by Brian Thomas
Sheywen glared at him viciously. “We have a contract and that’s my horse, you treacherous turncoat!” he hissed with venom.
Mading looked at Sheywen dispassionately. “The contract was for silver in advance, which we haven’t had. The horse is back-pay and the contract is over.” Mading made his way to join Zun’s group, his men and the others who had migrated to them while with Sheywen quickly following him, making Zun’s force now about equal to Sheywen’s.
Zun raised his hand to order his men on their journey when Li Chin called out to him. “The barbarian does not speak our language but he is a man of honour who sought to protect me from these bandits with the duel you interrupted. I believe any such opportunity has now gone and I would not wish his life wasted for no reason. May he also join you Lord Zun?”
Zun’s group looked at Ronan curiously but none more so than Zun and Shushan who knew Li Chin’s real identity and martial ability. Zun’s expression remained cold behind his curiosity but before he could say otherwise Shushan called out that the barbarian could ride with her. Li Chin turned to Ronan, who looked up questioningly. “They have agreed you may ride with them.” Li Chin bowed deeply to Ronan. “You are a brave and honourable man but you cannot win against these men, their leader is a swordmaster and significantly more accomplished than the man you fought earlier. I offer my thanks for what you have done but you will not succeed and can achieve no more. Go with Lord Zun, while you still can.”
Chapter 43
Zanwen was guiding a wagon whilst talking to Bulusi who rode beside him when they broke off at seeing one of their scouts returning at a gallop. Despite his initial concerns Bulusi was pleased he had brought their new nomad friends along as scouts. They ranged much further than he would expect of his own men and were able to survive on what the land offered. Acting independently of the main caravan they seemed to easily see things his own men would never pick up. Thankfully, they also seemed able to discover wherever the caravan had moved to while they were out scouting. As the scout drew closer they could see it was Bandu and they halted the column while he headed straight for them.
Bandu drew up his horse sharply, making it champ at its halter and dance excitedly. “The clan band we saw earlier have come across a fresh trail left by another caravan, a large one. They both head in this direction but the other caravan are between us and the clan band. The clans will see it and most likely attack. While they do we can change direction to the east and avoid them. We could circle around and arrive at Tanyel city only a few days later than we had planned.”
Bulusi scanned the horizon. “There’s a gap coming up between the hills over there. We could cut through and use the hills for cover.”
Zanwen frowned as he thought about Bandu’s report. “Whose is the caravan?”
Bandu shrugged. “No horses, so probably Hansee. Many walkers’. Sandal tracks for porters and boots making deep tracks, so probably soldiers and heavily armed. We stayed with the clans so have not seen the caravan.”
“We should at least warn them. Could you tell them Bandu?” Zanwen asked.
Bandu smiled. “A nomad approaching a Hansee caravan in the wilderness, I would be full of arrows before I was close enough for them to hear me. Even if they saw me with another Hansee they would be suspicious.”
Zanwen gave a wry smile of acknowledgement glancing questioningly across at Bulusi. Bulusi scowled and shook his head decisively. “My responsibility is to you and this caravan. If there is a threat to our caravan I need all the men here to defend it. Lord Zun’s views are clear, we help those of our community and any outside are on their own.”
Zanwen looked to the horizon where Bandu had ridden in from. He did not blame Bulusi. Shushan had been clear in her instructions when she had ridden off and left Bulusi in command. He would be directly contravening his orders if he intervened in addition to overturning Zun’s known views. Also, there was always the concern any direct contact with the hostile nomad band could be directly tracked back to their own caravan placing it in harm’s way.
Zanwen came to a decision. “You are right Bulusi but Shushan does not have authority over me or my men. I will take ten of my men and Bandu will lead us to this caravan, but from a route that cannot be traced back here. We shall observe them and if they are allies we will warn them.” Having made his decision Zanwen leapt from the wagon to select his men.
Bulusi was left cursing under his breath. Knowing he was following his orders to keep the caravan safe he still took little comfort from the knowledge with Zanwen riding towards danger, without adequate protection.
It was early morning by the time Bandu lead them to the top of a ridge so they could look down on the shallow valley plain below. Zanwen and his men had borrowed their mounts from Bulusi and improved their riding skills as they had travelled, picking up the pace along the way. They had learnt enough to know they preferred walking but could stay on with a bit of luck and so long as they tried nothing too demanding.
They watched in silence as a large caravan made its slow progress across the plain. Well guarded by foot soldiers it was nevertheless vulnerable against mounted aggressors. The caravan’s protection was primarily intended to defend against bandits rather than large raiding bands from the steppes. These were meant to be deterred at the empire’s borders by the regular imperial guards. Straining to make out the insignia and pennants Zanwen’s suspicions were confirmed by a voice beside him. “House Guang, I can see their insignia on the flags.” From their elevated vantage point they could also see a distant cloud of dust drawing closer from a large body of horses. Presumably from the nomad band reported earlier by Bandu.
Zanwen decided it was too late for the slow moving caravan below to evade the pursuing band of horsemen but if warned they might improve their position. “We will go down but there will be little chance of our leaving and escaping riding as poorly as we do, unlike you Bandu. You must ride back to Bulusi and tell him I have joined the caravan below. Now tell me quickly, if you were attacking with the nomads what would you do and what is the caravan’s best defence?”
Bandu had already been assessing the land around them, a habitual evaluation of the terrain they lived in. “They must not be caught or make a stand in the open where they would have to defend on all sides. Better to find a hole and focus their fewer numbers to defend a single front. If they can. The horsemen will be able to outmanoeuvre them, so best to counter this by making it difficult for the horsemen to come at them. The clans have the advantage when they fight from the back of a horse and they will not want to fight on foot, where the soldiers will have the advantage.” Bandu pointed ahead of the caravan and on the far side of the flat valley floor from where they looked. “If the caravan can make it into that gully the attackers will only be able to come at them from one direction.” Bandu shrugged, “It may help if they can reach it in time but the Bear clan is in the host and it is a large one. There are many warriors and I do not think the caravan will survive long.” Bandu regarded Zanwen quizzically. “If you join the caravan you will die with them. This fight will be lost before I could ride back to Bulusi and return here again and Bulusi does not have enough men to turn the battle. What do you want me to tell Bulusi?”
Zanwen smiled at Bandu’s bleak assessment. Though he respected the nomad enough to know it was probably accurate. At mention of the nomads belonging to the Bear clan Zanwen was reminded of his first meeting with Li Chin and Old Leckey, where Li Chin used an anecdote about a bear to explain his views on tellings and prophecy. “Tell him what you know and that his decision to stay was the correct one.” Zanwen smiled as he added, “It seems my hypothetical nemesis is real and I must face it to win my princess and fortune, or perish beneath the bear’s claws.”
Zanwen looked at his men briefly, nodding as his own thoughts were mirrored in their faces. “I find I wish to live up to the hero status these men of House Guang regularly award us. We do not ride well enough to get away once we have ridden down to give our war
ning, not with the nomads so close. So we will stay and offer what aid we can.”
Bandu frowned. “We are of the same clan now, I will come also.”
Zanwen placed a hand on Bandu’s shoulder in appreciation. “Not this time, Bandu. If Zun and his men were here then things might be different but even then he might not have enough. You have family who need you, whereas we do not. Now we must go, time is precious.” Zanwen kicked his horse into a fast trot hanging on to its mane as it started over the edge of the ridge, followed by his men who looked equally precarious as they rode down towards the head of the caravan.
After a few seconds spent watching them go Bandu turned his mount and whipped it with his reins into a fast run, speeding back to where he had left Bulusi and their own caravan.
Zanwen and his men trotted towards the caravan, recognising at its head the lieutenant who had led the Guang forces away following Li Chin’s victory over their champion. Curiously, the lieutenant now bore the insignia of a captain. The captain halted the caravan as they drew up, looking them over with interest. “Greetings Master Zanwen.” he said bowing.
Zanwen bowed awkwardly from his horse’s back, nearly falling off in the process as the beast pulled at its reins and did a half circle. “Greetings, Captain. Please forgive our hasty arrival and any unintended discourtesy but a steppe war band is about to descend upon you. Time is of the essence.” The captain immediately lost any amusement he may have been masking at Zanwen’s horse handling, stepping aside to try and get a clear view of where Zanwen had indicated. He could see the edge of a dust cloud, less visible than from the ridge but unmistakable and realised their pursuers would be upon them in a matter of minutes. Zanwen, struggling to control his excited mount, added, “If I may venture Captain, while we were on the ridge we noticed a gap in the valley wall ahead. It is not much more than a shallow gully but possibly the best area to mount a defence before the nomads arrive. You would need to go quickly.”
The captain looked all around and back to Zanwen. Though not visible from here nothing else appeared better than Zanwen’s suggestion. He nodded his agreement and ordered the caravan forward as fast as it could go. There were many porters carrying chests between poles and two boxed litters elaborately enclosing the occupants in delicately carved wooden panels and silk screens. Once the column was moving again the captain had his men run to one side to let the porters and wagons drawn by oxen go past, while he organised a rear guard. The porters carrying their burdens continued at a fast walk barely quicker than the wagons. The captain sent a contingent of armed men ahead to scout the site suggested by Zanwen. After that it was a case of conserving strength to maintain the pace.
By the time they reached the gully the band of horsemen were clearly in sight and had spotted the caravan ahead of them. The nearest kicked their mounts on to try and catch them in the open if they could or get amongst them before they were formed up. The intended refuge was better than Zanwen had believed from their ridge. About fifty feet across the sides rose steeply and were clothed in scree, with enough tangled brush to focus any mounted attack down the narrow entrance. Behind the entrance and deeper in the gully its sides became higher to meet at the back forming a cul-de-sac that, while preventing their escape, would only allow attack from the entrance.
The men sent ahead by the captain were already clearing the inner space of rocks and debris, using it to build an impromptu wall across the entrance. As the captain entered the gully he quickly redirected their efforts to either side, reducing the area across the front he would have to defend but ensuring his men would not be flanked. He had over a thousand soldiers and four hundred porters. Other than the fifty man rearguard left to fend off the nomads all of them were franticly building what barriers they could from ripped up brush and piled rocks. The gully walls mockingly echoed their frantic calls to hurry. Then there was no more time.
Zanwen joined the men assembling in the gully opening. They were forming a shield wall that would take the brunt of the attack and seeing him the captain came over. “My thanks for your warning but it would seem you are now trapped with us as a result.”
Zanwen shrugged. “It was that or abandon you to a surprise attack before you had an opportunity to organise a defence, Captain….?”
“Captain Rong, of the second Guang House Guards, Snake Battalion.” the captain bowed.
With a smile in his eyes Zanwen replied formally. “Congratulations on your recent promotion Captain Rong. Let us hope, for all our sakes, you live to receive another in the not too distant future.”
Rong gave a wry smile. “Do you know how many we face?”
“Our nomad scout said they were a large host, significantly larger than your own caravan.” Zanwen replied with a wry smile of his own. “I am afraid he did not rate your chances of surviving the attack Captain Rong. I hope you are able to prove him wrong.” They both turned to face the growing number of nomad riders milling in front of them, the first to arrive frustrated at not catching them by surprise in the open were being fended off by the rearguard, which had now joined the main force. The horsemen milled out of bow range waiting for the rest of the war band to arrive.
Captain Rong’s men were drawn up in lines. Two rows of shield bearers armed with swords in front with spearmen behind and behind the spearmen the lightly armoured archers, taking cover where they could find any. The gully narrowed the deeper it went before opening into an enclosed bowl. It would enable the line of men defending the entrance to fall back in formation as their ranks were thinned, up to the bowl at least. But once the host broke through that line the battle would be all but over, the mounted warriors able to overwhelm them. The porters were breaking out additional bundles of arrows for the archers but there were not enough for an extended battle. The last were still being distributed when the nomad battle horns sounded and the mass of men and horses surged forward towards them.
Zanwen and Captain Rong placed themselves in the centre of the spear line, crouched along with the rest of the men behind the overlapping shields. The first flight of nomad arrows flew overhead, so numerous the sunlight was noticeably dimmed and causing a fearful hiss as they surged through the air towards them. Thousands of arrows landed across and behind their lines, catching many of the porters as they were running back towards the cover of the wagons. With no protection the porters were brought down in large numbers, many of those caught in the open with more than one arrow. All around was the sickening thud of arrows striking exposed flesh, the screams of the wounded and the clattering of arrows off shields and armour.
Zanwen involuntarily flinched as the first four inches of an arrow suddenly appeared through the shield being held above their heads. It had missed the shield-bearer’s arm by a hair’s breadth. Zanwen was breathing heavily, even though he was merely crouching beside the men on either side. No sooner had the wave of arrows seemed to have landed when the menacing hiss of a second salvo could be heard. Through the soles of his feet he could feel the ground vibrating to the drumming of thousands of horses’ hooves as they pounded closer. When the nomads seemed no further than seventy feet away Captain Rong raised his hand towards his archers, who drew back their own strings. Zanwen held his breath as the pounding mass of horses and screaming nomads drew closer, wishing the volley loosed immediately rather than allow the horde to get any closer.
At fifty feet from the shield wall the charging warriors loosed another volley from their saddles and Captain Rong’s arm sped down, releasing their first volley in reply. Those making up the shield wall crouched under what cover they could as the nomad arrows plunged amongst them. Still, arrows sped through any gap, one taking a man in the eye to Zanwen’s left whilst another on his right was hit in the throat, spraying those around him with blood as he was thrown back.
Suddenly the sound of the charge in front of them changed as the first return volley hit home amongst the close packed horsemen, almost the entire front rank collapsing under the concentrated fire of two hundred archers
. The horsemen immediately behind the front rank either crashed helplessly into the sprawling mass to add to the confusion or scrambled clear in ones and twos. Only slowed, the host of men and horse flesh forced a way through, receiving a second volley as they cleared the mass of their fallen front rank.
Captain Rong had ordered his archers to focus their fire in volleys for as long as they could on the main attack and to ignore individual riders which broke through. They did so now, firing wave after wave of their deadly darts into the mass of heaving flesh stalled in front of the shield wall. The return fire from the nomads now came in a constant rain of arrows, any attempt at volley fire abandoned. Zanwen looked behind their lines and was shocked at how many of their own men were already down. The ground behind them was carpeted in upright arrows, their points buried deep in the ground. Despite the still falling missiles he could see porters running between the wagons passing out bundles of fresh arrows to the archers behind their lines. The clatter and thud of the nomad’s falling missiles against their own shields and men was diminishing and he realised it was because their attackers had almost exhausted their own supply of arrows. What they had left was now being reserved for clear targets.
The spearmen were fending the nearest attackers away as best they could while keeping a tight hold of their spears. The nomads with no such inhibitions launched their short spears into any gap they could between the shields but even those burying themselves deep in the shields were nevertheless weighing the shields down making them too heavy and awkward to be manhandled. Suddenly there was a gap directly in front of Zanwen as two of the front rankers beside each other were hit, one with an arrow in his forehead, the other with a spear in his shoulder that flashed through the space opened by the falling man beside him.