Eskkar understood the Elamite word for ‘general.’ He knew that Modran’s second in command was named Martiya.
“Chandra! Guard this prisoner and bind his wound. If he lives, we’ll take him back to Akkad. He might prove useful.”
“Yes, Captain,” Chandra said. His own hands and face were covered with blood, none of it his own. “I’m sure Annok-sur will be eager to talk to him.”
Eskkar laughed, the hoarse sound releasing the stress that had built up over the last five days and nights. The stomach-twisting stench of death hung in the air, but to Eskkar, it smelled as sweet as honey. You had to be alive to savor it. He had survived another battle, and with luck, turned back the Elamite invasion of the Land Between the Rivers.
He stared down at General Martiya, who shivered in apprehension at the grim look. “By the time Annok-sur finishes with him, General Martiya will wish he died in the battle.”
The sun had climbed nearly to its peak before Eskkar, wearing a fresh tunic and with the blood washed from his body, met with his commanders. Exhausted, dirty, splattered with blood, every one had taken at least one minor wound. Nevertheless, every face held a wide smile, and Eskkar knew at once that his men had suffered few casualties.
Eskkar, too, found himself smiling. “How many dead?”
“The clerks just finished the count,” Alexar said. “Less than six hundred dead or wounded. We got off easy, Captain. The stampede worked. After all that happened to the Elamites last night, Muta’s horses rattled Modran’s men and took the fight out of them.”
Despite the low number of today’s dead, Eskkar knew he had lost nearly half the men he’d led into the Dellen Pass only six days ago, a staggering number for a city the size of Akkad. But a victory of this magnitude softened the blow. And soldiers could be replaced. After this triumph, many restless boys and men would flock to his standard once again.
“With Lord Modran’s army destroyed,” Eskkar said, “and General Jedidia’s cavalry turned back, it’s time for us to return to Akkad. Muta, you will stay here with your cavalry and half the infantry for ten days, until we’re sure all the Elamites are gone. I don’t want any one of them trying to desert into our lands or becoming bandits. I’ll take a hundred horsemen with me, and start for home right away. Alexar, have every man that can march on the move at dawn tomorrow. They’ll be needed in Akkad.”
Groans greeted his orders, but the commanders understood the war hadn’t yet ended. The fight for Sumer might have gone badly, and every Akkadian soldier might be crucial in the defense of their own city’s walls.
“But before I leave,” Eskkar said, “I want to send a message to King Shirudukh.”
He called first for Garal, who had also survived the brutal charge into the enemy’s ranks. “I want you to translate for me, Garal.”
Eskkar swung onto A-tuku’s back, and rode over to where the remnants of the Immortals sat on the ground, their backs against the cliff wall.
A line of fifty spearmen guarded them, backed by fifty bowmen. These were, after all, dangerous and desperate men. For a long moment Eskkar studied them.
Nearly one hundred and thirty dejected and defeated men returned his gaze. Except for those who had managed to flee, these were all that remained of Elam’s once invincible Immortals. Now they waited to learn how they would die, and how much torture they would have to endure before death released them from the pain. Or when the endless drudgery of slavery began.
“I am Eskkar of Akkad.” He made sure his voice reached all of them. Garal repeated Eskkar’s words, with the same force. “You came to this land intending to conquer those who had done you no harm. For that the penalty is death.”
Their eyes showed little emotion. They knew all too well what happened to captured soldiers.
“But you fought bravely until the last,” Eskkar went on, “and kept your honor. For that, I will pay tribute to the powerful gods of the Land Between the Rivers. I give you back your lives. You may return to the lands of Elam. But each of you will leave behind the thumb of your right hand. That will make sure you remember to carry a message from me to the people of Elam and to King Shirudukh. Tell them never again dare to invade our lands, or the wrath of Ishtar and Marduk will descend upon them all. And if any of you should ever forget or disobey, I will call upon the gods to destroy you. I will unleash my soldiers on the people of Elam until your land is empty of life, the crops burned, and its herds slaughtered and left to rot in the sun. Tell them that, before they think of war again.”
Looks of disbelief greeted his words. Expecting death, they had been granted life. Losing their thumb meant they would fight no more, but better that than death.
Eskkar turned to Myandro, the leader of the alert guards. “Cut off their thumbs. They will leave naked, and with no weapons. Escort them to the bottom of the slope and send them on their way. Kill any that try to return or pick up a weapon.”
“Yes, My Lord,” Myandro said.
Eskkar wheeled A-tuku around and took one last look at the battlefield. It was time to take care of Grand Commander Chaiyanar.
Chapter 40
The eastern mouth of the Jkarian Pass. .
Five days after the cliff came down in the Jkarian Pass, General Jedidia gave the order to turn about and head for the lands of Elam. Despite every available man searching, Jedidia had not discovered any way to get around the obstacle the filthy Akkadians had heaped in his way. While his men exhausted themselves in a futile hunt for another path, he had another thousand men trying to move enough rocks and boulders so as to force a way through the debris.
Those men labored in the heat of the day until their hands bled, and there were more than a few crushed toes and broken ankles. His men had scrambled over the barrier, but for the horses, the Pass remained closed. In the end, what Jedidia’s Master Builder declared the first day remained true — General Jedidia did not have enough time, supplies, or proper tools to force a passage through the rubble-choked Jkarian Pass.
With a snarl, he gave the order to turn his exhausted men around and start the bitter journey back to their own lands. By then his men were already on half rations. At least they had located a tiny spring deep within the mountain. That provided just enough water to refill the skins, and keep the horses alive and moving.
The ignominious retreat galled on General Jedidia’s stomach with every rearward step of his horse. Of necessity, he’d sent messengers to King Shirudukh the day after the cliff toppled, informing him of the debacle. Jedidia didn’t dare show up in Zanbil without warning the King of what had happened.
Of course, other, more dismal messages would soon have to be sent. Now that he had abandoned his mission through the Jkarian Pass, Jedidia would have to dispatch more messengers with the bad news. However that particular embarrassment could be postponed until he reached Zanbil. Once there, Jedidia would halt his men, then wait for resupply before proceeding through the Dellen Pass.
He knew what to expect when King Shirudukh heard about the disaster. Jedidia would be ordered to place himself under Lord Modran’s command.
That would mean an enduring humiliation for Jedidia. Worse, Jedidia would lose his opportunity to loot the Land Between the Rivers. No, Modran would carefully assign Jedidia to patrol only those places that had already been picked clean.
At the same time, if there were any fighting to be done, Jedidia knew it would be his own men sent to the front lines, to lead the attack and bear the brunt of any casualties. By the time Akkad fell and the other cities were subdued, Jedidia would be lucky to be alive and with half his command intact.
Despite the gloomy future awaiting him, Jedidia kept his troop moving at a brisk pace. Hunger gnawed at the bellies of both his men and their mounts. He needed food, and the horses needed grass to graze upon. Both would be available once back in Elam’s northern lands.