L. Modesitt - Arms-Commander

“The scouts have not reported…” objected Maerkyn.

“They will. Or they would have if I had not recalled them.”

Maerkyn stood in the stirrups, then dropped to the saddle and looked at Saryn again. “The scouts are returning. How did you do that?”

“My voice carries,” she replied politely.

Another rider joined them-Rydala, squad leader of third squad. “Ser?”

“Squad leader, there’s a force headed toward us. I don’t know yet whose force it is, but it’s likely to be the rebels. We can’t conceal all the tracks in the road, but they won’t look that hard if they see armed riders ahead. I want you to take a position on the road, back toward that hill there, close enough that you can ride back on the road, not too fast, as if your mounts are tired. Before all that happens, we’ll be riding back and taking position behind the hill, waiting to attack at the right moment. Your task is to be seen and let them get fairly close, then to recognize them, and appear to turn and retreat as slowly as possible without letting them catch you. They’ll either pursue quickly or advance in an orderly manner. Either way, they are likely to focus on you and not be looking quite so hard for others.”

“Why would that be?” asked Maerkyn.

“First, the rebel lords know that we only brought two squads from Westwind. Second, they’ve only seen the Westwind guards in groups of one or two squads,” Saryn explained. “And those likely to be ahead haven’t seen us with any Lornian armsmen.”

“How many are there?” asked Maerkyn.

Saryn concentrated for a moment, then shook her head. “They’re still too far away to be certain, but it feels like three companies.”

Maerkyn frowned. “We have a little less than two companies.”

“That may be, but the regent has decided that we need to get to The Groves, and we won’t get there by pulling back.” Saryn nodded politely. “If you would like to escort the regent back to the high ground behind the hill…?”

Maerkyn glanced to Zeldyan, then replied, “Of course.”

“I’d thought that you would take the western side of the back side of the hill, and we would take the east. That way, third squad could rejoin us easily.”

“What then?” asked the undercaptain.

“We attack, and when the time is right, you leave a squad to protect the regent, and follow up and attack their weakest point…or any squads that are isolated and easy pickings.”

“Just like that?” Maerkyn’s voice verged on scornful.

“Fairly so,” replied Saryn. “It seems to work. We’ve beaten something like four companies so far, always with two squads or less.” They might have faced more than that, but Saryn wasn’t about to take the time to count up the casualties. “Now…if we don’t want to get caught in the open on the road here, I’d suggest we remove ourselves to behind that hill.”

Maerkyn looked to Zeldyan. The regent nodded, then added, “She has been rather successful at this, Undercaptain. Repeatedly.”

Maerkyn nodded. “Then let us withdraw to the high ground, Regent, and prepare.”

Saryn looked to Rydala. “Hold your squad in place until I move the others back. Then move back closer to the hill.”

“Yes, ser.”

Saryn turned to Hryessa. “I’d like you to make sure that the wagons are out of sight, then lead fourth, fifth, and sixth squads. Hold back for a bit, then follow up as you see fit.”

“You think they will break if we seem to be a second force?” asked the captain.

“I’m hoping so. I also want you away from me, just in case…”

“That will not happen, but I will be certain few escape.” Hryessa’s smile was hard.

As Hryessa turned and guided her mount toward the rear of the Westwind forces, Saryn had to wonder, not exactly for the first time, just what the captain had endured before coming to the Roof of the World.

The combined Westwind and Lornian forces and the supply wagons were well out of sight in less than a quarter glass, and the only riders who remained on the river road were those of third squad, all recent recruits and trainees, except for Rydala. But that was why Saryn had chosen third squad. First and fourth squads would have to spearhead the attack, and the Lornians would take casualties in dealing with stragglers and the general melee.

Saryn had gone over her battle plan with her squad leaders until they understood exactly what she wanted. In the simplest terms, the Westwind force would angle through the lead company behind a narrow chaos-blade, then swing back to head through the second company behind a second swath of chaos. After that…they might try a third one, or swing back and reinforce the Lornians. That assumed, as always, that Saryn could make it work.

A good half glass passed under a sun hotter than Saryn liked. The hill itself held only a few bushes and was mostly covered in browned wild grasses and weeds, although the west side backed up to grasslands that looked more hospitable.

“We cannot see the road from here. Do you expect to hear them from a greater distance than one can see?” asked Maerkyn.

Saryn waited on the gelding, behind the crest of the hill, with Maerkyn to her left and Zeldyan beyond her. From where she was, a ride of less than five yards would bring her to where she could. “I know where they are. Just a trace beyond a kay away. They’ve caught sight of third squad, and Rydala is acting confused, having her squad mill around for a bit…”

“Your guards don’t mill,” Maerkyn said.

“That’s true, but you’re one of the few Lornian officers alive who knows that.” Saryn paused, then added, “They’ve decided to pick up their pace a bit, but they’re being cautious.”

She could sense the van company picking up speed and trying to catch the apparently slower and tired guards, and she began to weave together the order and chaos flows she would need before that long.

“Stand by!” she called to Maerkyn. “They’re almost in position.”

She could sense the undercaptain’s shrug…and fatalism. She ignored both and raised her voice. “Westwind! Squads one and four! On me!” Then she urged the gelding up over the last part of the hillcrest and down through the knee-high browning grass that crackled with each hoof that struck it. As she came down over the rise, a quick glance confirmed that the lead riders were in blue-and-gray livery-the colors of Lord Jaffrayt-one of those who had declared rebellion. The riders on the road looked up as the guards poured over the eastern side of the dusty hill. The immediate effect of the charge was to slow the riders in the van more than those in the rear.

Saryn loosed her first short sword at close to sixty yards, but with a far narrower chaos-blade. Even so, it sliced through the heart of the entire first company. Saryn forced herself to ignore the screams and the dark voids of death that assaulted her as she drew the second blade and rode through the tunnel of death and destruction she had created and onto the wide east shoulder of the river road.

The company that followed the first one wore orange tunics trimmed in black. They did not hesitate even after seeing the carnage on the road before them, but charged toward Saryn even before she could swing her mount back to the left…and before she had fully gathered and smoothed all the order and chaos into a flow that she could link to the short sword.

Saryn was almost on top of the first rank-or they were nearly on top of her-before she could release the blade. While that cleared a bit of a path, she had to struggle to get her third blade out of the knee sheath, barely in time to parry the all-too-large blade of an armsman who charged in at her from the left, from just beyond the too-narrow wedge of destruction she had flung.