Harry Turtledove V

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"I won't be too soon, lord," Romezan promised. "And you can bet I won't be too
late, either." He sounded very sure of himself.
For the first time since his recall from Across Abivard had a proper Makuraner
army, not some slapped-together makeshift, to lead into battle against the
Videssians.
Since Likinios' overthrow, he'd won whenever he had led a proper army against
them.
Indeed, they'd fled before him time after time. He eyed his men. They seemed
full of quiet confidence. They were used to bearing the Videssians, too.
He rode to the front of the left wing. On this field he wanted his presence
widely advertised. Banners blazoned with the red lion of Makuran fluttered all
around him.
Here I am, the commander of this host, they shouted to the Videssians up on
their low rise.
I'm going to lead the main attack of course I am. Pay me plenty of attention.
Maniakes, by his own banners, led from the center of his army, the most common
Videssian practice. He'd invited battle, which meant he felt confident, too.
He'd beaten the Kubrati barbarians. He'd beaten Abivard more often than
not when
Abivard had been leading a patchwork force. Did that really make him think he
could beat the Makuraner field army? If it did, Abivard intended to show him
he was wrong.
Abivard nodded to the horn players. "Sound the advance," he said, and pointed
up the slope toward the Videssians. Martial music blared forth. Abivard booted
his horse in the ribs. It started forward.
He had to sacrifice a little of the full fury of a Makuraner charge because he
was going uphill at the Videssians. He also had to be careful to make sure the
horse archers he'd placed to link the heavy cavalry contingents he and Romezan
commanded to Turan's infantry kept on linking the different units and didn't
go rushing off on some brainstorm of their own. That might open gaps the
Videssians could exploit
Horn calls rang out along the Videssian line, too. Peering over the chain mail
veil of his helmet, Abivard watched Maniakes' men ride forward to meet his.
Whatever else they intended, the Videssians didn't aim to stand solely on the
defensive.
Their archers started shooting at the oncoming Makuraner heavy cavalry. Here
and there a man slid from his mount or a horse stumbled and went down, and as
often as not, other horses would trip over those in the first ranks that had
fallen. Had the
Videssians done more damage with their archery, they might have disrupted the
Makuraner charge.
But the riders of Makuran were armored in iron from head to foot. Their horses
wore iron scales, too, sewn into or mounted in pockets on the blankets that
covered their backs and sides, while iron chamfrons protected their heads and
necks. Arrows found lodging places far less often than they would have against
lightly warded men and animals.
No one now rode out between the armies with a challenge to single combat. In
principle, such duels were honorable, even if Tzikas' attempts to use them
both for and against Makuran had all but driven Abivard mad. But showy
displays of honor had given way on both sides, apparently to a hard desire to
Page 171
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
fight things out to the end as soon as possible.
Lowering his lance, Abivard picked the Videssian he wanted to spear out of the
saddle. The imperial saw him coming, saw the stroke was going to be
unavoidable, and twisted in the saddle to try to turn the lance head with his
small, round shield.
He gauged the angle well. Sparks spit as the iron point skidded across the
iron facing of his shield. That deflection kept the point from his vitals. But
the force of the blow still all but unhorsed him and meant his answering sword
cut came closer to lopping off one of his mount's ears than to doing Abivard
any harm.
"Sharbaraz!" Abivard shouted. He spurred his horse forward, using speed and
weight against the Videssian. As the man he was a good horseman and as game as
they came righted himself in the saddle, Abivard clouted him on the side of
the head
with the shaft of his lance. The blow caught the Videssian by surprise; it was
one a
Makuraner was far likelier to make with a broken lance than with a whole one,
the point being so much more deadly than the shaft.
But Abivard knew from painful experience how much damage a blow to the head
could do even if it didn't cave in a skull. The Videssian reeled. He held on
to the sword but looked at it as if he hadn't the slightest idea what it was
good for.
His opponent stunned, Abivard had the moment he needed to draw the lance back
and slam it into the fellow's throat. Blood sprayed out, then gushed as he
yanked the point free. The Videssian clutched at the shaft of the lance, but [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Odnośniki