charge in history, so I don’t really need to describe it in detail,
do
I?
I probably couldn’t give you a very good description anyway, because
something else caught my eye just then. Kal Torak’s black iron
pavilion was in the center of the horde, and I saw a raven spiraling up
from one of its spires. I was fairly certain it wasn’t an ordinary
raven. Either Zedar wanted to see the Mimbrates for himself, or he’d
concluded even as I had that the best place to direct a battle was from
over the top of it.
There was a surprise waiting for him, though. Far above the
battlefield, a single white speck plummeted down toward the raven that
was spiraling upward. That particular form of attack is highly unusual
for the snowy owl, and no ordinary owl should have been out hunting in
the daytime. . . .
There was a puff of black feathers when the owl struck, and Zedar fled,
squawking in terror.
Kal Torak’s Malloreans were good soldiers, I’ll give them that much,
but nobody could have met the charge of those Mimbrate knights. I’d
estimate that there were at least ten thousand of them. The front
ranks charged with leveled lances, and the crash when they struck the
Malloreans was thunderous. So far as I could tell, the charge didn’t
even falter as the front ranks of the Malloreans were ridden under.
We’d spent months discussing this particular tactic at the Imperial War
College in Tol Honeth. The charge of the Mimbrate knights had one
purpose and one only: it was designed to keep the Malloreans in place
so that they couldn’t rush to the aid of the armies on their flanks.
Mimbrates are enthusiasts, though, and Mandor, who led the charge, gave
every indication that he fully intended to ride up to Kal Torak’s iron
pavilion and start banging on his door.
There were casualties among those knights, of course, but not as many
as you might expect. I guess full body armor has its good points,
after all. Even beyond that, though, the ferocity of the charge
demoralized the Malloreans. They hadn’t expected it, for one thing,
since there was no real reason for it. Vo Mimbre had stood like a rock
in the face of two days of furious assaults, and there was no cause to
believe that this day would be any different. We’d taken that element
of surprise into our planning. The startled Malloreans gave way as the
Mimbrates charged right into their faces, and the charge cut a wide
swath through their ranks.
“Father!” Polgara’s voice sounded inside my head.
“Zedar’s trying something else! He just came out of the pavilion
again!”
“Which way’s he going?”
“East. He’s taken the form of a deer.”
“I’ll chase him back.” I veered off toward the Murgo lines and saw
Zedar running swiftly through the red-armored ranks. I’ve never really
understood why he chose that form. He knew what my favorite form was,
and taking the form of a deer wasn’t the best choice he could have
made.
I got out some distance ahead of him, settled to earth among the
foothills, and went wolf. He was running hard when he approached the
place where I was concealed, bounding up the hill with his antlers
flaring above his head. He stopped abruptly when I stepped, snarling,
out from behind a clump of bushes. He tried to dodge around me, but
that didn’t work. I was just too close to him. Zedar’s day wasn’t
going at all well.
I didn’t really try to kill him, though I suppose I could have. I bit
him a number of times in some fairly sensitive spots, and he turned and
bolted back toward the Murgo lines. It’s not really a good idea to
turn your back on a wolf. I ran along behind him savaging his
hindquarters as he fled. He wouldn’t be sitting down very much when he
resumed his own form. I made sure of that.
I broke off the chase when I was a hundred yards or so from the Murgo
lines, and then I trotted back up into the hills.
“Beltira,” I called the twin who was with Cho-Ram and Rhodar, “the
Mimbrates are fully engaged now. You’d better come on down here and
distract the Murgos.”
“If you wish,” he replied, and a moment later Cho-Ram’s trumpet
signaled the charge. There was a thunder of hooves as the Algar
cavalry closed the distance between the place where they’d lain
concealed during the night and the Murgo lines. I’d taken cover among
a cluster of boulders, and I watched Cho-Ram lead his horsemen down the
hill to engage the Murgos.
The Algar tactics were quite a bit different from those of the
Mimbrates.
Heavy cavalry rushes in to crush the enemy, but light cavalry slashes
at him. Ad Rak Cthoros had his own cavalry units of course, but they
were no match for the Algars. Soon there was a running battle taking
place out in front of the Murgo lines, and the Murgo horsemen were
definitely coming out second best. Then, when the mounted Murgos were
badly out of position, Rhodar arrived with his pike men and Brasa’s
Ulgo irregulars were artfully concealed among their ranks. The
combination worked out quite well. You really can’t get too close to a
man with a twenty-foot-long pike, and keeping him from slicing you to
pieces with it is going to take all your attention. The Ulgos are a
short-statu red people, and they move very quickly, as a large number
of Murgos found out that day. Ulgo weapons are very unpleasant things.
There are a lot of hooks and saw-edges involved in them. A wave of
screaming rose from the Murgo ranks, since those Ulgo knives aren’t
designed to kill people instantly. Ulgo s probably hate Angaraks even
more than Alorns do, so they tend to take their time killing Murgos.
The Murgos they killed were only incidental, though. Brasa’s
instructions were to take his people through the Murgo front and to
deal with Grolims. We’d provided the Ulgos with black, hooded robes,
and that permitted them to move around among the Murgos almost at will.
If Zedar grew desperate enough, he’d probably try to call on the
priests of Torak to assist him in breaking the rules. Brasa was making
sure that when he tried that, not very many Grolims would be around to
answer the call.
I watched from the top of that outcropping of boulders, and when I saw
that the Murgos were fully engaged, I sent my thought out in search of
Beldin.
“Where are you?” I called to him.
“About a half mile from the Nadrak lines,” he replied.
“The Chereks are already working on them.”
“You might as well take Cerran’s legions in. The Mimbrates have got
the Malloreans pinned down, and Cho-Ram and Rhodar have got the Murgos’
full attention on this side. It’s time to hit the Nadraks and Thulls.
See if Cerran can break through them with some of his legions. I think
the Mimbrates could use some help.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“Polgara!” I said then.
“I’m busy, father. Don’t pester me.”
“What are you doing now? I told you to stay out of this!”
“I’m at Torak’s pavilion. We ought to know what he and Zedar are up
to.”
“Get away from there, Poll It’s too dangerous!”
“I know what I’m doing, father. Don’t get so excited. What did you do
to Zedar? He’s limping around and groaning.”
“I nipped him a few times. Is feeling sorry for himself about all he’s
doing?”
“No. He’s trying to persuade Torak to go outside and take command of
his army. He isn’t having much luck, though. Torak refuses to
move.”
“He’s probably waiting for Brand’s challenge. I don’t suppose there’s
anything I can say to persuade you to get away from there, is there?”
“I’m perfectly fine, father.”
“Torak probably can hear you, Pol.”
“He can’t hear a thing, it’s taken care of. He can’t see me, and he
can’t hear me. I’ll let you know when he decides to come out.”
I muttered a few swear words, but my heart wasn’t really in it. The
fact that Polgara was practically in the same room with Torak and Zedar
gave us an enormous advantage. I trotted back in among the boulders
and slipped into the form of my falcon again.
You wouldn’t believe how well you can direct a battle when you’re
flying over the top of it. We were coming at Torak’s forces from all
sides now–except from the north. I didn’t want to spring that little
surprise on Zedar until after he’d committed his reserves. I wanted
the Angarak armies fully engaged before I brought in the Rivans,
Sendars, and Asturians. Their situation was grave at the moment, but
it wouldn’t grow desperate until Cerran’s legions broke through the
Nadraks and Thulls to attack the Mallorean right.