by Brian Murray
***
The archers continued to fire and General Urkin saw it was having little effect. He again turned to his messengers. “Cavalries, please.”
The men looked at the general, confused.
“Which one, sir?” asked one of the men.
“All of them,” snapped Urkin heatedly.
The messengers smiled and lowered the flags for the heavy cavalry, light cavalry, Royal Lancers, Dar-Phadrin clansmen, and Kharnacks.
***
The light cavalry behind the heavy cavalry banged their bucklers and screamed at the top of their voices. The heavy cavalry horses surged forward and raced down the western slope. The light cavalry held back their charge, giving the heavy cavalry a head start. With all of the armour the horses carried, the light cavalry could overtake the horses before they reached the enemy.
Shortly afterwards, the light cavalry galloped down the slope in pursuit.
***
On the southern slope, the Royal Lancers saw their flag drop. Admiral Rendel raised his sword. He was not a soldier, but he had decided to lead the men into battle. He checked their charge, watching the heavy cavalry thunder down the western slope. When he saw the light cavalry start their charge, he swept his sword forward. The Royal Lancers around him thundered down the southern slope.
***
The Chosen and Zane watched in horror as the Dread massed towards the frozen moat. The Chosen turned his head towards Urkin. He was about to order his riders forward when the clansmen’s flag was lowered. The Chosen did not check his charge. Anger drove the man. With several thousand ponies pounding on the slope behind him, the Chosen charged towards the enemy. He had one thought in mind and aimed directly towards the Dark One by the moat.
***
Maldino watched impassively as the moat was frozen. He knew the bloodshed on the mound would be immense, but that was not his problem. Something gnawed at him when he saw his flag drop. The chieftain cursed. He turned to one of his captains and ordered the man to take his warriors and attack the beasts massing by the moat. He and the rest of the warriors would charge the main force. When the captain nodded, Maldino raised his sword.
The Kharnacks screamed their war cry and raced to join the battle.
***
The archers stopped firing and waited for further commands. The heavy cavalry hit the front ranks of Talon Hunters and ploughed through. Their charge slowed, but the riders pushed on and breached the front ranks. Now they were faced by Shadows with their double-headed axes. The men did not hesitate and urged their horses on. Behind the heavy cavalry, the light cavalry cannoned into the Talon Hunters.
***
Angistone, a heavy cavalryman, had fought against the Kharnacks in a nearby field months ago. His horse thundered down the slope and he levelled his lance. Pushing his backside into the high saddleback, he picked out a beast. His horse pounded on. The distance between the beasts and him closed rapidly. This was his fourth charge and he was now used to the foul creatures that waited for him. The Talon Hunter he had picked out reared and howled loudly. Angistone braced himself for collision.
He watched his lance skewer the beast through its gaping maw and exit in a shower of gunk out the back of its skull. The Talon Hunter began to fall and Angistone’s horse cannoned into it. The weight of the dead beast snapped his lance near the hilt, so he threw the useless weapon to one side. Drawing his sword, he continued through the ranks of the matted fur creatures, hacking and slashing. Angistone breached their ranks and now faced the beasts with their toughened skin. He dug his heels into his horse’s ribs and charged forward. He did not look around to see how many of his comrades made it with him. He ducked under a wild slash and lashed out at the beast. His sword bounced off the creature’s head. He cursed but pushed on. The heavy cavalry had been ordered to try and reach the Dread’s horsemen. So, Angistone continued.
With luck, the horseman cleared the Shadows. Angistone was unaware he was the only one, so far, to have accomplished the feat. He closed on the massive horsemen. Angistone’s eyes widened when he realised the size of the warriors on their massive mounts. He wheeled his horse and aimed for one of the warriors clad in silver armour. Angistone watched the warrior pull clear a black broadsword. The Rhaurn lashed out at the warrior, who blocked the attack comfortably. Angistone tried to turn his horse, but the warrior was too fast. He felt a sting in his side and grunted. The pain surged through his body when the warrior ripped his broadsword clear. Angistone did not realise he had pitched from his horse and landed in a crumpled heap. He felt a soft cushion against his face. The pain ceased. The Rhaurn thought he would rest for a while. He did not rise.
***
Malice looked down at the fallen cavalryman. He did not bother to sheath his sword; instead he turned his attention back to the fighting before him.
***
To the south the Royal Lancers slammed into the Talon Hunters. To the north the Dar-Phadrin clansmen hit the beasts. The fighting was fierce and frenetic. Riders were yanked from their horses and ripped to pieces. Horses fell as the Talon Hunters and Shadows hacked, sliced, and ripped at anything they faced.
The Kharnacks charged into the beasts. The drug-heightened warriors hacked and slashed at the foul creatures. The Kharnacks formed large charging wedges and they penetrated deep into the Dread’s ranks. Near the moat the Kharnacks loomed onto the Dread, hitting them hard at their side. A silver-armoured warrior and one unit of Caynians defended the Dark One. Any Kharnack who broke through the Talon Hunters was instantly cut down.
The Chosen drew his sword and cannoned into the first beast. He slashed across and down, cleaving through a Talon Hunter’s throat. All around the emperor, the clansmen fought in a defensive ring. They were the Violet Eyes warriors and their orders had been to protect Zane. That had now been revised. The orders now were to protect their emperor as well as the king of Rhaurien. The thousands of clansmen hit the Dread on a gallop and crushed the first couple of ranks. Their charge slowed, but the clansmen fought like men possessed killing anything that was neither man nor horse.
***
Admiral Rendel led the Royal Lancers’ charge. He felt the years flow from his body as the exhilaration of the charge washed over him. The Royal Lancers formed a huge charging wedge around the admiral. The horsemen wheeled their mounts to the left, then followed through the hole created by the heavy cavalry.
***
Urkin looked down at the battlefield and raised his right hand. The horsemen had penetrated deep into the beasts’ ranks. They were still unable to entice the Dark One’s cavalry to attack. He continued to watch the fighting. Urkin grimaced when he saw a lone heavy cavalryman breach the lines of the beasts and reach the horsemen. But the Rhaurn was instantly cut down. Urkin raised his hand. “Infantry!” he called, lowering his hand. To his left Dax led the madly charging clansmen. To the general’s right the Rhaurien infantry started to move slowly down the slope. Twenty massive fighting squares holding two hundred foot soldiers each made steady progress towards the fighting.
The Dread did not wait for the squares to arrive and charged at them.
***
Dax watched from his viewpoint at the Dread charging the first square. This was the first time the beasts had broken their lines and charged the men. Dax lifted one of his death-dealers. He looked at Thade standing silently next to him. “Ready to join in?” Today, neither man wore any battle armour. Both preferred fighting without the hindrance of the metal casing.
Thade’s face remained grim when he answered. “Bring it on.”
Dax lowered his axe and screamed a war cry at the top of his voice. As soon as he took a step forward, thousands upon thousands of clansmen roared around him. A mass of men ran down the northern hill like a shadow creeping across the green slope.
Lightning flashed in the sky. Thunder grumbled noisily.
***
Urkin looked up at the sky as light rain started to fall. More lightning flashed and he started
to count slowly. He reached seven. He watched the movement of the clouds—the darkest patch of grey appeared almost black. With luck the centre of the storm should pass them by, but the general knew the rain would hinder his view of the battle. He shook his head. “Axe-wielders,” he called.
The axe-wielders’ flag was lowered.
***
Rayth had been given the honour of leading the axe-wielders on the western slope. He saw the axe-wielders’ flag drop. He lifted his axe and bellowed, “Axe-wielders!”
All around the innkeeper, the axe-wielders lifted their axes and roared, “WE!” At an even pace, the axe-wielders made their way down the churned slope. On the southern slope, they heard their comrades and followed the call. “Axe-wielders. WE!”
It began to rain heavily.
***
The Talon Hunters attacked the first fighting square. The beasts crashed into the front of the square, which immediately buckled. Other Talon Hunters jumped over the front row of shields to crush the men behind. The carnage was frightening as the soldiers fell, unable to move in the centre of the square. The following squares saw the massacre and changed formation to rows of fifty men, two deep with a gap between the rows. The Talon Hunters attacked the company of infantry, but with the change of formation the men coped better with the loping beasts. The first row locked shields and the second line of men used their weight to help brace the shields against the collision. Another wall of shields faced the Talon Hunters, who jumped over the first. These men kept moving, colliding with the beasts as they landed. Then the Rhaurns stabbed out with their swords and killed the creatures.
Behind the rows, the axe-wielders marched slowly on.
***
Thalan, a Dar-Phadrin clansman, charged on foot down the western slope. The clansman held his tulwar with two hands and screamed a high-pitched, gargling war cry. He raced past Dax and Thade and hacked at the first Talon Hunter he met. He did not stop to see if he had killed the beast. Jumping from his feet, Thalan cannoned his left shoulder into the chest of another beast. Rising first, Thalan raised his sword over his head and slammed it into the fallen beast’s exposed chest. He dived under a blow aimed at his head. The clansman slashed backwards and felt his sword bury itself in something. Again, the clansman did not stop racing forward. He slipped on some blood and fell below a decapitating swipe from a Shadow, using its huge double-headed axe. Thalan rose and hacked at the beast. The Shadow let the clansman’s blade bounce off its chest. Swiftly, the Shadow stabbed at the man with the points of its axe. Scooping the clansman off his feet, the Shadow spun the man in the air. It then twisted its wrists and slammed the man into the ground, so its axe points crushed through the man’s torso. Thalan’s head rolled to one side and he saw his emperor. That was all the clansman had wanted—to fight alongside his emperor. For a moment, he had done so.
***
The Chosen saw a Shadow kill one of his clansmen. He turned his horse and used his mount as a weapon. He thumped the horse’s hindquarters into the Shadow’s back. But as the beast fell it swung its axe, catching the horse high on its hind leg. The horse collapsed, but the Chosen managed to jump clear. On his feet, he drew his other short sword. He ducked under a slash from the rising Shadow. The Chosen swayed out of the way of an arching chop. The Shadow’s axe head buried itself into the softened ground. The Chosen used this opportunity to stab at the beast’s side. Using the weight of his body, Rowet pushed his swords in deep. The Shadow hissed in pain and slashed out at the emperor, catching his shoulder. Rowet was sent sprawling, but several clansmen jumped from their horses and charged at the beast, hacking at its natural armour. The beast fell and a clansman helped the Chosen to his feet, handing him his swords. The Chosen turned and the men raced on as a single unit.
***
Dax and Thade fought side-by-side. They killed anything and everything evil that stood in front of them. Dax was already covered in blood and goo as his death-dealers delivered killing blows. Thade used two gladiator swords with lethal effect. The former gladiator killed a Talon Hunter by slashing its neck, then buried both of his swords through its orange eyes. Dar-Phadrin clansmen, who surrounded the two Rhaurns, were killing beasts, but many fell due to lack of skill, though not passion.
***
The fighting rows of infantry breached the ranks of Talon Hunters and stopped. They held a defensive line, but were ordered not to attack the Shadows. Urkin had told the foot soldiers to assist the axe-wielders when they reached the Shadows, but not before. So, the infantry waited for the axe-wielders to reach them.
***
Rayth led the axe-wielders into the battle. The warriors started by hacking and carving their way through the Talon Hunters’ ranks. Once the axe-wielders reached the beasts, they formed fighting units of twelve men. In these smaller packs, the axe-wielders attacked the beasts. Rayth led one of the packs that attacked a Talon Hunter. Rayth arched his axe, but only caught the Talon Hunter on its raised arm. Two other axe-wielders stepped in and chopped at the creature. Its howl suddenly stopped when one warrior delivered a murderous blow to the beast’s throat. All around Rayth’s unit, the axe-wielders were killing beasts.
The axe-wielders from the southern slope also reached the fighting. Like their comrades, they formed small killing units that penetrated deep into the enemy’s lines.
***
Maldino and his Kharnacks carved a swathe through the Dread. However, they could not provoke the large mounted warriors into the fight. Whenever a squad of Kharnacks neared the massive warriors they were cut down, but the huge horsemen did not break ranks. Maldino looked at his men attacking the beasts by the moat. They were helping the defenders by keeping the beasts occupied. The chieftain swayed in his saddle to avoid a beast ripping him from his mount. Maldino slashed down at the beast, but it slapped his sword away. He spun his horse to block the beast’s lunge. He thrust out, the point of his sword drawing blood. The Talon Hunter howled and ripped its claws through Maldino’s horse’s flank. The horse reared in pain and pitched over. Maldino jumped and rolled clear of his dying mount. The beast loomed over Maldino, ready to rip away the man’s life. Several Kharnack warriors saw their chieftain fall and rode to his aid. They jumped from their horses, diving at and onto the Talon Hunter. Ten warriors jumped and buried their swords into the beast. When the eleventh warrior stabbed at the creature, its howl fell to a gurgle, then stopped.
***
The Dread pounded at the western gate, whilst Shadows chopped at the wooden structure with their axes. Below them, other Talon Hunters pulled and pushed at the retracted bridge. They were trying to break the locking device. Several beasts pushed, while others pulled at the bridge. From deep under the city came a grinding noise followed by a sudden loud snap. The Talon Hunters tugged the bridge and it started to pull clear from its casing.
***
Platos and the rest of the defenders fought frantically on the mound. Men fell all around the huge smithy who himself, had lost his helm. Over the screams and clashing of steel against steel he heard the loud snap. He smashed his war-hammer into the face of a Talon Hunter and looked over the mound. He saw the beasts were extending the bridge. He cursed.
“DANF!” screamed the smithy. The young clansman ran up to Platos. “Stay on the wall and hold it. The gate will be breached soon. I need to be ready.”
Danf just grimaced and raced off to aid a clansman who had tripped over a body and lay beneath a Shadow. Danf jumped and shoulder-charged the creature off the mound as it was about to deliver its killing blow. Danf helped the man to his feet and ducked below a Talon Hunter’s extended claws. The young clansmen stabbed up and forced the beast from the mound. He looked around and saw the man he had just rescued lay dead with his face ripped off. Danf swore and ran in the other direction, where more beasts were getting a foothold on the mound.
***
Admiral Rendel chopped and hacked, but did little damage to the beasts. He just did not have the power to cut through th
eir thick rawhides. He turned his horse and looked at the carnage around him. Thousands upon thousands of men, horses, and beasts were dead or dying. The screaming of dying men, howling from the beasts, and whinnying from injured horses filled the rain-saturated air. Reedie’s horse slipped and he grimly held on. The horse regained its footing and the admiral turned his horse again. The sounds of the battle clogged the old man’s senses. He did not see the Talon Hunter attack through the sheets of rain, nor hear it splashing on the wet, muddy ground.
***
Malice watched the battle with his skilful mind seeking weaknesses and opportunities to attack. He noticed the foot soldiers were having a greater effect on the Dread than he had thought possible. The Dread were killing more men, but they fought on four different fronts. What annoyed Malice was that none of the attacking fronts had been crushed into submission. Malice could sense Chaos’s irritation at having to wait whilst all around him the Dread fought. Not known for his patience, Malice was impressed with his brother. But the time came to unleash him.
“Chaos.”
“Yes, brother?”
“The foot soldiers need to be crushed. We need to defeat one of the fronts. Take a hundred Caynians and do it.”
Chaos removed his helm and placed it on the horn of his saddle. He smiled broadly as he started to dismount.
“Why are you dismounting, brother?”
“What is the fun of killing them on horseback?” countered Chaos, reaching the sodden ground.
“Just do it!” snapped Malice.
Chaos psychically ordered a company Caynians to join him. He continued to smile and marched purposely into the fray. He drew his two black short swords . . .
***
General Urkin watched through the sheeting rain, as one hundred of the massive horsemen dismounted and walked gracefully to the northeast. He called for two of his messengers.
