-You are reading episodes of THE POWER IN THE DARK, which is Book 1 of THE
ANCIENT BLOODLINES TRILOGY by Barry Mathias. ISBN: 9781897435113
CHAPTER 17
Things were not going well for Sir Richard. The whole expedition seemed cursed. The terrible storm and the sudden and shocking death of Sir Michel had been but a prelude to other disasters. Sir Richard, as the senior officer, was now in command, but apart from some hurried words with Louis Saint Clare, he had little idea of the terrain on which he was to land. In his mind was only a rough outline of a plan: he hoped to land in the cove and find the enemy before they escaped in their ship. No other planning was possible.
The landing was a military failure, and would have been a total disaster if it had not been for the bravery and organization of Simon de Rochley. Instead of beaching the galley and using all the men available, Sir Richard insisted that only the trained soldiers, both his and Sir Michel's, would do the fighting. He ordered Louis to take the galley back to the harbour and pick them up at daylight when Sir Richard imagined he would have defeated the enemy, and when the storm would, hopefully, have blown itself out. He also instructed Louis to be alert to any movement by the sailing ship, and if it tried to leave the bay, Louis was to try and intercept it.
The deep water in the cove enabled the galley to get close to the beach, but the power of the surf made it difficult to remain in one place, and the men were forced to jump from the tossing galley into rough water that was shoulder deep. Thunderous waves broke over their heads and a fierce undertow off-balanced them. In the darkness, with their heavy armour and weapons, and with the beach only dimly outlined, many of the men panicked. The pounding surf injured some of the soldiers, others lost their weapons and a few refused to jump until the galley got closer. The result was a disorganized rabble that floundered ashore to be met by a hail of arrows that shafted out of the blackness like avenging demons.
Sir Richard stayed in the water encouraging his men as best he could, and it was left to Simon de Rochley to lead a spirited attack on a group of bowmen who had taken up a position on some rocks in the middle of the small beach. In the darkness and confusion, he succeeded in driving them back to the low cliffs where the rest of the enemy were lodged. Two of his men were killed in the encounter, and at least one was serious injured, but he had at least secured a place behind which they were able to rally their forces and take breath.
When they took stock of their position, it was quickly realized they were effectively trapped as the enemy could hold them there indefinitely. Sir Richard summed it up: "There is only one path up to the top of the low cliffs, and although we could certainly reach the path in the darkness, we would be easily picked off as we climbed up. We might try to climb the rocks at the same time as some of us charged the path, but our losses would be great, and we are not sure of their numbers or their positions."
John had been one of the luckier ones in the landing, and had helped Simon de Rochley dislodge the bowmen. He did not fight with anyone, but his ferocious yells and the speed with which he approached the enemy's position helped to cause the retreat. He even heard a gruff acknowledgement from Simon.
John was excited and keen to show what he could do. Although lacking Simon's power with the sword John continued to have complete faith in the power of the runes on his palm. If he met the leader again, John felt sure he could cause the sword to act as it had done against the first warrior in the Flower Meadows. He felt it was essential to get out of this stalemate on the beach and challenge the leader of the enemy face-to-face. Also, he wanted to impress Simon de Rochley. John moved closer to where the knights were standing. "My Lord, can we not move along the beach towards the river and try to get out that way?" he suggested.
