A party out of armor and well wrapped in their cloaks to camouflage them against the gray of the trees had set to work improving the camouflage of the defenses when the lead of the enemy force came in view.
This time they were less than a mile away and the soldiers, having doffed their helmets lest the shine give away their positions, watched the force from Rowana straggle by. First came a spray of light cavalry, wandering down the valley pike as if they hadn’t a care in the world, the men sitting silent and glum on their horses.
Then came the oddest sight any of them had ever seen. The force behind the cavalry was a motley group of infantry, but if they were human they had been horribly Changed. They were well below human height and stooped, with long powerful arms and bandy legs. They carried various weapons in their hands, axes both for fighting and wood felling, short swords, spears and clubs. They loped as much as walked, occasionally dropping to a knuckle walk when they had to speed up. Most of them were unarmored but they carried wooden shields across their backs and a few had a shirt of mail or a piece of plate stuck here and there. Despite the morning cold, many of them were virtually unclothed. Few of them wore shirts and many were naked save for a dirty loincloth.
“Orcs by God,” Herzer muttered, rubbing at his eyes. “They’re fisking orcs!”
“Chimp genes,” Edmund said from behind him. The baron was peering at them carefully and he let out an angry sigh. “Sheida told me about this but I could hardly credit it!”
“Are they constructs?” Herzer asked, quietly.
“No, they’re Change,” Edmund growled. “Normal humans Changed by that bitch Celine’s programs. This is… vile.”
“Those poor bastards,” Cruz said with a gulp. “So much for surrendering; I guarantee that those aren’t guys who started out on his side.”
“No, they’re probably just poor damned refugees who got caught in his vile net,” Edmund replied, tightly. “And, yes, that’s probably your fate if he gets his hands on you. But there’s no way we can Change them back. They’re not going to care if you care about them. They’re beyond our help and as steeped in evil as he is. So the only thing we can do is kill them. Because if we don’t, they’re going to take the town and rape our women and burn it to the ground. Am I clear on this?”
“Yes, sir,” Cruz replied.
“Baron, I’ve got a question,” Herzer said.
“Shoot.”
“Didn’t the rabbit say that they were taking the east valley?”
“Of course he did,” Edmund chuckled. “But he’s evil. Or at least, extremely chaotic. So he, naturally, couldn’t tell us the whole truth, even with Bast’s geas. It would violate his nature.”
“And you’re letting him stick around?” Herzer asked, aghast.
“I’ve heard of him, as I said,” Edmund replied. “Trust me, he’s worth keeping on your side.”
“Jesus, will you look at that horse?” Cruz gasped as the next group came into view.
The horse was monstrous, at least three times the size of the largest of Kane’s Hanarahs, and it had to be to carry the massive figure in black plate on its back.
“Dionys?” Herzer asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Edmund chuckled. “I wonder who he finally got to make his armor?”
“Pardon?”
“He wanted me to make that for him,” Talbot replied with a sudden frown. “A good part of his… personal enmity is that I more or less told him to fisk himself.”
Herzer thought of several replies, none of which were quite right. Finally he shrugged. “Well, I think we’re going to do it for him this time, sir.”
“We’ll see,” Edmund replied.
There was a large group of armed humans and a small group of cavalry in heavy plate following Dionys, and Herzer caught enough glimpses through upraised visors to recognize a few of his old cronies. He knew that each of them had participated in the rape of Daneh and it made his blood boil to watch them pass.
“Oh, for my old bow,” he growled. “I could have picked most of them off as they rode past.”
“Patience,” Edmund replied. “Patience.”
Following them was another group of Changed and then a ragtag of baggage carts and poorly dressed men and women. Among the baggage train were some strange sights, including a pony-sized unicorn that was being pulled behind one of the ox carts. Finally the last of the group had passed out of sight.
“We’re just going to let them get away?” Herzer whispered.
“Patience,” Edmund repeated, then chuckled as another group of cavalry came in sight. But this time, Alyssa could be glimpsed at their head and she was already uncasing her horse-bow.
The Raven’s Mill cavalry passed by as well, and for a time there was nothing further to see. The sun had gotten up and was nearly over the mountain at their back when smoke could be seen from the direction the cavalcade had taken. Then they saw the cavalryman, who had been concealed in the woods at the base of the hill, ride out and wave to the north. Then more of the Raven’s Mill cavalry appeared, one of them swaying in his saddle from an apparent arrow. They pounded up the defile, their horses blowing and sweating, until they reached the ledge, then spread across the back of the plateau as Alyssa and the rear guard came in sight.
“Three of you on the best horses head up the hill,” Edmund called. “There are three places where there are rags tied on trees. Drop one horseman at each point. The rest of you rest for a bit.”
Alyssa and the rear guard remained at the base of the hill until a group of enemy cavalry came pounding after them. Alyssa waited, an arrow nocked, until they got in short range, then fired at them and turned immediately up the hill, followed by the rest of the rear guard. One of the horseman tumbled back off his horse but the rest followed the Raven’s Mill forces up the narrow defile.
“Wait for it,” Edmund called. “Stay down. Archers, on command, I want none of them getting away!”
The enemy cavalry gave no indication that they realized they were running into an ambush, following the Raven’s Mill riders up the narrow defile in single line.
“Wait for it,” Edmund called as Alyssa and the rest ran through the defenses, carefully not looking to either side.
“NOW!”
At his call the archers stood up out of the trench and began firing, the shafts running nearly flat at the oncoming riders. Some of them missed but most were on target as the riders were having to slow to negotiate the poorly defined track. In moments all of them were out of their saddles, some of them still alive but most lying still on the ground. Some of the horses were hit as well and their shrill screams grated on Herzer’s ears until the archers, mercifully, finished them off. A few of the horses continued up the trail, apparently following Alyssa’s “herd” and they were caught by the Raven’s Mill cavalry, which was now standing in plain sight. The rest milled around and then most of them began working their way down the hill to stand in a blown cluster at its base.
“Now to see… ah, hah,” Edmund said as a straggling group of orcs, apparently led by one of the plate-armored riders, came in sight of the herd at the base of the mountain. The fate of the cavalry was also clear from where the rider stood but it wasn’t clear if he knew there was a palisade blocking his way. He looked up the hill where the Raven’s Mill cavalry was waiting and then waved the group of about fifty of the Changed up the hill.