“Be ready,” Illan says as he draws forth his sword.
Behind them, the catapults fall silent as the approaching soldiers close the distance and move out of the target range. Catapults are for long range attacks, not much good for in close fighting.
The last volley of crystals soars over head, some of the slingers aiming for the remaining crossbowmen at the rear of the charging men. “There’s their cavalry!” hollers one of Ceadric’s men.
From his position on the walls of Lythylla, Lord Pytherian sees the hundreds of cavalrymen emerging from around both sides of the palisade. “Send forth our men,” he tells Henri beside him.
Henri turns to the men waiting in the courtyard below and gives the signal. First through the gates rides the cavalry, five hundred strong. They split up on the far side of the bridge, half moving to meet the oncoming riders on the right and the other half those on the left.
Illan takes note of the riders spewing forth from Lythylla, coming to their aid. “About time,” he mumbles. The lightning from the orbs is creating merry havoc with the men charging his position. Though their momentum is faltering, it isn’t stopping. “Jiron! Ceadric!” he hollers as he sits his horse with sword in hand. “Hold your position! Let them come to us.”
The first line of soldiers runs into the barrier between the staffs, their faces showing the startlement of hitting the unexpected barrier. Then they become squashed against it as other soldiers hit them from behind. Around the far sides of the barrier the soldiers encounter Jiron on the right and Ceadric on the left and the battle is joined.
Delia and her slingers are protected from the onslaught by the barrier and the fighters on either side. “Fire at will!” she calls out as she sets a slug to sling and begins twirling. Letting loose, she watches the slug fly through the air and strike a soldier square upon the forehead. The man stands stunned for a moment then disappears from sight as he falls to the ground and is trampled by the men coming up behind him.
At first she was worried that the barrier would prevent the slugs from going through, but James had allowed for that. You can’t imagine the relief she felt when her first slug went through the barrier. Now, they rain a constant hail upon those wedged on the far side. Most of the slugs simply bounce off the soldier’s armor, but a few find their mark and take them down.
Given the chance she would lead her slingers off the field of battle, this is no place for them. If the barrier were to fail, they would be cut down in no time. Out of the corner of her eye she keeps track of the fighting going on around her. Jiron and his men are devastating the line of enemy soldiers, Shorty stays closer to Delia and her bunch as his knives wouldn’t be as effective in such a melee.
A group of Parvatis moves against Ceadric’s position and wades into them with both swords felling men fast. “To the left!” she cries to her slingers. “Take out the Parvatis!” Turning slightly left, she winds her sling up and lets loose another slug. It flies through the air striking a Parvati in the side of the head. As he falls, more slugs and arrows from Hedry’s group begin to take their toll.
The memory of the Parvati Qyrll whom she had met once while he was staying with James flashes across her mind. A good man and honorable, she dislikes having to kill his countrymen, possibly his kin. But what else can she do?
From the edges of the battlefield, the sound of horses neighing can be heard as the two cavalry forces meet. The riders from Lythylla are outnumbered but are holding them at bay while their foot soldiers rush to their aid. Still streaming from the gates of Lythylla, they race as fast as possible to join in the fray. Already, the number of allies on the field is approaching that of the Empire.
The light from the Star moves throughout the battlefield as Miko tends the wounded as only he can. He longs to join in the battle, but the need to save the lives of these men outweighs the need for glory. Moving from injured man to injured man, he ministers to them with the healing power of Morcyth.
At one point he was healing a man with a severed arm. He reattached it through the power of the Star and was about to move to another when the tide of battle shifted. The line between himself and the enemy suddenly collapses. Putting away the Star, he draws forth his sword and meets the oncoming soldiers.
With speed the likes of which few soldiers have ever encountered, he blocks the attack of one while kicking out at another. In a blinding attack, two soldiers fall away with mortal wounds while a third launches into a series of attack which Miko is able to easily counter.
From the side a sword strikes at him and leaves a long gash along his side. The pain of the wound is barely even noticeable as he strikes out at the soldier and removes his head from his shoulder.
Then, Scar and Potbelly are there and stand with him shoulder to shoulder. “Miko!” hollers Potbelly, “Stig needs you!”
“We’ll hold here!” yells Scar.
Nodding, Miko takes out the man he’s facing with a quick thrust through the chest and then disengages. He finds Stig a few yards away, a rapidly growing stain spreading across his front. Returning his sword to its scabbard, he hurries over.
“Miko,” Stig says weakly as he approaches.
“Just relax,” he tells him as he removes the Star.
Stig lays back, the pall of death upon his face as the glow from the Star shines forth. Miko has done this enough now to be able to tell if he’s too late or not and with relief he realizes he’s not. With the power of the Star and Morcyth, he closes the wound in Stig’s stomach, repairing the severed intestines and other organs within.
When the glow disappears, Stig sighs in relief. The pain, once a flaring sun is now little more than an ache. “Thanks man,” he tells him.
Miko takes his arm and helps him to his feet. With one of Stig’s arms across his shoulders, he helps him back to where Delia and the slingers stand near the center of their force. “Keep an eye on him,” he tells Delia as he sets Stig on the ground.
She nods her head as she begins twirling her sling yet again.
Looking around, Miko finds another in need and goes to him.
The battle has been raging now for fifteen to twenty minutes. The individual moments of valor and bravery are too many to count. When the line crumbles under the onslaught of the Empire, reinforcements move to close the gap.
Once the men from Lythylla joined the fray, Illan could see that after the effect of James’ crystals, the two forces were equally numbered. When the archers from Lythylla finally made their appearance after the foot soldiers took the field, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Their deadly barrage began mowing down the enemy in swaths.
Taking advantage of a momentary lull in the fighting, he surveys the battlefield and can see where the Empire’s men are beginning to turn and flee. Now that victory for them is out of the question, most are simply interested in survival. Suddenly, the line of men close to Ceadric’s force breaks off and turns to flee toward the palisade. As Ceadric moves to follow he hollers, “Hold your position!”
Ceadric glances back and sees him looking at him, covered in blood from head to toe, some friendly but the vast majority is from those he’s slain this day. Nodding, he begins forming up his ranks and holds his position. A cheer rises from his men at their victory.
Then all of a sudden the entire enemy line is in retreat. The forces from Lythylla set out in pursuit as those under Illan maintain their position. They’ll let Madoc’s forces do the mopping up.
“Report!” he hollers.
“Lost a third of my men,” Ceadric says as he comes near.
“No one got close to us,” Delia tells him. Glancing at her boys she says, “They all did magnificent.” Illan nods his head and then turns to Jiron.
“Would have lost half of mine if Miko hadn’t been with us,” he says. “Most won’t be good for a day or two, but they’ll live to fight another day.”
“Very well,” he says. Looking to the fleeing soldiers, he grins when he finds the palisade, which had so well protected them during the long siege, is now a wall barring their escape. Madoc’s forces, so long desiring retribution for the rape of their country don’t even offer them quarter, they simply cut them down.
The battlefield is a ghastly sight, the dead and dying cover the ground between the river and the palisade. Cries from the wounded men sing out and the light from the Star can be seen moving from one to the next as Miko does his best to save every last one of them. Even Brother Willim and the three remaining members of the Hand are out among the injured doing what they can for them.
