Monster Of The Maze

Chapter 10

The invasion of the Hitts was launched at dawn on the tenth day after Blade's arrival on the coast. The west pontoon had been forced, by much blood and sweat, to within a few hundred yards of the Hitt shore. The beach here was shallow and ended abruptly in towering cliffs broken by occasional defiles. Loth Bloodax had five thousand warriors waiting on the beach; his main host, which Blade judged as near to ten thousand, waited in a crescent battle array atop the cliffs. All the previous night fires had blazed on the cliffs and beaches, and the battle songs of the Hitts had blown across the channel to Blade and his men.

Ogier had twenty thousand men, three-quarters of whom were raw recruits. Blade, waiting in the dunes beyond the sunken pontoon, had a bare three thousand men, but they were the best in the Zirnian army. He had three troops of cavalry, six hundred horse in all, and in the first light of dawn he led the first troop out of the dunes and down to the shore. The pontoon, twelve feet wide, was marked by strips of red cloth just visible above the water. The large cove, near half a mile opposite them, appeared deserted. A light breeze from the west bore the sounds of Ogier's battle; he had made a circle of picket boats around the end of the pontoon and was sending off his first transports to effect a landing. Mist still clung to the water and Blade could not see the battle, but the air was filled with the defiant chanting of the Hitts, The sound filled the sky. Yeeeeeee-ahhhhhhh- Yeeeeeee-ahhhhhh.

Blade wore new burnished armor, and a scarlet panache fluttered from his helmet. He bore sword and mace, and a saddle sheath carried three short spears. Thane, riding at his side, was accoutered much the same but for the bronze-horned helmet.

As they rode to the water's edge Thane said a little prayer to the Hitt gods he had forsaken. «Give me the head of Galligantus this day,» he finished, «so the bones of my Trosa may rest in peace.»

Their chargers were skittish and did not want to enter the sea, unknowing of the planks a foot below the already bloodstained water. For the current here set to the east and, even as they forced their horses, the first corpses came bobbing into sight.

Blade put the spurs to his beast and forced it into the water between the red flags. As soon as the animal felt the planks beneath it all was well; it began to move, fetlock deep, out upon the hidden pontoon. Thane came after Blade and they paused for a moment. Blade turned in his saddle and raised an arm and let out a bellow.

«Men of Zir-follow me!»

He and Thane set out across the channel, the horses moving well but cautiously. The far shore loomed through the mist, desolate and forsaken. Nothing moved in the cove that was Blade's first objective. He grinned at Thane and glanced back. The first troop of cavalry was already on the pontoon, crossing in twos, and behind him the foot soldiers were forming in fours.

Thane peered at the far shore. «Not a sign of them. I think we're going to do it, Blade. By the gods, I do. Aha-I shall have wine tonight.»

«We will not count our fortunes until we have made them,» Blade warned. But he felt good. It looked good. They were halfway across.

The mist cleared fast. From half a mile to the west came the iron clamor of battle. From his vantage in the middle of the channel Blade could see great columns of greasy black smoke rising. Fires blazed. Some of Ogier's picket boats were burning. Dozens of leather-men, on their crude wings soared down from the cliffs and dropped stinkfire.

Thane said, «Ogier has bitten off a tough chew.» He pointed to the corpses bobbing near them. «Most of those are Zirnian. See-there is but one Hitt, and she is a woman.»

Blade had been studying the battle upstream. A transport was loading at the end of the pontoon. As he watched, it pulled away and another took its place. The pontoon was a solid mass of troops, four across, as far back as the Zirnian shore where others waited. He counted six of the transport barges already at the beach, three of them wrecked and burning. There was hand-to-hand fighting on the beach now. Ogier had a foothold, precarious as it was.

He turned his attention to the corpse Thane pointed out. It was that of a young woman, clad in leather armor braced with metal, with her yellow hair cropped short. She floated face up, her blue eyes open and staring. A stone or some such missile had taken off the top of her head.

«Even the children will fight,» muttered Thane. «Come. Let us to it.»

They pushed on. Blade looked back again. His cavalry was fifty yards behind, and behind them came the foot like a metal-and-leather centipede. The cove, with its broad beaches, was only a hundred yards distant now. Blade let his steed feel the spurs.

Thane and Blade were within twenty yards of the shore when a leather-man sailed down from the cliffs and dropped stink-fire. It was Blade's first close look at these air warriors with their bat wings and wood frames into which their arms fitted. He reined in and watched as the leather-man dove toward them with a faint hissing of wings. The man was naked but for a loincloth and wore no helmet. In each hand he carried a leather sack. He came so low that Blade could see the snarl, the teeth flashing, the eyes full of hate and fury. The leather-man let go a sack and there was a flash of fire and smoke and a stink filled the air.

«Close,» said Thane. He drew a short spear from his saddle scabbard and stood in the stirrups. He took aim and hurled. The leather-man went fluttering into the channel with the spear through his middle.

Thane laughed, then opened his mouth wide and bellowed the Hitt war cry: Yeeeeee-ahhhhhhhh.

«Leave off,» Blade commanded. «Enough confusion lies ahead. Remember that you are no longer a Hitt.»

«It is in the blood,» said Thane. «And blood cannot be denied. But for those bastards, Bloodax and Galligantus, I would be fighting against you, Blade.»

They were ashore. They rode onto the sands of the cove, the horses curveting and prancing, glad of solid earth again, and reined aside to let the first troop of cavalry land. They cantered past, jungling and shining, with pennons flying, and Blade shouted at their Captain. He was to take them immediately into the ravines and low hills beyond the cove and guard the landing of the foot soldiers.

Hardly had he given the order when the attack came. First the blood-curdling war cries ringing in the crisp morning air, yeeeeee-ahhhhh yeeeeee-ahhhhhhhh-and then they came swarming from concealment. For a moment Blade felt panic and thought he had been ambushed, then saw how few they were. Less than a hundred. Most of them old, some crippled, a motley guard left as a matter of routine. Bloodax had expected no attack here. He had not guessed at the sunken pontoon.

So Blade first saw the mettle of his enemy. They came on and on, yelling and hurling spears and stones-he did not see an archer-and as they were cut down and the corpses piled up, the Hitts behind climbed the piles and still came to death with defiant screams. Blade and Thane stood aside and let the troop of cavalry handle it. Pity and admiration stirred in Blade. He had never seen the like of these men. He gazed at Thane in wonderment. «They do not know the meaning of fear.»

Thane laughed deep in his throat. «I had not told you, Blade, but the word is unknown to them. This I mean in a literal sense-there is no word for fear in Hitt. Nor any for coward. That is because they are stupid barbarians and-«

«Another time.» Blade pulled his horse around. «Now we must hurry. You remain and see the troops safely ashore. I will take the second and third groups of cavalry and ride back into the hills. March after me as soon as you have formed the men. Make haste, Thane, for it is my thought that Ogier is having a hot time of it. He will be watching for our signals with impatience.»

Thane rode back to the pontoon head. Already a thousand foot were ashore and forming on the sands. Blade rode out through a narrow ravine and into a lush meadow that sloped gently upward. Behind him came his second and third cavalry units. He found the first group deployed as pickets near the upper meadow. Blade put his charger to the gallop and sought out the Captain of horse.

«What sign of Hitts, man?»

The Captain of horse, a young fellow wearing the blue and yellow of his service, did not salute. Such was Blade's order, for he did not want his officers marked by the enemy.

«No sign, Prince.» So was Blade called by the lower ranks. «We have made a fool of Bloodax,» the officer went on. «But for those few back there, now slain, there is no smell of a Hitt. My men are anxious to ride, sir. Have I the order?»

«When I give it you will have it,» Blade said sternly. «And be careful that Bloodax does not make a fool of you. Now, when the second and third cavalry have formed with you we will ride. In echelon, so.»

Blade dismounted and scratched a pattern on the ground with his sword point. «You will ride the point,» he instructed, «and I will come along in command of third group. Second group will be to your left and a quarter-mile behind as I will be on your right. Mind you grasp this well. I have no mind to ride into an ambush.»

The young officer was somewhat chastened. «Aye, sir. The Hitts are very good at ambush.» Then he cocked an ear and grinned at Blade. «But by the battle sounds Bloodax will have no men to spare for ambush.»

«I will worry about Bloodax when I come to him,» said Blade. «Now go. Ride off. You will go a mile deep, no more, and seek for trees to screen us. When you make your turn to the west, signal with a flag. Keep always screened by forest if you can-for our purpose is to come in behind the main body of the Hitts on the cliff meadows. If you encounter Hitts, any Hitts, they must be taken prisoner or killed. None must be allowed to escape and warn Bloodax that we are behind him. This is understood?»

«What of women and children, Prince?»

«Take them prisoner if you can-if not, they must be killed.» That decision came hard, but there was no alternative.

When the first cavalry group had ridden off, Blade gave like orders to the leaders of second and third horse. Blade placed himself at the head of third group and they moved out. Still no sign of Hitts.

A courier found Blade when they had gone half a mile inland.

«The Captain Thane says that all foot soldiers are ashore, sir, and are formed and beginning the march. I am ordered to remain with you to carry messages if need be.»

Blade looked to the rear. The van of the foot had just come into sight, a glittering column of spears glinting in the first rays of the sun. Even at the distance Blade could make out the bronze mirror of Thane's horned helmet.

The courier was little more than a boy. Blade eyed him. «How are you called, son?»

«Marko, sir.»

Blade smiled and patted his arm. «Then ride with me, Marko. And let us hope I find no use for you-for that would mean plans gone astray and trouble.»

Thane knew what to do. He and Blade had fought and mapped the campaign a dozen times this last week.

For half an hour they rode inland. The battle din faded as they found heavy stands of trees and disappeared into them. Blade was watching the sun anxiously now for he dare not let Ogier bear the brunt too long. That Captain was wasting men, lavishing blood on a beach that could hardly be taken as Bloodax fed reserves down the defiles from the cliff meadows above. That was the essence of Blade's plan-that Ogier engage Bloodax hot and heavy, keep him pinned down, make him feed a constant flow of fresh troops to the beach whilst Blade moved in behind. So far it was working, but time and fatigue were factors. Ogier had second and third-rate troops. and how long they would fight was a guess.

Marko broke into Blade's thoughts. «There is a signal, sir.»

Blade rose in his stirrups and peered ahead. A scarlet banner was waving far ahead, hardly more than a dot of color at that distance. Then a heliograph began to flash, catching the sun and glittering. Blade swore beneath his breath. If Bloodax had scouts this far back they would see those flashes.

«Read me that,» he commanded Marko.

Marko stood on his saddle and deciphered the mirror flashes.

«The first horse unit turns west now, sire. No Hitts have been seen. They have found a village, deserted even of fowl and cattle. The officer deems that two miles will put him squarely behind the Hitt line of battle. He awaits orders or response.»

«Send him this-you have a mirror?»

Marko drew a small mirror from his blouse.

«He is to make his turn south after two miles west. He will remain out of sight, using trees and hills for screening. When his forward scouts come into view of the Hitt rear, he is to halt and draw back a quarter-mile and wait until I come up. Be sure he understands and acknowledges.»

The boy rode better into the sun and flashed his mirror for a time. They waited. Answering flashes came.

Marko rode back to Blade. «He understands and proceeds.»

«Good. Now, Marko, you ride back to the Captain Thane and tell him what I told the first horse group. The same message, but that I will await his coming just as the first horse awaits me. His men are to triple-time. Tell him he is to whip them to it if need be. Go.»

Marko went galloping off and Blade rode back to the head of his column. They cantered on. Soon they were passing through the village. Blade gave it a brief study as they rode through: streets laid out in neat rectangles, houses of wood and wattle, some mud-daubed, all painted in bright color. Windows and doors were open and there was a smell of cooking in the air, but nothing live moved. Blade grimaced. He had been told aright-when the Hitts fought it was a total effort.

The forward cavalry scout obeyed orders exactly. Blade found them waiting in trees at the foot of a long slope. They were dismounted and quiet, the troopers tending their mounts and breakfasting on dried meat. From beyond the ridge came the battle sound, louder now and fiercer. Blade dismounted and went cautiously to the edge of the trees, peering at the sky for any sign of leathermen. The young Captain of horse, walking beside him, laughed and said, «We have seen none of the flying warriors. No life at all on this back ridge. I think that the Captain Ogier engages them so closely that they have no time to look elsewhere.»

Blade studied the slope. The gradient was easy and the land smooth and grassy, pocked only here and there by trees and bushes. A line of bare rock lay along the ridge, but he saw no hazard in this. Beyond the ridge the terrain did not drop, insofar as he could see, but continued level.

«I sent a man on his belly to the ridge,» said the young officer. «He was not seen. The meadow is there, straight to the cliff edge over the beach. And the Hitts' main reserve.»

Blade had given no orders for this, but he let it pass. The scout had not been seen or they would be facing Hitts now.

«What of numbers? Did your man count?»

The Captain shrugged. «He guessed. He did not linger, as you may suppose. He guesses near ten thousand, and they are not much concerned with battle. They loaf and gamble and, unless my man is a liar, a couple made love in the bushes not fifty yards from him.»

Blade smiled briefly. «No leather-men?»

«None. I doubt that any live. They are a special breed and the Hitts have but few.»

Again Blade studied the slope. It was a mile long and half a mile to the ridge. It was almost too easy, too good to be true.

«No stragglers,» he muttered. «No camp-followers, no deserters or skulkers. I do not understand it.»

The young cavalry Captain waxed a little bold. «That is because you do not understand Hitts, Prince. They die so gladly that it is hard to understand. Your Hitt deems it a privilege to die for his rulers and will even fight for the honor of doing so. They are a strange people, my Prince.»

«Yes,» Blade agreed. «I could wish that I had an army of them to fight them. But yonder comes the second cavalry-post a man to them and tell them to take up position on the right flank. You will move to the left and I will take the center.»

In a few minutes Marko came galloping up, his horse all steaming and lathered. «The Captain Thane is but minutes behind, sir. He will move into line soon. He begs leave to let his men catch their wind-they have been running most of the way.»

Blade looked at the sun. «Ten minutes, no more. When you have delivered that, see to it that signal fires are laid and ready for lighting. You will go to supply for the red powder.»

Now that the moment was nearly upon him, Blade found himself nervous with impatience. He dismounted and paced up and down within the sheltering line of trees. He sent for his officers and when they came and saw his mood they were silent and sat or stood in groups, whispering among themselves.

Thane came at last, sweating heavily, his yellow hair drenched beneath the bronze helmet. He grinned at Blade and clapped him on the shoulder.

«I near ran the guts out of the foot, but they are here. Give them time for breath and they will fight well.» He nodded toward the ridge and cocked an ear to the battle sounds.

«Ogier will be glad to see us, I wager. By now he has probably damned us thrice over and I do not blame him-he could fight on that beach all day and never take it.»

Blade summoned his officers around him and drew his plan on the soft black soil. «I will lead the attack in the center with the third group of horse. The first and second will each take a flank. We will keep the battle line and will top the ridge at the same time. The center will lag then for a few seconds in order to let the flanking horse curve forward and in, so that our line of battle will look like a crescent moon. I want no Hitts slipping away beyond our perimeter. A single platoon of lancers will keep to the rear, remaining out of the action, to hunt down such stragglers as do get through. Now-is all clear?»

«Aye. Let us begin.» His Captains spoke as one voice.

Blade looked at his aide, Marko. «Are the signal fires ready, lad?»

«Ready, sire. They await but the torch and the powder.»

«Touch them off»

A dozen fires blazed up, spewing a thick red smoke as the powder was cast into them. Blade, mounted and at the head of his cavalry group, watched as the first smoke drifted above the trees. A little higher and Ogier would see it and know that the attack from the rear was beginning. He would then press the battle with all his might, throwing in his last reserves to pin Bloodax to the beach. Ogier was the anvil, Blade the hammer-and betwixt them the Hitts.

Blade rose in his stirrups and waved his sword. He pointed it toward the ridge half a mile distant. He bellowed the charge and heard it echoed and repeated up and down the line.

Blade's mount, unleashed at last, with nostrils flaring and armor glinting, screamed and pawed the air. Blade brought it to tight rein and spurred and they were off. He was twenty yards in front of his men.

The sound of iron-shod hooves mounted in a crescendo of thunder. The earth trembled. Just before they topped the ridge Blade looked back over his shoulder and saw the line of foot soldiers, a mile wide and three deep, running and shouting. From somewhere he heard Thane's brazen voice flung to the skies and reverberating-Yeeeeeeahhhhh.

They were over the ridge. Horseshoes struck sparks from the barren rock and some mounts skittered and went down. When they had crossed the rock Blade held up a hand to slow the charge and let the flanks move forward in the enveloping movement. He began to count off the seconds.

Before him, on a great meadow that sloped to the cliff edge, was vast confusion. Women screamed and children ran to the Hitt warriors milled as they sought to come about and form a backward-facing battle line. They had had less than two minutes' warning. Now they poured cursing from black tents and from under flat-topped wagons where they had been sleeping, and they tried to fight back. Some began to tip over the wagons to form a makeshift fortress.

Blade finished his count and glanced to left and right. The flanking cavalry had moved ahead and were curving in to make a trap. They were already heavily engaged. The Hitts were forming little groups, back to back, and using their long spears to make a bristly defense. As Blade watched he saw horses gutted on those spears and the cavalry fall back for a moment.

He put his mount into gallop and at the same time beckoned a subaltern to him. The officer, his face gleaming with battle fervor, rode knee to knee with Blade and craned to hear the shouted orders.

«Back to the foot,» Blade bellowed, «and bid them pull in their wings and converge on the center: We must smash straight through to the cliff edge and so divide them, then turn right and left to finish them off. When you have done this, seek the officer Thane and bid him to me.»

The officer, looking disappointed, fell back out of the charge.

Then they were into it. A line of the flat-topped wagons, hastily tipped and manned, loomed ahead. Spears and arrows hissed at Blade's contingent. A ragged line of slingers formed behind the wagons and smooth rocks, twice the size of eggs, began to come. Horses and riders began to fall.

Three Hitts, fair-skinned men clad in skins and leather armor, leaped at Blade. One dragged at the bridle, trying to wrestle the horse down, while the remaining two attacked from either side with daggers and sword. Blade took a slash across his thigh before he maced one and sabered the other. The man at the bridle went down before his mount's flaying hooves. Blade urged the beast forward, took the wagon barrier in a great leap, and was in a swarm of Hitts. A woman, bearing no weapon, leaped at him with a scream of defiance. Blade laid the flat of his sword across her head. Even in such battle frenzy he could not bring himself to saber a woman.

The Hitts tried to bring down mount and man by sheer force of numbers. A dozen of them clung to him and his horse, screaming their war cry. Yeeeeeee-ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Blade fought them off, standing in his stirrups and hacking and slashing and thrusting. He was drenched in Hitt blood. At last he broke free and rode on beyond a line of black tents to a slight rise in the meadow. Here he paused for a moment of breath and viewing. His cavalry was over the line of wagons and the foot soldiers were pressing hard through the center. The edge of the cliff lay but a hundred yards ahead.

Blade summoned another young officer to him. The man arrived gasping and sweating, his sword red with Hitt blood.

«They fight like demons from hell,» he blurted. «I have sabered me five children this day and I had never thought to do that.» Blade, wiping blood and sweat from his eyes, commanded him to take small parties of the horse and seal off the defiles leading down to the beach. He would send foot to reinforce and lend mass.

«I will press on to the cliff and then turn to right and left. We have split them now and it is but a matter of time. But no Hitt must reach the beach from this meadow and no Hitt must come up here from the beach. We must keep them separate.»

The officer nodded in quick understanding. «Aye, Prince. The defiles are narrow and a small party can hold them either way, to front or back.»

«Go and do it then.»

Thane came up with an arrow through one brawny arm. His armor was dented and bloody and his horned helmet slipped askew, but he gave Blade an enormous grin. «Did I not tell you these Hitts could fight? Even when surprised. I am proud of my people.»

Blade regarded him with a faint smile. He nodded at the arrow. «They appear to have given you something to remember them by.»

Thane glanced down at the arrow as though he had just become aware of it. «This? It is nothing. A gift from some tall warrior. I repaid him in full.»

Thane extended his arm. «Break off the head, Blade, so I can pluck it out.»

Blade snapped off the arrowhead and Thane grunted saying, «It does hurt a little-a man needs wine for this.» He pulled out the shaft and flung it away. Blade handed him a cloth and helped him bind the wound.

Thane pointed to Blade's thigh. «They blooded you also.»

«Nothing. Come on. We must get to the cliff edge and give Ogier sight of us. He has borne the real brunt of all this and will be needing encouragement.»

The fighting was spotty now, diminishing as more and more of the Hitts were slain. Some of the hedgehogs still fought back to back, and the cavalry had been called off while machines hurled huge stones into the close-packed Hitts. Infantry advanced slowly on them, ready to move in and finish the job when the hedgehogs broke at last. Blade summoned an officer.

«This is a general order, to all officers. You will take such prisoners as will surrender. Women and children are to be disarmed by force and held prisoner by force-all males will be killed if they do not surrender. See you to it that all officers get this order.»

When the man had ridden off, Thane said, «It is useless, you know. Hitt warriors will not surrender, and to hold the women and children only brings trouble. They will not be slaves. They will kill themselves if they cannot escape, and those that remain you will have to feed and care for.»

Blade looked at him. «What would you have me do? Massacre babes?»

Thane shrugged his great shoulders. «I do not know. It is impossible to deal with Hitts. I know, being one. But look you yonder, Blade, and see what I mean.»

A thin and ragged line of Hitts, the survivors, had retreated to the edge of the cliff. They had flung their last spear, shot their last arrow, hurled their last stone. Now, as the horse and foot soldiers of Zir advanced on them, they turned and, screaming a last defy, leaped out into the void.

Thane said, «They have no leather wings. It is a harsh landing on those rocks below.»

One Hitt remained. Blade and Thane spurred toward him. He was a slinger and he had one stone left. As they drew near he whirled his sling about his head, screeching the harsh yeeeeee-ahhhhhh, and loosed his missile. It buzzed between them. The Hitt spat and made an obscene gesture, then ran to the edge and leaped far out. They could hear his war cry as he fell-yeeeeeeee-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

They reined in at the cliff edge and peered down. The narrow beach far below, at no point more than a hundred yards deep and less than a quarter of a mile in length, was an inferno. Blade's first thought was that peering into hell must be very like this.

They still fought down there, so jammed and close-packed that there was little room to swing a weapon. Ogier's troops had carved a beachhead some hundred yards in length and at no place more than fifty feet deep. Ogier had dug trenches in the loose sand and piled corpses before them as barricades. But beyond this perimeter, at the moment, a hundred individual small battle were in progress. Ogier himself, on horseback, rode back and forth at the water's edge and bellowed commands. Behind him and all up and down the beach were the hulks of burning transports. Other barges were leaving the end of the pontoon as they were loaded and made for the shore. The bridge itself was packed with troops for half its length.

Thane urged his horse closer to the edge and strained to see. He shielded his eyes and peered and swore mightily. «I can see Loth Bloodax! He fights yonder and he fights well, as was to be expected. But what of Galligantus? I do not see him. By the gods-if someone else slays him and I am cheated. .»

Blade had called up some of his officers. The battle of the meadow was won, but for mopping up, and now Ogier must be relieved, and speedily.

«Take your foot,» he ordered, «and begin pressure on the defiles. Dismount the cavalry and throw them into it. It will go hard, for those passages are narrow, but use our advantage of numbers and force it. We must move onto the beach at once and take them from two sides.»

There was some grumbling at this, for certain of the officers thought they had finished their day's work, but Blade glared and the muttering ceased. Blade summoned a signaleer, and flags were shown on the cliff. Ogier stared up and lifted his sword in response. Blade thought that the Captain looked weary unto the death.

He moved to where Thane, muttering oaths, still searched in vain for his enemy Galligantus. «He is either slain or fled,» Thane grumbled, «and to give him his due, I do not think him coward. Some bastard has killed him, and if I find out who I will slay him.»

Blade had to laugh at the big Hitt. «You are battle-weary,» he said. «Your thinking is tangled. Forget it and point me out this Loth Bloodax.»

Thane tugged at his yellow beard with blood-stained fingers, then had to laugh at himself. «Yes, you are right. I am a fool. But yonder is Bloodax-see with the ring of Zirnian corpses all about him. I count some twenty at a glance.»

Blade stared. At this point the Zirnians had thrust a narrow salient across the beach to within a few yards of the cliff wall. The wedge was beset on all sides by screaming Hitts, but so far it was holding. The battle here was fiercest, hand to hand and bloody, but Ogier fed in more troops constantly, and as Zirnians fell they were replaced. Blade understood the tactic and nodded in approval. Ogier sought to drive between the Hitts, to divide them on the beach and strengthen his salient until he could face two ways and begin the last drive.

At the point of the salient, blunting it, was the warrior called Loth Bloodax. He led a party of some twenty Hitts and they were yielding nothing. Blade cupped his eyes to get a better view. The man Bloodax was not as tall as he had guessed he would be, but was broader and of greater girth than any man he had ever seen. He wore metal armor, whereas most Hitts fought in leather, and his helmet bore a single tall spike made of horn. He fought with axe and shield. The watching Blade felt admiration and at the same time a tightness in his chest. This was a man and a warrior. The huge axe, which Bloodax handled like a toy, glittered and spun in a shining circle. It darted and bit deep and smashed and pulped and gleamed scarlet as the warrior danced back to safety.

This Loth Bloodax was a cool one. Winded for the moment, he retired into a protective pocket of his warriors and rested, leaning on his axe and regarding the scene. He took off the spiked helmet and wiped his forehead with a forearm, then glanced up at the cliff top, at the Zirnians ranged all up and down it. Blade would have given much to see the man's face and hear his words. Bloodax must know that he was defeated, doomed, yet he fought on as if he were sure of victory.

Thane was puzzled. «I do not understand it. Why does not Ogier bring him down with arrow and spear-fire?»

«My orders,» Blade said quietly. «Given to Ogier in secret. I want Bloodax alive if possible. I want him subdued and friendly, or as much so as possible, to govern his people when we have gone. And I want his aid in finding my diamonds. And I see that you do not approve, Thane?»

Thane regarded his chief with a disgust he made no attempt to hide. «You have proven yourself a warrior and a great general this day, Blade, but what you tell me now proves you still a fool. I talk and talk and you do not listen-you refuse to understand Hitts. If children die before yielding, do you think Bloodax will surrender? Pah-you had best send command to have him killed at long range, before Ogier loses another two-score men.»

«Mind your tongue,» Blade snapped. «I command as I will. You may be right and I wrong, but it is worth a chance. These Hitts must be ruled after they are defeated, and for that no one is better than their natural leader.»

Thane laughed and pointed down at the beach. «There he is and I wish you joy of him. Now with your permission, I will leave you and go searching for Galligantus. You have no further need of me?»

«None,» said Blade stiffly. «Go. I hope you find your Galligantus. Perhaps it will improve your humor.»

Thane reined away and put his mount to gallop. Blade remained at the cliff edge. Far below him, Bloodax leaped into the fray again and his axe was drinking Zirnian blood. Blade pondered. Was he in the wrong? Perhaps. But he wanted the man alive, to woo and win him to friendship if possible, to use him to rule the Hitts and guide Blade to the choicest diamonds.

He watched the fighting on the beach. Ogier was now beginning to win. The defiles had been stoppered and there was no place for the Hitts to retreat to. Blade had smashed the reserves and when a Hitt warrior fell he could not be replaced. The piles of Hitt dead were rising minute by minute. Ogier kept flinging more troops ashore, using sheer numbers and mass to overwhelm his enemy. The Zirnian beachhead widened bit by bit as the Hitts were forced, literally, to the cliff wall.

Blade remained where he was, easing himself in the saddle and binding his slight wound with a cloth. A steady stream of officers brought reports, and some remained to keep him company.

«No male Hitt lives,» said one officer, «but for some old men who did not have time to kill themselves before we took them.»

Blade looked at the meadow behind him. Smashed wagons and burning tents and thousands upon thousands of corpses. In one corner of the meadow were captives, most of them women, with some children, guarded by horsemen and foot. They were keening, wailing for their dead and for their future, and the sound came harsh to Blade's ears. He looked away and tried to shut out the sound.

«Our losses?»

«More than a thousand, sire. Another half thousand so badly hurt as to be useless. Shall I order them killed? They will be a burden on us.»

Blade eyed the officer who had spoken. «You will order them cared for,» he said curtly. «I will inspect later and say who is to have a mercy death and who is to live.»

He turned back to the cliff. He sought for some sight of Loth Bloodax and could not find him. Uneasiness stirred in Blade. Where was the Hitt chief? He swung from his saddle and stalked to the cliff edge flinging himself on his belly to peer over.

«Mind the edge,» one officer warned. «It is loose soil there.»

Blade ignored him. He sought anxiously in the melee below for a sign of the spiked helmet and the flashing axe. It was gone, they were gone, Loth Bloodax was gone. Blade swore and knew that he had been somehow outsmarted. But how?

Ogier had driven his salient through to the cliff wall now and had widened it. He poured battalion after battalion into the aisle dividing the Hitts. It was nearly over.

The remaining Hitts on the beach died one by one. They were encircled and cut off and taken from all sides. They grouped in twenties and thirties, and the last man died atop the pile of his companions. Ogier spurred up and down the beach, bellowing orders and lending a hand now and then in the fighting. Blade smiled faintly. A fine warrior, Ogier, and a shrewd Captain. Of all the heritage left him by the Izmir, he prized Ogier the most; Thane, but for the drink, would have ranked equal, but there was excuse for Thane. He had a sorrow that did not plague Ogier.

Blade began to look among the corpses for that of Loth Bloodax. He thought it wasted effort, yet he still sought without success. But maybe the Hitt chieftain was buried under other bodies, perhaps his corpse would still be found. Blade did not really believe it. He knew that he had been somehow diddled, though he could not guess at the how and why of it.

At last Ogier sent up blue smoke. Victory. It was all over on the beach. In a few minutes a courier came from Ogier and sought out Blade among his officers. The courier was evidently just off the last transport, for his armor was new and unsullied by blood, his face clean and his mount fresh. Blade's veterans loured at the man and muttered. The courier reddened in the face, but ignored them and rode to Blade and saluted.

«The Captain Ogier sends greetings, Prince, and says that the beach is taken. Our losses, at first count, are some eight thousand dead and as many hurt. The Captain says-«

Blade waved an impatient hand. «What of Loth Bloodax? And a warrior called Galligantus? What of them?»

«I come to that, Prince. Of the man Galligantus nothing is known, but Loth Bloodax has escaped us. He has fled.»

Blade stared. «How is this possible? He grew wings, mayhap, or borrowed a pair from one of his dead leather-men? What do you tell me, man? That Bloodax flew over the cliff, or the sea?»

An officer broke in. «This one lies, Prince. It is impossible. I last saw Bloodax backed against the cliff wall with a score of Zirnians after him. He had half a dozen men about him, no more.»

Blade bade him be silent. He waited. The courier knew a dramatic moment when it came. He took his time in speaking.

«Loth Bloodax escaped into the cliff, my Prince. He must have planned it all along and so fought in that direction. There is an opening into the cliff, cleverly concealed and invisible, unless you come within six feet of it. It leads into a tunnel, a tunnel so narrow and dark and winding that the Captain Ogier will not send men in there to search. This he bids me explain to you, and to say that he is sorry, and that he had done all he can for the moment. Have you a return message, Prince?»

Blade thought for a moment before answering. He must get after Bloodax at once. And yet he could not ask his men to do more than they had done this day. It would have to wait until morning.

«Say that the Captain Ogier had done well and that I thank him. He will dine with me tonight in my tent. If there is blame for the escape of Bloodax it is mine, not his, for no man could have done better. Say all this and also bid him extend my thanks to his officers and men. I am proud of them. Go.»

Thane came back. He was gloomy. He had a wine sack flung across his saddle and his mouth and beard were purple.

«I have heard the news,» he said before Blade could speak, «and I confess that I am not surprised. These cliffs are honeycombed with caves and tunnels. I should have thought of it, but I did not. I am sorry.»

«So am I.» Blade looked at the wine sack. «You are beginning?»

«Aye, I am. You have objection?»

«None. You have earned your drink.»

«I have,» Thane agreed, «and I have double cause for it this day. Galligantus has escaped me. His body is not to be found, though I have it that he fought here today. I am thinking that he went ahead into that tunnel, as advance guard for Bloodax. So they have diddled us both, Blade.»

Blade smiled. «If you keep some of your wits, Thane, and your head permits in the morning, we may come up with your Galligantus yet. For with the sun I go in search of Bloodax. It should not be hard-he can have few men and nothing of supply. I will get him.»

Thane tilted the wine sack and drank deep. «Or he will get you. I do not like it, Blade. This coast is one thing, the mountains are another. I should know. I once lived in them.»

«I do know that-which is why I wish you to drink lightly. I will need you as guide. But I request it, do not command it. Suit yourself.»

Thane drank hugely and grinned. «I always do, so far as I can and keep my head. But I make you a bargain, Blade-if you can wake me in the morning I will go with you. I will not like it, but I will go. But for now you have other troubles.»

Blade gazed about the littered battlefield. «Have I now? I had thought them over for a little time.»

«You will see. For you still do not know much of our Zirnian soldiery, and especially of such riff-raff as we have recruited for this campaign.»

«They have fought well enough,» Blade said. «Far better than I guessed.»

«Aye,» agreed Thane. «And now they will want their reward. And will take it. They have found a thousand casks of Hitt beer and are broaching them by the dozen. I doubt that you have ever tasted Hitt beer, Blade, but let me tell you of it-it steals a man's senses in no time. And to add to the dish, you have taken women captive. I advised against that, remember, and before this night is out you will admit me right. Even Zirnian soldiers will not couple with a corpse, but your Hitt women are alive. For now at least.»

«We will stop it now,» said Blade. «I will call the provost officer and have him see to it.»

Thane laughed wildly. «You will have to lure him away from his beer, then. I passed him and his marshals on the way here and they were knocking out bungs at a great rate. I would not count on the provost, Blade.»

A shout of drunken laughter came over the battlefield. Thane winked at Blade. «They begin. You might as well join me in wine, Blade, and enjoy it. For you cannot prevent it. I will not try. I have fought long and hard this day and have no mind to be slain by my own men.»