PELAIR. The Gems of the Golden Serpent.

34. The Clash

The cavalry had gone ahead, with the express order to penetrate the unsuspecting enemy vanguard and open a gap between their rows through where the infantry could advance. They would be supported from the hills by a rain of incendiary stone coated with tar flung by catapults to cause chaos.

"Let's take advantage of the fog to fall upon them," had ordered Alarigo to his captain, who was preparing the march of the cavalry.

"At my order, you lunge through the haze," he pointed.

Alarigo raised his sword and, lowering it suddenly and pointing forward, signaled the start of the attack.

The horses lunged forward, running down the hill through the thick fog.

Terrible cries and screams of agony among the riders' vanguard that reached first into the plains indicated something was wrong.

The wind suddenly blew up the mist, uncovering a haunting vision of the vanguard of the cavalry strung into long spears and halberd firmly sown to the ground.

"Stand back! Get back!" ordered Alarigo, right in time to get rained by a shower of arrows thrown by a multitude of strange ape-like warriors that decimated his cavalry. "Stand back!" he shouted.

A burst of rumbling laughter came from somewhere that carnage. A terrifying fire-haired woman, riding on the back of a bald eagle of gigantic proportions, appeared in the sky. At her signal, strange creatures sprang from the earth daggers in hand, inflicting deep gashes on the horses' bellies, causing their agony, and making their riders fall.

All was confusion in the ranks of the troops of the southern forces. They had utterly failed in surprising the enemy.

With great difficulty, Alarigo managed to withdraw the remaining of his troops, covered by a shower of flaming arrows that Brannan had ordered to shoot to protect his retreat.

Finally, the morning sun arouses to illuminate the plain, discovering the vastness of the invading army.

"Where did so many soldiers come from?" exclaimed Brannan surprised, observing from his position atop a hill, the massive mass of enemy soldiers spread throughout the plain.

"Once they decide to launch their attack, we won't be able to restrain them," said Gertrudis standing right beside him. "What can we do?"

"Well, we'll try our best to do the impossible," Brannan said. "We can no longer surprise them, but neither will they be able to cross the river with impunity. From here, we will defend ourselves."

"My lord!" shouted a lookout. "watch!"

"So, no more surprises, eh?" pointed out Gertrudis humorously despite the circumstances.

The enemy troops approached the opposite bank of the river, spreading bridges across its width, using the log rafts that had helped them navigate the lake.

"Blessed, be Ker!" said Brannan. "Bring the rhinophants, fast!" He ordered. "Attack those bridges with the launchers," he ordered hastily.

A barrage of giant incendiary boulders shot out from the launchers towed by the pachyderms reached their target, destroying the makeshift bridges. However, there were so many that they were replaced with astonishing rapidity.

Soon, a full battalion of foreign troops of glassy stares carrying large axes managed to pass the river, engaging in combat with the soldiers of the south. The strange woman riding in the giant eagle commanded them from above.

With their large axes, those beings shattered any attempt at resistance from their opponents.

"It is as if they were unwilling soldiers!" exclaimed one captain. "We can do nothing against them."