Chapter Thirty-Two

With the cannon from the fort covering them, what remained of the army and the column staggered up and up and at last arrived at Golconda. The old fortress overlooked the last section of the long steep road they had climbed. It was the last stop before the Settru pass which would finally lead the army down to Andaban. Thousands were dead. Soldiers had died fighting upon the slopes. Colonists had been cut down by the hundred as they climbed the road. More had slipped and fallen or been trampled in the mad escape. The 13th as Dryden knew it was no more. A few cavalry had made it back, but most were dead. Every single remaining cavalryman was wounded, some quite badly. Dryden could name every man of the 13th still among the living.

Pugh still lived, though he had a sword gash across his shoulder that would need tending to. Sergeant Locke was still on his mount with a nasty-looking head wound. Harper the standard bearer still gripped the 13th’s standard which was a black raven with its wings outstretched on a red field. His right arm was ruined, and he could only hold the flag with his left. Mar and Dryden were both battered and they limped up the rest of the way to the fort at Golconda. Two men of the general’s guard that had been attached to the 13th were still with them, they had various wounds between them. Dryden didn’t know either of them. They found Stablemaster Reed and Lieutenant Upton both with the last remnants of the baggage train, neither of whom were fighters. Everyone else in the 13th that had been stationed in Vurun was dead or captured.

Those infantry units that had been fighting the rearguard action further down the slope had mostly survived, though they too were bloodied by the hard fighting. The rangers that had been fighting at the front had held the line well enough and managed to keep the front from being completely overwhelmed.

Dryden found Rosie, though he needed help to climb back into the saddle. She was exhausted and walked slowly. He would not have ridden her in this state, except for his miserable condition. She had not had water since the army had last camped. After the fighting, they had little left for people to drink, let alone horses. He knew they would need water, food, and rest before attempting the pass. Golconda, at least, had a well where they could drink. As they arrived at the fort, Dryden found that he was the ranking officer there. Colonel Gorst had not made it to the front of the line yet.

The fort was old and built in a style that Dryden thought was similar to the old fort in Vurun. It was made of similar-looking red stone. It was stout. Bigger than Zundak, but smaller than the Red Fort. Dryden rode up to the gate.

A voice called down from above. It was Colonel Hood, “Dryden, is that you?”

“It is. Good to see you safe, Colonel.” He shouted back. Shouting hurt his ribs and he winced.

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“That charge of yours was a sight to see, Major. Well done. Good to see you survived it. We had a little wager going on it.”

Dryden frowned, he didn’t like men betting on whether he lived or died, “What side did you take?”

“I thought you had no chance. I’m glad to see you proved me wrong.”

“Can you let us in and perhaps we can discuss this in person, Colonel?” He asked, his ribs truly were hurting with the shouting, “We need to water and feed our horse.”

“Well, yes, about that. I’ll let in the soldiers.” Hood offered, “But not all the colonists. The fort can’t take that many and we haven’t many supplies to share aside from water. The fort has a good cistern and well.”

“Damn him,” Pugh growled quietly.

“Worry not, Major, the fuzzies won’t return while we’ve got these cannon covering our position. Not anytime soon, I can tell you that. Keep the civilians outside and we’ll let some of you in. Our surgeon can attend to you if need be.”

A few soldiers pushed back the civilians who moved aside with only a bit of grumbling. Then the gates opened and Dryden led his few men inside along with some other wounded soldiers. Inside they dismounted. The fort was rather small inside, even more so than it had looked outside. It was also rather crowded already with the Company soldiers who were billeted there. Several men took their horses and led them into the stables that were near the entrance. The stables were actually inside one of the buildings. Dryden assumed this was to help keep the animals warm in the snow and winter.

Colonel Hood came down to greet Major Dryden and his men, “Welcome to Golconda, Major. First, you come to my fort to get me out of it. Now you come to join me in it.” He laughed like he had made some kind of great joke.

Dryden smiled at him, “So. How did you come to be here, did the Vuruni cavalry give you any trouble?”

“They did. We did well enough until we got to the hill that you just came up. They did the same thing to us that they did to you just now. Lost a quarter of our men on our first attempt up the hill. We reformed and made it on the second attempt. Damned hard hill to climb, that. Worse when you’re being hounded by the roonies the whole way up. They killed half of what was left. By the time we made it up here, well, we’ve little strength left. We figured to wait for you. I had hoped you’d reinforce us for the last push. Turns out you’re here to join us in dying. Can’t be helped I suppose.”

“We’ve practically made it, haven’t we? Gorst is coming up with the rest of the men shortly. It’s just a quick climb over the pass, isn’t it?” Dryden was confused.

Hood shook his head, “The roonies built a wall across the last bit of road.”

Pugh swore, “They weren’t giving us a week to leave Vurun as an ultimatum. They were counting on us taking the whole week so they could set up this trap, and we gave them two weeks. Damn, damn, damn. Why didn’t I see it? They were never going to let us go.”

“Seems so.” Hood agreed, “Winter is already setting in too. I expect it will snow more within the week. Up here in the mountains, it will be thick and heavy. It’ll make that snow we got down in the valley seem a light dusting.”

“So we can’t stay.” Pugh added, “Not enough food. Not enough shelter. Snow is coming. If we don’t leave now, none of us will leave this fort alive.”

“We’ll be eating our own dead within two weeks if we stay here. It’s not much of a chance pushing through the pass, but it’s better than dying in this shithole.” Hood declared, “Lieutenant Cavallo, show these men to the infirmary. Have their wounds tended to. We’re going to need every man we can get in fighting shape if we’re to make it through.”