Continued from Chapter 1 - Part VI
Dramatis Personae |
Nabati:
Mun'at Ha'Qadri: General of the Nabati army, tasked with uniting the tribes of Arabia and subduing the Saba' confederations that control Arabia Felix.
Shullai Ha'Maleki: Prince of the Nabati, riding south under Mun'at's command.
Ravîv'êl Bikrum: Crown Prince of the Nabati. Currently on a mission to distract the Lihyanites by capturing Tayma.
Malka Qênu: King of the Nabati, and leader of the united tribes.
Rana'in: Elder warrior and long-time friend of Mun'at.
Khalil: Raider under Mun'at's command, usually tasked with leading the cavalry and light skirmishers.
Haza'el: Captain of the Nabati.
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Chapter 1
Out of Edum
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(Part VII)
With the Lihyanites committed to combat Khalil and Haza'el returned to the main line to cover the exposed flanks and give their mounts a moment's rest before the battle commenced in earnest. Their mobility would be crucial in the fight to come, for the entirety of the enemy force consisted of cavalry and could easily split apart and isolate the Nabati infantry and bowmen unless properly checked.
With his riders returned, Mun'at ordered the bulk of his men to occupy a low hill to their east. Its vantage would not provide much in the way of protection or strength, but the shifting slope would slow any charge committed by the lancers of Dedan, giving his spears a moment more in which to prepare themselves. To the east of the hill Mun'at sent Shullai Ha'Maleki, granting him command of the mounted bowmen and Khalil's raiders. Whether the boy could be trusted to fight well, much less lead, was still unclear, but he would have to wet his blade at some point, and should he prove unable Mun'at trusted Khalil to wrest control from him without complaint or compromise. For his own part, Mun'at would remain with the main forces, keeping his companion cavalry, the camel raiders, and Haza'el's hastily gathered men as a reserve should the infantry become over-pressed. With the Nabati battle lines arrayed he then did as any experienced commander would and he waited, patiently watching the stripes of black on the horizon as they wheeled about, marking their strengths and their narrow gaps with a calculating eye.
The Lihyanites shifted back and forth across the finely blown valley, sliding this way and that as mercury on a heated sheet of iron. At first they seemed unsure of themselves and their choice to do combat, but soon enough their lines hardened and fanned out, matching the Nabati formations. As Mun'at watched, squinting against the brightness of the afternoon sun on the sands, the eastern-most Lihyanite horsemen began to break away from the rest of their number, pounding north toward Shullai's companions and Khalil's avid raiders. From such distance Mun'at could not be sure of the enemy's disposition or martial raiment, but their speed and positioning marked them as skirmishers and lancers rather than bowmen. Then Mun'at noticed something more; a standard-bearer following a single horsemen in shining attire. Shullai must have seen the enemy commander as well and thought to capitalize on his isolation, for the eastern cavalry under his command began to rapidly descend the hill in the direction of the enemy, horns ringing to sound the charge.
As Shullai closed with the forces of Dedan his companions began to unleash a constant supply of arrows and stout throwing spears, thinning the ranks before the inevitable clash. To this deadly rain was quickly added the vengeful barbs of Khalil's men, further weakening the enemy, and when Nabati lances met Lihyanite shields the battle for the eastern flank was already won. From his position among the main lines Mun'at could not hear the distant din of mortal combat, but he knew its sounds well enough. The scream of dying men and rough tearing whinny of broken mounts would shatter the heart of the enemy commander until he routed in panic. In a desperate attempt to free himself from an early final judgment he would break and flee, the last sound in his ears the rasping of his own breath as he struggled to draw air into lungs punctured by enemy bolts.
Mun'at watched intently, but after the space of only a few minutes he turned away, his head softly shaking from side to side. Victory is a sweet thing indeed, but it is an ill soul who gladly watches his enemies die cowards' deaths with arrows in their backs. He would not gaze needlessly on such a spectacle.
However, despite his wish to unsee the carnage unfolding on the plain below Mun'at was forced to turn his view back to the enemy, for shouts running down his lines announced some new maneuver or ploy of the Lihyanites. Far off to the southeast the broken Dedani horsemen fled over the sands, Shullai and Khalil at their heels, but the remaining enemy soldiers had begun to ride hard for the Nabati infantry, surely hoping that a single unforgiving charge might rout the levies and garrison troops, leaving only a small force of veterans to contend with. The thunder of their hooves and boom of their war drums nearly brought the Nabati to their knees, but as the fiends neared Mun'at saw clearly that they were all of them bowmen, dangerous at a distance but no match for spears and axes, however poorly wielded. He rode quickly up and down his lines, rallying the men and assuring them of their inevitable victory, and when he returned to his cavalry he sent them with Haza'el with orders to swing wide and strike the Lihyanite flank once they had engaged his spearmen.
As the last of his companions rode away to the west Mun'at dismounted, giving his reigns to a spearmen of some note. He would remain with the footmen holding the centerline, secure in the knowledge that his captains would make the most advantage of their men.
Tabuk (battle) |
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He then stepped forward from his line, striding a quarter-bowshot ahead, and he turned about. The sun at his back, Mun'at's features were cast in shadow, a dark god of violence and death in human form. But he was their god. Mun'at raised his spear high and shouted. "Warriors of Edum! This day we come not as petty tribesmen or raiders. This day we come as soldiers of Malkuta Ha'Nabati*. This day we come as liberators." He paused then, glancing over his shoulder at the fast approaching enemy. "But tomorrow," he began even more loudly, "tomorrow we will be conquerors, and the rising red sun will bear witness to our strength. Let us make these eastern devils bear witness as well!"
With a roar fit to shatter the heavens and hills his men raised their weapons in answer, the swelling sound running east and west down the length of them. However, their moment of untested confidence flared only briefly, for no sooner had Mun'at regained the lines when enemy arrows began to rain down from a cloudless sky. The mounted Dedani archers were continuing their hard ride toward the Nabati, firing wildly and to little effect. Scattered screams marked the passing of men from this world to the next, souls lucky enough to be spared the coming bloodshed, but too few spears fell for the Lihyanites to long hold hope of victory.
As the enemy soldiers finally crested the hill, a wide column of dust and fear trailing them, they ceased firing and traded bows for swords or short spears, weapons of intimacy and cunning. However, the foremost among them were never permitted to use these, for Mun'at's archers and slingers, so long silent, entered the chorus of death with confidence and precision. A deafening whistle lanced across the hilltop, piercing iron, bronze, leather, and flesh. As the first line of horses fell those behind tripped or were stalled long enough to receive the second volley, and by the time the soldiers behind these had picked their way through the bloody maze of their fallen comrades the Lihyanite charge had been reduced to gentle push.
The spearwall held, and along the exposed flanks of the Lihyanite line Ravîv'êl's Harra tribesmen rushed in with axes held high. For the span of a few minutes the melée raged in earnest, the enemy rallying despite their losses, until above the ring of spear on shield horns were heard. From the southwest Haza'el broke against the Dedani with a red wrath terrible to behold. Wavering, the enemy fought on, their mounts tiring beneath them, until again horns were heard blaring over the sands. Unasked for and unexpected Shullai had forsaken the rout, and with Khalil in tow had returned to the battle. His lancers, flushed with victory both recent and to come, shattered their long spears by the force of their charge and without mercy continued the slaughter with ax and sword.
The remaining Lihyanites, to a man, broke. The imprudent reserves at their rear thought to run, dying shameful deaths with arrows in their backs for such cowardly behavior. Those at the heart of the melée could never hope to escape so quickly and largely surrendered, while here and there some bold soul fought on until exhaustion and despair finally defeated him. All told, the fighting had not lasted more than an hour at most, but by the end three quarters of the enemy had been slain, the rest captured or dispersed into the desert, with little loss on the Nabati side. Again, and not for the last time that day, Mun'at smiled.
Three days after the battle for Tabuk, after the bodies had been laid to rest and the goods of the fallen fairly distributed amongst the victorious, the army of the Nabati left the lands of Edum and crossed into Lihyan. There was no thunderous cheer or fanfare of horns to mark their passing. No stone cried forth their trespass or spoke of their arrogant daring. The sands simply continued in their soft sighing melody, the sun rising on their left, the mountains of Hijaz on their right. But Mun'at knew they had left behind the lands they called their own. He knew that in that moment they ceased to be allies and liberators, trading the mantle of friendship for that of aggression and greed. So be it. He would wear it gladly, and though he was a stranger in a strange land he would hold his head high and bow to no man.
*Glossary |
*Malkuta Ha'Nabati: The Kingdom of Nabataea
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Continue to Chapter 2 - Part I