There were warehouses, trees in planted rows, low brick walls surrounding several conjoined garden plots, a long brick row house with porch and multiple doors, many left open, the place clearly deserted in haste. The island was small, with a lane piercing straight through to a distant bridge, where a mob of fighting churned and boiled, dust thick in the air.
He pushed forward to find the vanguard setting up a quick and dirty perimeter using a pair of storehouses as their cornerstone.
'We're not stopping. We push up to support First Cohort-'
A massive crack made everyone flinch. Out of the chaos ahead, men screamed; shouts rang as the enemy cried aloud in triumph. Arras ran out beyond the perimeter: the distant clot of First Cohort's rearguard was falling back in confusion, completely out of order. Smoke billowed from the vicinity of the bridge and the unseen ground beyond it. Flames licked, running high. A horrible
screaming yammer — maybe no more than ten men — caught in those flames on the bridge, but their agony stabbed panic into the rest. Arras had seen men break and run. He knew what would happen next; he'd witnessed the death of his comrades before, because once you are routed, you are easy prey.
'Heya! New orders!' The rain of arrows had abated now that they were on the island, but he knew their enemy out in the mire was merely taking this chance to regroup, or was pursuing Seventh Cohort down the causeway. 'We're fixing a perimeter on this island. Move to those garden walls.'
'There's good cover, Captain, in these warehouses-' cried one of his vanguard sergeants.
'Neh. They'll burn us out of wooden structures. That thatch will go up in a heartbeat. Set up an outer perimeter along the warehouse line. Everyone else back to the brick walls. Sergeant Giyara!'
'Captain!'
'I want sweep teams through every abandoned building while we're free of archery fire. Strip any provisions, supplies, everything. I'll need another cadre to drag in all the wagons and boats. We'll break them up and build shelters, arrow breaks, barriers. If we can manage it in staggered units, break down that row house for bricks to strengthen our perimeter. We'll make the three walled garden plots our main defensive hold, build it up as we can, and I want to include that mulberry orchard, too, so we have range of motion and some protection from that direction. We'll need forward outposts, and banners torn up to form signal flags. Cadre sergeants-'
'I'll assign them, Captain,' said Giyara, as he'd known she would.
'Captain!' Subcaptain Orli's runner came panting up, face streaked with mud. 'There's trouble on the first bridge. Burning arrows, Captain.'
'Get back to Subcaptain Orli. I want everyone over and the main central planks pulled out. We must control access to the bridge, stop their reinforcements from marching up over the causeway.'
'They can still land boats, Captain-'
'One thing at a time! Get those men over and close down that bridge.'
His soldiers fell to their tasks with the discipline he'd drilled
into them, but as he scanned the shape of the island — too big a slab of ground to encompass easily but not so large that it offered a range of environment — remnants of First Cohort came fleeing down the road with shields slamming on their backs in rhythm to their pounding steps. Their faces were tight with bewilderment and unthinking fear.
He grabbed a company banner ripped by arrow shot and placed himself in the center of the road with the pole held horizontal to block their headlong flight.
'Halt, you gods-rotted cowards!'
He'd trained all his youth with an ordinand's staff; of all weapons, a strong staff still felt most comfortable in his hands. He lashed out now, thumping the men in the front with a flurry of blows that knocked them back or sent them to their knees.
'Halt!'
The second rank slowed, men responding to his voice in the shaken manner of people coming awake abruptly. The soldiers behind them had to stutter step to avoid smashing into those before them, and this shift altered the entire momentum of their collapse.
'Get in your cadres! Form up!'
Folk who feel helpless desire order just as the starving desire food, or the falling man grasps at any object that will stop his fall.
'You!' He grabbed a soldier who was moving too slowly and backhanded him. Others skipped into ranks, startled by the blow.
The young man he had hit reeled sideways, then caught himself and snapped upright. 'Captain?' he squeaked.
'Where's your sergeant?' Arras roared
Men looked around, seeking sergeants. 'Captain! I don't know, Captain!'
'Move your group off the road. Stay in formation!' The mass began to seethe as the press behind them thickened. 'You there!' He pointed at another man. 'Where's your sergeant? Eiya! Move your group off the road, to the other side. Stay in formation!' He whistled, and one of his runners jumped up beside him. 'I need Subcaptain Piri and his company.'
By the time Piri arrived, Arras had two cadres sorted out.
'Captain!'
'Piri, take your company to the forward bridge. Make sure it's blocked, then hold the perimeter. I'm sending these two cadres with you.'
'Captain?'
'If we're stuck on this island, we'll claim all the ground and place our perimeter on the shoreline. Dig in.'
'Captain!'
As Piri and his company pushed through First Cohort's retreat, Arras cracked the whip of discipline over the fleeing men, separating out more cadres, sending them with runners to reinforce: this cadre to Orli at the eastern bridge; three cadres to Giyara to break up wagons, but not boats, so his own troops could be released to set a shoreline perimeter. With the remains of First Cohort, he might have enough to hold the island.
Yet every time he looked skyward, those cursed eagles circled, spying out his every move. A sweating runner sprinted into view.
'Subcaptain Piri's compliments, Captain. The bridge approach is secure. Any intact planks on our side are pulled back for later use if we choose to push forward. We'll need more planks. We've set up a strong archery screen so they can't completely dismantle the railings on the far side. First Cohort's forward companies on the far side look pretty well slaughtered. There are bodies in the channel, but they're getting swept downstream by the current into the swamp. Orders, Captain?'
Arras looked him over, a stocky young man with a fresh cut on his chin. 'You're one of the new recruits. Laukas, isn't it?'
'Yes, Captain.' The young man didn't smile as some new recruits did, when the captain honored them by recalling their names. He wasn't a friendly sort like Navi. 'Orders, Captain?'
'Escort this sorry-looking cadre to Piri. Have him split them out among his own company. I want a secure perimeter. I'll be up soon to get a look.'
'Yes, Captain.' No nonsense there. He ran back to the front.
Arras beckoned to the lone sergeant wearing First Cohort's spear-and-star tabard. 'What's your name, Sergeant?'
The man looked gray about the eyes, as ashamed as he should be. 'I'm called Eddo, Captain.'
'Take your cadre and secure every boat you can find on this cursed island. We'll need them all, half placed at each bridge. Then break down the planks in those warehouses. In case we need to build a floating bridge.'
The man stared at him, not responding.
For a moment Arras thought he was addled, or an imbecile. 'Sergeant Eddo?'
There's a look men get when they have lost hope and then,
unexpectedly, find a spark they can feed with the kindling of resolve. 'Yes, Captain!' He briskly took charge of his men.
Arras rubbed his throat, and then his forehead. When had he gotten so sweaty? His hand came away smeared and dirty, as though his face had been rubbed in the earth by a bully, and he realized he was
