Dragons of War (57 page)

Fortunately, their task was made simpler by the fact that the town boasted a multitude of walled enclosures. There were the vineyard walls on the southern side, and then within the town proper there were more walls surrounding gardens and yards. The houses were large, built of stone, and exceptionally sturdy.

Poplars and lindens grew along the main street, and Eads ordered them cut down to build a barricade across the main road to Waldrach at the southern edge of the town.

The trees were laid in a
V
with the point aimed to the north so as to provide a killing zone inside the
V
for any attacker. In addition to the trees, they wedged in whatever they could find in the nearby buildings, a rich haul of old wine presses, barrels, crates, and several metal-wheeled wagons sturdy enough to provide fighting platforms even for dragons.

The evidence of the hasty departure of the citizenry was widely visible. A torn bolt of cloth trailing through the street, a door banging somewhere, a child's doll lying on the pavement in the center of the town.

Through the town went the men and dragons working at a feverish pace, hauling heavy materials to the barricade on the main road. Captain Eads oversaw the construction. This was the third such structure they had built, and he had learned something from the previous two. The V formation had suggested itself to him most strongly after the battle of Clove Valley, where they had fought along a line with just a slight curve inward. They had enjoyed a persistent tactical advantage as a result, always having a longer line than the enemy at the contact point and thus having the advantage of numbers where it counted, where swords and shields were in play.

Now Eads deepened that curve to a
V
hoping to increase the advantage. However, this created two vital, and potentially weak points, where the top of the
V
joined the rest of the defensive line.

Within the
V
the enemy would be constrained, and at the point of the
V
he would be so crushed together that it would be hard to wield a sword freely. But at the points where the
V
attached to the rest of the line, there would be two salients: strong points that would have to be held.

For each of these strong points Eads chose massive houses, built of stone with plastered interiors, oak floors, and windows of colored glass, the homes of prosperous vintners. Each house had a surrounding walled garden, and Eads had men throw up earth embankments on the inside of the walls to allow men and dragons to stand and repulse any attempt to climb the walls.

To each of these houses, Eads posted a force of three dragons. Bazil, the Purple Green, and Alsebra were assigned to one, and three dragons from the 66th were assigned to the other.

The rest of the 109th were stretched along one side of the V-shaped barricade, and the 66th took up the other side.

Next to the houses at the top of the
V
were other homes and walled gardens that continued to the edge of the village, where they merged into the walled vineyards of the southern slope. Along these walls, in the houses, and other strong points, Eads and Ranard, aided by Bowchief Starter, placed their men.

They were interrupted by a sudden roar of noise from the center of the position, on the road to Waldrach.

Eads ran out of the house where he'd been working on positioning a dozen men, and looked back in alarm. He'd seen no sign of the enemy and could not believe they'd been attacked so soon. But the uproar continued, though he still could see no sign of any enemy column coming up the road from Rundel, which lay open in plain view and quite empty.

With Ranard and Lieutenant Ranousmure he ran back, pulse racing, through the walled gardens and narrow lanes to the main road.

As they drew closer they heard individual voices, high-pitched shouts from dragonboys, whoops from men, and roars from dragons. And then they burst out of a walled-in pathway to witness a minor miracle.

Marching down the road from Waldrach came a column of reinforcements, hundreds of local men armed with small sword and ancient round shields. Then behind them came rank on rank of legionaries, four hundred men from the Kadein First Legion, who'd been shipping around to Fitou, and had missed the fleet at Marneri and chosen to march instead of waiting.

And with them, most blessed of all, were dragons, the entire 33rd Kadein Dragon squadron with the mighty rust-gold, brasshide Burthong at their head.

There came a tremendous roar, and the broketail dragon burst through the cheering men and went up belly to belly with Burthong, the brasshide whom he had fought in the summer games; both great monsters roared and slapped forehands in greeting.

"By the fiery breath of old Glabadza, it is Burthong!"

"Well, well, the broken-tailed one. And the rest of the Marneri 109th."

"And the 66th, they are on the other side of this position."

"Then we are among old friends, and I am glad of it. When do we fight?"

"Soon. We are going to have one hell of a fight, right here."

"It is good to see you, Broketail. Often have I thought of our bout. That was a good contest. You showed me a thing or two."

"By the fires of old Glabadza, you showed me a thing or two. I had never seen a brass move so fast."

"Next time we fight each other, I will show you some new moves, and who knows, maybe this time Burthong will be winner!"

"Here comes Captain Eads," said Relkin, who had been shaking hands with the dragonboys of the Kadein 33rd, most of whom he had met before.

The 33rd were commanded by Dragoneer Bekfor, who came forward with captain Velichek to meet Captain Eads. Eads knew Velichek by reputation only. Velichek was the older man, on the reserve list now and retired to a small estate in the county of Bea.

Velichek made it clear at once that he was quite happy to let Eads assume overall command.

"Thank you, Captain Velichek. Your arrival is little short of miraculous. I believe an enemy army is due to come up that road from Rundel at any moment. We've seen Baguti cavalry in the margins of the woods."

"Through here?"

"The enemy has masked the Argonath army in Fitou with a smaller force. He's put perhaps half his strength on the road to Waldrach. If he gets past us, there's nothing to stop him burning his way to Marneri."

Captain Velichek became pale. "We must make a stand here, then. We will deny him the road to Marneri."

The great eyes of Cuica soon spotted the massive columns of the enemy moving off to the south. An army of some size was in motion along the south bank of the river Alno, marching due east to Fitou. Clouds of cavalry were set out ahead. Another army of considerably greater size was moving northeast through the woodlands of Rundel.

Cuica would normally have paid little heed to any of this. These were not motions that interested the eagle. Instead he would have looked for young hares in the wheat fields under his wing, or in the vineyards along the Sprian ridge.

Cuica was, however, not the only mentality to peer through his great eyes on that morning. Lagdalen of the Tarcho saw those dark columns on the roads and immediately grasped the implications. She knew that the road through Rundel ran north and east and eventually to Aubinas and Marneri. She understood that there was unlikely to be any defensive force gathered on that side of the gap.

The past days had been hard, nightmarish ones for Lagdalen. At times she had thought the eagle would perish from hunger, there was so little game to be had around Padmasa. And then she had felt certain they would be destroyed by the batrukh and all three of them would lose their minds, trapped forever within dead animants. Along the way, however, she had learned how to deftly guide the eagle when it was important. It was not entirely unlike riding a horse, although eagles are much fiercer than horses. Essentially, the great raptor did not understand why it did some of the things it did at these times. It simply wished to hunt. There was distress, and a feeling that something wrong was going on in the back of its mind, but it was unable to put a talon on whatever it actually was, and so it merely obeyed.

Now she pushed, and Cuica turned and spiraled out into the south and west, looping down over Rundel Forest away from the young hares in the wheat field, away from the vineyards on the ridge.

The two tiny passengers were immediately aware of the change of flight direction. The wren poked her head out of the leather cup and glimpsed woodlands below.

Then, on the road through the woods, she glimpsed the dark mass of an army, an endless column that went back and back into infinity, a vast snake of men, imps, and monsters, with a tail of wagons that went on for many, many miles.

The wren pecked the mouse awake. It came out of a fetal crouch and cautiously peered from the leather cup.

The eagle wheeled in the sky, rode a thermal to a higher point, and then coasted southward, crossing the river Alno.

And there marched a second army, heading downstream. Bird and mouse looked to each other, a brief meeting of beady little black eyes. The Masters' plan was unfolding.

Now the eagle's wings beat steadily as it lofted itself high above the scene and turned back to the east.

Two enemy armies were in motion. The enemy had undertaken a bold gamble, but one that, if successful, would mean almost certain defeat for the Argonath.

None of this vital information was available to one Corporal Henker of the First Regiment in the Bea legion. Off duty, Henker was fishing in the stream that flowed behind the regiment's position just to the south of Fitou. The stream was fairly sluggish, but there were trout and perch to be had. He had already caught a pan-sized brown trout, and he sought a second to complete a pleasant dinner.

Cooling in the stream was a bottle of white Andelain wine. He was looking forward to a fine evening. There would be fighting soon, but Henker was a seasoned soldier and knew better than to anticipate the worst. Instead he concentrated on a good dinner in the offing.

Corporal Henker dropped his line across the deep pool again and let the bait trail past that fish he was certain still lurked there.

There was a sound above him, and he looked up and glimpsed an eagle in flight, low over the trees. He gaped. One rarely saw eagles this low. He stood up to watch its progress, but lost sight of it in the tree's.

Then it came back, circling toward him and landed in a tree not a hundred yards distant.

His cast had returned to him, and he hauled in his line with occasional glances over to where the eagle had landed.

A minute or so later, a small bird flitted past him. He took little notice. Nor did he see it when it perched on a branch above his head and carefully examined him. He heard its wings thereafter when it slipped away back through the trees, a slight rustling sound, no more.

Not very long after that, a mouse strode out of the tall grass behind the corporal and approached him. The bird was back too, nervously flitting from spot to spot.

Henker was first aware that he was not alone when he felt a presence behind him. He turned and saw nothing. Then his eye fell on the mouse. Sitting calmly on the ground beside his fishing satchel, the wee beast looked him straight in the eye.

"By the breath," he murmured. It was the damnedest thing. He stared at it. There was something about those eyes.

A few minutes later Corporal Henker rose from his place by the riverbank, cradling the mouse in one hand while a wren perched on his shoulder.

The lovely, pan-sized trout in his satchel he left for the eagle, which had joined them and tore into the fish with great gusto.

General Felix was in session with his commanders at the time. He had received lots of reports concerning the movement of the enemy army down the road to Conjona. Baguti cavalry were crossing the Tupada and ranging into Andelain. His own cavalry had clashed with them several times.

A sergeant came in with a note. General Felix stared at it for a moment, then hurriedly promised to do something about it in a moment.

A moment was too long, however, and quite suddenly the entrance was jerked open and Commander Sear, of the Bea legion appeared. He had the strangest expression on his face and was wearing a small bird on his shoulder.

The daylight lengthened as the afternoon wore on. Out towards Rundel Forest, nothing stirred except insects and rabbits. Relkin saw a deer browsing along the edge of the farthest wheat field, and remarked that it would be a great day to go hunting.

Bazil grunted that hunting was not that profitable an activity as far as he was concerned. The dragon was a mite snappish, anxious to be in combat and have it over with. Relkin took the hint and brought Bazil an armful of army bread slathered in akh and then a pail of water to wash it down.

The barricade across the main road through Lennink was now a full twelve feet high, a twisted mass of trees, brush, debris, wagons, tables, chairs, and even spinning wheels. A great pile of cobbles had been pried up and stacked to hand for the dragons to throw. Smaller stones had been accumulated for the men and dragonboys.

All along the fortified southern edge of Lennink there were men hidden, lying in wait for the enemy. The dragons of the 33rd Kadein had been placed back of the line to be used as a reserve. Captain Eads had also created a three hundred man special reserve that he would hold back to plug any gap that might develop.

They waited with gathering tension, and stared out over the vineyards to the wheat fields and the distant woods. Was the enemy really coming? Had their glimpse of the Baguti been a freak? Perhaps an outrider patrol, perhaps nothing but looters?

Eilsa Ranardaughter ran messages for her father to the clan captains, dashing back and forth from the clan positions, a vision of energy and beauty with her wild blond hair tucked beneath a square, clan cap of green. Her friend Silva did the same, and they were put to much use that afternoon. Ranard was exceedingly anxious and continually sought to improve and adjust his men's positions. He had watched Eads and his officers at work, had picked up a few things, and now worked at implementing them.