The Grand Crusade (44 page)

The Aurolani did try to strike back. They set up ambushes on the roads and within the forests, but Alexia was able to deploy the Alcidese Mountain Rangers, Zyean Free Swords, and Nybali Longsteps against these. Unseen in the woods a war of small units raged, with squads tangling as battalions on both sides moved through the tree-strewn gloom, hunting and killing the enemy wherever they stood.

Almost a week after the first battle, when combat had been thrice offered and declined, both forces moved to within the shadow of Fronosa. The tusklike mountains thrust up through the landscape, save for one gap where one of the teeth clearly had been knocked loose in some ancient combat. Nestled beneath the tooth to the north, the fortress of Fronosa commanded the road running around its base, then down through switchbacks to the plains of Muroso. Though the fortress itself was not large, the steep slope upon which it rested

made bringing siege machinery against it all but impossible. Conversely, though the weaponry in Fronosa was small, it could do devastating amounts of damage to forces trying to work up the slope, especially from the Murosan side.

Alexia stepped up her harassment and brought her foot soldiers up quickly. The fortress could never house all the Aurolani troops, but the reach of their siege engines could supply a nice umbrella beneath which the Aurolani troops could take cover. Tythsai, though undead, was not wholly stupid. She reinforced the rear guard, then withdrew the remains of her army to Fronosa’s shadow.

Alexia faced little more than a regiment of troops astride the road. At its center stood three battalions of heavy infantry made up mostly of gibberers, with a few hoargoun andkryalnirito stiffen them. The frost giants wielded prodigious clubs which, in most cases, were little more than uprooted trees. A few had taken to using spikes to affix bits and pieces of armor and shields, both making the weapons more deadly and showing contempt for the human warriors from whom the items had been stripped.

On each wing, slightly behind the infantry, a light cavalry battalion waited. Their job would be to attack from the edges when whatever assault Alyx sent at the heavy infantry got bogged down. The force guarding the road would be crushed—of that there was no doubt on either side. If Alyx went after them hard and fast, her cavalry would suffer losses. If she waited to mass more troops, the Aurolani army could fully shelter in Fronosa.

Alyx had her signalman blow an alert, which brought all of her cavalry forward. She massed her heavy cavalry in front, with the two battalions of the Saporician Crown Lancers getting the honor of first contact. Next up were the Alcidese Iron Horse’s two battalions, then the single Mask Battalion made up of Murosan and Oriosan volunteers. Her light cavalry was arrayed on each wing, in position to counterattack the Aurolani light cavalry.

Signals to troops were drummed out from the Aurolani force and the foot soldiers set themselves for the southern charge. The formation bristled with spears that were leveled, with butts planted in the ground in hopes of impaling horses. Soldiers raised shields and hunkered down. The hoargoun began to swing their clubs in circles, moving ever more swiftly. One blow could lift a horse and rider from the ground, armor and all, and neither would fight again.

She looked at her signalman. “Blow the attack for plan two, please.” The man nodded, then raised a bugle to his lips. Staccato notes blasted out. The Saporician lancers began trotting forward. Their lances lowered, the pennants on them snapped, then they moved into a gallop. Behind them came the Alcidese Iron Horse. Hoofbeats sounded as thunder. Alyx felt the ground shaking beneath her, and the horse she sat astride snorted with impatience. She patted his neck, and whispered, “There will be more than enough war coming.”

Alexia, in studying the maps created by the Gyrkyme scouts she’d sent out, had assumed Tythsai would try to stop her at this point. She’d further assumed

that one possible arrangement would be the one that had been used. Neither the princess nor any of her advisors doubted it would be very bloody when the light cavalry attacked the flanks of her cavalry.

To respond to that threat, Alyx developed a variety of attack plans. The only flaw in what Tythsai had set up was that it required the light cavalry to have a clear corridor to attack the flanks of the southern cavalry. The clear corridors existed and, with plan two, the south exploited them before the Aurolani could.

As the Saporicians neared the Aurolani infantry, they left the road to the north, cutting around that formation, and bringing their full weight to bear on the light cavalry to the rear. Hoargoun watched in amazement as men and horses encased in steel bypassed them and slammed into the frostclaws and their riders. A few of the Aurolani cavalry did manage to lower their lances and begin to advance, but that just meant their weapons splintered first on shields, and their bodies trailed blood and feathers as they were blasted back.

To the south, the Alcidese Iron Horse cut around and hit the other light cavalry. That battalion, having seen what happened to their brethren, had set themselves and started to advance, but to no avail. The heavy cavalry thrust through them, splitting their formation before the second battalion reached their target. The resulting melee had men and gibberers spilling from saddles. Frostclaws leaped and slashed, horses reared and stomped. Swords, axes, maces, and flails finished what broken lances had started.

The Aurolani infantry had no idea what to do when the light cavalry came racing in. As they had done previously, the horse archers peppered their enemy with shots. Against such a mass, arrows were bound to find targets. As gibberers fell, so did spears or shields. Hoargoun roared in pain as arrows easily stuck them. Aurolani screamed in pain and frustration, unable to get at the tormentors who rode around in circles, loosing flight after flight of arrows.

Finally, the infantry could take no more and their formation broke. Some squads charged at the archers while others just turned to run. In their minds, they were close enough to hear drums, so safety was not that far away.

Unfortunately for them, the heavy cavalry units that had shorn away their wings now waited between them and the succor Fronosa offered. That slowed their flight, and one hoargoun bellowed orders that tightened their formation. They set themselves for the heavy cavalry charge. Once they’d withstood that, they would break and run for their own lines.

About the time they were braced for that charge, the Mask Battalion hit them from their new rear. The masked warriors, many of whom knew that these very troops had despoiled their nation, plunged headlong into the Aurolani formation. Spears flew, lances bowed and cracked, swords dented helms and clove skulls. Aurolani combatants spun away, bones broken or limbs hacked away. Blood pulsed as animals screamed. Riders slashed mercilessly at those who would pull them from the saddle. Spells exploded, wreathing some riders in fire,

then bloodiedkryalniriwould fall into the mud churned up with their own vital fluids.

A few of the Aurolani cavalry survived and fled across the plain to their own lines. One of the hoargoun tried to do the same thing, but the cavalry quickly made sport of a creature they had feared. Lancers thrust repeatedly at his heels, though it was one of the Iron Horse who used an ax to sever one heel tendon. The giant fell heavily, but before he could get up, more lancers thrust spears through his legs. As he reached out to drag himself along, another stabbed a spear down through his hand, pinning it to the ground. As he tore at that spear, more pierced his body and more, until his labored breathing could do nothing more than raise a cloud of dust. Blood bubbled from dozens of chest wounds and flowed freely from countless other cuts, then the hoargoun roared one last time, weakly, and died.

The signalman blew for the cavalry to regroup, which they did, well past the point of Aurolani defense. Barely a thousand yards separated Alexia’s forces from those of the enemy, but the last two hundred of those yards would be within range of Fronosa’s trebuchets and catapults. Regardless, Alexia rode forward, and behind her came the rest of her army.

The Aurolani took up defensive positions. A rubble field to the north had so many rocks scattered around it and so much talus over it that horses could not function there. Mounting an assault on that position would call for infantry and it would be very slow going. Tythsai stationed her two battalions of draconetteers there. They could rake the flanks of Alyx’s forces, or just kill any infantry sent to root them out.

The rest of the army spread out with the remaining heavy infantry in the center, and the light deployed to each side. Tythsai kept her cavalry all the way over to the east. They anchored her flank, but had direct access to the road so they could charge as needed. Because of the way the land dropped off to the east, Alexia couldn’t flank them. The cavalry had dismounted and were digging small trenches, as were all the troops, making the hill yet more difficult to take.

The only choice for the southern force was a frontal assault. A frontal assault that would take them uphill against an enemy in good defensive positions, and the whole time they would be subjected to shots from Fronosa. Alyx’s assault would be suicidal, and could cripple her army. If enough damage was done, she might not be able to push into Muroso.

As if to reinforce how dangerous the assault would be, a ballista let fly from within Fronosa. A spear trailing a red banner arced high into the air, then came down and stabbed into the earth. It quivered there, a graphic demonstration of exactly how far Alexia’s troops would have to march beneath its range. The wind teased the pennant and a great, defiant cry arose from the Aurolani ranks.

Alexia brought her troops along at a brisk march and signalmen got them arrayed in the proper order. Once they were spread out over a broad front, she

nodded to the signalman, and he blew a general advance. Slowly, at an easy walk, the infantry advanced: heavy in the center, light on the wings, with her own cavalry positioned to counter the Aurolani cavalry. Inside a minute the southerners reached the spear. They never even paused.

The catapults, trebuchets, and ballistae in Fronosa began to operate in earnest. The larger machines sent heavy stones, iron balls, or, in a few cases, smoking crocks containing flammable oil high into the sky. The ballistae shot either spears like the one before, or sheaves of arrows with lead weights right behind the heads. As they sped to earth, the weight would encourage the arrow’s head to pierce armor.

The employment of the siege engines was a disaster. The stones fell amid troops, crushing them. A stone might smash one helmet, then bounce away, its energy only partially spent, to smash into someone else’s face or leg. Spears transfixed warriors, and arrows drilled through them. When the firecrocks hit the hard ground, their cargo ignited immediately. Soldiers became living torches, screaming until they breathed in enough fire to close their throats.

Alexia watched it all and felt nothing. Not so her troops. Despite their discipline, they could not ignore what was happening. Unbidden, they raised their voice in a war cry. Not one of defiance or pity, but of amazement. Flight after flight of stones, arrows, spears, and fire arced up and fell quickly. It fell short of the advancing southern formation and instead sowed death and misery amid the Aurolani troops.

With a nod, Alyx instructed her signalman to blow a “hold advance,” which he did. Up and down her line the call was repeated. Her troops stopped moving forward, while cheering all the more loudly as fire exploded among the Aurolani. Arrows cut down whole companies. The missiles from within the fortress concentrated on the heavy infantry and one heavy rock rolled down the slope, crushing those who were too slow or unlucky to get out of the way.

With another order call, Alyx’s cavalry withdrew from their position threatening the road. Aurolani drums spoke and Tythsai’s troops began to withdraw down the trail. She left her cavalry to screen her force, but it was never in jeopardy from anyone on her side of the battlefield. The missiles flew from Fronosa until the people inside the fortress had nothing more to shoot.

By late afternoon, the Aurolani forces had withdrawn and the lead elements could be seen on the Zamsina road. Various reports flowed in, estimating the Aurolani losses at well over two thousand—almost a third of the force Tythsai had started the campaign with. While Alexia could have pressed the attack, letting Tythsai slip away was still a part of her strategy. The Aurolani had been made to quit Saporicia and, as far as she was concerned, that was enough for one day.

As that thought occurred to her, she smiled. Actually, it wasn’t enough, and would only be a minor part of her day.

Up on the battlements of Fronosa she saw Crow and decided her day had really just begun.

She lay on Crow’s chest, licking sweat from his throat, with his arms strong around her. She squeezed his thighs with her calves, then kissed him. “So, lover, you enjoy it when a plan of mine works?”

Crow coughed lightly, then nodded. He followed that quickly with a smile. “Oh, you mean the taking of Fronosa. Yes, my dear.”

She gave his ribs a quick slap, more noise than sting. “What else did you think I was referring to? No, don’t answer that.” She kissed him again as his upthrust hips settled back into the mattress. “I had hoped it would work.”

“Perfectly, lover.” Crow reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We harassed a number of supply trains, stealing everything we could. Then, as per your plan, we camped here on the plains so they could see us, along with our now long loot-string of wagons. A Gyrkyme landed, we brought everyone together, slew the draft animals, and made a halfhearted attempt to burn the wagons before we rode away to the east. As you expected, they sent scouts in our wake to see if we were truly gone. They waited for as long as they felt they could, then the garrison poured out and across the plain to loot our wagons.

“We’d headed east, but cut back around to the south and were in a perfect position to hit them as they were in a frenzy of looting. I used the Vilwanese warmages to ride to the fortress and make sure it remained open, but thekryalniricommander who was in charge was one of the first to die when we attacked the looters. Interrogation of a few survivors gave us what we needed to respond to signals when Tythsai brought her troops up, though you gave her no real time to suspect anything was amiss.”