Chapter Twenty-Three -- The Nymph
After the celebratory dance had ended and Commander Sáupeckt's troops had the chance to rest, the militia evacuated the camp at daybreak. Danka was amazed by how completely the place had been stripped when she had the chance to see it in the light. She put on her skirt, but her squad leader ordered her to take it off and hand it to another nymph who had, up until that moment, been naked. Danka already had noticed that one of her companions had been wearing nothing but her boots, but didn't have time to ask why during the previous day's fighting. It turned out the newest member of any squad among the Defenders, male or female, had to endure an initiation process which included not wearing any clothing, to symbolically strip the recruit of their previous life and to identify that person to the world as "the newcomer". Squad leader Oana, irritated that Danka was a slave-owner, did not order Isauria to give up her skirt. Oana justified the decision by telling Danka that, since Isauria was only an apprentice, the initiation rule did not apply to her. It was a humbling experience for Danka to be naked while Isauria stayed dressed, partially intended to force Danka and Isauria to see each other as equals.
Danka did not have much time to think about her nudity. She and Isauria spent the end of August and the first half of September following Oana and the rest of her squad of nymphs, going from one skirmish against the Kingdom's soldiers to another. There were so many raids that she lost count, all of them seemingly the same. Oana's squad provided cover for the men during the initial attack, then fell back to a secondary ambush location to launch a quick series of volleys of bolts at the enemy. When the Defenders' men moved to the next ambush site, the archers fired again to cover their movements, then ran away at full speed through an escape route already selected by their squad leader.
In spite of the initiation requirement, Oana quickly earned the respect of Danka. She knew the countryside in detail and knew how to support the men while minimizing risk to her own squad members. Every day she inspected her subordinates and looked over their bodies and equipment. She conducted frequent drills and target practice; making sure that each of her women knew her role in every operation, how to withdraw from a possible defeat without panicking, and how to maximize cover for not only the men, but also for the other squad members. She knew some forest survival and concealment techniques that Danka had not yet learned.
When Oana discovered that Danka had been a Follower of the Ancients, she interrogated the newcomer about her knowledge of both medicine and foraging, making note of things she did not yet know. She then ordered Danka to share her knowledge with the others. The Defenders seemed more appreciative of Danka's information than had been the women of Malénkta-Gordnáckta, partly because she did not repeat her mistake of trying to impose her religious beliefs on anyone.
The squad members completely accepted Danka as part of their group as soon as she proved herself with her crossbow and her knowledge. She was much more valuable than most recruits and enjoyed the respect of her peers, something she had not experienced since she had been with the Followers of the Ancients. She fit in so much that the others regretted that she had to run around as a naked recruit, but like everyone else, she had to endure the initiation routine and would get her skirt back only when Oana managed to recruit a newer member for her squad.
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Commander Sáupeckt's main responsibility was to safeguard the southern approaches to three settlements of Danubian homesteaders who had set up their farms a decade before. The villages were isolated, wretched places, but vital to the well-being of the Danubian militia because of the food they produced. As September passed and the villagers harvested their grain, the Defenders needed to hold off several attacks from the Lord of the Blue Moon. The enemy commanders already knew about the villages and occasionally had made half-hearted attempts to destroy them. Danka's raid against the logging camp and the follow-up raid on the wagon team were considered provocations, thus making the enemy more determined than ever to attack the villages in retaliation.
Commander Sáupeckt normally led a force of 80 raiders. However, the fighters under his command could vary between 40 and 200, depending on what was happening along the border at that moment. As soon as Commander Sáupeckt saw the dead loggers, he dispatched messengers to the other area commanders explaining what happened and that the focus of the fighting was about to shift to protecting the settlements against a sustained attack from the south. Within days after Danka's raid, he had 200 militia members under his command: the 80 troops who were permanently under his control, plus 120 other militia members who had been lent to him by other commanders. Commander Sáupeckt's counterpart, who was guarding the eastern approaches to the villages, also commanded a temporary force of 200 militia members.
The most serious incursion took place during the week of the Fall Equinox, when several companies of foreign musket men marched towards the settlements. The Danubian militia fought with desperation and there were numerous casualties on both sides. The enemy's advance certainly was slowed, but the column was too large to force back. By September 22, the Blue Moon troops were less than a day's journey from the settlements. Assuming they took the area and burnt the harvest, the Danubians would have a very hard time campaigning in that region over the following year due to lack of food.
Weather came to the Defenders' aid that night, in a manner similar to the way it aided the Grand Duke two years before in the hills surrounding the border fortress in Iyóshnyakt-Krepóckt. A heavy thunderstorm swept over the area, making the Blue Moons' muskets almost useless. Commander Sáupeckt ordered a full-scale midnight assault in the middle of the storm, which turned into a bloody melee of hand-to-hand clashes. The Defenders sustained heavy casualties, but the situation was completely to their advantage. They knew the area, were used to fighting in the forest, and had trained to fight in the dark. By daybreak the numerical advantage of the Blue Moon troops was greatly reduced.
As soon there was enough light, the Defenders withdrew, trying to take as many of their injured as possible. Still, dozens of Danubians had been taken captive. The prisoners would be impaled if they could not be quickly rescued, so Commander Sáupeckt needed to press the next attack. The Danubians launched a follow-up assault with every crossbow they had available. Although the crossbows were less effective in wet conditions, at least they functioned. The return fire from the waterlogged muskets was only sporadic. The continuing rain put the enemy at a huge disadvantage.
Oana led her squad very close to an enemy squad of musketeers. Danka felt the short range was reckless, but her leader wanted to make sure every crossbow found its target. Danka's doubts seemed vindicated when the woman fighting next her took a fatal musket-ball to the chest. However, the enemy squad was completely wiped out after the second volley of bolts. By mid-morning the commander of the Blue Moon column realized he was not going to be able to continue advancing. In fact, he would be very lucky if he managed to return to the Kingdom of the Moon with his remaining men.
The enemy commander knew enough about the Danubians and their concept of honor that he was able to arrange a retreat. He left some of the Danubian prisoners tied up but alive as his troops pulled back. To abandon prisoners instead of impaling them was considered a humiliation for a commander from the Kingdom of the Moon, but this particular opponent was more worried about having his troops surviving to fight another day than a personal humiliation. As the Blue Moon troops departed further south, they left behind more captives. Over the next two days, the Blue Moon troops continued their slow withdrawal with the Defenders surrounding them, but withholding another attack in anticipation of having more prisoners left behind.
