Now Eskkar wondered what Ninazu would do with the information.
Ninazu’s choices would be limited. He could try and wait it out inside the village, trusting to his palisade to stop the Akkadians. The problem with that plan was that if Eskkar really had almost two hundred men and the skill to use them effectively, Ninazu wasn’t likely to stop them. And once his followers learned of the coming reinforcements, the fi ght would go out of many of them. They hadn’t joined up with Ninazu to cross swords in a close, desperate battle for Bisitun. No, they sought after easy loot, not a death fight.
Another choice for Ninazu would be to slip across the river. That way would always be open to him. But Ninazu wouldn’t want to leave a big, wealthy village behind, one that would immediately be fortified against him. He would then be in the position of trying to keep a motley group of bandits together in lands already plundered, while having no secure base of operations. The Akkadians would start hunting him within days, while his men would start lusting after Ninazu’s personal booty. That choice wouldn’t look too attractive to Ninazu either.
As Eskkar saw it, that left Ninazu with only one other course of action-attack the Akkadians before the reinforcements arrived, overwhelm them, and take their weapons. Faced with such a defeat, the supposed reinforcements might turn back. At the least, Ninazu would be no worse off than he was now. A victory might even give his men the courage and resolve to resist another group of besiegers.
The rider had come from Akkad only yesterday, and it would be dark before news of the “reinforcements” reached Bisitun. It wasn’t likely Ninazu could get his men ready on such short notice to attempt anything tonight. Eskkar intended to keep the pressure on Ninazu, to continue forcing him to react as Eskkar wanted. Tonight, the next step of the plan would begin, the one that would draw the noose around Ninazu even tighter.
6
As the afternoon waned, Eskkar met with his commanders and the fifteen men chosen for the initial raid. They’d had to wait until all the farmers moved well away from the camp. The carefully selected soldiers received their instructions, and Eskkar used the few hours before darkness to make sure Sisuthros and the men knew exactly what to do. Only after Eskkar felt satisfied did they gather around the campfire for the evening meal.
Nevertheless, Eskkar kept reviewing the details of the attack during dinner, speaking to each man, making sure each knew his assignment. Finally even Eskkar could find nothing wrong. He went off by himself, to try and get some sleep, leaving word to wake him when the men were ready.
Sleep came slowly. Eskkar had never sent men out on a raid before, had never delegated such a command to another. Always he had led sorties like this himself. To send others out into danger while he remained safe in camp seemed unmanly. But he knew that he couldn’t risk his own life on such a small raid, just as he knew Sisuthros could easily direct the men.
At midnight, Grond woke Eskkar from a restless sleep. Sisuthros and his men stood ready, each standing by his horse. Eskkar gripped Sisuthros by the shoulder, then stood aside as his subcommander led the first two of his men out of the camp. The rest of the soldiers left, two at a time, after a slow count to one hundred, so that the horses wouldn’t get nervous in the darkness and begin whinnying, or making sounds that might alert any keen ears in Bisitun. Eskkar knew horses could do strange things at night, spooking at some shadow, the moon, or even a breeze.
Each man would walk his horse a full half mile before mounting and waiting for the rest of the men to join up. When all the riders assembled, they would pace their horses at a slow step for another mile before turning north.
The last of them disappeared from sight, and nothing remained for Eskkar to do except wait. He didn’t expect Ninazu to launch an attack tonight, but Eskkar wanted his remaining men alert and ready just in case.
The moon had risen late and progressed steadily across the starry sky.
The scouts stationed between the camp and the village came in at regular intervals, all reporting no activity from Bisitun’s defenders. Eskkar paced back and forth, checking with the men as he went, urging them to stay vigilant. Time seemed to slow the moon’s journey across the night, and he thought morning would never come.
A few moments before dawn, the sound of hoofbeats came from the south. Though expected, the sentries gave the challenge. Sisuthros called out his name in a loud voice, though the approaching horses slowed to a walk a hundred paces from the camp. Eskkar gave the word, and soldiers lit torches that revealed a smiling Sisuthros leading his horse back into the encampment.
As Sisuthros and the others passed in, Eskkar grasped him by the arm and pulled him aside. “Did it go well? We heard nothing from here.”
Sisuthros’s grin turned into a laugh. “Yes, Captain, it went well. They never heard a thing. If we had more men, we could have forced our way in by the river. I’ll wager they don’t notice anything until well after sunup.”
“You mean they saw nothing? And the men? All went according to plan?” By now, everyone pressed round Sisuthros and his band, who came in laughing and swaggering, pleased with themselves and the ease of their mission. “Tell us what happened.”
“We walked the horses, until we were out of earshot, then rode to the northern part of the river.” Men jostled each other to hear Sisuthros’s words, every one eager to learn about the first action against Bisitun. “I sent the rest of the riders, with all the horses, downstream of the village, telling them to swing wide of the encampment. My men and I boarded the boats with no problems.”
The scouts had found a farm a few miles upriver that possessed two small boats, probably used mainly for fishing, but each large enough to carry a few men. No doubt by now the puzzled farmer wondered who had stolen his vessels.
“We let the boats drift downstream,” Sisuthros went on. “Just before we reached Bisitun, four men from each boat slipped into the water and clung to the boat’s sides.”
Sisuthros had chosen only strong swimmers for this raid, men who stood ready to trust themselves to the river’s current to carry them to safety, if need be.
“We drifted in among the vessels at the rear of the village,” Sisuthros continued. “We untied or cut the ropes mooring all the boats there, and shoved them well out into the current. It didn’t take long, and we stood by in the boats to carry the men off as soon as someone raised the alarm.”
“We heard no outcry here, Sisuthros,” Eskkar said.
“No one gave the alarm. We could see guards walking the palisade, but they noticed nothing, and no one raised a cry. The sound of the river must have muffled the noise.”
“The guards were that lax in their duties?” Eskkar couldn’t believe it.
“They never saw you at all?”
“No. We made certain the current took all the boats downstream.
Then, with our men again clinging to the sides of their boats, we followed, making sure none of the boats had grounded. A mile downriver, we found our men and horses waiting, and rode back.”
“Well done, Sisuthros! You’re sure you cut all the boats loose?”
“Every one. We gave the river gods many offerings, for whatever gods and fortunate farmers live downstream!”
Everyone laughed. Sisuthros had to repeat his story in more detail, his men adding their own actions. By the time he finished, the torches had gone out, and the sun climbed above the horizon in the eastern sky.
Eskkar, a smile on his face for the first time in many hours, ordered the men to get some food and rest, while he sat atop the rampart and watched the village.
So far, the plan that he had fi rst sketched out in his mind back in Dilgarth continued to progress smoothly. When he’d learned the size of Ninazu’s force, he had known that, even though he could probably take the village by direct assault, he would lose far too many men in the process.
No, he knew he needed to capture Bisitun quickly, and with a minimum of casualties to his valuable men. Besides, he needed the village and its inhabitants as intact as possible. Now, in less than two days and thanks to Sisuthros’s well-executed raid, Eskkar had bottled Ninazu’s men in the village.
Now the next part of the plan would begin. Ninazu and his men would have plenty to worry about. They’d
