Captain Delger kept banging his sword on his armor. The sound of metal from over nine hundred Aredunian soldiers rang across the field.

Delger raised his sword and the banging stopped. He signaled for Galbrey to call the troops into alignment.  Galbrey banged his sword on his shield three times, and ten men away on both sides another soldier banged his shield three times, and ten men away another soldier banged his shield until the entire line started in formation. 

When Delger was a visitor to New Hearth, he was under Castellan Gerhart's command. For some time they were without a lord and without a castellan, and the vice constables and various magnates had been squabbling about ruling over New Hearth.  When Delger warned of the Isnumurti returning, they scoffed at him. Today, they were scrambling to leave, carrying as much as their wagons could bear. He hoped that the young Lord Rollund would at least put the needs of the people before his own. 

The troops had to unlearn much of what they had been taught by Gerhart.  They were trained to wage war in a very old world way, and they were unprepared for the style that the Isnumurti brought from the other side of the forest. The were heavy and slow, and swung swords in wide arcs like axes. They never trained on proper footwork, relying solely on heavy plate as defense. When they rode, they were not much better. These were not Delger's Winged Spears, but for what time they could spend together, he made the most of it. Galbrey had been a great help. If he survived, Delger definitely wanted to bring him to the Gildemanse.

When the soldiers were in formation on their coursers and palfreys, they waited for Delger to give the order to advance.  Caught between the dread of the advance and the stifling anxiety of staying still, the men were becoming restless. Delger was given ten minutes or so to consider the general's offer.  He intended to take all ten minutes to buy time for more folk to leave the city.  After several minutes a rider reported to Delger that only half the city had emptied.  Delger frowned and knew they needed more time.  He considered riding out to meet with Gnonobod again, to stall the battle by offering to renegotiate.  A long deep horn sounded from across the field.  Gnonobod had rescinded his offer of peace.

"Form the Centipede!" Delger shouted.  Galbrey  repeated the order to the men.  The horsemen took their shields and hung it to their horse's left shoulder.  The archers marched forward ahead of the cavalry.  Delger waited until the archers were far enough ahead and squeezed his calves against the Red Mare and whipped the reigns to get her to start.  He steered her to the left side of the field until he passed the line of archers.  He looked back to make sure the riders behind him formed a straight line.

When he saw the marching Isnumurti, the size of the army almost took his breath away.  Infantry by the thousands with shields and spears marched across the field.  Delger did not want the spirits of his men broken before the first arrow was fired, so he raised his fist to remind them of the formation.  He started turning to the right, crossing in front of the archers by a hundred yards.  Delger pulled his longbow from his side and retreived and arrow from his quiver.  He pressed on the Red Mare with his right foot to increase her stride.  He nocked his arrow and when she was in mid stride with all four feet off the ground, he loosed his arrow.  He kept riding and turned right again at the end of the line of archers.  The horsemen rode in a single line, forming a circle around the archers.  

"Keep your distance from the rider in front of you!" he reminded them.  Isnumurti arrows flew by the moving horses but with the swift formation of the Aredunians moving across the field, none of the arrows struck.  When Delger was behind the archers, he gave the order to loose.  A barrage of arrows flew from the center of the circle by the gathered archers.  By the time Delger's place in the circle reached the near point of the Isnumurti army, he was already nocked and ready.  He loosed another arrow and saw it strike an infrantryman down.  He knew the cavalry would be able to have only one more pass.

Delger gave the order for the archers to loose another volley.  Another barrage flew, and the archers then stood down as the infantry pressed ahead.  After the third and final pass through the circle, Delger dropped his bow and raised his sword and swung it in a wide arc.  "Form the Pincer!"

The riders followed suit and swung their swords in the same arc.  A lone rider on a hill waved a yellow flag and a secondary unit of riders on horses with blue coats  appeared at the right flank.  They rode toward the invaders and then circled away to the right.  The Isnumurti army broke formation and many moved toward the secondary Aredunian unit.

The distraction seemed to work.  Delger had a lack of soldiers, so he had a group of forty squires, pages, and stableboys ride in on palfreys as false reinforcement before riding back away.  Delger had ordered blue cloaks on the palfreys to fool the Isnumurti into believing there were several units of cavalry.  Delger regrouped with his riders.  "They have no cavalry of their own that I can see.  They will utilize their phalanx again.  Remember our checkerboard formation.  We should be able to run through them.  We will make two passes and regroup."

The men banged their swords against their shields in acknowledgement.  Delger led the Red Mare to the front of the line and waited for the rest of the men to be in the proper formation.  As each rider was in position, he banged his shield.  When the banging stopped, Delger issued the order to charge.

The Aredunians galloped with the shield forward.  The riders were light and swift without the full plate bearing down on the horses.  Delger glanced at either side and was content with the formation.  "We are near one hundred yards, their archers will have more precision," he called.  

The Isnumurti army split into smaller groups, as Delger had expected.  After they cleared their lines, Delger saw massive beasts the size of small houses charging from behind the line.  Towering armor plated beasts with red wings on the side of their heads and long white curved horns as sharp as spears.  The beasts charged on what seemed like five grey legs the size of trees.  Two riders sat on each of the beasts, one to steer while the other shot a crossbow.  The beasts had such a stench that even the Red Mare reared away.  Delger's cavalry had lost their precious formation.  

A dozen of the Isnumurti war beasts plowed forward and trampled the Aredunian horsemen.  The front leg of the beast swung like a thick arm, knocking rider from horse.  With the light leather armor, the fallen riders made easy targets for the Isnumurti crossbowmen.  Delger kicked the Red Mare to charge forward, and she shook away her panic and raced toward the beast.  The front leg that hung from the beast's face swung at Delger.  He ducked and avoided it and as it swung back again he brought his sword down against it, lopping it off.  It wasn’t a leg, he realized. It was a very long nose. The beast screamed and toppled over, crashing both riders down.

"The beasts can be felled!" he shouted at his men.  He turned and another beast was upon Galbrey. The rider leapt off the beast with axe, shattering Galbrey’s shield. The splinters of the shield nicked Delger in the face as he charged toward the soldier with the axe. The Red Mare reared on her hind legs and struck the soldier in the head as she came down. The beast was still near. 

“Regroup, we need to assess these monsters,” Delger commanded. 

Galbrey nodded and shouted orders to regroup. He ran back toward the Aredun line. The men were listening. Good, this would buy more time. 

As Delger started to turn, a bloodied white horn was thrust near his thigh, and he felt as if he was being lifted. It was coming through the Red Mare. The war beast skewered the Red Mare's flank with one of its horns, raising both horse and man into the air.  The Red Mare fought and tried to kick the beast as Delger slipped off.  His foot was caught in the stirrup and as the beast tried to fling off the Red Mare, Delger felt his left knee tear as he dangled from his horse.  The Red Mare was thrown off the beast's horns and when she landed, Delger fell free.  

Delger crawled his way to horse and pressed his hand against the hole in the Red Mare's flank as she gasped.  Her legs were broken and blood streamed from her exposed ribs, but the horse still wanted to fight.  Delger reached for his dagger to give her mercy, but the dagger had fallen from him.  The war beasts continued their rage against his cavalry.  His duty was done. He just hoped he had bought enough time for the people of New Hearth to escape.  The fighting was around him but he was alone.  He had no sword, and nothing within reach.  His leg was shattered in at least two places, so he was useless until an Isnumurti soldier came with a dagger to give him mercy.  That’s all he wanted, mercy. He feared the fate that had befallen Mazi. He remembered hearing of how Mazi was tortured for weeks, and how while Mazi was in torment, he was home, ignorant and comfortable. He thought of what his own son would think if he heard about his father’s torture.  His son would not react the same way.  His son did not even know him, unless the boy's mother would tell him.  No, the boy's mother should not tell him.  He wasn't sure what he wanted.  The pain in his leg made it hard for him to breathe, and so he rested his cheek against the cool mud.  The fog was gone now, and he could see the endless blue sky.

He hoped the infantry ignored his command to regroup and just ran away. Run for Caddock, perhaps they could protect the refugees leaving the city on the journey north.  While the war beasts trampled and soldiers from both sides shouted, Delger heard the galloping of more horses.  The horses were a blur but when he focused his eyes he recognized the blue coats on the horses.  The foolish secondary unit were riding into battle.  Why didn't they retreat also?  The false reinforcement were false no longer, but were going to meet their fate.  Foolish, foolish boys, he thought, but at least they were going to buy more time for the others to escape.

As the blue horses neared, Delger noticed that they were not being ridden by the pages, squires, and stableboys.  Grown men, bearded and bald except for braids at the top of their heads, wore various brown coats and commanded the common palfreys like war coursers.  They weilded scimitars and ran through the Isnumurti infantry.  One of the riders with the longest braid rode toward Delger.  As his horse neared, he slid off.

"Your song is not yet over," he said as he lifted Delger.  Delger screamed in pain as the braided warrior placed him on top of the palfrey. 

“No, no, my horse…she’s hurt,” Delger gasped through the pain. “She needs…mercy.”

“Nagun talbadinud oldoc botugai,” the warrior said as he kneeled beside the Red Mare, stroking her cheek. He drew his knife from the small of his back and plunged it into her neck, several inches away from her head. She lifted her head from the pain and the man plunged the knife in the same area on the other side of her neck. The Red Mare collapsed, blood streaming from her two severed arteries. 

“What did you say to her?” Delger asked, hanging from the horse. 

The warrior rose, arms and knees bloodied, and tucked his knife away. The battle raged on around them. “May you find your green fields,” he said as slapped the horse's hind leg. The palfrey galloped away from the battle.  

With each foot striking the gound, the pain shot through Delger's leg.  He controlled his breath so he would not fall unconscious from the pain.  The horse turned around the hill from where the boys of the secondary unit were camped.  The boys were there to receive him, along with others.

They helped him off his horse. "We're going to set that leg of yours," a gruff voice said. “Then we will have to move.”

Delger squinted at the familiar voice.  "Menquist?"

The old man smiled. “Yes it’s me. Stay still my boy, the day’s not over yet.”