Cry of the Newborn by James Barclay Read Free Book Online

gladius and a light round shield in addition to their scale armour. Ahead, the valley floor was wide and rock-strewn. At the bottom, the river rose from its underground course and it was along this river that the road was being built. The fort lay a mile away towards the valley's eastern end, on a natural plateau. It was burning, the black smoke spiralling high into a cloudy sky.
    Down by the fort, he could see a mass of people moving. Hundreds. On the apron that ran down to the road, bodies littered the ground. Here and there, pockets of Conquord troops fought in the burning buildings, but they wouldn't last long. Wagons and materials lay scattered across the valley. The river was stained red and carried the bodies of men, oxen and horses. This had been a devastating attack by a large rebel force.
    'Advance!' yelled Nunan.
    He ran down the road, hoping he had timed it right for Kell and her cavalry to pen them in from the other end of the valley. Before too long, the thunder of his infantry at his heels was heard, the flash of their armour in the sunlight seen. Shouts echoed up into the sky. Soldiers, archers and riders gathered back on the road, streaming away from their attacks on the fort.
    A rugged fighting line emerged from the smoke and dust. Riders formed up against Nunan's left flank. At a rough estimate, he faced around four hundred. Not ideal odds but around him were battle-hardened citizens. Ahead of him were disorganised irregulars, tired at the end of a long, hard action they had thought won. But the Conquord would prevail.
    'Fighting spread,' called Nunan as they closed to a quarter of a mile. 'Archers, target the riders.'
    His orders were relayed across the infantry. Soon, the archers had overtaken him and were working up to slightly higher ground. Around him, his infantry formed a running line over thirty yards wide, spanning the road and the rough ground either side. At two hundred yards he saw enemy archers preparing to stretch their bows. At a hundred and fifty, a little too early, they began to fire. At a hundred, the enemy riders moved to their attack.
    'Keep pace.'
    Nunan held his shield in front of his face and hefted a javelin in his hand. Arrows whipped by overhead. He heard them thump into wood and flesh. To his left, the enemy cavalry were riding hard. His archers stopped. They fired. The volley crossed the gap and fell among the enemy horsemen. Man and beast fell in their midst but they did not break. Another volley fell. And another. The charge faltered and reformed. On they came again, closing.
    Nunan was forty yards from the standing line of rebels. He saw stolen Conquord armour, Atreskan crests and a mess of weapons and helmets. He saw fear in their eyes.
    'Javelins.'
    Nunan opened his stance and threw. Short spears thronged the air. In front of him, shields moved above heads. The missiles fell, bouncing, piercing, the sound like hail on an iron roof. Men and women screamed. Arrows flew in reply. Nunan closed his shield, a shaft thumping hard into the Conquord crest in front of him. The tip came through, grazing his forearm. He took his second javelin from behind his shield.
    'Javelins.'
    Again the short powerful weapons crashed into the enemy ranks. And this time, the 2nd legion crashed in right after them. The noise was extraordinary, the pressure suddenly immense. Nunan leaned all his weight into his shield and ran straight through his first man, trampling his body. The protruding shaft snapped away. Left and right, his infantry were with him, roaring the Conquord on.
    Slowed now, he found himself deep in the heart of the enemy ranks. He battered his shield ahead and left, feeling it slap against his enemy's. In front, an open flank. He buried his gladius in it to the hilt and kicked out at the falling body even as he dragged his shield back to the guard. He stood for a heartbeat. Right, he lost a man to a downward strike that drove hard into the citizen's neck. It was the rebel's last blow.