Part 16 (2/2)
Then, Scar and Potbelly are there and stand with him shoulder to shoulder. ”Miko!” hollers Potbelly, ”Stig needs you!”
”We'll hold here!” yells Scar.
Nodding, Miko takes out the man he's facing with a quick thrust through the chest and then disengages. He finds Stig a few yards away, a rapidly growing stain spreading across his front. Returning his sword to its scabbard, he hurries over.
”Miko,” Stig says weakly as he approaches.
”Just relax,” he tells him as he removes the Star.
Stig lays back, the pall of death upon his face as the glow from the Star s.h.i.+nes forth. Miko has done this enough now to be able to tell if he's too late or not and with relief he realizes he's not. With the power of the Star and Morcyth, he closes the wound in Stig's stomach, repairing the severed intestines and other organs within.
When the glow disappears, Stig sighs in relief. The pain, once a flaring sun is now little more than an ache. ”Thanks man,” he tells him.
Miko takes his arm and helps him to his feet. With one of Stig's arms across his shoulders, he helps him back to where Delia and the slingers stand near the center of their force. ”Keep an eye on him,” he tells Delia as he sets Stig on the ground.
She nods her head as she begins twirling her sling yet again.
Looking around, Miko finds another in need and goes to him.
The battle has been raging now for fifteen to twenty minutes. The individual moments of valor and bravery are too many to count. When the line crumbles under the onslaught of the Empire, reinforcements move to close the gap.
Once the men from Lythylla joined the fray, Illan could see that after the effect of James' crystals, the two forces were equally numbered. When the archers from Lythylla finally made their appearance after the foot soldiers took the field, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Their deadly barrage began mowing down the enemy in swaths.
Taking advantage of a momentary lull in the fighting, he surveys the battlefield and can see where the Empire's men are beginning to turn and flee. Now that victory for them is out of the question, most are simply interested in survival. Suddenly, the line of men close to Ceadric's force breaks off and turns to flee toward the palisade. As Ceadric moves to follow he hollers, ”Hold your position!”
Ceadric glances back and sees him looking at him, covered in blood from head to toe, some friendly but the vast majority is from those he's slain this day. Nodding, he begins forming up his ranks and holds his position. A cheer rises from his men at their victory.
Then all of a sudden the entire enemy line is in retreat. The forces from Lythylla set out in pursuit as those under Illan maintain their position. They'll let Madoc's forces do the mopping up.
”Report!” he hollers.
”Lost a third of my men,” Ceadric says as he comes near.
”No one got close to us,” Delia tells him. Glancing at her boys she says, ”They all did magnificent.” Illan nods his head and then turns to Jiron.
”Would have lost half of mine if Miko hadn't been with us,” he says. ”Most won't be good for a day or two, but they'll live to fight another day.”
”Very well,” he says. Looking to the fleeing soldiers, he grins when he finds the palisade, which had so well protected them during the long siege, is now a wall barring their escape. Madoc's forces, so long desiring retribution for the rape of their country don't even offer them quarter, they simply cut them down.
The battlefield is a ghastly sight, the dead and dying cover the ground between the river and the palisade. Cries from the wounded men sing out and the light from the Star can be seen moving from one to the next as Miko does his best to save every last one of them. Even Brother Willim and the three remaining members of the Hand are out among the injured doing what they can for them.
”Ceadric!” hollers Illan. ”Have some of the men get the wounded and those unable to fight back to the city.” They may have beaten this force, but there's still the other force James saw in his mirror on the way.
”Delia, have your group stay with Hedry's” he hollers. The battle before the palisade is winding down, men are escaping through the gates. Madoc's men are riding in pursuit. Seeing one of Madoc's officers nearby, Illan shouts, ”Kippen!”
Looking his way, Kippen brings his horse to a halt. As he does, Illan hollers, ”Get your men back. There's another force on the way and we have to get into position.”
”Yes, sir,” he replies and kicks his horse into a gallop as he races to the palisade.
”We're not going to fight another battle are we?” a voice from the slingers calls out.
Illan turns to them but can't determine who asked the question. ”Yes we are. They're not expecting an attack and the element of surprise will give us an edge.”
”Any of those son's of a dog we take down now will be less we'll have to face later,” Ceadric adds.
As Ceadric's men begin removing the injured and recently healed, Illan starts moving toward the palisade. The remainder of his force, still over seven hundred strong, follow along behind.
Calling to the officers from the various forces to fall in, he begins marshalling the chaos around him back into an effective fighting force. Hedry and Delia's people stay to the rear this time, no need being out front.
To one officer of a cavalry unit he orders, ”Send out riders and find the force coming from the south.”
”Yes, sir!” the officer hollers as he carries out the order. Soon, four riders are racing for the gate in the palisade.
”They may already know of the battle from those who fled,” one of Ceadric's men states.
”Be that as it may, we are still going to engage while the numbers are on our side,” he says.
Madoc's archers fall in behind their force as well as soldiers from many units, swelling their numbers by the minute. While not in the actual line of command for any of these forces, in the face of the Black Hawk banner, none will gainsay him. His legend awes them into compliance.
On the far side of the palisade, they find what's left of the enemy's camp. Tents, wagons and a large number of slaves who are being set free. Many can't believe their lives are once again their own. Some have never known freedom, having been born slaves and simply don't know what to do now that they are free.
Off in the distance, pockets of fighting are still going on as Madoc's men continue the annihilation of the enemy. No quarter is given as their anger and rage at the Empire has finally found an outlet.
Illan sends the cavalry off to the right to swing around the approaching force to take it from the rear once the fighting begins. As his army makes its way through the palisade's gate, he gets them into position to meet the oncoming force. At the rear are the five catapults with wagons of rocks to use for ammunition, this time filled with smaller rocks ranging from the size of a baseball to that of a watermelon. Moving along at the pace of the slowest unit, the army doesn't cover ground very fast. But then Illan would like to hold off confrontation until the cavalry has had a chance to maneuver around them.
Having sent the cavalry around to come at their rear, all he's left with is several thousand men at arms, hundreds of archers and what's left of the Black Hawk Raiders. The bearer of the Black Hawk banner takes position at the head of the force and the wind whips the flag as if to display the black hawk for the entire world to see. A scattered cheer rises up from the men.
Once the pockets of resistance have been nullified, he gathers all friendly forces together and marches down the road to meet the oncoming reinforcements of the enemy army. The brief look in James' mirror had revealed roughly five thousand strong strung along several miles.
With just plains to contend with, there's very little chance to orchestrate an ambush. They'll know they are coming and will move into a defensive posture as soon as they realize what's going on. That is if they don't already.
From the road up ahead, two of the four scouts return at a fast gallop. ”What's the news?” questions Illan when they pull up to him.
”They've stopped about five miles down the road,” one scout explains as he rides beside him.
”Looks as if they got word of what happened here,” the other adds.
”How many?” Jiron asks.
”Five thousand foot soldiers,” the first scout replies.
”No horse?” asks Illan.
Shaking his head, the scout says, ”Not that we saw. We returned with the news of their whereabouts and numbers, they were still arranging themselves to defend against attack.”
”Rejoin your unit,” Illan says as he thinks about what they just told him. No horse, just foot. Excellent. No horse, just foot. Excellent. If as the scout said they still only have five thousand, then the numbers will be on their side by about two thousand. With the cavalry coming up behind them as well as the riders with Ceadric, they should be able to win the day. If as the scout said they still only have five thousand, then the numbers will be on their side by about two thousand. With the cavalry coming up behind them as well as the riders with Ceadric, they should be able to win the day.
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