"Huff, Tanya - Wizard 1 - Child Of The Grove 1.1 Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

"Leave me, Commander, " he gasped, "and take my idiot Half with you. You can't free me. "
Rael's brows rose and Hale would've recognized the tone as he said, "Oh? Can't I?" He squatted, shoved his hands beneath the horse, and lifted. His gauntlets slid free. The weight he'd intended to throw under the horse shifted, and he sat suddenly, nearly doing more damage to Payter in the process. Cursing under his breath, he yanked off the offending gloves and shoved

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them under Payter's unresisting hands. This couldn't take too long or the Melacian archers would begin to make their presence felt. He squatted again and gripped the still warm body under shoulder and haunch. Then he stiffened his back and straightened his legs.
Slowly the horse lifted a foot, then two feet off the
ground.
"Can you get out?" Rael grunted, his knees braced
under the saddle.
"Uh... yes, Commander... "
"Then do it, damnit!"
"Yes, Commander!" The man crabbed backward on hands and elbows.
When Payter's feet came clear, Rael stepped back and the horse crashed to the ground. He grabbed his gauntlets, grabbed the man by the shoulders, and flung him up and over the pommel of his Half's saddle, hoping his armor would cushion the blow. Using the dead horse as a mounting block, and completely disregarding the weight of his own armor-although something in his muscles said he'd pay for all this later, mythic parentage or not-Rael launched himself into his own saddle, set his lance, and screamed: "Back!"
The circling Elite formed a wedge, pointed their heads toward the rest of the company, and began the fight back. Rael and Rutgar bracketed the rescued Pair and readied to move out.
I've done it! Rael crowed. He beat away a spear that came a bit too close. Nothing can stop us now!
Suddenly Rutgar threw up his shield and an arrow ricocheted off the rim. "Cover!"
One of the Melacian longbowmen had found a bit of unoccupied high ground. He stood, safely out of range of return fire, but close enough to Rael and his men to be able to choose his targets with care.
From a standing start it would take a moment or two to fight their way clear and get moving. During that moment they might as well have targets painted over their hearts.

SO Tanya Huff
"Why, you... " Rael's jaw went out and his eyes blazed behind his visor. In a single fluid motion, he stood in his stirrups, twisted, and flung his lance at the bowman.
It seemed that both armies watched it fly, and watched it land, point buried a foot in the earth and the Melacian bowman hanging off the end.
The squad was virtually unopposed as they rode back to join their company.
Doan met Rael at the top of the hill. "You seem to have taken the heart out of them, Commander. "
Rael turned to look and, sure enough, the Melacians were leaving the field, forming shield lines and retreating with the Ardhan army harrowing them every foot of the way.
"A bit showy. " Although Doan's tone was dry, he couldn't stop his lips from twitching back into a smirk. "But definitely effective. "
So ended the Ardhan army's third day in the valley.
"It took them a while, " Doan nudged the prince and pointed, "but they've finally learned. They've moved their pikemen out of squares and down both sides of the valley. We try to charge into that and we'll skewer ourselves. "
Rael raised a hand to shade his eyes and Rutgar, who was forcing a new strap through a buckle, growled low in his throat. "If you don't mind, Commander... "
"Sorry. " Rael lowered his arm and squinted instead. "I guess we'll just have to try something else. "
Doan and the armsman exchanged questioning glances.
"It looks as though we've made them nervous, " the prince continued. "They seem to be placing a barricade of pikemen between their bowmen and the Ardhan lancers. "
"They are. " Doan's eyes were as good as Rael's and he could shade them against the early morning sun.
"The trouble is, the Melacians aren't in possession

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of a rather important piece of information. " Rael turned to face his companions.
"And that is?" Rutgar sighed, pulling Rael back into position by the recalcitrant strap.
"The Ardhan lancers are bowmen as well. " The commander of the Elite looked down at his captain. "The strength of the Elite lies in flexibility. "
Doan's jaw dropped. He recognized his own words to Rael on the day the prince took command. He stared at the Melacian lines, then said: "We ride at them in ranks of three, fire, wheel, and repeat. Between the dust and the ranks of pikemen blocking their sight, they'll never hit a moving target. "
"And they'll never expect it, " Rutgar added. "As far as they know... "
"... we have no mounted archers, " Doan finished. "And when we break the line, Male's horsemen can lead the foot soldiers through. It just might work. "
"Might?" Rael! grinned in a way that made him look very much like his father. "Of course it'll work. Cap-lain, inform the Firsts. Have the Elite form up in three ranks. Today, we're archers. "
Doan's salute was faultless. "Very good, Commander. " He spun on his heel and marched off to pass the commander's orders to the officers of the Elite.
Rael turned back to stare at the distant line of the enemy. "Well?" he asked Rutgar. "What do you think?"
"I think, " muttered his armsman, finally cinching tight the buckle. "That you're getting a bit cocky. " He looked up and smiled. "Commander. "
The commander grinned and slammed an elbow into his armsman's side with a sound of clashing kettle drums. "You're just jealous. I tell you, it'll work. "
It worked.
At the end of the fourth day, the Ardhan army still held the valley.
The fifth day, by throwing lives in a seemingly endless parade onto the Ardhan weapons, by making a