Chapter 24

Sid and Mandy rode up to the top of a hill overlooking the area below the fortification. Connor was seated on his horse waiting for Sid while watching the activity below. He knew that if the enemy had built another fortification on this hill, that the entire area would have been much more difficult to successfully attack.

Looking at the thousands of men surrounding the fort, Mandy nearly fell out of her saddle. In a shocked voice, she asked, "Are they all your men?"

"Yes," Sid answered.

"Wow," Mandy said. She'd heard of Heroes getting fifty men or so to join them on their adventures, but for a Hero to have thousands of men was unbelievable. The idea of the kind of child that such a Hero would produce nearly gave her an orgasm on the spot.

Connor glanced over at Mandy and said, "I take it that your little mission was successful."

"Yes, it was," Sid answered leaning over to settle his horse by rubbing it on the neck.

Sid stood up in his saddle and looked across the battlefield. It was prepared exactly as he had ordered it. A line of the small trebuchets was focused on the doors of the fort. The spearmen were lined up facing the doors of the fort. The cavalry was split into two ranks on opposite sides of the field prepared to attack the flank of any group that ventured out of the fort. Turning to look at Connor, he asked, "Has there been any movement from them today?"

"No," Connor answered. They had been positioned around the fort for two days. Every two hours, he had changed the deployment of his forces to make it more difficult for the enemy to identify a reasonable attack strategy. Before running off on his mission, Sid had mentioned something about floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, but the reference made no sense to Connor. He added, "I don't know what bugs have to do with this, but I think all of the movement over here has kept them a little confused."

Chuckling, Sid asked, "Should I show myself?"

"Oh, I think they see you well enough," Connor said pointing to fort to bring Sid's attention to the sudden appearance of several men on the walls of the fortification.

"When the rest of the cavalry gets into place, we'll start the trebuchets," Sid said looking down at the field below.

"Who's the fellow down there with the Rider Clan?" Connor asked pointing to a group mounted on horseback. There was a lone man standing amongst them.

Sid looked in the direction Connor pointed out and said, "That's Jackson. He's the fellow who told me where I would find Mandy. I thought I told him to rest."

"It appears he didn't take your advice," Fred said with a grin.

"The Rider Clan doesn't think much of dirt crawlers," Connor said hoping that Jackson wasn't going to get in trouble with them. He watched as one of the riders gave him a spear. Jackson broke it in half over his knee and held up half of a spear in each hand. The man swung each half trying to get a feel for his new weapon.

"He and Siegfried seemed to get along alright on the journey here," Fred said wondering why Jackson had broken the spear in half.

Seeing that everyone was in place, Sid asked, "Where are the flags?"

A man stepped up and said, "I have them, General. Which would you like?"

"The green one," Sid answered. Even as the man was bending down to pick up the flag, the doors of the fortification opened. Four hundred cavalrymen rode out and turned to head directly towards the Rider Clan. Sid said, "It looks like they decided to bring the battle to us."

Sid pointed to the Rider Clan with his sword and then, with an exaggerated motion, swung it to signal that they should attack the advancing riders. He said, "I was afraid of that. The infantry is too far to provide them much support."

Connor asked, "Why didn't they charge the infantry?"

"The infantry is rather distant from the gate and it would take their mounted troops some time to reach them. Even a minor resistance would delay the escape. That small delay would allow the cavalry to attack them from both sides and the rear," Sid answered watching the battle unfold.

Realizing that Sid was correct, Connor said, "I wonder why they chose to charge the Rider Clan."

"I would say that Masterson's women on the other side of the battlefield have achieved a certain reputation," Sid answered watching as the two forces met. He noticed Jackson slipping around the horses hitting the huge animals with the halves of his broken spear. He wasn't too concerned where he struck them, giving equal opportunity to legs, flanks, and head while avoiding the swords of the riders. The riders quickly lost control of their mounts becoming easy prey for the Nomads on their smaller and faster horses.

Nodding his head, Fred said, "Look at Jackson. He's right there in the thick of it."

"Seems that he's managing alright," Sid said. He rose up in his saddle and pointed to one of Masterson's brigades with his sword. He gestured to the open doors of the fortification. The leader understood the gesture. Within a minute the women were charging towards the fortification.

Sid put up his sword before pointing to the infantry spearmen. He rolled his arms to indicate that they should start marching forward. Settling back in his saddle, he said, "I think that they hoped to strike out at our cavalry, get past, and then ride east."

"You mean they abandoned the fortification?" Fred asked. He didn't see any movement within the fort.

"Yes," Connor answered. The fighting among the mounted men was furious. The members of the Rider Clan were killing the outnumbered slavers with relative ease.

"They must have received word that we are more than willing to wait until the walls have fallen around them," Sid said watching the action on the field like a hawk. The battle was going well. The Rider Clan had stopped the escape of the outnumbered slavers. He sighed at the useless killing and asked, "Why don't they just give up?"

"I don't know," Connor said.

The enemy's charge had stalled and they pulled together into a tight cluster that was surrounded by the Rider Clan. There were less than a hundred of the slavers compared to eight hundred of the Rider Clan. The Rider Clan rode in a slow moving circle around the tight cluster of enemy men. Sid watched the action and asked, "What are they doing?"

"This is something that the Rider Clan does. I've heard it called fighting in the circle," Connor answered.

"What does fighting in the circle entail?" Sid asked. A couple of the younger riders were slowly making their way into the inner edge of the ring although some of the older warriors were blocking their movements with their horses.

"After a little while, one of them will ride into the center of the circle and do battle. He won't leave the circle until he's killed one of the enemy soldiers. They'll do that until everyone in the center is killed or surrenders," Connor answered watching the action on the field.

One of the riders made it through the ring and rode directly at the mass of riders at the center. He engaged them with his sword held out. Three of the enemy rode forth to stop him. The group fought with ferocity until the man from the Rider Clan finally dealt one man a death blow. The rider turned and rode out of the circle giving a shout that carried across the field. Sid watched the action, but didn't say a word.

Fred said, "That's a good way to get killed."

"The risk is high, but the rewards are great," Connor said. "That man stands a good chance of becoming a leader in the Clan. He may become Captain of the Guard at the Rider Citadel some day. There are lots of positions within the Clan that require men of skill and character."

"Trail by combat," Sid said watching while another man rode into the circle. He took a moment to interpret what he had seen in light of Connor's explanation. He wondered how many times Gregor had faced the circle.

"Seems stupid to me," Fred said. The young man was facing three of the enemy. He flinched when the young man received a minor wound.

Sid said, "This gives a young warrior the chance to demonstrate his bravery and skill in front of the entire Clan. It makes a very fine test of character for a nomad."

"You sound like you approve," Connor said.

"It seems to me that it is better to test your fighting skills against an enemy than a friend. Too often, clans end up with a lot of infighting for positions of leadership," Sid said. "It is still a risk, but it is better than having your best men kill each other off."

Nodding his head, Connor said, "The older men are deciding who goes in. They are letting in the ones who stand a good chance of succeeding and have the disposition to be a leader. It is not as chaotic as it appears."

The last rider had achieved his kill and road out of the circle. A woman rode into the circle and faced the enemy. Sid was a little surprised and asked, "Isn't that one of Masterson's women?"

Squinting his eyes, Fred leaned forward as if the six inch difference in distance would better allow him to see the woman and answered, "I believe it is."

"Interesting," Sid said. The woman faced several of the enemy at once. Her horse danced while she controlled it to keep from being in range of more than one of them at a time. Rider and horse worked together in an intricate ballet.

Fascinated by the action, Mandy watched the battle. So many brave young men acting heroic excited her. Seeing the woman there bothered her. She frowned and asked, "What is a woman doing out there?"

"I have to assume that she's married into the Rider Clan and is entering clan politics in a big way," Sid answered impressed by fighting skills of the woman he was watching.

"But she's a woman," Mandy said confused to see a woman participate in something that was clearly a masculine endeavor here on Chaos. A woman was supposed to be rescued, not participate in war.