Arms-Commander

XXXVII

By the time Saryn and fourth squad had descended from the mesa and ridden down the next set of slopes, then made their way along the road until they had nearly reached the western end of the mass of churned rock and earth and sand-a half kay west of the hillock-the sun had dropped behind the western peaks and ridges, and the entire valley lay in shadow. Because her vision continued to vanish unpredictably, Saryn was forced to rely on Klarisa.

Ryba rode up to meet Saryn, easing her mount to a halt, almost stirrup to stirrup with the younger woman. “I knew I could count on you. You had trouble, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” After the ride, and the events of the past two days, every part of her body ached, her head and eyes most of all. “We managed. How about you?”

“All told, we lost thirty-one guards.” Ryba’s voice was hoarse.

“How many of the Gallosians survived?”

“We don’t know for certain, but no more than a few hundred. A handful rode north and managed to get onto a few higher places, and the last two companies-his rear guard-managed to escape. I didn’t have second company chase them. The wagons were more valuable.” Ryba frowned. “It’s going to be the demon’s own time getting them over or around that mess you created. It might take days.”

“What about our wounded?” Saryn lost her vision again, with another thunderclap inside her skull.

“There are another forty or so, but the healers tell me that most of them will make it.” Ryba’s voice was hoarse. “The ones who died-they were more than a tenth of all those at Westwind, and that doesn’t count the wounded. Gallos has to lose nine or ten thousand men before it’s a serious loss. Every loss is still serious to us.”

“They won’t try again, not soon.”

“Thanks to you, no. Not for another few years, or a generation at most, before some other younger son or hothead decides that having a land ruled by women is insufferable to the mighty male ego.” Ryba’s voice dripped with acid bitterness.

At that moment, Saryn’s vision flickered back, and she saw the heavy dressing on Ryba’s upper left arm. “You were in the front lines, weren’t you?”

“Second line, but one company of theirs was good. Not as good as us, but much better than anything we’ve seen.”

“One of those special companies,” suggested Saryn.

“In the end, it didn’t matter. They all died, too.”

“All of them?”

“They couldn’t face the fact that they weren’t that special. Not one would surrender. There seems to be a certain disgrace to being bested by a woman at arms.” Ryba snorted.

“So…you didn’t spare anyone?”

“I’m not that cruel, no matter what Arthanos told his men. There are close to a hundred wounded and fifty who did yield. We took their weapons, and let them have two of their wagons and sent them back to Karthanos. I also sent a message with them, suggesting that peace would be far less costly than war. I also said we had no intentions on his lands, but that we would suffer none on ours, nor on traders or others who wished to travel the Westhorns.”

“Will he get it?”

“I had Istril with me. I gave it to a wounded undercaptain. She said he was honest and would deliver it.” Ryba’s smile was twisted. “We will see.”

“What about their mages? How many did they have?”

“Two, I think. Chaos-fire isn’t that effective against an avalanche.” Ryba paused. “I’m going to take two squads, along with the wounded, and head back to Westwind first thing in the morning with Siret. I’m leaving you in charge here to manage getting the Gallosian wagons to the road and acting as our rear guard.”

“I can do that,” Saryn said dryly. But I’ll need someone who can see all the time.

“I know. I need to think about the Suthyans.” Ryba laughed, sardonically and hoarsely. “We can’t block every road in the Westhorns, or we won’t have either travelers or trade.”

Saryn looked pointedly at Ryba’s bound arm, only to find that, again, she saw nothing except a sparkling blackness punctuated with what felt like blows to her skull and eyes. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“It’s only a slash. Istril says that it will heal but not to use it for a while.”

“Please don’t.” From the pallor Saryn had seen briefly in Ryba’s face and the tiredness in her eyes and posture, Saryn had the impression that the Marshal’s wound wasn’t just a slash. She couldn’t use her own senses to tell, not at the moment, and she wondered how long it would be before she regained her own abilities.

“I doubt that I could. If you’d look things over and take charge, I’d appreciate it.” Ryba paused. “Hryessa and first company are east about a hundred yards.”

As the Marshal turned her mount, Saryn tried to extend her senses, since her sight had not returned, and before dizziness and pain washed away her perceptions, felt another locus of chaos, and a splint of sorts, on Ryba’s lower right leg. Second line? As she forced herself to try to relax, Saryn had her doubts about that.

She had to wait for a time before her sight returned, and she could urge the gelding forward, riding toward several wagons and what looked to be a camp ahead on the right side of the narrow road.

Hryessa was mounted, and when she caught sight of Saryn, rode to meet the arms-commander, easing her mount around the end of one of the wagons. As the captain neared, Saryn reined up. She could see several guards stretched out in the wagon, one with a dressing that covered her entire upper face.

“Arms-commander, you are back. When the top of the mountain exploded, we feared that none would survive and return.”

“It wasn’t as bad as it looked,” Saryn replied. “How bad was it here?”

Hryessa reined up close to the arms-commander. “It was terrible, but our guards, they were magnificent. The Gallosians were beasts. Some had sabres smeared with poison, and others…” She shook her head. “I worried that the Marshal waited too long, but she did not. If she had called for you to bring down the rocks any earlier, there would have been many more Gallosians who escaped their fate.”

“Where did you come up with that last company to take the wagons?”

Hryessa grinned. “We used barely trained junior guards, but they were led by first squad. The Gallosians in the rear were not thinking after they saw their army disappear under the rocks.”

“Was that your idea?”

“I offered it to the Marshal. She agreed. It was a long wager, but we need the supplies.”

“I’m certain we do. The Marshal will be taking two squads and the wounded back tomorrow. We have the task of salvaging everything we can and getting those supply wagons from the other end of the valley here.”

“I already have guards searching for the best path through the woods.”

Saryn smiled. “You’re ahead of me.”

“Is that not what a captain is for, ser?”

“A good one, and you are,” Saryn said with a laugh she did not feel, as her vision vanished again, and she swayed in the saddle.