Chapter Twenty: The Field of Tulips
The Field of Tulips was a large bowl of steppe grass, several square miles in extent, and it was indeed filled with wild tulips, though Lendulio was sad to see how the flowers were inevitably crushed by the tramp of the soldiery.
Beyond the grassland in front of them, to the north west, the land rose up and the hills were broken by scree slopes and boulders - rough going for an army, and impossible for the large and unwieldy baggage train which the allied army possessed. But at one point opposite, it could be seen that the ground rose less steeply, and there was an open pass through the Field of Tulips leading to a valley beyond.
This was the direction the allied army intended to take, but drawn up opposite them, at a distance of about half a mile, the steppe grass was filled with the great spreading stain of a mass of Rhenoussian cavalry, many thousands strong, with their hundreds of banners rippling in the warm spring breeze.
On the right of the allied line were the yellow-and-white clad Podolian archers, and behind them contingents of Podolian axe men in leather armour. In reserve on the extreme right flank was Lord Skanderos and his three thousand Megaran cavalry, including the group of sixty young Megaran noblemen who formed his elite Companions.
The Angiskoris occupied the centre - stern looking spearmen for the most part, but behind them in reserve was the heavily armoured elite cavalry regiment known as the Knights of Giskor, big men in armour on heavy horses armed with lance and mace, but suffering somewhat in the heat. The Angiskoris also had their Holy Wagon with them - drawn by white oxen, it contained Archimandrite Voloubos and his attendant clerics in their black-and-white robes, loudly blessing the troops and asperging them with holy water.
On the left of the Angiskoris were many smaller contingents of the lesser statelets, but the most significant unit here was the army's only artillery. This was a group of six catapults and twelve ballistas, manned by men from the Duchy of Garramundi dressed in red and white.
Shalmaneser had his command post on the extreme left of the allied line, where there was a slight rise in the ground. Behind him, in a fold of dead ground, the green-robed women who accompanied the army - but who had so far had little work to do - were busy setting up a field dressing station in anticipation of the coming battle. The small ridge that Shalmaneser stood on marked the beginning of some rocky and broken ground unsuitable for cavalry, which is why the unicorn used it to anchor his left. (The right flank was "en plein air", but he trusted to the large force of Megaran cavalry to guard that flank).
The closest troops to Shalmaneser were the men of the Barony of Volantia. Their infantry were an impressive and disciplined sight, their white-and-marroon checkered banners fluttering in the spring breeze. They stood impassively with their leader Baron Makris, showing no sign of discomfort despite their heavy armour and the growing heat of the sun. To their front, and curving so that their extreme left extended as far as the rocks and boulders close to where Shalmaneser stood, were the Volantian skirmishers: young men with slings and pellets of lead or clay. They normally wore only a white linen
garment diagonally over their chest and shoulder, but now they were in battle order they were entirely naked, carrying only their slings and pellet bags.
"A fine display, Shalmaneser, is it not?" said Magnus, as they stood together on the low ridge looking at the whole allied army spread out on their right in battle order. The seagreen cloak of the mage stirred in the warm breeze, as did the great golden mane and tail of the unicorn.
"Yes," said Shalmaneser, "but we are outnumbered nearly two to one. On the other hand, their force is entirely cavalry, whereas we have infantry too."
"And artillery" said Callixtus - for just at that moment the Garramundian catapults released their missiles with loud cracks of the catapult arms and cheers from the whole army.
Kari said, "They can hardly miss the great mass of Rhenoussian cavalry. But it's hard to see from this distance what effect they are having."
"Certainly I see men and horses flying and some unsteadiness and disorder in their ranks" said Shalmaneser, "but now look at how they edge forward - this was my main purpose - to goad them into attacking us".
A huge horde of Rhenoussian cavalry, many thousands strong, made the Field of Tulips thunder as they swept in a screaming charge against the allied centre. Volleys of arrows brought down scores of them, but then the allied archers were forced to run behind their infantry supports as the Rhenoussians hit the front line of waiting infantry. Callixtus could no longer see the action clearly
as it was obscured by clouds of dust and a swirling mass of screaming, shouting, fighting men and horses.
"Wake up Callixtus" said Kari suddenly - tapping him on the shoulder - for an arrow had just hissed close to them. A hitherto unnoticed group of Rhenoussians had abandoned their horses and crept on foot through the broken ground to the left of where the friends stood, and were starting to shoot arrows towards them, though the range was still long. Callixtus had been so absorbed in watching the main battle that he had failed to notice them.
Shalmaneser also was staring intently at the battle raging in the centre, and completely ignoring the arrows which occasionally fell nearby. "Voloubos should commit his cavalry" he said to Magnus. "The Angiskori infantry are wavering under the onslaught".
"Yes," said Magnus, "and I fear our artillery has been overrun - I can see Rhenoussians dismounting and smashing it - although I think the Garramundian artillerists mostly got away in time".
Shalmaneser said, "Only half the Rhenoussian force is engaged, Magnus - see they hold a second horde in reserve to prevent Lord Skanderos taking them in flank."
A short time later, as they anxiously watched the fighting develop, Magnus said - "See - Voloubos has committed his cavalry at last!" - and they could make out the Knights of Giskor in their flapping black and white robes over silvered armour laying about them with huge maces and cries of "Giskor! Giskor!"
- though they were outnumbered by the hordes of scimitar-wielding Rhenoussians.
Meanwhile arrows continued to fall around Shalmaneser as the dismounted Rhenoussians started creeping closer. Callixtus was returning fire, and with a sense of exultation he saw a Rhenoussian who had been crouching behind a boulder fall back with a cry, the feathered shaft of Callixtus's arrow in his throat.
Magnus, whose attention like Shalmaneser's had mostly been directed to the battle in the centre, now crouched by Callixtus to observe the enemy who were drawing closer to them.
"You're not telling me to get out of danger now - like you did when I fought the Black Island pirates!" said Callixtus.
"No, " said the mage. "But then you were only a boy who couldn't shoot straight- now I see you are a warrior". Several more Rhenoussians sprawled supine or crawled away amongst the rocks, hit by Callixtus's arrows.
Magnus turned to address Kari, who was crouching nearby, a glint in his green eyes as he watched the approaching Rhenoussians and ran his thumb along the sharp edge of his machete.
"Kari - we need to stop this little lot, or they will force Shalmaneser to change his command position, and they may imperil the healers who have set up behind us. So I think we should do what we were discussing this morning - " but then his train of thought was broken, because he had just noticed that Kari had a raging erection - and as of course he still wore only his mountain leopard leggings and orange headband, there was no concealing it, even though he was crouched down.
"I'm really amazed at you, Kari. Here we are in the middle of a battle and your cock is as rigid as a Volantian pikestaff! Don't you have more important things to think about?"
Kari said, "You're the one who should be ashamed - I'm just hard because of the excitement of battle; it's not sexual. You're the one who is distracted enough to notice it - I don't suppose anyone else would. I bet half the time you've been talking to Shalmaneser you've really being thinking about how you'd like to shag all those pretty boy slingers hanging around stark naked in front of you."
Magnus didn't reply to that - the remark was uncomfortably close to the truth - and just then more arrows hissed among them - including one which struck Shalmaneser in the back of a massively muscled thigh and lodged there. Shalmaneser gave a sound mid way between a neigh and a shout and fell to his knees, his voluminous golden tail twitching, as red blood gushed from his milk white skin.
"Right, that's enough" said Magnus. "Come on Kari - as we practised earlier!" Magnus took Kari's left hand in his right, and with his left he extended his staff towards the Rhenoussian archers. Kari put down his machete and held his right arm out, palm outwards. Magnus muttered something indistinguishable, and then there was a searing flash of flame - not only from the tip of Magnus's ashen staff, but also simultaneously from the ball of Kari's palm. The twin streaks of flame hit amongst the rocks and both of them exploded in balls of flame with loud retorts. When the smoke cleared, a dozen Rhenoussians lay blackened and smouldering and the rest were running away in fear.
They ran across to Shalmaneser, who was calm, though clearly in pain from the arrow sticking in his flesh. Lendulio held onto him tightly and looked close to tears.
"Don't even think about healing me, Magnus - save your energy for more important matters. Callixtus - please run and fetch a healer for me. When the arrow hit me, I was just watching the charge of the Megaran cavalry. The Rhenoussians committed their reserve, and Lord Skanderos took them in flank. I think the battle is won."