FreeHolds Adventure, Cycle 3 Part 7b
While most of the enemy assaulted the eastern embankment, the rest of Sharlok’s force had come in on the west side of the village. According to the dwarven lookouts they had formed up about a hundred and twenty paces away. The two dwarves who had been up on the incomplete earthworks had waved their signal flags. After announcing the enemy’s new position they had moved back to join the half dozen dwarves who had set up all the ropes and pulleys around the wagons.
From the west end of Lekas Adwin heard noises which shattered whatever brief calm he had felt. His heart pounded in his chest and he began to sweat. The cacophony of battle coming from across the village sounded terrifying. He kept his attention on the dwarves, trying not to think of what was happening elsewhere.
The dwarves were up to something. Once the signalmen had returned, two groups of four had moved off to either side of their formation. Most of them wore lighter armour than the dwarves that had stayed with the wagons. They were tossing incendiary devices of some sort, out along the sides and in front of their position. The clay jars hissed and sputtered, making little thumping noises as flames briefly flared, then tendrils of smoke started rising, moving with the breeze from the northwest.
Adwin looked at his companions. Mokha appeared to be deep in thought and Sefla seemed excited, they were crouched behind the well. Hidge was on the opposite side of the well, she had her sabre in one hand and her alchemical shooter in the other, she gazed forward, looking calm. Adwin stood ready with his bow, he wondered if the flanking forces had lost their nerve. What was taking them so long? Why were they waiting?
The four dwarves on top of the wagons fired their crossbows, then reloaded calmly. There were screams from men and horses. Adwin could not see them. He almost wished he had stayed on the roof of the building behind him.
The smoke had started to obscure the area between the wagons and their foes, while the area to either side of the wagons had become very smoky. The dwarves that had thrown the incendiaries moved back by about twenty paces, they were almost parallel to his position. They were obviously setting themselves up to hold the gaps to either side of the wagons. That was good.
The four with the crossbows fired again, there were more screams. The dwarves started to reload. From the east a horn sounded and as their enemies began to charge, they raised their voices in an angry roar.
Hidge, being rather redundant, shouted, “Here they come!”
The sound of the horses was loud, Adwin thought he felt the ground vibrating under his feet, surely that was just his imagination. The four crossbows were fired again, just as Adwin could see the leading cavalry. A horse went down, its rider catapulted forward. Another heavily armoured person slipped from their horse, crashing to the ground, only to be trampled by those who followed. A couple more horses went down.
Adwin raised his bow and drew. He saw the front, back and near side walls of the wagons drop down, making platforms. The four dwarves with crossbows hopped from the top to the back platforms, out of sight from Sharlok’s men. The pairs of dwarves that had been inside leapt out to either end, staying low. The counterweights came crashing down, ropes went taut and all four wagons moved. The two rear wagons moved apart towards either flank, the two forward wagons moved towards each other, blocking the leading charge as well as the shot Adwin had been about to take.
He watched as the forwards wagons were hit by the cavalry, they rocked and were buffeted by colliding men and horses. For a moment Adwin thought one of the wagons was going to topple over, the fellow with the crossbow fell off the back platform. Four armoured dwarves stood and began smashing the enemy with their long handled weapons. He could not get a clear shot.
To the right flank of the wagons, Adwin saw a couple of mounted men appear, he adjusted his aim and let an arrow fly. He had not been the only one to attack, a handful of his people also shot. The lightly armoured dwarves on the flank were lobbing long, weighted chains at the enemy. Men were hit, horses tripped and those who had been following the lead elements of the charge collided into or trampled over their associates.
A few of the cavalry skirted the disaster. Adwin took another shot, as did a couple of his companions, the dwarves rushed in to engage the enemy who were down. Three of the men managed to slip past and were galloping for the commons. Adwin stepped away from the well and looked to the rooftop to the right of him. He saw Thern shooting at those who had broken through.
He grabbed an arrow, looked to where the dwarves were fighting on the right flank. The melee taking place there was too chaotic to risk a shot. He notched the arrow and looked to the wagons. A couple of the horsemen were along one end of the right forward wagon, fighting with one of the dwarves. Adwin shot one of the mounted men, at the same time a heavy crossbow bolt took out the other horseman. From what he could tell the charge down their centre line had failed, most of the enemy cavalry had been dealt with.
He drew another arrow and looked to the left flank, a couple of horses had gone down, a few of their riders were dead or wounded, but so were two of the dwarves. Half a dozen horsemen had made it past the dwarves, galloping into the village. Adwin moved forward to get a better view of the rooftop to his left, there was no sign of Alfi. Had she tried to follow them?
Hidge barked at him, “Adwin, stay back here with us.”
Adwin moved back to the well. The skirmishers were swarming the two forward wagons. Dwarves from the rear wagons and the right flank moved to support their comrades. He drew another arrow, looking for a safe shot. The smoke was beginning to dissipate.
Skirmishers came around the left side of the forward wagons, upwards of a dozen or so rushed towards the two remaining dwarves who protected that flank. Gweth shouted out a warning. Adwin notched his arrow and stepped forward again. Another half dozen skirmishers bypassed the wagons on that side. He shot, as did the slingers and bowmen along the left barricade.
Adwin kept shooting until he had no arrows left, some of his hits were effective, many were not. When the dwarves with the crossbows also started shooting at the skirmishers, the near breakthrough turned into a route. They were withdrawing, from that flank and from the wagons as well. His crew cheered.
Adwin was surprised to note that he had advanced forward as he was shooting, a dozen paces out from the well, towards the left flank. Hidge had moved up with him. Luk shouted, “Six horsemen broke through on the north flank. Alfi went after them. I’m going to take half my crew and see if I can help.”
“Do it.” Adwin turned around and looked for Thern.
He had climbed down from the roof, “Adwin, two made it past into the commons. I’ll go after them.”
Adwin had to fight the urge to go running off in that direction himself, Calathy was on the commons, overseeing the communal kitchen, “Take a couple of people with you.”
He looked up to the rooftop of the house on the road, “Gweth!”
“Here!” She appeared at the edge of the roof.
“What are they doing?”
“They’re pulling back. Three men still on horse and a bit over a score of skirmishers remain. Some of them are wounded.”
“How far back?”
“They’re about fifty paces off at this point, but they’re still moving.”
“Good. How many arrows do you have left?”
“Two.”
“Okay. Stay put. We’ll get you some more.”
He looked over to Mokha and Sefla, “Let’s reclaim as many of our arrows as we can.”
With Hidge keeping watch they moved forward. The dwarves were busy; some of them were fiddling with the wagons and ropes, a pair collected their dead while the larger group were busy tending to their wounds. Adwin saw that they were quaffing potions.
The wall of noise from the west had receded. There were still some sounds of combat here and there, but it seemed like the enemy had withdrawn from both sides of Lekas.
He busied himself reclaiming as many arrows as he could while Sefla poked at the bodies with her spear. They found a few of the enemy who were still alive. Hidge had wanted to kill them, but Adwin stopped her, “We’ll take any who can sit up. There might be a prisoner exchange.”
He could tell that she did not think much of his orders, but she nodded. When they had finished their first pass of the northern flank they had taken four prisoners and given mercy to another five. Adwin and Mokha had collect around thirty arrows. “Mokha, take these over to Chance Delight and double check them. Distribute them among our archers.”
He took a moment to look around and listen. Although he no longer heard the sounds of battle there was a lot of shouting back and forth. There were also periodic cries of pain or woe. One of the dwarven lookouts had returned to his spot on the earthworks, the others had dispersed around the wagons and were checking the bodies of their foes. They took a few prisoners. He considered trying to talk to the dwarves but did not want to risk becoming involved with a protracted conversation.
Leaving Sefla and Hidge to keep an eye on the soldiers they had captured, he went back to check in with Gweth. She reported that the enemy had moved further off to the east. She was not sure, but suspected the remaining soldiers had been arguing among themselves. “If the forces to the west took similar losses as these guys did, I think the battle’s done.” She speculated.
“Well, let’s hope that’s the case.”
Luk returned with some of the people he had left with, Alfi was also with them. They had engaged the enemy, they had lost one man and two other people had been wounded. None of them looked pleased with their victory, nor the prospect that Lekas may have defeated Sharlok’s forces in the first battle. Luk came with grim news, “Andisal was slain. Shot by archers when she went out to parley.”
There were outraged exclamations. Adwin was shocked and saddened by the news. He held Andisal in high esteem, having learned much from her, even though they had spent only a short amount of time in each other’s company. Despite his grief he was more concerned with what had happened on the commons. Thern had not yet returned.
He climbed up onto the roof, Gweth gave him a hand. Frustratingly he could not see much of what had happened over on the green, there was no sign of Thern. Gweth drew his attention to the enemy position, “They’re moving off by the look of it.”
He watched them move to the north for a while. A messenger ran up from the west of the village, “Sharlok’s army is withdrawing to the west!”
Adwin was fine with that, “Gweth, keep an eye on those guys out there. I’m going to the commons.”
—
Leave a Reply