Demontech: Rally Point: 2 (Demontech Book 2) (26 page)

With that in mind, they devised a backup plan—but Spinner, Haft, and Fletcher were not at all enthusiastic about what
Lord Gunny Says
referred to as “Plan B,” no matter how emphatic the book was about a backup plan.

“The bandits are still licking their wounds,” the Eikby hunter named Jakte reported. He was the leader of the group of Eikby hunters and foresters charged with keeping the Rockhold Band under observation in case the bandits got enough reinforcements to mount another attack. “They don’t look like they’re very anxious to come here again.” He had just come in from three days watching the routed bandits and met the command group inside the western defense works.

“How many are there now?” Spinner asked.

“We counted about three score and ten. They don’t have horses for everyone. I guess we scattered them too much in the raid.” He grinned; he’d been one of the Eikby guides who went on the raid.

“What about women and children?”

“There are well over a hundred, possibly as many as two hundred. We weren’t as careful about counting them because we didn’t think they are a threat.” A bemused expression came over his face. “If there are enough women and children, the bandits will have too much to do taking care of them to attack Eikby in force.”

“How far away are they?” Haft asked.

“Most of a day’s march. Longer at night.”

“So your information is almost a day old?”

Jakte smiled and shook his head. “We have horses posted along the way. I rode fast and got here in less than half the time the bandits would take.”

Spinner and Haft both looked at Silent; he had also set relays of horses on the road to Ceaster. Had one copied the other, or did they both simply know more about horse movement than the two Marines?

It didn’t matter, they’d both done well.

“So you don’t think there’s any chance they’ll move on us soon?” Haft asked.

Jakte shook his head. “They need many more men. What few reinforcements are coming in are coming slowly. Unless there’s a large group coming that we didn’t spot. At the rate they’re building up, it’ll take more than a week for them to raise the strength they need.”

“What about the east? Is anybody looking there?” Captain Stonearm asked.

Jakte shook his head.

“Maybe we should have people scouting to the east. Just in case.” Spinner looked east, to where the forest came close to the town. The defenses there were almost nonexistent.

Jakte thought for a moment, then said, “There are three men who aren’t already to the northwest. I can send them to the east.”

“Do it. Then get some rest and a meal and head back out.”

“Sounds good. I’ll get people out right away.”

“What does everybody think?” Spinner asked when the hunter was gone.

“It sounds like we only have to worry about one enemy right now,” Haft replied.

“Probably so,” Captain Stonearm said.

“If someone attacks from the east we have problems,” Silent said quietly.

But they wouldn’t have the people to build up the eastern defenses until the south side was finished. Even then, the western and northern defenses were more important.

In the middle of the next morning there was a commotion at the south gate. Readying their weapons as they went, the men of the command group ran toward it. But when they could see the gate, they slowed down and eased back on their weapons—two mounted men in forest garb had just been let through and the gate was closing again. Silent, very large and easy to spot, hallooed and waved at them. The two men waved back and turned their horses toward him. The horses were heavily lathered and breathing hard when they arrived. The riders dismounted and handed their reins over to waiting boys. One of the men was Birdwhistle, the other a local forester.

“They’re coming,” Birdwhistle reported before anyone asked.

“Are they at Ceaster now?” Spinner asked.

Birdwhistle nodded. “They took their time surrounding it before they attacked. When we left, most of the village was in flames.” He grimaced. “They were wantonly killing people—men, women, children.” His voice trailed off.

The others exchanged looks.

“How many are there?” Haft asked.

“It’s a good-sized company. Mixed weapons, about forty each swordsmen, pikemen, and bowmen, along with a half troop or more of light cavalry.”

“Eight or nine score of them,” Captain Stonearm said. “We have,” he grimly looked around, “not more than half that number who know how to fight—plus my guardsmen.”

“Then we’ll arm all able-bodied men,” Spinner said. “We have extra swords and lances. We can issue them until they run out, and the rest of the able-bodied men can use scythes, hammers, cleavers—anything that can be used as a weapon. After first contact, they can arm themselves from Jokapcul dead.”

Stonearm considered that for a moment, then, “I suggest we wait until the Jokapcul are closer before we arm the farmers and tradesmen. If we do that now, they’ll have too much time to think and might get frightened enough to run away.”

Haft barked out a laugh. “More afraid than the rabbits they already are?” He shook his head, still chuckling.

“They’ve never been trained, Haft,” Stonearm said sternly. “Anybody who hasn’t been properly trained and
isn’t
afraid of a fight with seasoned troops is not only a fool, he’s soon to be a dead fool.”

“Even trained soldiers are often afraid in the face of the Jokapcul,” Spinner added.

Haft looked at them blankly;
he
wasn’t afraid of the Jokapcul, he’d beaten them too many times.

Silent looked away. He didn’t understand the talk of fear. Boys of the steppe nomad tribes began training for war as soon as they could hold a toy sword, from so early an age he could hardly remember a time when he hadn’t been training or fighting.

They got busy with even more intense drilling of the guard. Fletcher worked closely with Plotniko and Stupnikow in overseeing the workers who were finishing the defenses. Nightbird and the town’s healers set up a hospital pavilion behind the defense works. Then they waited for the next pair of scouts.

They came not long before sunset.

“We were surprised how long it took them to reach us,” Meszaros reported. “They must have rested after they destroyed Ceaster.”

“How fast were they moving?” Spinner asked.

“They were moving briskly enough when we first saw them, but they stopped soon after. Their commander has a heavy limp, he looks like he has a recent wound and can’t ride far before the pain becomes too great.” Meszaros shook his head. “They set up a small pavilion for him to rest under. We didn’t wait to see how long they’d be there.”

Kocsokoz and a local forester were the next pair to return, halfway from sunset to midnight. They also reported brisk movement with frequent, lengthy stops. The mixed troop had stopped for the night well before dusk. There were no more reports until the next midmorning, when the Jokapcul company was on the move again. The final pair of scouts was Archer and a local hunter who came in soon after sundown. The Jokapcul had stopped three hours steady march away. Silent took out two new pairs of scouts to bring word when the Jokapcul started again in the morning, or to give warning in case of a night movement.

The first pair came in two hours after dawn.

“They took their time getting started,” Takacs reported. “I think their commander thinks he’s invincible.”

“What is their order of march?” Spinner asked.

“Swords, pikes, bows. The light cavalry brings up the rear. The commander is behind the swords.”

“What about scouts?” Haft asked.

The Eikby forester spoke for the first time. “They have four swords patrolling a hundred meters ahead, two swords and two bows fifty yards out on each flank.” He spat to the side. “I’ve never served in an army—or even a guard—but even I know that’s not good enough for a company moving through enemy territory. Not as openly as they’re walking along that road.”

“What about magicians?” from Xundoe.

“Some of the soldiers carried the big demon spitters, but we didn’t see any magicians.” Takacs looked at the forester who nodded agreement.

“What was their attitude?”

Takacs barked out a laugh. “Bored. They act like they’re on a training march.” Then very seriously he added, “But we know how dangerous the Jokapcul can be even on a training march.”

“Assemble the troops,” Haft suddenly said to Fletcher and Stonearm. “All of them. We can send out an ambush in force and wipe out these Jokapcul while they’re on the move.”

Stonearm looked at him, surprised.

“Stop!” Spinner snapped before Fletcher could move or Stonearm speak. “If we had a hundred archers and we could catch them in the open, I’d say yes. But we don’t outnumber them by enough, and nearly half of our troops are less than half trained.”

Silent smiled wryly and shook his massive head. “You’re being impetuous, Haft.”

“An ambush will work,” Haft insisted. “We can begin by hitting them with fifty archers. Then, while they’re trying to figure out where the arrows are coming from, we smash into them with forty horse. And we still have more than forty foot to rush in and finish them off!”

“Who will defend Eikby while all our forces are away?” Stonearm demanded with great heat.

“Defend against who? The bandits aren’t coming, not now—maybe not ever.”

“We don’t know that.” Silent put a firm hand on Haft’s shoulder. “Other bandits could already be on their way.”

“But Jakte said the bandits aren’t ready. Besides—” Haft began to wave at the defenses being built.

“No buts,” Spinner said, stepping in front of Haft. “Four of us say we don’t send out an ambush in force. You’re the only one who wants to. So we don’t.”

Haft ducked from under Silent’s hand and glared from one to the other of the four who opposed him. “Then what do
you
think we should do when that Jokapcul company arrives?”

“Fight from behind the defenses,” Spinner said. He sidestepped to stay in front of Haft. “The caltrops will stop a lot of them before they reach the fences. Then the fences will stop their horsemen for our archers to pick off, and they’ll slow down their foot as well. We set archers a bow’s range from the fences and shoot at them while they’re getting through it. Our horse and foot array behind the archers. We can bring down many of them before they close with us, then our swords- and pikemen come out to fight. The only way their archers can get close enough to shoot at us is to put themselves in range of our archers.”

“That’s far less risk to us,” Stonearm agreed. “It will work. They will suffer so many casualties before they close with us, they’ll have to retreat.”

Haft turned to him. “Have you ever seen the Jokapcul fight?” he asked coldly. “I have. They don’t fight like any other men I’ve ever seen. When they charge they don’t seem to care if they live or die. They
will
close with us. They won’t retreat.”

Fletcher cleared his throat. “What you say is true, Haft. But by the time they close there will be few enough remaining that we will be able to defeat them. Remember, I’ve fought the Jokapcul almost as often as you have, I know as well as you how they fight.”

Haft cocked an eyebrow at him, Fletcher hadn’t been there when he and Spinner fought a squad of Jokapcul light cavalry—and Spinner already wounded before that fight started! “What about their demon spitters?” Haft demanded, not yet ready to surrender the point. “They can fire from beyond bow range.”

“That’s why we will be in trenches and pits until the Jokapcul close with us,” Spinner said. “The demon spitters won’t be able to hurt us in the trenches. Anyway, Xundoe can use his magic to counter them.”

Haft turned to Takacs, who had been trying to look invisible so he wouldn’t be sent away while the leaders argued about what they would do, and asked. “What kind of demon spitters do these Jokapcul have?”

“They just have the tubes.” He held his hands apart to show the length of the tubes, his arms were stretched almost to their full length. “I didn’t see any of the small ones like Mage Xundoe has.”

Haft gave the others a superior look. “Those demon spitters have greater range than the small ones. Xundoe won’t be able to counter them. And they are much more powerful than his, they can break through breastworks.”

“Enough!” Spinner shouted. “We don’t send out an ambush in force, we defend here. Let’s get ready and finish preparing our positions.”

Haft studied Spinner for a long moment. “You’ll see,” he finally said. “You’ll see.”

Silent took out the squad of Zobran Border Warders to track the Jokapcul closely and send in frequent reports. He stayed out with them.

The reports came in over the course of the morning: The Jokapcul had stopped less than an hour’s march from their overnight bivouac and set up the small pavilion for their commander. When he was ready, they broke down the pavilion and resumed marching as briskly as ever. Their order of march was the same as earlier. They stopped again a half hour later. After two more stops, Silent returned and said they should appear at the edge of the southern forest in less than half an hour.

All work ceased and the fighters took their positions, weapons were issued to as many able-bodied men as there were spare weapons. To guard the company’s campsite, a small mixed force of Eikby Guards and the Blood Swords was stationed at the western defenses under command of Corporal Maetog. More men were hidden in an orchard close behind the defenses. When they were needed they would come out and take weapons from the wounded and dead. Silent took a squad of horsemen to their position for “Plan B.”

Finally, Spinner and Haft took positions standing on top of the archers’ berm where, crossbows in their hands, they were fully visible facing the south. With their cloaks blue side out, they were readily recognizable as Frangerian Marines. Fletcher and Captain Stonearm crouched below them.

When the last scouts sprinted out of the forest, the tramp of marching feet and the clop of horses followed them. Then the Jokapcul point scouts appeared at its edge. They walked with a swagger that contrasted sharply with their dun-colored forager caps and uniforms and lack of armor. Two of the four carried swords dangling from their hands, the other two had theirs scabbarded and held bows. None of them bore the bucklers on their left forearms in a manner suggesting they were ready to fight. The quartet advanced a short distance into the open, then stopped and looked about with undisguised arrogance.