The Chronicles: Three Sisters 14

Guenna explained our plan to all of the fighters. It was a calculated risk: if anyone wanted to turn traitor, they could sell this information to the Izumyrians. But she didn't believe that a turncoat would have stayed with us this long, in the face of such heavy odds.

She outlined the tasks of the four groups, in detail. By the time she was done, everyone knew what they were responsible for - and what all of the others would be doing. Then, she asked for questions or suggestions.

- "Y'think we can hold'em?" said Hedyn. "These an't Bacho's scum."

- "They're horsemen, Hedyn." I said. "They aren't trained to fight on foot. This is out of their element."

- "And you don't have to hold them." said Guenna. "Our defence will bend, rather than break. You can give ground, when necessary."

- "Why isn't Giedra with the archers?" asked Dengelle. "She's a better shot than me."

Giedra herself answered that. "Given a choice, I'd want to stand with Veran and Vingoldas. But we need somebody like me at the Neck, just in case they do try to cross the stream. Somebody who'll make them wish they hadn't tried."

There were other suggestions, and more questions. None of them caused us to alter the plan. After the discussion, though, Nameless waited to speak to Guenna, and to me.

She was direct, and brutally honest. What she said made perfect sense.

We called Yevna back, and made one minor alteration to our dispositions. It ended up being the most significant thing we could have done.

***

Sulcen kissed me, and held me tight.

- "Come back to me." she whispered, fiercely.

Tanguiste hugged me, too.

- "Don't worry about us." she said.

I'd been in a number of serious scrapes, in my time, from the tussle at the Bend, against the Nadestis, to our fights against Bacho and Kestutis' men around the Hill. But I'd never been in a battle involving so many people, across such a wide area, as on that day.

I wouldn't be able to see everything that was happening. It preyed on my mind. If the Izumyrians got across the stream, against Guenna and Giedra, then we were done. It wouldn't matter how we fared on the trail; we would be cut off, and ... they would reach Sulcen before I could possibly get back there.

Nor would I be able to see what Yevna's crew were doing. At least there was a precedent for that; twice before, I had sent her to attack the men guarding boats while I fought atop the Hill. That wasn't much comfort.

Concentrate on what you can do, I reminded myself, as my father would have done. So I spoke to my group.

Hedyn, Vingoldas and I would hold the centre. Iduallon and Gerimir, the Lowlanders, would guard our left flank; Yorun and his friend DownyBeard had the right. I had no fears whatever about my companions in the centre. I had no way of knowing how the Hvadi would fight, but I suspected that Gerimir would die before he let us down.

It was Yorun and his friend that worried me. Would they stand? They had to keep our enemies from coming around the end of our line. If they worked as a team, they could do it. So I hoped.

The one change we made to Guenna's plan was moving Nameless from Yevna's group to ours. She could wield her bow, and hopefully get in some telling shots. Most important, though - at a pinch, she could drop the bow, and pitch in where she was most needed. It was her own idea. I have to admit, though, that the idea of having Nameless at my back was very comforting.

Guenna's plan depended on the Izumyrians attacking where we wanted them to. That was why Yevna went out and got their attention.

She did that by finding a scouting party of Izumyrians, looking for a route around the Neck. There were four of them; Yevna and her crew managed to kill two, but let the remaining pair escape.

Instead of retreating, our archers waited until the Izumyrians returned, in force. There were at least thirty of the buggers. Yevna's archers ambushed them - but after a first volley, which killed or wounded two or three more, they hastily pulled back, into the woods.

The Izumyrians pursued, as best they could, but rough terrain prevented them from catching up to Yevna. They did, however, discover a trail that ran east-west ... just as we wanted them to.

The officer leading this squad of cavalry was quite aggressive. Guenna had suggested that Seaglitz was unlikely to promote or reward hesitant or tentative subordinates. She was right, in this case.

The Izumyrians gave up pursuing Yevna - they could not follow, in any case. They followed the trail, which led directly to me.

We had cut brush, and even felled a pair of trees, to create a barrier across the path. The first horsemen to approach us reined in, unsure of what they faced. Nameless shot one out the saddle; he fell to the ground, and didn't move. His friends pulled back.

The enterprising officer sent a few men forward, on foot - with shields. It wasn't difficult for them to count us. There were thirty of them (give or take a few) against seven of us (Nameless was crouching behind our line).

I'm sure that the Izumyrians had already sent word to Count Seaglitz, of what they had found - perhaps more than once. I could only hope that their Colonel hadn't chosen to make a major effort to cross the stream at or near the Neck. If so, we were probably done.

Meanwhile, though, the officer in command of these thirty decided to brush us aside, or to capture some prisoners - I'm not entirely sure what he was attempting to achieve.

But just as Guenna had predicted, twenty Izumyrian cavalrymen dismounted, clutched their round shields a little tighter, and advanced against us on foot.

The barrier we had created was a bit odd. There was a gap in the very centre, wide enough for two men to pass through, shoulder to shoulder. They would have to step over a fallen tree, but, otherwise, there was no impediment to their advance. To either side, though, there were obstacles, both natural and man-made. Before they were aware of it, their line was spreading, as the men on the edges sought to go around and outflank our position.

Yevna's archers were perfectly positioned, off to our left. As the Izumyrians advanced, it was their rights arms and shoulders - unshielded - which would be exposed to the arrows of Yevna's crew.

Just before they came into range, a horn sounded, behind the enemy horse-holders.

The Izumyrians pulled back, in good order.

Something had changed. It wasn't hard to discover: Count Seaglitz had arrived. He withdrew all of his troops, well out of bowshot.

- "Not sure I like the look of that." said Vingoldas.

Our enemies stayed away from us for a good stretch of time. We sat down in the shade. Part of me wished that Guenna was here; I didn't know if it would be wise to change the plan, at this juncture.

Finally, the Izumyrians began to move. More of them had arrived. They sent all of their horses further back. When they began to move forward, we could all see that there were between fifty and sixty fighters. We hadn't expected quite so many.

Worse yet, Seaglitz held back half of his men, along the path. The rest he sent into the trees - headed towards Yevna's archers. I swore under my breath.

I knew my daughter. Yevna would not give ground willingly. And she would make the Izumyrians pay for their advance. But she couldn't hold them. Not with half a dozen archers, completely unsuited to melee combat, against troopers armed with shields and swords.

She had to retreat. There was no other option. That would uncover our flank. So our roles were reversed. Instead of Yevna making the enemy pay for attacking me, I would have to hold long enough to let her pull back behind me.

The first phase of Guenna's plan was coming apart at the seams.

That damned horn sounded again, and the remainder of the Izumyrians - twenty-five men - began to advance. They came straight down the path, directly towards us.

- "We have to hold, boys." I said.

- "Plan's gone to shite, an't it?' said Hedyn.

- "That's for sure." I agreed. There was no point in lying to them. "But we have to cover Yevna's retreat. When we can, we'll pull back and re-group."

Without the threat of archers on their flank, the Izumyrians spread out. They would easily overlap our short line. As they approached, we could hear shouts from the trees off to our left.

- "Veran?" It was Nameless, directly behind me. "Would you shift just a little to your left?"

I did. The Izumyrian officer raised his sword, and shouted "Charge!"

Nameless put an arrow straight into his mouth.

The first horse troopers ran into Hedyn. He had been right: these Izumyrians weren't as untrained as Bacho's scum. They didn't expose themselves needlessly, and they didn't take unnecessary risks. They engaged us, in the centre - but only to keep us occupied.

They came swirling around both edges of our position. Gerimir and Iduallon immediately had their hands full. But it was worse to my right. Yorun and DownyBeard had never been prepared to fight against professional soldiers.

The Izumyrians quickly discovered that they were up against neophytes. Yorun and his friend went down a moment later.

I shouted a warning to Hedyn, and shifted to my right. I managed to catch a cavalryman unawares, and drove my sword's point into his ribs.

But I would have died a moment later, one against four, if it hadn't been for Nameless.

One of my opponents fell, with an arrow in his eye.

His companions stepped back, as Nameless rushed them, with sword in one hand and long knife in the other. She feinted at one, lunged at another - no, that was a feint, too. The third man dodged, but she was already turning back to the first horseman, plunging the long knife into his armpit.

Nameless was unbelievably fast. I could barely follow her movements.

- "Back!" I shouted. We had to take advantage of the space she had created. I had no idea how the Lowlanders were doing, on our left, or if Yevna's people were behind us. But it was clear that my group had to withdraw.

I like to think that the professionalism of our enemies saved us. None of the Izumyrians wanted to be a hero. They pressed us, but no one pushed hard enough to draw Nameless' undivided attention. I even had time to pick up her bow.

- "Yevna's clear!" shouted Vingoldas.

- "Back, then!" I called. If the Izumyrians understood Hvadi, then so be it. But my words didn't appear to have any effect on them.

We put on a burst of speed, and created some separation. The Izumyrians seemed content to regroup, as the men who had entered the forest now rejoined those who had attacked along the path. Together, they resumed their advance.

The first position had been turned. Guenna had intended for us to inflict casualties on our foes, before retreating into the forest, drawing them along after us. Instead, we were the ones who had suffered losses.

Yorun and DownyBeard were dead. So were both of Libot's friends. Seva's brother Weyl was wounded - badly enough to keep him out of any further action. Gerimir was also wounded, though not incapacitated.

- "I'm fine." he insisted.

- "What do we do now?" asked Yevna. She knew as well as I did that Guenna's plan was in tatters.

- "They'll most likely repeat the same tactic." said Vingoldas. "Why wouldn't they? It worked."

- "So we change ours." I said. "We pull back along the path. Make it look like we're going to stand. When they come through the woods, we retreat. Except for the archers."

"Nameless - you're back with Yevna. Seva - give me Weyl's bow. Vingoldas, you and Hedyn take the Lowlanders and Weyl. Stay ahead of us."

I wish I could tell you that our change of plan reaped immediate benefits. It didn't.

When the Izumyrians caught up to us, and saw that we had occupied another roadblock, they halted. Count Seaglitz arrived, and immediately sent strong parties through the trees, on either side of the path.

Once these men were well on their way, twenty horse troopers advanced, on foot, along the path, shields held before them.

Dengelle and I didn't waste any arrows. But Yevna and Nameless were exceptionally fine shots, and both Libot and Seva had scores to settle. They were eager to try.

The first flight of arrows struck shields, for the most part. But one Izumyrian cried out, and fell. He didn't rise, either. His comrades simply stepped around him.

The foursome fired again, without any hits.

But Yevna and Nameless had each seen something. I let them shoot once more.

One of the cavalry men lifted his shield too high, to cover his face. Nameless' arrow struck him in the groin. He collapsed instantly.

Meanwhile, Yevna had noted that a man in the third rank didn't raise his shield high enough. He was curious - or perhaps he trusted to his comrades' shields for protection. Yevna's missile took him in the cheek - or the jaw - I couldn't tell.

- "Let's move."

We turned and ran as the angry horse troopers surged forward. It might have been possible to fire a few more arrows, but I didn't want them getting too close to us.

At the next choke-point, the archers rested, while I sent Vingoldas ahead with the wounded. They had a bit of a climb to look forward to.

The Izumyrians took their time. Or perhaps they were being more careful now, wary of another ambush. Whatever the reason, it was well past midday before their scouts caught up to us. They didn't come forward immediately, either.

Seaglitz was a quick learner. He sent powerful parties through the woods, to either side of us. This time, though, he waited until they were level - indeed, almost behind us - before letting the main group come up the path.

That left us no option but to retreat at once. Seva was unhappy, but we couldn't wait until the central group came into effective range. By then, we would be outflanked.

It was disappointing, to give up a good position without inflicting any harm on our enemies - we just couldn't afford any more losses ourselves.

The same pattern was repeated further up the slope. The Izumyrians came after us carefully and methodically. By the time they found our final position, dusk was fast approaching.

Seaglitz came closer, in person - just out of range - to take a good look at our position. He seemed supremely confident. No doubt he expected to turn us out of this choke-point easily enough, first thing tomorrow morning.

He didn't know it, yet, but I did - and so did every one of our fighters. From where we stood now, the path ran straight and true to Moruith's house.

There were no more defensive positions.

*****

[1] White flags are recorded as early as Han dynasty China and early 2nd century Rome.