strike chance targets.
A secondary but nonetheless pressing worry was the shortage of healers' herbs and unguents. The wagons had carried little by way of supplies, and no healers travelled with the soldiers.
The assault came as the Kelewanese sky brightened to jade green in the east. The first wave of Minwanabi soldiers struck the rough barricade with a battle scream that shattered the stillness. They could charge only four abreast through the rock passage, and their attempt to climb the breastwork brought them swift death on Acoma swords and spears. Yet the enemy came on, climbing over dead and dying comrades in bloodthirsty waves. At least a dozen Minwanabi soldiers lay fallen before the first Acoma warrior took a wound; almost before his sword faltered, ~
fresh man shouldered forward to take his place. Minwanabi archers fired ineffectively over their comrades' heads. ,'
For nearly an hour the enemy hammered at the barricade By ones and threes they died, until the corpses lay close to hundred deep. Acoma casualties numbered fewer than dozen injured and only one dead. Keyoke detailed servants to give what care they could to the injured. Although movement within the canyon was hampered by the insistent fall of enemy arrows, no man who took wounds for Acoma*
honour was permitted to lie without care. -w Keyoke raised his voice to Dakhati. 'Bring up fresh soldiers to the barricade.' ~
Dakhati dashed to relay the order. Within minutes the relief company undertook the defence of the barricade, an' the Acoma Strike Leader brought word back. 'The enemy' are making little progress, Force Commander. They've tried: having men crawl on their bellies to pull away some of the dead, and to undermine our breastworks. If they try sappers, vwe're in trouble.'
Keyoke shook his head. 'Sappers are useless here. The soil is sandy, yes, but the water lies too close to the surface and there is not enough room for engineers to dig.' The Force Commander pushed his helm back to fan cool air on his scalp. The chill of mountain night had fled, and the breezeless canyon warmed under even the earliest sunlight.
'Our flimsy breastworks are the greater problem. If they charge the line, and send men behind the assault to pull at the breastwork . . . Put spearmen on their knees behind the first line, and see if they can discourage any such activity.'
Dakhati hastened to effect this deterrent.
Keyoke surveyed the rest of his defences, his plumed head held high despite the arrows arcing overhead. Most shafts bounced off the sheer walls of the canyon, but a few sped downward. One struck a handspan from Keyoke, but he barely noticed. As if the quivering shaft by his foot had no existence, he motioned for servants to carry water to his fighting men. Then he surveyed his command yet again.
The Minwanabi seemed frantic to engage the Acoma.
Why? Keyoke considered. If the canyon was defensible, it was also a trap. The Minwanabi would pay dearly to enter, but the Acoma would die attempting to leave. An attacker not pressed to haste would be better to sit and wait, holding the canyon until starvation forced the defenders to desperation, then let Acoma bodies be the ones piling up at the base of the barricade as hunger drove them to escape. Keyoke reviewed what he knew of his opponent: Irrilandi was in no way stupid - he'd been competent enough to remain the Minwanabi Force Commander for nearly two decades-and in this foray he was almost certain to be operating under battle orders from Tasaio. Why should two men so skilled in war spend men by the hundreds? To capture the silk would be no mortal blow to the Acoma and certainly not worth the lives that would be sacrificed before the sun reached midheaven.
Time must be a factor, but why?
Disturbed, Keyoke turned away from unanswerable questions and selected soldiers for the next rotation. Before each warrior took his turn behind the barricade, Keyoke inspected weapons and armour, and briefly placed a hand upon each lacquered shoulder guard. He spoke quiet words of encouragement, then sent the relief forward. There they waited, until a weary Acoma warrior would step back and his replacement move forward, the change taking only a moment.
Keyoke assessed the blood-spattered soldiers who removed their helmets and washed sweat-soaked hair and faces in the creek. He decided to step up the rotation. The Minwanabi were still able to send only four men at a time against the barricade, and the spearmen