Peter Darman - Parthian Vengeance

I looked at Nergal. ‘I would greatly appreciate it if your archers would assist our two wives.’

He grinned, raised his bow and then he and hundreds of his horse archers galloped after the Amazons.

The cataphracts sat and cheered as the Amazons and Nergal’s horsemen rode at the enemy in continuous circuits, loosing their arrows and slowly eroding the number of spearmen. Fortunately Nergal had brought his own camel train with spare arrows so the destruction of the enemy spearmen was now assured. Then I saw the yellow banner of Narses and knew that the battle was not yet over.

The King of Persis was riding at the head of a line of armoured horsemen that was moving at speed towards the surrounded spearmen in an attempt to relieve them. I saw more spear points behind the cataphracts stretching into the distance and realised that a great number of horsemen were bearing down on my wife and friends.

‘We must head them off. Line and column to deceive them,’ I shouted to Gafarn and Atrax.

They gestured to their officers and seconds later horns were sounded to signal the advance. Moments later over twelve hundred riders were cantering towards the enemy horsemen, without lances and riding tired horses. But if we did not intercept Narses and his men they would swat away our horse archers and save the spearmen. So we broke into a gallop and extended our line to cover half a mile as the gap between the two sides shortened by the second. Five hundred paces from them our formation divided into two columns, the riders at the extreme ends of each flank forming the head of a column as cataphracts suddenly veered left and right to fall in behind them to create a space into which Narses and his heavy horsemen charged, to hit thin air.

There is no point in tired horsemen that have not a kontus among them charging headlong at riders who are fresh and armed with lances, unless they wish to become a kebab — a kontus will go straight though the thickest scale armour. So we flanked right and left to become columns as Narses and his men hurtled past us and we wheeled inwards to strike them in their flanks. The enemy slowed and then halted as the horsemen in front of them parted but in doing so their momentum was lost as we once again drew our weapons and moved into the enemy mass.

Most of the horsemen we faced were spearmen wearing helmets, leather cuirasses and carrying round shields. They jabbed their spears at our bellies but from a near stationary position we could break the spear shafts with our axes and maces. A spear point glanced off the steel on my left arm. I brought my spatha down to splinter the shaft and then brought up the point to thrust it at the rider as he closed on me, the blade going through his larynx. Once more I had my mace in my left hand as I swung it against the side of a man’s helmet, the flange denting the metal and knocking him from his saddle.

Then the Amazons and Nergal’s archers were by our side, shooting arrows at the enemy who were now beginning to slowly fall back. I continued to slash and hack with my weapon and then saw a helmet with a red crest and a fleeting glimpse of a yellow banner. A spearman fell from his saddle under my blows. Then I was before Narses himself.

Dressed in an armoured cuirass covered in silver scales, he directed his horse straight at me and hurled himself from his saddle to grab me as we both tumbled to the ground. My sword was knocked from my hand though my mace’s leather strap was still wrapped round my left wrist as I lay winded on my back. Narses wore no scale armour so he was able to spring to his feet to stand over me, ready to plunge his sword into my chest. I rolled onto my left side as he missed and thrust the blade into the earth beside me, grabbed the handle of my mace and swung it to the right with all my strength. Narses emitted a roar of pain as a flange bit into his leg just above his right knee and he staggered back.

I used the mace to hoist myself onto my feet as he attacked me with a series of savage downward swinging cuts with his sword. One glanced off the side of my helmet to produce a ringing in my ears as I tried to fend him off. I was tiring now and several of his strikes managed to get through my defence, striking my shoulders, knocking off iron scales and biting deep into the hide underneath. I was breathing heavily, desperately trying to fill my lungs with air to alleviate the burning sensation in my chest.

There was blood showing on his right leg but it seemed to have no effect on him as he aimed a horizontal cut against my left shoulder that I stopped by holding my mace with both hands to deflect the blow. I was aware of nothing around me as I transferred the mace to my right hand and threw it at his face. He did not expect that as he ducked to avoid it and I ran at him with all my strength, knocking him to the ground and the sword out of his hand. I held his neck with my left hand and frantically punched his face with my fist, screaming insults as I did so. But he managed to grab his sword and rain blows against the side of my helmet with its pommel, finally knocking me aside.

He staggered unsteadily to his feet, dazed, and with difficulty grasped his sword with both hands to drive it into my prostrate body before him, as I grabbed my own sword lying between his feet and thrust it upwards into his groin.

He winced fiercely, his teeth locked together as I took what seemed like an eternity to haul myself to me feet. Narses dropped his sword and looked at me pitifully, but there was no pity in me this day. I ran my spatha through his cuirass and into his belly, gripping it with both hands as I did so.

‘That is for my father.’

I yanked the blade free and he fell to his knees, still staring at me with disbelieving eyes, blood gushing from between his legs. I reached forward and ripped the helmet off his head, then brought my blade down on his head, splitting his skull.

‘And that is for Farhad.’

He pitched forward to lie face down on the ground. I stood over him, clasped the hilt of my sword with both hands and rammed it down hard, driving it through his body.

‘And that is for Vardan.’

I held up my arms and screamed in triumph and then saw the figure of Mithridates gallop away with a score or more of other horsemen behind him. I pointed at him.

‘Kill him, kill him. Will someone kill him?’

But no one heard me as I stood and watched the snake ride away and then disappear from view.

Vagharsh was the first to arrive where I stood like a guard dog watching over an old bone, escorted by the men of my first company of cataphracts. He looked at the dead body.

‘Who is that?’

‘King Narses, Vagharsh. He is finally dead.’

Vagharsh nodded and then looked at the scene of carnage all around. ‘Him and a lot of others.’

I was suddenly afraid for Gallia. ‘Where is the queen?’

‘She is safe,’ he assured me. ‘She is with the kings.’

He nudged his horse over to where Remus had been calmly standing next to Narses’ horse and brought him to me, then assisted me into the saddle. I ordered horsemen to mount a guard over the body of Narses to ensure it was not taken away and then rode to join my wife.

When I found her she was with Nergal, Atrax and Gafarn as Vagharsh had said, and after embracing her and the others I told them that Narses was dead. I also informed them that I had seen Mithridates flee, back to Susa I assumed.

The battle was now petering out. The phalanx of enemy guards had been decimated by arrow fire and the survivors had given themselves up after Narses’ relief charge had failed. A courier brought news from Orodes that he had destroyed the enemy’s horse and foot archers and had linked up with Vagises, while the legions, despite being under a hail of arrows and sling shots from the start of the fighting, had managed to inch their way forward into and through the date palm grove, forcing enemy spearmen back as they did so, until the remnants of the latter had simply dissolved as the survivors fled south.