'Spear of the Catti!'
Her spear crashed down.
'Spear of Victory!'
The response echoed down the lines.
Tom watched the warriors advance. They came forward with speed and determination but their movements were ragged. He saw little hope of controlling the seething mass of men and beasts once they were released. They would either win a quick victory or no victory at all. He clasped his sword and said a silent prayer.
If the Holy Mother heard it, she either ignored his plea or was unable to act. At a command from their chief marshal, the grey-clad soldiers executed the very movement he most feared. One moment like a tortoise, the next like a hare, Morgon's well-drilled ranks turned and ran parallel to the bank. There was no chance to outmatch them in speed of manoeuvre. Tom watched in alarm.
Then the queen raised her spear a second time and the Great Horn of the Catti blasted forth over Baddon Plane. Men with poles rushed forward. They pushed at Tom's bank and the turfs tumbled down, leaving gaps through which an army could pass. The mountain men led the charge.
The painted savages rode on the backs of ponies and carried stockwhips. They drove the terrified cattle forward and stampeded them through the gaps in the bank. The mass of heaving, sweating animals bore down on Morgon's men. In some places the soldiers resisted. In others the sheer weight of beef and brawn was overwhelming. Holes were punched in their ranks and the mountain men plunged through.
The chariots followed close behind.
The aristocratic warriors hurled their javelins then jumped down and fought on foot. Tom's special forces followed, attacking in flying wedge formations. Wave upon wave of clansmen swept in behind.
At the edge of the battlefield, half-hidden by a clump of bulrushes, Adrina sat on a white mare and watched as Morgon's men reeled under the onslaught of her mother's forces. They fell back in disarray and her attention turned to the Gormish tribesmen, standing in reserve.
For a while, they remained at their posts. But, as valuable cattle stampeded over Baddon Plane, their discipline crumbled. The sight of so much wealth, running free on the hoof, was too much to resist. Parties were dispatched to round up the beasts. Almost immediately, arguments broke out over who owned what.
Adrina decided it was time to act. As her mother had done many years before on Baddon plane, she wore a white dress and carried a sprig of holly. She held it high in one hand and clasped the royal standard of Gorm in the other.