"They're digging in," Hettar reported to King Rhodar, gesturing toward the west and their now-blocked escape route. "They've already got a trench-line running from the river for about a half a mile."

"Is there any chance of going around them?" Rhodar asked.

Hettar shook his head. "That whole flank's seething with Nadraks."

"We'll have to go through them, then," the King of Drasnia decided. "I can't very well attack trenches with cavalry," Hettar pointed out.

"We'll storm them with the infantry units," Rhodar declared. "We'll have a certain advantage. The Asturian bows have a longer range than the short ones the Malloreans use. We'll move the archers to the front as we advance. They can rake the trenches and then harass the Mallorean archers behind the lines. The pikemen will go in first." The sweating fat man looked at General Varana. "Can your legionnaires clear the trenches once we open a hole for you?"

Varana nodded. "We train extensively for trench fighting," he replied confidently. "We'll clear the trenches."

"We'll bring the wounded with the main force," Rhodar said. "Somebody locate Polgara and the princess. It's time to leave."

"What task hast thou for Lord Hettar and me," Mandorallen inquired. The great knight's armor showed a number of dents, but he spoke as calmly as if he had not spent the entire morning involved in heavy fighting.

"I want you and your knights to hold the rear," Rhodar told him. "Keep that army out there off my back." He turned to Hettar. "And I want you and your clansmen to go to work on the Nadraks. I don't want them to come swarming in while we're working in the trenches."

"It's a desperate move, King Rhodar," General Varana said seriously. "Attacking even hasty fortifications is always costly, and you're going to do it with another army coming at you from the rear. If your attack is beaten back, you'll be caught between two superior forces. They'll grind you to dogmeat right on the spot."

"I know," Rhodar admitted glumly, "but our only hope of escape is breaking through those lines that have us blocked off. We've got to get back upriver. Tell your men that we have to take those trenches on the first charge. Otherwise, we're all going to die right here. All right, gentlemen, good luck."

Once again Mandorallen led his steel-clad knights in their fearsome charge, and once again the attacking Malloreans recoiled, driven back by the dreadful shock as the mounted men of Mimbre struck their front ranks. This time, however, the pikemen and legionnaires, as soon as they were disengaged from the enemy, turned sharply to the left and, at a jingling trot, abandoned their positions to follow the Sendars and Asturians who were already withdrawing from the field toward the west.