The Battle for Skandia- Character Reaction

34

"Here, Gil." The tall Ranger grimaced slightly as he took the book.

"This isn't going to get worse, is it?" he asked. No one replied, and he sighed. "Well, that's just great."

IT TOOK SEVERAL MINUTES FOR THE TEMUJAI COMMANDER TO realize that something had gone badly wrong—for the second time. The whole group laughed. There was a gap in his line as the riders returned, he realized. "Really?" Will said with mock confusion. Then, as he cast his glance over the battlefield, he saw the tangled bodies of men and horses and frowned. He had been watching the overall action and had missed the four rapid volleys that had destroyed the Ulan.

"How did they miss that?" Horace asked. "Is he that absent minded?"

Halt shrugged. "He doesn't know much, apparently."

He pointed with his lance at them. "What's happened there?" he demanded of his aides. But none of them had seen the destruction as it took place. His question was greeted with blank stares. Halt snorted disdainfully.

A single horseman was pounding toward them, calling his name. "General Haz'kam! General!"

The man was swaying in the saddle and the front of his leather vest was
slick with blood from several wounds. Blood stained the flanks of his horse as well, and the Temujai command staff were startled to see that the horse had been hit by at least three arrows.

Will cursed. "We could have gone on longer if he had gone down."

"We got a good bit of them, anyways," Horace reminded him.

Horse and rider skidded to a stop in front of the command position. For the horse, it was the final effort. Will winced. Weakened by loss of blood, it sank slowly to its knees, then rolled over on its side, its injured rider only managing to escape being pinned at the last moment. Haz'kam frowned as he peered at the wounded man, then recognized Bin'zak, his former chief of intelligence. True to his word, the colonel had taken his place in the front line of one of the Ulans. It had been his incredible misfortune that he'd chosen the one destroyed by Will's archers.

"A further misfortune he survived to tell," Halt muttered. "Blasted Temujai."

"General," croaked the dying man. "They have archers . . ."

He staggered a few paces toward them and now they could see the broken- off stubs of arrows in two of his wounds. On the ground beside him, the horse heaved a gigantic, shuddering sigh and died. The Rangers all wore uncomfortable looks.

"Archers . . ." he repeated, his voice barely audible, and he sank to his knees.

Haz'kam tore his gaze away from the stricken colonel and scanned the enemy ranks. There was no sign of archers there. The Skandians stretched in three ranks across the narrowest part of the valley, behind their earthworks. On the seaward side, and a little behind the main force, another group stood —also behind earthworks and holding large rectangular shields. But he could see no sign of archers.

"Good," both Will and Horace chorused. Halt and Cassandra nodded agreement.

There was one sure way to find them, he thought. He gestured toward his next ten Ulans.

"Attack," he said briefly, and the bugler sounded the call. Once more, the valley filled with the jingle of harness and the thunder of hooves as they drove forward. Halt muttered a string of curses. No one thought to reprimand him.

In front of him, the colonel slumped forward, facedown in the sodden grass.

"If he could have done that before he got the news in," Halt said. Crowley and Pauline raised an eyebrow.