John Carr - Siege of Tarr-Hostigos

Soton watched through one of the captured Hostigi farseers with mounting fury as the Grand Host smashed the Hostigi center with wave after wave of attackers and still the Hostigi battle-line held. The Army of Hostigos was slowly retreating up the hillside away from Ardros Field. What magic did Kalvan possess that turned mere soldiers into statues? Did Kalvan have his own Red Hand willing to shoot their comrades who broke and ran? Or was there more here than met the eye…?

Most of the Grand Host's small guns, the four and six-pounders, had been dispersed throughout the left wing. All had been swept away by the flood and subsequent Hostigi advance that took the Styphoni left wing off the battlefield, and only Styphon knew where they were now-since only a few loiterers had been seen since. General Kyblannos had mounted two batteries with the new Kalvan-style carriages and trunnions and used them to anchor the center. The heavier bombards were all carried on carts or wagons and strung out over the road between Ardros Field and Tarr-Veblos-they had as much mobility as the burnt-out manor house that was now at the center of the Hostigi ordered retreat. With those guns he could have forced the Hostigi to break ranks or scythed them down as they stood. Kyblannos himself had disappeared in the confusion-where was he? Probably, at Phidestros' rear like any other well-heeled dog.

Any man who produced such loyalty among his subordinates had to be watched carefully; he made a mental note to mention this to Great King Lysandros.

Sergeant Sarmoth, who rode at his side, asked, "Why are the Hostigi holding firm? It is not natural for soldiers to stand in the face of certain death. Are they demons, too?"

"The Hostigi are men and die as such," Soton pronounced. "I have fought them before, but this fortitude in the face of defeat is unusual- even for Kalvan's troopers. There are other fears than death."

Soton pointed to one of the Temple Bands as it attacked the slowly moving Hostigi hedgehog. Suddenly he knew exactly why the soldiers of Hostigos were not surrendering or crying 'Oath to Galzar!'

"There is the Hostigi courage! The Red Hand of Styphon's House and Roxthar's Dralm-damned Investigation!" The Hostigi knew that if they ran or surrendered they would be given over to Styphon's Arch-Butcher and it was not only more honorable, but much safer, to fight than surrender. Soton let off a stream of oaths that would have startled a petty-captain and turned any matron close enough to hear them bright red.

Sarmoth raised his helm and peered at the distant tableau. "These are the Temple Bands, but they are not Roxthar's bands."

"No, but try telling that to the Hostigi! I fear they will not see any difference; although, if truth be told, there is little since these bands will be set loose on the Hostigi once we cross the border into Hostigos."

"Won't the Grand Captain-General have anything to say about that?"

Soton smiled at the younger Knight. "Phidestros will bluster and threaten, for all the good it will do. His heart's in the right place, but the paymaster is still Styphon's House and Roxthar has the authority of the Inner Circle and his Investigation. And the Temple Bands to make his will felt."

Roxthar's Investigation had turned this war against the Usurper into a war unlike any Soton had ever witnessed in all his fifty winters. He had heard the stories about atrocities committed against the Hostigi population by Roxthar's Investigators. At first, he hadn't wanted to believe them, even though he knew better from the Investigations depredations in Hos-Ktemnos. But repetition and several eyewitness accounts were impossible to refute. To commit such acts of cruelty on a vanquished population struck him as madness, or bloodlust, like that of a pack of wolves slaughtering a herd of sheep inside a corral.

Uncle Wolf Olmnestes, the Host's Highpriest of Galzar, had veritably blown the wax out of his ears with his heated words about the Investigation. Already word had been sent by Olmnestes to the High Temple of Galzar in Hos-Agrys and any day a delegation might appear placing the Grand Host under Galzar's Ban. It appeared that Roxthar's excesses would cost the Temple a complete victory over the Usurper Kalvan, and maybe lead to a war with Galzar afterwards. He suspected that the latter would not cost Roxthar any sleep, but then the Archpriest's military knowledge could be contained in a thimble!

He suspected the Grand Host would face the Ban of Galzar before a moon-quarter had passed-he'd even said as much to Phidestros. This would make it impossible for Styphon's House to hire any mercenaries in the Five Kingdoms until it was rescinded, which would be no time soon with Roxthar and his Investigation looking under beds and into chamber pots in every man's cottage in the Five Kingdoms. The Ban would also mean that all mercenaries currently under oath to the Grand Host would be obliged to forswear their oaths and retire from the field, which would be disastrous.

If news reached Roxthar's ears of Olmnestes' words, it would be no surprise if the Highpriest were murdered in his sleep. Soton would have to put a guard of Knights around the Highpriest of Galzar-the murder of the popular Highpriest could tear the Grand Host asunder-Ban or no Ban!

The Grand Master watched in surprise as the Hostigi suddenly formed into a hedgehog formation. Phidestros' spy had claimed that Kalvan had relinquished pikes for his Royal Army?'Then it hit him, of course! Kalvan may have done away with pikes, but not his Princes. He gnashed his teeth in anger at the thought that Kalvan might exit this battlefield with a crippled, but intact army.

Once again, Soton upbraided himself for swearing an oath to Anaxthenes that he would aid Roxthar in every way, as long as the Investigator stayed out of Balph until winter. Yet, Soton knew full well the Speaker was correct; if Roxthar was away from Balph, it would be possible for Anaxthenes to claim Sesklos' chair as Styphon's Own Voice. Too many of the Archpriests, despite their loathing of him, were too frightened to take a position against Roxthar in person. Oh, but were they brave when the Investigator was out of Balph!

Soton set off another string of curses, this time against Temple politics and all the compromises that came with them. He turned to Sergeant Sarmoth. "Sound the battle horns!"

"Yes, sir!" The tone of his voice said, 'it's about time.'

Soton hoped his large subordinate was right.

He had a Wedge of Knights behind his point; maybe they could break through the hedgehog. At least, Kalvan's soldiers were men he could fight and kill-not Temple upperpriests who hid behind words and bloody white robes.

With Soton at the head, the Wedge of heavily armed Knights and Sergeants came down the hill like an avalanche of steel, which unfortunately slowed to a crawl as they crossed the valley and then rode uphill to meet Kalvan's retreating center. The shock of impact when they struck Kalvan's hedgehog was not enough that the Knights were able to break through the forest of pikes aimed at their mounts. The lead destriers were trained to charge into pike heads, but that only worked if they were galloping, since at slower speeds the horses' instincts rebelled against what appeared to be certain death.

Within moments, the Knights were stalled in front of Kalvan's center, with pikes impaling screaming horses and Hostigi muskets barking confusion and death. The Order used their horsepistols in return, but they didn't have enough firepower to break the hedgehog.

"Curse and blast them!" Soton cried, as the Hostigi formation not only held, but was giving the Order more casualties than it was taking. Slowly and inexorably Soton's Knights were pushed back as the Hostigi pikemen opened more files for the musketeers and arquebusiers to shoot. Halberdiers and two-handed swordsmen began to run through the pike files, attacking isolated Knights and Brethren.