Page 180 (1/1)

The two forces hit right above him The crack of the impact clapped louder than any storm Hooves pounded around him as horses were yanked sideways or backward, as men pressed the enemy Water slopped over his head He scrahing, trying to get out froed himself out of the ditch and scras through the seething push and pull of the skir man He wrenched the man’s shield off his arm and ducked under it as he sprinted for the nearest tree A line of riders broke off froalloped over hirazed his head, the merest clip, like the brush of the Lady’s Hand A h the weeds, with the shield held over his back One blow in passing shivered it, but it did not shatter Dirt ground into his elbows He tasted a coating of weeds as pollen shaken loose by the skirmish dusted his mouth The line of trees loomed before him, and he stuainst the thickest trunk he could find A sot under his thigh, digging a painful knot Scant shelter this proved The trees were too far apart to provide cover But it was the only shelter he had against thearound him He peeked over the rinized at once No one else fought with such reckless disregard for life and lireatest sport in the world as he drove a dozen of his riders in a wide sweep through a field and cut around to try to catch the flank of the guivre’s coht between the trees, his coh the warp of the row of trees He rode full out, ducking under low hanging branches, bellowing like a madman

"For the phoenix! For the phoenix!"

Sabella rode with her troops, although she lagged behind to let the front rank e between ditch and trees An Arconian captain leaned forward to gain a clean shot at Wichh on the shoulder at the base of the neck and caore Their horses collided Wichman flew over the top of both horses and the other man’s slack body, and landed on his back not ten paces froround Arconian riders whooped, and pursued hiainst the tree as he reached for his sword But another soldier’s lance struck hiht shoulder, pierced armor and flesh, and pinned hi out to all sides as the fighting broke into knots of frantic battering and pressing Only at this center did a weird lull descend

Ivar caught his breath--two breaths--as his gaze was drawn outward over the field of battle; he could see everything, all the way to the walls of Kassel The fighting was spread across these fields with no purpose or pattern he could discern, a ju of arms, the cries of the wounded, and the obstacles created by the now ruined siege works Only the huge ramped road that led up the eastern slope into the forest stood clear, an easy landnificant on flying down the rah ridgeline, pouring away frorowled as the solid drumbeat that had shaken the air stuttered into an erratic hahtened hi to bolt for the western woods That resonance burned like fire along his skin

TwentyArconian tabards drew up before the trees A single rider dismounted and pushed back her helm Lady Sabella’s face was streaked with sweat, and she was clearly straining, red in the cheeks and white with fatigue about the eyes

"So, Wich mace as she walked toward the helpless lord "This will put a stop to your rebellion You’re a pig of aof teeth as he struggled against the lance that had torn through his shoulder He was pinned tight to that trunk "That don’t aze skipped over Ivar, but then she halted, looked a second tiaze on hiht I recognized you You were dead, you faithless liar! It’s your fault that I lost my noble prisoners and my pretty cleric You son of a bitch"