The Ragged Man

by Tom Lloyd

  The young man looked stunned by his first battle, but he’d clearly given good account of himself. His robe had been sliced open, revealing the armour underneath, and the gibbous blade of his moon-glaive was stained with blood.

  ‘Not quickly, no,’ Vesna admitted, scanning the troops ahead of them. The infantry looked ragged to his practised eye, but there was still the greater part of five legions of heavy infantry between them and the king, enough to swamp Vesna’s three thousand cavalry. ‘But that’s not our concern right now; the king will just have to stand.’

  A hunting horn rang out over the moor and the three men watched General Lahk lead a wedge of Ghosts into the centre of the advancing Chetse legion, who were lacking both the heavy armour and the spears of the Menin infantry. With any luck they would be as brutally - and speedily - dealt with as the Byoran Guardsmen. In the distance he could see a massive engagement going on at the furthest fortification: thousands of soldiers were swarming over all sides of it in what he guessed was a pincer movement. On the left the Narkang cavalry were massed, apparently waiting for the enemy to react to the Farlan shock troops before committing themselves.

  ‘Did we arrive too late?’ Vesna asked as he signalled for his legion to close on Lahk’s. The Dark Monks had already moved up, approaching the Chetse’s other flank, and they were also preparing to charge. It was too late to countermand that order, Vesna thought; they would have to let this move play out before he could strike at the rear of Styrax’s main force.

  ‘Advance at the canter,’ he called. Ahead were two stationary cavalry legions and one of Menin infantry, both close enough to come to the Chetse’s rescue, perhaps — but showing no inclination to do so. They had a massive cavalry force on their other flank, and no apparent intention of moving, or breaking their formation, any more than they already had.

  ‘That’s it, you worry about your own skins,’ Vesna said with forced cheer, causing Pettir to laugh coarsely. ‘We’ll keep you boxed in there, and cut your lord’s hamstrings while you watch.’

  ‘Can you sense Styrax?’

  Vesna pointed towards the wooden fort. ‘He’s up there, right in the thick of it all.’

  ‘He’s committed then. If you can sense him, he must know we’re back here.’

  Vesna laughed. ‘Trust me on that - I made quite sure of it. He knows he’s running out of time. Might be we can force him into something desperate.’

  Lord Styrax lashed out, feeling the blood patter onto his armour as he sliced through flesh and bone. A falling body thumped against his leg and he turned on instinct, cutting up, but catching only air. He moved into the gap, and continued to hew a path through the Narkang defenders, hearing the clatter of armour in his wake as the Cheme men surged up to support him. Over their heads he could see the minotaurs had leaped over the ditch and were battering the enemy - they’d already torn a hole in the line and the enemy were looking hard-pressed to fill it.

  More and more of his soldiers poured over the ditches, eagerly charging in the wake of the minotaurs — then a great shaking ran through the ground again. Styrax hissed his defiance and pushed on, not waiting to watch as the Narkang mage ripped another bloody great hole in the ground underneath his monstrous shock-troops. He answered with lances of darkness and flame that gouged furrows through the ground and ripped soldiers in half. The defenders were definitely buckling under the assault, unable to resist the pressure being exerted by his minotaurs and Reavers.

  The Menin white-eyes had congregated near the rear of the enemy line, not far from where Styrax himself was standing. They were fighting back to back, leaping forward to kill with axe and shield before withdrawing, howling maniacally all the while. The white-eyes moved with such speed and aggression the Narkang could barely get close enough to bring their pikes to bear. The Cheme infantry were pressing further and further forward, and Styrax cast darting spirals of slicing magic into the supporting troops. They were inching closer to the mage’s platform.

  There was a crash beside him as the soldier on Styrax’s left vanished and a heartrending scream rang out. When he turned, he saw the soldier’s body lying behind him. A ballista bolt had turned him into a bloody, shrieking mess. Captain Hain took one look and dropped his axe into the injured man’s neck, saving him a last few seconds or minutes of pain before moving to take his place. Styrax, furious, flicked his free hand towards the ballista and shouted arcane words over the clamour, and the air around it burst into flame, engulfing both engine and crew.

  The white-eye, seeing an enemy commander ahead of him, struck out, but missed as the red-helmed nobleman jumped back and out of the way. Styrax moved with breathtaking speed, kicking the man in the chest and knocking him flying, then swiftly dispatching the hurscal next to him. He fought on, his upward blow taking out the man in front of him, the downward sweep taking care of the man behind him. He stepped into the gap they left, lunged right to impale a soldier, sweeping his leg out to kick the feet from underneath another, then trampling him to his death and he moved on another foot.

  He moved so quickly that the next figure to loom into view was almost decapitated before he’d seen them; Styrax checked his blow just in time and Kobra’s fanged swordpoint glanced harmlessly off the Reaver’s cheek-guard. The smaller white-eye was shaking with bloodlust and euphoria; at Kobra’s touch the Reaver reared backwards in surprise, but wasted no time in throwing himself at Styrax. The Menin lord sidestepped the maddened Reaver and dodged his axe, twisting as the Reaver’s momentum carried him past and cracking him on the back of the head. The blow dropped the white-eye instantly, and the Cheme soldiers behind him jumped the felled man without stopping.

  Their goal was in sight.

  Seeing the defenders’ line torn open, Styrax allowed himself a moment of quiet satisfaction. A rabble of frantic soldiers stood between him and the mage’s platform, but behind him he could hear his Bloodsworn and the remaining Reavers making their presence felt. And away over the moor he could feel the Mortal-Aspect of Karkarn coming closer, the beat of his hooves echoing in Styrax’s mind. He ran forward, crackling bands of energy wrapping his sword, eager to be unleashed at the mage ahead.

  As though in response, the ground began to rumble again, faster and more urgent this time, and above him the air roiled, tinted red - by blood, or magic? Styrax couldn’t tell; the air was suffused with both. All he could see around him was frantic movement and swirling dust, the chaos of war - and he its beating heart. He screamed, and pushed them on, one last drive to the heart of the enemy’s defences, to break them before Karkarn’s Mortal-Aspect could get to them.

  Daken rolled in the blood-spattered dirt, his fingers stiff around the handle of his axe. The sky turned from pink to black as he forced himself onto his back and discovered his left arm was broken. He couldn’t feel the fingers of that hand - couldn’t see if he even still had his hand in the butcher’s mess surrounding him. His ribs felt like they were on fire, and the memory of a steel-bound shield being smashed into his side flashed across his mind. The Land was silent around him, other than a constant, dull note that rang in his ears, filling his head.

  Daken looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling high above; he felt their cool touch on his skin. The pain in his side receded as a voice drifted closer. He didn’t know the words, but the voice was girlish. Daken blinked, not comprehending, as the voice gradually drew closer, until she was whispering into his ear. He felt her fingers on his skin, and when he flinched, he felt a fresh searing pain down his ribs.

  ‘It is time,’ the girl whispered, her voice laden with breathy, seductive promise. ‘Strike now, my precious.’

  Daken felt her hands underneath him, lifting him up until his feet were underneath him once more. Shapes blurred across his vision, all meaningless, until he suddenly saw a face, one like his own, who stared at Daken in surprise, frozen in the moment of lifting his helm from his head, spilling black-red hair onto his shoulders.

  Daken felt a beast snarl in his belly
and his fingers tightened about his axe. He wrenched it forward, dragging the heavy weapon up from the ground one last time to hold it high above his head. The other white-eye let his helm fall again, and it was as if both men moved in slow motion as Daken let his axe fall, inexorably, and it slammed down high on the side of the man’s helm, and the steel crumpled like tin under the enormous force of the blow.

  Daken felt the shock of impact in his arm as the white-eye’s head snapped downward; he was dead before he hit the ground. Daken stumbled forward, his feet falling from underneath him, then the girl’s hands were under him again and he felt her pulling his body past the dead white-eye, over the bloody earth until the ground disappeared beneath his feet and he was falling into darkness . . .

  ‘Coran, go!’ the king yelled at the top of his voice, startling Doranei. The Menin in front of him tripped on a corpse underfoot and he dropped his guard to catch himself. Doranei cracked his shield into the man’s temple with such force it shattered what was left of the frame. He shook the useless pieces from his arm and looked around for Coran.

  The big white-eye had dropped from the rampart and was heading for the reserve division of Kingsguard, standing ready in the centre of the fort.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Doranei shouted, ‘where’s he going?’

  ‘Styrax has broken the line,’ the king replied, standing still for a heartbeat as he assessed the assaulting troops once more. ‘Someone must try to cut him off from his troops.’

  The fort was a scene of horror, no scrap of ground untouched by the gore of mutilated men, and the screams of the dead and dying rose and fell in fearful cacophony. Doranei grabbed a discarded shield from the ground, only to discard it again when he saw an arm still snagged in the handles. As a Chetse warrior struggled up what remained of the ripped-apart rampart wall, even that élite warrior looked drained by the effort. Doranei flicked the shield, arm still attached, at the Chetse to slow him, then stabbed the man in his face, slicing a bloody furrow through his cheek.

  A moment later Doranei felt his foot go from underneath him. He skidded on a blood-slicked log and crashed heavily on the ground. The king, seeing him fall, moved to cover him - and stepped into an arrow that caught him high in the shoulder, pitching him backwards onto the ramp to the ground.

  Doranei gave a shout of horror and forced himself upright, realising the effect such a sight would have on the defenders, but Veil had seen too, and beat him to it. The King’s Man pulled the ensorcelled axe from Emin’s unresisting grip, snapped the shaft of the arrow, and helped him over to a standard pole he could use to support his weight.

  Three Chetse, emboldened by the sight, surged over the rampart wall, but Doranei was ready and charged into them, his sword cutting a dark path through the stinking air. Two were killed cleanly; he caught the down-swing of the third Chetse’s axe on his sword and kneed him in the balls, following that up with an elbow that knocked him over, and swiftly finished him off.

  ‘Keep the king safe!’ Veil yelled as he took up position beside Doranei. Blood was flowing freely down the side of his face. ‘If he falls they’ll crumble,’ he said more quietly.

  Over the clatter and crash of battle Doranei heard a roar from the reserve Kingsguard as Coran led them out into a slaughter every bit as bad as the one they’d just left. Veil nudged him and pointed at what looked like a cavalry battle, and both men felt a sudden surge of hope: it looked like General Lopir had got around and was tearing through the light Menin cavalry.

  A gust of cool wind blew across the ramparts, and Doranei felt a few spots of rain. Strangely, the patter of water seemed to wash away his fears, and he felt a swell of elation. On his left, Suzerain Derenin, the Lord of Moorview, cleaved into a man’s neck. The nobleman was caked in blood and filth, and his arm sagged under the weight of his notched, broken-tipped sword, but from somewhere he found the strength to lift it again and meet the next attacker.

  Doranei checked his monarch was still standing, then, shouting incoherently, he threw himself back into the fray with renewed strength. He dropped to one knee to slash across a Chetse’s belly, catching him under the breastplate, and the man fell, staring down in disbelief as his guts spilled into the churned-up mud - until Veil clouted him across the face and sent him tumbling down the gouged slope.

  Behind them one of the battle-mages cast another lance of fire into the crowd of attackers, but they were exhausted and the fire barely sizzled as it hit.

  Doranei felt a fine mist of rain on the exposed parts of his face, and unbidden, a memory rose in his mind: the scent of the ocean, rolling in over Narkang’s streets, and in that moment he felt the strength of the nation behind him as King Emin’s words blossomed to life in his heart.

  One way or another, he realised, it ends now.

  Coran raced ahead of the Kingsguard, ignoring the nearest Menin as he pounded towards the heart of the Bloodsworn regiments. A flood of green and gold followed him as five hundred Narkang élite, fresh to the battle, sprinted to keep up. The few Menin trying to work their way around to the fighting on the other side were cut down in moments, and the disordered flank of the Bloodsworn disintegrated as the Narkang soldiers smashed into it.

  Coran was still ahead, battering a path through the enemy, swinging his mace about his head, letting its great weight crush armour and skulls alike. He was less encumbered than the Bloodsworn, and strong enough to fell a man with every blow, despite their heavy armour. Those few who managed to strike back at him found their swords glancing off his armour as Coran twisted and turned, never staying still, never giving them more than a glimpse of any vulnerable part of his body.

  The Kingsguard caught him up and drove like a cavalry wedge into the slower-moving knights, knocking them aside, even wrestling them to the ground to get them out of their way as Coran led the charge to the Cheme infantry. The enemy were reeling from the speed and ferocity of their assault, Coran’s wordless rage echoing in their ears as the Kingsguard followed him joyously into the teeth of the battle.

  The white-eye plunged the spiked tip of his mace down into a man’s neck and felt the armour over the collar-bone snap and buckle. The mace snagged on the armour as he tried to withdraw it, distracting him for long enough for an axe to crash into his shoulder. He grunted at the pain as the black-iron was unable to withstand the full force of the blow, spun around and used the vambrace on his left arm to bludgeon the knight in the side of the head, knocking the man into a Kingsguard, who finished him.

  A flash of agony lanced through his injured shoulder as Coran hauled back on his mace, still trying to free it, but a Bloodsworn lashed out at him and he was forced to dodge to the side. Swearing furiously, the huge white-eye kicked at the head of his mace in frustration, and it flew up from the corpse in a spray of blood - just as a Menin knight took advantage of his momentary lack of concentration.

  But Coran was faster than the Bloodsworn, and he lunged forward before the knight could strike again and punched right through his cuirass.

  Something struck him on the side of the head, and Coran wheeled and swung out blindly. He hit something, but couldn’t see what, then he felt a burst of pain in his ankle and toppled like a tree, crashing onto his back. He lay there a moment, stunned, waiting for the final blow - then he saw movement surging past: the Kingsguard had overrun him.

  Someone grabbed his arm and helped Coran up, and he shouted thanks without looking to see who it was, hobbling forward as fast as he could, anxious to rejoin the fight. A bright light exploded through the air, splitting through two Kingsguard in a fountain of blood, and finally Coran saw the one he’d been seeking. The pain faded away, now a distant memory, as something stirred deep within him. He tasted the air, and felt his teeth bare in a savage grin at the stink of blood and guts all around. He’d been born and bred for war, but now the bloodlust receded in Coran’s mind and he recognised the moment he had been waiting for all his adult life. This eclipsed Ilumene, and any other unfinished business. This was what he’d bee
n created for.

  He absentmindedly jabbed the butt of his mace into a soldier who appeared in front of him, knocking the man flying, just as Lord Styrax dismissively turned away from him and raised a misty-grey shield just in time to stop a white ball of fire from Cetarn on his earthen platform. Coran reversed his mace and stabbed the spike down into the soldier’s head, his eyes still firmly fixed on Styrax, while a low growl built in his throat.

  A short Menin clutching an axe jumped between them and aimed for Coran’s ribs, but the white-eye swayed out of the way. At last he tore his eyes from the huge white-eye lord. He wrenched his mace up and caught the short Menin soldier a glancing blow on his shoulder, which knocked the man off-balance. Coran kicked his near leg out from under him, dropping the Menin. A tall soldier ran to save his officer, but Coran swung at his face, smashing away both helm and jaw in a burst of blood. The short Menin took advantage of the death of his trooper to stab Coran in the thigh with the spike of his own axe, while the white-eye was fending off blows from elsewhere.

  Coran howled and staggered away, and the Menin, still grimly clutching onto his axe, found himself pulled to his feet. Coran grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him closer before he punched him in the face with the mace. The Menin’s head snapped back, falling limp, and Coran shoved the man into his next attacker, but not in time to prevent an axe hitting his injured arm. He lurched sideways, only to be caught from the other side. This time stars burst before his eyes. He was drunk with pain, remaining on his feet through sheer force of will as he fended off blows from all sides. A white-visored Bloodsworn ran in for the kill, and after stabbing him in the groin, Coran picked him up and tipped him onto a pair of infantrymen, knocking them to the ground. He let the momentum of his blow carry him around, barely seeing the next soldier as he caught him in the chest, throwing him backwards and into the man behind. Coran stabbed him in the face as a spear drove deep into his side, and he turned, screaming and swinging his mace down in one last killing stroke.