Richard Parker - Elsewhere

However, Bock’s main concern was not the Palmerrio cavalry; instead he worried about the vast infantry which was arraying itself in the valley beneath them. At nearly thirty-five thousand men the Palmerrio and Rhondono army was massive and took nearly twenty minutes to quick march into position.

Lonogan looked about, inspecting his own lines, but they’d been set and waiting for the enemy to arrive for several hours. As it was his lines stretched nearly a quarter-mile with three masses of archers placed just behind the heavy infantry, one group of archers on each flank and the largest in the center. The Palmerrio would face withering arrow fire on their march up the long, steep hill.

In the distance, well behind the enemy’s lines, Bock saw a group of horses and soldiers. He could just make out the Palmerrio King’s signal flag; King Weldon was now in position. The smaller hill, though not ideal, would offer a good vantage point for the enemy generals to conduct the upcoming battle. Bock nodded to no one in particular and again glanced back, this time farther down the hill to where Gwaynn and a group of Toranado heavy infantry waited with the Travelers, out of sight from the Palmerrio troops and Generals. Bock thought he saw Gwaynn looking up at him, but at this distance he could not truly tell, but he had little time to dwell on the question before a far off horn sounded and the Palmerrio and Rhondono ground troops began to march across the narrow valley.

The enemy approached slowly at first but as they reached the bottom of the steep hill they broke into a trot. Lonogan glanced off to the south but both the Palmerrio and Massi cavalry were hidden from view. He hoped Kommidi was up to the task and kept the enemy horsemen off their flanks. This was the one area of the plan which caused him genuine concern. Kommidi was young and the men under him were untried. If the Palmerrio were allowed to hit their flanks, serious damage could be inflicted on their smaller army and they could lose everything even if Gwaynn managed to cut Weldon’s head clean off.

“Hold!” he heard Captain Hahn command his archers and then very faintly he heard a repeat call, a female voice…Samantha, coming from the right.

“Hold!” Hahn called again, but then moments later he yelled. “Fire!” Hundreds of arrows whistled overhead and arched gracefully down to the enemy below. Volley after volley shot past and into the air, raining down on the quickly approaching enemy. From his position Bock could not see what effect the arrows were having, but he hoped it was significant.

“Prepare!” he yelled as the front lines of the enemy approached within a hundred yards.

“Aaaauuuu!” the Toranado infantry yelled in answer and crashed their shields together and moments later the Massi infantry answered with their own yell of defiance. Several more volleys flew overhead and this time Bock could tell the attack was effective if not devastating. Lonogan actually smiled, but it fell quickly from his face as he caught sight of several figures near the front of the enemy lines, both were wearing long black robes trimmed in red.

‘Executioners!’ He thought with a rush of dread, but then the two armies slammed together and all coherent thought fled before the violence.

ǂ

Gwaynn fidgeted as Monde, na Gall and Laynee all worked to build a bridge that would appear some fifty yards from Weldon’s position. They did not want to Travel too close or the first to emerge would be dangerously outnumbered by the King’s personal guard. The three Travelers began working just as David Hahn shouted “Hold,” for the first time. Gwaynn forced himself to be patient and not help the Travelers in any way. He needed to be strong and fast when he joined in the action. The fight would be rough and bloody, most personal guards were nothing short of fanatics, but he fully expected to win through and take the King Weldon himself. As he fidgeted, he glanced in Samantha’s direction but she was too far away and he could not make her out among the many others, but as he watched a large volley of arrows arched gracefully into the sky.

‘Hurry!’ Gwaynn thought as volley after volley was launched from the top of the hill and down at the enemy. From his position he could not tell if the missiles were having any effect, since the targets were still hidden from view on the far side of the hill; he heard no screams; he heard no cheers.

“Bastards!” Prince Phillip said quietly and Gwaynn glanced at him with a small smile. Phillip’s Weapons Master Tabernas tried to convince his Prince to stay out of the raiding party and instead help General Bock lead the battle, but Phillip would have none of it. King Weldon Palmerrio attacked and conquered his homeland…with the help of the Temple Knights, and Phillip was not going to miss his chance to strike a very personal blow against the King from the north.

“Everyone stay in tight,” Krys ordered loudly so that all five hundred men could hear. The group shifted position, though they were already packed in very close. Somehow, the soldiers pressed even more tightly together. Through the bridge, vague colors became visible and Gwaynn knew the time was very close.

“Aaaaauuuu!” he heard the Toranado heavy infantry yell from up on the hill.

“Aaaaauuuu,” called the Toranado men around him very softly, not wanting to give away their presence. Gwaynn was impressed that they managed to keep their voices down in the excitement. Their caution was unfounded because seconds later the crest of the hill erupted with sound, the clash of metal, the defiant yells of men and women, followed quickly by the screams of the wounded and dying. The soldiers at the base of the hill looked up at the symphony of noise, but Gwaynn continued to stare intently at Monde. The Traveler opened her eyes and stared into his.

“I will be watching and waiting for your return…do not dally,” she ordered and Gwaynn nodded.

“Travel!” the two women and Laynee yelled in unison, the young girl’s voice sounding like a small bell, surprisingly clear among the more horrific sounds of battle coming from the hilltop.

The bridge expanded to impressive proportions and Gwaynn, Krys, Phillip and Tabernas rushed through, but more followed quickly since the bridge was sufficiently large enough that six men could file across together. The raiding party started through without hesitation, without even checking to see if they were in the correct position. Gwaynn trusted the Travelers and the soldiers trusted Gwaynn.

Their trust was well founded for when Gwaynn and the first popped out on the far side of the bridge they were just over sixty yards from Weldon’s position. Around the King stood his personal guard, numbering perhaps eighty men; fifty were mounted on horseback, but there were another thirty or so men on foot. Most of those on foot were archers by the looks of them. Without pausing to get a truly accurate read, Gwaynn and the others ran directly at the enemy. They ran quietly, wanting to get as close as possible before they were detected.

“Ho!” Phillip yelled to Gwaynn’s left and he glanced around. Farther down the hill and perhaps two hundred yards away to the east were hundreds of archers and perhaps five hundred horsemen all mounted and waiting. Gwaynn could not get a clear count because some of the force appeared to be hidden from view by another small hill.

‘Reserves!’ Gwaynn berated himself. ‘How could Monde and na Gall missed them?’ The horsemen were facing away and toward the battlefield but there were groups of archers milling about and some were facing their direction and they were all within easy bow range. The Palmerrio archers were already screaming out warnings to those around them and to Gwaynn’s dismay he saw that the King’s personal guard was know alert and taking up position to meet them.