can
happen if they don’t do things his way.”
He showed them.
One of the priests got the bright idea. He conned about fifteen thousand guys
into thinking they could handle experienced professionals, heads up. He led the
mob out to look for the invaders. They didn’t have any trouble finding them. The
Shadowmasters’ commander thought this was what he was waiting for, too. The
Shadowmasters’ other conquests had all been settled by one big brawl.
Willow and Smoke and a few others stood on top of a hill where both sides could
see them and spent an afternoon watching two thousand men massacre fifteen
thousand. The Taglians that got away did so mostly because the invaders were too
tired to chase them.
“Now we’ll fight,” Smoke said. So Willow moved his force up and poked till the
invaders got aggravated and came after him. He ran till they stopped. Then he
poked again. And ran again. And so forth. He got the notion from a poorly
remembered version of a time when the Black Company ran for a thousand miles and
led their enemies into a trap where they died almost to a man, thinking they had
it won almost to the end.
Maybe these guys heard the same story. Anyway, they didn’t want to be led. First
time they balked they just camped and wouldn’t move. So Willow talked it over
with Smoke and Smoke rounded up some volunteers from the countryside and started
building a wall around the invaders.
Next time the invaders just turned and marched off toward Taglios, which is what
they should have done at the start, instead of trying to get rich. So Willow
jumped on them from behind and kept making a nuisance of himself till he
convinced the enemy commander that he had to be gotten rid of or there just
wouldn’t be any rest.
He told Smoke, “I don’t know squat about strategy or tactics or anything, but I
figure I only got to work on one guy, really. The head guy over there. I get him
to do what I want, he brings everybody else with him. And I know how to
aggravate a guy till he’ll fight me.”
Which is what he did.
The Shadowmaster’s general finally chased him into a town that had been getting
ready all along. It was a bigger version of Cordy’s game. Only this time there
wasn’t going to be a fire. All the people had been got out and about twelve
thousand volunteers put in their place. While Willow and Smoke were running the
invaders around, those guys were building a wall.
Willow ran into the town and thumbed his nose. He did everything he could to get
the enemy chief mad. The man did not get mad fast, though. He surrounded the
town, then got every man he had in Taglian territory that could still walk. Then
he attacked.
It was a nasty brawl. The invaders had it bad because in the tight streets they
could not take advantage of better discipline. They always had guys shooting
arrows at them off the rooftops. They always had guys with spears jumping out of
doors and alleys. But they were better soldiers. They killed a lot of Taglians
before they realized they were in a box, with about six times as many Taglians
after them as they expected. By then it was too late for them to get out. But
they took a lot of Taglians with them.
When it was over Willow went back to Taglios. Blade came home too, and they
opened the tavern back up and celebrated for a couple weeks. Meantime, the
Shadowmasters figured out what happened and got thoroughly pissed. They made all
kinds of threats. The prince, the Prahbrindrah Drah, basically thumbed his nose
and told them to put it where the sun don’t shine.
Willow, Cordy, and Blade got a month off, then it was time for the next part,
which was to take a long trip north with the Radisha Drah and Smoke. Willow
didn’t figure this part was going to be a lot of fun, but nobody could figure a
better way to work it.
Black Company S 4 - Shadow Games
Chapter Seventeen: GEA-XLE
I got them all up and decked
happen if they don’t do things his way.”
He showed them.
One of the priests got the bright idea. He conned about fifteen thousand guys
into thinking they could handle experienced professionals, heads up. He led the
mob out to look for the invaders. They didn’t have any trouble finding them. The
Shadowmasters’ commander thought this was what he was waiting for, too. The
Shadowmasters’ other conquests had all been settled by one big brawl.
Willow and Smoke and a few others stood on top of a hill where both sides could
see them and spent an afternoon watching two thousand men massacre fifteen
thousand. The Taglians that got away did so mostly because the invaders were too
tired to chase them.
“Now we’ll fight,” Smoke said. So Willow moved his force up and poked till the
invaders got aggravated and came after him. He ran till they stopped. Then he
poked again. And ran again. And so forth. He got the notion from a poorly
remembered version of a time when the Black Company ran for a thousand miles and
led their enemies into a trap where they died almost to a man, thinking they had
it won almost to the end.
Maybe these guys heard the same story. Anyway, they didn’t want to be led. First
time they balked they just camped and wouldn’t move. So Willow talked it over
with Smoke and Smoke rounded up some volunteers from the countryside and started
building a wall around the invaders.
Next time the invaders just turned and marched off toward Taglios, which is what
they should have done at the start, instead of trying to get rich. So Willow
jumped on them from behind and kept making a nuisance of himself till he
convinced the enemy commander that he had to be gotten rid of or there just
wouldn’t be any rest.
He told Smoke, “I don’t know squat about strategy or tactics or anything, but I
figure I only got to work on one guy, really. The head guy over there. I get him
to do what I want, he brings everybody else with him. And I know how to
aggravate a guy till he’ll fight me.”
Which is what he did.
The Shadowmaster’s general finally chased him into a town that had been getting
ready all along. It was a bigger version of Cordy’s game. Only this time there
wasn’t going to be a fire. All the people had been got out and about twelve
thousand volunteers put in their place. While Willow and Smoke were running the
invaders around, those guys were building a wall.
Willow ran into the town and thumbed his nose. He did everything he could to get
the enemy chief mad. The man did not get mad fast, though. He surrounded the
town, then got every man he had in Taglian territory that could still walk. Then
he attacked.
It was a nasty brawl. The invaders had it bad because in the tight streets they
could not take advantage of better discipline. They always had guys shooting
arrows at them off the rooftops. They always had guys with spears jumping out of
doors and alleys. But they were better soldiers. They killed a lot of Taglians
before they realized they were in a box, with about six times as many Taglians
after them as they expected. By then it was too late for them to get out. But
they took a lot of Taglians with them.
When it was over Willow went back to Taglios. Blade came home too, and they
opened the tavern back up and celebrated for a couple weeks. Meantime, the
Shadowmasters figured out what happened and got thoroughly pissed. They made all
kinds of threats. The prince, the Prahbrindrah Drah, basically thumbed his nose
and told them to put it where the sun don’t shine.
Willow, Cordy, and Blade got a month off, then it was time for the next part,
which was to take a long trip north with the Radisha Drah and Smoke. Willow
didn’t figure this part was going to be a lot of fun, but nobody could figure a
better way to work it.
Black Company S 4 - Shadow Games
Chapter Seventeen: GEA-XLE
I got them all up and decked
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