No Other Gods Read Online Free

we could hear the sounds of their horses. Soldiers checked their swords in their scabbards, moving them, loosening them. We put our heads down and did our best to meld with the forest. Much would depend on the first few moments of battle.
                  The reds appeared over the ridge forward of our positions. They were moving quicker than I expected a twice-ambushed force to cover ground — perhaps angry and eager for battle. We would not disappoint.
                  They came near our positions without any signs of noticing our presence. Closer. Closer, and then they were right upon us. Without warning our arrows made the air sing with violence as all our best bowmen — and women — filled the air with arrows. We had concentrated our forces on the side most likely to be attacked, and the deadly dense fire from almost a full hundred expert bows cut down the nearer warriors and horses. Red flowed on red.
                  But they were expert warriors, just like us, and did not panic.
                  Withdrawing to outside bowshot, they formed lines. As we watched and waited, I knew what was running through their minds: a charge over open territory towards a mostly-unseen foe well-equipped with bows. Then a quick dismount at the edge of forest, as the horses would not gallop into the thick trees, and finally a running charge into our lines to take us on in hand-to-hand combat … all while under a murderous barrage of arrows and spears that had already taken perhaps a third of their numbers. Not an attractive prospect.
                  Realistically, they had little choice. The only other option was to encircle our positions and probe for weak points, but now that they were reduced to perhaps two hundred and fifty effectives, that door was closed. Fifty or more had been lost in our initial raids. Another seventy-five or so might have gone down in that first barrage of arrows. Now if they tried to surround us, they would only succeed in thinning their lines, allowing us to mass at any given point and, outnumbering them, overwhelm them. And then wheel around and do the same elsewhere in their lines.
                  Their only hope as I saw it was to quickly gallop to the far side of the copse of trees — where we were not — and enter the forest while not under attack. This would preserve their forces for hand-to-hand combat, make life hard for our archers, and retain their still-large numerical advantage. My bet was that they would not see this option. But I had stationed small forces all around our positions that could collapse towards any given point of attack, and hold the line until our reinforcements could arrive.
                  My guess and hope was that anger and pain and fear would drive out reason and the reds would in frustration take the simple and obvious option … and that we would soon face their charge. I passed the word to be ready.
                  A horn sounded: we were in luck. Hot heads had prevailed. The reds charged, and we filled the air with our arrows. Filled them with arrows too. The slaughter was gruesome, and it was massive.
                  Finally, the remnants of the mounted reds reached the edge of the woods and, swinging to the ground, ran towards our lines with bared swords, only to be met by an even greater volume of fire, now including thrown spears. Only half had made it to the trees, and more still were dropped as they dismounted and ran.
                  Perhaps 50 men made it to our lines. It was over almost before it started.
                  After the killing stopped, I mustered all our forces and looked around with disbelief. We had lost only a handful. Never before had the winning side lost so few.
                  Kin, Livia, and I laughed and joked and rested, ready for the darkness to close our eyes and take us.