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I found myself grinning.

Ahead of us, someone took up the chant anew. "Sen-e-cus! Sen-e-cus!"

We held, all of us, squadron by squadron. Cutpurse and Horsethief were borne backward, taking casualties, bearing the brunt of the first wave's attack. It seemed forever until the Luccan horns blew, echoing the command of Lucius' bellowing voice. As the 3rd and 4th squadrons stepped up to take their places, they peeled away at a dead run, dropping back into the city. I looked for Canis among the retreating figures and saw only a blur of men, faces undistinguishable.

Again.

Again.

Again.

It went on and on. With each squadron's retreat, Valpetra's men seized the chance to push farther into the city. Despite our best efforts, they had taken control of the gap. Rank by rank, squadron by squadron, the Red Scourge opposed them, pitting fresh soldiers against weary ones, trying to reduce the odds against us, trying to hold them long enough for the retreating squadrons to take up defensive positions in the city.

And with each squadron's retreat, I took a step closer to combat.

"Senecus!" Lucius roared.

Ah, Elua! I saw them die, then. I saw it at close range, helpless behind them. The Valpetrans were wading through their own dead and wounded, and so were we, by now. We were packed too tightly to move them. There was a body at my feet, stirring. I could hear him moan. I didn't dare look down and put a face to him. I was afraid to know.

More and more Valpetrans were streaming through the gap. The newcomers began edging around in an effort to flank us.

"Double up the ranks!" Lucius shouted. "Now!"

Our commanders echoed his order and we obeyed. In front of me, Eamonn's line spread out, stretching and thinning. Just as we'd practiced a hundred times on the drilling ground, those of us in the second line stepped forward and the two short lines of our squadron meshed into one long one, staving off the attack on our flanks. Now I had Eamonn on my left, and a taciturn cooper named Calvino on my right instead of Matius. I barely had time for a guilty twinge of gratitude before the horns blew another retreat and Senecus' line began to peel away.

My mouth went dry and my limbs tingled all over with fear. Despite the chill, my palms were sweating so hard I was afraid the wooden shaft of my spear would slide through my grasp. I flexed my fingers around the grip of my buckler, willing myself not to drop it. "Barbarus!" Lucius roared. Leveling our spears, we stepped forward.

They were on us instantly, flinging themselves forward. The Valpetran opposite me evaded my jabbing spear-thrust. He was left-handed, and if he'd had a spear of his own, he'd long since lost it. They were tired and half-starved, and they'd been fighting in the vanguard long enough to grow reckless and desperate. His shield crashed hard against mine and he pressed forward, his short-sword stabbing. I twisted sideways, avoiding his blade, and felt him overbalance. Shoving hard with my buckler, I hooked my left foot behind his forward leg.

If not for the surging ranks of men behind him, he would have fallen; as it was, he staggered backward, clad in heavy armor. I settled my spear, holding it tight between my elbow and my body, wishing I had his armor. For the space of a heartbeat, we stared at one another. Men; ordinary men. Then he gritted his teeth and charged me again. At the last instant, I shifted, raising the tip of my spear.

It caught him under the chin, nearly lifting him off his toes. His mouth gaped and I could see the wooden shaft between his reddened teeth, dark and bloody. It nearly made me vomit. I yanked it loose, and blood spilled out of the round hole it had made. He fell.

Another Valpetran took his place, and I killed him, too. He got tangled in the first man's dead limbs and sprawled at my feet. I shortened my grip on the spear and punched downward, driving into a gap at the base of his back-plate. This time, my spear stuck. I braced my foot on his armored back and tugged. Out of the corner of my right eye,