More and more riders grouped around me as we reformed our ranks to attack the foot archers. As we did so I looked to my left and saw the heavy horsemen of Media and Hatra envelop of formation of foot soldiers, though from this distance I could not tell what or who they were. And then, in the same area, I saw a brief glimpse of a large yellow banner. Narses!
Orodes came to my side, his armour battered and his sword covered in gore. I pointed at the archers in front of us attired in yellow tunics, red felt caps, brown leggings and carrying only bows and long daggers.
‘They are shooting at the legions over the heads of their spearmen.’
Orodes wore the expression of a man possessed. ‘We will destroy them, my friend.’
‘You will destroy them,’ I told him. ‘I have a personal debt to settle.’
‘Debt?’
I pointed to the south, to where Gafarn and Atrax were battling the enemy. ‘Narses is there. Vengeance is mine.’
‘Go, then,’ he said. ‘And may God go with you.’
I nodded to him and turned in the saddle.
‘First company of cataphracts, with me.’
We galloped across ground carpeted with the corpses of dead and dying men and horses, Vagharsh and seventy men behind me, as I went in search of retribution.
Gafarn and Atrax were now assaulting the palace guards of Narses and Mithridates: spearmen wearing bronze helmets with large cheekguards, leather cuirasses and large round shields faced with bronze and carrying the symbols of Persis and Susiana. I shouted with joy. Finally, after the oceans of blood that had been spilt and the years of fighting, we had the last reserves of the enemy cornered. The heavy cavalry were lapping round the solid phalanx of the spearmen, which appeared to number around four thousand, trying to work their way in. But the guards were holding firm and presented an unbroken square of spear points. I would have swapped my kingdom for Marcus’ machines at that moment.
I saw the banners of Media and Hatra and headed towards them. I found a frustrated Gafarn and Atrax with their senior officers.
‘We failed to break them,’ said Atrax bitterly.
‘Palace guards, the best the enemy has,’ remarked Gafarn.
Their cataphracts were already beginning to disengage from the spearmen and were falling back to our position around four hundred paces from the enemy, when from behind I heard a great rumbling noise, like distant thunder.
‘What is that?’ asked Atrax.
Gafarn appeared drained as I turned to face the direction the noise was coming from. My heart sank as I saw a yellow flag and a great wave of horsemen riding towards our position. Their frontage must have covered at least half a mile.
‘It is Nergal,’ exclaimed Atrax.
I could still not identify the banner. ‘Are you sure?’
He laughed out loud. ‘Quite sure, Nergal has come.’
My eyes then focused and I saw that the banner was yellow and sported a double-headed lion sceptre crossed with a sword — Nergal had brought his army. Wild cheering began to erupt around me as word spread that reinforcements had arrived.
As Nergal’s horse archers flooded the area immediately south of our position the king and queen of Mesene rode to my side. I reached over to hug Praxima and gripped Nergal’s forearm, and then saw with surprise that Gallia and the Amazons were also with them.
‘Your presence is most welcome, lord king,’ I said to Nergal. ‘As is yours, lady,’ smiling at Praxima beside him.
Gallia came to my side. ‘I thought you were supposed to be guarding the camp.’
She waved away my admonishment. ‘Surena guards it with his horse archers that have no arrows, him and the squires.’
She looked at the square of enemy spearmen. ‘What is happening here?’
‘It is quite simple,’ answered Gafarn, raising his hand to Nergal, ‘they stand in rock-like defiance of us. We cannot break them.’
Gallia nodded thoughtfully and then smiled at Praxima who pulled her bow from its case. ‘Like old times, Gallia.’
Gallia grinned in delight. ‘Like old times. Amazons!’
She then pulled her own bow from its case and dug her knees into Epona’s sides and bolted forward followed by Praxima and the Amazons. I shook my head.
I looked at Nergal. ‘I would greatly appreciate it if your archers would assist our two wives.’
He grinned, raised his bow and then he and hundreds of his horse archers galloped after the Amazons.
The cataphracts sat and cheered as the Amazons and Nergal’s horsemen rode at the enemy in continuous circuits, loosing their arrows and slowly eroding the number of spearmen. Fortunately Nergal had brought his own camel train with spare arrows so the destruction of the enemy spearmen was now assured. Then I saw the yellow banner of Narses and knew that the battle was not yet over.
The King of Persis was riding at the head of a line of armoured horsemen that was moving at speed towards the surrounded spearmen in an attempt to relieve them. I saw more spear points behind the cataphracts stretching into the distance and realised that a great number of horsemen were bearing down on my wife and friends.
‘We must head them off. Line and column to deceive them,’ I shouted to Gafarn and Atrax.
They gestured to their officers and seconds later horns were sounded to signal the advance. Moments later over twelve hundred riders were cantering towards the enemy horsemen, without lances and riding tired horses. But if we did not intercept Narses and his men they would swat away our horse archers and save the spearmen. So we broke into a gallop and extended our line to cover half a mile as the gap between the two sides shortened by the second. Five hundred paces from them our formation divided into two columns, the riders at the extreme ends of each flank forming the head of a column as cataphracts suddenly veered left and right to fall in behind them to create a space into which Narses and his heavy horsemen charged, to hit thin air.
There is no point in tired horsemen that have not a kontus among them charging headlong at riders who are fresh and armed with lances, unless they wish to become a kebab — a kontus will go straight though the thickest scale armour. So we flanked right and left to become columns as Narses and his men hurtled past us and we wheeled inwards to strike them in their flanks. The enemy slowed and then halted as the horsemen in front of them parted but in doing so their momentum was lost as we once again drew our weapons and moved into the enemy mass.
Most of the horsemen we faced were spearmen wearing helmets, leather cuirasses and carrying round shields. They jabbed their spears at our bellies but from a near stationary position we could break the spear shafts with our axes and maces. A spear point glanced off the steel on my left arm. I brought my spatha down to splinter the shaft and then brought up the point to thrust it at the rider as he closed on me, the blade going through his larynx. Once more I had my mace in my left hand as I swung it against the side of a man’s helmet, the flange denting the metal and knocking him from his saddle.
Then the Amazons and Nergal’s archers were by our side, shooting arrows at the enemy who were now beginning to slowly fall back. I continued to slash and hack with my weapon and then saw a helmet with a red crest and a fleeting glimpse of a yellow banner. A spearman fell from his saddle under my blows. Then I was before Narses himself.