A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

be assaulted from the valley
floor. That shall be our rock in the stream. And before the
day is through, not simply a rock, but an anvil.'
    'Provided you can hold the debouch beneath it,' the
Tiste Edur observed.
    'I pray to the Errant that the Awl seek to flee down that
defile. It may not look deadly but I assure you, push a few
thousand panicking barbarians into that chokepoint and as
many will die underfoot as we ourselves slaughter.'
    'So you intend to sweep down and in with your right
flank, pushing the enemy on the valley floor north to that
narrowing. Cannot Redmask see the same?'
    'He chose this site, Overseer.'
    'Suggesting he sees what you see – that this place invites
a half-encirclement to funnel his warriors north – to their
deaths. You said, did you not, that this Redmask is no fool.
How then will he counter what you seek?'
    She faced the valley once again. 'Overseer, I am afraid I
do not have time for this—'
    'Would not a slow placing of your forces be to our
advantage, given the sun's position?'
    'I believe he is ready, even now,' she replied, biting back
her irritation. 'He could advance at any time – and we are
not ready.'
    'Then why not withdraw?'
    'Because the plain behind us is level for leagues – he will
have more mounted warriors than I, lighter-armoured than
my Bluerose lancers, and on rested horses – they can harry
us at will, Overseer. Worse, we have lost our wardogs, while
from the sounds of that barking, Redmask has hundreds if
not thousands of his drays and herders. Your suggestion
invites chaos, a messy succession of skirmishes, attacks,
feints, raids—'
    'Very well,' Brohl Handar interrupted. 'Atri-Preda, my
K'risnan tells me this valley is dead.'
    'What does he mean, dead ?'
    'Bereft of the energies one uses to create magic. It has
been . . . murdered.'
    'This is why none of the mages sensed the Awl army?'
    Brohl Handar nodded.
    Murdered? By Redmask? Never mind. 'Did you ask your
K'risnan about the impending battle? Will he be able to use
sorcery?'
    'No. Nor can your mages. As he said, there will be no
magic here. In this valley. That is why I again advise we
withdraw. Even on the plain, exposed as you say we are, at
least we will have sorcery.'
    Bivatt was silent, considering. She had already known
her mages would be ineffective in the valley below,
although they could not explain why it was so. That the
Edur warlocks had found the reason confirmed that spirit
magic was involved. After a long moment, she swore and
shook her head. 'We still outnumber them, with better-disciplined,
better-armoured troops. Iron to iron, we will
crush the Awl today. An end to this war, Overseer. Did you
not counsel a quick, succinct campaign?'
    'I did. But I am uneasy, Atri-Preda—'
    'A battle awaits – we are all uneasy.'
    'Not in that way.'
    Bivatt grimaced. 'Retain your warriors, Overseer, midway
between our baggage camp and my reserve units – those
medium infantry, by the way, are arrayed into discrete
platoons of five hundred at the minimum, and each one
protects one of my mages. They are not in the valley.'
    'Thus, if you are forced to retreat—'
    'We will be positioned to blunt the pursuit with sorcery,
yes.'
    'Is this your plan? A feigned retreat, Atri-Preda?'
    'One of them, but I do not believe it will be necessary.'
    Brohl Handar studied her for a long moment, then he
gathered his reins and swung his horse round. 'I will
reposition my warriors, then.'
    As he rode away, signal horns were sounding from
various locations along the western side of the valley as
units announced they were in place and at the ready. Bivatt
rose once more on her stirrups and scanned her lines.
    This section of the valley certainly invited a horned
advance – the west edge curved, marking what had once
been a broad bend in the course of the long-dead river. The
enemy's side was more undulating, bulging in the centre.
The widest approach for the Awl was to her right. To
counter that she had set three legions of the Crimson
Rampant Brigade in shield-wall formation at the top of
the slope, fifteen hundred medium infantry, flanked on the
nearer inside by five hundred heavies of the Harridict
Brigade. To the furthest right and already edging down into
the valley were a thousand skirmishing light infantry of the
Crimson Rampant. Inside of the heavies another fifteen
hundred skirmishers, these of the Artisan Battalion, were
likewise slowly, raggedly, working their way down. The foot
soldiers on this side