Valour and Victory (28 page)

This is what
hell must be like.

The Fourteenth
Ryzck began to fall back, so hard pressed were they by the sheer
numbers and weight of the Larg.

“First Ryzck.
ADVANCE,” Niaill heard himself yell and he and Taraya leapt forward
into the mêlée.

For the
remainder of the day the four centre divisions met charge after
charge. Casualties were high. The kohorts broke through again and
again but each time the second and third and even the more
inexperienced fourth lines moved forward to force them back.

When there was
a lull, Niaill pulled back the Ryzcks at the front, replacing them
with fresher ones from the back, conserving their strength.

The medics of
the Holad smeared Smaha ointment on the wounds before wrapping
bandages round them. Those with the severest injuries were dragged
to the rear where teamsters and their carts were waiting to convey
them to the casualty stations.

All was blood
and death underpaw and underfoot. Niall tried not to look down at
the bodies. He was hoarse with shouting. His mouth was parched and
his lips were cracking.

He had no idea
what was happening elsewhere along the ridge. His world was his
section, his command, his world of pain and death.

It was only
when dusk began to fall that the Larg charges began to dissipate as
kohort after kohort retreated down the ridge slope to lick their
wounds and await the dawn.

Niaill and
Taraya were exhausted. He insisted Taraya take a rest whilst he
organised the survivors and counted up the casualties then he woke
Taraya to make his report (the communications pair had been killed
during the last charge but one).

Julia sent them
some reinforcements, the Fourth and Forty-ninth Ryzcks and a
battalion of Militia. Only after Niaill had sent a detachment of
them up to the ridge to relieve what remained of the Fourteenth
Ryzck and the South Vadath Militia did Niaill lie down beside
Taraya and close his eyes.

* * * * *

The Lindar

Susyc Julia had
sent Lindar Hanei to the first division on the right wing,
commanded by Duke William Duchesne.

During the run
up to the battle the Lind had made themselves very popular among
the levies by their behaviour and demeanour. During the first days
they had been a spectacle of interest, coupled with a certain
amount of awed distrust but by now the majority of the southern
troops accepted those of the Lindar.

Language was a
difficulty but Charles and Wlya, the senior cadet duo allocated to
the Duke as liaison and communications pivot did sterling work as
translators.

Two of the
southerners had even bond-paired with two females of the second
ryz. This type of battle pairing was not unusual but it had only
added to Charles and Wlya’s problems. Charles had sighed when the
two ecstatic yet confused men had reported to him and Wlya.
Eventually he had sent them to the command area to report to
Weaponsecond Fastia and her Lind Xlei who thus found themselves in
command of a motley crew of tyros (the two from the Duchesne levies
had not been the only ones). Weaponsmaster Jilmis put them in
charge of a section of the defence of the reserve lines thus
relieving himself and Julia of another worry.

During the
first day of the battle both wings of the army had emerged
relatively unscathed. Lindar Hanei had not seen any action. Susa
Sadei knew however that day two would prove to be a different
kettle of pilli.

“They will try
to flank us,” he announced to Hanei who commanded the second ryz.
“The Susyc knows this too and has warned us to expect many kohorts.
Lindar Ilyei are being sent to us. I have told Wlya to inform Duke
William that I am moving our Lindar forward to behind his foot
soldiers so that when the Larg break through we can stop them. The
Susa of Danei is doing the same.”

“When, not
if?”

“When. The
slope up which they will attack is not as steep here and the foot
soldiers of Duke William are not Garda infantry, not even Militia.
Each part is used to fighting on its own and the shield-wall is not
a wall. Their shields are the wrong shape and are of different
sizes.”

Sadei, Susa of
Lindar Hanei, knew all about the shield-walls of the northern
infantry. During her years as Susa of the Vada Julia and Alyei had,
every summer, invited the Susas and the ryz commanders of the
Lindars to Vada where she had demonstrated what the infantry did to
defend themselves against the Larg. One of the home pack Lindars
would usually play the part of the Larg.

Sadei had left
Vada with a firm conviction that these troops could hold off any
but the most determined Larg onslaught. With Lindars in support he
knew that the northern infantry would not break. He was not so sure
that the southern levies could do likewise.

“I have asked
Wlya to ask Duke William to order forward the battalion of Militia
he has in reserve, it would strengthen the line but I have few
hopes that he will. Ah …”

Sadei’s eyes
took on the unfocused look that told Hanei that he was conversing
telepathically. A long moment passed then another and Hanei waited
for what Sadei would tell him.

Sadei blinked.
“Now that is interesting. Duncin and Stasya, Duncin especially,
appear to be aware of our problem. He has informed the Susyc of our
concerns as well as his own. They will try to send over more
reinforcements. Duncin has also sent Rilla and Zawlei running to
warn the Susa in charge of the ...”

“Cavalry?”
Hanei supplied the word.

Sadei nodded
his thanks, “… to be ready in case the Larg come through. He has
also told the ltscta ryz in the lian to come to our aid if they
must.”

“Did Duncin try
to speak to Duke William?”

“He did but he
did not listen. He told Duncin that his men had fought the Larg
before and knew what to do. When Duncin pointed out that these were
raiding parties and not kohorts Duke William dismissed him. Duncin
says that he has difficulties taking advice and orders. He says
that Alun and Radya on the left wing are experiencing similar
difficulties with their Duke though at least he listens but does
not always act on the advice.”

Hanei turned
his head. His keen ears had heard the clanking noise that meant
that the boys allocated to the Lindars by Duke William were
approaching with pails of water to fill the water butts. The second
day of battle was likely to be even hotter than the first and even
if it took them all night the boys had instructions to fill the
butts right up to their rims.

Hanei also knew
that food wood be arriving soon, meat to feed the hungry Lind, to
give them the energy needed to endure a day’s battle on the morrow.
The bleats of the frightened sheep as they were driven towards the
ridge could be heard over the sounds of the other parts of the army
preparing a meal on their own account.

Each Lind would
kill and eat a sheep.

The Lind killed
only to eat and performed the act quickly to minimise the distress
to the creature they had selected. Volat, they called the wanton
and needless slaying of any creature. The Larg committed volat and
committed this sin with prolonged and vicarious enjoyment.

Sadei’s stomach
began to rumble, he was very hungry.

* * * * *

Tala and
Danal

“This is the
place,” announced Grainne, jumping down from Inalei’s back. She
pointed. “Look, isn’t that the thing you called the driller?”

Tala, Danal,
Asya and Inalei looked to where she was pointing.

“The power-core
can’t be far away,” said Tala, dismounting to stretch her legs.

“Peter Howard
didn’t abandon it at the dig site,” Danal reminded her.

“But it must be
close,” she insisted, gazing around.

“I think we are
reasonably close,” he agreed, taking the map out. “I took bearings
where the sun rose and we are on the same longitudinal line as the
gridref, but it’s impossible to say how accurate my map reading
is.”

“So what do we
do, dig up the entire area? She sat down, suddenly, on the
ground.

“We need to be
perhaps another seven to eight miles further south,” said Danal at
last.

“That’s round
about where Padrig said the old camp traces were found,” agreed
Grainne pulling Tala to her feet. She was remarkably strong and
wiry for her size. “Come on Tala, let’s walk for a bit.”

Tala groaned
but allowed herself to be persuaded.

The five began
to head in a southerly direction again.

* * * * *

A day had
passed since they had passed the site of the rusting
ore-driller.

“Peter Howard’s
journal stated that they ditched it around a half day’s travel from
the burying site, not a day,” said Tala.”

“He did not
leave a maker saying ‘the core is here’ but they would have left
some trace. They stayed at the gridref over a day. The journal says
that they pitched a tent and,” he added, “they left tools behind.
He also told of how some of the drill bits broke and had to be
replaced. They were in a hurry. My guess is that they wouldn’t have
bothered tidying up. Why should they? They would believe the sand
would cover up any traces and remember, we’ve to look out for a
rocky outcrop.”

“The traces
Padrig found,” agreed Grainne.

Tala stopped in
her tracks, “of course,” she cried out and the other four stopped
and looked at her, “dunderhead that I am. The ore driller, the
rock, don’t you see?”

Grainne didn’t,
nor did the Lind but Danal began to understand.

“Clever girl,”
he complimented her affectionately, “the driller. They needed a
drill to bore down
into
the rock, Peter Howard wrote about
how drill bits broke and had to be replaced but we didn’t see it.
The power-core isn’t buried in the sand; they drilled a hole in the
rock, popped the core in and then filled it in. We won’t need to
dig up large areas of sand to find it, all we have to do is to find
the hole in the rock and extract it!”

“Depends how
deep it is,” said the practical Tala, all journeywoman technician.
“If the hole is too deep we might not be able to reach it, we
brought picks and shovels, not hooks! It might take us months to
make the hole deep and wide enough to get to the power-core.”

“But we can’t
just give up,” insisted Grainne. “I’ll help with the digging, we
can do it.”

“If I’m right
it’ll be excavating, not digging,” said Tala, “back-breaking work,
lifting heavy stones and rock.”

Grainne
shrugged.

It was the keen
eyed Inalei who spotted the rock. It wasn’t a big one but there was
no way of knowing just how much rock lay under the surrounding
sand. There was also no way of knowing if it was the right rock
although Danal said that according to his reading of the map they
must be in the right place.

“The rock
does
go out a way,” announced Grainne, stamping around
it.

“Start clearing
away the sand,” ordered Tala. “Look for flat surfaces where the
driller might have been put to do the drilling. It would have
needed somewhere flat. No point looking over there where the rock
is all jaggy. There might still be traces of where the drill-legs
were placed. They would have left marks but of course they’ll
likely be eroded away now.”

Her voice broke
off as she stumbled and fell flat on her face.

“Tala?” Danal
called over with concern.

“Fine thanks,”
she answered in a cross voice, “fell over a rock.”

“That’s not a
rock, it’s a
thing
,” said Grainne, running over and looking
at it.

Tala knelt down
and began scraping the sand away. “Crikey, it’s metal!”

Grainne knelt
down beside her, “its one of the metal swirls Padrig told us about.
It’s all broken at this end.”

“It’s a broken
segment of one of the drill core bits,” announced Tala after some
thought. “The rock must have been very hard to have done that. The
metal’s strong, its hardly rusted at all after all these years.
Course, there’s not a lot of rain here.”

“That’s bad
news is it not?” asked Danal, “what good will hand-held picks be if
they just bounce off?”

“I wonder how
many broken segments there are?” asked Tala, looking around. “If
the bits kept breaking, don’t you see?”

“No,” said
Danal and Grainne together.

“If the drill
kept breaking then the power-core might not be buried as deep down
as we thought and from the shape of this segment, I’m not promising
anything mind, but it is possible that the hole they dug was
conical in shape with the narrow bit at the bottom.”

“And I’m
actually sitting on another bit,” said Grainne excitedly, “and I
think there’s another over there.”

“And Asya
thinks she has found the hole they dug,” cried Danal running over
to where she was standing over a flat bit of exposed rock. Right in
the middle of it was a clearly discernable round hole, filled with
boulders and sand. He stood looking at it for a moment before his
face broke into a triumphant smile.

“This is it,”
he called over and the others ran over to look.

“What now?”
asked Grainne.

“We evacuate,”
Danal said, “Tala and I will start it off. Grainne, you go and set
up camp. Use the lee side of the outcrop and hide it well. We don’t
want to be seen either from the ground or the air.”

“I know how to
set up a camp,” Grainne replied crossly and she stalked of with a
flounce.

“Feisty young
lady, isn’t she?” Danal observed to Tala. The two watched as she
began to drag the packs and the harnesses to the other side of the
outcrop.

“She is,”
smiled Tala, bending over and picking up her first piece of
rock.