Wall of Spears (52 page)

Instantly the arrows began dissolving in midair, a fine shower of ash falling on the men instead of a deadly rain of steel. Retreating Velsh dragons stopped to help more of the wounded back, a gap opening up between elves and men.

‘Where’s Sendatsu?’ Asami gasped.

‘There!’ Rhiannon saw him drop a giant elf’s body. He shouted something, his voice washed away in the screaming, moaning and clamour of battle coming from the Forlish side.

‘Back here!’ Rhiannon waved to him, followed by a score of Velsh, their actions unmistakeable.

Sendatsu hesitated and then raced back towards them, anger and frustration on his face.

‘We can’t go back — we have to go forwards!’ he shouted at them.

‘Not into those arrows. We’re losing too many men — and we don’t have any priests to save them,’ Huw called back.

‘And not enough magic either — it is all Asami can do to protect us,’ Rhiannon said.

Sendatsu saw Asami holding her hands up, her face white, swaying slightly.

‘What is she doing? How could you let her do that on her own!’ he snarled.

‘She threatened to attack me unless I let her. I have to be strong for Sumiko.’

‘Help her now!’

‘And waste her sacrifice?’

Sendatsu growled with anger, but then darted forwards as Asami’s eyes flickered shut and she fell. He caught her and glared at the others.

‘Drop back, until we are out of range. Tell Edmund what we are doing!’

Edmund could feel his men were at the end of their tether. They were unable to push further up the hill against a desperate elven defence, which was threatening to split his lines in several points and turn into a successful attack.

‘The Velsh have to pull back — the arrows are killing them,’ Cedrik reported.

Edmund glanced over to see what was happening — and the mass of elves sitting over his right flank.

‘Sound the retreat! Slow and steady now — use the spears to keep them at bay!’ he ordered.

The Forlish backed away, keeping their ranks tight, and he felt his heart swell with pride for the way they refused to turn their backs and run. The elves surged at them, cutting down those who were too slow or slightly wounded, but the spears were still numerous enough to take any that pressed too hard and they swiftly backed off, letting the Forlish pull away. Even better, there were no arrows chasing them.

‘Well done, lads! We were let down but next time we’ll get them,’ Edmund called, seeing the exhaustion on many faces and knowing he could not ask much more of them. He glanced across at where Wulf’s cavalry were waiting for them, their horses looking as tired as the foot soldiers, and realised his army was almost at its end.

Sendatsu laid Asami tenderly down on the ground. Around them were hundreds of wounded and, moving between them, many of the southerners who did not want to fight any more. They were trying to staunch wounds and offer water and a little comfort.

One hurried over, blood on his hands and arms. ‘Is she hurt?’

‘Just tired. If you can find some water and perhaps honey and get that into her, she will be better,’ he said, looking down at her face. ‘Do not die on me,’ he whispered, bending down to kiss her clammy forehead. He held her hand, smearing blood on it and looked at his fingers. There was so much blood on his hands. He could not stand it if she died as well …

‘Sendatsu! We need you!’ Huw called.

‘I want to make sure she is all right,’ he insisted.

Huw patted him on the shoulder. ‘I know as well as you that she will be safe here. Safer than facing Sumiko anyway. But we need you. What do we do next?’

Sendatsu looked at Asami again. As much as he wanted to make sure she was safe, he knew he could not live with himself if he walked out in the middle of this battle. It had to be seen through to the end. Strangely, he knew she would understand.

‘Come on then.’ He pushed himself to his feet, ripping out a handful of grass to try to clean off his hands a little.

‘How about we offer Sumiko another chance to face Rhiannon, with the fate of our lands hanging on the result?’ Sendatsu suggested.

‘She didn’t go for it before — she won’t this time,’ Rhiannon said.

‘We don’t know until we try,’ Sendatsu pointed out.

‘I don’t feel right about this. What if I was to lose?’ Rhiannon whispered.

‘You won’t. You have something inside that Sumiko cannot stop.’

Rhiannon sighed, then lifted her head. ‘Sumiko! Face me in magical combat. The loser’s army to lay down their weapons and give up!’ she called, her voice echoing across the field, making everyone stop and turn to look at her.

From the hill, there was silence.

‘It was worth a try — and shows you what I meant. She is afraid of you,’ Sendatsu said. He squeezed her shoulder and strode back, waving to the southern leaders to join him and Huw, then headed over to where Wulf and Edmund stood talking.

He glanced across at the elves, watching them moving back into lines, seeing how their numbers were reduced. He had to get to the top of that hill — and fast.

‘They clutch at straws. We have nothing to gain and everything to lose by facing Rhiannon,’ Sumiko said angrily.

‘It would end this battle,’ Mogosai suggested.

Sumiko turned on him furiously. ‘Make a deal with gaijin? They merely seek to exhaust me, so Asami can strike. They have no honour and cannot be trusted. I shall not lower myself to their level.’

‘As you wish, High One,’ Mogosai said. ‘But we have another problem. There’s more Forlish cavalry behind us. If they attack on both sides at once —’

‘We shall defeat them, whatever they do.’

‘We are low on arrows,’ Mogosai warned.

‘Then we must use as many as possible, so they do not suspect that. Drown their next attack in arrows.’

‘Would it not be better to use magic —’

‘Let me worry about magic. You look after swords and bows,’ Sumiko snarled.

Mogosai bowed. ‘Your will, High One.’ The words felt bitter in his mouth. They should not be dying like this. But he could not see how to stop it without destroying his honour or dying uselessly in the attempt.

‘They must be almost out of arrows. Once they drove us off, they stopped loosing,’ Sendatsu said.

‘How many times have you said that? And still they slaughter us,’ Edmund said tiredly.

‘But they only loosed at you, then switched to us. They did not have enough for us both,’ he pointed out.

‘So what do you suggest? We cannot make the men do much more. They are dead on their feet.’

‘They are hurting, as are we. They will expect us to merely try more of the same, for they think you are mere gaijin. But we need to outsmart them,’ Sendatsu said persuasively.

‘Doing and saying are two different things. If you have a brilliant idea, I’d love to hear it,’ Edmund said.

Sendatsu said nothing for a long moment, instead wiping drying blood off his face. His mind raced through possibilities, discarding them as fast as they popped into his head.

Huw pointed. ‘What’s happening?’

All swung to see there was a commotion on the hilltop, with some of the elven warriors streaming back up and over the top of the hill.

‘Are they running?’ Sven asked.

‘Most are staying put. It is only a small amount,’ Reynaud said.

‘It has to be the rest of the cavalry. Your man Orsa is back,’ Sendatsu said, his heart lifting and an idea forming. ‘Rhiannon — can you check?’

She closed her eyes and they watched her nervously as a bird flew down to her hand.

‘I don’t know if he got them all, but there’s a couple of hundred riders on the other side of the hill,’ she reported and the leaders, even the southerners, broke into smiles.

Sendatsu looked at their relief — strange, for it was less than two hundred cavalry, on less-than-fresh horses — and knew he had to use it. He took a deep breath. ‘We have to get Rhiannon and our Magic-weavers in to face Sumiko, to put an end to this. We need to use the cavalry.’

‘They will have enough arrows to stop my riders. I guarantee it,’ Wulf said flatly.

‘I know. So we have to give them another target. I need about a thousand men to march slowly forwards and around the hill, as if they are about to join up with Orsa and attack from the rear. We need them to attract every arrow the elves have.’

Edmund laughed, completely without humour. ‘You mean you want to sacrifice a thousand men to no good purpose!’

‘I do not suggest it lightly. Wulf’s horsemen have one charge left in them. Orsa’s men are probably too tired to do more than walk up that hill, but the elves don’t know that. They will think we plan to hit them from two sides and they can’t allow that. They will have to use every arrow they can and without arrows they cannot stop a cavalry charge.’

Edmund held up his hands. ‘It might work,’ he conceded. ‘But I cannot order men to their deaths like that. If half of that thousand return, they will be lucky. Would you let your Velsh do something like that?’

‘Would you rather send your men directly at them again, like last time? Or try a cavalry charge that is doomed to fail?’ Sendatsu demanded.

‘No. But that does not mean I like the idea of deliberately killing my men.’

‘There is no other way to stop them. We have to make sacrifices.’

‘Easy for you to say!’

‘I lost my best friend already today! I might also lose the woman I love. Don’t talk to me about sacrifices,’ Sendatsu snarled.

Edmund bristled as well, the two of them glaring at each other.

‘I will lead them,’ Wulf said quietly. ‘I will call for volunteers and lead them myself.’

Edmund turned to stare at his friend, defiance replaced by puzzlement. ‘Wulf, why?’ he asked.

Wulf smiled. ‘I left men to die in Dokuzen. I told them they just had to hold and I would come to their rescue and I left them to be slaughtered by the elves. It was part of the plan but it was an evil thing to do and I have been haunted by it ever since. It is time to pay my debt.’

‘You did what you were ordered. Nothing more,’ Edmund said, grabbing him by the shoulders.

‘No, I did more than that. I have always done what was needed to make sure we won. I shall do so again.’

‘Don’t do it. We’ll think of something else …’

Wulf smiled and stepped back. ‘There is no time. I shall call for volunteers now. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.’

‘I order you not to!’ Edmund barked.

‘But you are not in command. Lord Sendatsu is.’

The pain on Edmund’s face almost made Sendatsu reconsider.

Wulf chuckled and clapped Edmund on the shoulder. ‘Don’t look like that, my friend. Who knows, I might even survive this.’

Edmund turned on Sendatsu. ‘You had better be right. You better win after this.’

‘We will win or we will die trying,’ Sendatsu told him.

‘I will lead the cavalry then. I’ll make sure you get to Sumiko. You do the rest.’ Edmund stalked away, shouting at Wulf’s riders.

‘Sendatsu, I don’t know if I can defeat her,’ Rhiannon whispered. ‘Last time I fought her, it was with Asami by my side.’

Sendatsu took her hand. ‘You will beat her. What you have been through has strengthened you, like steel passing the tests of fire and water and hammer. Sumiko has never been tested. Besides, everyone has to see that humans have more power than elves. Without it, this fighting will never stop until all my people are dead.’

‘That is a heavy burden you put on me,’ she objected.

‘You have carried worse. I have given you worse.’ He winked at her, dried blood cracking around his cheek.

‘How comforting.’

Wulf strode down the exhausted ranks as men drank the last of their water, bound up small wounds, sharpened blunted blades and tightened straps.

‘I need volunteers. We are going to walk around that hill and meet up with Captain Orsa and the cavalry that were with the king yesterday. We are going to attract every arrow those elven bastards have got, so Captain Edmund can get to the top of that hill and kill the bitch who’s controlling the elves, the one who stuck our king’s head on a spear. I will lead you and I won’t lie to you, this is going to be a bloody business. But live through this and we will win the battle.’

He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the bewildered men. ‘Who’s with me?’

Caelin drained the last of his waterskin and looked around. All the activity had ceased utterly at Wulf’s words. Not one man moved. Even men who had been in the middle of sharpening their swords had paused, the stones halfway down their blades.

He pushed himself to his feet.

‘I’ll go with you, sir,’ he called, his voice cracking from all the shouting he had done.

‘Sarge, I mean captain, what are you doing? This is the deepest latrine pit we’ve ever jumped into!’ Harald hissed from beside him.

‘It’s fine. We’ll be safe. That elven Magic-weaver is watching over us, remember?’ Caelin said out of the corner of his mouth.

‘We’ve gone this far with you. We’ll go the rest of the way.’ Ruttyn stood wearily, followed a moment later by Harald.

‘It’s him! The captain with the little girl!’ The whispers raced around the lines like wildfire and, an instant later, the remains of their company jumped up, followed by more and more men until far more than a thousand stood.

‘You’re all bloody fools. But I love you for it!’ Wulf told them.

‘Come back,’ Huw told Rhiannon.

Rhiannon forced a smile. ‘I’ll be trying. But I can’t make any promises.’

‘I am sorry I took you away from your father, from Cridianton. I feel it is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I —’

Rhiannon put her hand over his mouth. ‘I am glad it happened. All of it. It had to happen. Lies have a way of being found out. The truth has a power that cannot be denied.’

‘Do you really believe that?’

She shrugged. ‘Not really. But I have to hope. Even if I fall, some of the elves here, some of the humans here, will remember that we can do magic. And it will return.’

‘As long as you return.’

She kissed him gently. ‘I love you. But I cannot promise anything other than to try.’

Sendatsu looked longingly over to where he knew Asami was lying, along with piles of screaming wounded. He wanted to make sure she was safe but there was no time.

‘Stay in the centre,’ Edmund told him and pointed at Rhiannon as she joined them, looking around at his men. ‘We keep these two alive until we get to the top of the hill. I don’t care how, just make sure you do!’

He handed them both shields and signalled to his men to form up around them.

‘We wait until the last moment,’ Sendatsu called.

‘Until the last man, you mean,’ Edmund said quietly.

Together, they turned to look at Wulf’s march.

‘Stay close to me, captain,’ Wulf said. ‘We’ve been through a fair bit together now and you and your two scouts there always come out safe. I’d like to think that will happen again.’

‘We do seem to have a guardian angel watching over us,’ Caelin agreed.

‘Let’s hope she isn’t asleep,’ Ruttyn muttered.

Wulf looked up at the hill, at the elves massed at the base and the archers above.

‘Shields up, I think,’ he said, raising his own.

The column shifted as shields went up and knocked together, plunging men into shade. They marched on for a dozen paces, each one of them cringing as they expected the first arrows to strike.

‘I want to hear a song!’ Wulf roared. ‘Who can give me a song?’

Harald cleared his throat and began, slowly at first, then picking up confidence as more men joined in, shouting out the lines of the Forlish battle anthem.

‘If I go down, keep the men marching. Don’t stop for anything or anyone, until every last arrow is gone,’ Wulf said.

Caelin looked at him in surprise, then Wulf winked and joined in the singing. They were halfway through the first verse when the deep thrum of bowstrings cut through the words. They faltered for but a heartbeat, then picked up again smoothly.

Arrows whistled down and thudded into shields, bounced off helms and dug into bodies. Instantly the screams began, joining the deep voices singing, men stepping over friends and trying to close up gaps as the arrows flew in.

Caelin saw immediately they were in more trouble than usual. Marching straight at the arrows meant they could keep shields in front of them all the time. But marching around exposed their sides, even though the hill was to their left, to their shield side. If one man fell, he exposed two or three others. Gaps were appearing far faster than usual and were much harder to plug.

‘Keep going! Keep singing!’ Wulf roared.

Wounded men tried to catch up, still holding their shields, and got picked off by ruthless archers.

Still they marched. They were partway around the hill now, able to see Orsa and his men standing beside their horses, more than half a mile away. It might as well have been on the moon.

Caelin cursed as his shield was driven into his sore shoulder by the force of an arrow; he could not help but let it drop down. Another flew in and drove deep into Wulf’s chest, sinking through his mail as if it were the thinnest parchment. Wulf stumbled and Ruttyn reached for him, his shield lowering but the captain was struck again, this time in the back and he fell on his face.

Caelin, Ruttyn and Harald exchanged horrified looks.

‘Keep going! Keep singing!’ Caelin lifted his shield again.

They continued the anthem, as though shouting out the words might provide them with some form of protection. It did not. Men fell every moment, each one opening a gap for another arrow to strike home.

Caelin turned his head to urge the men onwards and was appalled at how many were down. Survivors clustered together, shields knocking — but the arrows were falling both low and high and they could not defend against both. The column stalled, like a wounded animal unable to drag itself any further, a bloody trail of broken and weeping men stretching out far behind it.

‘At least we’ll survive, eh?’ Harald shouted, then cried out as an arrow sank into his belly. He reeled backwards and fell, Ruttyn and Caelin dropping their shields to help him.

The rest of the men went to ground then, the singing cutting off.

‘Can’t hurt worse than your wife’s mother!’ Caelin told him encouragingly.

But all Harald could do was scream.

‘We’ll get you out of here,’ Caelin promised.

‘Captain!’ Ruttyn grabbed his arm and tugged him around.

Together the two of them watched another flight of arrows soar down.

Sendatsu forced himself to watch every step of the march, see the agony of every fallen man. The column was down to a ragged, crouching handful and obviously no threat. The arrows had stopped but that was no consolation. He tried to tell himself that it was necessary, that their sacrifice was going to end this battle and save lives, but it was hard to accept.