Read Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun Online
Authors: Margaret Weis
small, its touch light. Her palm was blistered, rimed with dried
blood. Yet it was the captain who winced slightly.
He looked down at his hand when she released him, rubbed it
on his leather corselet, as if rubbing away the pain of sting or bum.
"Make haste, Captain. We don't have much time," Mina or-
dered.
" And just who are you, Sir Knight?" Captain Samuval asked.
He was still rubbing his hand.
"I am Mina," she said.
Grasping the reins, she pulled sharply. Foxfire wheeled. Mina
dug in her spurs, galloped straight for the ridge above Beckard's
Cut. Her Knights rode alongside her. Galdar ran at her stirrup,
legs pumping to keep up.
"How do you know that Captain Samuval will obey you,
Mina ?" the minotaur roared over the pounding of horses' hooves.
She looked down on him and smiled. Her amber eyes were
bright in the shadow of the helm.
"He will obey," she said, "if for no other reason now than to
demonstrate his disdain for his superiors and their foolish com-
mands. But the captain is a man who hungers, Galdar. He yearns
for food. They have given him clay to fill his belly. I will give him
meat. Meat to nourish his soul."
Mina leaned over her horse's head and urged the animal to
gallop even faster.
Captain Samuval's Archer Company took up position on the
ridgeline overlooking Beckard's Cut. They were several hundred
strong, well-trained professional bowmen who had fought in
many of Neraka's wars before now. They used the elven long
bow, so highly prized among arfhers. Taking up their places, they
stood foot to foot, packed tightly together, with not much room to
maneuver, for the ridgeline was not long. The archers were in a
foul mood. Watching the army of the Knights of Neraka sweep
down on Sanction, the men muttered that there would be nothing
left for them-the finest women carried off, the richest houses
plundered. They might as well go home.
Above them clouds thickened; roiling gray clouds that bub-
bled up over the Zhakar Mountains and began to slide down the
mountain's side.
The army camp was empty, now, except for the tents and
supply wagons and a few wounded who had been unable to go
with their brethren and were cursing their ill luck. The clamor of
the battle moved away from them. The surrounding mountains
and the lowering clouds deflected the sounds of the attacking
army. The valley was eerily silent.
The archers looked sullenly to their captain, who looked im-
patiently to Mina.
"What are your orders, Talon Leader?" he asked.
"Wait," she said.
They waited. The army washed up against the walls of Sanc-
tion, pounded against the gate. The noise and commotion was far
away, a distant rumbling. Mina removed her helm, ran her hand
over her shorn head with its down of dark red hair. She sat
straight-backed upon her horse, her chin lifted. Her gaze was not
on Sanction but on the blue sky above them, blue sky that was
rapidly darkening.
The archers stared, astounded at her youth, amazed at her
strange beauty. She did not heed their stares, did not hear their
coarse remarks that were swallowed by the silence welling up out
of the valley. The men felt something ominous about the silence.
Those who continued to make remarks did so out of bravado and
were almost immediately hushed by their uneasy comrades.
An explosion rocked the ground around Sanction, shattered
the silence. The clouds boiled, the sunlight vanished. The Neraka
army's gloating roars of victory were abruptly cut off. Shouts of
triumph shrilled to screams of panic.
"What is happening?" demanded the archers, their tongues
loosed. Everyone talked at once. "Can you see?"
"Silence in the ranks!" Captain Samuval bellowed.
One of the Knights, who had been posted as observer near the
cut, came galloping toward them.
"It was a trap!" He began to yell when he was still some distance
away. "The gates of Sanction opened to our forces, but only to spew
forth the Solamnics! There must be a thousand of them. Sorcerers
ride at their head, dealing death with their cursed magicks!"
The Knight reined in his excited horse. "You spoke truly,
Mina!" His voice was awed, reverent. "A huge blast of magical
power killed hundreds of our troops at the outset. Their bodies lie
smoldering on the field. Our soldiers are fleeing! They are run-
ning this way, ,retreating through the cut. It is a rout!"
" All is lost, then," said Captain Samuval, though he looked at
Mina strangely. "The Solamnic forces will drive the army into the
valley. We will be caught between the anvil of the mountains and
the hammer of the Solamnics."
His words proved true. Those in the rear echelons were al-
ready streaming back through Heckard's Cut. Many had no idea
where they were going, only that they wanted to be far away
from the blood and the death. A few of the less confused and
more calculating were making for the narrow road that ran
through the mountains to Khur.
"A standard!" Mina said urgently. "Find me a standard!"
Captain Samuval took hold of the grimy white scarf he wore
around his neck and handed it up to her. "Take this and welcome,
Mina."
Mina took the scarf in her hands, bowed her head. Whisper-
ing words no one could hear, she kissed the scarf and handed it
to Galdar. The white fabric was stained red with blood from the
raw blisters on her hand. One of Mina's Knights offered his lance.
Galdar tied the bloody scarf onto the lance, handed the lance back
to Mina.
Wheeling Foxfire, she rode him up the rocks to a high
promontory and held the standard aloft.
"To me, men!" she shouted. "To Mina!"
The clouds parted. A mote of sunlight jabbed from the heav-
ens, touched only Mina as she sat astride her horse on the ridge-
line. Her black armor blazed as if dipped in flame, her amber eyes
gleamed, lit from behind with the light of battle. Her redound, a
clarion call, brought the fleeing soldiers to a halt. They looked to
see from whence the call came and saw Mina outlined in flame,
blazing like a beacon fire upon the hillside.
The fleeing soldiers halted in their mad dash, looked up,
dazzled.
"To me!" Mina yelled again. "Glory is ours this day!"
The soldiers hesitated, then one ran toward her, scrambling,
slipping and sliding up the hillside. Another followed and an-
other, glad to have purpose and direction once again.
"Bring those men over there to me," Mina ordered Galdar,
pointing to another group of soldiers in full retreat. "As ~any as
you can gather. See that they are armed. Draw them up in battle
formation there on the rocks below."
Galdar did as he was commanded. He and the other Knights
blocked the path of the retreating soldiers, ordered them to join
their comrades who were starting to form a dark pool at Mina's
feet. More and more soldiers were pouring through the cut, the
Knights of Neraka riding among them, some of the officers
making valiant attempts to halt the retreat, others joining the foot-
men in a run for their lives. Behind them rode Solamnic Knights
in their gleaming silver armor, their white-feathered crests.
Deadly, silver light flashed, and everywhere that light appeared,
men withered and died in its magical heat. The Solamnic Knights
entered the cut, driving the forces of the Knights of Neraka like
cattle before them, driving them to slaughter.
"Captain Samuval," cried Mina, riding her horse down the
hill, her standard streaming behind her. "Order your men to fire."
"The Solamnics are not in bow range," he said to her, shaking
his head at her foolishness. "Any fool can see that."
"The Solamnics are not your target Captain," Mina returned
coolly. She pointed to the forces of the Knights of Neraka stream-
ing through the cut. "Those are your targets."
"Our own men?" Captain Samuval stared at her. "You are
mad."
"Look upon the field of battle, Captain," Mina said. "It is the
only way."
Captain Samuvallooked. He wiped his face with his hand,
then he gave the command. "Bowmen, fire."
"What target?" demanded one.
"You heard Mina!" said the captain harshly. Grabbing a bow
from one of his men, he nocked an arrow and fired.
The arrow pierced the throat of one of the fleeing Knights of
Neraka. He fell backward off his horse and was trampled in the
rush of his retreating comrades.
Archer Company fired. Hundreds of arrows-each shot with
deliberate, careful aim at point-blank range-filled the air with a
deadly buzz. Most found their targets. Foot soldiers clutched
their chests and dropped. The feathered shafts struck through the
raised visors of the helmed Knights or took them in the throat.
"Continue firing, Captain," Mina commanded.
More arrows flew. More bodies fell. The panic-stricken sol-
diers realized that the arrows were coming from in front of them
now. They faltered, halted, trying to discover the location of this
new enemy. Their comrades crashed into them from behind,
driven mad by the approaching Solamnic Knights. The steep
walls of Beckard's Cut prevented any escape.
"Fire!" Captain Samuval shouted wildly, caught up in the
fervor of death-dealing. "For Mina!"
"For Mina!" cried the archers and fired.
Arrows hummed with deadly accuracy, thunked into their
targets. Men screamed and fell. The dying were starting to pile up
like hideous cord wood in the cut forming a blood-soaked
barricade.
An officer came raging toward them, his sword in his hand.
"You fool!" he screamed at Captain Samuval. "Who gave you
your orders? You're firing on your own men!"
"I gave him the order," said Mina calmly.
Furious, the 'Knight accosted her. "Traitor!" He raised his
blade.
Mina sat unmoving on her horse. She paid no attention to the
Knight, she was intent upon the carnage below. Galdar brought
down a crushing fist on the Knight's helm. The Knight, his neck
broken, went rolling and tumbling down the hillside. Galdar
sucked bruised knuckles and looked up at Mina.
He was astounded to see tears flowing unchecked down her
cheeks. Her hand clasped the medallion around her neck. Her
lips moved, she might have been praying.
Attacked from in front, attacked from behind, the soldiers
inside Beckard's Cut began milling about in confusion. Behind
them, their comrades faced a terrible choice. They could either be
speared in the back by the Solamnics or they could turn and fight.
They wheeled to face the enemy, battling with the ferocity of the
desperate, the cornered.
The Solamnics continued to fight, but their charge was slowed
and, at length, ground to a halt.
"Cease fire!" Mina ordered. She handed her standard to
Galdar. Drawing her morning star, she held it high over her head.
"Knights of Neraka! Our hour has come! We ride this day to
glory!"
Foxfire gave a great leap and galloped down the hillside, car-
rying Mina straight at the vanguard of the Solamnic Knights. So
swift was Foxfire, so sudden Mina's move, that she left her own
Knights behind. They watched, open-mouthed, as Mina rode to
what must be her doom. Then Galdar raised the white standard.
"Death is certain!" the minotaur thundered. "But so is glory!
For Mina!"
"For Mina!" cried the Knights in grim, deep voices and they
rode their horses down the hill.
"For Mina!" yelled Captain Samuval, dropping his bow and
drawing his short sword. He and the entire Archer Company
charged into the fray.
"For Mina!" shouted the soldiers, who had gathered around
her standard. Rallying to her cause, they dashed after her, a dark
cascade of death rumbling down the hillside.
Galdar raced down the hillside, desperate to catch up to Mina,
to protect and defend her. She had never been in a battle. She was
unskilled, untrained. She must surely die. Enemy faces loomed
up before him. Their swords slashed at him, their spears jabbed
at him, their arrows stung him. He struck their swords aside,
broke their spears, ignored their arrows. The enemy was an irri-
tant, keeping him from his goal. He lost her and then he found
her, found her completely surrounded by the enemy.
Galdar saw one knight try to impale Mina on his sword. She
turned the blow, struck at him with the morning star. Her first
blow split open his helm. Her next blow split open his head. But
while she fought him, another was coming to attack her from
behind. Galdar bellowed a warning, though he knew with de-
spair that she could not hear him. He battled ferociously to reach
her, cutting down those who stood between him and his com-
mander, no longer seeing their faces, only the bloody streaks of
his slashing sword.
He kept his gaze fixed on her, and his fury blazed, and his
heart stopped beating when he saw her pulled from her horse. He