The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,173

why that hadn’t been an option. They had slightly fewer than four hundred soldiers left, and only half of those were in any condition to fight.

They simply couldn’t hide without abandoning the supply wagons and the wounded. That left them only one practical option. Retreating to Branscombe. With the men they had, the town wouldn’t be defensible, but at least they could warn the inhabitants. The entire town might have to be abandoned, and that was their best-case scenario. There was still the significant threat that the Patriarch’s forces would catch them as they withdrew.

Will found himself constantly looking over his shoulder as they marched. Sergeant Nash noticed his backward glances and slowed his pace until he was abreast of Sixth Squad. “Worried?” he asked.

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“You should be. Our best hope is that they spend a day cleaning up the mess we left at the top of the pass, but they have enough men to spare that they could send some after us and still leave plenty behind to bury the dead,” said the sergeant.

Some of the men farther ahead were looking back as well, and Will saw them staring at him. They looked away when he met their eyes, but he heard them muttering. With the noise of so many men on the march, he couldn’t make out their conversation, but one word came to his ears repeatedly, ‘warlock.’

There wasn’t anything he could do about it, so he ignored them and focused on Sergeant Nash. “Isn’t there anything we can do, Sergeant?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Nash. “March faster. We’ve done all we can. All the combat-ready soldiers are in the rear. If we see them coming up behind us, we’ll have to turn and fight a delaying action.”

Nash didn’t say it, but Will could see in the old veteran’s eyes just how he thought that would turn out. A tiny voice inside told him, You don’t have to die with them. Take off the armor and run. They’d never catch you, and after night falls, you could keep running.

Shut up, he told his inner coward.

He marched on, but around midday their worst fears came true. A shout went up as someone saw the glint of sunlight on steel helmets behind them. Sir Kyle’s voice rang out, “Company B, halt!” Similar commands came from the other captains and the small contingent of able-bodied soldiers came to a stop.

Dave glanced over at him anxiously. “We’re all going to die. You know that, right?”

“Shut up,” said Will.

“Yeah, I know. I hate myself sometimes,” said the ex-thief. “If it’s any comfort, the only reason I’m still here is you and the big guy, but if the two of you die before me, I’m going to run my scrawny ass off.”

“That’s all right,” said Tiny. “I’m sure you’ll bite it first.”

More commands went out, and the men formed a shield wall. Their numbers were low, so it was only two ranks deep. They faced the oncoming Darrowans, and the words Will dreaded found his ears. “Forward march!” As one, the Terabinians began to march toward their end.

As had happened before, once the two armies were within fifty yards, a large mass of young men darted through the ranks of the Darrowan army and hurled spears at them. “Why don’t we have any skirmishers?” complained Dave as they continued onward.

“Because most of us are conscripts,” said Tiny. “They didn’t have time to form any special units.” Several men along the line screamed as the spears hit them. Then the enemy skirmishers withdrew, and a minute later, the two shield walls came together.

Fear and adrenaline had Will’s heart racing, but his mind had found somewhere else to be. It was blank, empty of anything but the clarity of a man trying his best not to die. Without consciously deciding, he cast the source-link spell, and this time he caught two men simultaneously. He didn’t have time to be amazed at his success, though. As soon as he had sent enough turyn into them to cause them to begin vomiting, he released the spell and caught two more. He didn’t even bother trying to use his spear; Tiny and Dave were doing their best to take advantage of the holes that formed in the Darrowan line.

Thanks to his efforts, the center of the enemy line quickly gave way, but the Darrowan force was considerably larger than their own, and it was wrapping around their flanks. They pressed forward, and Will could see several reserve companies waiting to