I was correct. They hadn’t left the back of the house unguarded. I had made it maybe four steps into the yard when something, I assume a crossbow bolt, whizzed through the air next to my head. I heard it thunk into the siding of the house. I couldn’t see the shooter but he gave away his position the next moment with a yell.
“They’re escaping from the back of the house!” the voice screamed into the night.
It sounded like the shooter was a few degrees off of my intended direction of travel.
“Keep going,” I loudly exclaimed. “I’ll catch up.” Then, I turned towards the voice and ran as fast as I could. I wondered how long the crossbow took to reload. I could hear people pouring out of the house behind me, cursing as they tried to keep their balance on the slick ground. “Aleyda,” I called since she was just behind me. “Get them where they need to be.”
They weren’t the only ones who had trouble running. I slipped and slid often. I hoped it would make me harder to hit because the next shots that were sure to be headed my way. As I ran, orders were being called out from the front of the house. The chase was on.
Even though I was having trouble with my traction, I didn’t run in a straight line. Doing this slowed me, but moving slowly was better than eating two or three crossbow bolts during my approach. I think that would take the fight right out of me.
Another bolt impacted the ground to my left, skipping a couple of times before finally coming to rest. The angle of the shot was different. The shooter wasn’t staying still, instead circling around in an attempt to rejoin his compatriots. Screw this, I thought. By the time I caught up with him, I wouldn’t be fighting one person, I would likely be fighting several. Changing my course, I headed back towards my group. I needed to stop trying to be a hero. I was most likely one of the more effective fighters in our group. Does that sound strange to you? It certainly did to me.
Maybe it was the cold. Perhaps it was the condition of the ground. Possibly, it’s not easy to accurately target with a crossbow when both the shooter and target are moving. Or, it could have been plain luck. Somehow, though, I caught up with the tail end of our escaping force without being hit. I caught up to them just as we began climbing into the hills. Just because I was never struck, though, didn’t mean we all escaped unscathed. I was a few steps from some of the slower runners when I felt another shot skim past only to hear an immediate scream of pain. One of the young orcs in front of me had not been as lucky. He fell to the ground, the quarrel protruding from his left hip. Two of his companions stopped their headlong flight long enough to reach down and pull him to his feet. Then, they supported his weight, one on each side, as he hopped up the hill as fast as he could.
“Hunters,” I screamed out. “I need you.”
It took several seconds but eventually both of our remaining bowmen responded to my call and came trotting back down the hill. I gestured to them to keep moving upwards as we talked.
“I need you to harass the bandits on their way up the hill. Shoot from cover, then run until you find another good position. Repeat as necessary. Stay together. Don’t risk yourselves. I need you alive. But we have to slow them. We have to put some fear into them. Time is on our side, not theirs.”
“Yes, Mr. James,” one of the hunters responded. Then, they bounded back up the hill to find a good firing position. They obviously had some experience running on treacherous ground as they moved more quickly than I expected.
Soon, we were out of the cleared area near the bottom of the hill and to the tree line. Once we made it to the trees, the crossbow fire stopped. I assume that their scout didn’t want to waste his ammunition. Digging deep, I threw myself up the hill until I had caught up with the front of the column.
“Aleyda,” I said. “Go down with the hunters and keep them safe and keep them moving.” She went trotting off to find them. “Goulug, you know this area better than I do. Where can we make a stand?”
“I know just the place,” he replied.
“Great, lead the way,” I ordered.
“Follow me,” he cried, and then took off on a different heading, curving back towards his own property. I had to trust that Aleyda would be able to see the signs of our passage and get the hunters back to us safely.
Like it often does in times of stress, time seemed to slow. The slogging run along the face of the hill seemed interminable. It felt like we ran for hours, but in reality it was probably only ten or twenty minutes. People slipped and fell, but there was always a helping hand nearby to haul them to their feet. By the time we reached our destination, our forces were fairly strung out. Some people run faster than others and we had neither the training nor the discipline to stay closely together.
“Goulug, you’re a genius,” I blurted out when I saw where he had led us.
We were at the bottom of a steep, treeless mound that rose perhaps fifty feet above us. Loose, crumbling shale poked through the snow in several places.
“Is it like this on all four sides?” I asked.
“No, just three,” Goulug replied. “If they take the time to scout and show some patience, they can work their way up the neighboring hills and attack from above.”
“Is there a safe path up?” I inquired.
“Not exactly safe, but safer,” he replied.
“Let’s get everyone gathered and then you lead the way.” Then, I screamed into the night. “Aleyda, you need to get back here now.”
We waited for a few minutes to let the last of our people straggle in. Surprisingly, the hunters weren’t the last ones back.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Did you hit any of them?” I asked them when they returned.
“I don’t think so,” one replied. “We fired a few shots, though, and they will need to be wary of ambush.”
“Good enough,” I responded. “I’m glad you are here safely. I’m going to need you both when we make our stand.”
Soon enough, the last of our forces had arrived. The last ones in were the pair supporting the wounded orc. Even under the light of the moon and the stars, he didn’t look like he was doing very well. The blood staining the leg of his pants looked almost inky black in the faint light.
“Once we get up this hill we’ll get your wound seen to,” I said, gently patting him on the shoulder. He didn’t look like he had the energy to respond, and the two people who had been supporting his weight looked completely wrung out. After directing a couple of other orcs to take over for them, I spoke.
“Follow Goulug. He knows a somewhat safe way up. Walk carefully. Pay attention to your balance. We don’t need anymore people injured before we even see battle. Goulug, get us up there.”
Goulug started meandering up the hill, never moving in a straight line for very long. He was obviously navigating from memory and due to the poor light and the snow on the ground, his memory wasn’t always perfect. He had to retrace his steps several times and many people slipped and fell but nobody took a tumble down the hill. I was getting very nervous. This was taking too long and I could hear voices behind us shouting orders getting closer by the moment. I ushered everyone up the hill, taking the position of rear guard.
I was nearly to the top when the bandits broke out of the trees into the open, their two scouts in the lead. Their heads swept back and forth, either looking for trouble or tracking us. Upon spying us, they immediately took shots at us with their crossbows. The range was fairly extreme and I felt confident they would miss us until I saw an orc tumble bonelessly down the hill, a crossbow bolt protruding from his neck and another from his hip. I quickly realized that it was the poor bastard who had been hit earlier. Fate can be a fickle bitch.
My own bowmen did not stand idle. A pair of arrows arched down from the top of the hill aimed at the enemy scouts. Both missed but they caused the crossbow wielders to step lively, darting back towards their main force. My archers would win any contest decided by rate of fire. Crossbows took much longer to reload, but I wasn’t sure how many arrows the two hunters carried. We couldn’t afford too many misses.
Safe from the threat of being struck down on our way up the hill, the rest of us made it to the top safely. Several orcs were openly weeping. Watching a friend be murdered tends to engender that reaction. On many other faces, though, I could see murderous rage, which was also not unexpected.
I am sure you are wondering if we were going to be saved by the cavalry so to speak. Would the rest of our forces arrive in time, descending on the rear of the bandits like avenging angels? The answer was no. They moved too slowly and we hadn’t bought enough time. When our reinforcements arrived, everything had been decided by a bunch of brave young men and women who were fighting for their homes, their way of life, against a band of hardened killers.
The bandit leader was not stupid. One doesn’t live long in his line of work by making poor decisions. He stopped and assessed the situation out of the convenient range of our bows. He clearly didn’t like what he was seeing. The hill wouldn’t permit them to advance in formation and if he fed his forces up the hill piecemeal it would make things easy for us. I couldn’t see what was happening too clearly, the light wasn’t good enough. I expected him to send out his scouts to find a better way up.
So, we rested on top of the hill, the frigid cold and the cruel wind sapping out morale. I told everyone to mill around, to keep their blood flowing. My poor group of farm kids had spent the day marching, had eaten a hurried meal on their feet, and then had run for their lives. They had watched someone who was familiar to some, loved by others, killed when he was close to safety. People have their limits and we were rapidly reaching ours. Of course, the bandits had marched all day as well but I expected that they had trained for it, were accustomed to it.
Time passed. Soon, I could see a hint of activity from the bandits. They turned and marched off deeper into the forest.
“Can they get up behind us in that direction?” I asked Goulug.
“Yes,” he replied grimly.
“Should we head to a new location?” I asked.
“If they catch us out in the open, we’ll be massacred,” Patrick interjected.
“Then I guess we have no choice,” I replied. “We fight here.” Turning to Patrick, I continued. “I need you to make every shot count. Every shot.”
Calling over the two hunters, I asked them to go out into the woods a little to try to detect the enemy’s avenue of approach. Then, it was time for another speech. I called everyone over.
“We are out of good options. We can continue to flee, but if we do we run the risk of being overwhelmed and cut apart. I have not been a very good leader. Time after time, my plans have been countered. I apologize to you all. Some of you will get hurt here today. Some of us might die. But we are where we are, on a lonely hill in the dead of winter. I have tried my best and will continue trying but I am not some genius at war. Know that I am with you to the end, whether the end is victory or defeat. I can’t thank you enough for responding to my call. I am eternally grateful to all of you. Oh, one last thing. Don’t fight by the side of the hill. I really don’t want anyone to fall off. It looks like a nasty tumble. Also, don’t forget what I told you about Patrick’s weapon.”
And it was back to waiting. The top of the hill was fairly flat. Although there were trees, they were fairly sparse. They certainly wouldn’t prevent the bandits from advancing in formation. I arrayed everyone facing the forest behind us well away from the steep drop behind. I spent the time walking around, trying to say a few words to each person but not receiving much in response. I detected a great deal of fear from the young orcs I talked to. Some were jittery, unable to stand still. Others shakily held their weapons. A couple had slumped to the ground, quaking.
I walked back over to my companions. “We need to break their formation,” I said. “If we can’t, we’re done for.”
Aleyda started to reply but then I heard a scream from the forest above us, off to one side. The two hunters came streaking into view, slipping and sliding as they tried to come to a stop in front of me.
“They’re here. I think we took out one of their scouts.”
“Get off to the side,” I ordered. “Try to take out their crossbows, but if you don’t have a clear shot concentrate on their spearmen. If they charge at you, retreat to our main force. You both look plenty fleet of foot. Stay together.” They hurried to comply.
“I need everyone up and ready,” I called out. But everyone had already seen the hunters return and were standing ready to fight, so my command was redundant.
Soon I heard the sound of massed feet crunching their way through the forest. The bandits, sans one scout, marched into view. Once they cleared the trees, they quickly reformed their ranks without orders. Then, the started slowly advancing, the armored orcs in the rear.
“So, you have chosen this ground to die on?” their leader called out to me. “I have to admit, you’ve led us on quite the chase. It will end up the same for you in the end, though.”
I glanced to my left and right. I could see my forces were as ready as they would ever be. It was time to kick this thing off.
“Fuck around and find out,” I replied. I’ll admit it, that wasn’t the wittiest thing I could have said.