Giant Thief (3 page)

  The sun was just below the horizon. The sky was a miserable wash of grey, rising from a sickly shade touched with yellow just above the hills, through deep storm cloud hues, to almost black far above us. The light was at that tricky stage it reaches just before dawn, but I could see the giant clearly. He stood back from the rest of us, in a wide clearing amidst the forest of bodies. Lugos's orders seemed superfluous since no one was going anywhere near him. He was as tall as two big men and about as broad. He looked only slightly less like a rock than he had by moonlight.

  Lugos had no illusions that we were anything other than what we were: a bunch of potential escapees. He didn't try to make us behave like professional soldiers, or any kind of soldiers for that matter. He had a couple of henchmen drawn from the regulars, both of whom carried bows and wore short swords. A few of us were armed too, with wooden cudgels and staves. If we'd been less dispirited, an insurrection might not have been out of the question. I would cheerfully have jabbed my new knife into Lugos's throat given the chance. What would it have achieved, though? In the midst of Moaradrid's camp, and with that giant towering over us, we wouldn't get far.

  So we followed his orders, such as they were. Lugos bullied us into two straggling lines and, after a brief discussion with another officer who'd ridden up from the main force, set us off at a fast trot, angling slightly uphill and northward.

  It was still dark below, and I couldn't tell much about the disposition of the two armies. Banners stood out as stains of colour in the defender's camp, but Moaradrid apparently disdained such frivolity, marking his divisions by some other means. He'd kept his army all together on the eastern bank, whereas the Castovalians had a small force on the western side of the Casto Mara, with their back line around the bridge. It was the only thing of any strategic value nearby, unless your strategy involved rice and olives. Their force, made up of militias from the towns, were mostly on horseback, and fast enough that if the fight went against them they could fall back and demolish the bridge behind them. It was a sound plan as far as I could judge, one that played to their strengths and the terrain.

  They still didn't stand a chance.

  As for us, our function was becoming clear. When we came to a halt, I could see two more platoons of bedraggled volunteers on our right. Lugos had us line up four layers deep, and the giant lumbered in behind us, Leon knelt clinging to a platform that rested over its shoulders. The other platoons assumed a similar arrangement; between us, we covered a good length of the hillside. We were a cordon, there to stop the defenders fleeing into the hills. It didn't matter if we were competent or not, or even if we fought back. While they were tangled up with trampling over us they would be cut down from behind.

  Something had begun to happen in the valley. Horns blasted the air. A steady drumming started, which rose and rose until I realised it was actually the pound of feet, backed with a bass rhythm of hoof beats. A fine rain began at that same moment, and the sun finally breached over the horizon, deathly pale and shrunken by its blanket of cloud.

  The lines of battle met with a crash that echoed between the hills and seemed outrageously loud even from our vantage point. Clashes of metal on metal joined the turmoil. The two dark masses swelled and churned against each other, until it was impossible to tell them apart, or to say if one was doing better than the other.

  Moaradrid knew his business. What better time could he have chosen to unleash his new troops than at dawn, when they would be nothing but monstrous shapes plummeting out of the gloom? Had he planned for the rain as well? It was tearing from the sky, which had sunk back into nighttime blackness, with only odd shafts of light pricking through.

  I don't know how long it went on for. Time didn't mean much right then. At some point, though, it became apparent that the defenders were losing ground. I imagined, with my lack of military knowledge, that they might just be feinting, backing off from one point only to swing round on another. Maybe to some extent I was right. Still, in general it seemed they were being forced back, and more and more as the morning wore on.

  I was sure that Moaradrid must have more giants in reserve. I'd seen at least four dozen of the mysterious covered wagons go past before they'd caught me. Each of the three volunteer brigades had one giant as backup, and that was all I'd seen of them. We were too far away for the defenders to be aware of their existence, so Moaradrid's element of surprise remained intact. What was he waiting for?

  There were signs that the defenders were falling back in earnest. They were drawing in their flanks around the bridge, although no one had made a move to cross as yet. Moaradrid's troops took the opportunity to spread out around them, manoeuvring northward and onto the higher ground beneath us. If the Castovalians would only flee towards the west, I'd be safe. The Castoval would probably be lost, but that didn't seem very important by then. Let them just escape over that bridge and it would all be over.

  Below the bridge, beyond the fighting, something drew my gaze. The water was churning white, as if rocks had plunged up through the surface and the river was battering against them.

  No. Not rocks. It was the giants.

  The river was shallower there but men still couldn't have hoped to cross, not even on horseback. The giants could, though. Their heads were bobbing dots haloed with foam, moving with painful slowness. I hoped they'd be swept away. Surely, nothing could be strong enough to push through that rain-swollen torrent. Even as I thought it, a pair of shoulders bore out of the flow, grew a torso and arms, and thighs thick as tree trunks.

  The defenders, caught up in their retreat, already focused on attacks from three sides, remained oblivious. Even as the last giant broke free and dragged itself ashore, even as they lumbered towards the Castovalians holding the west bank, no one looked their way. It was only when the rearmost riders started over the bridge and saw huge shapes striding inexorably down on them that the panic began. The handful of men holding the far bank routed instantly. The main force, unaware of what was taking place across the river, were still trying to withdraw. The giants marched nearer. Those already on the bridge found themselves pressed from both sides. The bridge itself began to weaken under the strain. Timbers splintered into the waves beneath.

  The Castovalians were already in chaos by the time the giants reached them. I glanced away, my eyes stinging. When I looked back, one giant had a horse raised over its head, the rider still dangling from the stirrups. As I watched, both horse and rider were hurled back into the fray. I thought I could make out the animal's scream against the clamour of background noise.

  Moaradrid's main force, meanwhile, was still hammering against their front. The defenders had collapsed into a clumsy wedge, with the horsemen – worse than useless in such close confines – pressed towards the centre. The bridge sagged at its middle, and then split like wet paper, plunging a last few bodies beneath the waves. That slowed the giants, at least. They lined up on the west bank, as if unsure what to do next.

  The Castovalian cavalry, what few of them remained, chose that moment to try to break free. They charged in a single mass against their opponents. The ranks bulged, and held. The Castovalians wheeled back, and drove forward once more, clustered even more tightly. This time Moaradrid's lines buckled. The riders surged through, aiming directly uphill.

  That meant they were heading straight towards the middle of the three volunteer platoons, which brought a ragged cheer from my own.

  Then, at the last minute, having drawn that middle platoon a little way down the slope, they swung in our direction. They were incredibly fast. They'd succeeded in creating a diagonal gap in our lines, and they pushed hard for that slim chance of an opening. There were perhaps two hundred of them, nothing compared with how many must have ridden out in the night. I recognised insignia from five different towns. In the forefront, two horsemen were picking the way: the leader small and slight, wearing a close helm over dark hair that streamed behind, the other large to the point of fatness and somehow familiar-seeming.

  I'd no time to wonder why. They'd be on us in seconds. I decided I'd stay close to Lugos. Either he was a good officer who'd try to protect his men or, a thousand times more likely, he was a rodent who'd sacrifice every one of us to keep his own skin whole. Whichever the case, it seemed sensible to be near him. I edged forward a row, and darted to my left.

  Lugos picked that moment to turn part way around and shout back, "Hold your ground, you sons of whores!"

  An instant later, we were failing to do precisely that.

  Many of the riders were wielding outstretched short bows. As the head of their group dashed for the diminishing gap, the tail fanned out and slowed, and those archers unleashed a volley in our direction. If it was clumsy, it was no less devastating, since no one was prepared to stand and be shot at. Those that didn't go down under the fire panicked and broke in all directions. I stood like an idiot, watching black shafts plummet through the air towards me. It was a few moments before I even realised I hadn't been shot.

  At least I was still close to Lugos. I saw that he was pointing and screaming something. There was an arrow embedded in his shoulder, with the tip just visible above his shoulder blade, though he seemed not to have noticed. He wasn't pointing at me but past me, towards the back of our beleaguered platoon. I followed his finger.

  There was the giant, Saltlick. He waited motionless, with arrows raining around him and a couple stuck in him, one jutting from his chest and another above his knee. He was faring better than young Leon, who hung limp below the giant's waist, yet another arrow broken off in his neck.

  "You," Lugos screeched, "get up there! Make that bastard monster do something useful!"

  Well, I wasn't about to do that, though I didn't mind the idea of having my own giant. "How do I make it obey me?"

  Lugos looked like he wanted to kill me for my stupidity. Instead, he caught my arm and broke into a run.

  Our shattered platoon had dissolved into a sheep pen with a dozen wolves at one end. The Castovalians knew why we were there, and that every moment's delay would cost them dearly. So they were herding us. A few had hung back to keep the way open while the remainder drove on for the hilltop. The stragglers continued to plunge through us like a sword through butter, spreading waves of bodies to either side. One rider swung so close that I could clearly make out the tang of his horse's sweat and hear its laboured breathing.

  Lugos followed its passage with his eyes and happened to notice his shoulder, with the fletching protruding there.

  "Shit," he said quietly.

  This time, I gripped his arm – the one that wasn't leaking blood, sadly – and led him. "The giant," I reminded him.

  When he looked up his eyes were glassy. "There's an arrow in my arm," he said resentfully.

  "We all have our problems," I replied, and kept dragging.

  The giant still hadn't moved by the time we reached him. Both sides were avoiding him now. The last few horsemen were almost past us and my erstwhile colleagues, despite fleeing every which way, had somehow managed to leave this one area clear. I saw him properly then for the first time. Apart from a cloth skirt around his waist, he wore nothing except a leather harness strapped around his shoulders and chest. It supported a sort of wooden platform, like a horizontal stocks, that fitted round his neck. Poor Leon dangled from a tether attached to one corner, his last expression one of total bafflement.

  "Hello again, Saltlick," I called.

  The giant ignored me.

  "How do I make him listen?" I asked Lugos.

  His concentration had drifted back to the wound in his shoulder. I shook him gently.

  "Lugos, we need the giant. To protect ourselves."

  He looked at me.

  "To protect you, sir," I corrected.

  "The giant?"

  "That giant." I pointed.

  "Oh." He looked up. "Saltlick.
Saltlick
. Listen to me, you pig's arse."

  Saltlick's gaze drifted towards us. I couldn't read any expression on those vast, impassive features.

  "It's me, Lugos. Lugos, who was appointed over you by Moaradrid himself. This man here…" He paused, and hissed, "What's your name?" Then, "This man, Easie Damasco, is your new rider, do you hear? You'll do whatever he tells you, until you hear otherwise from Moaradrid or me."

  Saltlick nodded slowly.

  "Good," Lugos said, "that's good."

  He crumpled backwards.

  I assumed he'd just fainted, since his wound didn't look mortal. My first urge was to kick him, but glancing downhill, I saw Moaradrid's main force drifting up the slope. If I were going to make good my newfound advantage, I'd have to do it quickly. I gave Lugos's prone body a rueful glance and turned back to examining the giant. There was no obvious way up his front that didn't involve climbing Leon's corpse, so I darted round to inspect the back. The harness there included a net that hung as far as the hem of the cloth skirt. That still left a gap nearly as high as I was. I began to wonder seriously about my plan. What if the giant wasn't as passive as he seemed? What if he took badly to me climbing his back? One swat would turn me to paste.

  Moaradrid's troops were getting nearer. Saltlick was my best hope for escape, and even for revenge. That suddenly seemed a real and pressing concern, for – standing there amidst broken bodies, some of whom I'd been playing cards with a few hours ago – I felt an uncharacteristic anger building. Who was Moaradrid to behave like this, to drag me into his wretched plans? Suddenly I was almost shaking with fury.