Warlord Sargos had just sliced the arm off a Hostigi soldier with his bat-tleaxe, when he saw Althea-her face bloody-riding toward him. His heart almost stopped beating until he realized that it was dried blood, not fresh. "What news do you bring?"
Althea looked down to avoid his eyes.
"What happened to your archers?" He knew in his heart the news was bad because she would have never left them otherwise.
She looked up. "Kalvan's men hit us with far firesticks. They shot my army apart, far beyond even our arrows range. I had the horns blown rather than see our archers die like puppies in a bag tossed into the river."
Sargos said, "You have done all anyone could. We are losing ground here, too. Kalvan's big fire tubes are butchering our warriors. Right before Sargos' eyes, one of the chariots took a direct hit from a cannon ball, snowing the clansmen with splinters.
He saw a big chunk heading their way and shoved Althea out of her saddle. Then something hard hit Sargos' head and before he could react the world turned pitch black.
V
Captain-General Harmakros hastily pulled on his high-combed helmet. The battle of the two kings had changed dramatically in the last half candle. The Mounted Rifles had taken a terrible toll on the archer cavalry and after half a dozen volleys the archers had left the field. That allowed their heavily battered Rathoni allies to reform and re-join the main battle downhill, which had already changed momentum following the arrival of Alkides Flying Batteries. Using case shot, the guns had scythed through the horde, killing thousands and putting even more to flight. He had watched in amazement as entire troops disappeared and war chariots were blown into kindling.
Harmakros gave marching orders for the rest of the reserve and then mounted his horse and left to join the waiting Mounted Rifles. He noticed that his pipe was still clenched between his teeth, and when he removed it from his mouth he saw that the he'd almost bitten through the stem.
Harmakros spurred his horse on. He might have missed the battle's main course, but he was determined to get his share of the table scraps!