As we passed down the lines the roar of approbation swelled and the men in the ranks lifted their weapons, a swirling forest of blades, and cheered. The answering shouts from our foes drifted in, thin and attenuated. But, then, all our bellowing would reach them as a mere whisper beside their own war chants.
“By Aduim’s Belly!” said Dorgo the Clis.
“I never thought to see a day like this,” said Targon the Tapster.
“Nor me,” said Naghan ti Lodkwara.
Their words were lost and blown away in the swelling cheers from the army.
By the time that morale-boosting and flag identification exercise was over and we had returned to our positions, the first clashes had taken place. The archers had been sent forward by Zankov to prepare our mass. He must, then, have a great deal of control over the u
