Authors: Sam Barone
Enough light reached the bed to see Esk kar’s eyes open. For a moment he sighed contentedly. Then he tried to sit up, as he remembered what today would bring.
She kept her arms around him. “Stay a moment. It’s more than two hours before dawn.” She buried her face against his chest and held him with all her strength.
He kissed her gently, then turned on his side, keeping one arm around her. “I have to go.”
Trella heard men talking and moving about downstairs, as they prepared for the battle. She knew the sounds called to him and that she must let him go.
“How long have I slept? You said you …”
“Almost three hours. You’ve scarcely slept in three days. Gatus told me to let you sleep.” Her arms couldn’t prevent him from sitting up.
“I must go, Trella. The men need to see me before the battle.”
“I know, husband. Just remember to take care. There’s no need for you to take chances. Let others earn the glory today.”
She stood and watched as he laced up his sandals.
Esk kar took his time, knotting them securely, then stood and buckled on his sword. He hadn’t undressed before lying down. “This is the last battle. For five months we’ve prepared, and now it’s upon us. Today we either win or fall.”
Trella shook her head. “There is never a last battle. Remember that and you won’t act rashly.” She came into his arms and pressed against him, then lifted her arms around his neck. He tried to kiss her, but she clung so tightly all he could do was brush his lips against her forehead.
“Trella, I … you have to let me go.”
She said nothing, but loosened her hold on him and stepped aside, her head downcast.
“Take care for your own self, and remember what I’ve told you if we fail.”
He spoke the words calmly, but their meaning brought pain to her heart. She stood there as he turned and left the room. Trella heard his steps down the stairs. “May the gods go with you, husband, in all the places of danger that you will fi nd today.” She spoke the prayer aloud, but more to herself than to the gods. The tears came, but briefly. She had her own duties to attend to.
Esk kar went first to the well, quenching his thirst and washing his face in the flickering torchlight before returning to the kitchen. A single lamp showed Bantor, Alexar, Grond, and a few others seated at the table. Esk kar joined them, and they picked at the cold fowl and drank the weak ale the women set out. No one spoke, each in his thoughts, occasionally glancing at the tiny window to see if the stars had begun to dim. Each, as he finished eating, took chunks of bread and stuffed them in his pouch before leaving.
There might not be another chance to eat the whole long day.
In the courtyard Esk kar found Sisuthros making sure each man knew his duty and station. Sisuthros hadn’t slept during the night, offering to let the others sleep while he patrolled the walls and prepared its defenders.
In the fl ickering light, Esk kar thanked him for the long night’s work, then clasped his arm in farewell.
Orak slept little during the night, as word spread the barbarians were mustering their forces and would attack at dawn. The commanders and village leaders inspected their men and ordered everyone to be at their station before first light. The cooking fires started early. Villagers and soldiers ate tasteless meals in silence and near - darkness, then drank again from the water jars in preparation for a long, hard day.
Parents, husbands, and lovers said their goodbyes, their voices low, faces grim, their futures uncertain. The whole village felt fear and tension.
By sundown their fate would be decided.
The water wheels had run steadily since yesterday, filling the ditch with as much water as possible. Corio no longer worried about weakening the base of the wall. Senior men inspected weapons, checked water stores, and made sure each man knew his place. Archers strung fresh bowstrings on their bows, then tested them by torchlight. The rasp of sharpening stones grated endlessly, as men honed swords and axes to fighting edges.
Followed by his bodyguards, Esk kar strode to the main gate. Gatus and the other commanders had begun one last circuit of the village. They’d make sure all the men stood ready and at their posts, their weapons, equipment, and tools at hand.
Esk kar found Corio checking the ropes on the parapets that stretched across the gate, Alcinor at his side. The upper, smaller one sagged in the middle under its load of stones. The lower, wider and better supported, held an even greater weight of men and stones. Corio looked ready to collapse from the strain. Fear showed on the faces of both father and son in the torchlight. Today the master builder’s wall and gate would face their greatest challenge.
As Esk kar watched, a line of villagers passed buckets of water up to the top of the gate, where others gently upended them in a slow stream designed to soak its outer face. That process would continue all day, to keep the wood as wet as possible.
“The night before a battle is always a long one, Corio,” Esk kar said reassuringly.
“We’re nearly ready, Captain,” Corio answered, his voice pitched higher than normal. “Only a few more tasks …”
“You’ve plenty of time.” These men needed calming more than anything else. “Try and rest, or you’ll be useless when you are most needed.
Once the battle begins, you’ll be too busy to worry about anything.”
Before they could reply he walked past them to enter the north tower.
As he climbed the still - dark steps, he called out greetings, letting the men know he’d arrived, sensing rather than seeing the relief on their faces.
When he reached the top, the sentries cleared a place for him at the wall.
Esk kar had spent much of yesterday at this same spot, watching for any hint of the barbarians’ plans. He’d stared at the enemy camp until midnight, when Gatus demanded he get some rest. Esk kar left the wall, but only when they promised to awaken him three hours before sunrise.
He didn’t expect to sleep, but his body surprised him and he fell asleep moments after lying down, an arm thrown over his eyes as if to keep the dawn away as long as possible.
Now the time for sleep had passed. Esk kar looked toward the eastern sky. He thought he could detect a lighter shade of blackness. Lowering his eyes, he saw the line of the hills etched sharply against the glow of Alur Meriki fires. Nothing moved atop those hills. In front of the hills, darkness still covered the plain.
Leaning against the wall, Esk kar waited for the fi rst glimmer of dawn.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. Though the hills lay more than a mile away, he could hear faint sounds of activity and knew preparations would have continued throughout the night. He recognized the rumble of wagons mixed with the occasional neighing of a skittish horse, frightened as it moved through the darkness, uncertain of its step or startled by torches that snapped and hissed. There would be plenty of fire to light their preparations, but only behind the hills, giving the defenders no glimpse of what lay hidden.
Behind him he heard the tread of feet on the steps. Men moved beside and behind him as the soldiers filled their positions on the wall. The archers said little, as if they feared words would hasten the dawn or disturb the enemy.
“Well, Captain of the Guard, it sounds like barbarians are on the move out there.” Gatus had returned, his loud voice breaking the spell. “They’ll come early today, I think. We’ve been hearing movement from behind the hills all night.”
Esk kar turned to face his second in command. In the torchlight, he saw most of his subcommanders. Sisuthros, Maldar, Grond, Totomes, even Myandro and a few others. Bantor remained at the courtyard, too weak to do much more than sit at a table and help coordinate the reserves.
Along the wall everyone watched and waited. Each wanted to be first to learn what the day had in store for them. The soldiers remained silent as the false dawn ebbed in the east, but they pressed forward as the stars began to disappear.
The noise coming from the plain increased, more horses moving about, the faint clink of sword and lance, the deeper groaning of cart wheels.
The hilltops seemed to move and waver in the dim glow. The sky began to lighten, with tiny fingers of red and gold reaching up into the darkness, then a broad stream of sunlight flowed into the heavens as the first rays of true dawn swept into the sky.
The edge of the sun appeared over the hills and bathed the plain with soft, reddish light that revealed the enemy’s movements at last. Esk kar saw wagons everywhere along the top of the hills, all moving slowly but purposefully down toward the plain, fi nding their positions and gathering themselves for the long journey toward Orak’s walls. Hundreds of men pulled and pushed at the carts, assigned to make sure each wagon reached its destination. Warriors walked alongside the wagons.
Many in the front ranks carried no weapons and Esk kar realized that slaves and captives would be human shields to protect the warriors. Huge shields appeared everywhere, each large enough to protect three or four men, carried at each end by warriors or slaves. Not many rode their horses today, and those on horseback moved toward the flanks of the village, away from the main gate.
Esk kar stared in wonder at the number of men coming toward them.
They’d killed hundreds of warriors and yet the enemy still had so many to send into battle. “And so it begins,” he said, more to himself than to those standing beside him.
Only Gatus heard the odd remark and the old soldier turned toward him. “I care not how it begins, only how it ends. And we’ll know that soon enough.”
“They fight on foot today,” Sisuthros commented. “No more wild charges. They’ll be easy targets and our archers will cut them to shreds.”
“It looks like every wagon in their camp is coming our way,” Gatus said.
“They intend to bring them to the very edge of the ditch and fight from behind them.”
“And the sun will be in our eyes the whole time.” Totomes’s accent still sounded strange after all these weeks. “A long morning for our archers.”
“They’re coming right toward the gate.” Sisuthros shaded his eyes with his hands. “And smoke is coming from the wagons. They carry fire.”
Esk kar watched the Alur Meriki as they deployed their men in a slow but orderly fashion. No signs of confusion today, no aimless galloping back and forth, no loud boasting from the riders, only a few warriors on horseback directing men who pulled or pushed their loads. Thutmose - sin had prepared well. They’d had enough weeks to get ready.
Esk kar worried about the number of wagons and their wooden burdens. He’d burned an enormous amount of wood two nights ago, yet it all appeared to have been replaced.
“Look at the size of those shields,” Gatus marveled. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Just crossing the distant hilltops, ten or twelve men appeared carrying a huge wooden shield, maybe six paces wide and twice as long. They looked like those he and Grond had burned.
Esk kar studied them for a long moment. “I think they’re platforms to lay across the mud. They plan to cross the ditch on those. There’s more of them on the wagons.”
Nobody spoke for a moment, as each commander contemplated what these unusual implements would mean. It seemed that today the attackers would be the ones with new tactics.
“Totomes,” Esk kar said, “do your archers have any fire arrows?”
“No, Captain, we didn’t think they’d be necessary.”
“Better start making them. A lot of them.”
“Yes, Captain.” Totomes started down the tower’s steps.
“Good hunting today, Totomes.” If the man heard him, he didn’t bother to reply. Esk kar turned back to his men.
“Sisuthros, get Nicar and anyone else you can find. Have them gather torches and as much of the oil that burns, if we’ve any left. Bring everything to the gate. We may have to burn these wagons and platforms ourselves.”
He looked intently at each man for any sign of panic or fear, but saw only determination. “Everyone get to your positions and tell your men what’s coming. The more they know what to expect, the less likely they’ll be to panic.”
As Gatus started down the steps, he grabbed one of Esk kar’s bodyguards. “Make sure he puts on his helmet and wears as much leather as you can find, or I’ll personally have your head.”
Esk kar smiled at the old man’s worries. It was a waste of time to argue with him. Turning back to the wall, he studied the advancement before him, shading his eyes. Horses, men, and wagons now covered the plain, all moving slowly, the leading edge already halfway to Orak. Before long the foremost barbarians would be in range and today the arrows would start as soon as possible.
Behind him men began shouting and moving about. He heard Totomes giving orders to his archers, including those who would target only clan leaders. His two sons would target little else.
Well, Totomes, this is your day
for taking your revenge on the Alur Meriki.
By sunset, no matter how it ended, the master archer and his sons would slay more than enough of their foes to satisfy their blood feud.
Esk kar scanned the plains. Two streams of riders, backed by archers and men carrying ladders, moved toward the north and south walls. They’d try and draw soldiers away from the gate and towers. The bulk of the Alur Meriki came straight at the gate. They meant to bridge the ditch by pushing wagons and wooden platforms into place until they could attack the gate itself. Wagons and shields would provide protection for their archers.
Looking at the hills, he saw men still coming from the camp, but fewer of them. Almost all those in the front ranks were weaponless slaves, many of them women. They pushed wagons, or carried wood or pots of fire.
The Alur Meriki considered the slaves expendable, since a new supply could be obtained once they captured the village. So nothing would be held back today—every slave that could walk and every man that could hold a weapon. Esk kar signaled to one of the messengers kneeling against the wall. “Find one of the scribes and try to get a count of their fighting men.”