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Thane glanced down at the arrow as though he had just become aware of it. «This? It is nothing. A gift from some tall warrior. I repaid him in full.»
Thane extended his arm. «Break off the head, Blade, so I can pluck it out.»
Blade snapped off the arrowhead and Thane grunted saying, «It does hurt a little-a man needs wine for this.» He pulled out the shaft and flung it away. Blade handed him a cloth and helped him bind the wound.
Thane pointed to Blade's thigh. «They blooded you also.»
«Nothing. Come on. We must get to the cliff edge and give Ogier sight of us. He has borne the real brunt of all this and will be needing encouragement.»
The fighting was spotty now, diminishing as more and more of the Hitts were slain. Some of the hedgehogs still fought back to back, and the cavalry had been called off while machines hurled huge stones into the close-packed Hitts. Infantry advanced slowly on them, ready to move in and finish the job when the hedgehogs broke at last. Blade summoned an officer.
«This is a general order, to all officers. You will take such prisoners as will surrender. Women and children are to be disarmed by force and held prisoner by force-all males will be killed if they do not surrender. See you to it that all officers get this order.»
When the man had ridden off, Thane said, «It is useless, you know. Hitt warriors will not surrender, and to hold the women and children only brings trouble. They will not be slaves. They will kill themselves if they ca
Blade looked at him. «What would you have me do? Massacre babes?»
Thane shrugged his great shoulders. «I do not know. It is impossible to deal with Hitts. I know, being one. But look you yonder, Blade, and see what I mean.»
A thin and ragged line of Hitts, the survivors, had retreated to the edge of the cliff. They had flung their last spear, shot their last arrow, hurled their last stone. Now, as the horse and foot soldiers of Zir advanced on them, they turned and, screaming a last defy, leaped out into the void.
Thane said, «They have no leather wings. It is a harsh landing on those rocks below.»
One Hitt remained. Blade and Thane spurred toward him. He was a slinger and he had one stone left. As they drew near he whirled his sling about his head, screeching the harsh yeeeeee-ahhhhhh, and loosed his missile. It buzzed between them. The Hitt spat and made an obscene gesture, then ran to the edge and leaped far out. They could hear his war cry as he fell-yeeeeeeee-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
They reined in at the cliff edge and peered down. The narrow beach far below, at no point more than a hundred yards deep and less than a quarter of a mile in length, was an inferno. Blade's first thought was that peering into hell must be very like this.
They still fought down there, so jammed and close-packed that there was little room to swing a weapon. Ogier's troops had carved a beachhead some hundred yards in length and at no place more than fifty feet deep. Ogier had dug trenches in the loose sand and piled corpses before them as barricades. But beyond this perimeter, at the moment, a hundred individual small battle were in progress. Ogier himself, on horseback, rode back and forth at the water's edge and bellowed commands. Behind him and all up and down the beach were the hulks of burning transports. Other barges were leaving the end of the pontoon as they were loaded and made for the shore. The bridge itself was packed with troops for half its length.
Thane urged his horse closer to the edge and strained to see. He shielded his eyes and peered and swore mightily. «I can see Loth Bloodax! He fights yonder and he fights well, as was to be expected. But what of Galligantus? I do not see him. By the gods-if someone else slays him and I am cheated. .»
Blade had called up some of his officers. The battle of the meadow was won, but for mopping up, and now Ogier must be relieved, and speedily.
«Take your foot,» he ordered, «and begin pressure on the defiles. Dismount the cavalry and throw them into it. It will go hard, for those passages are narrow, but use our advantage of numbers and force it. We must move onto the beach at once and take them from two sides.»
There was some grumbling at this, for certain of the officers thought they had finished their day's work, but Blade glared and the muttering ceased. Blade summoned a signaleer, and flags were shown on the cliff. Ogier stared up and lifted his sword in response. Blade thought that the Captain looked weary unto the death.
He moved to where Thane, muttering oaths, still searched in vain for his enemy Galligantus. «He is either slain or fled,» Thane grumbled, «and to give him his due, I do not think him coward. Some bastard has killed him, and if I find out who I will slay him.»
Blade had to laugh at the big Hitt. «You are battle-weary,» he said. «Your thinking is tangled. Forget it and point me out this Loth Bloodax.»
Thane tugged at his yellow beard with blood-stained fingers, then had to laugh at himself. «Yes, you are right. I am a fool. But yonder is Bloodax-see with the ring of Zirnian corpses all about him. I count some twenty at a glance.»
Blade stared. At this point the Zirnians had thrust a narrow salient across the beach to within a few yards of the cliff wall. The wedge was beset on all sides by screaming Hitts, but so far it was holding. The battle here was fiercest, hand to hand and bloody, but Ogier fed in more troops constantly, and as Zirnians fell they were replaced. Blade understood the tactic and nodded in approval. Ogier sought to drive between the Hitts, to divide them on the beach and strengthen his salient until he could face two ways and begin the last drive.
At the point of the salient, blunting it, was the warrior called Loth Bloodax. He led a party of some twenty Hitts and they were yielding nothing. Blade cupped his eyes to get a better view. The man Bloodax was not as tall as he had guessed he would be, but was broader and of greater girth than any man he had ever seen. He wore metal armor, whereas most Hitts fought in leather, and his helmet bore a single tall spike made of horn. He fought with axe and shield. The watching Blade felt admiration and at the same time a tightness in his chest. This was a man and a warrior. The huge axe, which Bloodax handled like a toy, glittered and spun in a shining circle. It darted and bit deep and smashed and pulped and gleamed scarlet as the warrior danced back to safety.
This Loth Bloodax was a cool one. Winded for the moment, he retired into a protective pocket of his warriors and rested, leaning on his axe and regarding the scene. He took off the spiked helmet and wiped his forehead with a forearm, then glanced up at the cliff top, at the Zirnians ranged all up and down it. Blade would have given much to see the man's face and hear his words. Bloodax must know that he was defeated, doomed, yet he fought on as if he were sure of victory.
Thane was puzzled. «I do not understand it. Why does not Ogier bring him down with arrow and spear-fire?»
«My orders,» Blade said quietly. «Given to Ogier in secret. I want Bloodax alive if possible. I want him subdued and friendly, or as much so as possible, to govern his people when we have gone. And I want his aid in finding my diamonds. And I see that you do not approve, Thane?»
Thane regarded his chief with a disgust he made no attempt to hide. «You have proven yourself a warrior and a great general this day, Blade, but what you tell me now proves you still a fool. I talk and talk and you do not listen-you refuse to understand Hitts. If children die before yielding, do you think Bloodax will surrender? Pah-you had best send command to have him killed at long range, before Ogier loses another two-score men.»
«Mind your tongue,» Blade snapped. «I command as I will. You may be right and I wrong, but it is worth a chance. These Hitts must be ruled after they are defeated, and for that no one is better than their natural leader.»