Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun (64 page)

front and sent them south, concentrating their attacks against the

Legion of SteeL believing that they were the weaker foe and

would thus more readily fall.

Mina sent out scouting parties daily. Long-range scouts re-

turned to report that a large army of ogres was gathering around

the fortress of the Legion of SteeL near the border of Silvanesti.

The Legion of Steel and an army of elves, believed to be under the

leadership of the dark elf Alhana Starbreeze, were inside the fort

preparing to stave off the ogre attack. The battle had not yet

begun. The ogres were waiting for something-more manpowe4

perhaps, or favorable omens.

Mina heard the scouts' reports in the morning, prior to setting

out on the day's march. The men were packing their gea4 com-

plaining as usual but in better spirits since the rain had quit. The

blue dragons that dogged them kept their distance. Occasionally

someone would catch sight of dark wings and the flash of sun-

light off blue scales, but the dragons did not fly closer. The men

ate their meager breakfast, waited for the orders to move out.

"You bring good news, gentlemen," Mina said to the scouts,

"but we must not relax our vigilance. How close are we to the

shield, Galdar?"

"The scouts report that we are within two days' march,

Mina," he said.

Her amber eyes gazed past him, past the army, past the trees

and the river, past the sky itself or so it seemed to him. "We are

called, Galdar. I feel a great urgency. We must be at the border of

Silvanesti by tonight."

Galdar gaped. He was loyal to his commander. He would have

laid down his life for her and considered his death a privilege. Her

strategies were unorthodox, but' they had proven effective. But

there were some things not even she could do. Or her god.

"We can't, Mina," Galdar said flatly. "The men have been

marching ten hours a day already. They're exhausted. Besides, the

supply wagons can't move that fast. Look at them." He waved his

hand. Acting under the direction of the quartermaster, his men

were digging out one of the wagons, which had sunk in the mud

during the night. "They won't be ready to set out for another

hour, at least. What you ask is impossible, Mina."

"Nothing is impossible to the One God, Galdar," said Mina.

"We will camp beside the shield this night. You will see. 1- What

is that noise?"

A frantic horn call split the air, coming from behind them.

The long line of troops stretched along the road that ran over

a hill, around a bend, down a valley, and over another hill. The

men stood up, hearing the horn call, and looked back down the

ranks. Those digging out the wagon ceased their work. \

A single scout, riding hard, crested the hill. The troops

scrambled to move off the road, out of his way. It seemed he

shouted a question as he rode, for many of the men pointed to the

front. Putting his head down, he dug his spurs into his horse's

flanks and urged his steed forward.

Mina stepped out into the road to wait for him. The scout,

reaching her, pulled up so hard on his horse that the animal

reared on its hind legs.

"Mina!" The scout was breathless. "Ogres! In the hills behind

us! Coming fast!"

"How many?" she asked.

"It's hard to tell. They're spread out allover the place, not in

column or in any sort of order. But there's a lot of them. One hun-

dred. Maybe more. Coming down out of the hills."

"A raiding party, most likely." Galdar grunted. "Probably

heard about the big battle in the south and they're off to claim

their fair share of the loot."

"They'll come together quick enough when they pick up our

trail," Captain Samuval predicted. "They'll do that the moment

they strike the river."

"They've done that now, seemingly," Galdar said.

Grinding shouts of rage and glee bounded like boulders

among the hills. The raucous blasts of ram horns split the air. A

few ogres had spotted them and were calling their fellows to

battle.

The scout's report spread with the swiftness of wildfire along

the line of Mina's troops. The soldiers scrambled to their feet,

weariness and fatigue vanishing like dry leaves in the flames.

Ogres are terrible enemies. Hulking, fierce, and savage, an ogre

army, led by ogre mages, operates with a good notion of strategy

and tactics. An ogre raiding party does not.

Ogre raiding parties have no leaders. Outcasts from their own

brutal society, these ogres are extremely dangerous, will prey

even upon their own kind. They do not bother with formations

but will attack whenever the enemy is in sight, trusting to their

strength, brute force, and ferocity to overwhelm the foe.

Ogres are fearless in battle and, due to thick and hairy hides,

are difficult to kill. Pain maddens them, goads them to greater fe-

rocity. Ogre raiders have no word for "mercy," they scorn the

word "surrender," either with regard to themselves or an oppo-

nent. Ogre raiders take only a few prisoners, and these are saved

to provide the evening's entertainment.

A disciplined, heavily armed, and well-organized army can

turn back an ogre assault. Leaderless ogres are led easily into

traps and completely vanquished by clever stratagems. They are

not good archers, having no patience for the practice required to

develop skill with bow and arrow. They wield enormous swords

and battles-axes that they use to hack the enemy to pieces, or

throw spears, which their strong arms can hurl long distances

with deadly effect.

Hearing the ogres' fierce yells and the sound of their horns,

Mina's officers began shouting orders. Her Knights turned their

horses, ready to gallop back to face the foe. The wagon masters

plied the whip, the draft horses snorted and strained.

"Pull those wagons forward!" Galdar bellowed out com-

mands. "Footmen, form a line across the trail, anchor on the river.

Captain Samuval, your men take positions behind-"

"No," said Mina and though she did not raise her voice, her

single word sounded like a clarion and brought all action to a

halt. The clamor and uproar fell silenLThe men turned to look at

her. "We are not going to fight the ogres. We're going to flee

them."

"The ogres will chase after us, Mina," Samuval protested.

"We'll never be able to outrun them. We have to stand and fight!"

"Wagon masters," Mina called, ignoring him, "cut free the

horses!"

"But Mina!" Galdar added his own protest "we can't leave

the supplies!"

"The wagons slow us down," Mina replied. "Instead, we will

allow the wagons to slow down the ogres."

Galdar stared. At first he didn't comprehend, and then he saw

her plan.

"It just might work," he said, mulling over her strategy in his

mind.

"It will work," said Samuval jubilantly. "We'll toss the wagons

to the ogres like you toss food to a ravening wolf pack at your

heels. An ogre raiding party will not be able to resist such a

prize."

"Footmen, form a double line, march column. Prepare to

move out. You will run," Mina told the men, "but not in a panic.

You will run until you have no more strength left to run and then

you will run faster."

"Perhaps the dragons will come to our aid," said SamuvaL

glancing skyward. "If they're even still up there."

"They're up there," Galdar growled, "but they won't come to

our rescue. If we're wiped out at the hands of ogres, Targonne

will be spared the expense of executing us."

"We're not going to be wiped out" Mina said crisply. "Pass

the word for Subcommander Paregin!"

"I am here, Mina!" The officer pushed his way forward

through his men, who were hurriedly falling into position.

"Paregin, you are loyal to me?"

"Yes, Mina," he said firmly.

"You asked for a chance to prove that loyalty."

"Yes, Mina, I did," he said again, but this time his voice

faltered.

"I saved your life," Mina said. The shouts and yells of the

ogres were coming closer. The men glanced uneasily behind

them. "That life is therefore mine."

"Yes, Mina," he replied.

"Subcommander Paregin, you and your men will remain here

to defend the wagons. You will hold off the ogres as long as pos-

sible, thereby giving the rest of us the time we need to escape."

Paregin swallowed. "Yes, Mina," he said, but he said the

words without a voice.

"I will pray for you, Paregin," Mina said softly. She extended

her hand to him. "And for all those who stay behind. The One

God blesses you and accepts your sacrifice. Take your positions."

Grasping her hand, Paregin reverently pressed her hand to his

lips. He looked exalted, uplifted. When he returned to the lines,

he spoke to his troops in excited tones as if she had conferred

upon them a great reward. Galdar watched closely to see that

Paregin's men obeyed him and did not try to skulk off in the face

of orders that were essentially a death warrant. The men obeyed,

some looking dazed, others grim, but all determined and re-

solved. They ranged themselves around the supply wagons that

were filled with barrels of beef and ale, sacks of flour the smith's

equipment, swords, shields and armor, tents and rope.

"The ogres will think it is Yule come early," Samuval

remarked.

Galdar nodded, but made no comment. He remembered back

to Beckard's Cut, remembered Mina ordering him to pack extra

supplies. A shiver ran along his spine, caused his fur to rise. Had

she known all along? Had she been given knowledge that this

would come to pass? Had she foreseen it all? Were their ends de-

termined? Had she marked Paregin for death the day she saved

his life? Galdar felt a moment's panic. He wanted suddenly to cut

and run, just to prove to himself that he could. Prove that he was

still the master of his own fate, that he was not trapped like a bug

in her amber eyes.

"We will reach Silvanesti by nightfall" said Mina.

Galdar looked up at he4 fear and awe constricting his heart.

"Give the order to move out Galdar. I will set the pace."

She dismounted and handed the reins to one of her Knights.

Taking her place at the front of the line, she raised her voice, and

it was sweet and cold as the silver moonlight. "On to Silvanesti!

On to victory!"

She began to march double-time, her strides long, starting out

at swift but easy pace until her muscles warmed to the exercise.

The men, hearing the ogres rampaging in the rear, needed no

urging to keep up with her.

Galdar could escape into the hills. He could volunteer to

remain with the doomed rear guard. He could follow her for as

long as he lived. He fell into step beside her and was rewarded

with her smile.

"For Mina," Subcommander Paregin shouted. He stood

beside the loaded wagon, listening to the ogres raise their battle

cry.

Gripping his sword, he waited for death.

Now that the troops no longer had the wagons to slow them,

Mina's army made excellent time, especially with the howls and

hoots of the ogres to spur them on. Each man could hear the

sounds of the battle behind him, each man imagined what was

happening, could tell the progress of the battle by the noise.

Ogre shouts of rage, human death cries. Wild yelps of glee-the

ogres discovered the wagons. Silence. The ogres were looting

the wagons and hacking apart the bodies of those they had

slaughtered.

The men ran as Mina had told them they would run. They ran

until they were exhausted, and then she urged them to run faster.

Those who fell were left behind. Mina permitted no one to assist

them and this gave the men additional incentive for keeping their

aching legs moving. Whenever a soldier thought he could no

longer go on, he had only to look to the front of the line, to see the

slender, fragile-looking girl, wearing plate and chain mail, lead-

ing the march, never flagging, never pausing to rest, never look-

ing behind to see if anyone was following. Her gallant courage,

her indomitable spirit, her faith was the standard that led her

men on.

Mina permitted the soldiers only a brief rest, standing, to

drink sparingly of water. She would not let them sit or lie down

for fear their muscles would stiffen so that they would not be able

to move. Those who collapsed were left where they fell, to strag-

gle along behind when and if they recovered.

The sun's shadows grew longer. The men continued to run,

officers setting the grueling pace with songs at first. Then no one

had any breath left except for breathing. Yet with every step, they

drew closer to their destination-the shield that protected the

border of Silvanesti.

Galdar saw in growing alarm that Mina's own strength was

flagging. She stumbled several times and then, at last, she fell.

Galdar leaped to her side.

"No," she gasped and shoved away his hand. She regained

her feet, staggered forward several more steps and fell again.