the-secret-crusade-oliver-bowden

the living, the screams of the dying, the sharp rattle of steel on steel and
the pitiful whinnies of wounded horses. He began to come across
riderless animals and bodies now, Saracen and Crusader, spreadeagled in
the dirt or sitting dead against trees.
He reined back his mount – just in time, because suddenly Saracen
archers began to appear from the treeline some way ahead of him. He
dropped from his horse and rolled from the main track, taking cover
behind an upturned cart. There were maybe a hundred of them all told.
They ran across the track and into trees on the other side. They moved
quickly and were bent low. They moved as soldiers move when they are
stealthily advancing into enemy-held territory.
Altaïr stood and darted into the trees, too, following the bowmen at a
safe distance. For some miles he pursued them, the sounds of the battle,
the vibrations of it, growing stronger until they came upon a ridge. Now
they were above the main battle, which raged below them, and for a
moment the sheer size of it took his breath away. Everywhere – as far as
the eye could see – there were men, bodies, machines and horses.
As at the Siege of Acre he found himself in the middle of a fierce and
savage conflict with no side to call his own. What he had was the Order.
What he had was a mission to protect it, to stop the beast that he had
unwittingly unleashed from tearing it apart.
All round him on the ridge were bodies, too, as though there had
already been a battle a short time ago. And of course there had: whoever
held the ridge had the advantage of height, so it was likely to be
savagely contested. Sure enough, as they came upon it, the Saracens
were met by Crusader infantry and bowmen and a great shout went up
from both sides. Salah Al’din’s men had the element of surprise and so