Author's Note: Please see disclaimer in Chapter 5. Sorry it's been awhile since I updated. Thank you to all my reviewers. I will try and get the next update sooner.
Please, please, please review if you like it… If not please review anyway and let me know what's wrong with it…but anyway I will stop whining like a petulant child and let you read the story.
Chapter 6: Surrounded
Sparhawk brought his sword up in an overhand stroke, quickly dismembering several of his advancing adversaries. The Pandion knight moved with deadly precision as he swiftly charged down the line of enemies, their dying screams renting the air. Sparhawk continued on to where his squire was surrounded, relentlessly laying waste to everything in his path.
Despite being encircled with hostile enemies, Dirkeim was holding up fairly well. Swinging his mace in a full ring around his body, he managed to keep the surrounding mercenaries at bay, but Sparhawk could see that his squire was beginning to tire out. The grim Champion cut through the rest of the enemies in the intervening space and plowed his way toward his squire.
Sparhawk was not quick enough.
Sickened to his stomach, Sparhawk watched helplessly the young knight was crowded by three mercenaries in a concentrated attack meant only for the purpose of a swift kill. Dirkeim was able to deflect the first blow, but the second cut into his shoulder. Sparhawk could hear the crack of bone as clearly as if the young man were right beside him. Dirkeim's form went slack and he slowly toppled in his saddle.
As Kurik's son hung limply from his horse, Sparhawk felt something snap inside as his consciousness pulled away from the reality of the cruel battlefield. From somewhere outside he could see himself as he drove ruthlessly forward, his sword ripping through mail and flesh, the sound of Faran-II's hoof beats rhythmically pounding on the ground. Finally, he reached Dirkeim who miraculously still clung to his saddle with a white knuckled grip.
The knight was covered in blood; most, but not all of it, his. Deftly maneuvering Faran alongside of Dirkeim's horse, Sparhawk reached over and pulled the young man across Faran's saddle to lie in front of him. A loud voice abruptly brought Sparhawk back to reality from his surreal, out of body awareness.
"Go Sparhawk! We'll cover you!"
Sparhawk didn't bother to turn as he heard Ulath's thundering approach. Trusting the Genidian knight implicitly, the Pandion instead wheeled his horse forward, kicking Faran into a gallop as the black clad- knight and his bleeding squire made their way to the Pandion standard. From behind him, several shrieks were heard and abruptly cut off as Ulath and his fellow knights cleared the field with practiced, brutal efficiency. Wordlessly Sparhawk allowed a field physician to take Dirkeim to where the other wounded were being held.
The rest of the battle was a blur to Sparhawk, a mess of chop and thrust motions set against the backdrop of plains stained with the crimson blood of the fallen. Movements came to Sparhawk automatically, even as his mind rested far away in the green field of a farm in Demos as he watched Kurik's sons wrestle and laugh in the waning afternoon sun.
Much later, a very tired Sparhawk sat next to the makeshift cot of his squire drawing small comfort from the steady rise and fall of the young man's chest. He looked up as a large hand on his shoulder drew his attention. Ulath was frowning down at him, an expression of sympathy in his eyes.
"Have our scouts picked up any sign of movement?" Sparhawk asked.
The hulking Genidian pulled a vacant chair over and seated himself across from Sparhawk. "The latest I heard was the survivors were retreating, but Komier thinks they may have only been another advanced party."
"Has it been confirmed that they were headed toward Chyrellos?" Sparhawk asked, concern for his wife making his voice harsher than usual.
Ulath seemed to take it in stride. "It hasn't been confirmed by any of the prisoners, but it seems like that was the logical place they were headed." Ulath shrugged as he trailed off.
The two knights fell into a companionable silence as they watched Dirkeim hang on the tenuous threads that bound him to life.
Again Sparhawk rested his head in his hands as he conjured up the events that had led to this morning's gruesome battle.
--
At Ehlana's insistence, the large procession had stopped in Demos so that she could check on Talen and Kyyis, whose mishap in Cheadin had been reported to the Elenian queen in Khalad's most recent missive. Sparhawk suspected it was one of the reasons for the impromptu trip to Chyrellos.
The entire retinue arrived in Demos only to find sir Talen had already left.
A cryptic conversation with Danae only revealed that Talen, along with Berit, Kyyis, and Olet were currently headed south to Arcium to complete a task of 'great import'. Khalad had no more information to add; the Pandion preceptor wore a frustrated and angry expression when Sparhawk arrived. He informed Sparhawk about Talen's departure with a scowl as he stood at his desk shaking his head.
Ehlana, of course, was furious. The beautiful queen was worried about the two Pandions and had anticipated seeing them both hale and whole. She had given Sparhawk a blistering speech and blamed Talen's absence solely on her husband. They hadn't spoken to each other for the rest of the day.
The procession packed up and continued the next day. Three days later, several Pandion scouts galloped back to Sparhawk to let him know the procession was trailing a large group of armed mercenaries. A heartbeat later, Ulath arrived with his Genidian scouts to inform Sparhawk that there was a group of unidentified soldiers gaining on them.
They were surrounded.
Sparhawk, Ulath, Komier and the contingent captains came together for a hurried conference.
"Do they even know that were here?" Komier asked.
"Probably not. The ones ahead appear to be an advanced party," answered one of the captains.
"Sooner or later they will notice us, there's no way to hide two contingents of Pandion knights," said Sparhawk.
"Not to mention our own humble column," muttered Ulath.
"So do we strike first?" asked another captain.
"We don't have a choice. They may or may not be hostile, but they're on Elenian soil and armed." Sparhawk said.
"Chyrellos." said Ulath.
Komier rolled his eyes and Sparhawk gave an audible sigh. Several contingent officers looked at each other with confused expressions.
"Care to explain?" asked Sparhawk darkly.
A slightly guilty expression crossed Ulath's face as he elaborated. "It's pretty obvious where they're headed; they're cutting east just like we are. The advance party is probably scouting in order to make sure there aren't any obstacles in the way. Once they reach Chyrellos they will likely set up initial fortifications and wait for the rest to catch up."
Komier nodded. "It seems so. The advanced party probably started behind us but passed us when we stopped in Demos…"
"They would probably skirt as far as possible around the chapterhouse in order to avoid confronting the church knights." Sparhawk added.
"That explains how we got sandwiched between them; now we need to decide whether to take out the force ahead or the one behind." Komier continued.
"We are closer to Chyrellos and the force ahead of us is smaller than the one behind," Sparhawk pointed out. "Not to mention that they will probably reach Chyrellos within the next two days."
"Fine. We'll do it that way," Komier nodded, turning to Sparhawk. "Prince Sparhawk, we will use one of your contingents. I'll have some of my knights close rank around your Queen."
Sparhawk nodded brusquely and gestured to three of his captains. "Birkan, Hendle, and Klus stay. The rest of you spread out the left wing contingent and send the right wing to the head of the procession."
"I'll send some of our knights up there as well," said Komier. With a curt nod he and Ulath left to rally the Genidian column.
Sparhawk addressed the three captains. "We're going to quarter the right wing. Hendle, take the fastest riders and get ahead of the force. Make a lot of noise. I don't want them to even think there might be anyone following. Birkan, take your quarter and flank the right side of the force, stay out of sight. Klus: same thing on the left," the three captains nodded their understanding.
"I'll keep the last quarter as reserves. If you run into problems, Hendle merge your men with Klus and Birkan. I'm going to borrow a couple of Genidians from Komier. The horn blast will be the signal to attack," Sparhawk finished.
The battle was short and vicious. The advanced party lasted about three hours under the flawlessly executed ambush of the Pandions. A fair number of the force immediately surrendered, most of the time was spent chasing down the fleeing mercenaries to keep them from getting word to the additional force behind Ehlana's procession.
Sparhawk sighed as he returned to the royal pavilion that evening. The next two days would prove more difficult than today. According to the Pandion and Genidian scouts the force behind the procession was about four times the size of the advance party, and they would not have the element of surprise. Already the following force had picked up speed; they would close in on Ehlana's procession in a day and a half.
Komier and Ulath were already in attendance when Sparhawk arrived. Ehlana stood up and ran to Sparhawk enfolding him in a fierce embrace before she pulled back wrinkling her nose.
"You smell positively awful Sparhawk!"
Sparhawk smiled; relieved his wife was talking to him again.
The next day was spent in preparation. Ehlana and Danae were bundled up and sent with five score of soldiers directly to Chyrellos. The rest of the procession followed at a slower pace. The church knights remained behind to confront the advancing force. The Elenian grasslands weren't a particularly good place to ride out a siege. Despite this fact, Ulath suggested setting up semi-formal fortifications.
"It's not like I enjoy sieges, Sparhawk," Ulath explained, "But you have to take into account that there may be more mercenaries coming. When Martel stormed Chyrellos he had an army about ten times larger then this group. In my humble opinion, I think it's another advanced party."
Sparhawk frowned. "Larger force or not, Ulath, we're in the middle of nowhere. Trust me, we do not want to hole up here; the ground is too flat to give any type of advantage."
"Trenches then," Ulath countered.
Sparhawk groaned. "Fine. I'll send over some of my captains. Let me know when you're done."
"Hold on, I didn't volunteer to organize the trench building!" Ulath protested.
"Actually you did, Ulath." Sparhawk said with a dangerous gleam in his eye.
Ulath chose not to protest further. To Sparhawk's relief, he also refrained from further suggestions. After Sparhawk sent several captains to meet with the Genidian champion the trenches immediately started being dug. Sparhawk continued to the Pandion standard where, to his chagrin, he found his squire cutting a lance. Several completed ones were stacked neatly next to him.
"Dirkeim, I told you to accompany Ehlana and Danae to Chyrellos," Sparhawk said slowly, grinding his teeth to keep the irritation out of his tone.
The young man looked up at him with an expression of faint disapproval. It reminded Sparhawk sharply of Kurik.
"I sent Jayen with them instead. Milord should not go into battle without a squire. Have no worry; Jayen's one of our best; Her Majesty and Princess Danae are in very capable hands."
Sparhawk took a deep breath and slowly released it as he studied his squire's serious, stoic expression. Dirkeim might be infinitely more polite than Khalad; but all Kurik's sons seemed to have inherited their father's inherent stubbornness.
"Fine." Sparhawk said, choosing not to divulge the fact that he wanted Dirkeim in Chyrellos because he was concerned for the young man's safety in addition to his wife and daughter's.
Waves of nerves and anticipation rippled through the Genidian and Pandion camps as the day drew to a close. Swords were sharpened and armor was polished. The cries of sentries calling out their watches could be heard in the still air. The men were quiet, conversing in muted tones as soldiers wound themselves tight.
Tomorrow the church would unleash her wrath...
Heaven help her enemies.