Valour and Victory (27 page)

“Why King
Elliot,” she replied with a coy little curtsey, “I don’t mind if I
do!”

* * * * *

The Guildmaster
and the Lai

Flying is the
most exhilaratingly marvellous, wonderful, stupendous experience I
have never known!

Guildmaster
Annert wouldn’t have missed this for all the kala on the planet.
The great sweeping of Haru’s wings as they flew over the northern
coast of Argyll and over the waters filled him with amazed delight.
He wished the journey could go on for ever.

He held on
tight to the ropes and gazed at the vista that unfolded before
him.

Haru, who had
appointed himself the mount of the Guildmaster tilted his wings,
leaking air and fell a little, seeking out the thermal that would
carry them to the southern continent.

* * * * *

Julia

It was like
thunder in the air, the sound of the kohorts running towards the
ridge. The Lind scouts had returned with the dawn, bringing with
them the news about the detailed dispositions and numbers of the
enemy.

Now there was
no more need for scouts and the exhausted Avuzdel scrambled as fast
as their weary legs could take them up the southern side of the
ridge, weaving through the path of stakes left open for them. As
soon as the scouts were in, the engineers hurried down-slope to
fill in the gaps, their hammers thudding at the wood with frantic
haste.

Julia donned
her helm. Alyei was already wearing his armour and stood tall and
calm as he watched her check that the leather shin greaves were
tight and stood up. Vada battle armour was made of leather studied
with metal and was designed to protect yet not inhibit the
suppleness and manoeuvrability of either vadeln or Lind. The Lind
wore chest and neck protectors. In a fight the favourite attack
point of the Larg was the throat, using their teeth to rip out
their opponent’s jugular. The Lind would endeavour to respond in
kind.

The four ‘home’
Lindars (there were four Lind rtath, or packs whose home was in
Vadath) wore the same and so did another four whose fighters lived
near to that indefinite line between Vadath and the Rtathlians of
the Lind. It was the Lindars from these rtaths who stood waiting on
the ridge in the very middle of the army. It was they who would
bear the brunt of the first charge of the kohorts.

As expected,
the Larg were advancing on a wide front (there were so many of them
that they could do little else) but the majority of kohorts were
congregating in the centre.

Julia had
planned the placement of the different parts of her army with care
and with an understanding of their varying strengths and
weaknesses. This was why in such times that the Susa of the Vada
became Susyc of the Armies of the North. The Vada trained with
every type of soldier. Julia knew where to place her troops to
maximum advantage. Even the Field Marshall of the Garda had placed
himself under her overall command.

The ridge was a
long one, too long for one person to control, to be aware of what
was happening from one end to the other so Julia had divided it
into eight sections, she called them divisions, each with its own
sub-commander.

At either end,
where the ridge entered the forests of Duchesne were the divisions
commanded by the Dukes of Graham and Duchesne. Beside them were the
Garda under Field Marshall Bruce Johnston Jones and General Vivien
de Groot, both officers of long standing. Then came the Vada under
the command of Ryzcka Niall and his Lind Taraya of the First Ryzck
and Ryzcka Brion and his Lind Quindya of the Fifty-first. In the
middle, the fourth and fifth divisions, were stationed the Lindars
of Lind.

Behind them was
the command post where Julia and Alyei would direct the battle with
the help of the communications pivot. There too was the map table
with its little coloured counters. General Sainjon was in charge of
this - he was the Garda’s best tactician and an officer on whom
Julia had come to rely on over the last days.

Behind them
waited the Militia, more Garda, more Vada, more Lindars and behind
them were the support troops, the medics, the cooks and the
commissariat, protected by trenches that Julia had ordered dug. At
either end was the horse cavalry.

In the woods
waited the many young Lind, not yet fourteen summers old who for
the first time ever had accompanied their elders to the war (in
fact, many of the human troops were also young, some of the Vada
Cadets had only just turned fourteen). In the past the Larg had
tried to outflank the northern defensive lines and Julia had needed
to make provision for this eventuality. The forests were dense and
the Larg did not like to fight among trees but there was always the
chance that they would attempt a foray.

Julia was
confident that the Larg would concentrate on the ridge. They
outnumbered the defenders and they would see no need to try an
outflankment.

: Time to go
:

Alyei’s deep
blue eyes rested upon her.

: Anything from
Danal and Asya? : she asked.

: Not since the
last time :

Julia sighed.
Details about the progress about the mission to find the power-core
had been sparse. The Larg could ‘overhear’ telepathic ‘sendings’
and Julia knew that the group would not want to give away their
position, hence the silence.

: The Lai?
:

: They will be
in position soon. Chizu collected the package from Master Annert
the day before yesterday. He waits for word that the power-core has
been found :

: I wish
there was some way we could help them :
fretted Julia.

: We are
helping them … the only way we can. The eyes of the Larg are here
where the battle will take place. That of the Dglai too. Zaoaldavdr
reports that none of the Quorko has he seen in the skies above him
:

: None here
either thank the lai :

: They will
be waiting to see if the Larg are victorious :
‘said’ Alyei,
nodding his head in a wise manner
: our task is clear. Hold on
to the ridge at all cost. We must give Danal, Asya and the others
the time they need :

: It will be
expensive :

: Our army
knows this Julia. Now, come, as you said, it is time to go. Our
army is brave and is prepared to do what it must. You and I must
also be brave. They are looking to you, to us :

: I will not
fail them :

: That’s my
girl :

Julia laughed
at the old quip and led the way out of the tent and to the vantage
point behind the ridge line.

* * * * *

Niaill

Niaill and
Taraya had been placed in command of the third sector, the third
division on the right wing of the ridge. To his right were the
ranks of the Garda under the command of General Vivien de Groot and
to his left a number of Lindars under the command of Susa
Sachei.

Niaill looked
over at the massed ranks of the Larg and realised Julia had been
correct in her assumption that their enemy would attack the four
centre divisions first.

The Larg were
not emotionally suited to nibbling away at edges. They preferred
the direct approach.

: They’ll
hit here first :
confirmed Taraya. Niaill could feel her
restless body beneath him as she moved from one paw to another. Her
head ducked down as she inspected her chelas which she tracted and
retracted in preparation for the battle.

The First
Ryzck, which Niall and Taraya commanded were not standing at the
front of the massed Ryzcks of the third division. That honour had
gone to the Fourteenth Ryzck under the command of Lainert and Salya
and the Thirty-first under the command of Markion and Danya. Niall
would have much rather been at the front but because Julia and
Alyei had placed him and Taraya in command he could not. He and
Taraya could not afford to get themselves killed during the first
frenzied Larg attack.

This time it
was their duty to command from behind and he and Taraya felt
awkward, awkward and not a little nervous about the
responsibility.

: What if I’m
not up to the task? :

: You are … you
will be :

: We’re in this
together you and I. No shirking of your responsibilities my lass!
:

Never had he
felt so as one with his Taraya.

: They come
:
she informed him, beginning to tremble and to shake as the
famed battle adrenalin of the Lind began to course through her
veins.

: Warn the
Ryzckas and the infantry :

: Wilco :

The infantry in
his sector of the line were those of the Vadathian Militia, who
unlike their Argyllian counterparts had trained with both Vada and
Lindars. They stood behind the front Ryzcks. There was little to
distinguish them from the Argyllian Militia except for the colour
of their uniform that was grey and maroon instead of black.

From his
vantage point Niaill could see the kohorts, wave upon wave of tawny
bodies. He couldn’t work out where one kohort ended and another
began.

Taraya began to
growl.

With his free
hand Niaill adjusted the chin-guard on his helm. Taraya began to
inch forward, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

: Steady
:
cautioned Niaill. His heart was hammering in his chest. He
felt sure it was loud enough to be heard. He snuck a look at Deby
on his left and caught her eye. Nadala waved to him. Deby was
biting her lip and Niaill realised he was doing the same. The air
around them grew stiff with tension as they waited for the
thundering paws to run the distance from their start point and the
base of the ridge.

Niaill was
under no illusion that the stakes would hold the Larg back for
long. This charge was not one of mindless instinct. The Larg were
as intelligent as their Lind cousins. This first charge and the one
after would be in the nature of a clearance foray. The lead kohorts
would begin to clear a path through the stakes under the fire of
the crossbow bolts and arrows of the defenders.

He licked
suddenly dry lips. Taraya inched forward again.

: Archers
:
commanded Niaill. Taraya passed this order on to the
communications pairs. The commands from the sergeants rang out. The
Militia archers ran out from their ranks and took up position
between the vadeln-pairs of the front rank.

“Wait, wait,
wait. Wait until they are in range.”

All the
non-commissioned officers seemed to be shouting the same words
though not necessarily in that order. There were a lot of swear
words mixed in with what they were saying.

A few
heartbeats later and the crossbow bolts whirred above their heads.
The Larg ranks did not falter. The arrows would be in range soon
and they would hear the twanging flicks as they left their
quiver.

The lead
kohorts reached the base of the ridge where they began pulling at
the sharpened stakes, digging at them with their huge paws,
loosening the mud into which the stakes had been hammered,
loosening them then opening their jaws to pull the stakes out.

“Fire!”

There was a
whooshing noise as the first storm of arrows flew up, out and down
on to their targets.

Niaill listened
to the howls and screams of anger and pain as the arrows hit, but
more Larg moved forward to take the place of their fallen
comrades.

Stake-line by
stake-line the Larg made their way up the ridge. They were
suffering many casualties but then as Niaill realised, they could
afford to. Over one hundred and fifty kohorts were massed below
Susyc Julia’s army. Niaill calculated that they must be facing over
one hundred and forty thousand Larg and every one of them was
determined that it would be his kohort which would be the one to
break through to the top of the ridge.

Arrows whooshed
and crossbow bolts whirred.

: Salya says
they’ve reached the last line of stakes :

The
vadeln-pairs of the Fourteenth and the Thirty-first were tensing.
Niall saw the riders settling their swords, waiting for the first
of the Larg to reach them.

: Fifth and
Eleventh Ryzck to move forward to support the Fourteenth and the
Thirty-first :

Niaill patted
Taraya’s neck. It was a caress filled with love. They were
together, that was what mattered. Niaill and Taraya had never been
apart since that day when as a leggy young Lind she had arrived at
Vada to begin her search for her human life-mate.

: Do you
remember? :
he asked her.

: I do :
she answered
: you were fishing and I asked you if I could have
one too :

: And I got
such a fright hearing your voice in my head that I dropped my
fishing pole and it floated away :

: And fell
into the water yourself. It was
so
amusing :

“Brace, Brace,
Brace,” the command rang out.

One keen edged
Vada sword rose then another. The first came down hard on the head
of the first Larg warrior to manage to thread his way through the
remaining stakes and leap at the waiting defenders. The body
tumbled away but more and more Larg reaching the lines. The
vadeln-pairs and the infantry were hard pressed.

The noise was
terrific. Growls, grunts of pain and effort, howls of triumph or
anguish, the shouted commands of the humans and the screams. Niaill
knew he would never forget the screams.

The scent of
sweat and blood was all pervading and mingled with the smell of
faeces and urine.

Niaill and
Taraya were no strangers to fighting. They had fought brigands in
the north, privateers and slavers along the coasts and had hunted
both the cat-like gtran and the bear-like wral in the mountains,
but they had never fought in a battle.