Brave Men Die: Part 2 (8 page)

Taking off a man’s weapon arm, Octans ducked under a blow aimed at his head and impaled the man through the stomach. The dead man collapsed to the blood soaked ground as he pulled the blade out. Out of the corner of his eye Octans saw the man beside him fall with a spear erupting out of his back. His sword flashed out and avenged him as the Fists surged around him and into the Kyzantine ranks.

‘Retreat!’ Cronos screamed above the battle, spinning his horse around and searching for a way back across the valley.

The Fangs followed, their blades striking one last time, making that small break so they could get away over the bodies of the fallen. They raced after the baron, his black plume bouncing high on his helmet. Those Fangs pinned by the Kyzantine pincer were locked in battle, unable to get away from the carnage. So many had already fallen.

Cronos pulled up and waited, the majority of the surviving Fangs reining in beside him as he watched the battle ensue with the Fists and Sentinels. They held the line at the entrance of the pass but were going to be pushed back slowly under the weight of superior numbers. He looked around, there were maybe two hundred Fangs left, with the occasional straggler wondering back to the line.

Byrn pulled up beside him, his left arm dangling, his shield held limply in his hand.

‘We can’t get cut off. More of them will be coming through Iron Talon and we’re dead if we are still in this valley.’

‘So you think this is an invasion now?’ Cronos asked.

‘This was a deliberate set up to lure us into the valley with blinkers on.’

‘I’m aware of that Byrn. No doubt about it, we are at war. Do you want that put back in,’ Cronos asked, indicating his shoulder.

‘If you wouldn’t mind.’

Cronos sheathed his sword and reached out, grabbed hold of his friend’s arm with one hand and braced Byrn’s shoulder with the other. He quickly snapped it back into place with a loud pop. Relief washed over Byrn’s face and he hesitantly lifted his shield to test his mobility.

‘Shall we?’ Cronos asked.

‘I can’t think of anything else to do.’

Cronos turned his horse around, looking over the Fangs; their bloodied bodies, wondering how much was theirs, how much the enemy’s. He pushed himself up in the stirrups, gaining a little height and getting the attention of his men.

‘We need to get back into the pass, get back to Black Claw and defend it until we are reinforced. Lance formation down the left. Assist the infantry to fall back.’

He unsheathed his sword and turned his mount around to face the enemy.

‘Forward,’ he ordered, driving his horse toward the battle and his men followed.

They thundered across the plain, plunged into the Kyzantine line driving a wedge through the milling infantry. Hacking and slashing their way through, the Fangs hammered their weapons into the backs of heads — skulls crushed, men fell. Pushing forward, the Murukan line parted as the knights surged past.

Pollux watched as the last Murukan knight was pulled from his saddle as the others darted behind the infantry. Raising his shield high to block a blow from a Kyzantine knight, he slashed his sword out and whipped it into the horse’s leg. The bone cracked and the horse slumped to the ground. The soldier beside Pollux drove a spear into the fallen knight’s chest.

Pollux turned to see Cronos lead a charge into the left flank, pushing right. The move caused some confusion amongst the enemy. He recognised the tactic.

‘Fighting retreat! Keep the line steady, shields forward!’ Pollux screamed.

A line of spearman formed into ranks in front of him, shields interlocked and ready for the enemy charge. The surviving Fangs rode between the two opposing armies, battering away harmlessly on a wall of shields, as the Fists and Sentinels backtracked as quickly as possible while maintaining their lines.

Pollux hadn’t stepped back far before the Kyzantine infantry surged forward over the piles of dead. Pollux bent at the knees and took a full charge on his shield, then lifted and threw the soldier into the air over his shoulder. He heard those behind him finish off the man as he whipped his sword around to deflect a blow aimed at his stomach and brought his shield down on a woman’s weapon arm. As the bone shattered, Pollux rammed the crossbar into the soldier’s eye. Ooze splattered over his hand as the woman reeled back in pain, her hands going to her face.

Sitting patiently in her saddle beside Daria further down the pass, Ara observed as the Murukan infantry slowly retreated while holding the line. Their retreat was going to be a long and bloody one the way they were going. The infantry needed assistance, something that would give them time to fall back safely to Black Claw.

‘Mind my horse Daria, I’m going down there to buy them some time.’

Daria’s hand reached out and grabbed her arm, ‘What are you planning on casting that won’t destroy our own soldiers?’

‘I don’t know yet, but I’m sure something will come to me by the time I get down there.’

Ara dismounted and raced into the fray, leaving Daria alone to watch over the battle. Her robes whipped behind her as she slid in amongst the troops, wriggling her way to the front of the line. She was battered by armour plates and swinging elbows as the men of the Kingdom raised their shields as the arrows peppered the back of the Murukan unit. Ara couldn’t remember seeing Kyzantine archers from her position a moment ago.

Inch by inch she made her way through the Fists, searching for Pollux. Ara knew he was at the front of this mess and from his side she would cast and divide the two armies. Pollux didn’t flinch as she put her hand on his shoulder, just accepted her presence and put his shield forward to defend her. Ara moved her head closer to his.

‘I’ve got a better diversion Pollux. I just need a moment to prepare,’ Ara screamed into his ear.

‘Make it quick,’ he snapped between gritted teeth, blocking a flurry of blows.

Ara brought her arms up and spoke an incantation. Those Murukans around her moved paces away as fires formed in the palms of her hands. Her eyes went dark, her robes blew around her body. The flames were massive when she finished casting and Ara directed them at the ground. Flames surged along the ground in between the two forces causing both sides to jump back from the heat. The fire wall stretched up both sides of the pass.

Pollux stepped behind Ara as the rest of the Fists started running. Sweat dripped down his brow even as Ara absorbed most of the heat and flames. Slowly the orbs of flame diminished in her hands and her focus returned to the battlefront.

‘It won’t last long so we should hurry,’ her voiced rasped.

‘You heard her,’ Pollux screamed at the remaining soldiers watching the flames lick into the sky. ‘Fall back to the gate now, full speed.’

He sheathed his weapon and grabbed Ara by the shoulders pushing her to her waiting mount and assisted her up.

‘Good job, now go,’ he said smacking the horse’s rump. ‘Daria get her there safely,’ he added to the older mage who had ridden to the front when Ara begun casting.

Pollux turned to see Octans running toward him.

‘Good to see you made it out of that.’

‘We’re not done yet. We still have to run back to the gate before the fire dies and the cavalry run us down.’

‘Too easy,’ Octans said a big smile on his face as he started jogging beside his friend.

Pyxis watched the flames sail high up the mountainsides. There was no getting through. They would have to lay siege to Black Claw. She looked over her troops who had fled from the mage’s spell. The infantry had run halfway back into Cerebus Valley, her knights had more restraint and had stopped somewhere in the middle between the flames and the cowards. She shook her head in disappointment.

Cunx was milling metres away, gauging the general’s anger. Most of the bodies were those of the Kingdom, in fact they had lost very little except for the flank of the infantry. He sucked in a breath and rode over.

‘General.’

‘How bad is it? Really?’

‘It could be worse.’

Pyxis looked at him blankly.

‘We could have ended up like that guy,’ Cunx indicated, pointing to a dead Kyzantine with a spear jammed in one butt cheek.

Pyxis acknowledged, ‘I see your point.’

‘How long before they are reinforced?’

‘At least a couple of days. So we have time to make them wait.’

‘We will have fresh troops by then too, Ballis was less than a day away.’

‘See that the wounded are tended to, burn the dead, and make sure everyone rests. We shall take Black Claw Gate in the morning.’

The Kyzantine camp appeared chaotic but was ordered and prepared. A trench was dug around the encampment of sleeping men, sharpened poles dug into the breast work and sentries posted at intervals around the camp. The royal Kyzantine banner was raised at the top of a pole in the middle of the men, and the general’s personal standard flew alongside it.

The silence was stirred as a messenger raced through the encampment in Cerebus Valley yelling for the general. The posted sentries allowed him to pass as he dodged through the sleeping masses.

‘Over here,’ Cunx’s voice boomed, startling those closest to him.

Pyxis rubbed her eyes and lifted her head from the saddle.

‘What is it soldier?’

‘The attack at Gorgon has failed. The Empire was slaughtered. You are needed to take it.

Her hand went to her forehead and rubbed the side of her face. This was not going well.

‘Why me, surely there are other capable commanders in the vicinity?’ Pyxis wearily questioned.

‘The Emperor wants a cavalry commander there. He has also ordered the other generals to the Musea Pass to aid your sisters. The Murukan outpost there has already been taken. They expect resistance from Gravid’s Drift but feel that is where most of the military is needed right now to ensure a firm staging post.’

‘Every tactical mind is going to the Musea Pass? That’s something to avoid. Can you imagine them agreeing on anything?’ Pyxis asked Cunx.

Cunx shook his head in reply and rolled his eyes.

‘Those generals not marshalling at the pass are being kept in the Empire to train the new conscripts. Within two months the first batch of fresh reinforcements will be headed to the mountains.’

‘And what of my older sisters?’

‘They march with your father’s standing army of Dagenham. The rest of the Empire marshals at Skyview awaiting orders to march into the Murukan Kingdom.’

‘How long before they reach the Musea Pass?’

‘Inside the space of two weeks, all going according to plan. With over one hundred thousand soldiers too.’

‘What about reinforcements for here?’

‘Two units will arrive in the morning led by Ballis, they are camped three hours march from Iron Talon Gate. There is another unit two days away.’

Pyxis sat up and looked in the direction of Black Claw. The embers still glowed red and gave off an unnatural heat under the dark night sky.

‘Fine. The cavalry will ride to the Gorgon Pass at daybreak. The infantry will wait until the reinforcements get here and will retake Black Claw. Ballis is a capable commander and a siege specialist. I have no doubt that he will continue to keep the pressure on.’ She said it more to reassure herself than anyone else.

Putting her head back on her saddle, she closed her eyes and said to Cunx, ‘Wake me just before dawn.’

The Kyzantines made them wait until midday before the attack came. The baron had posted the Sentinels along the wall, the remnants of the Fangs and Fists assembled on the ground below the wall, ready to assist.

The summer sun beat down from directly overhead, scorching the tin soldiers. Some wavered under the temperature, their knees buckling before their hands shot out and gripped the stone before them.

Octans could do nothing but stare at the men on the rampart as the marching army came up the pass and thundered toward Black Claw. He rubbed the back of his calf with the toes of his other boot. He rolled his neck from side to side to work out the anxious tension as the beating drums got louder and louder. Octans watched as the archers on the wall took arrows from their quivers, nocked the shaft, pulled their arms back, and waited for the order to fire.

A flag dropped from the tower top and the payload was let loose. Octans watched as they flew into the sky, then fell onto the massed troops. He listened to the screams of the dying and the battle cries as they were ordered to charge. He waited, waited for an eternity as the archers fired and the enemy closed the distance. He waited for the sounds of the ladders hitting stone, of the battering ram smashing against the gate. Octans closed his eyes, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

‘Breach!’

Octans’ eyes opened and saw the first of the Kyzantines to have climbed up a ladder and jump onto the wall, slaying the archers in front of him. Other Kyzantines followed and soon the archers were fighting for their lives on the wall.

Octans took off, raced to the stairs that led to the rampart, assuming that someone else was following. He didn’t dare look back, didn’t take his eyes off his target. He pounded up the stairs, armour jingling, scabbard bouncing, thighs pumping. Octans bounded past the first of the archers, bringing his sword back over his shoulder. The Murukan engaged in combat went down with a blade to his abdomen, dropped as Octans brought his blade around and cleaved the enemy’s head from his shoulders. Blood clung to his two day stubble as he launched himself at the others.

Ara and Daria were stationed on the tower, in prime position to oversee the battlefield and away from the close quarter fighting on the walls. Ara clenched her fist and fired spell after spell into the waiting masses below. Fire, ice, and lightning spells rained down as the combination of attacks slowly whittled down the Kyzantine troops.

Ara glanced at Daria when the next barrage of arrow fire came at them, and her purple shield flashed into life just in time and the arrows bounced harmlessly off. Ara reluctantly kept her stronger spell casting to a minimum, she still didn’t feel comfortable exposing the full extent of her power in front of her old tutor. Daria wouldn’t care, she had told herself that many times, but the thought often crept into her head of what if she did.