Disclaimer: This is a work in progress as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You are reading the work product of a first draft writing session and not a finished product. Comments are welcome, but bear the first draft nature of the work in mind. Thank you and enjoy!
Chapter 16
Cori and the rest of the platoon were told to pack up their gear but to pack light. Leave their tents and packs, taking just their weapons and necessities for a two-day march east and back. Many of the farmers they had rescued stayed on and helped maintain the camp, and they would keep an eye on things while the legionnaires were gone. Their goal was to lay an ambush for the Imperial column with the combined company platoons from Panther and Stag Companies. They started off just after noon and marched long into the night until they reached the north-south mountain road they had been shadowing for weeks now. They settled in for a quick rest where each legionnaire was able to get a few hours of sleep.
Cori was awakened just before dawn by Geb, as he went along waking the sleeping members of their squad. Sergeant Neale explained they were going to set up an ambush along the roadside. The enemy column was expected to arrive sometime around mid-morning. Scouts had been sent south to watch for them. They would set up in an “L” formation with Panther Company on the long side and Stag Company forming the base. That put second platoon as the blocking force that would move into the road and block the advance and escape to the north with first platoon to their right and third platoon to the left on the far side of the road. They were told to empty their quivers into the enemy column and only close with them and bring them to bear when all had fired their allotted arrows. Everyone was given twenty arrows from the remaining supply. That would allow them to fire for just over a minute. The rest of the company had an average of ten arrows remaining.
Word came from Panther Company’s scouts to the south that a large Imperial column was coming up the road. The report said that there were over three hundred of the enemy arrayed in four companies. That was likely an entire regiment sent up to the north to quell the forces that were stopping the Imperial raiding parties. Cori and the others settled in where they could hide on the side of the road. When Panther company attacked in the rear of the column, second platoon would rush out and form a line across the road and begin firing into the front of the column while the rest of Stag Company poured their arrows in from either side. The hope was that they would collapse the enemy in on themselves and then mop up any remaining resistance after their arrows had done the job of softening the enemy up. At least, that was the plan.
They heard the Imperials approaching before they saw them. This group was different. They were chanting something as they marched, their guttural male voices carrying through the morning mists that still covered the forest and parts of the mountain road. She saw a platoon-sized element first leading the rest of the column by twenty yards. They were all dressed differently than the Imperials they had fought before when encountering the raiding parties. They wore green lacquered mail shirts of overlapping plates, carried rectangular shield painted with a green and gold imperial eagle and were armed with long swords. There were also crossbow carrying sections interspersed throughout the column. They seemed much more disciplined than the other raiders, too, in their march step and grunting chant as they marched. It made them seem more formidable, Cori thought.
The lead scouting force passed Cori’s hiding place and Panther Company still hadn’t launched the attack. This was going to be a problem because they would have a group of enemies at their back if they stuck with the plan to enter the road and attack the main force from the front. A light tap on her shoulder alerted her that Sergeant Neale was behind her. “We’ll focus on the lead group first, then enter the road and redirect our fire.” He moved on to Shelby and the rest, repeating the orders on down the hidden line of legionnaires. Cori saw that he had just reached the end of their group to her left when the call went out to her right, and the Legion companies launched their assault. Cori stood with her comrades and took aim on the lead platoon of the Imperial troops and started launching arrow after arrow into the rear of the advance element.
The first shouts of alarm caused the lead troops to turn around to face the rear. That put their shields to the front, and many of the arrows impacted there. About half of the Imperials were down up and down the road, but the rest had formed a shield wall that resisted all but the best-aimed shots from the legionnaires in the forest. Cori shot one imperial thought the eye but only about one in four of her shots struck home through the armored foes. Most of the other legionnaires did worse. When then she was out of arrows, she launched from the cover of the forest into the roadway, drawing her knife and tomahawk, following her fellow platoon-mates. There were still about fifteen heavily armored soldiers up in the lead element. They came out from behind their shield wall and moved forward to attack the charging legionnaires in return. Lissa took advantage of her throwing knives to strike at the newly exposed targets, and several more of the Imperials dropped before she drew her sword and dagger and charged into the melee. Then Cori was fighting for her life against a bearded soldier who blocked all her blows with his shield and longsword. She was forced backward a few paces as she had to block a flurry of attacks from him in return and then he fell backward revealing Vernon Neale pulling a long knife from the Imperial trooper’s back. He gave her a grim smile as he pulled the blade free.
She looked around and saw that the lead element was down, and she turned to survey the rest of the fight. There was a fierce melee happening in the middle of the road. Sergeant Neale called out for them to follow him and he led second platoon in a charge in support of first platoon, where they were engaged with the front line of the main enemy column. The weight of additional numbers coming in soon carried the attack and the Imperial resistance crumbled in front of them as the soldiers in the green lacquered armor turned and ran back down the road. Some of the Legionnaires started to give chase, but Captain McAffrey called for them to stop. It was a wise decision. They had no arrows left, and the retreating enemy were better armored than they were. It would be a straight up fight if they chased them down and Sergeant Neale had drummed into them never to get caught in an even fight.
Cori cleaned her blades and sheathed them and looked around. There were a lot of green cloaked bodies down along the road’s edge. She spun around and started looking for members of her squad and platoon. Shelby was crouched by the body of someone nearby, crooning and rocking on her heels. Cori walked over where she could see and saw that it was Gil, the tavern boy who had followed Shelby’s lead to enlist back in Gladestown. He had taken a sword thrust to the stomach, and his light mail armor had not turned the blow aside. His unblinking eyes stared up into Shelby’s as her tears rained down on his face. Cori felt her heart fall as she took in the scene and looked around for others who needed aid. Kat was cradling her arm, and it appeared she had broken her forearm in the battle, and Declan, the apprentice blacksmith, was holding a makeshift bandage to a gash on his head. He had blood all over his face.
Captain McAffrey strode along the northern section of road, calling out orders and the sergeants took up the call. “Legionnaires, prepare to march.”
She looked at him and then to Sergeant Neale. What were they thinking? They had wounded and dead comrades to tend to. Cori was getting ready to complain when Sergeant Neale turned to her and saw her standing there, doing nothing.
“Cori, we need to get moving,” he said. “Captain says that the southern scouts just came in from Panther Company. There’s a large force of Imperial cavalry coming, and the infantry we chased off are regrouping to counter-attack.”
“But what about Gil and the others who were killed?” She pleaded. “We aren’t just going to leave them here, are we?”
“It’s leave them or stay here and die defending their bodies,” the sergeant told her. “Grab Shelby and get her moving. We’ve got no arrows left, and we’ve got to get deep into the trees before the horsemen get here, or they’ll just run us down. Now move.” He helped Declan stand up and then pushed him towards the forest’s edge.
Cori turned and went over to Shelby. The former tavern girl looked up at Cori.
“I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving him here,” she said.
“Shelby, you have to,” Cori replied. “If you stay, you’ll be just as dead as him, or worse, end up a slave in some Imperial officer’s tent.” She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her away from Gil’s body, pulling her into the trees. She could hear the drumming of approaching hooves on the road to the south. She was among the last of the legionnaires to leave the roadside. A few others were helping those who could barely walk limp into the tree line. Once Shelby was out of sight of Gil’s body, she stopped resisting and started running along with Cori. They were only a hundred yards into the forest when they heard shouts behind them and the crashing of the horses entering the woods from the roadside. Cori thought for a moment and then veered ninety degrees to the north. Hopefully, the cavalry troops would move in a straight line from the road, searching for the fleeing legionnaires and not spread out too much. She and Shelby could turn back to the west once they’d gotten away from the pursuing Imperials. Together they ran off into the deepening forest gloom hoping the shadows and brush would hide them.
———
The two of them moved northward for the remainder of the day. Cori was sure they had shaken pursuit but wanted to make a wide circle to the northwest to avoid any Imperial patrols that might be sent out from the pursuing forces. She and Shelby were alone, and they’d seen no trace of other Legionnaires since they turned north. Now it was getting dark, and Cori knew they needed to find a place to shelter and get some rest. They had marched most of the previous night to get to the ambush point on the road, and they were exhausted. Shelby spotted a rock outcropping, and there was a sheltered ledge beneath it that would offer some refuge from the wind and cold. They didn’t dare try to light a fire, and they only had a few strips of jerky and two hard tack biscuits between them for food anyway. Cori took first watch, and they settled in for a long, cold night in the forest.
Morning dawned, and Shelby shook her awake. “Cori, I hear voices,” she whispered.
Cori sat up and looked around, listening to the sounds in the forest around her. She heard the voices, too. Could it be fellow Legionnaires or an Imperial pursuit party? She continued to listen as she moved to a crouch and loosened her knife in its sheath. Whoever they were they were loud enough. That meant they weren’t Legionnaires, who would know better than to talk so openly in the midst of a forest full of enemies. It wasn’t likely that they were Imperials either. They wouldn’t announce their presence in such an overt way either. She motioned to Shelby to stay hidden, and she lowered herself to her belly and crawled around the stone outcropping to look in the direction of the voices.
“You idiot,” came one male voice. “I told you to stay on the road. Now we’re lost in this God-forsaken forest.”
“And I told you,” said the another voice. “The road would have been the first place the Imperials were looking.”
Cori saw movement through the brush and shifted her position to give her a better look. She was not expecting what she saw. There were two men, in full court garb, with torn and dirty silk stockings and large floppy hats. What were they doing way out here in the middle of nowhere? She waited a little longer, listening to the grumbling travelers while she ensured there was no one else with them and then slid back into hiding and told Shelby what she saw.
“They must be on the run from the Imperials, too. Perhaps from a group of refugees fleeing the capital to the south,” Cori surmised. “We should take them back to the camp and let Captain McAffrey and Captain Desai talk with them.”
“Whatever we do, we need to get them to shut the hell up before they bring the whole imperial army down on us all,” Shelby said.
The two stood up and made their way around the outcropping, following the sound of the voices until the men came into view. Shelby chuckled when she saw them.
“They’re not really dressed for the forest, are they?” She said.
The two men spun around looking around in fear. Cori and Shelby stepped forward, their hands on their weapons, just in case.
“Ah, good, some local wenches,” the man to the left said. He was wearing a tunic with a coat of arms that Cori didn’t recognize embroidered into it. “You will be so good as to direct us to the nearest road if you please. We have become lost in this accursed forest, and we must get to someone with the army.”
“You found someone with the army,” Shelby said. “We’re scouts with the Princess’ Own Legion of Solon from Rhodes. We can take you back to our camp if you’d like.”
“Before we agree to that, though,” Cori said. “You two need to keep your voices down. I heard you from a hundred yards away. There are imperial troops all over this forest.”
“Of course there are,” said the second man. “They are searching for us and the others who broke out of the siege around Veron just before it fell.”
“Veron has fallen?” Cori asked. That was bad news because it would free up more imperial soldiers to face the Free Kingdoms Army.
“Yes, it fell three days ago,” the first man interjected. “We were with a final breakout attempt by the King and Queen to get out of the city. We were able to ride past the soldiers fighting through the enemy siege lines and join the royal family in flight. But we were separated when set upon by another group of the Empire’s soldiers.”
“We’ve been on the run ever since,” the second man joined in. “We’ve seen imperial troops every day and decided to get off the road.”
“That’s a wise decision,” Cori said. “We attacked a column on the road and then were forced to split up and retreat when their reinforcements showed up. We can take you to the camp and our captain can help you from there.”
“Excellent,” the first of the two men said in a loud voice. “Lead on, ladies. We shall follow you.”
Cori cringed at the noise and looked around. If there were any imperials around, they would have come running by now but that didn’t mean they would encounter any. “Sir, you need to keep quiet, or we’ll just leave you on your own to be found by the Imperials. It shouldn’t take too long given the amount of noise you’re making.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” number two said. “I’m Count Deran of Veron, and this is his lordship Count Aleran from Ilia in the east. We’ll not have two lassies like yourself speak to your betters that way.”
Great, two nobles who didn’t have the sense to rub two sticks together to stay warm in the winter time. Cori didn’t know what made her do it, but Shelby spoke up, poking Count Deran in the chest. “You don’t know who you are talking to. This is Lady Corinne Westgate, of Solon, in Rhodes and I am her personal guardswoman. We will most certainly leave you both here alone I the forest and you can take your chances alone, or you can listen to us, and we’ll get you to our camp alive. Understand?”
The two men stood there dumbfounded and they nodded.
“Excellent. Milady, after you,” Shelby said.
Cori shrugged and started off to the west. She whispered out of the corner of her mouth as she passed her companion. “Personal guardswoman, eh? Does my father know about this?”
Shelby fell in next to her, checking over her shoulder to check if the two Veronans were following them then leaned in to whisper back. “I had to do something, or they would have fought and argued with us all the way back to camp, and probably gotten us killed along the way.”
Cori saw the two men starting to pick their way through the underbrush after the legionnaires. “Let’s pick up the pace. They won’t be able to complain if they can’t catch their breath.” She and Shelby started jogging off westward with their refugee noblemen in tow.
—-
Disclaimer: This is a work in progress as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You are reading the work product of a first draft writing session and not a finished product. Comments are welcome, but bear the first draft nature of the work in mind. Thank you and enjoy!