pray to my goddess with her instruments in my hands. I can’t make any promises about what gods will do.” I don’t understand their logic at all.
“My brothers,” said a voice from the chorus, “look at the coming storm! Perhaps the goddess Ysa is with us already.”
Lucia hadn’t considered that. It might be true, although the sky was also dark enough to indicate another deceit from Lord Danato.
“He is right!” Giunto said. “Look, how swiftly they move. They must be from Ysa!”
“Brothers, it is time for a decision,” Duilio said in his easy voice, astride his decorated horse. “I can only believe what Tirso and Giunto have suggested. Look at how the clouds come from the west, casting a dark shadow over Pawelon’s army. I believe Ysa is with us today—all praises to The Protector of Man—and that she is prepared to defend us with her storm and fury. I feel this in my heart, men, do you not? Are we not in the right?”
Fulvio and Forese nodded vehemently. Their nodding grew contagious and a consensus formed with cheering followed by raised throwing spears.
“Then we shall do as our king has instructed us,” Duilio continued. “We must engage and pressure our enemy, and weaken them for his return and for the coming of our Haizzem. We will grant our royal daughter her wishes, as well. Manto, I must send you and your men back to our camp. Remain there, no matter what occurs in the valley, and ready our defenses in case they are needed. The rest of us will immediately march north. Raf, lead your cavalry quickly ahead and prepare to slip around their right flank when we rush forward.
“Should they move their forces toward our camp as we move aside, we will allow it, block their retreat, and trap them in the valley. We will defeat all they send against us, and with the gods’ good fortune we may win this war today. I ask you humbly to pray with me to Lord Cosimo, not for an easy victory, nor for anything we do not deserve. Pray for the miracle of utter devotion to our chosen path, so that we may attract the gods’ aid, like a determined flower calling to the sun from a rocky field.”
Lucia mounted her mare again and listened to the proliferating commands directing the bulk of the Rezzian army to move north and leave their camp exposed to their enemy. She looked about for signs of Danato’s presence but found none. Whether dreaming or awake, she was perfectly confused.
~~~~~
Ysa rode directly in front of Lucia, anticipating her devotee’s every movement. The goddess kept her cool gaze upon the distant Pawelon army, and willed the sky to fill with darkness.
Chapter Eight: The Wrath of Athena
THE REZZIANS gave rise to a percussive din: rhythmic crunching of boots, hearts pounding against metal, out-breaths exploding in unison, tens of thousands racing as one, muscling to live another hour beneath the goddess’s baleful sky.
Lucia watched as Duilio ensured the legions advanced in ideal formations. His corps of commanders rode on horseback, giving commands and receiving information, relaying to the Strategos detailed accounts of their movements.
Soon after the council had ended, the legions held their shields and spears close to their bodies, each man turned in place to his right, and they ran north in formation to avoid becoming surrounded by Pawelon’s two armies. Running hard, they advanced further north than Pawelon’s northern troop, which had been slow to respond to their sudden change in direction. That Raf’s cavalry were well ahead suggested their northern flank would remain protected.
Duilio smiled above his caparisoned steed. “Our men are fit. The pigs are slow, physically and mentally. They won’t outmaneuver us today.”
Lucia watched the Pawelon armies falling behind their own. “I hope our men won’t be too exhausted to fight.”
“Oh no, Your Grace. These men yearn to push against impossible odds. They are heroes.”
Swift, grey clouds overshadowed them,
“My brothers,” said a voice from the chorus, “look at the coming storm! Perhaps the goddess Ysa is with us already.”
Lucia hadn’t considered that. It might be true, although the sky was also dark enough to indicate another deceit from Lord Danato.
“He is right!” Giunto said. “Look, how swiftly they move. They must be from Ysa!”
“Brothers, it is time for a decision,” Duilio said in his easy voice, astride his decorated horse. “I can only believe what Tirso and Giunto have suggested. Look at how the clouds come from the west, casting a dark shadow over Pawelon’s army. I believe Ysa is with us today—all praises to The Protector of Man—and that she is prepared to defend us with her storm and fury. I feel this in my heart, men, do you not? Are we not in the right?”
Fulvio and Forese nodded vehemently. Their nodding grew contagious and a consensus formed with cheering followed by raised throwing spears.
“Then we shall do as our king has instructed us,” Duilio continued. “We must engage and pressure our enemy, and weaken them for his return and for the coming of our Haizzem. We will grant our royal daughter her wishes, as well. Manto, I must send you and your men back to our camp. Remain there, no matter what occurs in the valley, and ready our defenses in case they are needed. The rest of us will immediately march north. Raf, lead your cavalry quickly ahead and prepare to slip around their right flank when we rush forward.
“Should they move their forces toward our camp as we move aside, we will allow it, block their retreat, and trap them in the valley. We will defeat all they send against us, and with the gods’ good fortune we may win this war today. I ask you humbly to pray with me to Lord Cosimo, not for an easy victory, nor for anything we do not deserve. Pray for the miracle of utter devotion to our chosen path, so that we may attract the gods’ aid, like a determined flower calling to the sun from a rocky field.”
Lucia mounted her mare again and listened to the proliferating commands directing the bulk of the Rezzian army to move north and leave their camp exposed to their enemy. She looked about for signs of Danato’s presence but found none. Whether dreaming or awake, she was perfectly confused.
~~~~~
Ysa rode directly in front of Lucia, anticipating her devotee’s every movement. The goddess kept her cool gaze upon the distant Pawelon army, and willed the sky to fill with darkness.
Chapter Eight: The Wrath of Athena
THE REZZIANS gave rise to a percussive din: rhythmic crunching of boots, hearts pounding against metal, out-breaths exploding in unison, tens of thousands racing as one, muscling to live another hour beneath the goddess’s baleful sky.
Lucia watched as Duilio ensured the legions advanced in ideal formations. His corps of commanders rode on horseback, giving commands and receiving information, relaying to the Strategos detailed accounts of their movements.
Soon after the council had ended, the legions held their shields and spears close to their bodies, each man turned in place to his right, and they ran north in formation to avoid becoming surrounded by Pawelon’s two armies. Running hard, they advanced further north than Pawelon’s northern troop, which had been slow to respond to their sudden change in direction. That Raf’s cavalry were well ahead suggested their northern flank would remain protected.
Duilio smiled above his caparisoned steed. “Our men are fit. The pigs are slow, physically and mentally. They won’t outmaneuver us today.”
Lucia watched the Pawelon armies falling behind their own. “I hope our men won’t be too exhausted to fight.”
“Oh no, Your Grace. These men yearn to push against impossible odds. They are heroes.”
Swift, grey clouds overshadowed them,
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