"Remember," said Rynna, "if it comes to fighting, we are to circle to the far right, out where we will be free to cast arrows."
Farly shook his head. "I think the High King put us there just to get us out of the way."
"No, he did not," replied Rynna. "Silverleaf is the one who suggested it, and though we are but a handful and two, he knows how deadly we can be."
"Well, out of the way or not," said Tipperton, "I say we should get over there now, commander. I mean, I don't trust Modru to honor a grey flag."
Rynna nodded and spurred rightward, the others following, and among the ponies of the twenty-five hundred Dwarves and past the horses of six hundred Dylvana and eight hundred Lian and fourteen hundred Baeron and thirty-nine thousand men, the entire Wee Folk army of seven rode to their position wide to the right to cover the host's dextral flank.
In row after row came the King's host, each long row reaching across the wide flat between the hills to the right and the precipice to the left.
In the lead rode King Blaine and Silverleaf, with Larana to Silverleaf s right and Linde to the King's left. Couched in Larana's stirrup cup was a lance bearing a grey flag, and on Linde's lance flew the King's scarlet and gold.
In a row a short way behind the King were borne the many banners of the Allies, pennons of men and Elves and Dwarves, but no flags for the Warrows and the Baeron.
Directly after the standard bearers came the heavy horses with Baeron astride, maces and morning stars and war hammers in hand, for as Blaine had said, "I would have the foe tremble at the sight of such huge men and mounts; mayhap it will give the enemy pause should there be deceit in their hearts."
And following after the Baeron came row after row of men and Dwarves and Elves, armed and armored for war.
And two miles ahead and also arrayed in row after row stood the Lakh of Hyree and the Askars of Chabba and the Rovers of Kistan, along with the Fists of Rakka, all of them accoutered for war as well.
"Oh lordy," said Beau, "but what a throng. I swear, Tip, there's more foe here than ever was at Dendor."
Grimly, Tipperton nodded but otherwise did not reply as he and the Warrows pressed forward, riding along the right fore flank at the foot of the hills.
"Take note of the terrain," said Rynna, "for it may prove the difference between living and dying or between victory and defeat."
Even though Tip was thoroughly familiar with the lay of the land, for he had studied it well while making the sketch, a sketch he had shown to all, still he scanned the surround. To the right stood the craggy hills, a place of refuge at need. A broad flat stretched between these mounds and the precipice of H?l's Crucible, a fiat some thousand yards wide and running for miles along the rim of the rift. This flat between the hills and the brim would be the battleground if it came to combat. To the left yawned H?l's Crucible itself, the bordering stone plummeting downward some thousand feet or so, the fall sheer alongside where the host now rode, but a quarter mile hence stood the long slope down into the vast basin, the slope Tip had observed from the hills above. Straight ahead were arrayed the foe, at their backs a hundred-foot fall to the deep Avagon Sea below. Stretching away to the enemy's right ran the shield wall, the steep stone plunging down into the basin, a sheer face between the rift and the ocean a hundred cubits beyond.
All was as Tip had last seen it; nothing seemed to have changed.
Tipperton looked up to the right. Somewhere in the hills above, Vail, Arylin, and Flandrena yet watched.
When the distance between the host and the foe came to a half mile or so, King Blaine signed to Linde, and she raised her black-oxen horn to her lips and blew a resonant call, and the host came to a stop.
Riding forward through the ranks came the emissaries who were to accompany King Blaine forward from this point. From the far right rode a wee Warrow on a pony. These emissaries arrayed themselves among the banners of the Allies, Rynna centermost and flanked by two Baeron, these three bereft of flags.
Now King Blaine looked behind and saw all was as planned, then he turned and nodded to Silverleaf and said, "Let us see if they are open to surrender."
"Beware treachery, my lord," gritted a voice from behind.
"I shall, Lord Bekki," replied the King without looking back.
Together, Blaine, Silverleaf, Larana, and Linde rode forward, the grey flag on the right, the scarlet and gold on the left. Directly behind rode the emissaries amid the many banners: Lian, Dylvana, Dwarves, Humans, Baeron. a Mage, and a single Warrow. Toward the foe they rode, coming at last to a point halfway between. There they stopped and waited.
The foe did not respond.
Long moments passed, a candlemark or so, yet neither ally nor foe stirred, and Rynna could hear the DelfLords growling among themselves, Bekki in particular.
And then Bekki cursed, "Kruk, Loden, look. There's Coward Tain."
Rynna stared at the enemy but a quarter mile away, where, centermost among them a man sat ahorse and seemed to be speaking to a bundle in his arms. Rynna shuddered, for although she had never seen Lord Tain before, she knew this bundle to be the corpse of his daughter Jolet.
Tipperton looked long at the enemy ranks, and he could make out Lord Tain astride a mount and whispering to the remains of his daughter, while gesticulating toward the host. Tip glanced at the cluster of emissaries: the King and Silverleaf and the others, notably Rynna, waiting at the midpoint.
Of a sudden, Lord Tain straightened and glared about -a shudder ran through Tipperton -the surrogate peered at the waiting King and his escort and laughed, then turned and spoke to someone at hand -and from the hills above there came a horn cry -Tipperton snapped his head around, and there on a crest stood Flandrena, sounding a signal of alarm and pointing northwesterly away from the foe, while thundering downslope toward the King's small assembly came Vail riding at speed -Yaaaah…! Shouted the enemy in a collective wordless howl, and forward charged the throng, mounted Hyrini-ans and Rovers hurtling toward the host, spears lowered, swords raised -"Fly, Rynna, fly!" cried Tipperton, stringing an arrow -Chabbains and the black-cloaked Fists of Rakka running forward afoot -Linde sounding her black-oxen horn, Larana her horn of silver…
Even as the heavy horses of the Baeron thundered forth and the ponies of Dwarves and the horses of men and Elves hammered after, the King shouted a command to his escort, and as one they readied weapons and shields and waited for the wave of allies to come.
All but Rynna, and she galloped her pony toward the right flank.
"Faster, Rynna!" cried Tipperton, afraid she would be run over by the oncoming Baeron, Linnet and Beau and Nix and Farly and Dinly shouting as well.
And even as she rode toward Tipperton and the other Warrows, Vail flashed past, galloping the opposite way, yelling in Sylva, but what she called out, none of the War-rows knew.
Yet Silverleaf shouted to Larana, and she blew a command on her silver horn, and within the charging ranks, Elves reined and turned opposite.
Tipperton's eyes flew wide. "What th-?" And he looked behind and saw riders coming, thousands upon thousands of riders, yellow flags flying, armored in dark scale and wide-flaring helms, long, curved swords in hand, great longbows drawn taut -and sleets of arrows both fore and aft flew from the oncoming foe's ranks, to strike down among the Allies, men and Elves and Dwarves to fall screaming even as a hail of arrows flew in return…
… and with a great clash of arms and armor and shrieks and shouts and battle cries, the armies collided, the Allies hammered fore and aft by foe even as Rynna flew free of the clash and galloped in among the Warrows.
"It was a trap!" shouted Tipperton, loosing arrow after arrow to fell the enemy.
"Dismount!" cried Rynna. "Take shelter among the crags. Make every shaft and sling bullet count."