“What’s on your mind?” asked Honeycomb, taking the cannonball from the gnome.
“You’re as strong as a horse, centurion. Can you toss it over the moat?”
“With a good swing.”
“Go on then,” the gnome said, and lit the fuse.
If not for the Gallows-Birds, the dark elves would never have seen Zagraba again. Izmi Markauz reined in his horse in front of them and yelled.
“On the horses. Behind the cavalry, lads! Quickly!”
The elves didn’t waste any time, and leapt up onto the horses behind the guardsmen. Some of them even carried on firing as they did so. The enemy’s crossbowmen woke up and several guardsmen fell, but most of them were already galloping off, carrying their allies away to a safe distance. Izmi was the last to leave. Now he had to offload the elves and overhaul the enemy who had attacked the right battalion.
The retreating men still hadn’t crossed the Wine Brook, and the lieutenant of the royal guard was hoping to finish off the ones who were left. Vartek was galloping along, leaning down against his horse’s neck. Izmi saw a crossbow bolt in his back. The armor hadn’t saved him.
“Are you alive?”
The marquis nodded feebly. Izmi Markauz grabbed the bridle of the wounded man’s horse. He had to get him to the healers as quickly as possible.
Despite the unrelenting mass attacks, Slim Bows was holding out magnificently. It was a good thing the king hadn’t begrudged paying the gnomes properly. Fighting without the cannons would have been an awful lot harder. The left army had returned to its positions and completely restored its line of battle. But now, of course, it had no reserve, and the central battalion had been badly mauled in the fighting.
“What kind of surprise will the Nameless One have for us now, my prince?” asked Ash, slipping his beautiful blade of back steel back into its scabbard.
“What would you say about them, Wild Heart?”
Ash screwed up his eyes and looked toward the Rega Forest, where about thirty huge figures were striding across the field with clubs over their shoulders.
“Just as I thought,” the commander of the Wild Hearts chuckled. “If there are no ogres, then the giants go into action.”
“Get ready!” the prince ordered. “Bowmen! Into the front ranks!”
The sound was heard by everyone who was in the Field of the Fairies. It was like a string snapping in the frosty air. The gentle, melodious note rang out above the earth, and a few seconds later purple fire came crashing down on Nuad.
“D-damnation!” exclaimed Pepper, grabbing the spyglass. “Did their powder explode?”
“I’m afraid not,” said Honeycomb, shaking his head, still unable to believe what had happened.
Nuad was entirely engulfed in flames.
“It’s the Nameless One! It’s the Nameless One!” shouted Roderick, gaping wide-eyed and white-faced at the warriors.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Rott snapped.
“It was the Nameless One who struck them! The Order has failed! Something has disrupted the balance!”
“My prince, the Order is leaving the hill!”
“What on earth is going on up there?” Stalkon Junior raged.
“Can you see anything?”
“No, first the ground shook, and then there was a billow of smoke,” Jig answered.
“I can see that much myself!” growled the centurion standing beside him.
From behind the tongue of Rega Forest, from the spot where Nuad stood, a column of blue-black smoke was rising up into the sky.
Suddenly the sky above the right army, which had been restored by using the reserve, started flickering. Everybody raised their heads and marveled at this wonder. A minute later the flickering stopped and a massive gout of fire fell on the battalion, consuming several thousand men instantly.
The ground shook again and the ranks of Jig’s battalion tumbled against each other. There were screams of fear.
“Easy now! Everybody on your feet! On your feet, I said!” a centurion roared.
The terrified men were already getting up. They were all staring at the spot where the right battalion had been. There was nothing there now but a gaping black hole. The ground itself seemed to be on fire.
“What was that?”
“Let’s get out of here!”
“May they dwell in the light!”
Jig looked up and saw the sky above them start flickering.
“Up there!” he barked, raising his arm to point.
“Everybody back!” shouted the magician, who had recovered his composure. “We have enough time. Back! Centurions, give the order!”
“Back! To the beat of the drum! At the double! Maintain formation, you apes! Let’s go!”
The central battalion sprinted away from the spot. The one that had been standing by the Luza Forest followed. The men ran as hard as they could, but not one dropped his weapon or tried to push his comrade in the back. Everyone realized that panic would lead them straight to the grave.
A minute later two gouts of fire crashed into the positions where the left army had been standing.
“The left army’s running, Your Highness!”
“I know that, and … darkness!”
The prince saw the two fireballs go hurtling into the places where the retreating army should have been standing. Then he was almost deafened by a crash behind him. He swung round and stared at the spot that had been the top of the hill a minute ago. Now it was a smooth, smoking platform. No cannons, no Crater, no royal pavilion.
“The king’s dead…” The word ran through the ranks of soldiers.
“Damnation!” Stalkon Junior cursed through his teeth, then he took himself in hand and roared: “Ash, stop them! If they run, all is lost! We have to retreat through Slim Bows!”
Even a fool could see that the Battle of the Field of the Fairies had been lost.
“I shall do everything necessary, my king!”
The buglers at Slim Bows almost burst their cheeks sounding the retreat. The army was withdrawing in haste, but without panic, behind the hill in the direction of Avendoom. Everybody had seen what that blow had done to the top of the hill. Everybody knew the king had been directing the battle from up there. Everybody realized that no one could have lived through that.
Honeycomb had seen the two balls of purple fire crash into the positions of the left army, but he didn’t know if any of the soldiers had survived. It was too far away, and the hill was in the way.
“The men are formed up, commander!” Rott reported.
“Leave the hailstorms, lads. Or we won’t be able to run if a thunderbolt comes our way.”
“It won’t,” said Roderick, who had stopped panicking and was calm again.
“How do you know?”
“If the Nameless One could have vaporized us, he would have done it a long time ago. Not even he’s all- powerful.”
“In any case, we have to get going. They’ll start storming us again soon. Pepper! Let’s go!”
