by ich du
As Oskar started the second keg rolling, the first hit one of the advancing swordsmen in the chest, knocking him flat. The others turned somnambulantly to look at him - and paid the price. The keg exploded amidst them, blowing them all to red ruin.
Oskar gaped. 'They... they didn't run.'
Reiner grimaced. 'You haven't been paying attention.'
The second keg bounded past the troops' maimed bodies and exploded in the woods at the base of the hill. A dozen trees caught fire, and the flames began to spread.
'That'll keep reinforcements at bay,' said Pavel.
'They won't need reinforcements,' said Hals. 'This lot'll do for us.'
Reiner looked behind him. All the men on the hill had turned at the explosion. The gun crews were leaving their cannon and advancing on them, and Lady Magda, Erich, and his swords were staring at them.
'Scum!' cried Erich, stepping toward them. 'Do you still plague me?'
'No,' said Lady Magda, holding him back. 'The banner must stay here.'
'As you wish, lady,' said Erich, shrugging off her hand. 'There is no need to move. Back to your cannon!' he called to the gun crews. 'I'll handle this rabble.'
The artillerymen obeyed like sheep.
'Shoot him!' shouted Reiner, drawing his pistols, as Erich started to turn the banner. 'Kill him!'
Franka and Giano raised their bows as Oskar aimed his handgun by laying the long barrel across the splint of his broken wrist.
'Hold your fire!' Erich commanded, and to Reiner's chagrin, he found it impossible to disobey the order. He could not force his fingers to squeeze the triggers. The others were similarly affected, shaking with the effort to shoot.
Hands shaking, Giano finally fired his crossbow, but the bolt flew off at an angle. 'Curse it!' said the Tilean, frustrated. 'My hands no listen!'
'It's the banner,' said Franka, her arms trembling as she held her bow at full draw.
Erich laughed and raised the banner, pointing at them with his free hand as his six swordsmen advanced. 'Kneel, soldiers! Listen to your leader. I am your rightful captain, you must follow my orders. Kneel and bow your heads.'
To Reiner's left and right Pavel, Hals and Oskar fell to their knees. Their chins dropped to their chests, though he could see them struggling to raise them. Reiner felt an almost unconquerable urge to follow suit. Erich was their rightful leader. He was the most senior officer now that Veirt was dead, and he was so strong and brave and had so much more experience than Reiner. It would be such a relief to let the mantle of command slip from his shoulders and let someone else lead again. Reiner's knees bent, but as he looked up to his beloved leader, he paused halfway to the ground.
Erich's face was twisted in a smug sneer, a jarring discontinuity with the noble image of him Reiner held in his head. He froze as his mind fought to reconcile the two pictures. To his left he saw that Giano and Franka were similarly halted in mid-genuflection.
Erich's swordsmen were closing, moving not like soldiers of the Empire, but like apes, hunched and menacing, eyes blank, mouths slack. Reiner tried to move, but his limbs couldn't answer the conflicting commands his mind was sending them.
The first swordsman reached Franka and raised his sword like an executioner. Franka shook with the effort to leap away, but could not. The sword was coming down.
'No!' barked Reiner, and fired his first pistol without thinking, blasting a ball up through the swordsman's jaw and out of the top of his head. The man dropped, gouting blood and spilling brains, and Reiner found that this small disobedience had broken the banner's hold on him. He could move.
The pistol's report had freed Franka and Giano as well. They stumbled back from the attacking swordsmen, gasping and cursing, but Oskar, Pavel and Hals were still frozen, sagging bonelessly to the ground. The swordsmen closed to cut them down.
Franka, Reiner and Giano jumped forward again to defend their comrades. Franka lunged under a swinging blade with her dagger, but was clubbed to the ground by the swordsman's elbow. Reiner blocked a sword that swung for Oskar's head, then shot its owner through the heart with his second pistol. Giano threw his crossbow in a swordsman's face and stabbed him through the heart with his sword.
'Kneel, curse you!' Erich bellowed, but they were too busy to listen.
'Hals! Pavel! Oskar!' cried Reiner as he parried two blades. 'Wake up!'
Franka stumbled up, dazed. A swordsman pulled back his sword to hack at her. She dodged unsteadily to the side and he missed. Reiner chopped through the man's shoulder to the bone. He looked up dully and stabbed at Reiner as if he hadn't felt the blow at all.
Surprised, Reiner forgot to parry, and had to drop desperately to the ground to avoid the thrust. The swordsman raised his sword for the killing blow, but suddenly a spear thrust up into his ribs. Reiner glanced to the side. Pavel clung to the spear like a lifeline.
'Thank'ee, lad,' said Reiner, rising. He hamstrung the swordsman and turned to face another.
Pavel was still too muddled to answer. Beside him, Hals was slapping himself in the face and cursing, fighting the banner with all his will. Reiner and Giano guarded them. Oskar crawled away from the melee, dragging his gun.
Three swordsmen remained. They fought with crude strength, but little finesse. If Reiner and his companions had been in good health and in full possession of their faculties they would have made short work of them, but dazed and wounded as they were, they were nearly as ungainly as their mesmerized opponents. The swordsmen's attacks smashed into their parries with numbing force, and they shrugged off wounds that would have had normal men screaming.
Franka helped Reiner kill another sword, cutting his throat with her dagger from behind while Reiner kept him busy.
'Go on, captain,' called Hals as the swordsman fell. 'We've these last two. Go teach that brainless jagger a lesson.'
Reiner looked to where Erich and Lady Magda watched the fight with anxious eyes. He didn't want to face von Eisenberg one on one, especially when the knight had the power of the banner giving him strength. But someone had to do it. With a sigh he plucked a pistol from the belt of a fallen swordsman and started up the hill as his companions fought on behind him. Smoke and sparks blew all around him as the woods that surrounded the hill burned like brittle hay. It was almost impossible to see the battlefield through the flames.
Erich thrust the banner at him. 'Kneel, dog! As Baron Albrecht's vexillary, I command you! Do as he ordered! Obey me!'
Lady Magda smirked as Reiner staggered, the force of the order like a yoke on his neck, bearing down on him. The urge to kneel and kiss the ground was nearly overpowering. But having fought it off once, it was easier to disobey a second time. He kept walking, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.
'Sorry, von Eisenberg,' he said, forcing the words through his lips. 'You've picked the wrong troops to try your sorceries on. Brig scum are terrible at following orders.'
With a squeak of fear, Lady Magda backed away, then turned and ran to the edge of the cliff. She snatched up a yellow flag from the ground and began to wave it vigorously over her head.
Reiner paid her no mind. He raised his pistol and aimed at Erich.
'Put it down, Hetzau,' called Erich. 'I command you.'
Reiner fought the order and kept hold of the gun, but only just. Firing it was out of the question. His fingers would not obey him.
Erich laughed and slashed at him with his free hand. The knight was unarmed, and ten paces away, and yet Reiner flew back as if punched in the chest with a battering ram. He crashed to the ground, gasping, a fiery pain burning his ribs and abdomen. He looked down at himself. His leather jerkin was untouched, but blood was seeping through his shirt. He tore it open. Three deep gashes had opened the flesh of his abdomen. He could see the white of his ribs through one. He winced in agony.
'The claws of the manticore,' he croaked.
'The claws of the griffin,' said Erich, smug. 'To rend the enemies of the Empire.'
He slashed again. Reiner
rolled to the side and claw marks appeared in the turf where he'd lain.
'If you still think you're fighting for the Empire, you're more of a fool than I thought,' grunted Reiner. 'And griffin or manticore, it's still an unfair advantage.'
'Unfair?' said Erich, offended. 'This is a holy weapon.'
Reiner tied his jerkin as tightly as he could against his wounds. 'And I have only this sword.' He climbed unsteadily to his feet, hissing with pain, and glared up at Erich, who looked like a hero in a painting, his head haloed by the sun. 'I thought you were a man of honour, Erich. A gentleman. What's has become of level ground? Of fair play and a choice of weapons?'
'Why should I play fair when you cheated in our last encounter?'
'I did not cheat. Hals acted on his own. I was perfectly willing to fight another touch with you, only fate intervened.'
'A likely story,' sneered Erich.
'Think what you like,' said Reiner, 'but here I am, ready to go again, to prove who is the better man, and you attack me with invisible claws and muddle my mind with the power of the banner. Dare you call that fair? Dare you call yourself a gentlemen?'
'You question my honour, sir?'
'I do until you put down that banner and fight me man to man.'
'Don't listen to him, you fool!' cried Lady Magda, hurrying back from the cliff-edge. 'You must not put down the banner.'
'Lady, please,' said Erich. 'This is a quarrel between men.' He glared at Reiner. 'How do I know you won't cheat me again?'
Reiner put his hand on his heart. 'You have my word as a gentleman and the son of a Knight of the Bower. I will fight you in accordance with the rules of knightly combat. May Sigmar strike me down if I lie.'
Erich hesitated, frowning.
Lady Magda balled her fists. 'You clothheaded infant, I order you to hold fast to the banner and kill this man instantly.'
This seemed to decide Erich. He raised the banner high over his head, then jammed it savagely into the ground so that it stood on its own. He turned to Reiner, removing his sword belt and drawing his beautiful long sword. 'So,' he said. 'To the death this time?'
'Oh yes,' said Reiner, and shot him in the face. The ball smashed through Erich's nose and exploded out the back of his head with a spray of gore. The knight folded like a house of cards, an expression of surprise frozen on his ruined face. He was dead before he hit the ground.
'You were right after all, Erich.' said Reiner as he threw the pistol aside. 'I am a cheat.'
NINETEEN
I Will Not Fail Again
REINER LOOKED FROM Erich's lifeless body to Valnir's Bane, stuck in the ground beside it. The banner was within his grasp, all he had to do was to throw it into the burning trees below and it would be destroyed, yet he hesitated to touch it. He forced his hand to reach for it.
'No!' Lady Magda shrieked and launched herself at him with a stiletto. He cuffed her to the ground and turned on her, raising his sword. 'Fine, I'll finish you first.'
She rolled out of reach, then laughed and pointed behind him. 'You insect. Turn and face your doom!'
Reiner looked over his shoulder. Bursting out of the wall of fire that cut off the base of the hill was Baron Albrecht and ten of his knights, their steeds mad with fear, manes and tails smoking.
Reiner's men, standing over the bodies of the swordsmen they had only just defeated, turned as well and stared at the squadron of knights advancing up the slope toward them. Hals lay on the ground, clutching a wound in his good leg, no longer good. Reiner noticed with superstitious dread that sparks from the burning trees had set the little shrine of Sigmar on fire and it burned like a torch. Not a good omen.
The knights lowered their lances and charged the companions. They stepped back wearily, too dazed to run. There seemed no way to prevent them from being run down. Unless...
Suddenly inspired, Reiner snatched up the cursed banner and ran forward, his slashed ribs screaming in protest at the awkward weight. The haft bit his hands with crackling black energy. It surged up his arms and made his joints throb in agony.
'Stop!' he shouted. 'Albrecht! Knights, I command you! In the name of Valnir, stop and turn back!'
Albrecht and his knights reined up hard, their chargers rearing and plunging, as if suddenly faced with a stone wall. One fell from the saddle.
Albrecht forced his horse down and reached for his sword.
'Fall back!' bellowed Reiner. 'Turn about! Down the hill.'
Albrecht froze, his hand halfway to his hilt, fighting the banner's influence with all his concentration, but his knights obeyed the order without a fight, wheeling their horses and starting down the hill again. At the base, the horses shied from entering the burning woods again, and would not continue. The knights spurred them savagely. The horses wheeled and bucked, throwing off their riders, who, horribly, picked themselves up and walked into the burning trees. Through the flames, Reiner could see their cloaks and tabards catching fire as the flames leapt at them. Reiner winced. It was horrible death.
Albrecht remained where he was, visibly shaking as he tried to ignore Reiner's order.
'Turn about, baron!' called Reiner. 'I am your leader now. I command you to charge down the hill!'
Albrecht began haltingly to turn, cursing and sweating as his hands jerked the horse's reins to the right against his will.
Reiner laughed. Baron Albrecht was obeying his commands! What a delicious joke. A giddy thrill ran up his spine. With the power of the banner coursing through him, he could make anyone do anything. A vision of ordering his father to kiss his own arse flashed across his mind, but that was mere childish vengeance. With power such as this he could do great things. It was a dark power, true, but if a man was strong enough to control it, it could be made to work for good. He could right grievous wrongs, depose cruel despots, force evil men to lay down their arms. Or better yet, he thought with a chuckle, he could turn them against each other, make evil fight evil for once, and slaughter each other to the last man. Wash the world clean with their blood. He would be king! Emperor! He would remake the world in his...
A searing pain erupted in his back. Something sharp ground between his ribs. He shrieked and dropped the banner. The here-and-now snapped back around him. Magda was drawing back her stiletto to stab him again. He backhanded her across the mouth. She fell on top of the banner.
Hissing in pain, Reiner turned, raising his sword, 'You should have cut my throat, sister.'
'Stand, villain!'
Reiner looked over his shoulder. Albrecht had returned to himself, and was dismounting his charger.
'Touch not the lady!' he said, striding forward and drawing his long sword. His blue-hued plate flashed darkly in the sun.
'The lady is a conniving seductress who has turned you against your brother and your homeland,' said Reiner, stepping back. But despite his brave words, he felt like a rabbit in the path of a chariot. Albrecht was stronger, fresher, better armed and armoured - not to mention a head taller. He braced for the baron's swing.
A shot rang out. Albrecht staggered as one of his shoulder pieces spun off, holed and twisted. Behind the baron Reiner could see Oskar, kneeling near the unconscious Hals, lowering his smoking handgun. Franka and Giano fired as well, but their missiles glanced off Albrecht's armour. Pavel was shambling forward, dragging his spear. Reiner's heart swelled. He had forgotten. He was not alone.
Albrecht recovered and closed with Reiner, swinging mightily. Reiner ducked and stepped past the baron to hack at his back. His sword bounced off the shining plate, ineffectual, and he had to twist away as Albrecht lashed out behind him.
'Hold him, captain,' called Pavel. 'We're coming.'
Oskar had dropped his gun and Giano his crossbow and they were limping after Pavel, swords drawn. Franka was circling wide, nocking another arrow.
'Lady Magda,' Albrecht shouted. 'Take cover. I will deal with these traitors.'
'No,' said Lady Magda as she pulled herself to her feet. 'The banner must fly or the b
attle is lost.' With an effort she lifted the Bane and staggered with it toward the crest of the hill.
'Someone stop her!' called Reiner, dodging a thrust from Albrecht. 'Knock down that banner.'
Pavel and Giano turned, but it was Oskar who ran after the abbess. 'I have failed you too often, captain,' he cried. 'She will not escape me again!'
'Be careful!' called Reiner, but Albrecht's sword was in his face and he could spare Oskar no more of his attention. He parried and, with Pavel and Giano, began circling the baron like dogs baiting a bull... They lunged in with their swords and spears as he spun this way and that.
'Dishonourable knaves,' Albrecht gasped, his face red within his helmet. 'Three on one? Is this how men of the Empire fight?'
Reiner danced in and cut Albrecht across the calf. 'Do men of the Empire enslave their subjects with sorcery and pit them against their brothers? Do men of the Empire slay their own kin to win power?'
'My brother is weak!' said Albrecht. 'He does Karl-Franz's bidding like a lap-dog, and refuses to join me in ridding the mountains of Chaos for good and all.'
'And so you bring a new evil to the land to fight the first?'
'You know not of what you speak.'
As he circled, Reiner saw, over Albrecht's shoulder, Oskar catch up to Lady Magda. The abbess turned at his approach, raising her hand to command him, but Oskar shielded his eyes and slashed at her with his sword. It was a weak strike, hardly more than a scratch across the back of Lady Magda's hand, but it was enough to cause her to yelp and drop the banner, which fell against Oskar's chest.
Lady Magda leapt at the artilleryman like a wild cat, stiletto held high. He blocked it with the haft of the banner and bashed her in the face with the pommel of his sword. She dropped like a stone.
'Magda!' cried Albrecht, as the sister sprawled limp on the grass. He started toward her, his own combat suddenly forgotten.
The three companions took advantage and lunged in together, but once again Albrecht's armour defeated them. Giano's sword caromed off his helmet. Pavel's spear pierced his leg guard, but not deep enough to wound him. Reiner's sword skidded off his chest plate.
