Read Echoes of Betrayal for Free Online Page A

dragon—”
    “Dragon!”
    “Yes, dragon. A witness, one of my Squires, saw the dragon destroy a troop of Pargunese near Riverwash, but I have no assurance that the dragon killed all the Pargunese who landed there … or that none have landed since.” Kieri nodded his thanks to a servant who brought a jug of steaming sib to the table. He gestured to Vardan’s mug. As the man poured, he said, “Aliam’s on his way with the rest of Halveric Company, but he won’t have reached Chaya yet. We need to hold the Pargunese away from Chaya and the King’s Grove until he can reinforce us. With your contingent, I now have eighty archers—”
    “We’re almost out of bolts and arrows, sir,” Vardan said.
    “Plenty with us,” Kieri said, grinning. “That’s one thing I managed, to boost the production of arrows this past half-year. I can supply your troops with good blackwood bows and plenty of arrows.” He asked a few more questions, learned that no more Pargunese had landed after this force, and then sent Vardan to rest.

    K ieri woke in the predawn darkness, aware of a stir in the camp. Two small groups of Royal Archers—seven in one group, nine in the other—and some twenty rangers had arrived, having marched through the night. That brought the number of archers up to a full cohort, but they had not ever maneuvered together. And these last were all tired, having had no sleep. Kieri ordered the newcomers fed first, then the other troops, as he considered the best way to use this combination.
    As the light grew, he began to get reports from his forwardscouts—the Pargunese were still moving warily south along the scathefire track and at their present rate would reach him shortly before or after dark. They did not have scouts out at a distance—having lost many to the rangers’ superior woods skills—but were still a compact and dangerous fighting unit. They had taken another farmstead—from which the owners, warned, had fled—and obtained some food there.
    “We’ll go to meet them,” Kieri said. “I want daylight for that. Are there tracks both east and west on which we can move fast?”
    “On the west, yes,” one of the rangers said. “But on the east, the only track bears away—it’s not that useful. What we did was let ’em get past and then cross behind them, work up close enough, and then snipe from there.”
    “Here’s what I plan to do,” Kieri said, and motioned to the maps still spread on the table. “If they move at yesterday’s speed, we can be in place here”—he tapped the map—“well before they reach it. That will let me place archers on the east side as well. Our harassing archery will slow them enough to give the supply train time to set up the second ambush here.” He pointed again. “We want it to look as though we started to build a barricade across the scathefire track, didn’t have time for a good one, and fled. They’re more likely to go over it than over the burnt-brush tangles at the sides.” He looked up to be sure they understood. “They’ll see a climbable barricade with plunder on the other side; they’ll be exposed as they try to get over it. Then we attack through the gaps beyond the barrier, where this burnt stuff was used for the barrier itself.”

    T he Pargunese made enough noise to hear before they came in sight: stamping boots, jingling mail, hoofbeats, creaking leather. Kieri peered between the tree boles for the first sight of them. Banner uttered a soft fluttery sound; Kieri laid a mailed hand on his muzzle.
    He had a hundred archers now, well supplied with arrows but unused to fighting together … against two hundred and more, short of bolts—they must be—but trained and experienced in formation fighting. The Pargunese knew they were in trouble, moving everdeeper into hostile territory, knew they were losing men constantly to sniping.
    Why were they still coming? Why had they not retreated? What was behind them worse than what they were