Dream of Legends (52 page)

A host of archers were drawn up behind the broad, frontline elements, armed with the angular, composite bows that were very popular with the Andamoorans. Protected by little more than small, leather round shields, wearing a type of cotton quilted armor, and bearing only long, single-edged daggers for close-quarters combat, the archers were dependent upon the other infantry to keep enemy fighters from reaching them.

A modest force of crossbowmen, whose primary weapon was a simple manner of crossbow, one that was both unique in form and common to Andamoor, accompanied the archers, mixed amongst them in small units. They were more properly outfitted to fight as infantry if the need arose, equipped with mail and shield, and bearing swords at their sides. Rudimentary white turban-cloths were wound around their heads.

A great number of lightly-equipped men massed close behind the archers and crossbowmen, filling up a good portion of the greater square formation. Very few had any type of body armor, and only a very small fraction of their number even carried shields. Armed with a mixed assortment of weapons, some crude, others of low quality, and only a few of a good make, they were the least equipped element among the Andamooran ranks; the religious, zealous volunteers that had chosen to serve in the armies of Andamoor.

Though from markedly more humble origins than most others within the broader force, they were filled with a fiery motivation, fueled by their deep faith in the Prophet’s Revelations. What they lacked in arms and armor they compensated for in fierce determination. For them, this was not a war of worldly affairs, but rather a holy war.

The very center of the massive square was filled with a great multitude of cavalry, also divided into separate units represented individually by their own unique banners.

Some were heavily armed warriors, whose family legacies connected directly to the former, more opulent rulers of Andamoor, before fragmentation and disunion had invited waves of fundamentalist warriors across the northern seas, to roll back the threats of the southern Eberian kingdoms that embraced the faith of the Western Church. With white turbans wound around their iron helms, and mail hauberks covered in a type of quilted, padded armor, they gripped tall lances made of hard wood, evidencing the manner of heavy, shock tactics that they were well capable of fighting with. Many lances held aloft battle flags and banners that were intricately inscribed with their bright golden weaves, often complimenting the sacred inscriptions worn on colored bands visible on the riders’ upper arms.

In these cavalrymen’s appearances were the echoes of the lavishness woven into their palaces, rich gardens, and grand centers of worship across the former Eberian territory now firmly ruled by Andamoor. Even their horses exhibited a magnificently attired harness, complete with numerous, shining bronze buckles and medallions strung along its length.

Other cavalry were attired very similarly to the veiled spearmen, wearing the litham veil-turbans, and carrying hide shields and bamboo lances, to go along with their straight swords and tapering daggers. Some of these wore a type of armor constructed of sheets of felt, with colored sashes wound around their waists, with others clad in simple, blanket-like garments, wrapped around their long tunics and cotton trousers.

A third throng of cavalry bore elongated lances with hafts of bamboo, as well as long maces and swords. Quilted, padded armor, or jubbahs, protected their bodies, and a similar fashion of soft armor was used on their horses as well. They wore their turbans in a different fashion from the fundamentalist elite, with a length of cloth hanging down in front.

The main cavalry forces were rounded out by a fourth group, a few hundred in number, who were singularly unusual amongst all of the rest. Their mounts were a very sturdy breed of steppe pony, creatures imbued with considerable stamina, as well as a particularly advantageous ability to endure periods of minimal sustenance that would rapidly debilitate larger breeds of warhorses. The stalwart horses’ tails were tied in knots, with a leather collar ornamented with pierced bronze medallions, from which dangled a horsehair neck tassel in a bronze holder.

The warriors astride the ponies carried smoothly recurved composite bows, kept in bowcases hanging off their belts at their side. They also bore maces, single-edged sabers, and small round shields that hung from long guige straps about the neck. The riders were positioned farther forward on their mounts than most cavalrymen, utilizing shorter stirrups to situate themselves at the horse’s shoulders, as opposed to the backs of the animals.

Simple iron helms were hidden beneath silk and felt coverings, with an upturned leather plate at the front, and the brim lined with fur. The riders’ hair hung long down their backs in braided fashions. They wore cuirasses of a lamellar construct that was, in turn, laced into a jacket of felt placed over their colored tunics, and had high, soft leather boots encasing their lower legs and feet.

Riding upon camels and mules, in a condensed disposition near the center and rear of the broad ranks, were a large corps of drummers. The drums themselves were made of stretched hide, spanning various sizes of green and gold cases. The smaller drums were double-ended, sitting horizontal in front of the mounted drummers in such a manner that they could strike them at each end.

Others were enormous constructs, several yards in circumference, which resounded with deep, resonant booms upon being hit. The drummers were dark-skinned men, whose facial features were hidden behind the wrappings of their litham veil-turbans. They kept a tight formation, executing a deep, rhythmic cadence, as the huge ranks of the Andamoorans steadily marched across the plain and toward the field of battle.

Close to the rear of the Andamooran ranks was Abu Yaqub Battuta himself, the exalted, powerful Emir of Andamoor. He was second only in influence to the Great Emir of the Faithful, Yusuf Ibn Tumart, and rode upon a magnificent white stallion. His standard, a particularly ornate, red banner, carried high next to him by a dedicated bearer.

His elite bodyguard, a force that was five hundred strong, and which carried a most fearsome reputation, surrounded him. These ebony-skinned warriors from the Sunlands wore sleeveless padded armor over their mail, sittiing astride exquisite mounts.

Strangest of all to Saxan eyes that day were the mounts of a huge number of warriors, many of the litham-wearing variety, who came to fight not as cavalry, but as infantry. Held in reserve, the warriors sat upon the hump-backed forms of camels, animals utterly foreign to the Saxans, and quite bizarre to their eyes.

As the Saxan defenders looked on, several openings suddenly formed in the wall of spearmen, at the forefront of the square Andamooran formation.

The singular group of horsemen riding the steppe ponies, bearing the curved, composite bows, emerged into the open before the massive Andamooran force. Their mounts moved with a grace that evidenced considerable swiftness and dexterity, breaking into a fluid stream that surged towards the Saxan lines along their right flank.

“The bells of your churches will be the lamps that light our temples!” cried a fierce-looking horse archer, riding at the lead of the forward-most element of the galloping horsemen.

Though the Saxans could not understand the horseman’s foreign tongue, the threat was far from being an undocumented, unknown practice on the part of the Andamoorans. Many who had fought in the long wars between the followers of the Prophet and the followers of Emmanu in Eberia had experienced it fully, in the ebb and flow of churches and temples caught amidst the fierce struggles of that contested land. Church bells that once tolled for the faithful of Emmanu had often ended up as war mementos, converted into lamps in the Temples of the Prophet, which were themselves often constructed right on the sites of the conquered churches.

Nonetheless, the Saxan warriors could recognize the words as being a taunting boast. The mocking horseman, and those following him, remained just out of Saxan bowshot, though some of the angrier men of the levy just behind the shield wall loosed some futile arrows at the haughty leader, before enduring the stern reprimands of nearby thanes or ceorls.

Those Saxans familiar with horses marveled at the unison of motion that seemed to blend rider and steed, as the small force of enemy horse-archers streamed down the length of their lines. The horse-archers readied their bows as they reached the area that marked the end of the front line of Andamooran spearmen. They curled about in a tight arc, and returned back down the Saxan lines.

On the second pass, they notched their arrows, drawing the bowstrings with well-practiced smoothness, and then letting them fly from the saddles of their racing steeds.

With the arrows flying towards the Saxans, the battle on the Plains of Athelney was underway.

*

The Ehrengardians

*

A land of legend, mist, and mountain, rich in ancient forests, and graced with majestic, castle-studded rivers, Ehrengard was the heart of the Sacred Empire.

Called upon by the authority of the Sacred Emperor, the heralded land had poured forth its might in the service of the Unifier, forging it into the massive right flank of the three principle formations facing the Saxan defenders.

A fiery people, whose hardiness echoed the rock of the great mountains that rose proudly within their lands, their storied heritage went far before them onto any battlefield in Ave.

At their roots, they were a people that had tamed a dangerous wilderness. As older tribes had grown into kingdoms, they had demonstrated a courage and resilience that few lands could rival. As the Sacred Empire coalesced, and stability broadened, an aptitude had been shown for trade, learning, politics, and spiritual matters.

A burgeoning populace, thriving within prosperous trade leagues and urban communes, continually expanded the successes and influence of the Sacred Empire.

The prosperity also translated into force of arms. The lords of Ehrengard, its margraves, counts, dukes, abbots, and bishops, commanded knightly retinues significantly more numerous in scale than those of Gallea, or even Norengal.

The Sacred Empire spanned a great number of territories, including a number of powerful duchies, the kingdom of Boehman, a number of cities in the north of Lombar, and even the Kingdom of Paleria. The Sacred Empire had long possessed a formidable level of power, one that had often unnerved the Great Vicars in Liantenum.

Yet even in spite of the enormous strength available in the Sacred Empire, the mustering of a great military force was not always a certainty in the course of any war. The dukes and lords of Ehrengard often held to their own designs over that of the emperor.

Serving as Electors for new emperors, they tended to assert themselves much more independently than did the lords of other kingdoms. The climate was constantly changing in the Sacred Empire’s power centers, as the authority of the emperor versus that of the various princes and dukes shifted back and forth.

A few Sacred Emperors had enjoyed a near unity of authority, while others struggled to the point of outright civil wars to maintain a semblance of preeminence. As such, Ehrengard had never reached the kind of power that a contiguous unity might have brought to it, perhaps even reaching a level that could have rivaled Avanor itself.

The banners of Duke Manfred of Sachia, displaying two blue axe heads facing outward on a red background, and the ensigns of the powerful Archbishop Rainald of Maizen, were quickly recognized by several of the Saxan leaders on the opposing side of the battlefield. The sight dashed any slim hopes that some Saxans still held concerning the ebb and flow of intentions, loyalties, and acquiescence of the tumultuous Ehrengardian nobility with respect to the emperor.

Manfred’s family line, the Uelf, had long fostered coalitions that frustrated the plans of the current imperial family, the Staffes, which was now manifested in the person of the current emperor, Heinrich VIII. Archbishop Rainald himself, in his younger days, had lent great ecclesiastical authority to the powers countering the emperor, nearly having toppled the Staffes line in the process.

Ominously for the Saxans, their proudly waving banners and ensigns were now seen within the same host that included the presence of powers more traditionally loyal to the Staffes line. These included the Duke of Schueva, the Margrave of Holsheim, the Duke of Thurgian, the Bishop Thangbrand of Augenberg, and the King of Boehm.

Seen all together, the sight sent an unmistakable, daunting message to the Saxans who were more astute about Ehrengard’s power structures. The enormous force represented an Ehrengard that was standing in full strength behind Heinrich VIII, whose designs toward Saxany were now conjoined to those of the Unifier.

The center and left portions of Ehrengard’s host were teeming with several thousand spearmen, mixed in with several contingents of archers and crossbowmen. Equipped simply, with just conical helms and long shields, their short cloaks billowed and whipped about, caught in the morning’s alternating breezes and gusts as they tramped solidly towards the Saxan lines.