The Spirit of Malquia (In the Absence of Kings Book 2)

by Lee LaCroix

  Alongside all the soldiers in their division, Garreth, Ilsa, Novas, and Kayten slid down the rocky cliffs to support the western flank as the ranged siege attack had left Berault’s scattered troops open to a side assault. Exchanging his group of archers for Eyrn’s melee combatants, Garreth formed up his unit to have the line of shieldbearers facing west, and they held their position as the Vandari marched towards them. Novas watched from across the span of ground between the two forces, which slowly lessened as they prepared to meet. The Crown Aegis held their shields high and primed their swords behind them, ready to unleash a puncturing strike.

  “Hold the line! Push them out of our forces! Do not become scattered!” Garreth commanded.

  As soon as the Vandari walked within the city limits, Eyrn’s archers unleashed a volley of arrows into the enemy ranks, and the two forces met in a charge. For a time, the line of shieldbearers held their position against the waves of Vandari, pushing off their strikes with ease. The soldiers behind them supported the overbearing weight of the assault, keeping the frontline steady. But as the bodies began to pile, the Vandari leapt upon their fallen comrades and dove into the ranks of the Crown Aegis, turning their weapons into the backs of the shieldbearers before being struck down. Before long, Garreth’s defensive line became clotted with corpses, and the shieldbearers lost their support and sure footing. With no end to the Vandarian forces in sight, the two armies began to mix in a mad melee.

  Seeing that the responsibility of the shield line had ended, Garreth moved forward into the heart of the battle, and Kayten, Novas, and Ilsa followed behind him. Garreth and Novas, wielding Darkbreaker and Dawnbringer, fought side by side with the remnants of the shield line, and Ilsa and Kayten protected their backs while they stood at the peak of their defensive. As soon as the four moved forward, it was as if a giant boulder had been placed in the middle of a stream with all the water flowing around it, bending to its will. As the Vandari tried to flank the two light-bearing warriors, their mass pressed upon the Crown Aegis at Garreth and Novas’ sides, and they decided to divide. With Garreth and Ilsa moving left, and Novas and Kayten moving right, and the remaining shieldbearers forming up in the middle and to the sides, the number of Vandari that passed their line of defense was lessened, and left the back rows of warriors to surround the few who got by.

  It was a battle unlike Novas had ever fathomed in his darkest dreams or deepest fears. He could feel the hot blood splash upon his face only to have it brushed away by the rain. In the heaviness of his gear, he began to sweat but was refreshed by the coolness of the drizzle. He did not lament wearing it that day. No, he was sure that he had saved him and arm and a hand even if he had not realized it. In his position at the front of the melee, he had easily been fighting three or four Vandari for a seemingly endless period of time. Without the shining effect of the blade or the stalwart fortitude of his armour, he surely would have been overwhelmed long before. And as always, Kayten was at his back protecting him from the enemies that would attempt to attack him from the sides.

  It was not long before Novas, with his youth and skill, began to absorb the enmity of the Vandarian soldiers, for their eyes, blades, and fury were fixed upon him. Novas could see them as they approached. A group of four climbed over their fallen allies and charged towards him. This first Vandarian sprinted in with two swords and began a lunge with his left towards Novas’ stomach. Novas deflected the blow with a downwards strike, and in the midst of the raging storm, barely had a chance to see the second blade careening down towards his neck. Novas dragged Dawnbringer along the downturned sword, unleashing a pulsing wave of light before lifting his blade in a wide arc to sever the man’s jaw from his face and hand from his arm. Temporarily blinded, the second Vandarian tripped and ran right past Novas, and Kayten slammed the edged tip of her shield into him, dropping her foe and piercing him with her glittering sword as he lay on the floor. The remaining two came rushing in, and simultaneously unleashed two powerful downwards strikes against Novas, which he raised his sword to block. But their combined strength was too much for him, and he let their blades drag along the edge of Dawnbringer and fall to the left, one clipping Novas’ shoulder in a painful smash. The sparkling collision and the dragging of the swords allowed Novas a brief respite from his pain. Before the Vandari came to their senses, Novas raised his sword up high and brought it down upon the neck of the rightmost one. As the injured Vandarian fell to the ground, Novas kicked away the body, withdrew his sword, and plunged it forward again into the remaining soldier’s waist.

  Novas had been so focused on defending against these multiple attacks that he did not feel the solid elbows into his back and only turned when he heard Kayten yell his name above the calamity of blades and bodies. He looked back for a moment to meet her eyes, and he looked past her when she broke that glare. It appeared that their forces had waned, and that Vandari were moving in from all sides. A crash of thunder shook Novas and Kayten to their cores, and they breathed heavy as their enemies began to pace towards them. Novas wondered where his allies had gone.

  As three approached Kayten with swords on high, she unleashed a sweeping strike in their direction and held her shield up with its face to the sky. Kayten continued to spin, turning the blade behind her, and Novas leapt up, throwing his shoulder upon the weight of the shield. As Kayten finished this spinning strike, the blade caught home in an attacker aiming at Novas’ side, and Novas rolled over top of the shield and landed with both feet on the ground, bringing Dawnbringer down in a swift slash, splitting a Vandarian helmet all the way to the skull. Novas could see the flare of light bounce off the helmet and project onto his foes around him, but it did not faze them that time since many of the lightning strikes had not failed to prevent their advance.

  Arrows were falling around them, and Novas was thankful for the skill of his fellow archers; without them, Kayten and Novas would surely have fallen. Unable to see over the waves of soldiers, the two had no inclination of which way to fight to return to the ranks of their comrades. It occurred to both of them that they could either fight or die, and so they willed themselves to fight until they could not raise their blades any further. The ground was stained dark red with blood, and a fire built up in their chest, arms, and knees; they had not used this much endurance in their lives, and the spots in front of Novas’ eyes warned him of his limits. With every dodge and deflection, Novas became more and more tired, and he seemed to be opposed to never ending opponents with undiminished strength. A powerful strike from a weighty claymore brought Novas to his knees. The sheer weight of the blade felt like holding up a mountain, and the light of Dawnbringer reflected ineffectively off of the blade’s massive width.

  “Get up, Novas. Get up!” Kayten yelled as she continued to fight beside him but was unable to pull him up without sacrificing her own defense.

  Dawnbringer shined so brightly from the stress on the metal that it had seemed that a star had landed there, and Novas thought that his death would be basked in radiant light. And then for a moment, all was darkness for Novas. When he raised his head, the body of an agile figure had flown between them, and with a kick, separated the heavy-armed soldier from Novas. Eyrn’s longsword, keen and true, danced alongside the thick Vandarian blade and made its way past its defenses easily. Novas looked up as Ilsa took up her place beside Kayten, and Eyrn stood in front of them with his blade a veritable flurry of strikes and deflections, and its glinting edge a shimmering aura around his figure. Novas felt a strong pull at his shoulder that forced him to his feet. When he looked up, his father was beside him, dragging him back into their ranks.

  “Come on! They’ll be fine! You need some rest!” Garreth yelled.

  Novas sat down in the crevice of the ridge where Eyrn’s archers stood above.

  “Keep sharp, but take a breather. The troops will watch over you. There’s no need for you to die today,” Garreth commanded before looking his son in the eyes and hustling back into the fray.

  Novas
put his head against the wet stone and tried to breathe deeply; he had not noticed how fatigued he was, how much he was aching, or how bent some of the scales on his armour had become.

  The army was beginning to push out from the center of town and away from where the deadly barrage of catapult fire was raining. On the other side of the battle, Lord Cross had nearly cleared the eastern flank of all Vandarian troops. With a golden-rimmed kite shield in one hand and his sunsteel blade in the other, Lord Cross fought alongside his unit despite his advancing age. A careful commander, he kept an eye over the enemy movements from the center of the unit and joined his troops in the fray to bolster their offense and their bravery when it was necessary.

  “Forward!” he yelled as he pointed his sword eastward, and his troops formed up around him and made one last coordinated push at the Vandari.

  They ran with swords acleave, cutting a wide swath of enemies down in their charge. They continued until they reached the back of the Vandarian ranks where Lord Cross was surprised when they finally found it.

  “Backward!” Lord Cross demanded as he turned his troops about, and they continued to clear the Vandari that they had missed on their last charge.

  When Lord Cross’ troops ended up near the center of town again, Berault’s division was still busy engaging the main bulk of the Vandarian force, which was wedged between both of the siege emplacements. Lord Cross searched the surrounding area and rallied his troops for another charge. Leaving a group of fifteen shieldsmen and ten swordsmen behind to protect Berault’s eastern flank, Lord Cross ordered the rest of his troops out of the Boulderstone limits and up towards the northeastern hills. With a quick motion of his flattened hand, he commanded his soldiers down into the dirt, so they could peer at the raised ridge where the siege emplacements were placed. Peeking above, Lord Cross noted the loaded ballista pointed down the slope towards them; there was no way up but through its deadly fire. As the archers climbed up to the edge of the slope and released a volley at the siegemasters, Lord Cross led his troops in a charge after the arrows flew. Despite incapacitating a majority of the Vandari at siege, the vicious ballista bolts, with serrated edges the size of shields and shafts the size of tree trunks, cut through the Malquian ranks with deadly mass and speed and bowled down great rows of Lord Cross’ troops with punishing brutality. With great bravery, those men and women climbed the hill towards their objective against the launching of those terrifying lances. Enough of Lord Cross’s unit made their way into the ranks of the Vandarian soldiers and put them to the sword.

  Lord Cross, confident in his intellect and intuition, looked to use the enemy’s weapons against them, and he ordered his troops to inspect the system of handheld handles and wheels alongside him in order to master their machinations. Eventually, they discovered that a crank lever was used to turn the base in degrees, and a coil and pulley combination powered the payload delivery system. Before they were discovered by the other Vandari, the repositioned siege instruments were turned in the direction of opposing siege placement on the other side of the Great North Road. Lord Cross stood at the side of these weighty devices, and brought his sword down to signal for their fire. As the sword fell, a great peel of thunder sounded out, and his figure was seen alight by lightning and cast in shadow. The tightened coils of the ballista delivered a speeding bolt right into the sides of the opposing siege engineers, bowling over at least five of the Vandari. Before the Vandari could recover from their assault, the enemy siege team was assaulted by those heaving tree trunks, which smashed two of their catapults to inoperable sunder. Seeing that they were under fire, those Vandari knew they had no time to reposition their machines and fled north into the hills, leaving their posts deserted and ready for destruction. Lord Cross directed the siege fire into the back ranks of the northern Vandarian division, which was finally coming into view.

  Across the field of battle, Garreth, Ilsa, Eyrn, Novas, and Kayten were holding the western flank without much avail in either direction. They saw no end to the ranks of the Vandari, and every one of them had taken a breather at the back of their lines to replenish their waning stamina. If anything, they were constantly being pushed towards the center of town as the ground they fought upon was soon choked with bodies, and the innumerable Vandari were unafraid to climb over their fallen allies and jump into awaiting weapons. Between engaging every group and wave of Vandari, Garreth would look around at the soldiers around, for he was careful not to become surrounded or leave his comrades unaided. Garreth noticed that the ranks of the troops behind him became more structured once again because his foes rarely broke the frontline long enough to disorientate his allies.

  Garreth looked up to the northern clifftops where the war weapons of the Order had been raining death and chaos upon his allies and was surprised to see the shining armour of Lord Cross on one end and a pile of ruined machines on the other. Knowing his troops would no longer be victims to those vicious aerial strikes at their flanks, Garreth pressed his allies forward through the great accumulation of corpses, which in some places were waist deep from roadside to roadside. When they had made it into the clear, the troops of Vandar were ready for another bout but waiting; they could have chosen to strike while the forces of Malquia moved through the swamp of bodies but did not.

  When enough of his soldiers had passed the threshold, Garreth moved his troops forward against the Vandari, breaking their forward line with a wide slash. The Vandarian to Garreth’s right ducked under his strike but fell back in surprise when the burst of light appeared from the clash of Garreth’s sword to the Vandarian beside him. Garreth rebounded his blade and sunk it into the shoulder of the fallen soldier. With a wide arc, Garreth brought his blade from down low to up high, disarming the second Vandarian before bringing Darkbreaker down upon his neck. The next three Vandari fell upon him as the two on the left and right lunged simultaneously. Garreth sidestepped between the blades, putting Darkbreaker behind him. He drew his sword up and over from behind him, parrying the left blade and then bringing his sword down upon the right. Garreth dragged his blade along the downed sword and brought it up on a wide arc, dragging it into the chest of the right soldier and into the neck of the leftmost. Garreth delivered a kick to the middle Vandarian, knocking him back into the next wave that was upon them surely.

  From left to right, Kayten, Novas, Eyrn, Garreth, and Ilsa fought on the front line in between the remaining Crown Aegis, slowly making their way outside of the ruined town. With their allies lined up behind them, and the bravest, most skilled, and well-known fighters in all of Malquia beside them, each and every soldier of the Crown Army fought with a renewed vigor now that they could push forward in one direction and fear not the bombardment at their flanks. The Vandari nearly fought to the very last man, for their last few ranks broke at the sight of the thunderous charge rushing free of the town’s borders. When Garreth and Eyrn’s units had scattered the last of the western flank, they proceeded up to the northwestern cliffs to oversee how Berault’s division was faring. The number of soldiers on each side was still innumerable, and Lord Cross and Eyrn waved their archer groups forward to take up position on the newly reclaimed cliffs.

  “Cross! Cross!” Garreth yelled across the battlefield as he waved his sword aloft in the air.

  It took some time before the lord was pointed towards Garreth’s calling. When he did, they both raised their blades and waved them in circular motion, rallying their troops. Lord Cross, Garreth, and Eyrn took the remainder of their forces north alongside the cliffs, carefully staying below the edge of the plateau and keeping out of sight of the Vandari. With a final signal, Garreth motioned his sword forward and the remainder of the Crown Army moved in on the Vandarian flank, assaulting them with a pincer attack. The blades of the Vandari had no inclination of this ambush, for they were still primarily focused on pushing south into town with their main force. A chorus of startled shouts and surprised screams rang out as an entire section of the road was cleared of Vandarian assaulters.<
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  “Forward! To the last!” Behn yelled from his position near the front of the northern division, and he dodged his way through his allies to reach the new front.

  The archers moved alongside the northern cliffs with the advance of the foot soldiers, and the siege weapons continued their bombardment as long as it was safe to do so. Seeing that the mass of the Crown Army was now upon them, the warriors of Vandar broke ranks not long after the final push began because the ferocity and effectiveness of the Malquian assault was uncontainable even with their numbers. The Vandari tried to escape from every which way—through valleys and over clifftops— but were hunted by vengeful swordsmen and cunning archers. Berault rode forward on his horse to watch the remnants of that battle escape down the road towards the Rauros, and he sent scouts up the road to watch their retreat. Berault turned his horse to face the men and women that had gathered in the valley of the road and a top the cliffs on the roadside. Many leaned upon their weapons because they were worn down from the conflict, beaten down by the elements, and tired from the long and seemingly unending battle. As Berault saw that his soldiers were weary and in need of a much deserved rest, he raised his sword to the air.

  “Victory!” he shouted, and his comrades roared along with him.

  Berault trotted his horse back through the crowd of raised fists and skyward weapons. He sent riders back to Amatharsus to prepare the wagons, so they could build the tent city here, and he ordered his troops into the southeastern valleys in order to find some respite from the rain. Most of the men and women found a place under the overhanging plateaus to escape the rain, and few set a fire to dry their soaking cloth. Before the encampment materials arrived, the rain had ended, and Berault ordered any able bodied soldiers to return to Boulderstone and begin to clear the battlefield. Novas and Kayten had volunteered, for they had found a spot around a fire soon after the battle concluded and were still too exhilarated to continue to rest then.