Free Wizard's Funeral by Kim Hunter Page B

Hannack women. The swine ran through the slaughter, and back again, terrified and confused, squealing as if it were they who were being murdered. Oh, gods, cried Soldier. A pigsty! Just when despair was settling on his soul, the raven landed on his shoulder and yelled into his ear. The totems! Theyre at the totems. Soldier looked up towards a mound at the far end of the troglodytes village. Carved standing-stones tall monoliths - stood in a circle. These had been hidden by the base of a ridge which ran out as a spur into the area in front of the caves. Soldier remounted. Follow me, he yelled over the hubbub. To the stones! He wheeled his horse and was followed by Kaff, then Velion, as he led the column towards the standing-stones. Soldier could see the prisoners now, strapped to the bases of the totems. They were naked and looked wretched. It did not take a great deal of manoeuvring to ride through the stones and cut the cords. Uthellen was lifted up behind Velion. Ixonnoxl went behind Kaff. And Spagg - Spagg? He found the nearest rider and leapt very agilely for a man of his age, up onto the rump of that warriors horse. Away! Away! cried Soldier, heading for the slopes which led to the high passes. The Hannacks were on their ponies now, and in pursuit. Soldier stayed at the rear. He and his riders kept turning and meeting the Hannacks head on, allowing the front of the column to climb to safety. Soldiers archers were effective now. They were picking off the leaders of the Hannacks, as instructed, whose bodies fell under the hooves of the ponies behind, sometimes causing the mounts to stumble and fall. The pass was reached. Those carrying the prisoners continued on, through the narrow rock walls, leaving other troops to block the way. It was easily defended. Once they were all through the gap two or three warriors could defend it against thousands. Some of the archers came down from above and fired into the mass of furious Hannacks who were trying to force a passage. Bodies began to pile up on the ledge path, further blocking the efforts of the Hannacks to break through. The rest of the archers stayed high, raining arrows down on the mass of pursuers, until finally they gave up, retreated, fell back down the slopes. Soldier knew his position was only temporarily tenable. The Hannacks would know of other ways around the heights and would be setting out to use them now. If the column stayed where it was they would be surrounded before nightfall and there would be no way out, no way back. The Guthrumites and Carthagans had to move soon. Kaff said, Leave some of the archers behind, to keep the pass, while the rest of us escape. To the Captain of the Imperial Guard, his troops were expendable. The mission was all important, lives were secondary. Marshal Crushkite would have approved of such tactics. So would the queen. Even Jakanda, Warlord of the Carthagans, would have nodded in assent. But Soldier could not leave men and women behind, to certain death. We leave now, he said. All of us. We may have a running fight on our hands, but I think we have a chance. Kaff looked about to argue, but finally remained silent. Perhaps he remembered his promise that Soldiers command should be respected completely. Whatever the reason, he barked an order and his archers took to their mounts, as did the Carthagans moments later. The whole column then set off through the mountains. The Hannacks had not realised yet that the pass was undefended, but they would soon guess. The column worked steadily through the mountain passes, aware that the Hannacks would not be far behind. Once they reached the border of Guthrum, they paused by a river, where they refreshed themselves, thirsty almost beyond reason. The prisoners were given clothes, the horses were rested, Soldier called his officers to his side. Do we run, or do we stand and fight? Kaff grunted. Yours is the decision. The odds are about the same. If we stand and fight well be whittled down until