The Wrath of the Lizard Lord (23 page)

As it came closer, Dakkar could smell the reptile’s rank breath, see its round yellow eye. He swung his rifle butt at the thing’s nose but the air sounded with a single explosion as ten guns went off in unison. Musket balls peppered the creature, bringing it to the ground. It peddled its powerful rear legs, trying to attack the pain that seared its body. The rider lay pinned beneath it, swearing in French at Dakkar.

But Blizzard’s marines had already reloaded and another volley blasted into the writhing mass. Both rider and reptile lay still.

The sound of the gunfire drifted off into the leaden clouds. Dakkar could hear the men’s panting breath. Someone vomited; another man swore under his breath.

Blizzard strolled over to the fallen reptile and rested a foot on it. He turned to his marines and nodded.

‘Well done, men,’ he bellowed. ‘You let your training take control and showed steely nerve. You can see what we’re up against but you now know that this creature bleeds too. We’ll meet more of them, that’s a certainty. Are we afraid?’

‘No!’ the men replied in a gruff, bass chorus.

‘Yes,’ muttered Dakkar to Georgia.

‘God save the King!’ Blizzard yelled, and his marines howled back, punching their fists in the air.

Blizzard encouraged the men to come forward and look at the reptile. The marines grinned, kicking at the carcass, jabbing its leathery skin with their bayonets and discussing where it was most vulnerable.

Later, with the camp packed, they marched on, leaving the reptile and its rider blazing on a pyre of logs.

‘We don’t want to leave any evidence,’ Blizzard had said as his men poured oil over the fire to encourage it to burn. ‘Such a monster may cause a panic.’

‘That had to be a scout of some description,’ Dakkar said. ‘We were lucky to catch it broadside and on its own. Things might be different with a whole squadron bearing down on us. From the front, their armour protects them.’

‘We’ll be ready,’ Blizzard said. ‘My men have fought fearsome beasts before. Some of them faced the giant squid that nearly killed me last year.’

‘We have to find Cryptos,’ Georgia said. ‘Before the battle starts.’

‘I fear the battle has already begun,’ Blizzard said, peering over at the rising smoke on the horizon.

Dakkar listened as the low growl of cannon echoed across the fields towards them and was answered by the snap of musket fire.

Chapter Thirty-three

The Battle

They marched on, skirting the sounds of battle. Dakkar shivered at the crack and pop of musket fire and the deeper roar of cannon. The clatter of thousands of men fighting drifted on the wind. He’d been in some dangerous situations before and seen conflict but never a full-scale battle.

‘We’ll keep to the west of the fighting,’ Blizzard said as they marched through a small wood. ‘If Cryptos planned to outflank the Alliance, it would be around here somewhere.’

‘Look!’ Georgia cried, pointing.

As they broke from the cover of the trees, the land opened out. Dakkar peered at a thin line of men in green uniforms with yellow flashes at their cuffs and collars. He was surprised at how close they were. A field of flattened wheat separated Blizzard’s men and the other soldiers.

‘Dutch infantry, I’d guess,’ Blizzard said, sniffing. ‘They’re forming a line.’

‘I think we’ve found our quarry,’ Dakkar said, nodding to his right.

A line of reptile riders approached the line of Dutch soldiers at a stalking pace. They looked strange and unreal from this distance. The riders’ breastplates shone in the watery sun and the reptiles leaned forward, poking their heads towards the Dutch infantry. Dakkar counted around fifty Rohaga.

‘We’ve caught them unawares and on the side!’ Blizzard said, punching his fist into his palm. ‘Lady Luck smiles on us today.’

‘Let’s hope she keeps smiling,’ Georgia said, craning her neck at the distant riders.

‘Look! In the centre of the pack!’ Dakkar said, pointing. ‘It’s him – the count.’

One reptile stood out as larger than all the others. On top of it rode the bulky figure of the count, his black hair streaming out behind him. A rider next to him held a flag that bore the serpent-entwined C for Cryptos over the French tricolour.

‘Right, men, pass it back,’ Blizzard said to the foremost of his marines. ‘I want two lines for flanking volley fire on that field boundary there and our field guns set up behind them. Quick now! And keep it silent. Surprise is our best ally. After that, it’s a hard-fought battle. Good luck!’

The order went back and the marines ran across the fields, keeping low. Dakkar watched others unhitch the cannon and begin dragging them through the heavy soil of the field that had been saturated with rain all night. They all ran forward. Dakkar watched the scene unfold before him as the riders increased their pace.

‘Some are running away!’ Georgia gasped, watching as a few soldiers broke from the Dutch line.

‘Can you blame them?’ Dakkar said, his breath short. ‘They’ve just seen the reptiles for the first time.’

The reptile riders had covered half the field now and Dakkar could see the muscles rippling on their flanks and thighs as they sprinted towards the Dutch line. A few Dutch guns went off early, men panicking at the sight of the oncoming creatures.

Blizzard’s men had set up their five cannon and had them loaded and ready. Either side of them, the marines stood in lines, their guns held high. Dakkar knew what would happen – Blizzard had explained their strategy. The first line fired their rifles and then knelt down to reload while the rear line fired. If there was time, they would give another volley of fire and so on.

‘Fire!’ Blizzard yelled.

All five cannon roared at once, leaping back on their wheels with the recoil. As the smoke cleared from around them, Dakkar watched the cannonballs carve a bloody path through the middle of the reptile cavalry. The creatures stumbled and careered into each other, crushing their riders or throwing them under the trampling feet of the others. One evaporated in a red mist as the cannonball went straight through it.

‘That had to be ten down!’ Dakkar yelled, punching the air.

Another round tore into the rear of the pack. Once more the cannonballs went skittering across the field, churning up the earth and sending the reptiles screaming into each other. More riders fell, their mounts turning on other loose and wounded reptiles.

But Dakkar watched in horror as the remaining reptile cavalry fell upon the Dutch ranks. Men screamed, firing their muskets randomly before falling to tooth and claw. The riders swung heavy sabres which lopped limbs and heads while the soldiers tried to escape. A lone officer dropped his sword and stumbled across the field, crying for help as a rider closed in on him.

A marine sergeant looked back at Blizzard, who gave a nod.

The marine raised his rifle, took aim and shot the reptile in the head just as it was about to lay its claws into the officer’s back.

‘Look to, men,’ Blizzard shouted.

‘We’ve gained their attention!’ Dakkar frowned, wondering what Blizzard could mean, until he looked back at the field.

Not wasting time to tear at the fallen soldiers, the reptiles had turned and were reforming, ready to charge at the marines.

‘Canister!’ Blizzard cried, and the cannon crew dragged some strange cylinders and rammed them into the cannon.

Dakkar looked puzzled.

‘Chains, lead shot, nails, anything,’ Georgia muttered to him. ‘It’s all in those cylinders, and when they come out of the cannon, red hot
.
.
.’

Dakkar shuddered. ‘Against ordinary men, it seems a cowardly way to fight.’

‘Against these beasties, it might just even the odds,’ Blizzard cut in. ‘You’d best arm yourselves.’ He turned to his men and commanded them to stand ready.

Dakkar marvelled at Blizzard’s presence. He would fight alongside his men and die with them if needs be. For a moment, Dakkar thought of Gog and of the real Napoleon, leaping in to save him. They were real leaders – not like the count, who ruled by fear.

‘Come on!’ Georgia yelled, grabbing him and dragging him over to the carts that stood behind the ranks.

They climbed up on to the nearest cart, grabbing two rifles from the supplies and hastily loading them. Glancing up, Dakkar saw the reptile riders getting nearer and nearer. There had to be thirty left. He could see the flag and the count, pointing his sabre at the lines of red-coated marines before him.

‘What’s this?’ Georgia said, pulling the lid off a wooden crate to reveal what looked like a pile of iron cricket balls with fuses.

‘Hand grenades.’ Dakkar grinned, pulling out a tinderbox from his pocket. ‘Light that lantern there but keep it away from the explosives!’

‘I know, I know,’ Georgia said, striking the tinderbox and kindling a flame.

Blizzard ran over. ‘Stay on the carts,’ he said. ‘It’ll keep you safe and give you height when they break through the lines. Do as much damage as you can!’

‘Aye, sir,’ Georgia said, giving a mock salute.

Blizzard raised an eyebrow and turned back to his soldiers.

The reptiles were close now, kicking up great clods of earth as they skittered across the field, their riders giving a bloodthirsty roar.

‘Ready, lads. Aim for the reptiles,’ Blizzard said, readying his own rifle. ‘We can deal with the scum on top when they’re pinned under their dead mounts!’

The marines’ first volley fired and Dakkar watched, dismayed, as the bullets pinged off the armour. Only one or two caught a vulnerable spot, sending the reptiles crunching into the dirt and throwing their riders headlong towards the line.

The cannon fired next, drowning the whole company in a fog of gun smoke. Five canisters of red-hot metal spat through the advancing ranks. Dakkar heard screams and men’s cries, growls of agonised rage. But Blizzard didn’t flinch.

‘Fire!’ he cried, and the second rank of marines let their rifles roar into the mass.

The smoke had cleared somewhat and through the thin veil of mist Dakkar saw reptiles clambering over a wall of dead. Riders lay trapped under their mounts and more of the creatures piled on top of them. But the line behind leapt over their fallen comrades. The cannon crew reloaded, but the reptiles crashed through them before they could fire, overturning the guns, slashing at men, biting and ripping.

With a shiver Dakkar realised they were right in the path of the oncoming horde.

Georgia grinned, shouldering her rifle. ‘Better get shootin’, Dakkar.’

The mass of reptiles swarmed around the carts, rocking them. Dakkar fired his first rifle, catching a rider in the shoulder and sending him spinning down from his mount.

Snatching up a grenade, he lit the fuse from the lantern and waited a second before hurling it blindly into the press of scaly bodies. A muffled thump told him that it had exploded. A reptile screamed, sank to its knees and was quickly engulfed by its trampling companions.

The cavalry charge swept past them so quickly that Dakkar almost lit another grenade before he realised they had vanished up the field. Two or three dead reptiles lay scattered around the cart but the cavalry were wheeling round. He could see them reining in their two-legged mounts, readying them for another charge. The cannon lay useless, most of the crew dead on the ground. A few tried to right one of the guns, heaving at its wheels.

Blizzard barked an order and the marines sprinted forward, forming a new line to face the next charge. The Rohaga thundered back across the field, the count’s face a mask of cruelty, grinning as he pointed his sabre.

‘Ready,’ Blizzard said. ‘Give ’em hell!’

The marine line exploded again, sending more reptiles to the ground, but this time the cavalry pulled their mounts up and slashed with their sabres.

Dakkar snatched up his rifle and fired at a rider who slashed at a marine. The bullet took him in the thigh, making him drop his sword and grip his leg. But before the marine could react, the rider’s mount snapped down, sinking razor teeth into the marine’s shoulder.

Human yells and screams mingled with reptilian roars and hisses. Grabbing a grenade, Dakkar lit and hurled it under a passing rider. It exploded, opening up the creature’s belly and sending the rider crunching to the ground.

Georgia took another rider down with her second rifle.

‘Better load up again,’ she yelled. ‘Keep throwing those grenades.’

Dakkar went to hurl another but the battle had become compacted around the carts and the explosion would kill as many marines as Rohaga.

Blizzard stood on the carcass of a dead beast, desperately parrying the sabre hacks of its rider. Georgia had loaded the first rifle and passed it to Dakkar, who took aim and fired at the man attacking Blizzard.

The bullet careened off the man’s silver helmet, dazing him. Blizzard knocked the sword from his hand and stabbed, sending the rider to the ground. He turned and nodded to Dakkar, but a loose beast clamped its jaws on to Blizzard’s arm, yanking him off his feet.

‘No!’ Dakkar yelled, as Blizzard disappeared into the melee.