They’d have made easy victims for the first band of rogues who came by.
They should have welcomed Esk kar and his men, but they acted sullen and angry at having their land taken over, even temporarily. They calmed down when Esk kar told them a large barbarian force was heading their way, and would undoubtedly slit their throats.
The settlers included several women. Esk kar wanted no women hanging around his men. Women led to rape and fights. He gave the settlers a dozen silver coins to pay for the loss of their houses and corrals and ordered them to head south immediately. When they complained, he offered to take back the coins and turn them into slaves if they preferred. That got them moving, loading their possessions onto three carts and shepherding their flocks before them.
The narrow valley ran fairly straight, rising slightly from south to north.
At the south end, where the settlers established their homes, the opening was ninety paces wide. Once past the entrance, the vale widened quickly to more than twice that. The far end lay more than a mile distant, and that entrance spread about two hundred and twenty paces across. About five hundred paces before the north opening, however, the cliff walls closed in, narrowing the valley at that point to approximately one hundred and twenty paces.
Esk kar approved of the valley walls. Steep and rocky, they offered few places where a horse and rider might, with great care, scramble to the top.
Inside the basin the land was open and flat with no places for concealment or defense. Nevertheless, neither Esk kar nor Mesilim looked satisfied with the location.
Jalen saw the frowns. “Captain, this was the best location I could find.
You wanted something close to the river where they could be closed in.
And it’s nearly on the line of march to Orak.”
“I’m sure it’s the best we could find,” Esk kar said. “But it’s going to be difficult to spring a trap here. We’ll have to split the men, and that means the Alur Meriki will outnumber each half. And the length of the valley means a long run for the men to close up.”
“The canyon is wide here,” Mesilim added. “Our lines will be thin and our enemy can concentrate their forces at any point.” He turned to Eskkar. “Remember, you say we need to kill them all, not just defeat them. If they see the size of our force, they’ll simply turn away and ride south by another route.”
Jalen looked doubtful. “Without a fight?”
“They won’t fight unless they expect to win. They see no dishonor in running away, or shooting arrows at us from a distance for hours or even days.” Esk kar shook his head. “We’ll have to think of something, first to lure them in and then to stop their escaping.”
The group of commanders rode slowly to the north end and inspected the ground there. The entrance proved as wide as Esk kar had feared, though the walls did pinch in before the opening. Esk kar decided he had no choice. This place would have to do. The Alur Meriki might be here any day and he didn’t have time to search for someplace better.
Esk kar, Gatus, Jalen, Mesilim, and Subutai rode back to the center of the valley, close to the east side, dismounted and sat on the ground in a circle. For two hours the fi ve of them went over their options, taking into consideration the capabilities of the bowmen, the Ur Nammu warriors, the ground, and what they thought the enemy would do. Once they had made their decisions, they spent even longer improving the plan, until each knew where and how they would fight.
While this went on, soldiers and tribesmen rested and watched while their leaders scratched lines in the dirt and argued over their fates.
When the leaders finished planning, no one felt completely satisfied, but nobody could offer any further improvements. Esk kar and his men returned to the south end, where the soldiers waited, tense, waiting to learn their future.
Esk kar looked at them, then raised his voice. “You men wanted to fight, didn’t you? Well, you’ll get a fight to remember, I promise you that. This will be a fight like no other. You’ll obey orders or wish you were never born. And work like slaves if you want to live through this one. Remember that if you want to live!”
With that, the camp burst into activity. Subutai gathered what supplies he needed and took fifteen of the fittest and best mounted warriors.
He had the most dangerous assignment-the bait for the trap. They rode south, back the way they came, planning to swing completely around the entire valley so as not to leave a trail. They would eventually ride north and fi nd the Alur Meriki, let themselves be seen, and lure the enemy into the valley.
Gatus took a work crew of thirty and some digging tools from the farmhouse. They walked along the steep east side, to avoid making tracks down the center of the vale. Meanwhile, Mesilim posted men as lookouts on the valley’s heights to make sure no one surprised them. Another work party took the donkeys and marched out through the south entrance, to gather as much wood as they could find.
For the rest of that day and the next, Esk kar’s men labored and practiced their movements, their archery, and their signals. The lead bowmen marked distances up and down the valley, so the archers would always know the range. The steep sides would negate any wind. Finally everything was ready.
Now all depended on Subutai. Not only did he have to find the Alur Meriki but he had to entice them into the valley, close enough behind him for the plan to work, but not too close for them to discover the trap.
So much could go wrong that Esk kar refused to think about it. Instead he complained about everything the men did, cursing them even as he urged them to work harder. As they sweated, everyone kept an eye on the horizons and hilltops, keeping their weapons close at hand. When all the preparations had been made, they finally rested and tended to their weapons.
The waiting began. Mesilim looked tense as well, shouting at his men over every little annoyance. The Ur Nammu leader worried about his son.
Jalen kept pacing back and forth, certain his choice of the valley would be blamed if anything went wrong. Only Gatus seemed above it all, calmly making sure the men did their tasks properly, saw to their arms, and trained in every spare minute.
At midmorning the next day, one of the sentries on the north rim gave a shout. Moments later a rider came into view, galloping an obviously weary mount into the valley. Every eye followed the lone horseman. Sweat covered his mount’s sides as he rode straight down the center of the valley until he reached the huts at the south end where Esk kar and Mesilim waited. It was Fashod, sent by Subutai with the news.
Dismounting, Fashod spoke so quickly to Mesilim that Esk kar had trouble understanding. Finally Mesilim turned to the waiting commanders.
“Subutai found a small scouting party of the Alur Meriki yesterday and ambushed them, letting a few escape. Then he rode west, pretending to hide his trail, before turning south. The main force of the Alur Meriki is following him, and he’s riding slowly as if his horses are tiring. Fashod thinks there are about seventy men in the war party. Subutai will be here in an hour with the Alur Meriki right behind him, if all goes well.”
Esk kar felt the sweat start on his hands but didn’t wipe them on his tunic, a gesture every man would see and understand. Anything could go wrong. The barbarians could catch up with Subutai earlier than expected; they could stop for some unknown reason; or simply turn away and head back toward the river. But now was not the moment to show fear or doubt.
“Then it’s time. Gatus, take command here.” Esk kar looked at Mesilim.
“May the gods smile on us today.”
“I’ll be at your side when the battle begins,” Mesilim answered. He turned to Fashod. “Stay here with Gatus, and make sure when Subutai arrives, he knows where we are and what we do.” With that Mesilim went to his men and, in a few moments, all twenty — two remaining Ur Nammu rode south out of the valley, leaving only Fashod with Gatus and fifty soldiers at the south end. Mesilim had an hour’s ride through the hills to circle the valley and appear at the north end.
Esk kar turned to Jalen. “Start the men moving, and by the gods, they’d better not leave anything behind or forget what they’ve been told.”
Esk kar, Jalen, and fifty bowmen moved north, in single file, hugging the east side of the valley and treading carefully so as not to leave any trace of their passing. For the last two days, everyone avoided trampling the grass in the center of the valley. When the Alur Meriki rode in, they must not see any sign of Esk kar’s men.
Near the north end of the valley, where the walls pinched sharply, Eskkar and each of his men paused long
