Haven: A Trial of Blood and Steel Book Four (53 page)

“Do it,” she said. “Write me a war tale, Arken. Write me a war tale that warriors will tell around their firesides in Lenayin, of how the Ilduuri Steel is feared by its enemies.”

Rhillian dashed across carnage, her horse bounding and skittering to avoid bodies underfoot, some still moving. Most of them were Bacosh men, but now there was artillery falling all around. Eruptions of flame engulfed unsuspecting men, and ballista fire thumped steadily to the ground with a sound like giant hailstones, here and there taking a man with it.

She found a Lenay officer beneath a banner and raced to his side. “Get your men out of here!” she yelled at him. “Sound a retreat before you lose half your force!”

“We are winning!” the officer shouted back defiantly. “A few cowardly fireballs won't stop us now.”

“Fucking fool!” Rhillian shouted. “They're just getting their range in, you're losing
hundreds
of men even now!” Ballista fire hit very close. Then a nearby horse was hit, straight through the head, crushing its skull and upending it into a somersault.

“You are serrin, you do not command here!” Looking about, Rhillian saw he didn't have a trumpeter anyway. Nearby she spotted another group beneath a flag, and galloped toward them instead. She was halfway there when they disappeared beneath a wall of flame. She threw up her hands and her horse reared. The next moment, she was on the ground.

She rolled to get up, staggering on bodies. She could barely see, blinking desperately to restore her sight. The air stank of fumes and burned flesh. Where was her horse?

Hooves approached from behind, and then Aisha's voice. A big shadow came across in front, and her reaching hand grasped a bridle. She mounted by feel as Aisha asked urgent questions.

“I'm not hurt,” she explained, “I just can't see, that hellfire was too close. How's my horse?”

“Looks okay,” said Aisha, “just try not to fall off again.” Aisha had as little respect for her horsemanship as Errollyn had for her archery. “We have to get them out of here—these brave fools don't know when to retreat!”

“Can you see officers and trumpeters?”

“Um…yes! Just follow me, can you do that?”

Rhillian waved her ahead and followed the blur that was Aisha's horse. More ballista fire hit, unnervingly close by the sound of it, then the flash of another fireball. Rhillian thought that temporary blindness was not such a bad thing, so she did not have to see men burning.

Her vision was clearing by the time she reached the officers, still advancing behind their men toward the Ipshaal. “Full retreat!” she yelled. “We don't stand and fight beneath hellfire, that was already decided by Kessligh himself!”

“I've had no orders from Prince Damon,” the officer retorted.

“And you won't for a short while more, because he's fighting too! But in that short while, you're going to lose your army!”

The officer chewed his lip, barely flinching as two more rounds struck ahead.

“Trumpeter,” Rhillian shouted, “sound full retreat!” The trumpeter looked askance at the officer. Finally, the officer nodded.

The trumpeter raised his horn to his lips and played high notes. It repeated, several times, and then other trumpeters took up the call. And not a moment too soon, as in the midst of the fifth repeat, the Rhodaani trumpeter was struck by a ballista bolt that pinned him to his horse and killed both.

“Let's pick up some wounded and give them a ride back!” Rhillian commanded. “If we're fast we can make several trips before the infantry make it back.”

Hellfire rounds burst across the downhill slope, and then with a roar the Ilduuri Steel were plunging over the edge. Archers stood before Sasha and fired ahead, but with little chance of doing more damage than the hellfire had already done. The great wave of Ilduuri men ran fast and sure despite the slope, and even held a rough formation as they plunged downhill through the dying flames and smoke of hellfire strikes.

Across the wooded ridge behind, Ilduuri officers yelled for men to take up positions, now that the great mass of twelve hundred had gone. They were separate battalions from different regiments—Sasha had not wished to lose an entire formation from any one regiment, as many were from the same towns and regions. In the Army of Lenayin, village men now spread themselves across different formations, so the menfolk of entire towns would not disappear in a single hellfire strike.

There were yells and clashes from below as the downhill plunge encountered men milling at midslope and below for the next uphill attack. But here on the left flank Ilduuri artillery had been heaviest, and there were not so many still living.

Yasmyn galloped in from her right, and came alongside. “Lenayin pulls back,” she announced. “The Regent pursues.”

“We must give them cover. Tell the artillery to put every available unit to fire on the Regent's forces if they come within range. And then come back fast, because if Arken's men are pursued back up the slope, they'll need cover, too.”

Yasmyn nodded and disappeared at a gallop, running Ilduuri replacements skipping aside from the cleared path. Sasha had nineteen thousand Ilduuri in total and nearly four thousand of those were cavalry, now divided between Enoran and Rhodaani forces down in the valley. They'd been reluctant to part from their infantry, but she simply had no use for them up on the ridges, and the other Steel armies had need for more horsemen.

That left fifteen thousand infantry. Kessligh had four thousand guarding the ridges on Jahnd's eastern flank, and she had nearly one thousand manning artillery. Ten thousand fighting men. If none of these just departed came back, she'd have nine. Casualties so far were only in the dozens, but that would change when Balthaar truly got his act together, claimed the Dhemerhill Valley mouth, and forced her to widen her line. If he came up in all places at once, holding could become nearly impossible.

The Army of Lenayin would need to fall back and regroup. The Rhodaani Steel could then move up the valley to defend her right flank and pressure the Regent's left, but they would have to do so without much of their artillery, as the defensive wall across the Dhemerhill Valley had been built without gates for weakpoints, and the valley sides around the wall made it very difficult to haul heavy artillery up and around. And once up the valley, as the Army of Lenayin had just discovered, they'd be exposed to the Regent's own artillery fire.

She had to get some of that artillery here. Dare she send more men down the slope? If she lost too many on such risky charges, she'd never have enough to hold this ridge for even a short while, and if the ridge itself fell quickly, so would the entire heights back along the south side of the Dhemerhill Valley, outflanking the Rhodaanis and their defensive wall completely.

And worse, looking out at the Regent's army beneath her, she'd begun to suspect that she'd underestimated his numbers. If his cavalry were all coming from the east, that should leave him with about a hundred thousand here, mostly infantry. But now, as she tried to count, she thought it was probably more.

Yells and cheers arose from the Ilduuri as the charging force reached the bottom of the hill and laid into the Regent's forces with a distant clashing that sounded like a thousand pots and pans being bashed together. Sasha wished there were more space upon the ridge to deploy artillery further forward, but there was not. Arken's men were now beyond his own artillery range, and exposed. More hooves came toward her, but it was Daish, not Yasmyn. “Kessligh says forty thousand cavalry, led by Koenyg,” he told her, steadying his sweating, gasping horse. “The
talmaad
did well, but the Enoran cavalry got smashed, lost about half.”

Sasha nodded grimly, not especially surprised. “Well, he can't have any horses from here, we're going to need them.”

Daish shook his head. “No, he's not asking, they've stopped them cold but dear gods there are still a lot of them. But they've the Enoran Steel before them now, plenty of
talmaad
, a defensive wall plus artillery on the ridges overhead.”

“Koenyg won't attack directly,” Sasha said with certainty. Her brother could be a hothead, but not where military victory was in question. She stared at the battle below as she spoke. Arken's men were pressing through the Regent's massed ranks, closing on the artillery. Artillery teams were trying to move, but were hemmed in by men on all sides. “He'll wait and force Kessligh to hold many forces to the rear. Tell him to get down to the western wall, that's where the action will be.”

“Now?”

“Now. Go find someone down in the valley to get a report on the Army of Lenayin's status on the way, and tell him that the Rhodaanis are going to be in big trouble if they have to move up to defend my flank, and get hit by the same artillery that hit Lenayin. I'm trying to get some of that artillery now,” she pointed below, “but I can't afford to lose huge waves of men attacking from this position. And tell him I think we've underestimated their numbers here by maybe thirty thousand.”

Daish paled. “You think?” He looked along the riverbank.

Sasha nodded. “I don't know how, but we did,” she murmured, staring downward. Arken's line was nearly at the artillery now, but having penetrated into the Regent's force, his flanks were under pressure. A thin silver wall of men fought hard to keep the tide at bay.

Daish galloped away, and passed Yasmyn as he left. “The Lenays are crossing the river as they pull back,” she informed Sasha when she arrived, “they're coming under our artillery cover. The Regent's forces pursue, but not hard; they seem shocked.”

“Lenayin does that,” Sasha agreed.

Yasmyn smiled ferociously. “The artillery captain tells me that any who pursue them beneath his fire will regret it. How goes the fight?”

Sasha merely pointed. Yasmyn watched for a moment. “Courageous,” she said. “Should you send more?”

“In very little time I'm not going to have enough,” Sasha replied. “Even with what I have now.”

“Like trying to plug twelve holes with ten fingers.”

Sasha nodded. “Soon we'll be using toes.”

Jaryd made his second run back at a canter, holding a Valhanan man with a slashed arm before him in the saddle. The Valhanan had insisted upon walking, but lost a lot of blood, and his comrades had insisted he take a horse. Jaryd rode with him in front so he could be caught if he fell.

The Army of Lenayin retreated in good order along the south side of the valley, beneath heights held by the Ilduuri. Many were frustrated, yelling aloud to any commander who would listen that they should turn about and go straight back. No doubt enough of them remained in good enough shape that they would win yet another glorious victory, and then perhaps another, if they wished. But after a few more such victories, the Regent's army would simply continue to advance, while the Army of Lenayin would fairly much cease to exist.

The Rhodaani Steel now advanced in gleaming squares up the valley centre, men on the near flank sending cheers to the retreating Lenays, who saluted back in good humour. No doubt the Rhodaanis were somewhat cheered to see that despite obvious losses, the Army of Lenayin still appeared strong and in high spirits. Jaryd looked at those tightly packed squares of Rhodaanis, and wondered if the same would stand for them, when the hellfire rounds began falling.

He joined other cavalry heading upslope and around the valley wall, and then down again to the far side. There, a hospital was working feverishly in the yard of a farmhouse, and he was assisted by Jahndi women in taking the wounded Lenay from his saddle. There were many serrin here also, men and women, villagers from across Saalshen who had come to help, yet could not fight. Many of those were learning archery, which could certainly be of use in later defence, even if poorly aimed. Others made arrows, or ballista bolts, or even hellfire, prepared further defences, and helped to tend the wounded.

On a horse nearby he saw a familiar figure directing a steady flow of wagons that now trundled out from Jahnd, and threatened to make a blockage as they churned up the valley roads. Jaryd smiled, as she talked to some hard-of-hearing individual who had aroused her displeasure.

“No!” Sofy was insisting loudly. “Dismantle the fence—you can't fit all these wagons through that gate. Bring the fence down and then you can move as many wagons as you like back and forth, otherwise we'll never move wounded as fast as they arrive!”

She was about to go on to the next trouble spot when she saw him. And smiled with a delight that set his heart to thumping, even despite all the thumping it had just done for different reasons. She trotted quickly over.

“I heard they were magnificent!” she said.

“Lenayin's finest hour,” said Jaryd. “Pity Koenyg wasn't there to be part of it.”

Sofy's eyes fell, and she swallowed. Jaryd regretted he'd said it. “You're well?” she asked, recovering quickly.

“I'm well, Damon too, most of his friends. Casualties quite light, all things considered, but still too high.”

“Better than it could have been,” said Sofy, with feeling. Jaryd nodded. “Jaryd…”

“I know,” he said, and smiled. He wanted to kiss her, but she looked so busy, and there were wounded all around. She had done this kind of thing before, and with her authority, she could make things happen. “You take care.”

“And you,” she said. “Is Sasha…?”

“She's fine. Don't worry about us, Sofy. You save some lives.”

Sofy nodded with determination, spun her horse, and cantered off to supervise more arrivals. Jaryd looked around.

A steady stream of wounded continued to arrive, many of them on horseback. Jaryd saw a serrin man with two Lenays balanced on his horse, and three Lenay infantry, big, ferocious-looking men, one of whom carried a small serrin woman with a wounded leg. So many stories, he thought. So many hopes, friendships, and tragedies, unfolding upon these lands. He imagined the Army of Lenayin, marching triumphant back to their homeland, with a number of serrin wives accompanying them. A few serrin women at least might find the idea appealing…provided their new husbands promised them lives filled with more than that of a traditional Lenay wife. And he imagined himself, arriving back in his homeland, a new noble title to his name and with Sofy in a saddle beside him.