93

You wend your way through the fog of battle but your horse catches its foot in a burrow and goes lame. You abandon it and continue on foot, but in the cannon smoke you lose your way. The sound of firing is all around you and you mistake some Russians for Frenchmen who are withdrawing for a new attack When the smoke clears you realise you have wandered close to the Russians. Bugles sound behind you and a charge of French infantry is launched with Marshal Ney at their head. The Frenchmen, singing the Marseillaise, come on shoulder-to- shoulder, magnificent in their blue and white uniforms. You are swept up in the charge and carried forward, unable to do anything against the hundreds of men, exhilarated in the heat of battle. On the redoubt ahead of you, the Russian commander, Prince Bagration, rides out in front of his line of green jacketed men and salutes the French columns, crying in French, 'Bravo, messieurs, c'est superbe!' As you approach Bagration's men they unleash a hail of musket fire and you take this opportunity to throw yourself to the ground as if dead, and let the charge pass over you.

Afterwards, battered and muddied, you pick yourself up. You have found no trace of the Renegade Lord and you decide to return to Napoleon's Command Post at Shevardino in case Bloodhound needs help. You are approaching the Command Post when Bloodhound rides to greet you. You tell him of your experiences and decide to look for Murat, the King of Naples, when you both feel a presence approaching, a very strong mental presence. Your heads turn as one towards a strange contraption coming nearer Napoleon and his escort. Two horses, one behind the other, are harnessed to a wooden, covered wagon with two small holes high up on either side for windows and doors which open at the back. A medical orderly is riding the first of the horses. It is one of the first ambulances ever made of the pattern designed by Baron Larrey, a French Army Surgeon, in 1805. The strength of the mental presence within the ambulance leads you to believe that the Renegade Lord must be inside, and you prepare to attack together. Turn to 53.

Turn to 53