Part 37 (2/2)
”They're running. All our people are in now. But we've got a problem. Most of those Necremnens are heading out. We'll be in big trouble if we don't win this.”
”Michael, where's the nearest causeway?”
Trebilc.o.c.k leaned over the battlements. ”Upriver a quarter-mile.””Haaken, scare up some men and grab it. Michael. Is there a causeway Reskird could use?”
”Inside his area. Shouldn't be any problem.”
Ragnarson stared northward. The entire apex of the island seemed to be burning.
The rain had let up. Nothing held the flames in check.
”Getting bad up there,” he observed. ”Could be as rough for Reskird as the Argonese.”
”Bragi.” Haaken had unrolled a crude map atop a merlon. He shaded an area with charcoal. ”This's what we've taken. Half.” Dark salients stuck out like greedy fingers.
There were white islands throughout the area already captured.
”How're they fighting?”
”Us or them?”
”Both.”
”Our guys are having fun. Theirs.... Depends on the unit. The officers, I guess.
Some are tromping each other trying to get away. Some won't budge. I'd say our chances of carrying it are better than even. But then we'll have to hold off counterattacks while we mop up.”
”Keep after them. Any Necremnens have b.a.l.l.s enough to stick?” He leaned over the wall. A dozen smaller boats rocked against the base of the wall.
”Why?”
”I want to go get Reskird. Watch Nepanthe. And keep an eye out for Ethrian.
They've got him here somewhere.”
TWENTY-SIX: Battle for the Fadem
Reskird had an overachievement problem. ”Bragi, I've got them whipped. I could clean up on them. Only I can't get to them. d.a.m.ned fire....”
A curtain of flame thwarted Kildragon's advance. It spanned the base of an acute isosceles triangle. Whole blocks were infernos, drawing a strong breeze. Neither side could get close enough to combat the blaze.
”I can't leave you here while it burns itself out. Might be days.”
The devastation was stunning. Even during the El Murid Wars Ragnarson had seen nothing to equal it. ”Jarl and Haaken need help.”
”Those d.a.m.ned Necremnens took off like rabbits afraid of a fox.”
”You taken that causeway there yet?”
”The gatehouse guards won't give up. But we'll get it. It's all we've got to work on anymore.”
”Michael. Does it hook up to the same island as the one by the Fadem?”
”I think so.”
”You see?” Bragi asked Kildragon.
Reskird's sandy hair flew as he nodded.Bragi laughed.
”What?”
”Look at us. Me, you, Haaken. We've gotten civilized. We never cut our hair short before we came to Kavelin. And we didn't shave, except you.”
”It's a strange country. I'd better go get things moving before it's light enough for them to see what we're up to.”
They didn't join Haaken before dawn. The causeways didn't connect to the same island. They had to cross three. There were skirmishes. And then the right causeway turned out to still be in Argonese hands.
Haaken hadn't had a chance to grab it. The garrison had counterattacked.
Bragi's old veterans carried the bridge in a short, brisk battle, only to find Argonese troops forming up beyond. The melee lasted several hours. Haaken's bowmen, when they could, plinked from the Fadem. Ragnarson advanced till he screened the Fadem's main gate, which remained in enemy hands.
”Who's got who trapped?” he wondered aloud. ”How long before the whole city turns on us?”
Tactically, it was going magnificently. Yet the strategic situation looked worse and worse.
Kildragon considered the houses and shops facing the fortress-palace. ”A lot of wood in those places. Maybe another fire... .”
”Go to it.”
Kildragon's fire masked their flank. Bragi had men climb the wall where Blackfang and Ahring were already established. They took the main gate from behind.
Weary, he joined Haaken at another merlon. The map now showed only a few white islands.
”The gate completes the circuit,” said Blackfang. ”The whole wall is ours.”
”Think that's smart?” Ragnarson asked. ”They'll fight harder if they can't get away.”
”If they could, the Fadema might get out. Shouldn't we get a hold of her?”
”She'd be a good bargaining counter if things got hairy. You found Ethrian yet?”
”No. Else I'd say let's get out now.”
”Another reason to get our hands on the lady. They'll chase us all the way home if we don't.”
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