Cry of the Newborn by James Barclay Read Free Book Online Page A

Nunan's blade struck over his shield and took the defenceless man through the throat.
    'Claws, drive on!'
    His cry was taken up along the short line. He heard the neigh of horses and the stamp of hooves. There was another surge of noise and the multiple thud of sword on shield. Nunan glanced left. The remnants of the rebel cavalry had hit the side of the Conquord line.
    Infantry was streaming in from the back to attack. Archers were charging down the slope, bows discarded, blades ready.
    A sword came at him, high and carving down. He took the blow on his shield. The impact sent pins and needles along his arm. He stepped back a pace. Nunan wasn't a small man but the rebel was huge. His blade was an ancient longsword held in two hands. He was crisscrossed with scars, heavily bearded and wore a rusting hauberk, broken in a dozen places. Others clustered around him.
    'To me,' ordered Nunan.
    The man struck again. He was quick. It was a battering blow on to the top of his shield, trying to drive his guard down. Nunan had to trust he'd been heard. That second blow had badly jolted his shoulder. The rebel raised his sword over his head a third time. Nunan thrust his shield forward hard and fast, catching the man in his chest. He hardly moved but had no room to strike down, sweeping his sword around instead to block Nunan's blade, stabbing through waist-high.
    He was a careless fighter and his blade gouged a rent in another rebel's side but his power kept it moving fast enough to stop his enemy. Nunan angled his gladius to deflect and jabbed his shield in again. Higher this time, bloodying the rebel's nose. The man stepped back, winding his sword up behind him, missing another rebel by a breath. Nunan brought gladius and shield together, catching the blade and forcing it down and left.
    Nunan stepped up, cracking his shield into the rebel's ribs, keeping him off balance. The man leant briefly on his sword to avoid stumbling. Nunan saw the gap and punched his gladius up under the man's ribcage and into his heart. The rebel gasped and swayed backward, a tree falling on saplings.
    'Come on!' roared Nunan. A horn blared across the valley. Kell. Right on time. 'Push, Bear Claws, push.'
    Nunan drove on, heedless of the pain in his shoulder and the numbness spreading down his arm. In a few blows he could barely lift his shield but the infantry around him kept him safe. The rebels were wavering. Already he could hear the shouts of alarm, and through the tangle of limb and steel he could see a few breaking away from the back.
    The chaos slowly resolved. Captains dragged their citizens into line and the shield wall formed. Men stepped in front of him and pushed him g ently back. The 2 nd legion closed ranks and moved relentlessly forward in close formation, opening their shields to stab out, closing again to punch ahead. The survivors among the rebel horsemen had already put heel to flank and were racing away behind him. His archers returned to their bows and the thunder of Kell's cavalry was loud in his ears. He looked over the heads of his people. 'Hold!' he bellowed.
    They stopped. The rebels paused, uncertain and trapped, hoping for the chance to surrender. But for them there would be no mercy. His infantry paced backwards in perfect order. He heard Dina Kell's voice loud and a hundred lances were levelled. Realisation ran through the remaining rebels like disease. They panicked. Ahead an implacable shield formation. Behind, galloping cavalry.
    Nunan spat on the ground and turned away, finding he had no desire to look.
    Praetor Lena Gorsal wiped her hands down her tunic and walked to the open west face of the basilica. It was a glorious day in Gull's Ford, a small Atreskan town a hundred miles west of the Tsardon border. The air was filled with endeavour. Tucked away from the new highway being built to the south, it was sometimes difficult to believe that her country of Atreska had descended into civil conflict or that the Conquord was