L. Modesitt - Arms-Commander

Another cough jolted her, especially the words from the wall above and to the east of where she stood flattened against the stone.

“…you see anything, Kulyn?”

“…something out there…can’t make out…maybe a rider…”

“…could be one of their scouts, watching us…”

“…got a real bad feeling, Undercaptain. They got something against us…not going away…”

The undercaptain laughed. “What can they do so long as we man the walls?”

Saryn forced herself to continue creating the flow of order and chaos targeted at the stone supports of the gates, letting the words drift over her. She had to keep working because the eastern horizon was definitely getting lighter, and it wouldn’t be long before she was totally exposed-she might be already if anyone looked down.

“Sargyl says they got a mage, ser…”

“Might have a black one…you didn’t see any fire-bolts coming from them, did you? Besides, the black ones can only defend, and that won’t take the walls.”

“Begging your pardon, ser, but there weren’t many from twentieth company that made it back…and they were fighting women.”

“Renegades from Westwind, Lord Henstrenn says.” The undercaptain laughed again. “If those are the renegades, we’re better off leaving the Roof of the World alone.”

Saryn almost smiled, but she could feel the energy building, as if everything were flowing toward the stone, and she dropped to the ground, flattening herself as much as she could.

CRUMMPPTT!

Beneath her, the ground shivered and shook for a moment…and then something hammered her flat. Waves of light and darkness sloshed back and forth in her skull, then subsided into a dull ache. She lifted her head and glanced around. A pillar of dust rose from where the gates had been, and she could feel the thunder of hoofs as the northern lords’ company galloped toward the gap in the walls.

Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and began to run out toward where she sensed Ishelya was riding. No one seemed to notice her. For that, she was grateful. She was also glad she seemed to have some ability to sense and use the order and chaos flows, but the dull ache in her skull reminded her that she needed to be careful…very careful.

As Ishelya brought both horses to a stop, Saryn swung up into the saddle, then glanced back toward where the gates had been. Half of Maeldyn’s forces were within the walls, and without even trying, Saryn could sense the rising number of deaths. She just hoped most of those were Duevekan or Suthyan.

She turned the gelding toward fourth squad, realizing that the rest of the Westwind forces had almost joined the squad. As she rode toward her force, behind her she began to sense men and mounts milling around, moving slowly westward within the walls.

“Captain! To the western gates! The Suthyans are trying to escape.”

“On me!” ordered Hryessa. “To the western gates!”

Saryn let the bulk of the riders pass her before swinging the gelding parallel to the column, noting that Hryessa already had each squad five abreast. Three more guards detached themselves from fourth squad and moved into position, flanking her on both sides. Then, the rest of fourth squad moved in behind them.

On Hryessa’s orders, no doubt.

As Saryn neared the western end of the holding walls, she saw that the armsmen riding out through the western gates, even before they were fully open, were clad in red and gold.

“Squads abreast!” came the order from Hryessa, followed by, “Fourth squad hold for the commander! All others, charge!”

Saryn couldn’t help but frown, as she began to gather and weave the order and chaos flows once more, hoping she would have the strength to divert at least some chaos-bolts away from the guards.

The first guards reached the Suthyans without a single fire-bolt being cast, and the short swords of the guards ripped into the red-clad armsmen, who fought with a combination of desperation and resignation. That was the way it felt to Saryn.

There aren’t any white wizards left?

A few moments later, a squad in red and gold wheeled away from the melee and angled due north from the walls, as if to make a break between the Westwind and the Lornian companies that were following the others in though the eastern gates. Saryn could sense chaos amid the withdrawing Suthyan squad.

That’s where he is.

The last thing she wanted was any Suthyan mages surviving.

“Fourth squad! On me!” Saryn projected her voice and command, drawing the short sword from the right knee sheath.

“On the commander!” ordered Klarisa.

Fourth squad surged away from the melee and behind Saryn as she rode toward the Suthyan squad. She could sense a concentration of chaos, but no fire-bolts arched toward her.

Then…when they were yards from the Suthyans, a single word rang out. “Now!”

A blinding flare of white light flashed before them, so bright that Saryn could see nothing. She could still sense the Suthyans ahead, and the chaos-mage, who had turned his mount to the east and was breaking from the squad.

In the instants she had before she reached the first Suthyans, Saryn focused her order-chaos into an unseen knife wedge barely a yard wide, linked it to the blade, and flung both, directing them toward the fleeing wizard. The order-chaos-knife angled across the few riders to her left, cutting through them, and the black blade slammed through the white wizard’s shields.

Another white flare flashed, and Saryn could sense nothing where the white wizard and his mount had been. She still could see nothing.

Just before reaching the first rider in the Suthyan squad, she pulled a second short sword from her battle harness and slashed at the Suthyan, slightly off to her right. His block was weak, but accurate, suggesting that he’d closed his eyes, knowing what was coming…the first time.

She ducked, kept moving, and back-cut, before coming up with a direct thrust under the guard of the next Suthyan. She was still operating mostly by sense, although her vision was beginning to return. Another parry and a cut, and she was behind the Suthyan squad.

She wheeled the gelding and attacked from behind.

For a time, the fight continued, but as the guards recovered their vision, more Suthyans dropped…and then more. Then, there were but a handful of mounted Suthyans from the small squad.

Saryn was about to move toward them, when she sensed, behind her, a smaller body of armsmen riding from the western gates, immediately beginning to turn south. She turned her head to see that they wore red and black-Keistyn’s colors. With that, she wheeled the gelding.

“Fourth squad! To me! Now!”

“On the commander!”

What was left of fourth squad-or those who could respond-formed into a wedge behind Saryn as she rode toward Keistyn’s armsmen. As she neared them, she recognized Keistyn himself at the forefront.

“Running away when you can’t bully?” Saryn order-flung the words at him. “You don’t want to fight when women make it too hard for you, little boy?”

“Do your worst, bitch commander!” Keistyn spurred the big charger directly toward Saryn and fourth squad.

Saryn didn’t feel charitable, not in the slightest. She also didn’t want to use any more order-chaos than she had to, but her squad was battered and outnumbered. She wove together as much order and chaos as she could and linked it to the short sword she hurled at him, with a wider and thinner chaos-cutting blade.

Keistyn’s mouth opened, but no sound emerged as Saryn’s blade buried itself in his chest and the chaos-knife continued onward, separating his body-and the bodies of men and mounts beside and behind him-into two sections.