What would it look like when 235 skilled archers all loosed their entire supply of arrows together? The arrows fell like black raindrops, pouring into the crowd without pause. They tore through armor, pierced flesh, and destroyed organs.
Cavalrymen were shot from their horses one after another by the rain of arrows. They had no idea what was happening. Before they could take any effective evasive action, the heavy arrows, as thick as a swarm of locusts, brought them down in succession.
The arrows were terrifyingly accurate. The vast majority struck the men without harming those valuable horses.
While the Hols cavalry shouted and scattered for cover, hoofbeats like thunder suddenly came from the road ahead. Only when the light reflected from armor scales reached their eyes did the Hols cavalry realize what was happening...
The cavalrymen at the front tried to get out of the way of that dreadful charge. But those behind could not see what was going on. They only thought the men ahead were blocking their way. Those terrible arrows were about to catch them in the head, so they desperately urged their horses forward, trying to escape.
On the road, which was not particularly wide, the Hols cavalry bunched together. All discipline was gone. The men at the very front could answer the oncoming charge with nothing but terrified screams.
...
"Alka, give me your helmet. Stay here with 100 men and watch. Once we've scattered them, cut off their retreat."
The standard guard took off his helmet without hesitation, and Tesolys accepted it just as readily. He pushed aside the mail face covering and put it on. After securing the helmet's cowhide strap, he raised his spear and rode to the front of the cavalry.
There was no speech to raise morale. The cavalrymen silently tightened their grip on their spears and flails. As cold as the dead, they watched the Hols, who were utterly unaware of them.
They slowly urged their horses forward down a gentle slope. Without armor, the powerful horses were considerably faster. Charging along the broad road, they reached tremendous speed in moments. Every rider bent low, guarding against any unexpected arrow.
Spears were leveled and shields raised. Before any of the wildly disordered Hols cavalry could fire even two arrows, the terrifying heavy cavalry was upon them... In the blink of an eye, men were torn apart, blood and flesh flying... It was like sweeping a hand across a tabletop to wipe away a mass of ants.
The tightly packed spears "swept" the Hols from their saddles row after row, scattering shattered mail and dripping flesh.
Swinging sabers, flails, and iron maces dealt terrible wounds in the instant the riders passed. Heads were sliced off or smashed apart, chests crushed flat... Piercing screams and wails rose wave after wave, like great breakers on the sea.
In the blink of an eye, the Hols cavalry was completely scattered. Everywhere were gleaming iron armor and dreadful weapons coated in blood and entrails. The attackers cut through the formation almost unhindered, trampling more than 100 enemies beneath their horses' hooves.
Cries of disbelief and despair came from the wounded and the unhurt, the living and the dying alike. They could not understand what was happening. It felt like a dream. In the blink of an eye, the ground was covered with corpses in green surcoats...
Only their bodies' instincts told them what had happened, urging them to get away at once... But they were destined never to leave this place.
The arrows, which had stopped only for the moment of impact, began pouring down again. The well-made heavy arrows gained force as they fell from above. One after another, they punched through the flimsy mail that protected only the men's chests and bellies. Riderless horses now filled the road.
Without their riders to restrain them, the animals began running everywhere in panic, breaking up the Hols formation still further.
By the time that terrifying cavalry force had turned and charged again, the Hols had lost all will to fight and were fleeing toward the end of the road. They whipped their warhorses desperately, lashing their hides bloody for just a little more speed.
But before they could get far, another force of heavy cavalry burst from the woods beside the road and slammed into their middle, smashing them to pieces...
* * *
A warhorse snorted repeatedly as it nibbled the tender green leaves of the roadside bushes. A winding stream of dark-red blood reached its hooves. It glanced down, pawed the ground to cover the blood with dust and earth, then went back to eating the leaves.
Mangled, broken corpses had been piled in the middle of the road. Dark-red liquid flowed from their severed limbs and open cavities, gathering into an enormous pool that soaked into the soil. Only when the earth could hold no more did the blood remain on the surface.
Everything of value had already been stripped from the bodies. The delighted highlanders had even wanted to keep the green surcoats. Only after a round of kicks did they reluctantly throw away what they considered perfectly good clothes.
The finely made mail and padded clothing beneath it had all been taken, along with any edible food in the packs... There was plenty of dry bread and air-dried meat. These were probably their main provisions.
Most of the riderless horses had been rounded up. They were all carefully bred warhorses, among the most valuable things in this age.
Talina stood rigid beside the road, staring at the terrible shape made by the piled corpses. Most of those pale bodies had been drained of blood, leaving them a horrifying, deathly white.
The flesh around wounds torn open by terrible weapons had begun to turn pale. Some wounds, though, were covered in a thick layer of clotted blood. Granular fat lay exposed, and red-and-white marrow seeped from shattered bones...
A terrible smell filled her nose... The tang of blood, the stench of entrails, and all manner of other odors mixed into the smell unique to a battlefield. It announced the coming of death to everyone, unmistakably...
The girl had never seen anything so dreadful. Her heart almost stopped... That huge heap of bodies seemed to be wailing and struggling in pain, its twisted limbs tangling with one another...
Pale-faced, she covered her mouth, closed her eyes, and stood in a silent daze. Before long, she opened her eyes again. She had regained her calm. Though she still carefully avoided the dark-red mud soaked in blood, she walked resolutely toward the piled bodies, where the cavalrymen were searching.
There, the tall figure of Tesolys stood on the little mound of corpses, looking around for something... He seemed as much at ease as if he were strolling on a scenic hillside.
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