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Thane rode back to the pontoon head. Already a thousand foot were ashore and forming on the sands. Blade rode out through a narrow ravine and into a lush meadow that sloped gently upward. Behind him came his second and third cavalry units. He found the first group deployed as pickets near the upper meadow. Blade put his charger to the gallop and sought out the Captain of horse.
«What sign of Hitts, man?»
The Captain of horse, a young fellow wearing the blue and yellow of his service, did not salute. Such was Blade's order, for he did not want his officers marked by the enemy.
«No sign, Prince.» So was Blade called by the lower ranks. «We have made a fool of Bloodax,» the officer went on. «But for those few back there, now slain, there is no smell of a Hitt. My men are anxious to ride, sir. Have I the order?»
«When I give it you will have it,» Blade said sternly. «And be careful that Bloodax does not make a fool of you. Now, when the second and third cavalry have formed with you we will ride. In echelon, so.»
Blade dismounted and scratched a pattern on the ground with his sword point. «You will ride the point,» he instructed, «and I will come along in command of third group. Second group will be to your left and a quarter-mile behind as I will be on your right. Mind you grasp this well. I have no mind to ride into an ambush.»
The young officer was somewhat chastened. «Aye, sir. The Hitts are very good at ambush.» Then he cocked an ear and gri
«I will worry about Bloodax when I come to him,» said Blade. «Now go. Ride off. You will go a mile deep, no more, and seek for trees to screen us. When you make your turn to the west, signal with a flag. Keep always screened by forest if you can-for our purpose is to come in behind the main body of the Hitts on the cliff meadows. If you encounter Hitts, any Hitts, they must be taken prisoner or killed. None must be allowed to escape and warn Bloodax that we are behind him. This is understood?»
«What of women and children, Prince?»
«Take them prisoner if you can-if not, they must be killed.» That decision came hard, but there was no alternative.
When the first cavalry group had ridden off, Blade gave like orders to the leaders of second and third horse. Blade placed himself at the head of third group and they moved out. Still no sign of Hitts.
A courier found Blade when they had gone half a mile inland.
«The Captain Thane says that all foot soldiers are ashore, sir, and are formed and begi
Blade looked to the rear. The van of the foot had just come into sight, a glittering column of spears glinting in the first rays of the sun. Even at the distance Blade could make out the bronze mirror of Thane's horned helmet.
The courier was little more than a boy. Blade eyed him. «How are you called, son?»
«Marko, sir.»
Blade smiled and patted his arm. «Then ride with me, Marko. And let us hope I find no use for you-for that would mean plans gone astray and trouble.»
Thane knew what to do. He and Blade had fought and mapped the campaign a dozen times this last week.
For half an hour they rode inland. The battle din faded as they found heavy stands of trees and disappeared into them. Blade was watching the sun anxiously now for he dare not let Ogier bear the brunt too long. That Captain was wasting men, lavishing blood on a beach that could hardly be taken as Bloodax fed reserves down the defiles from the cliff meadows above. That was the essence of Blade's plan-that Ogier engage Bloodax hot and heavy, keep him pi
Marko broke into Blade's thoughts. «There is a signal, sir.»
Blade rose in his stirrups and peered ahead. A scarlet ba
«Read me that,» he commanded Marko.
Marko stood on his saddle and deciphered the mirror flashes.
«The first horse unit turns west now, sire. No Hitts have been seen. They have found a village, deserted even of fowl and cattle. The officer deems that two miles will put him squarely behind the Hitt line of battle. He awaits orders or response.»
«Send him this-you have a mirror?»
Marko drew a small mirror from his blouse.
«He is to make his turn south after two miles west. He will remain out of sight, using trees and hills for screening. When his forward scouts come into view of the Hitt rear, he is to halt and draw back a quarter-mile and wait until I come up. Be sure he understands and acknowledges.»
The boy rode better into the sun and flashed his mirror for a time. They waited. Answering flashes came.
Marko rode back to Blade. «He understands and proceeds.»
«Good. Now, Marko, you ride back to the Captain Thane and tell him what I told the first horse group. The same message, but that I will await his coming just as the first horse awaits me. His men are to triple-time. Tell him he is to whip them to it if need be. Go.»
Marko went galloping off and Blade rode back to the head of his column. They cantered on. Soon they were passing through the village. Blade gave it a brief study as they rode through: streets laid out in neat rectangles, houses of wood and wattle, some mud-daubed, all painted in bright color. Windows and doors were open and there was a smell of cooking in the air, but nothing live moved. Blade grimaced. He had been told aright-when the Hitts fought it was a total effort.
The forward cavalry scout obeyed orders exactly. Blade found them waiting in trees at the foot of a long slope. They were dismounted and quiet, the troopers tending their mounts and breakfasting on dried meat. From beyond the ridge came the battle sound, louder now and fiercer. Blade dismounted and went cautiously to the edge of the trees, peering at the sky for any sign of leathermen. The young Captain of horse, walking beside him, laughed and said, «We have seen none of the flying warriors. No life at all on this back ridge. I think that the Captain Ogier engages them so closely that they have no time to look elsewhere.»
Blade studied the slope. The gradient was easy and the land smooth and grassy, pocked only here and there by trees and bushes. A line of bare rock lay along the ridge, but he saw no hazard in this. Beyond the ridge the terrain did not drop, insofar as he could see, but continued level.
«I sent a man on his belly to the ridge,» said the young officer. «He was not seen. The meadow is there, straight to the cliff edge over the beach. And the Hitts' main reserve.»
Blade had given no orders for this, but he let it pass. The scout had not been seen or they would be facing Hitts now.
«What of numbers? Did your man count?»
The Captain shrugged. «He guessed. He did not linger, as you may suppose. He guesses near ten thousand, and they are not much concerned with battle. They loaf and gamble and, unless my man is a liar, a couple made love in the bushes not fifty yards from him.»
Blade smiled briefly. «No leather-men?»
«None. I doubt that any live. They are a special breed and the Hitts have but few.»
Again Blade studied the slope. It was a mile long and half a mile to the ridge. It was almost too easy, too good to be true.
«No stragglers,» he muttered. «No camp-followers, no deserters or skulkers. I do not understand it.»
The young cavalry Captain waxed a little bold. «That is because you do not understand Hitts, Prince. They die so gladly that it is hard to understand. Your Hitt deems it a privilege to die for his rulers and will even fight for the honor of doing so. They are a strange people, my Prince.»