Brave Men Die: Part 3 (6 page)

‘Go.’

The Kyzantines ran. They didn’t look back.

Hydrus turned and walked away from the dead body of the holy man. He didn’t want to look at the piece of filth. What he wanted to do was find out who had died beside him.

Castor came back to the rendezvous, dragging the dead body of a Kyzantine behind him, his arm straining under the weight as he pulled at the gambeson. The Nails had gathered around the fallen when he dumped the body in the middle of the circle.

‘They were kids, all of them. Not a single bloody adult on the entire south flank,’ Castor spat in disgust.

The entire unit focused their attention on his outburst.

‘Does no one else care that we just butchered children who were pretending to play soldiers?’

‘Given the chance they would have killed you,’ Hydrus commented, the weight of the slaughter resting in his eyes.

‘That excuse is getting older by the minute, Hydrus.’

‘Not like those kids right?’ one of the Nails said.

Castor and Hydrus both shot him a look that silenced him immediately.

‘If you need to blame anyone, Castor, blame that bloody Kyzantine bitch. She was the one that sent them in after us knowing that they could all die,’ Volans spoke as he entered the circle clutching the wound on his arm. ‘I killed them. We all killed them. No, they shouldn’t have been involved in it but they were and we had a job to do. Us or them. That’s the only rule that matters out here.’

‘We are behind enemy lines here, Castor,’ Hydrus interrupted. ‘We aren’t going to get any support, can’t run away to avoid doing what needs to be done. You just need to shut yourself off from looking at it like that. They are not some kids, they are the enemy.’

Hydrus turned to the rest of the unit. ‘I know you all probably feel like Castor, that this lot was younger than the last, but you have to forget about your conscience and do as you are ordered. Do you understand?’

The Nails answered in chorus, murmurs and slight nods of the head as Hydrus turned to Castor.

‘Yes, captain.’ Castor spoke the words but he lacked conviction.

‘How many did we lose? Volans asked.

‘Ten. All to that fucking bishop and his magic. When the fuck did they start dabbling in it anyway? Hypocritical bastards.’

‘Wounded?’ Volans asked as Hydrus’ breathing slowed.

‘Another eight,’ Hydrus answered.

‘I want graves dug, shallow but deep enough that the animals won’t get to them. It needs to be done quickly. We move back the way we came and head out before the bitch and her cavalry get around to the other side and realise that they haven’t flushed us out.’

The Nails dispersed quickly, getting on with their jobs. Castor stood there silently for a while, looked at the dead bodies, their young eyes staring back at him until he didn’t feel anymore. He didn’t care that they were dead, just saw them as bodies, corpses. He blinked once during the whole time, then again only when he was done, deciding that he would kill who he had to, to make sure he had his chance at Pyxis.

The sun was setting on the horizon and Pyxis became increasingly frustrated and erratic. For hours now there had been no sign of the cavalry exiting the woods and the thoughts that they might have escaped sent her fuming.

The infantry were slow but it shouldn’t have taken them this long to push the Murukans out of the forest into her trap. Doubt was beginning to set in.

‘Cunx better have found them,’ she swore under her breath as she pressed her destrier harder.

The beast under her was exhausted, only her constant urging and prodding kept it at its relentless pace. Pyxis would not stop until they found the Nails or Cunx and his half of her cavalry. Those behind her were trailing at a distance, cautious of getting too close.

The last soldier who reported no sign of the enemy ended up with a blade through his chest. Pyxis was seething and made no attempt to control her anger. It had taken a few minutes for the red to fade from her vision and she realised that the only thing keeping the soldier upright was her firm grip on the blade buried in his flesh.

She had left him where he fell and ordered the others to move out. Time was running out.

In the fading light Pyxis noticed the cavalry riding toward her. They offered some hesitation before continuing as she drew her blade and her screaming battle cry pierced the air. Kicking her mount, the destrier charged toward the shadows on horseback. Her cavalry followed quickly but they would never reach her before she met the enemy alone.

Galloping across the grass, the woods blurring past her, Pyxis only slowed when she recognised the familiar figure of Cunx at the front of the riders. Reining her horse to a stop, she let him come to her as she returned her blade to her scabbard.

‘Tell me you found them,’ Pyxis seethed.

‘No, not even a sign of them. There were no tracks of horses or men leaving the woods. I thought they must have come out on your side.’

‘They didn’t.’ The two sat there staring at each other, the possibilities turning in their heads. Slowly they both turned toward the woods and peered into the growing darkness within.

‘They wouldn’t have fought the entire infantry unit,’ Cunx said aloud, trying to reassure himself more than anyone else. ‘And if they broke through the line, their horses would have been too tired to run from them for long.’

‘Since when have this lot run, Cunx? They have butchered everything they have come across.’

‘We left that bunch of kids in there with them …’ Cunx let the sentence trail off.

‘That was hours ago. Fucking hell, they’re probably all dead by now and those bastards have had that time to move off in the bloody other direction.’

‘We can’t start chasing them now, Pyxis. The troops need to rest and the poor horses need to stop or they are going to die. If that happens then we’d really be fucked.’

Pyxis was about to argue when Cunx interrupted with an authoritative dismissal. ‘No. We stop now and start chasing at sun up.’

Pyxis was fuming but she knew Cunx was right. He was always right. In the morning someone would die, and if it wasn’t one of those blasted Nails than the first one of her useless fodder to piss her off would pay.

Night had fallen and Pollux was relieved to see the backs of the Kyzantines through tired eyes. The men and women trudged back down the pass toward the valley, taking their siege equipment but leaving the hundreds of dead lying against the wall where they’d fallen. He silently hoped they weren’t planning to attack during the night, he didn’t know if he could pull himself back up the stairs to defend the walls. By the looks of the men, he didn’t think any of them would be in a hurry to come if the warning was called.

Pollux pushed his weary legs to quickly walk the length of Black Claw’s walls. He needed to check that everything was adequate before he would be able to sleep. For the last three nights, sleep had eluded him because he’d forgotten to speak to Byrn and his mind wouldn’t rest until he remembered about what. Tonight he would sleep if it killed him. He walked past the sentries that Octans had posted along the wall, the flaming torches at their backs so as not to impede their vision as they stared vigilantly out into the pass. Gazing out for himself, the shadows were already dancing under the sides of the mountains and he hoped they wouldn’t turn into a real threat.

He strolled through the compound, the familiar smells of dinner wafting to his nostrils and his belly grumbling at the recognition of food. He promised himself he would get some as soon as he had taken care of things.

Byrn came up beside him and grimaced as he looked over his face.

‘Have you slept lately?’ Byrn asked.

‘Have I had time to?’ Pollux snapped defensively.

He immediately regretted it and shrugged apologetically. ‘I need to find out how many more men I lost today so I know if I have anyone left to stand on the walls and defend them in the morning. Then I have to dispatch someone to Buckthorne to see if we can get some more supplies. Do you know that we almost ran out of arrows today? Fucking arrows?’

‘Are the fletchers not producing enough?’

‘Apparently not. Too many targets, not enough ammunition. Those bloody Kyzantines just keep coming, it’s like they have a never ending supply of troops to just keep sending at us.’

‘I will organise all of that. Go and eat something and sleep. I’ll pass round the word that you are not to be interrupted and all inquiries should come to me. A good night’s sleep will help calm you down and you’ll be right in the morning.’

Pollux smiled at the memory of a very similar situation, only both parties had been much younger back then. Last time the child had won and refused to sleep and this time the man knew better. How things had changed.

‘Thanks Byrn. If anything drastic happens let me know okay. I’m responsible you know.’ Pollux watched as Byrn nodded and walked away muttering softly about doing just that, even though Pollux knew he wouldn’t see the old man til sun up.

‘Wait Byrn, there are still the burials that need to be organised …’

His only response was Byrn waving back over his shoulder as he kept walking away and the thought that he had just opened up fresh wounds haunted him.

He found Octans eating and sat down beside him with his own meal and quietly ate. At least the bread was fresh he thought as he chewed. The silence was shattered by a loud creak emanating from down the pass. Everyone’s attention shifted to the possibilities that lay beyond the stonework. Pollux looked at Octans who shrugged and resumed eating. Nothing could disturb the big man when he was shovelling in food. He’d even heard rumours that he had answered the alarm one night fighting with a sword in one hand, a loaf of bread in the other.

Pollux ignored the noise the Kyzantines were making and left them to their nonsense as he found himself a bit of unoccupied ground and lay down. There was no point in finding himself an available bed — something would happen before long and the weather wasn’t that bad tonight. Octans joined him after he had finished and was soon snoring beside him. Pollux closed his eyes and thought of home as he drifted off to sleep.

He woke suddenly as screams echoed in his ears and he jerked himself upright, scanning for the threat. His eyes ran the length of the walls but could see nothing amiss. He turned his attention to the compound and noticed the large boulder off to one side and the screams of the man whose legs were trapped underneath. Two other men were under the weight of the rock, already dead by the time Pollux got over there.

Looking down at the grizzly sight, Pollux shuddered as the men’s bodies ended abruptly where the boulder began.

‘Someone go and get the medics and organise to get this bloody rock off him,’ Pollux yelled over the milling men, all eager to get a look.

Octans was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he knelt beside the trapped man. ‘It’s going to be alright mate, we’ve sent for the medics and they’ll fix you up.’

Pollux wasn’t so sure of that. He was just grateful the man couldn’t see that his legs had disappeared completely under the boulder. The recognition of that alone might kill the man.

He realised what the creaking noise had been earlier in the night. The bloody Kyzantines had wheeled a catapult up the bloody pass and were planning on hurling rocks at them all night. Pollux looked for Ara and hoped that she could do something about this new problem.

He headed for the walls, thinking that he might be able to see the war engine for himself and that Ara might already be there planning on doing something. Climbing the stairs he expected to see it staring back at him but all he could see was darkness. Pollux ran his hand through his hair, thinking that his efforts were futile. Eventually Ara came to stand beside him and peered into the darkness.

‘Can you do something about this?’ he asked.

‘Like what?’

‘Destroy the catapult with magic?’

‘Can’t destroy something I can’t see, Pollux. I have to have a line of sight.’

Pollux’ shoulders slumped as he realised exactly what that meant. The Kyzantines had indirect firing capabilities and all they could do was wait around for it to hit. Maybe in the morning they could deal with this, but not now.

‘You couldn’t teleport closer?’ he asked, clutching at his last possible thread of hope.

‘I need to be able to see where I’m going, where I’ll end up. In the dark I could misjudge and reappear in the middle of the mountain.’

‘Fly?’

‘Pollux, even I have my limits. I’m just too tired to cast. There is only so much I can do. You are just going to have to deal with this the old fashioned way and last it out until the morning when I might be in a position to do something. And no, before you ask, I will not cast a shield over the compound tonight. Do you know how draining that is?’

‘Go and get some sleep. I’ll let the men know they should be prepared for more attacks.’

He spread the word around the camp with his shoulders slumped, finally going past the first boulder and catching the medic’s eye. The man just shook his head and moved off, leaving the corpse trapped under the rock. Pollux turned away from the sight. He couldn’t deal with it now. He found Octans already asleep: obviously the catapult was no real concern for him.

The whistling sounded again, the only real warning they had in the darkness before multiple shadows rained down upon the compound. Rocks pounded into the stonework, shaking the foundation at the core. The men on the walls of Black Claw dropped to their knees as the walls rattled around them.

Smaller rocks fell amongst the sleeping troops, one hitting a man squarely on the skull and his head exploded. Other missiles tore off limbs while Octans continued to slumber.

Pollux shook him violently. ‘How can you sleep through this?’

Octans brushed him away, rolling over and returning to sleep. Angry at his friend’s ability to sleep through this, Pollux left him there, never straying too far. He rubbed at his blood shot eyes he kept his legs moving to stay awake.

The whole compound was tense as the paranoia crept in. There was nothing that could be done about it, they would just have to wait for the morning and hope they could stay awake to avoid the boulders crashing randomly around the compound.

Pollux watched the mixed reaction of the troops. Some slept and others huddled in small groups keeping each other awake. Men took it in turns to sleep while others remained alert. He was proud that they were so organised.

Hours passed without another shot being fired. Those soldiers that had remained awake looked ready to drop and Pollux guessed they regretted their decision. He was in two minds about it himself. Maybe Octans was right and he should have gone back to sleep.

The whistling alerted everybody that the next barrage was coming and those that were awake woke the others. Pollux watched the boulder fly through the air as it came sailing down toward where he had been sleeping earlier. Right to where Octans was still sleeping now. He hadn’t realised he had drifted so far from his friend. He couldn’t run fast enough, couldn’t call out. He could only watch its trajectory now, see it land.

An unnerving fear came from the pit of his stomach as the rock smashed into the ground. Men who it crushed screamed as they died. Finally, Pollux found his courage and went rushing toward the group to see if Octans was alive. He would hate himself if he’d gotten hurt.

Octans woke at the sounds of the screams and looked over to see the boulder on top of two guys barely two metres away. He almost shat himself thinking how it could have been him. The trademark whistling sounded again and he got up and ran, taking off toward the entrance of the pass and passed Pollux on the way, thinking that the man was an idiot for running toward him.

Pollux stopped as he watched Octans run past, turned and went after him as the smaller boulders rained down. The onslaught had begun, the Kyzantine barrage continued. He ran all over the place, dodging between falling rocks in an effort to catch his friend. He kept moving until he left the catapults range, the rocks still falling throughout the compound behind him, Pollux managed to catch up then crash tackle him to the ground. He rolled on top of him and slapped him hard across the face.

‘Snap out of it you fool,’ Pollux hissed.

‘I could have been …’

‘Yes and you weren’t. Deal with it.’

The two remained still for moments, neither sure how this would play out.

Suddenly Octans roared with laughter. ‘Bloody hell, mate, I reckon I’ve got the gods luck on my side.’

Pollux patted him on the chest and rolled off him, smiling at the return of Octan’s humour. ‘Luck, you must have stolen their speed! I’ve never seen you run so fast.’

The two friends sat there in silence, listening to the camp at Black Claw, staring back down at the inevitable. Both were wondering how long their luck could hold out.

The two men reluctantly walked back into camp. Everyone was on high alert, watching the sky and listening for the warnings. Pollux and Octans joined the men in silence, watching the night for shadows and hoping that dawn would come soon.