Twice skirmishers had neared the defenses outside Ravensburg, and at the last minute, darted away, returning to the west. Erik waited on the second crest of the highway, high enough to command a panorama of the center of the battlefield, and close enough to send messages quickly to the front.
Word had reached them an hour before that heavy fighting was under way at both the south and north ends of his ten-mile defense. Those were the two most difficult trouble spots, for everything depended upon them holding, forcing the enemy to slide along conveniently provided routes, down into the center, where Erik could let them spend lives trying to punch through.
When he finally gave the order to withdraw, those northern and southern units were to cut off any engagements, if possible, and hurry to Darkmoor. Erik would try to give them one additional full day, then it would become a full retreat, without any pretense of a delaying action. Owen and Erik had considered Calis’s original plan and modified it; Calis had wanted another delaying action, while Erik had argued, and convinced Owen, that the enemy were so conditioned to have the center delay that they would be cautious when the defenders abandoned Ravensburg, giving Erik the time he needed to get as many men away as possible. Erik was positive that each man not lost in a delaying action was going to be twice as valuable to the Kingdom in the defense of Darkmoor.
Now they waited. Swords, spears, and arrows were sharpened, traps were readied, horses were rested. Men sat quietly, some inspecting their armor and weapons again and again, against the possibility of having missed some flaw that might prove fatal. Others waited motionlessly, a few slept, and others said prayers to Tith-Onanka to keep them courageous, while still others made peace with the Death Goddess, against the time of their meeting her.
Erik watched, reviewing every preparation over and over, looking for mistakes, miscalculations, and potential problems. Signalmen stood beside him, flags ready, to relay commands to those units on the ridges to the north and south.
The chosen field of battle was a small, flat expanse of ground, nestled between a narrowing in the hills, a funnel along the King’s Highway, and the first line of defense was a low-running ridge with a notch through which the road passed. That was the point where Erik had erected the first barricade. A log rampart had been thrown across the road, giving Erik an almost level battlement from the ridge lines on the right and left. The enemy might attempt to scale the rocks on either side, but Erik counted on the placement of his bowmen to repulse them.
The battlement had been created to look haphazard and quickly erected, but it wasn’t. Erik was counting on the enemy’s underestimating the defenders’ ability to hold against an all-out rush.
The day passed slowly. Then the sound of enemy riders came from the other side of the clearing. A dozen horsemen emerged at the highest point of the King’s Highway, the last rise on the west before reaching the cleared battleground. They reined in and sat silently, observing the defenders. One man, the leader, spoke, and two of the riders turned back the way they had come and rode off. Then the leader signaled toward the defenders’ barricade, and two of his men cantered their horses forward.
Erik said, ‘Pass the word; if they come within twenty yards of the barricade, they die. If they stay beyond that distance, they can ride their horses into the ground for all I care.’ A long narrow trench had been dug before the barricade and carefully concealed. Erik did not want it inspected by the enemy’s scouts, but he had no objection to their returning and telling their leaders the way was clear.
The runner saluted and raced off toward the barricade, reaching it and passing the orders. At the farthest reach of the defenders’ bowfire, both riders swerved off the road, turning in a quick loop, waiting for the defenders to fire on them. When not one arrow sped in their direction, they came to a stop on the road. Both men turned and looked at their leader. The man signaled, and one signaled in return.
The two riders left the highway, moving to the verge of the road, one on each side. They walked their horses along, slowly.
‘The lads are looking for traps,’ came the familiar voice of Sergeant Harper. ‘Clever of them.’
Erik hadn’t noticed Harper’s appearance, so focused was he on the two riders. ‘Everything ready?’
Harper said, ‘As it has been for hours. What are we going to do about those two?’
‘Nothing. Let them think we’re saving our arrows for the first assault.’
‘What if they get too close to the trench?’
‘Then they’re dead. I’ve already passed the word.’
Harper nodded his approval. ‘It’ll be good to hold here a bit and bloody the bastards. All this running backward tires a body.’
‘There’s going to be nothing good about any of what’s about to happen, Sergeant.’
‘That’s what I meant. Captain; I’m just putting it in a different way.’