Beyond the Bulwarks by K.J. Coble

Author:K.J. Coble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Greco-Roman, Military Fantasy, Barbarians
Publisher: K.J. Coble
Published: 2021-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Battle of the Bulwarks

Dawn came to the morning of battle as pale gold shot through with the hoarfrost of clouds. The slender valley through which the Icing Creek cut materialized before the eyes in contrasts of woody dark and faintly glistening white. As the fresh sun dragged itself above the horizon the tiny tributary, true to its name, shimmered under jags of ice as hard as stone.

Above the valley the army of the Free Cantons arrayed.

Anzo and Heathen stood behind the shieldwall of the Hamrak at the center of the line, at the crest of a wide, shallowly sloping hill with woods at their backs. They’d arrived the night before, passing the dark hours amongst that forest, shivering under thin blankets as the wind jarred clumps of snow loose from branches to torment them.

Men stomped their feet for warmth, blew their hands and cursed when flesh touched frosty weapons. One or two at a time, increasingly larger knots, drifted back to urinate or shit, the stink of it souring the crisp air with its redolence of fear. Straedus and the mounted Hamrak cantered back and forth as these expeditions continued, at Durrim’s warning watchful for shirkers and the nervousness that could easily kindle panic. The morn found the young chieftain amongst his elders, stress and sleeplessness having carved shadowy lines under his eyes as he spoke tersely with Endus.

Craning his neck to work a cramp from the base of his skull, Anzo panned his gaze back into the frost-limned gloom of the woods to find a heavily cloaked figure atop a bony, uncertain mare; Varya, whose stare found his momentarily with an jade glint. There might have been a smile but her tightly-bundled cowl hid it. Her presence had been a surprise, one that had set some of the more conservative-minded Hamraks to grumbling of bad luck and curses. But Durrim, backed openly, even vehemently by Theregond, had prevailed.

It seemed that, arrayed against a foe who rumor said could summon demons, even a witch would be welcome.

Anzo pivoted left, to where the Erevulans formed on the Hamraks’ flank. Easily the largest contingent, their numbers had swelled with the march to the Icing, elements pouring in from across the countryside, all of them primed already, it appeared, to answer their King’s summons. Again, Anzo found himself considering how much things seemed to have moved according to some deeper machination of Theregond’s.

The King, himself, waited behind and to the right of his force amongst a knot of riders, his nobles, obvious by the splendor of their panoplies. Further behind them, but never out of earshot of Theregond’s voice, hovered a dozen mounted Vaethin priests, silent, hidden almost in the snowy brambles by their white cloaks. Theregond was saying something to his retinue, words unheard at distance but conversational in tone. A chuckle went through the men, spread to some of the Erevulan foot, rustling behind their shields.

To the right of the Hamrak spread the lines of the Thrungi, ragged and weary.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.