Chapter 95
We faced the Chieftain's army across open meadowlands, with the river on our left hand and the wooded hills that climbed away eastward to the Shaws on our right. In the middle distance beyond the enemy host the bear's crag could be seen, shrunken by the distance, a familiar landmark and a destination we were now unlikely to attain. I thought sourly to myself that I had never yet fought in a battle where the numbers were even or in our favour and so it seemed again today. Belegon had brought about four thousand northward up the road from Lastbridge and by my estimation the strength of the Hillmen's host was at least half that again. Since neither side had the advantage of surprise or the lie of the land in their favour I thought it likely that those superior numbers would tell. Our captains went back and forth amongst us, exhorting us to fight in the usual manner, but the words they uttered seemed empty and foolish to me now, for I faced this battle with only one thought, and that was to somehow survive it. The new King had chosen not to lead his own men but remain behind in Lastbridge and it was Belegon who rode along the line on a large horse that was already soaked in sweat, his face a mask, saying nothing as he went past us. His silence was matched by that of the men around me and I wondered if he already knew the day was lost, for unlike the host we had faced at Greenhow these Hillmen appeared to be disciplined and well ordered, their ranks neat and well formed up as they made their own preparations for what was about to follow.
That day there was no preamble or parley for across the meadows a great roar went up and the whole host began to move towards us as one. It all seemed to me to be happening too quickly, and moments later the cry went up for us to advance in turn. We pressed forward, marching forward in close formation, hunched over behind our shields, swords and spears at the ready. As we closed on the Hillmen our archers halted behind us and began to fire volleys of arrows over our heads towards their ranks, and the air was once again full of the deadly whine and rattle of arrows. This time however our foe had an answer of their own, for no sooner had our archers loosed those of the enemy sent their reply arcing into the clear blue sky. This too was something new and terrible, for the Hillmen had never fought with any more than a small number of bowmen, mostly hunters from of the Shaws.
Their arrows fell upon us like rain and exacted a terrible toll. Men began to fall all around me and the air was soon full of the screams of the wounded and dying. I am not ashamed to say that at that moment that my courage deserted me, for the random death dealt from above by an arrowhead was the one thing that I had always feared the most in battle. Somehow I was spared again that day, but the downpour was so intense and our casualties soon so great that our advance began to falter, and we were only driven on by the weight of numbers pressing behind us. Then as swiftly as it had begun the deadly rain of arrows ceased and with a great clash of steel we met the charge of the Hillmen head on in a bloody fight that was as ferocious as any I was ever involved in. They fought like men possessed and with their greater weight of numbers soon began to drive us back. All around me men began to fall back and flee for their lives. I had done what was necessary in the fray to remain alive but had no wish to spend my life for this new King, and at the first opportunity I too turned on my heels and fled the field. The trickle of retreating men quickly began to turn into a torrent as our centre collapsed and the Hillmen pursued us mercilessly at first, driving a wedge clean through our lines and splitting our host in two. Elsewhere on the flanks the rest of the host fought bravely on, but any courage they displayed would now be in vain as the day would soon be lost.
For a while we ran, a great disordered mass of soldiery fleeing back southward along the road in the noonday heat until we could run no more, and once it became clear that we were no longer immediately pursued most fell into a rapid walk. Every now and again a rumour that the Hillmen were upon us again would come down the column, and hot weary men would begin to run again only to find that it was yet another false report. In the end many including myself ceased to heed the panicked cries when they came. I doubted that a disciplined force such as the one we now faced would engage in a wild and disorganised pursuit and leave themselves vulnerable to a counter attack. The new Chieftain had learned well from the defeats of the past and would come south soon enough on his own terms.
Several hours into the march south we heard the sound of horses and were overtaken by a group of riders who came by us at a trot, but they were few in number and did not speak or acknowledge our presence. They quickly disappeared into the distance leaving a pall of dust in the air behind them and several of those around me cursed them for cowards once they were safely out of earshot for saving their own skins and leaving the rest of us to our fates. Belegon was not amongst them, and I did not see Daeron either. I felt a pang of regret at the thought that he might have been killed and regretted the harsh words we had shared when we had last spoken, but there was nothing to be done now.
Eventually my thirst got the better of me and I left the column and made my way to the river to find some water to ease my terrible thirst and wash away some of the dust and dirt of battle. A sergeant in the group I had been marching with attempted to order me back into line but I disregarded his threats and curses and took myself away from the road towards the river, which was again close by at this point. I found somewhere safe to enter the flood and found sweet relief for a while in the chilly water. As I bathed in the shallows I noticed that there were objects gliding by on the current further out which I took at first to be driftwood, but it soon became apparent that the river was carrying far more grisly flotsam that day. I do not know whether those men had been driven into the water and drowned or been thrown there after death, but they were many of them and the sight of so many filled me with dismay. Suddenly chilled, I quickly left the water, dressed and made my way back through the trees to the road and rejoined the march. As the afternoon waned hunger and weariness began to overcome many and the pace of the march slackened, but we did not dare halt for fear of the pursuit.
The sun eventually began to drop into the west, and beyond the wooded summits of the Shaws a pale moon crept into the evening sky, its silvery disc perfectly round and even, mocking all my vain hopes and plans. Tonight would have been the night that I would have met Idhrethil on the Old Bridge to begin our escape westward if fate had not conspired to ruin my plans. I wondered if she might be standing there at that very moment, hoping against hope that I still lived and that I might somehow have found a way to regain Lastbridge and rejoin her. But it would never be, and the thought of the pain and disappointment she would surely feel when I did not come drew hot tears that stung my cheeks, and I cared little at that moment that any might see them. But yet despite everything I still lived, and for as long as I did hope always remained. That thought gave me new strength to continue, my anguish was gradually replaced by a renewed determination to reach Lastbridge as soon as I could, for I knew that our return would soon be followed by a siege and the chaos and disorder that would ensue would surely present me with opportunities to retrieve the situation. After the sun set the moon rose higher into the sky and began to cast a good light, and for a while I was able to continue, but eventually my weariness did overcome me and I left the road hiding myself in a hollow by the river bank. There I slept deeply for a few hours until the sky began to turn grey in the east and the moon sank beyond the distant hills of Western Rhudaur across the river.
The second day of the retreat was worse if anything than the first, for now we had caught up with many of those who had fled Bearcliffe and there were many townsfolk and villagers on the road. Their plight was if anything more dreadful than our own, and though they begged us for aid as they were overtaken we had naught to give them. I did however take pity on a young woman of my own age who was struggling along with two small children, and though I too was weakened by hunger and my exertions they were not a burden that would trouble me. My offer of assistance was gratefully accepted, and I fell in with the mother, a handsome woman with fair hair. Her name was Lenneth, the widow of a captain who had fallen at Amon Sul and a daughter of one of the noble houses of Bearcliffe. I thought I had seen her before, and certainly knew of her husband and family, but I did not say so, naming myself for my own part as Nindir of Lastbridge once again. The mob had attacked and looted her family's home in the upper town and she had been forced to flee with little else other than the clothes she stood up in and her poor babes. She had bitter words for the way Lord Turchon and his fine young captain had abandoned them and gone south to Lastbridge to feast and drink instead of remaining where they had been needed. She had already been walking for two days and the children were completely spent, the poor little things lay still and silent in my arms and were barely a burden at all. Assisting Lenneth and her children did slow my progress further but we still made the walls of Lastbridge by nightfall, and entered through the North Gate amongst a great press of hungry and weary folk. The guards there barked out orders for all those returning from the battle to make their way at once to the Fortress and report for further duty, but after we had cleared the gate I disregarded the order and set off with Lenneth and her children in search of the her elder sister's home. I had rarely seen the streets and squares so crowded, everywhere soldiers and townsfolk came and went whilst others stood in groups watching or engaged in animated discussions. The atmosphere was tense, with fear written upon many faces, and as if somehow sensing this the weather too had grown still and close. No stars shone overhead now and the moon that had mocked me the previous night had earlier disappeared behind a great bank of cloud that had gradually made its way across the sky from the west. We eventually after some searching found the house we sought in the steep winding lanes close by the Fortress where the wealthier townsfolk and merchants lived, and I was able to deliver my charges into the protection of her family. So for a while at least they had shelter and something to eat, but despite also being offered hospitality in gratitude for my deeds I did not tarry there long, telling them I that I had to report for duty at once. My parting from them was full of sadness, and even now it pains me to think of those poor children and the fate that might have befallen them and their mother so soon afterwards.
Despite my words I did not go at once to the Fortress which lay close by, but rather retraced my steps back through the busy streets towards the centre of Lastbridge and the river beyond. In that moonless night the bridge itself was a great gulf of darkness beyond the weak illumination provided by the lanterns on the east bank, but I continued into the obscurity unchallenged, hoping against hope that I might stumble across a cloaked figure waiting for me there. But the bridge was empty and there was nothing to be seen or heard save the endless sigh of the river water breaking on the great stone piers below. Cursing myself for a fool for allowing myself to harbour such vain hopes I returned the way I had come and in the great square attached myself to another group of weary stragglers passing that way and joined their march to the Fortress.