The Coastal Kingdoms of Olvion: Book Two of The Chronicles of Olvion (48 page)

She also informed him that his presence was badly needed in the battle outside, and that he should go and join it at once.  Pan had completed his tasking and his sacrifices should not have been made in vain.

Taggart took a moment to contemplate the knowledge that she had gifted him with.  Then he nodded.  He picked up Tinker and hugged her to himself.  He felt her chest rising and falling.  She looked in his eyes and gave him a short purr.  He recalled the tumultuous days after his first arrival in Olvion, the hunger and the fear which quickly left him after meeting up with his little animal friend.  He remembered how that purring sound had served to calm him when he longed desperately for his old life.  Taggart said a quick prayer that this would not be the last time that he heard that sound.

Then he rose up, kissed Dwan, gathered his weapons and left through the cellar door.

***

Jo-Dal saw the movements within the pirate lines.  His military mind read them like a scholar would read a book.  He turned to seek out Palto on the eastern flank.  When he had the man’s attention he gave the signal to prepare for an infantry attack.  Palto nodded.  Jo-Dal knew that the signal had probably not been needed.  As a seasoned veteran of the Great War, Palto had most likely already recognized the enemy’s actions.  Military protocol was to leave nothing to chance and assume nothing.

Once the Aspellian Commander knew that his flank was ready he began deploying his portion of the invading force.  He took full advantage of the surrounding homes and businesses that lined the waterfront.  He placed his archers in the uppermost rooms and rooftops.  He saw to it that they were supplied with all of the arrows that they had brought with them.

The remaining warriors were stationed as strategically as was possible.  He longed for more javelins and spears, but they had few of those weapons.  The terrain over which they had traveled made it difficult to bring them.  They had gathered up as many of those items as they could from defeated and captured pirates, but they could have used more.

He sorely felt the absence of the one hundred warriors that he had left at the first barricade to watch the prisoners.  They would be useful now, but it was just not in them to murder defenseless prisoners.  It was not in their code of honor.

The only good thing that they had going for them was the fact that the pirates were leaving their hardened defensive positions and bringing the fight to them.  That would allow the Olvionis to turn the tables and defend themselves behind fortifications.  They were still outnumbered almost three to one, but getting the pirates out in the open would be helpful.  Jo-Dal studied the enemy movements for clues as to where they intended to strike.  He took specific note of the smoke rising from numerous sources.

Over on the eastern flank Palto knelt and watched the movements of the pirates.  The soldier had a scar on his left shoulder which always seemed to itch every time he faced danger.  The greater the danger, the more it itched.  He realized that the sensation was probably more mental than physical, but he noticed that the scar was itching furiously now.

He looked back over his shoulder.  The hundreds of warriors which he oversaw were well-positioned to repel an attack.  If the numbers were even he would be comfortable of victory.  Even at two-to-one odds Palto would take wagers on their success.  However, he had been in battles before with the Grey Ones and having three enemy fighters for every one friendly were daunting odds.

Palto sighed.  Such was the life of a soldier.  His wife and daughters knew that there would likely come a day when he would not return.  The kingdom would see to their support with a nice pension so he had no worry in that direction.  He thought of his wife, Io.  She was a beauty.  He frowned.  They lived next door to a widower named Ronge.  Palto did not like Ronge.  He was always coming around to “help” Io when Palto was deployed.  If he fell today, Palto prayed that Io would find someone…anyone…other than Ronge.

***

Lampte looked around once more, searching for Tallun.  Most of this mess was his doing and he was not even here to share the fight.  Maybe he had already been killed elsewhere in the city.  He doubted it.  The pompous serpent would avoid danger at all costs.  He was most likely hiding in an attic somewhere, shaking like a wet cur.

The Governor had decided to divide his forces.  He had a number of fighters which totaled somewhere around thirty five hundred.  His three areas of concern were the major concentration of enemy soldiers which was directly in front of his position, the slightly smaller concentration of invaders to the east and the ships which were still entering the harbor. 

Once the entire invasion fleet was assembled within the harbor, they would make a run for the piers and the quay wall, trying to tie up and offload additional fighters.  Tallun decided to designate a thousand of his seamen to keep track of the fleet and prevent them from putting their men ashore.  There would be more than a thousand fighters aboard those vessels, but it would be extremely difficult to offload them while fighting their way into port.

The main force in front of them would probably be commanded by their principal military mind.  Lampte estimated those invaders to number six or seven hundred men and women.  He had been surprised to see that so many of the outlander fighters were female.  The brief battle by the fire trap had left him impressed by their ability.

That left the eastern flank.  Lampte’s best guess was that the smaller group totaled around three hundred.  That was their best chance for a crippling and morale-sucking strike. 

Lampte ordered a thousand pirates to prepare for an attack on the weaker flank.  The remaining fifteen hundred or so would remain at the barricades unless the larger force of invaders moved to reinforce the smaller group.  Then the remaining force of pirates would move in.  They would not try to engage the larger invading force in any way other than to prevent it from reinforcing the eastern flank.  Let the outlanders hear the sound of their brothers dying for a change.

Once he had made his decisions he got his fighters moving.  After passing the word to his lieutenants, Lampte gave the signal.  A dozen bugles blew out a note, and the designated attack force of one thousand pirates and townsmen charged the eastern flank of the invading army.

***

Jo-Dal heard the signal bugles sound.  He turned to Palto and gave a signal of his own. 

The Olvioni forces had started this campaign with just three hundred archers.  One hundred of those warriors had been assigned to Palto’s flank.  They waited now, concealed behind the wooden buildings of the waterfront town.  Contrary to Lampte’s expectations, they were not hidden in the windows, roofs and attics.  This would have given the more accurate Olvioni archers a better field of fire, but tactics were crucial in warfare and a good tactic was worth a thousand men…sometimes.  Palto hoped his commander had correctly judged the enemy movements. 

When the attack bugles sounded, Lampte’s surviving archers launched a volley of two hundred flaming arrows at the buildings to the east.  The shafts had been launched as high as was possible in an attempt to cover the three hundred yards of distance from the town guard barricades.  Only a few were able to make it that far, and those had mostly lost their flames after such a long flight. 

As per Lampte’s plan the archers were executing a walking assault on the weak flank.  They were accompanied by other fighters with tinder boxes and torches that were there to light the treated arrows.  They kept up a steady barrage against the outlanders as they advanced.  Behind their ranks were eight hundred infantry troops.  Actually, they were simple outlaws, but most of them had been in battle before, both at sea and when assaulting seaside towns.

Lampte kept a nervous watch on the main group of invaders to the south.  At the first sign of an attempt to reinforce their flank he would order his reserve troops into action.  So far there had been no response from the stronger group.

After covering a hundred yards with no response of any kind the pirate assault group grew emboldened.  Most of their arrows were still too far away to score meaningful hits on their intended targets, but a few structures were now smoking. 

When they were a hundred and fifty yards from the eastern edge of the town, the flaming shafts of the pirate archers began to have an effect.  Flames licked up at the sides of the old buildings, shops and homes.  There was more smoke now, and more arrows hit their marks.

Still atop his wagon perch, Lampte was watching hopefully.  “Yes!” he thought.  “The buildings are alight.  Now let these invading curs see what it felt like to burn, just as our archers had burned within the warehouse.”

The stretch of buildings under attack spanned a hundred yards of construction.  Most of it was now aflame to one point or another.  The heat was already being felt by the approaching pirate infantry.

Yet, there were no screams of agony coming from inside. 

At a distance of one hundred yards the infantry yelled triumphantly and charged past the archers in their group.  The bowmen, feeling like their duty had been done, knelt in the open field and unstrung their weapons.

When the attacking pirate infantry were still seventy five yards from the burning structures a warrior from Jo-Dal’s group atop a three story building stood and raised a yellow pennant.  This was the signal that had been previously agreed upon.  The hundred archers in the eastern flank took aim over the tops of the burning buildings and loosed their arrows.  They had to estimate the range for their missiles, but these were experienced archers and most of their shafts fell upon the approaching pirates.  The damage was minor, some thirty or so of their infantry fell.  The unaffected barely noticed their dead and wounded brethren.

Palto gave a hand signal, and his archers took five steps backward and launched another volley, this one aimed a bit higher to land closer.  These also did little real damage, dropping forty two pirates.

The dance continued, the pirates advancing steadily with swords and axes raised over their heads while the Olvioni archers fell back slowly while launching their arrows.

Then, to the west, Jo-Dal signaled to his archery Sub-Commander.  The other two hundred Olvioni archers, augmented by fifty more warriors who were cross-trained as bowmen, fired a volley.  These archers were already stationed in the upper floors and rooftops of the Kylee structures behind which the remaining Olvioni troops were concealed.  Their unimpeded view of the attacking pirates to the east allowed them to take careful aim.  The tightly packed pirate infantry presented a tempting target.

The pirates in the vanguard of the assault did not notice the rain of darts that fell among their fighters in the rear.  The two hundred and fifty arrows scored meaningful hits on one hundred and twelve pirates. 

A second barrage of arrows from the south did similar damage.

Over by the seawall, Lampte watched impotently as the strength of his attacking infantry dropped by two hundred and fifty fighters in the space of two minutes.  He jumped up and down and waved his arms, frantically trying to get the attention of his archers and have them return to the safety of the barricades.  The archers, however, were too involved in watching the spectacle that was taking place in front of them.  The first line of infantry was now reaching the burning stretch of seafront buildings. 

Palto had his warriors abandon the lines of burning structures closest to the water and bade them fall back across a narrow street.  With the fire safely insulated by distance he re-positioned his archers.  The burning buildings left only a dozen or so avenues through which the pirates could pass.  Palto’s bowmen targeted those positions and soon began piling up bodies as they funneled through the openings.  The sight of so many of their comrades being shot down had the effect of slowing their progress.  The near constant rain of arrows from the south and the east steadily reduced the strength of the pirate attack.

Eventually one of Lampte’s lieutenants saw the handwriting on the wall and ordered a retreat.  The infantry quickly backed away from the burnt and ruined edifices, dragging their wounded.  Jo-Dal pressed his advantage and directed a last volley of arrows at the exposed and vulnerable pirate archers.  Lampte seethed as he saw sixty-two of his valuable bowmen fall.  The remaining archers scattered in all directions seeking cover from the hail of death.  Lampte knew that some were heading for the hillsides.  Those would likely never be seen again.

Of the original one thousand fighters that Lampte had sent against the Olvionis only some five hundred and fifty returned to the barricades.  They left their morale behind.  This battle impressed upon the pirates the truth of their situation; they may have the outlanders outnumbered, but they were up against a well-trained army.  More than a few dark looks were now being directed at Lampte.  Twice now they had followed his orders and left five hundred or more of their number dead on the ground.  No army could withstand such a loss, especially when the invaders’ casualties appeared to be miniscule in comparison.

To the east, unseen by the pirates, Palto had his archers busy recovering arrows from bodies and other places.  He checked his people and saw that he’d lost only six warriors when the pirates had temporarily broken through the deadly funnels.  Nine more were wounded but capable of service.

***

Jo-Dal climbed up into the attic of the three story packing house and then ascended the ladder which gave access to the roof.  From this vantage point he observed the enemy positions with the aid of his scope.