The Tiger-Headed Horseman Read online

  The pikemen's collective mentality changed from intimidated to confused to excited to ‘Let's get them’ in a matter of seconds. Without waiting for orders the entire shambles of pikemen surged after the cavalry. They truly believed they would catch the horses since the horses were only walking, albeit rather quickly. As the thick band of pikemen poured after the ambling equines, the faster runners among them rallied ahead. They were no longer a perceivable single unit of men. Once the enemy had become suitably spread out, a black banner was raised titled ‘Odoo’. In response, Lily turned with her men and charged into the dispersed pikemen. As Lily turned back towards the enemy, the remainder of the cavalry arrived from behind the rise. They approached the enemy from either side attacking the Leggy on multiple fronts. The pikemen were so exhausted from running that they were barely able to lift their heavy weapons. With a curved sabre in each hand, the cavalry-men ploughed through the disparate Leggy, dicing through them devilishly.

  Ten minutes after Lily had left Elder Chuluun's side her cavalry had killed almost a quarter of the pikemen. It was proving tiring work. Leaning down to hack off somebody's head, arm or sometimes leg was exhilarating yet very strenuous. As time drew on some of the cavalry began to fall off their steeds from sheer exhaustion. Once on the ground the terrified Leggy would stomp on them till they moved no more. An increasing number of riderless horses could be seen running, or trotting fast, off into the distance. A blue banner was raised. The cavalry raced back to their own troops to take stock and regroup. Tengis was visibly fuming. Elder Chuluun watched as the headless leader of the pikemen ran away from his emperor, pursued by his head which flew through the air after him.

  On the battlefield ahead of them Danyal could see that two and a half thousand pikemen were straggling in disarray, their one and only battle tactic utterly obliterated. He knew it was his time to star in the proceedings. Without waiting for a banner he thwarted protocol by sounding a particularly shrill whistle. This was met by a fantastic roar as the entire body of Hairy Hordes lolloped down the slope towards the straggling pikemen.

  As Tengis looked on, the bodies of his men were hurled through the sky cannonballing into other members of the Leggy. He was bewildered as to how so few men could account for so much damage and knew that many would owe so much to them. Through the scenes of carnage Lily spotted the man with the interesting accent. As he tore the limbs off some poor unfortunate soul that had crossed his path, he gave her a wink. She smiled but turned red. She was ashamed that she knew people who were capable of such aggression with so much good humour, even if it was in the name of Chinggis and justice.

  Looking back at the Hairy Hordes, her mood changed. Simultaneously two of the Hairy Hordes would link arms. A third would run towards them and jump. The other two would catch him on their hands and then catapult the third into oncoming enemy. Each shot would account for half a dozen Leggy. The third man was having the time of his life. As he bowled through oncoming Leggy he giggled more headily with each hit. Other Hairy Hordes would link arms and run at the enemy as a long line of hairiness. This had the effect of quite literally mowing the enemy asunder. Lily found herself clapping with glee as she watched these overgrown boys finally finding an opportunity to turn their play into practice.

  With each passing second a significant percentage of pike-men disappeared. Each member of the ‘Double-Hs’, as they liked to be known, had notched up at least twenty men, marking each hit on their arm with the blood of their foes. The pikemen were almost no more. Roars began to be raised among the Hairy Hordes. They were running out of people to fight and were making it known that, unless someone came and had a go, they would go and find someone themselves. The battle was going far better than Lily or any of her supporters could possibly have envisaged.

  Although it was a strikingly sunny day, Lily looked upwards as the sky suddenly darkened. And then the roaring stopped. When Lily looked back at the battlefield she was greeted with horror. Every single one of the Hairy Hordes lay on the Steppe floor. Steel arrows protruded from arms, backs and heads. There were no casualties, only fatalities. Faster than a Steppe horse could walk downhill the entire body of Hairy Hordes had been wiped out. Of their number only Danyal remained and he had long retired from the battle. As the shock wore off, he tried to run to his brothers but Drudger held him back.

  Tengis looked on smugly. Lily's supporters were sure they could see him muttering to himself. Little did they know that Khad was in his head directing every move made on the field of battle. Tengis turned to his right and gave a knowing nod. The head archer bowed low in response. He knew the emperor would reward him in no small way and hoped it would include some of the shimmering stuff. Tengis flicked his hand. The head archer's eyes opened wide with delight. He was being given another chance to prove himself. The air began to fill with the heavy twang of two thousand bowstrings being pulled taut. A moment later a gigantic ‘shoosh’ sounded the imminent arrival of two thousand arrows. Most of the arrows fell short of Lily and her troops but they made their announcement clearly. Any steps taken further forward would be well within their range. The volley did manage to kill any remaining pikemen, however. Tengis would later refer to this as an ‘acceptable risk’.

  Elder Chuluun looked shocked; he was fast running out of ideas. Danyal was still a gibbering wreck and every time he looked at his fallen friends he screamed maniacally. Drudger took up position next to his friend and slapped him hard whenever he felt he was about to scream. Between slaps he worked with Elder Chuluun and Lily to devise a course of action.

  ‘I . . . I . . . I don't know what to suggest,’ said Elder Chuluun. ‘I don't know what went wrong.’

  ‘They bloody well massacred us,’ said Lily, ‘that's what. We haven't got time to mull this over right now. The game is afoot. Look over there, Tengis is just waiting for us. He knows he has the numerical advantage. He knows we have to take the game to him.’

  ‘We have tried my two preferred tactics,’ said Elder Chuluun, ‘neither “separate opponent” or “retreat into ambush” appear to have worked very well, have they?’

  ‘Stop being so damned self-obsessed!’ shouted Millie. ‘Listen, my father used to read me the old stories about Chinggis Khaan. I seem to recall a few rather amazing manoeuvres he successfully executed.’

  ‘Please,’ implored Lily, ‘tell me, we have to act now. The longer we give Tengis, the more he will think he has the upper hand. Confidence is half the battle. If our troops were to discover how we are acting they would lose all faith in us.’

  ‘Let me see,’ said Millie, ‘there is the “moving bush” and the “lake formation”. They're good from memory.’

  ‘Are we fighting a battle,’ asked Lily, ‘or are we running a dance school?’

  ‘Bear with me,’ said Millie. ‘The “moving bush” involves multiple attacks on multiple fronts. It asks that commanders orchestrate repeated small skirmishes intermittently at different fringes to draw the opponent into a more strung-out formation.’ The ladies looked across the battlefield. Tengis had reformed his troops. His foot soldiers had taken up position ready to repel any attack but equally well placed to readily march upon any advancing enemy.

  ‘We could try it but I don't think that'll work,’ said Lily.

  ‘Well, what about the “lake formation”?’said Millie. ‘That one sounds nice. From what I can remember successive waves of attacks are undertaken along the enemy front. Each line, or wave, attacks and withdraws filtering through the next wave on its attack. It sounds a bit complicated, doesn't it?’

  ‘We are also working against an enemy with far greater numbers than we have,’ said Elder Chuluun.

  ‘So,’ said Lily, ‘when it comes down to it we don't actually have a plan, do we? I can't believe we have been through so much; lost so many good people, and we are sitting here unable to think of something to do. So much for my illustrious destiny.’

  ‘Who's navel-gazing now?’ asked Elder Chuluun. ‘We still have most of ou
r forces. We will try a simple approach. We will send out the lancers up front. The cavalry will cover the flanks and launch forays against them using their bows and arrows.’

  The plan didn't sound particularly imaginative to Lily but she realised that they had little choice at this juncture. Sheer weight of numbers reminded Lily why a good imagination was critical. Her troops were being easily repelled by Tengis's. Although the lancers were able to take out the front line of his troops as soon as their lances had struck an enemy, they were held fast. His foot soldiers simply walked over the bodies of their fallen comrades and cut down the lancers where they stood. Tengis's soldiers may have lacked any formal training but there were so many of them they simply formed a wall of bodies that Lily's army could not overcome. Elder Chuluun began to talk about retreat.

  ‘We cannot leave!’ said Lily. ‘What about all those people that have laid down their lives today? Are we simply willing to run away when the going gets too difficult? We must persist.’

  ‘Lily,’ said Millie, ‘look out there. We are taking heavy losses. If we leave now, we still have a semblance of a cavalry and I'm sure some of our lancers will escape. We can live to fight another day.’

  ‘How can you stand there and talk about escape?’ cried Lily. ‘You know as well as I that, if Tengis is seen to be victorious today, his following will be unassailable.’

  ‘We have no choice,’ said Elder Chuluun. He gave the order for the ‘Zogs Ereg’ banner to be raised sounding the retreat.

  Blong.

  But Lily could not give up. She mounted Lucky and rode towards the centre of the fray. As Elder Chuluun and Millie looked on they watched a young woman hacking her way through enemy lines. Danyal broke free of Drudger. He watched in horror as Lily cast aside hewn limbs and Lucky trampled across fallen corpses. With a sabre in each hand, Lily forced her way towards the bell, and towards Tengis. Between strikes she caught glimpses of him. He was sitting watching her progress and with a contented smile upon his face. She noticed a woman by his side sneering at her. Had Lily had an aerial view she would have realised she had almost one thousand men between her and Tengis and it was Tengis who owned the stock of shimmering metal.

  Pre-empting a retreat, Tengis had sent out his cavalry to outflank any escaping lancers longing to return home. They were dealt with savagely. With the cavalry beginning to turn towards Elder Chuluun and the remaining survivors they had no choice but to hastily beat a retreat away from the battlefield. Lily's supporters turned back to look at the battlefield one final time. Rising above the foot soldiers they could see the furious figure of a young girl fighting from horseback. Although it broke each one of their hearts, they had to leave. Spurring their horses they evaded the approaching enemy cavalry.

  Lily continued to hack away at her foes. She and Lucky were almost completely covered in the blood of the vanquished. Even if she had wanted to, she would never have made it back to Elder Chuluun and her supporters. She had no intention of doing any such thing. She had not even noticed that they had left the battlefield. Blong. While she breathed she would honour the name of Chinggis Khaan. Blong. Through bloodstained eyes she looked for Tengis. Catching sight of him she watched as he calmly stood up. Blong. Moving down from his imperial plinth he walked slowly towards a group of soldiers that sat idly watching the action. Blong. Lily struggled against the mounting tide of foot soldiers. Blong. Lucky's legs were beginning to feel heavy. His flank had been sliced open. He knew that he was not long for this world. Blong. Lily looked up again towards Tengis. As she did, she saw him looking down the sights of a crossbow. Blong. An object came rushing towards her and knocked her clean off from Lucky's back. Blong. The foot soldiers were soon upon her; thrusting swords into her carelessly. Blong. Lily felt Lucky fall near to her. Reaching out a severed arm, she searched for him. Blong. As Lily touched Lucky her steed looked one last time into his mistress's eyes. He was crying. Blong. A sword was thrust deep into Lucky's neck; his eyes remained open as his life vanished before them. Blong. Lily closed her eyes. Nothing made sense. There was an emptiness where she hoped she would find peace. Blong. As the foot soldiers continued their frenzied attack she realised that she had lost. She offered herself to the spirit world and prayed that Tsara would look after her. Blong. All sound vanished. Darkness fell upon her. Blong.

  Once Elder Chuluun and Lily's supporters had reached a safe distance, they stopped. Tears rolled down their faces. The old man turned back towards where they had come. ‘The winner has many friends; the loser has good friends.’

  27

  Lily opened her eyes. There was no sign of the battle, which came as an enormous relief. There was little sign of anything unusual. Slowly she came to realise that she was standing in the spirit world, though she wasn't certain whether she was here by choice or not. She walked towards the bridge where she normally met Tsara. She hadn't seen her spirit friend for some time. She was excited at the prospect of catching up with her again. Her spirit friend had been the only person Lily had ever been able to talk freely with. Among the herders, sentiment was seen as a luxury. Friendship was based upon one's ability to be useful to and help another; not empathy. Lily had always loved her father but she would never have described their relationship as close. Lily's spirit friend had been there to lean on whenever darkness had come; she hoped that she would be somewhere nearby now.

  Lily tried to figure out if she had come to the spirit world in a trance or some other way. She could not bring herself to consider what that other way might have entailed. She hoped beyond hope that she was in a trance. The puppies that she had come to care for were in the spirit world. There were various odd-looking spirits walking around, although, much to her dismay, there was no sign of Mark Anthony. Lily knew that it could only be a matter of time before her friend would turn up. She knew there was no point in fretting over it. Her friend had obviously been busy doing something else recently. In the meantime Lily decided she would make herself look presentable. She couldn't remember the last time she had taken a proper wash. She walked down the side of the bridge towards the water. Her bare feet felt soothed by the cool grasses that grew there.

  As she bent down towards the river, she thought she caught a glimpse of Tsara. Sitting upright, she looked up and down the river for a sight of her friend. She decided she must have imagined it. She cupped her hand and drank deeply from the cool water. It tasted heavenly. Lily dangled her feet into the river. The gentle current washed away her worries and she was bathed with a feeling of rest. She stooped over the riverbank to wash her hair. As she leaned in close to the water she opened her eyes. Lily screamed and moved away from the river. She edged her way closer to the edge. She took a deep breath and looked over. She let out a short cry. Staring back from the riverbed was the face of her friend. She sank back away from the water's edge. Shaking her head, she tried to find a rational explanation. Lily knew that her spirit friend was just that, a spirit; she knew that spirits were already dead. What she couldn't understand was why her friend was lying at the bottom of the river. She peered over the edge once more. It was definitely Tsara. As she began to move away she noticed that Tsara's face moved with her. She closed one eye. Tsara did likewise. Lily opened her mouth as wide as she could. Tsara followed her every move. Finally Lily reached out to the water and shook its surface. It became evident that there was nothing beneath it. Lily was looking at her own reflection but her own reflection had taken on the appearance of Tsara.

  Lily was confused. She may have been a shawoman, but she was no conjurer nor was she a philosopher. Whatever had caused Tsara's face to be reflected from her own had to have some straightforward explanation. Much as Lily explored every possibility there was only one that made any sense. She and Tsara must have had some link more profound than simply being friends. As the sun rose higher into the sky, Lily continued to look for an explanation. Presently she saw a man walking up the riverbank towards her. He was walking with purpose. When he was close to her, his face lit up. Tears be
gan to well in his eyes.

  ‘How long I have waited to see you,’ said the man. He stretched out his arms and approached Lily, who backed away.

  ‘Who are you?’ she asked. ‘I have never seen you before.’ Lily knew this to be true but there was something about this man that seemed somewhat familiar. Again he tried to embrace her and again she side-stepped his advances. He laughed at her.

  ‘You really don't recognize me, do you?’ he joked. ‘After all we've been through and you say you don't know me. Have you any idea how much that hurts? Especially after all these years?’

  ‘No,’ replied Lily. ‘Who are you? I think you must have me mistaken for somebody else. My name is Lily. I am a herder and shawoman. I am here to speak to my good friend Tsara. I need her help urgently. An evil man is threatening to destroy my nation, my father is missing in prison somewhere and I have a stupid riddle that doesn't seem to mean anything.’

  ‘Tell me about this friend of yours,’ asked the man. He stood leaning against a tree, one hand in his pocket. He was not taking the situation nearly as seriously as Lily.

  ‘Tsara?’ asked Lily.

  ‘Yes,’ replied the man, ‘that's the one.’

  ‘Tsara is the closest friend I have ever had,’ said Lily. ‘She has been my friend for as long as I can remember. We have grown up together, although with her being a spirit she hasn't really changed very much. She is kind and wise. She believes in justice, like I do, and she has been helping me as I strive to destroy the criminal that is threatening my country.’

  ‘Tell me,’ said the man, ‘is she beautiful like you?’

  ‘Please, stop being childish,’ said Lily. ‘I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Though yes, Tsara is beautiful. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.’

  ‘Does she have a husband or boyfriend, this Tsara, this friend of yours?’ asked the man.