At that moment, Rabat was still racking his brains for a way to make Allen, the man who had defeated him, accept him into his service. He had no desire to become a slave at someone else's mercy, or to be dumped in some deserted wilderness as a meal for vultures or wild dogs.
What Rabat did not know was that Bamund, whom he had dragged into this mess, already lay motionless in the wilds of Rhovanion. His hand still clenched his battle axe, and his wide, lifeless eyes stared at the glittering stars overhead. A javelin nearly a meter long had pierced his chest, and a pool of blood still steamed beneath him. Beside him lay an overturned ornate chariot. Not far away, two Easterling warhorses also lay dead on the ground, the arrows riddling their bodies telling the story of their deaths.
"His Majesty's orders! Kill every enemy still holding a weapon!"
A booming voice rang out amid the flying hooves, followed by more than a dozen voices repeating the command across the battlefield. The man giving the order was Firentis, who had led the cavalry out to intercept the reinforcements.
When Allen learned that Rabat's chariot had left the camp to seek help, he immediately ordered Firentis to take the cavalry after it. He also told his Minister of War that he did not want to see a single Easterling reinforcement reach this place.
Such an order was hardly difficult for Firentis to carry out now. He commanded five hundred Raiding Cavalry skilled in mounted archery, along with four hundred Heavy Cavalry clad in plate armor. Since this mission called for interception and a surprise attack, however, the Heavy Cavalry had not fitted their horses with full barding, using only horse barding over their heads and breastplates