Perdita a Lost Child

Perdita a Lost Child Part 2: Babur and the Battle

King Caelestis was in his governing room, his thoughts on the tasks before him. His field marshal had never regained consciousness, clearly, he had been poisoned. Now King Caelestis was certain that they had a traitor in their midst. He looked up at Hyong waiting by the door. Hyong was the person dearest to him in the entire world besides his son, the Crown Prince Karsten. He was his best friend. He had come as an assistant to him when he married Hyong's sister Hwan. Hwan-ah had died when the prince was born, but Hyong had stayed. He was at his side night and day; they were closer than brothers. Caelestis commanded, "Have Mikel report to me on the instant."

"He is waiting outside," Hyong said with a bow. Stepping to the door he opened it and motioned for Mikel to enter. Mikel was already aware of all that had transpired, he was ready for any plan the High King Caelestis would lay out for him. It was now only about two hours since the fire, and Mikel knew that Caelestis would not have wasted any of those precious minutes. Mikel was the General in charge of all Caelestis' armies, and now his Field Marshal.

"First, ring the bell for the call to arms, I know it is dark, but those who are near and can make out their way to the city are our most faithful and capable men. Have Ettore, Marshal of the Horses, prepare all but my own and Hyong's, with saddles and battle armor, to ride at first light. Put Ryder at the head. He will be next in command to you. Babur has been building his defenses in preparation for this new attack. His tracks will still be evident at dawn so we will have no trouble finding him. He has put Karsten in a hole in the ground. At the first provocation, he will cover him." Said the king to Mikel

"Next start a rumor, pick one of the house maids and make sure you are overheard when you say, "The field marshal was poisoned, and the traitor left the bridge down, and the gate open, but the King knows who it was, and there will be no mercy". Then make sure you watch the kitchens. The second cook has a black heart; I expect he will run to Babur. Send someone to watch him and report back to me."

"Thirdly, prepare wagons with all the rest of the armor from the armory, and have the army cook and his men prepare wagons of food stores. Ettore should see to the feed wagons as well. You will be gone a week, no more than ten days. By dawn, the rest of the men from further afield will start arriving, form them into battalions and set the captains in place. Do these things and return to me.

Mikel returned to the High King, in less than an hour, Caelestis had all the maps ready. "You will find Babur, camped here, and the wall is prepared here. He has been moving boulders in preparation. He will have archers behind the wall, with breaks, here, and here," Caelestis showed him, "For his horsemen to come through. Karsten is in a hole, here, in the back, behind the food wagons and all the tents. Someone is watching Karsten and will be nearby. Not everyone who serves Babur has a black heart. Some still are faithful to honor and virtue; they just haven't yet broken free. You must give everyone opportunity to turn, Babur is more evil than people understand, and they are deceived."

"You will ride out with the rest of the army before the sun is high in the sky. The horsemen must approach from the sides but must appear to be coming from the front. Send in the initial horsemen with shields above their bodies, and to the front, with barely enough room to see, they should ride through the openings in the walls, and cause havoc. Then the greater number set to the sides to ride in on the flanks. When they have fought for about two hours the greater army will come in fresh behind them, and then they need to fall back and refresh for the main onslaught when we are past the rocks."

"While everyone on horseback is fighting, take the foot soldiers – half will follow the soldiers to the front attacking the wall, it will become our wall by the end of the second day of fighting. Send the other half of the soldiers around this mountain, and up to the top, through this ravine" he said pointing at his maps. "When they near the top, they will be hidden on the front side, and can then slowly make their way down the front side of the mountain to the top of this hill. Then on the morning of the third day they must attack from the rear. We must have a fresh attack from the front and flanks, so they do not suspect the rear guard."

"Now go", Caelestis said, "and make it so. Oh, and Mikel, take Fortunato with you, He is to stay by your side continually."

The next morning Mikel and Fortunato rode out leading the second wave. With battalions of horsemen, archers, and foot soldiers behind them, followed by the wagons of food and feed, they were on their way to battle.

The day was bright and the army intent on their objective. By now there was not a single soldier that wasn't aware they were saving the life of the young Prince Karsten. Mikel and Fortunato, being great friends, were happy when they were together. But they were their happiest when they were together fighting. So today they were in a great mood as they left Caelestis City. They were fulfilling their purpose. It filled their hearts with joy and gave them the courage of a hundred men. Since they had that much fighting skill between them, it was a bright day. They were joined at the front of the army by Jabir, the High Counselor.

The three rode ahead of the army and made excellent progress. They were seeking high ground to watch the first onslaught. The mounted horse soldiers left at dawn with the main army following only three hours after but would take most of the day to come to the battlefield. The first wave of the mounted soldiers was well ahead, and they would not catch up with them before they were engaged in battle, but very soon thereafter. They rode as fast as the armored horses would carry them.

The three from Caelestis City could hear the battle noises ahead of them and Mikel could well remember the map, so he took the road to the west that went over the mountain leading above the battle ground. The battle was progressing just as anticipated. The first wave was well engaged with the enemy. The front line of mounted soldiers were fighting with their swords and spears, attacking the enemy on the ground that was trying to prevent their progress through the opening. Now they were beginning to fight their way through creating an entry in the rock wall.

The men in the front were on horseback, but the men behind the rocks were foot soldiers and so the horsemen with their trained war horses rearing and stomping, were able to defend themselves well against the men on the ground and chaos broke out quickly among those on Babur's side behind the rocks.

The disorder spread like a disease through Babur's foot soldiers pressing ever closer to the battle, while the soldiers on horseback pushed ever deeper causing a greater chasm in the masses on the ground which was intensified as even more mounted men from Caelestis were able to push through the opening into the melee. They were able to hold their progress and kept the fighting at an intense fervor. They fought with all their strength, and as they were beginning to tire, the new horse troops from the second wave arrived and as they were instructed replaced the men who were now falling back. The horsemen had now all pushed through behind the wall.

From the rear, Babur saw his men defending the wall pushed back and in anger sent word to the rear to fill the hole with the child in it.

Paul receiving his instructions told the soldiers to go and help defend the wall, that he would fill the hole himself. He took three poles placing them on three sides of the child, until they touched at the top and then put in tree branches over the sides forming a sort of tent. He continued putting in pieces of greenery and broken tree branches till the top of the hole was filled.