Anubis Nights (27 page)

“We don’t have a moment,” I said. “There are thousands of Egyptians waiting for us, and they’re armed with bows, swords, chariots, you name it.”

Khattusa-zita looked at me, confused. “Is it a welcoming party?”

“Yeah,” I said walking alongside his horse. “They’d like to welcome our heads to the ground.”

“You speak nonsense, peasant,” Zannanza said.

“There’s an entire army gathered, so I wouldn’t call that nonsense.”

“How could you see this army? You’ve been walking with my men all day.”

“My wife borrowed a horse, rode ahead, and scouted the territory,” I said.

“So now I’m to listen to a woman? Be gone, fool.”

“If Kelly says an army is ready and waiting for us, she’s right.”

“If so, that would mean this whole thing has been a trap. I should have my men execute you.”

“You won’t have time for that,” Kelly said, interrupting.

“How dare you speak to me!” Zannanza said.

I saw what Kelly was talking about, and my heart sped up.

“We have bigger problems than you feeling insulted,” I said and pointed behind him.

About the time he turned to look, the first arrow sailed toward the party. It landed harmlessly, but the next arrow struck one of the prince’s trunks on the nearby caravan wagon.

I spun toward Kelly. “How did they get here so fast?”

“Different group,” Kelly said. “These are here to drive us into the full strength of Horemheb’s army.”

Charioteers raced toward our party. The drivers urged their horses on while the archers fired arrows into the air.

“Keep the prince safe,” I said.

“I’m on it,” Kelly said. She grabbed the indignant prince, pulling him from his horse.

“What are you doing?” he yelled.

“Shut up and stay behind me,” Kelly said as she drew her sword.

I knew he was safe, so I grabbed his horse, mounted, and raced toward the attackers. I pulled my Glock but didn’t fire. While the horse was moving, I wouldn’t be able to hit anything, and I didn’t want to waste bullets. I needed to focus on riding too because I was not a very good horseman. It’s one thing to ride at a leisurely pace, and it’s another to ride into battle.

Khattusa-zita raced alongside me. “We should be heading the other way,” he shouted.

“Not safe. This is the best way to go.”

“Where is Hani?” Khattusa-zita asked.

“How should I know?” I hadn’t seen him since the previous night. The quiet guy ate alone and retired early. I hadn’t given him much thought. “We can’t worry about him now.”

“He is the queen’s envoy. He must be protected.”

“He’s on his own for now.”

I reined the horse to a stop, took aim, and shot the driver of the closest chariot. My horse spooked at the sound of the gunshot, but I hit the driver in the shoulder, and he dropped the reins. His chariot swerved out of control. He tried to adjust, but he overcompensated and the chariot rolled over, crashing to the desert sand.

Khattusa-zita tried to catch my horse, but an arrow struck him in the eye, and he fell from his mount.

“Shit!” I said. I tried to rein my horse, but the sound of the chariots roaring toward us was too much, and it fought my every move.

I glanced back and saw a chariot bounce over Khattusa-zita’s corpse. One of the wheels broke, and the chariot crashed.

I tried to shoot from the running horse, but my aim was too far off. An arrow sailed past my ear, and I tried to make myself one with my horse, kicking it to go faster toward our fleeing party. The stallion adjusted to the battle situation and responded to my actions when I guided him.

The Hittite entourage raced toward the waiting Egyptian army. I didn’t know how far away the army was, but I knew it had to be close if the other group was attacking.

There were too many horses and men racing away, and I couldn’t get them to change direction. The smell of feces filled the air as many of the men voided their bowels. The term scared shitless is often proven in battle or high-stress life-and-death situations. The body lets go of anything that doesn’t matter for survival, including the sphincter. Fortunately I’d already had a bathroom break that morning.

My horse raced forward, and I gave him his head, hoping I could get to the front of the group to guide them off to the side to get away from the army, but as soon as the group crested the next rise, a wave of arrows darkened the sky, and I saw men falling from horses, carriages toppling, and people scattering in all directions.

I heard the thunder of horses and chariots, and I knew our group was doomed. The Egyptian army came at us from front and back, and as the prince’s entourage panicked, chaos ensued.

Egyptians in chariots roared into battle. Drivers maneuvered expertly around the chaos while their archers fired arrows into the men. Some of the archers used composite bows, while others used smaller bows, which were easier to fire from the moving chariots.

As I neared the main group, I saw that there were lines of archers on the ground too. Foot soldiers held large self-bows that had the tips curved away from the bowstrings. They shot barrages of arrows over the battlefield. The soldiers numbered in the thousands. I didn’t have enough bullets to make a difference here. There were simply too many soldiers. On top of that, there was no way I could retrieve all my spent casings or stray bullets.

I watched as one of the prince’s men leaped from his frightened horse into one of the chariots. He tackled the archer, trying to cut him with a knife, but the archer blocked the blow with his wrist guard and managed to get his bow around the man’s head. The archer twisted the bow, slamming the man against the side of the chariot, then pushed him over. The man hit the sand hard, and I saw him trampled by horses racing to the melee.

Every time I reined in, warriors fired arrows at me. I shot several soldiers each time, but it didn’t make any difference. I told myself not to use the gun, but in the heat of battle I couldn’t stop pulling that trigger. I was a man possessed. Warriors were everywhere, and the gun was in my hand. I fired over and over without thinking about it. I doubt I killed many men, but I probably injured quite a few. I don’t know how many times I reloaded, but against a massive army, my Glock wasn’t going to turn the tide. I fired again unable to stop, and the slide locked back, empty. With some good luck, all those bullets and casings would be lost to the sands of time. If luck turned the other cheek, I’d see this battlefield discussed by men in suits on some History Channel special about out-of-place technology in ancient times.

Kelly guarded the prince, so I knew as long as she was there, the prince would survive. In the confusion of battle, I lost track of her, but when I spun the horse around, I spotted General Horemheb.

And he spotted me.

I reached for a fresh magazine, but I was out. Horemheb raced his chariot toward me. I holstered the Glock and aimed my horse in his direction. As Horemheb crossed the sands, a soldier vaulted at me, knocking me from the horse. I hit the ground hard, rolled, and staggered to my feet.

The warrior tried to attack me, swinging his short sword, but I managed to leap back just in time to avoid the blade. I couldn’t face him barehanded, so I ran toward a fallen Egyptian. I grabbed his short sword then spun around to face my attacker.

He swung his blade. I parried and followed that with a kick to the guy’s shield, which protected him from head to knee. He staggered backward but brought his shield around in time to block my next attack. He spun and slashed with his sword. Steel rang against steel, blending with the din of battle around us. I knew Horemheb was closing on us, and I needed to deal with this guy fast or I’d be dead meat.

The warrior engaged again, shoving me backward with his shield. I managed to keep my feet, but as he raced toward me again, I knew I had to retreat. I nearly fell over a corpse but managed to block the next attack. My heart thundered and I worried about it going too fast. The faster one’s heart beats in battle, the harder it is to control motor functions. I had to maintain control and try not to give in to the tunnel vision, even though it was my body trying to protect me.

I lost sight of Horemheb as I faced the warrior. I knew Horemheb would have trouble getting past the fighting men in his chariot, and I wasn’t too worried about the archers since they weren’t likely to fire into the crowd for fear of hitting their own men in the constantly moving melee. With a little luck, I could dispatch my opponent quickly.

The warrior hacked and slashed, and I couldn’t find an opening. It was all I could do to parry the blows, while he easily blocked my attacks with his shield. My hands ached from the crashing steel reverberating through my bones. As I worked to block the attacks, I realized the warrior was far better trained in combat than I. The short sword I used didn’t have one of those hooks like the khopesh swords I’d seen in Thebes, so I couldn’t catch that shield and pull it down with my blade.

In a fair fight, this guy would eventually kill me. Sadly I suspected that most of the soldiers here were better trained than I. Not that Kelly wasn’t a great trainer, but these guys had all seen combat in wartime. I’d had special training, and I knew I was very good. I’d fought some individual guys, and I’d even killed a few Sekutar warriors, but they were overconfident, and I’d had the element of surprise. The Egyptian soldiers trained to be the best, and I knew some of the warriors were probably hired mercenaries. They killed for a living. They had more training than I did, and their training was specifically geared to this kind of combat with these weapons. I was out of my league, and I knew it.

I needed to do something fast before this guy wore me out. Adrenaline kept me going, but I knew that was temporary, and I felt my vision narrowing as my heart raced faster. I needed to give myself over to the training Kelly had given me. I shoved the man’s shield to push him back and used that momentary break to draw a deep breath. I thought about trying to grab his shield with my hand to pull it down, but I couldn’t risk it because the guy was so fast, he’d probably cut off my hand at the wrist.

It was tough to keep my surroundings in mind. I didn’t want to back into someone else. I also didn’t want another warrior to stab me from behind, so I kept trying to circle around as we parried and attacked. I couldn’t just run away because there was no place to run to.

The warrior grinned, clearly recognizing that I was getting tired. He thrust with his sword. I blocked it and went up high with my own short sword, and as soon as he raised his shield to block, I let myself drop to the ground. As I went down, I swung hard for his legs. The blade bit deep into his shin.

The warrior cried out in pain and fell to the side.

I scrambled atop him, pulling his shield away, ready to deliver a fatal blow when I felt something smash into my back.

I fell on the soldier, rolled off him, and saw General Horemheb smiling, shield in one hand, sword in the other. He raised his sword for the killing strike.

At least I would die in battle.

I waited for the deathblow, unable to block it.

KELLY CHAN

When the battle broke out, I smiled. It had been a long time since I’d been truly in my element. While most of my missions for DGI back in the day were stealth infiltration and assassinations without being seen by others, my favorite pastime was actual battle where I could kill anyone or anything that came within range of my weapons.

Zannanza was an ass, but I kept him behind me, knowing he was necessary if Ankhesenamun wanted to remain in power to rule Egypt. She could control this little worm by batting her eyes at him. Of that, I was certain, and I wanted to know that another woman would run Egypt as Hatshepsut had done before her and as Cleopatra would centuries from now.

I began with my composite bow. I fired arrows into warriors from six hundred feet away. During our chariot race in Thebes, I quickly adjusted my technique to fire the lighter arrows from a heavy bow. My first few shots weren’t very accurate that day, but now that I understood how to fire the weapon properly, I adjusted my draw, my hold, and my aim so the light arrows would still fly true and strike their targets.

Moving targets are harder to hit, of course, but as I didn’t have to adjust for riding in a chariot, I found it to be easier than I expected. I ran out of arrows quickly, so I pulled the Beretta Jonathan had given me. As soldiers drew near, I shot them down. There were extra magazines, but they were still in the pack back in Thebes. I had not expected to use a gun.

Zannanza cowered at the sound of the gunfire. I grinned inwardly.

When I ran out of bullets, I tucked the gun away and drew my sword. Now the fun could really begin.

As I waited for warriors to reach me, I looked around and saw Jonathan on horseback, firing at approaching soldiers with his Glock. Then I saw a warrior tackle him and knock him from the animal. Jonathan found a sword and engaged with the warrior.

The warrior was good, but I knew Jonathan was better.

A soldier raced at me, thinking he could strike with a cudgel. I gutted him with my sword, spun around, sliced another soldier open, then kicked another away from Zannanza. I spun around and from the corner of my eye, I saw Horemheb jump out of a chariot, heft his shield, and race toward Jonathan, who seemed to be having trouble with his opponent.

Jonathan didn’t see Horemheb.

I killed another soldier, grabbed Zannanza, and shouted in his face, “Stay close to me!”

His eyes were wide as saucers, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He gave me a nod, and I moved toward Jonathan at a dead run.

Jonathan dropped to the ground and cut the warrior’s legs. He still didn’t see Horemheb.

“Jonathan!” I screamed but he didn’t hear me over the roar of battle. He crawled onto the downed warrior and pulled the man’s shield aside.

I didn’t have any arrows.

Horemheb raced up behind Jonathan.

I didn’t have any bullets. I was too far away to stop him.

Horemheb slammed into Jonathan’s back with the shield.

Jonathan grunted as the shield drove him forward.