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.“Our comrades have not shared in our good fortune this day,” Bannagran replied as both of them looked northward, where the men of several other holdings lagged, mired in heavy battle with the fierce and stubborn dwarves.“If I could offer them sons of Bannagran to spearhead their charge…” Prydae said, and when Bannagran turned to regard him, he found his prince smiling.“I hear the waves!” one man cried from behind them, and that brought a cheer from all the men of Pryd.Prydae’s smile became a wry grin.“Is our work done this day?”Bannagran saw the answer clearly in the man’s expression.“It came to us too easily,” he replied with a shake of his head.“Let us press on.”“We risk leaving our support behind,” Bannagran warned.“To the east a bit, but then north,” Prydae explained.“Let us turn the end of the line so that the powries cannot flee around us.”Bannagran looked back to the battlefield in the north, across the broken and rocky terrain.All seemed quiet in the east, after all, and the day’s fighting was not half done.Prydae clapped him on the shoulder once more.“You take half our charges and move straight north in support of the men of Laird Ethelbert.I will hold your eastern flank with the other half.”Bannagran fixed him with a knowing stare.“I will spread my forces out in a secure line north to south,” Prydae promised, “to ensure that I am not flanked.” He clapped Bannagran once again and moved off, calling his men to order.“The daring young Prince of Pryd,” Laird Ethelbert remarked when one of his commanders brought news of the unexpected northward curl of the army of Pryd Holding.“Ever out in front is that one.”“The powries break before his ranks,” said the commander.“The men of Pryd have marked themselves well.”“Yes, particularly Prydae’s large friend.One victory after another for the men of Pryd.” Ethelbert smiled as he considered his own words.He wasn’t jealous of Prydae’s gains; quite the contrary: Ethelbert figured that Prydae’s reputation would serve him well when he annexed Pryd Holding into the greater kingdom of Ethelbert, opposing Delaval.Though they remained far in the north, the men of Delaval had no doubt heard of Prydae’s exploits here.What might their reaction be if Laird Delaval, attempting to take all of Honce for himself, ordered them into battle against the daring and cunning young prince and his soon-to-be-legendary champion?“Tell your men to take the valor of Pryd Holding as their example,” Ethelbert instructed his commanders.“Let us press forward as Prydae and his forces seal the trap.The more powries we kill now, the fewer we will have to kill later.Perhaps this day will mark the end of our troubles.“So valiantly, one and all of Ethelbert!” the laird cried loudly.“The completion of our task lies before us this day, and the road home is at hand!”With cheers reverberating along the line, the men of Ethelbert Holding charged forward against the fierce dwarves.Their advance inspired those armies of the lesser holdings flanking them to fight on more courageously.Laird Ethelbert shifted his gaze from his own men to the army of Pryd, who were forming a line east to west, up one side of a ridge and down the other.Still the powries broke before them as they made their way north.Ethelbert wondered if he might be watching the champion he would name as heir to Ethelbert Holding.The powries continued to break ranks and flee, and the men of Pryd, led by their new champion, Bannagran, eagerly gave chase.Even those at the end of the line looked ahead more than behind as they swept along the ridge line.Which was exactly what the powries had anticipated.Standing in the center of the two lines, Prydae clearly saw the first signs of the counterattack.Powries leaped up from concealment in the rocks and pressed against the trailing edges of the Pryd line.“Turn, lads! Close up the line!” he cried.“Hold, Bannagran! Tighten the ranks!” As he shouted, Prydae moved south along his trailing forces, and each step more clearly revealed to him the urgency of the situation.For this was no disorganized and desperate maneuver by the dwarves.The prince had to wonder if all his army’s gains that morning had been but illusion.Had the powries allowed him, even enticed him along on his sudden push?There was no time for Prydae to stop and think about it, for the fight was on at the southernmost end of the line, his soldiers already sorely pressed by a score of dirty dwarves.Into their midst charged the valiant prince, his sword ringing hard against a powrie weapon.He turned the powrie blade and, with a burst of rage, leaped forward and struck hard, driving his sword deep into powrie flesh.He cried out to bolster his men; but it was hardly necessary, for his presence alone had already stabilized their defense and solidified their determination.Not a man broke ranks and ran.For a moment, the powrie attack seemed to waver, as several dwarves fell, and others shied from the sudden presence of the mighty prince.But then came further proof to Prydae that this was not an improvisation by the bloody caps; for the second wave came on the length of the Pryd line, locking his men into place as they tried to reinforce the weakness along their ranks.And from the south and west, behind Prydae and his men, came a second group of dwarves, howling and hungry; and some already seemed to reach for their berets, as if the spilling of human blood was inevitable.Prydae batted aside one thrusting sword, then backhanded to clip off the head of a spear.Then he ducked to avoid a second spear, thrown from somewhere in the rear ranks of dwarves.Acting purely on instinct now, Prydae roared encouragement to his men and forced himself to press on.For he knew that to run was to die, that the dwarves had them caught, whatever the outcome might be.And he knew that without his example many men would turn and run and that would spell doom for them all.“Hold strong!” he yelled, parrying another sword blow, then thrusting forward to send a powrie spinning down in pain.“Fight them, I tell you! Hold strong! Bannagran!”Above all the turmoil, Bannagran heard his prince’s call.He brought his axe high to intercept an overhand chop by one dwarf, then stepped in, his sheer strength forcing the powrie’s axe over its head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]