Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,160

They lacked much in the way of padding.

From what Will knew, the leather was a poor substitute for a gambeson, but it made sense considering the warmer climate in their native land. The crossbowmen stood behind the main lines, which consisted of similarly armored spearmen, and a type of heavily armored infantry that Will had never seen before.

The heavy infantry didn’t rely on leather, but on steel plate instead. They lacked shields but made up for it with breastplates, helms, greaves, cuisses, vambraces and more. They were protected from head to toe with steel. Will could see that the backs of their legs were only lightly protected, and their helms were open faced, but even so, they were much better protected than the Terabinians. In place of shields they carried heavy, two-handed weapons: great swords, heavy axes, and two-handed war hammers.

Throw them into a general melee with us and we’re in trouble, but as long as we hit them in formation, they don’t have a chance, he decided. Large, swinging weapons didn’t do well in close quarters, as you were always endangering your companions. Consequently, the Shimerans would want to break through the Terabinian line as quickly as possible. If they could get into the middle, the odds would heavily favor them. But if Terabinian discipline held up, the Shimerans would be in for a bad time.

The crossbowmen were only a minor factor, in his opinion. Unless the Terabinians were caught unaware, their shields and padded gambesons would prevent most of the damage the crossbowmen could do. Will had been shot often enough to know. Still, it’s nice to have mail as well, he thought, looking down at his armor. He wished it was possible to give the same protection to all of his fellow soldiers, but time and money simply wouldn’t allow it.

Walking through the enemy groups was definitely possible, but there were Shimeran priests scattered here and there. Will worried about keeping active spells up while trying to slip by them. Darla’s technique was helpful, but if any of them were reasonably attentive, he thought he’d be spotted. Instead, he tried the opposite, dismissing the camouflage and silent-armor spells and just relying on the Arkeshi turyn technique.

His heart sped up, until it felt as though it was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He was now completely visible, and his armor easily marked him as an outsider to anyone who might look at him, but he no longer stood out as unusual to magical senses. Based on his previous experiments walking around the markets in Cerria, it should work, so long as he didn’t do anything to draw attention to himself.

Trying to keep his breathing slow, Will began to walk.

No one paid him the slightest heed. He moved at a casual pace, stepping around men whenever one happened to get too close. On one particular heart-stopping occasion, a crossbowman looked directly at him, seeming to meet his eyes, but a second later the man’s attention drifted, and he looked away. Don’t look at me, thought Will, I’m no one. Nothing to see here.

Will was almost free and clear, close to passing by the last squad in his path, when a priest who was talking loudly backed out of the group and stumbled into him. He couldn’t understand the man’s language, and when the fellow looked at him for a moment and seemed to curse him, Will simply nodded apologetically.

And then, miraculously, the priest turned and began to continue on his way. Will began to breathe again, until he saw the man’s demon familiar turn to stare at him. The creature was small, the size of house cat, with the shape of a demented monkey. It studied him with malice in its eyes, then opened its mouth and spoke in clear, unaccented Darrowan. “You’re dead, human.”

Will wasn’t sure what kept him from jumping clean out of his skin, or running, but he didn’t. Instead, he took two more steps forward and one to the side, carrying him clear of the gap between groups and out of the priest’s line of sight before the man could turn around. He heard the Shimeran say something to the demon, though he couldn’t understand what was said. Assuming the man didn’t speak Darrowan, he was likely asking the demon to translate.

If the monkey-demon was alerting its master, then Will was sure the alarm would go up, which meant he had only seconds to do something. He’d already passed through the