(eng) Jonathan Moeller - Ghost Exile 09 by Ghost in the Winds

Author:Ghost in the Winds [Winds, Ghost in the]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16: Oath Shadow

In the predawn gloom, the army of Prince Kutal Sulaman Tarshahzon and the emir Tanzir Shahan prepared itself for battle.

Kylon walked through the rows of tents, making for where the Padishah’s banner flew at the head of the army.

When they faced Erghulan Amirasku to the south, the emir’s army had arrayed itself in a traditional battle formation, with the Kaltari footmen and the heavy infantry in the center, the horsemen on the wings, and the skirmishers of the Istarish nomad tribes forming a line of archers before the main host. Here, the army prepared itself for an assault on the city. The horsemen formed up in the center in a massive column, with the Istarish nomads and mounted Kaltari warriors at the column’s head. Once the Ghosts opened the gate, the Kaltari would storm into the Bazaar of the Southern Road, hoping to secure a foothold for the rest of the army. The Istarish nomads would rush after and scatter into the streets of the Anshani Quarter, causing chaos and distracting the defenders. After that, the rest of the horsemen, both mercenary soldiers and the retainers of the rebel emirs, would charge for the gate.

The footmen formed up in rows on either side of the horsemen, gathered around siege ladders. The infantry would charge the walls and throw up the siege ladders to the battlements, using them to storm the ramparts. With the defenders distracted by the open gate, hopefully, the infantry would reach the walls and scale their ladders.

But only if the gate was opened.

If the gate wasn’t opened, the horsemen would be useless. Tanzir would order the siege catapults into range and launch a barrage to cover the charge of the infantry and the ladders to the wall. That might work. It also might result in a catastrophic slaughter as the engineers upon the wall launched their own bombardment of Hellfire amphorae. In the face of such an inferno, the siege ladders would burn like kindling…and so would the men carrying them.

Kylon shook his head as he walked, his sword hand clenching and unclenching. Countless lives were at stake, and they were about to take a tremendous gamble, trusting in the cunning of the Ghosts of Istarinmul. Caina trusted them, of course. She had recruited all of them, and Nerina and Azaces had gone with Caina and Kylon and the others into the Inferno and come out again.

Yet had Kylon asked too much of them? Damla was a coffee merchant. Nerina was a locksmith, and Malcolm a blacksmith. Could they possibly enter the gatehouse and open the gate? Or would they all be killed before they could succeed?

Kylon didn’t know. He supposed that not even Sulaman and the Emissary knew what would happen today.

He stopped as he reached the banners of Sulaman and Tanzir, the captains of the army gathered around them. Sulaman sat atop his horse, having exchanged his simple robe for equally simple plate armor. Mazyan sat scowling next to the Prince, the Oath Shadow’s eyes looking in all directions for any sign of danger.

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