Artession told me he had never seen so many warriors before he arrived at camp the other night. He was overcome with excitement at the thought of the huge battles we were about to face. Even if he died, he said, it would all have been worth it.
We made camp when the city was on the horizon. His men had carried tents and other supplies of their own for the occasion, as did the men in my entourage. I was hesitant to get closer to town, knowing Hecuba would not be pleased that we were bringing the fight back to them, though I was sure she expected it to happen. There was only so much we could have done to prevent it, after all.
“What do you think, Artession?” I asked. “Should we start setting up posts for ambush from here?”
He thought that would be wise, but added additional suggestions. He explained it would be best to make our current camp a decoy, having it also serve as a main point of ambush. The rest of us, Hektor’s men included, would wait closer to the wall to pick off any remaining forces that made it through.
“That risks the lives of all the warriors who participate in the sneak attacks,” I argued. “I promise you, there will be far too many enemy troops marching together for our guys to pick at them in disjointed bands.”
Artession did not think so. He said his men knew not to stay and fight for those encounters. When the enemy approached, they would jump out, fire off a few rounds of ranged attacks, and then scatter in all directions, regrouping not too far away so that they could sneak up and do it again when they saw the chance. They would have smaller secondary bands providing cover fire while the main groups retreated. He said it would be as if the Greeks were charging through an ant hill.
“If you’re sure your men can coordinate that, then let’s do it,” I agreed. “What of Alexzander’s men, when they return from the Greek camp?”
The Chief said they could help us clear those that made it through to the flat fields before they reached the high ground of the city.
I wanted to be optimistic. Everything had worked out very well for us so far, but I had to look at our forces and compare them with the numbers I had on the enemy troops. Alexzander had half our army half a day’s worth of traveling away from town. I could see Hektor near the wall with his troops at that moment. If his brother came back, we would definitely have a fighting chance, but without him, I felt like the outcome was up in the air. As things currently stood, we would be sorely overpowered with at least four enemies for every ally troop.
Helen and I went to the gate to explain the plan to Hektor and the wall guards while the tribesmen prepared.
“This is a plan which sounds as if it would work, but in reality, it will be squashed before the tribe can even pull back their bowstrings. There are simply too many enemy troops for his plan to be effective with such small numbers,” Hektor argued. “If he wants to throw away the lives of him and his people, that is his decision. Just know that I will not support it on principle. That is not to say I will not do battle down there in the field as you wish, as that was my plan anyway.”
“And that’s all we need you to do. Just stop the ones that make it through from climbing the rest of the way to the wall. Hopefully your brother will be here in time to assist you. We suggest half your archers stay below with us at the base of the wall and the other half go up top to assist the guards.”
“I cannot abide by that. I will need archers in the field, otherwise we stand no chance at all. You may have one fourth of them at your side atop the hill here, but the rest will be with me below. That leaves me with a hair more than 600 men to fend off . . . how many? Over 4000?”
“True, but there are 300 others standing between you and them. Hopefully they can make a dent, and let’s pray your brother returns in time.”
“Three hundred bags of fodder,” Hektor grumbled. “We could put them to much better use if that beast man was willing to listen to reason. He does not understand warfare at this scale.”
“It may be true that he’s inexperienced in this area, but he has made a life out of battle. I trust his judgement.”
The more I considered the numbers, the more my doubts grew. I was really banking on Alexzander to make a timely appearance, and I knew Hektor was, too. Artession may have been in over his head, but I was not going to share my doubts with the Prince. That would only strengthen his convictions and might lead to further complications.
I added, “Just remember that those 300 warriors are here to help us. They’re a gift. It’s 300 men we could have just as easily not had by our side. Anything they do to help benefits us more than if we were to fight without them.”
“I know this,” Hektor said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “What you say is true. I must be thankful they are here at all. From what I have seen, they are not shy about taking Greek lives, and I applaud their valor. Their ways are different than mine. I am only trying to adjust to their . . . unconventional methods.” He thought for a moment. “They have had swift success against smaller numbers of troops. Let us see what they bring to the table here, in a real battle.”
In the evening, a scout brought us news of the enemy’s approach. They would likely be on us by nightfall.
From atop the hill, I looked down over our army. Artession’s men were as prepared as they were going to get. At the far end of the fields, just on the horizon, was our decoy camp. We would see the light of its fires before long, tempting the Greeks to come near. On either side of it were stationed groups of tribesmen ready to pounce when the army came within range. The city provided oil, both to soak their arrows and to drench the enemy. I was hopeful that addition would increase our odds.
Just beyond the lure, more groups lay in wait. It was expected that the Greeks would break ranks in an attempt to pursue their attackers. Some of these parties were prepared to handle the larger chunks as they came, while others would keep low until the main force wound its way across the field. Most of these groups ranged from five men to twenty, with the two largest having as many as forty each on either side of the camp.
Closer to the city, in a flatter part of the plains which provided less cover, Hektor stood with his men, all lined up and ready for war. I saw him riding back and forth on his horse, giving them a pep talk. I could not hear him from where I stood, but every so often the crowd would erupt in cheer. His father would be proud of the troops’ morale level, I thought.
I looked to the path leading back to camp, hoping any minute to see Alexzander and his men appear on the horizon.
“I was expecting that scout to be back by now with news of Alexzander,” I said.
Helen was the only person in earshot. The archers Hektor was willing to part with were waiting for instruction further along the wall, as was the modest-but-capable entourage the King put in my charge.
“I am sure they will come,” Helen said. “Alexzander is a competent general, and it did not sound as if there were many enemies left at the camp.”
“Let’s hope so,” I said. “This battle is going to be a lot tougher without them.”
“We will crush them. I stand firm in my convictions that the Greeks are scum. They have not presented a challenge for us so far.”
“Remember what I said about underestimating your opponent, Helen.”
Night fell, and Artession joined us, assuring me that everything was in place. Any minute the enemy would be on us. I was beginning to worry that they had some other tricks up their sleeves, but then Helen saw them in the distance.
“There they are,” she called. “There are so many.” There was no hint of fear in her voice, only astonishment. “Let us see our plans play out.”
The three of us stood in a line, shoulder-to-shoulder, with me at its center. With any luck, they would not be expecting us here, still thinking we were far away at camp, unaware of their plans. I just hoped none of their scouts slipped through the cracks.
The watchers did not make a peep high above us. We had told them to not sound the alarm so that the Greeks would think they still had the element
of surprise. The city was quietly made aware of the enemy’s presence by a team of messengers who sped around and told all the necessary officials, who in turn told the people under their care.
They headed straight for the light of our little fake camp, surely thinking it was no more than a small band of soldiers keeping watch in the fields. Their congo line stopped abruptly upon reaching the tents. Surely, they were surprised to come across a dying fire with not a single soul tending to it.
Realization dawned on them seconds too late as the front of their brigade erupted in flames. I could hear the cries of the fight all the way from where I stood. They were flanked on both sides, under fire from a hailstorm of arrows, some flaming, some not. Many of them drew closer together into smaller groups to shield themselves from the onslaught. Some of these groups were answered with another generous dose of oil and hellfire. A few shields were discarded as the flames grew too hot for mortal arms to bare.
“Your men are staying too long. They should have drawn back by now,” I said to Artession.
“He says that they know what they are doing and would not take such risks if they did not think they could succeed.”
I shrugged and looked on. His men’s actions were out of my hands by that point. They were marking their mark; I could not argue with that.
The Greeks crawled forward, shields braced for impact. Several renegade squads broke off intermittently to chase their attackers, only to be shot down by the cover fire of the smaller groups. I suspected they were beginning to realize we were wise to their scheme, but this knowledge did not hinder their progress.
The two larger groups of Thirians swooped back in, one leading first and the other taking its cue from there. Each time, men from both sides fell, but it was obvious my near-naked brothers were dealing far more damage than their adversaries. I guessed they must have at least mowed down 200 enemies by the time the head of the line made it through the camp, but the sight of their forces stretching out of view off in the distance was still discouraging. We had so many more to go.
In, out. In, out. The Thirians were relentless, making their way all up and down the line, popping out and firing off arrows in places even I was surprised to see them. Their speed was unreal. Every time, enemy troops would break away from the line and charge after them, only to be slain outright by a follow up attack or to find their feet stuck in muck or to trip over one of the many gopher holes that were dug for the purpose and then be slain by a follow up attack. Artession’s men expertly whittled away at their massive numbers, but still the enemy marched on, taking a few heads where it could.
The front of the line cleared the ambush perimeter. Hektor and his men waited patiently across from them on the other side of the plain. He knew to stay put until the enemy was within range of the city’s guards, as well as the archers he had lent me.
More and more troops steadily cleared the perimeter. At first it was only a hundred, then more like five hundred, then a thousand. Hektor’s army was already outnumbered two to one with no sign of his brother in sight. The enemy drove forward.
“This will end soon, hopefully,” Helen said. “Peace needs to come to these poor people.”
I chuckled, though it was not the time for humor. “Optimism. I’ve seen you express it several times today. That’s very human of you.”
She smiled and hugged my arm.
“This war will end soon, one way or another.” I held my other arm high and shouted to the archers, “Ready!”
I saw Hektor’s men do the same in the back of his formation, while those in front readied their shields and short-range weaponry. The enemy continued to close the distance. Every few seconds, I looked over to check for signs of backup, but still there was none.
A few more paces, and the time had finally come.
“Fire!” I shouted.
Arrows broke loose from the wall, both beside and overhead, flying like their freedom depended on it. Many of them nested deep in the warm bodies of Greek soldiers. They were surprised by this, not paying any special attention to the wall among all the other chaos they had come through. Hektor took advantage of their moment of being caught off guard, and his men rammed into the line as a single unit, with the rest of his archers laying waste to a section of the army further down.
“Again!” I shouted. “Away from the fighting!” I assumed they knew not to risk shooting their own men but did not want to take anything for granted.
Again, arrows poured down from the night sky. The archers had instilled enough fear to separate a sizeable chunk at the front of the line from the rest of the troops. Many of those who were under fire broke off into smaller defensive groups as they had during the first surprise attack at the camp. This led to a lot of confusion further down the line where troops were still clearing the ambush perimeter. They obviously did not know whether to march on or cower in fear like their brethren.
Many of them had their minds made up for them, as several bands of tribesmen stepped out of their designated zones to clear the men away. It seemed that they were itching for some short-range combat. I hoped Sees-All would get his wish and have some stories to tell me when we all met up again.
Things were going as well as could be expected, but I was doubtful that we had cleaned away a quarter of the troops by that time, and they had already reached the clearing—much faster than I anticipated. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword, trying to decide when would be the best time to go down and assist.
“Again!” I shouted as I weighed my options. “Fire at will! Keep going ‘til you run out and then holler for them to drop you down some more!”
The fight waged on for another hour or so at a steady pace. I decided to hold my ground for the time, marveling at the effect Artession’s men were having on the conflict. Despite their numbers, the enemy did not know what to do as they were pummeled and battered on all sides. Our forces were surely dwindling, but the Greeks were being torn down left and right.
Finally, far off in the distance, I saw the movement I had been praying to see since before the battle began.
“That is not Alexzander,” Helen warned.
Shit. “Don’t tell me . . .”
“It is Greek reinforcements!”
I cursed our luck. We all considered the assault on the camp to be in the bag. I hoped Alexzander had survived but knew that was unlikely. The war horns blared, no longer needing to keep quiet.
There were not nearly as many reinforcements as there were troops in the first wave, but any addition to the enemy’s already overwhelming forces would have been bad news. At a rough estimate, I guessed it was somewhere between 1200 and 1500 strong. My figures were verified once the scouts on the wall compared their headcounts and yelled it down.
The horde was aimed straight for the gates, and the road they were on skirted the area we had setup for ambush. I thought it most likely they would make it to the edge of the flat plains and charge in to aid their brothers, more than doubling the number of enemies on the field at the time. We could not have had over 500 men left down there, and they were getting tired.
“Archers! Prepare to fire on the reinforcements!”
My men readied their bows and waited. The enemy behaved just as expected, and pushed for their allies across the prairie. The arrows flew loose, felling a handful of them in the process, but it was a negligible amount on the whole.
Spears held high, Artession’s men rushed over from the cover of the hills to intercept these newcomers. The Chief shouted something and ran down himself.
“He said he is going to fight with his men.”
“I figured as much.”
My head jerked right and left, trying to see everything all at once.
“Men!” I yelled, specifically trying to get the attention of my crew over that of Hektor’s archers. “Make ready to go down. We’re going to help the Thirians fend off the reinforcements.”
“But, sir—look,” one of my men said. “They seem to be retreating!”
> Indeed, they were. The two masses of Greek soldiers had closed the distance between them and were backing away toward the hills, taking advantage of the fact that the Thirians were out in the open.
They headed back to where the fake camp had been.
“The reinforcements still have camp supplies with them,” one of my men said. “Perhaps they mean to use it not far from here.”
“Possibly,” I said. “I doubt they’re giving up now. We took out a shit ton of them, but they still outnumber us fivefold.”
Several Thirians chased after the retreaters, lobbing spears and firing arrows at the stragglers. All of our men, tribesmen and Trojans, gathered in the field to discuss our next steps and setup our own camp. I was relieved to see Artession still among them.
“You fought well, my friend,” I told him.
“He says it is a shame you did not get to flex your muscles this time around.”
“There is still plenty of time left for that. Regardless of how we do it, I’m going to have some strong words with them the next time we make contact.”
It was going to be an uphill battle, but I was going to see it through or die in the process. If only Alexzander had made it through, I thought. Then, someone called out, “Look! On the horizon!”
Every head turned to see a string of figures off in the distance.
“It is Alexzander!” Helen shouted. “He has survived! It seems a number of his men have as well!”
Cheers rang out. The odds were looking a little better.
36
Alexzander returned with nearly 300 men at his side—not the best we could have hoped for, but it nearly doubled our chances. We were all eager to know what had happened with his attack. He said that the enemy left behind larger forces than we were led to believe. Our scouts’ numbers were clearly inaccurate, and even now he did not know why. He could only guess that another battalion was camped somewhere not too far off when the scouts made their initial run over. Alexzander’s men were lucky to make it back alive, but they had to flee as it was their only true option upon realizing the size of the enemy’s forces. Hektor and I welcomed him with open arms, both of us happy to see his safe return.
Gears of Troy: A Scifi Fantasy Harem Page 20