The Shadow's Glare (The War Gryphon Saga Book 4) by Robert H. Fleming

Author:Robert H. Fleming [Fleming, Robert H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2023-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

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Arrow after arrow smacked into the shield barrier raised to protect Gaius.

It was clear that Zagros had ordered the Sarissa archers to aim for officers on the loyalist side. That made Gaius’s plumed helmet and the signal corps that clung to his tail a clear target. In response, the legion’s rear talons stacked their shields and presented a wall to protect their general.

Another arrow bit into the wood of the barrier with a crack. Every once in a while a ping would sound out as a bolt struck the metal engraving of the dueling infinities across the shields. Gaius did his best to ignore the distractions.

He stuck his head out and surveyed his western flank. Visibility was poor. He was constrained by his lack of movement behind the line. Reports came in from his officers. Gaius tried to keep ahold of everything and all the moving pieces. He had Volgus continuously sending him images of the fighting from the sky, but the attack had devolved into a mass of men and it was difficult to garner a true status even from the air.

“Send the rest of the Fifth to the west. Captain Barnas can use them where he needs.” Gaius opened his mouth to go on and order further talons to the eastern flank as well, but Volgus interrupted him.

The mount brought news from Air Captain Martius and Avorian. A blurred view of the demigryphs almost surrounded by Sarissa and Martius fighting against multiple gryphons on the back of Avorian flashed for the general.

The east wasn’t going to hold much longer.

Legionnaires in the center had done well in pushing back much of Zagros’s main attack. The air cavalry, with Volgus helping them, held their own above in the sky as well.

But the position was still tenuous.

The Sarissa contingent created the chorus of arrows smacking against Gaius’s shield barrier. They also fielded the horses galloping circles around the legion’s demigryphs in the east. Those mercenaries were the difference this day.

“Stay that order,” Gaius said. He held out a hand to keep the messenger from sprinting away to the Fifth’s location.

An arrowhead punched through a shield and gashed a legionnaire’s arm. The man grunted and held in his scream and kept his part of the barrier steady.

Trumpets blew from the rebel side as they rallied for further aggression. All noise was a distraction. Gaius fought to gather his thoughts. There was no other path here for him.

With a shake of his head, the general relayed new orders.

“Sound the horn to fall back,” he said. “The center clears first and we hold the flanks. The gryphons can cover us, but there won’t be much time.”

Messengers scattered to the other command posts. Loyalist horns bugled out long notes, calling the retreat. The noise would spur the rebels into a furor from a perceived victory.

The Fifteenth had been in perpetual retreat for days. Gura first. Now from the trench defenses. The walls of their camp position would offer some respite from the violence of the rebels.

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