damned sure none of them get away!”
“Sight for sore eyes, aren’t they?” Shaldan Morahkson demanded. “I
“Sure you did,” one of his companions jeered. “Between pissing and moaning about the rain, your saddle sores, and how fucked up the whole war’s been, you told us all about your personal friend the Lord Marshal!”
The others laughed, and Shaldan made a rude gesture as the lead ranks of the relief column squelched past. The incoming Guardsmen looked almost as shabby and sodden as Shaldan and his fellows after their hard march, and he turned his back on the others to wave and shout at the newcomers, then paused.
“That’s funny.”
“What?” his critic demanded. “Your buddy Lord Marshal Surak screw up somehow?”
“They’re all musketeers,” Shaldan said. “Look.” He pointed as far down the column as they could see in the blowing rain. “There must be a thousand, fifteen hundred of them, and not a pike among ’em!”
“What?” The other dragoon turned to peer in the direction of Shaldan’s pointing finger.
“And another thing. I’ve never seen bayonets like those. Have you?”
“I—”
Shaldan never found out what his fellow meant to say, for even as they stared at the column, it suddenly broke apart.
“Take them!” Under-Captain Lerhak shouted, and his men swarmed out across the picket. There were cries of alarm from the watching dragoons, and two or three turned to race for tethered branahlks, but surprise was total. Musket butts and bayonets did their lethal work, and within ten minutes, every man of High Captain Ortak’s easternmost picket was dead or a prisoner.
Under-Captain Mathan stretched and called for his mount. He’d already sent a messenger ahead to Erastor, and if Sergeant Kithar was right, the column should have reached his forward position by now. Little though a ride in the rain appealed to him, he’d best go up to greet them like a properly industrious junior officer, and he trotted away from the lean-to with regret. He was riding directly into the wind, and the water running into his eyes made it hard to see where he was going. His branahlk tossed its head and jibed under him, whistling mournfully to voice its own verdict on the weather, and he tightened his knees to remind it who was in charge.
He looked back up and blinked on rain as mounted men in the soaked crimson cloaks of the Guard loomed out of the dimness. One of them waved, and Mathan started to wave back, then paused.
He stared at them, watching them ride closer, unable to believe his eyes. Their saddles and tack were mismatched, not standard Guard issue, and aside from their cloaks, they weren’t even in uniform. Two of them actually wore what looked like farmer’s boots, not jackboots. But that was impossible. They
He jerked out of his shock and wheeled his mount. The branahlk squealed in protest as his spurs went home, then bounded forward with a teeth-rattling jerk. He had to warn High-Captain Ortak! He—
Something cracked behind him, and he didn’t even have time to scream as the rifled pistol bullet smashed him from the saddle.
“Sir, the relief column’s been sighted.”
High-Captain Ortak looked up and smiled at his aide’s report.
“Well, thank God for that! Call for my branahlk. High-Captain Terrahk deserves to be met in person.”
“Did you hear something?” Sergeant Kithar raised his head, ears cocked, and glanced at the man beside him.
“In this rain?” The trooper gestured at the water drumming from the eaves of their rough roof.
“It sounded like a shot…”
“You’re joking, Sarge! It’d take a special miracle to get a joharn to fire in this stuff!”
“I know, but—”
Kithar was still gazing out into the rain when Folmak’s lead company stormed into the picket’s rear area.
“Folmak’s taken out the picket.”
Sean nodded as his com implant carried him Sandy’s voice.
“Anyone get away?” he subvocalized back.
“I don’t think so. It’s hard to be sure with so many people moving around in the rain, but I don’t see anyone headed away from the picket.”
“What’s Folmak doing?”
“Rounding up POWs and shifting into assault column to hit the bridge. Don’t worry, Sean. He knows what he’s doing.”
“So far, so good,” Folmak murmured, then raised his voice. “This is what we came for, boys! Follow me, and from here on out, make all the racket you can. Let’s make these bastards think the ‘Cragsend Demons’ are here to eat ’em all! First Brigade,
“Aye!” The roar almost blew him from the saddle.
High-Captain Ortak dismounted, handed his reins to an orderly, and tried not to scurry as he hurried for the shelter of the bridge tollhouse. The under-captain commanding the bridge traffic control detachment jumped up and saluted, but Ortak waved him back into his chair.
“Sit down, sit down!”
“Thank you, Sir, but I prefer to stand.” The bridge commander was a very junior officer, but he knew better than to sit in the presence of a high-captain, whatever the high-captain in question said.
“Suit yourself, Captain.” Ortak stood in the doorway, peering into the gloomy afternoon. He could just make out the head of Terrahk’s column at the far end of the bridge, and he wondered why they’d stopped in the rain. Were they dressing ranks for some sort of parade?
He frowned. The rain and the rush of river water around the bridge pilings filled his ears, but that didn’t keep him from hearing the cheer. What in the world—? Were they
And then, suddenly, the relief column lunged forward onto the bridge, and High-Captain Ortak stared in horror as it swept over the half-dozen men watching the far end of the span. Bayonets flashed in the rain, musket butts struck viciously, and the high-captain went white, for he could hear the voices clearly, now.
“
