Bridges, Bets, and Sunfire

 

Fire and meteors streaked across the sky a mile away. On the opposite bank of the river, units of Anglian, Frontier, and Rios soldiers battled back and forth. From his vantage point, Tanner Hawkwood could see Lord Gahanna’s forces pushing the Rios back towards the temple, but in places the advance had stalled.

 

Tanner looked at Captain McCormick. McCormick commanded the Gahanna units that had been attached to Tanner Frontier force. The bulk of the army, 3200 men, had crossed the Great River a few miles north. Tanner’s small force of 1000 men was to hold the bridge and prevent a crossing by the Rios. If Gahanna’s push was successful, then the Rios should fall back from the bridge. At that point, the combined Frontier-Anglian force would push across the mile long bridge. There were barriers to be cleared on the bridge, but the engineers in McCormick’s command should be able to knock them away. Tanner had only a few mages, just enough to heal and knock out some wards. One in particular, Matthias Gelsar, was moving with the artillery unit.

 

McCormick looked briefly across the river. “Let’s hold off for a few more minutes before we attempt to cross. The Rios have not retreated yet.”

 

“All right, don’t push across, but clear that first barrier. Let’s give ‘em something to think about. It may pull some forces away that are slowing up Gahanna’s assault.” Tanner fingered his sword.

 

‘Good point. It will be done.”

 

Tanner moved back to the artillery battery. Two Copperheads flanked a Salamander. They were prepared to fire, but the horse teams for moving them were not far away. The war machines could be hooked up and towed to a new location rather quickly. He surveyed the men under his command. Gahanna’s engineer battalion and infantry waited patiently, but the Frontier men were different. They were spoiling to get across. Tanner thought about the orders he had given to the men in a general address the day before.

 

“Our mission is two fold. First, we will prevent the Rios from crossing this bridge. Second, we will assault the bridge once the assault force has crossed the river and drawn off the bridge defenders. Not a moment sooner, nor a moment later. Crossing the bridge will be dangerous. We are sitting targets for a distance of one mile. Discipline is the key to survival. Resume your positions, and be prepared for battle.”

 

Tanner hadn’t been thinking about it, but he had made the address at sunset the previous day. With the sun behind him, and Dragon Banner fluttering, it had all looked very impressive. Tanner hadn’t given’ much thought to it, but it seemed to make an impression on the men. ‘Good. It’s about time I had a little good luck.”

 

He was speaking with the Salamander crew when Captain McCormick shouted at him, “They are moving out!”

 

“Line up for assault! Engineers to the front! Archer screen behind them. Infantry and archer units 1 and 4 behind them, with artillery. All other units, form up behind!” Tanner barked out the orders and put on his odd looking helmet. Unlike the standard helmet, the eyes were exposed, but nothing else was. It looked like two fires peering out of the darkness. He grabbed the Dragon Banner and moved forward. The artillery crew limbered up the pieces and moved into position. “Be careful with that Sunfire! We don’t want to burn the bridge in half.”

 

The crossing started off without problems. The first barrier was gone, and the second barrier was getting moved out of the way. In a few minutes, the second barrier was gone, and the men proceeded on. Then, trouble started to brew like a pot of kahveh.

 

The Frontier men started to push to the front. Unit cohesion was breaking down, and it was getting confused on the bridge. Tanner knew if he didn’t quickly restore order, the engineers would be mashed up against the third barrier and wouldn’t be able to remove it. If the barrier was guarded with a ward, then there would be real problems.

 

Tanner galloped forward, the Dragon Banner flapping behind his head. ‘Form up like I told you to, Rob damn it! Do want to get us all killed? Regroup!”

 

The Frontier men did something they weren’t used to do doing: they listened. They formed up in order. Tanner had the artillery moved further forward so it would be close to him. “We’re fish in a barrel. I need to keep an eye on the Sunfire myself.”

 

Gahanna’s engineers started to remove the third barrier. They were half way across the bridge at this point. Tanner looked up and saw large stones flying out of the sky at them. “Crap!” Some kind of ward had been tripped. Several stones, a few feet in width, plowed into a Frontier unit and the men began to break. Gahanna’s engineers started to hesitate. In the rear, a fire ball struck. Thank Petain it didn’t hit near the Sunfire.

 

Tanner quickly surveyed the situation. The barrier had to be gotten rid of, the mean had to be reformed again, and then they had to move. He quickly rode to the front, rallying the engineers to start moving the barricades. Tanner motioned some Frontier infantry up to the front. “Push these obstacles into the river! On the double!” They nodded in agreement and started to move quickly. Tanner galloped back to the middle, shouting instructions to form up and to be prepared to double time it across the bridge. He noted with satisfaction that the artillery unit had held firm.

 

Finally the third barrier was gone and the men moved forward. Tanner knew they had to have some faith in something about getting across this bridge. He spurred Aquila and galloped to the front, shouting encouragement to the engineers and infantry frantically pushing the fourth barricade off the bridge. Repeatedly, he held the Dragon banner aloft. A few more fireballs crashed around him, but none hit him. When the men saw him standing untouched, they cheered and held ground until given the order to move forward.

 

Finally, the western bank of the river came in sight. The fifth barrier was pushed aside quickly and the men came across. Tanner barked orders to the company commanders to reform in a checkerboard formation on the opposite bank. Infantry would flank archers, placed on the wings, with the artillery in the middle. In a few minutes, the units reformed and prepared to advance on the pyramid. It was about a mile away. 300 yards away were a group of Rios warriors and mages engaged in battle against Gahanna infantry, and they were starting to push the Anglians back with magic. “We’ll remedy that”, smirked Tanner.

 

“Move the artillery 150 yards. Archers, shoot toward there periphery, forcing them in together. Once setup, open up with spears and Sunfire. That ought to break them.” Tanner pointed his sword forward and rode with the artillery battery. The men began to setup. A few moments of enfilade fire from the archers made the Rios realize they were being attacked on a new flank. The Rios began to move forward when Tanner ordered the artillery barrage to begin. It wasn’t much, with the Copperheads firing multiple times, and the Salamander only once, but the desired effect was achieved. Rios mages began to burn, and to their horror, they couldn’t put the fire out. Frontier archers emptied arrows into the disorganized ranks and soon, the Rios were on the run. Tanner ordered the artillery crew to limber up the pieces and begin moving forward.

 

The advance began again, with the archers picking of stragglers. They got within 500 yards of the pyramid, when they noticed a group of Rios mages, maybe 20 of them, backed with a large infantry unit, moving their way.

 

“This isn’t good”, said Belsar. “They’re fixing to cast some nasty stuff. We might want to consider a tactical retreat. We don’t have enough healers to survive the onslaught.”

 

McCormick looked at Tanner. “What do you want to do?”

 

Tanner looked at McCormick and Belsar. He then looked at the troops. ‘Set up that Salamander! Prepare to fire as fast possible. Archers and Copperheads, buy us some time. We’re breaking this resistance once and for all!”

 

The Copperheads started to thwack away, but it wasn’t slowing the advance. After a few moments, the Salamander crew informed Tanner that they were ready to fire. The Rios were 100 yards away when the archers began to fire.

 

The Salamander’s cradle was cocked into position, and a jar of Sunfire was placed in it. Tanner noticed that jar looked a little odd, like it wasn’t as thick as some of the others. He was thinking of ordering them to replace the jar, when the cradle was released. ‘Hopefully it won’t catch us on fire.’

 

Tanner traced the trajectory of the jar. He noticed that there were some buildings with lit torches on the sides. ‘I wonder what will happen ….’. He didn’t finish his thought. The jar cracked and the content spilled out. Some of the mixture hit a torch. All of a sudden, the whole sky above the Rios was on fire, and they were caught in the ensuing downpour. Whatever plans the Rios had were broken as they frantically tried to put out the fire. Nothing worked. Dousing with water only spread the flame. Rolling in the dirt didn’t work. McCormick and Belsar looked on in equal parts approval and horror. Belsar remarked he had never seen magic do this much damage at once, and with such horrible results. He then gagged. Whether it was the thought of so much destruction, or the smell of burned flesh and naptha, Tanner wasn’t sure.

 

‘Infantry and archer units 1 and 4, fan to the left. Kill all Rios. Don’t advance beyond the pyramid. Infantry and archer units 2 and 5, advance to the right. Slam the flank of that unit that is holding up Lord Gahanna’s assault force. Infantry and archer units 3 and 6, form a skirmish line and advance on the pyramid. Artillery, form up in the middle. Gahanna Engineers, form rear guard for the artillery. Advance on my order. We are going for the pyramid.” Tanner turned to view the artillery and see when it would be finished loading up. In a few moments, they were ready.

 

The column advanced on the pyramid. The archers shot down straggling Rios as they marched. The swordsmen had to gut a few crazed enemy infantry that charged them, but the progress forward would not be stopped. About a hundred yards from the pyramid, Tanner noticed a lone figure on top of the pyramid with what looked like a ball in his hand. From the red hair, Tanner had a suspicion it was Faolan.

 

‘Halt! Form defensive position. Fire rocks instead of Sunfire, switch to Sunfire if ordered.’ Tanner looked up at the figure on the pyramid when suddenly it threw the ball down pyramid’s step. Tanner’s men looked anxiously at it.

 

‘I’m going to go take a look. If I get bushwhacked, start firing arrows.’ Tanner then motioned Aquila into a trot. He got to the ball, which he then realized was a head. Looking up again at the figure, Tanner decided it was Faolan. Tanner saluted and dismounted. The figure saluted back. He looked at the face and realized it was The Emperor. Tanner speared it threw the neck with the Sword of Justice and walked back to the column, sword in one hand, Aquila’s reins in the other. McCormick, Belsar, and two Frontier lieutenants greeted him.

 

‘Who is that?’ asked McCormick.

 

‘That would be The Emperor. I believe this war is over. Wrap his head in a sack. Have the remaining infantry and archers kill any surviving Rios.’ The lieutenants saluted and went off. Tanner continued. ‘Have the artillery unit set up here. Get the Sunfire in a wagon ready to move. In thirty minutes, have the engineers go the closest pyramid corner and find the structural supports. Find the key areas. Then, we’ll place all but one of the Sunfire containers in those areas, and we’ll ignite them at a distance.”

 

‘What do you intend to do, burn the thing down? Rock won’t burn, not even with magic.’ McCormick looked at Tanner with a raised eye.

 

‘That is precisely what I intend to do.’

 

‘No fire burns rock like that. In the east, there is some black rock that burns, but no regular stone.’

 

Tanner looked McCormick straight in the eye. ‘Normally, I don’t bet, but in this instance I’ll make an exception. If it doesn’t burn, I’ll get you a small barrel of miner water by fall of next year. If it does, I’ll take a silver penny.’

 

‘Fools and their money are soon parted. Done’.

 

Tanner saw a few people in the distance go down the right side of the pyramid. They seemed to head to the old King’s Mound. After awhile had passed, the engineers and Sunfire crew went to the pyramid and began to analyze the structure. They returned in 30 minutes.

 

One of the engineers spoke. ‘We’ve analyzed it. The supports come from all four corners. If we can weaken the whole axis of one, the whole thing could fall in on itself. The artillery crew knows where the weak points.’

 

‘Good. Salamander crew, take all but one case. Put the cases in the weak points. Once done, we’ll take the last case and launch at a distance. I’ll have Copperhead crews move the Salamander into firing position while you set up. Carry on.’

 

The Salamander crew moved out with a wagon full of Sunfire cases. The Salamander was set up in short order. After about 45 minutes, the crew returned from the pyramid. ‘Ready to burn, Cap’n.’

 

‘Good. Get back to that hill over there. We’ll watch from there.’ Tanner rode with the men. At the King’s Hill, he dismounted and tied Aquila off. He took his place with the artillery crew. ‘Fire when ready.’

 

‘Fire!’. Thwack went the arm of the Salamander, and the case flew through the air. When it hit the pyramid, a mass of green fire erupted. Anything wood or cloth went up quickly. McCormick said ‘Nice show. I don’t see any rock burni….’

 

McCorcmick stopped. The pyramid was actually on fire. ‘I see it, but I don’t believe.’ McCormick’s mouth gaped.

 

‘Told you so.’ Tanner took his helmet off and sat down on the front of the Salamander and grinned at McCormick. McCormick smiled back and joined him. A small keg of ale was brought up, and everyone partook of it. The rest of the Gahanna engineers were still in shock. They had never seen anything like this. After another 60 minutes the pyramid started to fall in on itself and collapse. The whole process had taken about 90 minutes.

 

‘I’ll take that silver penny now.’

 

‘No arguments here. How did you do this?’

 

‘Ancient Southron secret’.

 

‘We have the greatest library in the world. We don’t have a formula for that’.

 

‘You have the greatest disorganized collection of books in the known world. Until it is organized, you won’t know what you have. All though I think by the time you get back, the situation may have changed.’

 

‘In what way?’

 

Tanner explained how he’d given Lord Gahanna a library organization plan. A young man named Jay caught tanner on the day they left and explained how he wanted to work with Tanner on organizing the library. ‘I told him, ‘Make it your own plan. You’ve got a good head for this. If I make it back to Martin’s Ferry, I’ll expect to see this reorganization plan carried out, or at least in process.’ ‘He seemed like he could do it’.

 

‘He has a good head on his shoulders. Most of the time it makes up for that limp.’

 

Tanner and McCormick started to talk structural engineering. The Salamander crew started to get bored with it. Eventually the details got too much for the bulk of the Gahanna engineers. One of Gahanna’s engineers pointed at Tanner and asked, ‘Is he always like this?’

 

‘Books Hawkwood? No, he’s worse. He’s just tired now and he’s had a few drinks. Get him around mid-day, sober, and well rested, with a cup of kahveh, ….He can go for hours.’

 

‘That’s a frightening thought!’ Grunts from both sides laughed.

 

Tanner spoke on for a few minutes and then stretched out. He was about to go to sleep when a voice woke him up.

 

‘There he is. Sleeping on the carriage. I don’t see how he does it.’

 

Tanner rolled over and saw Faolan, Samson, Beal, and Lord Gahanna standing in front of him. He got to his feet. Faolan wasn’t hurt but he looked messy. Lots of blood, other people’s probably. Samson looked near dead, and Beal exhausted. Gahanna was dirty, but unhurt.

 

Gahanna spoke first. ‘Absolutely smashing. You smashed the side of their right flank and they caved in….’There was more military speak for five minutes. They shook hands and Gahanna rode off.

 

“Are you hurt anywhere?’, asked Beal.

 

‘Only in my money belt. That bonfire cost me a good 2000 silver.’

 

‘You’re right. He is trying to expense this. No wonder you call him ‘The Clerk’’. Tanner’s friends chuckled. Even Tanner smiled.

 

‘Edward “Tanner” “Books” “The Clerk” “The Witch Hammerer” Hawkwood”. Your tombstone won’t be big enough’. Beal started to laugh, and did the rest.

 

‘Oh the songs they’ll sing of me and my valiant bravery.’ Faolan proceeded to tell Tanner of the Battle of the Pyramid. Afterwards, Tanner thought for a moment.

 

‘You know, you’re exactly right. Fighting two of those guards at once is impressive. You didn’t embellish anything. I think I am going to faint.’ Tanner went into a mock swoon and started to laugh hard. The others joined in.

 

A weakened Samson moved close. He clamped his hand down on Tanner’s left shoulder. ‘I thought that dragon tattoo was ridiculous, until now. ‘

 

Slowly, with care, Tanner moved his right hand to Samson’s shoulder. The two men looked each other in the eye. Samson’s face was a mix of emotions. All he could do was say ‘Thank you’. Samson pointed at the burning pyramid, but there was another form of thanks in what he said.

 

Tanner looked at him. He wasn’t sure what to say, in regards to the events between the two of them and the Queen. After a moment, he spoke.

 

‘You’re welcome. Go in peace.’ They stood there for a moment, and then the three went up the King’s Mound. Tanner unfurled his bed roll and went to sleep under the Salamander carriage. The Dragon Banner fluttered over the Salamander.