Conflict and Courage (45 page)

“Stand firm,”
Jim ordered, “don’t follow,” a necessary precaution as some Lind
had begun edging towards them, “they’ll be back.”

The defenders
waited but to their surprise the kohorts formed up in rank and
edged away another ten metres.

“What’s
happening?” asked Tara in panic.

: Jim and Larya
say they think they will wait for dawn :

: Why? If they
all attacked now we wouldn’t have a hope of holding them off. We
barely got back to the ridge-top alive :

: He does not
know why but Fernei says that they must have orders to wait. We
must get some rest :

The reason why
was that, during that evening’s battle when the kohorts had
attacked no less than six times, Bvdmaldr had learned that it was
Jim and Larya who were leading these Lindars and Vada.

Now, Aoalvaldr
had hated the Vada for his personal defeat and disgrace. He had
wanted revenge, pure and simple. Bvdmaldr hated Jim and Larya. One
of the more astute and clever Larg within the Largan’s inner
circle, he had analysed the Great Defeat, as the Larg called the
Battle of the Alliance, in considerable depth and had come to the
conclusion that it was Jim who had won the day for the north. It
was he and none other who had caused the rout. It was Jim who was
the greatest impediment to the ascendancy of the Larg. It was Jim
who was the driving force behind the cohesiveness of the armies of
the north.

He had come to
a decision. He wanted to capture Jim and Larya alive. What an entry
he would make on his return home with the Larg’s greatest enemy a
prisoner! He, not Aoalvaldr would become the great hero. The Largan
would have no choice but to name him his successor.

Accordingly, as
night fell and to the complete mystification of the northerners, he
ordered Cmvldr to retire and to wait until dawn.

Jim, Tara and
the others could hardly believe their eyes.

: We have a
chance now :

: The Ryzcks
are waiting :
Larya answered Jim.

: Where? :

: Other side of
river :

: Tell them to
attack at dawn as we agreed but they must wait for my signal :

Afanasei limped
towards them. “You think Jim, they will be back this night?”

“Not until sun
rises,” answered Larya. “Fernei tells us they have been ordered to
wait. He knows not why.”

“The Lindars,”
added Afanasei with satisfaction, “are closing.”

“Remind them to
run as quietly as they can,” said Jim, “I don’t want the Larg to
realise how many and how close they really are.”

“They will hear
them,” worried Larya.

“Not if we make
enough noise they won’t,” said Jim.

So to the
waiting Larg’s immense surprise, their enemies on Mackie’s Ridge
and at David’s Keep did not quietly sit out the night.

They could hear
a lot of laughter and singing, not that their enemies let their
guard drop.

The scouts
Cmvldr sent up to the ridge to investigate did not return.

The sound of
Duguld’s trumpet rang out in the night air.

* * * * *

The Eighth
Ryzck, with Kim Douglas in command, had led the other Ryzcks west
towards the battlefield at their best pace. With them ran Lindar
Hlindya, the duty Lindar in southern Argyll this season. Theirs was
not one of the larger Lindars, being only some two hundred strong,
but Kim thought as they galloped that another two hundred fighters
might make all the difference.

She had not
waited for orders, as ranking Ryzcka she had decided to go,
overriding all objections with implacable resolve. They had been
halfway to the battlefield when the word came about the location of
the southern fleet and the orders to ride west. Kim had made the
right decision.

She knew that
Francis, Asya, Geraldine and the others were being attacked at the
Keep. She knew Jim, Larya, the Tenth and the home Lindars were in
dire straights on Mackie’s Ridge. She also knew the Lindars from
Lind were fast approaching from the west and would swing round once
inside Vadath’s borders, to approach the battlefield from the
north.

“The Larg will
have scouts patrolling the western side of the riverbank,” she
informed the Ryzckas and the Susa during one of their infrequent
rest stops, “we will camp this side and cross with the dawn, else
we might miss the ford.”

As her scouts
approached the riverbank careful not to be seen or heard, Larya
informed Kim’s Slei of Jim’s plan for the morrow.

The Keep had
held out. For two days they had repulsed kohort after kohort of
Larg, the defenders were exhausted, bone-weary and many were dead
or hurt.

It was Jim’s
little army on the ridge that was in danger of annihilation.

* * * * *

It was an
uncomfortable night. Those who had been there noted the similarity
between this night and the eve of the Battle of the Alliance.

True, it had
not been raining then, but that was the only difference.

There was the
same nervous tension, the same surreptitious checking of armour and
equipment.

There was the
same edgy sleeplessness. You knew you needed to rest but found it
impossible.

Tempers
flared.

None were more
edgy than those with Jim and Larya on Mackie’s Ridge.

We should by
rights be dead by now, thought Tara as she tried to get comfortable
for the umpteenth time. Like the others, she was confused and
unsettled by the unexpected respite.

They were not
to know until much later why. Never before had the Larg wished to
take a prisoner.

Jim Cranston
sat up thinking and planning for most of the night then dropped off
into an uneasy sleep.

Those who had
managed to get some shut-eye woke with first light.

: Make much
noise :
commanded Larya. She telepathed the same order to the
Keep. Duguld’s silver trumpet blared out a few minutes later.

The Lindars
were very close now.

On the eastern
bank of the river Ryzcka Kim ordered the Ryzcks from the east to
advance to the ford.

: Quiet
:
Slei warned as they slunk through the undergrowth.

: When Jim
sends the word we cross and then hit the Larg right flank, get them
off balance, they won’t expect an attack from here then make for
the ridge, not that most of us will get that far :

There was a
seething, sprawling mass of Larg milling around between the Keep
and the ridge, not much the Ryzcks and Lindar Hlindya could do.

The battle
hinged on the arrival of the Lindars.

Kim’s job was
to keep the Larg occupied and off balance so that they were unaware
of the approaching Lindars until it was too late.

Kim and Slei’s
Ryzck, closely followed by the First, the Third, the Twelfth and
the Fourteenth hit the kohort on the Larg army’s right wing like
avenging angels. Their war cry reverberated as they splashed out of
the ford and galloped full tilt towards their enemies, Lindar
Hlindya at their side.

Kim knew that
she could not turn the tide of battle in favour of the north, the
charge was intended to do one thing only, to turn the attention of
the Larg High Command towards their right wing and if it also
sucked away some of the pressure on Jim and Larya’s beleaguered
force at Mackie’s Ridge, then that was an added bonus. With
attention focused on what was happening at the ford, the Lindars
would have a better chance of arriving undetected.

To her
surprise, the Larg did not react as she had expected. The kohort
guarding the river remained where it stood.

She ordered her
command to feint a retreat right and only then did the unengaged
kohort move. With the Larg yapping at their heels, the Ryzcks and
the Lindar wheeled round and ran as hard as they could.

Then they
stopped, turned on their haunches and leapt into the attack.

There were
enough Larg warriors to make life dangerously interesting. Five
Ryzcks of thirty-five apiece and one small Lindar were few enough
to take on a Larg kohort numbering over eight-hundred.

Kim ceased to
worry about Jim and Larya. She and Slei had enough of a battle on
their hands and paws of their own. Peter and Radya ceased fretting
about Tara and Kolyei as he thrust and parried, realising that they
would have a great amount of difficulty getting out of the melee
alive.

It seemed like
an eternity until Slei’s order came to break right again and lead
the kohort they were fighting away to the northern edge of the
battlefield. Many didn’t make it.

Amongst these
was Yvonne and Tavei, the seventh of the original twelve ‘Children
of the Wolves’ to die. Peter and Radya saw Tavei slip and fall to
the ground but could do nothing to help them. A shocked Peter and
Radya managed to extricate themselves with some difficulty and sped
after the rest.

With howls of
rage the Larg followed, out and away from Bvdmaldr’s main force.
Intent on directing Cmvldr up on the ridge, Bvdmaldr was not
initially aware of what was happening. His second had sent the news
that he was positive their enemies were breaking, not long now and
he would have Susyc Jim within his paws.

: On to
victory! :
he urged Cmvldr, angry and frustrated that it wasn’t
over yet. The kohorts were winning, were not these Lind with human
riders fleeing the field? One more push and they would do it. He
turned his head, ready to give the order committing all the
unengaged to the fight.

* * * * *

Jim’s little
army, which had charged downhill again when Kim and Slei had led
the Ryzcks over the ford, began to struggle back uphill.

Mark and Aya
went down and so the eighth of the original ‘Children of the
Wolves’ died. In stunned horror, Tara and Kolyei ‘felt’ their final
terrified surprise and deaths. She saw Eitel furiously hacking at a
Larg who had grabbed on to his arm and was attempting to drag him
out of the saddle. She watched as Tina and Daltei came to the
rescue, Tina swinging her sword downwards on the exposed back of
the Larg with desperate abandon, her sword glinting in the
sunlight.

Another Larg
leapt at her and Kolyei. Kolyei shrugged his body out of the way
and stretched out his chelas to maul the beast.

The air rang
with roars of challenge and shouts and howls and squeals of
pain.

Lindar Afanasei
on the right wing fought their way uphill, pawstep by bloody
pawstep. Tarmsei, Susa of the Lindar and Kolyei’s friend
disappeared under the claws and teeth of the kohorts as did many
others.

Tara and Kolyei
reached the top of the ridge with the survivors. Tara was hurt,
Eitel was badly mauled and Daltei had a bad gash on his flank. She
saw Jim sitting astride Larya. He was holding his side with a
bloody hand, his lips set in a tight line as he fought to control
the pain.

“The Lindars?”
yelled Tara as Kolyei wheeled round to face the oncoming Larg
warriors, “Where are they?”

* * * * *

Bvdmaldr was
ecstatic. He was winning. He just knew it!

What if the
regiments of Murdoch decide to join in
, thought Tara,
we
haven’t got a hope if they do, they will finish us.

Jim and Larya
knew this as well as Tara and Bvdmaldr.

The Larg
Commander sent word to the beachhead.

General
Karovitz was in a quandary. Sam Baker had expressly ordered that
they remain where they were but he knew that, if they did join in,
his soldiers could well tip the balance for the south but there
were rumours that Lindars were approaching from the west.

“If we don’t go
to help,” he fretted, “the Larg may well lose this battle. These
northerners on the ridge have held them off since last night and
the Keep is still intact.”

“And if we lose
the regiments,” pointed out Colonel Ross, “are you volunteering to
be the one who will face the Lord Regent?”

“We have very
specific orders,” added Colonel Senot, “orders not to advance into
Vadath proper.”

All four
commanders remembered their army’s retreat to the beach nine years
ago when the Lind had been able to pick the southern soldiers off
one at a time. This time their job, as Sam Baker had explained, was
as guard to the beachhead.

“It’s more than
our lives are worth,” said Colonel Morgan, “the Larg are supposed
to do the fighting this time round.”

General
Karovitz shook his head.

“And that
kohort Bvdmaldr sent east to bring in the herds, they were due back
some hours ago. I’m thinking they may have run into some trouble,”
added Colonel Ross.

“I don’t
understand why Bvdmaldr pulled them in at the ridge when night
fell,” said Colonel Senot.

“Heard that he
wanted to capture someone specifically,” said Colonel Morgan.

“Duchesne?”

“No, it sounded
like Susik.”

“Whatever,”
shrugged General Karovitz. “Bvdmaldr still has numerical
superiority and it will take at least half a day to get the men
organised and into position. I’ll tell him we’re getting ready.
That should hold off his demands for a bit.”

He turned away
and flicked his finger at one of the runners.

“The man’s a
fool,” whispered Colonel Senot, sotto voce.

“But think of
the glory, the General who destroyed Vadath.”

“We’ll be easy
meat if the Larg lines break. Bvdmaldr should finish them off at
the ridge and then evacuate. Hundreds of cattle have already been
shipped out. Transports have returned for the next load, we should
take advantage and move out with them and I’m worried about the
apparent disappearance of those Bvdmaldr sent west.”

General
Karovitz turned back to face the colonels.