest. Peering out onto the grasslands beyond and seeing that the enemy were too far away to see them moving, he stepped out of the treeline.
The Dwarven column followed Peg, as he broke into a run, heading to the west. After a while, he saw the rocks that Hilum had mentioned and moved towards them. As they marched towards the rocks, Peg looked south and could see the Elven camp in the distance. This gave Peg a little more confidence; because he knew that there would be no way the enemy would commit too many troops to chase him.
Finally, the Dwarven column reached the rocks and turned east. They followed the rocks along their meandering track until they ran out of shelter to hide them from view. Peg glanced around the gigantic stone he was hiding behind and looked through his telescope. The enemy had already formed up, ready for an attack. Peg sighed and turned to Hilum then said, “I think we may lose more on this push, they are expecting an attack.”
Hilum shook his head, pointed to the Great Forest in the east and said, “I told Bilum to wait there. He has his entire wedge with him and most of his brother’s, three thousand warriors in all.”
Peg stared at him and asked, “Why?”
Hilum grinned and replied, “Because, when I give the signal, he will charge towards the enemy, drawing them towards him. We can then attack. This won’t only cut down on our casualties, because we can get in and out even quicker, but it will also annoy those silver-armoured arses.”
Peg chuckled and replied, “I like it. Give the signal then.”
Hilum pulled a small mirror from his tunic pocket and tilted it twice towards the forest. The sun reflected in the glass, shining brightly in Bilum’s direction. Peg had only to wait for a few moments, before three thousand Dwarven warriors charged from the forest. The enemy immediately spun to face the attacking force, allowing Peg to lead his troops into battle.
It took the enemy a while to realise that they were under attack from two fronts, so, Peg’s force easily sliced through the first few ranks of enemy soldiers, causing chaos as they ran. Peg hacked first left and then right, killing two enemy soldiers in quick succession.
He was growing more confident, as he cut his way through the enemy, but then caught sight of a long column of soldiers holding position - waiting for them to get through - behind the flimsy defence of the first few ranks. Peg realised that this had been the enemy’s plan all along. They had known that Peg would attack again and this time they wanted to grind his troops into the ground. Peg held up his arm and roared, “Retreat, get out of here!”
The entire Dwarven column spun on their heels and sprinted to the north; including Bilum’s wedge of soldiers, who were charging across to join Peg. The Dwarven Legion sped towards the valley that they were planning to trap the enemy in, but, not in an organised column as previously planned, but in a loose gaggle of escaping warriors. Peg glanced over his shoulder and saw the enemy infantry were giving chasing.
As he watched, a mass of cavalry overtook the infantry. Peg looked to his front and then back to the closing Cavalry. He was sure that they would be able to make it into the valley before the Cavalry caught them, but he was not sure if he could move far enough along to stop them surrounding his troops.
Peg and his troops charged headlong into the valley, where Hilum called, “Form square. Let’s get ready to fight.”
Peg glanced back up the valley and gaped, as he saw what could not have been possible. At the far end of the valley was a large body of soldiers slowly marching towards them. As he moved closer, he could see that these new warriors were wearing armour, but it was not the bright, burnished silver of the enemy, but a duller, grey.
As the warriors came closer, Peg sighed with relief. It was Avrit and Rumar with three hundred horse and one thousand foot following behind. Avrit and Rumar halted as they drew near Peg. They glanced past them and Rumar called, “Get the Cavalry around the Dwarves. Let’s protect them.” He then turned and called over his shoulder, “Billy, get the infantry spread out across the valley, so that the enemy can’t get around us.” He spun back to Peg and said, “Don’t worry, one of your scouts found us and reported to Partic. He then sent the scout back with a full brief of the plan. My troops are yours; five hundred are already with Partic.”
&nb
sp; The enemy Cavalry rode closer, their heavy horses pounding the ground like an earthquake, as the Url infantrymen spread themselves across the narrow valley. Avrit knew that his thin line of troops would only be able to hold the tide of enemy warriors for a short time, but he was relying on them to hold off long enough for the archers above to take them out. The fastest enemy horses soon closed with the retreating force under Peg’s command and the battle was on.
Peg knew that everything hinged on the speed that his troops could move back to the allotted point in the valley. He ducked under a heavy blow from an enemy warrior and lashed out with his own blade, drawing it across the enemy horse’s shin. The massive beast reared in agony, throwing its rider to the floor. The heavily armoured warrior fell, head first, thumping into the ground so hard that he broke his back, leaving Peg free to parry yet another blow.
Almost half a mile away, Partic peered through the trees of the Great Forest, watching the valley. He had seen Peg and his troops sprint into the valley. He had then seen the enemy, much closer than they had planned. However, Partic was still confident, because he knew that Rumar and Avrit were already waiting to reinforce Peg’s troops. He was beginning to worry slightly though, because it seemed to be taking Peg an age to retreat far enough up the valley, to let him cut off the enemy’s escape. He was surprised at just how many troops the enemy commander had sent after Peg.
Just then, Partic smiled; the last of the enemy column had just entered the valley. Partic glanced at Dineerim, who nodded and roared, “Charge!”
With this, the Centaur Regiment, followed by five hundred Url infantrymen, charged towards the rear of the enemy column with nothing but blood on their minds. It took seconds for the burly Centaurs to close the gap on the rear of the column.
Partic headed for a soldier he had picked out as the infantry Commander, he quickly punched, kicked and stabbed his way through the small contingent of bodyguards surrounding him. The petrified man lashed out erratically at the monstrous Centaur General, but Partic parried the blow easily then kicked him in the chest. The enemy warrior’s armour dented severely as Partic’s front legs caught him, doubling him over in agony. Partic lifted his blade and almost dismissively, ended the man’s suffering by stabbing him through the heart.
Destruction of a God Page 4
