Haven: A Trial of Blood and Steel Book Four

by Shepherd, Joel

  All the men were mounted, and stood in ranks as Alfriedo, Zulmaher, and their accompanying lords approached. These were the great families of Tracato and Rhodaan, now restored to nobility by the Regent's victory. Their banners flew high against the green of the valley walls, and to a man they sat proudly in the saddle. Most had dreamed of this day since they were old enough to understand the tales their parents told them, of god-given entitlements unfairly stolen, and of destinies to be fulfilled. Alfriedo shared their joy and pride in part, for it was his own, born in him as it was in them from the moment he was old enough to understand his mother's stories. And yet the cost had been immense. He did miss the serrin libraries of Tracato. And in light of what he had lately been challenged to read, he rather missed the serrin themselves.

  Ahead of the Rhodaanis massed Torovan cavalry. All who had come along the forest road were cavalry, as foot soldiers would have taken too long, and been exposed to serrin ambush at night camp in the forests. The Torovans gathered in their various provinces, none of which seemed to enjoy each other's company. Many Torovans had fought with the Army of Lenayin in the Battle of Shero Valley, and some Alfriedo had spoken with were resentful that the Lenays had used them more as a reserve, save for some heavy cavalry action on one flank. Others were exasperated that the Lenays, their previous allies, had divided against themselves, as though such an event were as predictable as dogs fighting over a bone.

  Somewhere further ahead of the Torovans, lost amongst the trees, were a huge mass of Kazeri. No one understood the Kazeri. They had nomadic tribes, and many had grown up travelling grassy plains, and fighting other Kazeri tribes. Some now claimed the Verenthane faith, and the great Kazeri chiefs allied themselves with the Chansul of Meraine, to the disgust of the Regent's closer allies. Meraine had fought Larosa for as many centuries as humans could remember, and now the Meraini brought the Kazeri onside to strengthen their position. The Chansul of Meraine also claimed that Ilduur would not participate in the defence of Jahnd. Without Ilduur, Jahnd's defenders would be outnumbered by a ridiculous margin, and surely their defence would be very short indeed. Such a victory could be claimed as a great victory for the Chansul and Meraine, to the Regent's further displeasure. Some already spoke of a possible war to follow this one, as Balthaar asserted his dominance over the upstart Meraini Chansul.

  But the Army of Northern Lenayin did not rate the Kazeri as warriors. The Army of Northern Lenayin, in truth, did not rate any who were not Lenay as warriors. King Koenyg now led the advance, far ahead up the valley, and warned that the outer defence of mounted serrin archers would be best faced by his horsemen alone. Many further back in the column grumbled, but few with any force. The northerners were not many, no more than six thousand. King Koenyg's self-opinion was vast, for a man whose primary force had abandoned him to humiliation. Few here would mind to see the talmaad cut him down to size a little.

  Errollyn waited. He could hear the riders coming, a great, thundering wall of noise across the Dhemerhill Valley. Trees broke any line of sight across the valley fields, with trails and farmhouses making a patchwork unsuitable for any single, massed formation.

  About him, talmaad steadied their horses and readied their bows. There were several hundred here, hidden behind trees on the lower slope of the northern valley slope. Behind more trees, several hundred strides ahead, were Enoran cavalry. Thus were Jahnd's cavalry forces dispersed across the eastern valley, divided into small groups, and hidden, at least initially. Further east, the Regent's advancing forces would have encountered the first such group, and been encouraged by their lack of numbers. That drew them into a pursuit, much favoured by talmaad cavalry. Smart commanders amongst the enemy cavalry would surely recognise the tactic, and perhaps prevent their forces from charging headlong into the obvious ambush. But could they stop their hot-blooded men in a roaring charge?

  He could see talmaad now, racing down a road between fields. Others went cross-country, jumping fences and weaving through trees, slowing now to allow others to come by, and attackers to gain range. And here were the pursuers, galloping hard to catch up with the retreating serrin. As soon as they made range, serrin archers fired, straight backward. A horseman fell, then another.

  But there were not many. Errollyn frowned, and peered through the trunks and leaves of their limited cover. Here were the others, a larger mass of cavalry, leather- and mail-clad riders on big horses. He recognised several of the banners, and realised why this ambush was not progressing as he'd hoped.

  “Lenays!” he called to the talmaad about him, and felt rather than heard the intake of breath that followed his announcement. Cavalry of Northern Lenayin. Men in black with silver steel, Hadryn, Ranash, and Banneryd, mixed with the Verenthane nobility of other provinces who followed their noble king. These were not men who would fall for tricks. Likely they'd have tricks of their own.

  Some talmaad level with their position were now waving to Errollyn from down in the valley, and pointing across to some near place that he could not see, along this valley wall. From hand gestures, he realised that Lenay cavalry were sweeping these lower slopes, to guard against precisely this sort of ambush. He directed his force into the trees, progressing far enough forward until he could see the Lenays coming ahead. Already the range was good, and he yelled for a charge.

  Talmaad burst from the trees and hurtled toward a Lenay force of several hundred. Trained as talmaad were not to waste arrows from range, they waited for a closer shot. The Lenays, in response, did an utterly un-Lenay-like thing, by turning to bolt.

  They raced away down the slope, building that momentum on fleet horses. Several of Errollyn's talmaad got close enough for a good shot, but arrow range chasing after an enemy was not as good as when he was chasing after you, and most arrows fell short. And now the main columns of Lenays in the valleys below were getting close, and Errollyn knew that to continue the chase was to become cut off and pinned against this valley wall.

  He signalled a turn, and they wheeled away from their prey, angling downslope across the riders below. Immediately the men they'd been chasing followed them and pursued, always holding just beyond the optimum range. Errollyn muttered as he steered his horse between outcrops of trees, then over a paddock fence. Lenays played lagand, and though he'd never seen a game, Sasha had described it to him often, and shown him some of her skills. Lagand was mobile strategy on horseback, and Lenays played it well.

  Below, a mass of Lenay horsemen had galloped ahead of their main body and were sprinting now to cut Errollyn's force off. Errollyn angled his riders into a rough line astern, with still some height advantage over the men now racing parallel to him down in the valley. By holding this line, he dared them to come up to him, at a slow angle uphill, and give his archers targets. The Lenays declined, jumping now to cross new fields, splitting and pouring around a farmhouse and a small dam.

  Suddenly there were talmaad in their rear, riders hidden behind the farmhouse chasing after them, loosing arrows into men's backs. Lenays fell, and others wheeled about to face the threat. The forward half of the Lenay line continued. Errollyn indicated with a yell, and charged downslope.

  Seeing that line of talmaad coming downhill onto them, the Lenays turned away. And now the first group Errollyn had tried to ambush was charging across the slope onto his flank, as talmaad over that way broke and ran, firing back over their shoulders. Some Lenays fell, and then a talmaad too, though Errollyn could not see how that happened.

  Now the Enoran cavalry broke from cover upslope, and came pouring down the hill. The near group of Lenays broke away and ran downslope, while those deeper in the valley raced back and around, hoping the Enorans would charge past them and expose their rear. Errollyn had to admire the coordination—even surprised, Lenay cavalry coordinated well to turn tables on their ambushers.

  Errollyn let the Enorans come down past him, then yelled for a charge. He led his force across the Enorans' rear, blocking any pursuit, standing now in the stirrups to loose a
n arrow at the Lenays, who were also charging, knowing a head-on scenario to be a good option against talmaad. And it was, for Errollyn only got off two shots before Lenay and talmaad forces collided, and he drew his blade while steering with his bow hand, ducking and weaving between the big Lenay horsemen.

  Their formation was fragmented, and most talmaad made it through, but with swords out for parrying, talmaad were unable to fire arrows at pointblank range. Errollyn got a good swing at a passing Lenay who swatted the blow calmly with his shield, ignoring him to focus on a serrin who barely ducked the swing.

  And then they were clear, Errollyn sheathing his sword once more to draw another arrow, but already the Lenays were galloping at full speed out of range. He considered a high shot, but did not want to waste the arrow, and put it back in his quiver instead. Serrin formed up around him, and then the Enorans, moving back to make another line. The Lenays had exchanged blows with them, briefly, then pulled back and dared the Enorans to chase, straight toward the main Lenay force. The Enoran lieutenant had wisely pulled back instead, minus several of his number.

  “They're good,” the lieutenant said grimly, reining in at Errollyn's side. “Damn good. I lost five; I think we only got two.”

  “Northern cavalry are feared even in Lenayin,” Errollyn agreed.

  “They've got crossbows,” said a talmaad arriving at his side, steadying her horse. “Some of them. Not our range, and difficult to reload on a horse, but dangerous enough if we let them get close.”

  “They take away our extreme range, and our close range,” Errollyn surmised. “They limit our options, and when they find themselves in our kill-zone they retreat. At this rate we're unlikely to kill very many of them before we run out of valley.”

  His plan had been to draw them into a series of pursuits along the valley, which would in turn be ambushed by group after group of hidden talmaad who would appear in their midst, as the serrin behind the farmhouse had done, and shoot them down. Enoran and Rhodaani cavalry then complicated the picture, charging to close range to hold the Lenays in place, allowing talmaad cavalry to close in and pick off targets.

  But the northerners weren't falling for it; they evaded the talmaad's preferred shooting range while manoeuvring easily around regular cavalry ambushes, and when they did come to blows in close, neither talmaad nor Steel cavalry could match them for sheer ability.

  He needed to make a dent in their numbers, but even now he could see the main column of Lenay cavalry advancing behind, at no more than leisurely pace. Probably they would send out columns like these to chase and harass for a while, and spring talmaad ambushes before they could do any real damage, and then rotate those columns back into the main force while sending out fresh columns to replace them. They could do that all the way down the valley, and suffer very little. Errollyn thought he smelled Koenyg's planning in this.

  “He thinks he knows how we fight,” he said grimly. “We'll have to show him something else.”

  Sasha sat ahorse on a bluff overlooking the western mouth of the Dhemerhill Valley. Before her lay the Ipshaal River, wide and calm. Immediately beneath the bluff lay the small, human town of Hama. Saalshen allowed human occupation of towns in the western Dhemerhill and upon the Ipshaal banks here, to give Jahnd access to the river and trading routes to Enora. Typically it would be surrounded by small fields, trees, and farmhouses, but now it seemed an island before a sea of soldiers.

  Sasha recalled the Battle of the Udalyn Valley, where the sight of so many soldiers had astonished her. Then she had fought with the Army of Lenayin at Shero Valley, and that had been many times the scale of anything she'd previously seen. Compared to what she saw before her now, Shero Valley looked like a skirmish. The army spilled in both directions along the Ipshaal bank, as far as she could see. Hills rose steeply on this bank, becoming low mountains to either side, and providing no passage to Jahnd. The only way in was the Dhemerhill Valley, and now more than one hundred thousand men were massing upon the bank to organise in advance of moving into the valley.

  “They know it's a trap,” said Arken, seated at her side in full Ilduuri armour. “That is why they hesitate.”

  “Traps can be smashed with brute force,” said Sasha. “They come at us from both ends of the valley, and it is we who are trapped in the middle. We must make them pay for every advance they make, and hope that their losses are so grave by the time they reach Jahnd that they cannot trap us within.”

  “Perhaps they'll try to force open the valley without first capturing these heights.”

  “I hope they're that stupid. But they'll know we have artillery up here, and a wall down the valley, and if they get stuck up against that, they'll be slaughtered. They have to capture the heights first, and no commander ever won a war by hoping his enemy would commit suicide.”

  She looked across to the opposite side of the valley, wishing she could have artillery on those heights also. But the hillsides there rose steadily steeper and steeper, with no bluffs or flat ground on which to place even archers, let alone bullock-drawn catapults and ballistas on wheels. They had enough of that on this side of the valley that perhaps half of the valley floor could be covered, thanks to the extra range that height provided. It should be enough, as no commander could afford to cede half the battlespace to his enemy. But they had to hold these heights from attack.

  “Look,” said an Ilduuri captain, pointing below. “Stars.”

  Verenthane Stars, he meant. They were carried by horsemen in black robes, mounted atop long poles, galloping before the near rank of teeming soldiers. Men cheered as they passed.

  “They think the gods are with them,” said Arken. Several officers muttered rude things in Ilduuri to hear that.

  “Lenays think the gods and spirits want a good fight,” Sasha said loudly. “Today they're going to get one.” That met with loud approval.

  She turned and considered her position. Her Ilduuris were back from the edge of the bluff, on the off-chance that the Regent really was stupid enough to attack down the valley without capturing these heights first. That, and she did not want him to see exactly who was up here. Ilduuri Steel had smaller shields and lighter armour than the Enoran or Rhodaani armies, and when arranged in a shield line, that difference would be visible from below. She did not mind showing herself and her officers, however. To imagine that the Regent might believe there was no one up here at all would be stretching credulity.

  “Should I go?” asked Daish at her side, looking wide-eyed upon the Regent's army.

  “Not yet,” said Sasha. “Wait until they attack, then we'll have something to tell Kessligh that he doesn't already know.” Kessligh supervised the defence from the eastern end of the valley. That concerned him most, as it was certain to be a cavalry attack that, if not stopped, could overrun their rear and end the defence of Jahnd before it had even begun. This western side, effectively, was Sasha's to command. Ilduuri were mountain soldiers, they held the heights, and so controlled the battle. Whatever happened here would not happen as fast as in the east, and so was safer to delegate to a junior commander. Yet even so, as Sasha considered the scale of what confronted her, the enormity of her responsibility felt like the weight of the world.

  Aside from Daish, Sasha had Andreyis and Yasmyn for messengers. She and Kessligh were separated by the entire battlefield and some steep hills, and there were other commanders she would also need to communicate with. Even three might not be enough. All were good riders, knew her well, and knew battle well enough to not miscommunicate a message. She hoped.

  “Here,” said Arken, indicating below. “Here they come.”

  Formations were advancing toward the little town below, thousands of men. “So many different Bacosh forces,” Sasha observed. “The nobility speak Larosan, but the common folk don't. They won't communicate easily.”

  “They're trying to find the lightest forces to assault these slopes,” said Arken. “If heavy steel were good for climbing, mountain goats would have shells.”


  Men were now pouring into the town, disappearing beneath red-tiled roofs. More were following. And now others were heading off to the left, searching for other ways up. The Ilduuri had prepared this defence for days, and knew all such ways.

  “That's not enough, you fools,” said an Ilduuri captain with a smile, watching the activity below. “You'll need more than that.”

  “Let's hope it takes them a while and a lot of casualties to figure it out,” said Sasha. “Artillery Captain!”

  “Commander!”

  “Prepare your ballistas! Save the catapults for now!”

  “Yes, General!”

  Men emerged from the near side of the town, and began climbing the slope directly behind it. Some followed the path, but officers were directing others straight up through the trees, realising that the path would take far too long for them all to climb. They needed to come up in a swarm, and as the captain had observed, there were not yet nearly enough of them.

  Yells went back and forth in Ilduuri, artillery spotters shouting back. They'd tested these ranges before also, and knew exactly the required elevations for each ballista and catapult to hit a specific patch of hillside. Ilduuri artillery soldiers had their own language for it, and while they used primarily ballistas and not catapults, they'd incorporated these borrowed Enoran and Rhodaani catapult teams into their ranks easily enough.

  “Deploy the archers?” Arken wondered.

  “Not yet,” said Sasha. “Let it take a little time for them to figure out just how many we are. The longer they take to realise the strength of our defence, the more men they waste.”

  Sasha found herself thinking of Regent Balthaar. Balthaar thought they were only Enorans, Rhodaanis, and Lenays, plus talmaad. He did not count on Ilduuris too. Jahnd had a domestic militia, but those would serve as defence only and, if the Regent's forces surrounded Jahnd with their own artillery, would probably all perish without so much as swinging a blade in anger.