Erasmus made his way back to the camp, too angry for words. Erda hurried over to him. “Is everything alright where is Pike?”
“It’s fine now. Tensions got a little high is all. I’ll see that nothing of the sort happens again.”
Erda nodded and walked away. Myra, who was a little distance away tried to walk back to where she was keeping watch, until Erasmus turned his sad, disappointed eyes her way. She froze in place, guilt written in her face.
“Erasmus… I…”
The Paladin shook his head. “Go get some sleep Myra. Buri!” A young Thane stepped forward to answer his call.
“Yes sir?”
“Take watch.”
“Yes sir.”
Buri picked up his spear and his war-horn and went over to the rock where Myra had been sitting. As he did, he look up at the stars, noticing the constellation he had been born under. Then he looked down, went pale for a moment and turned suddenly. “ALARM! ENEMIES! AL-!” a man seemed to jump out of the very darkness itself behind Buri, bringing a mace crashing down on the Thane’s helmeted head with a savage yell.
Everyone in the camp turned to see a dozen more shadowy figures leap into the firelight of the hilltop, their bare skin covered in dark patterns, their eyes gleaming white from their bearded faces. With swords and axes and spears they charged onto the hilltop, screeching and howling. There was a sound like swift birds in flight, and three of the attackers were hurled backwards, arrows in their chests. Ruadh, Bran and Conn had strung their bows and let arrows fly in only a matter of seconds. The Thanes all leapt up and reached for weapons and shields. With a deafening roar of voices and of clashing weapons, the battle was underway.
Erasmus was at the fore, ancient sword drawn, shield thrust outwards. The sword’s pale blade flashed like ice as it rose and fell. A great champion of the painted men slashed at Erasmus with a great axe, but the Paladin deftly turned aside the blow with his shield and brought his sword crashing down on his foes head, splitting the champions iron helm and the skull beneath, through the bearded jaw and into his chest. Erasmus wrenched his blade free in a torrent of blood. “Shield-wall! Defend the horses! To me Thanes! To me!”
The Thanes fought on as they backed away, forming a defensive line with their shields, swiftly and calmly as only elite warriors can. The attackers pursued them ferociously, slashing and stabbing in a hail of iron, but their attacks found no purchase through those shields or those helmed heads. The weapons of the Thanes struck out with deadly precision, until the ground before them was carpeted with enemy dead. The attackers fell back, cursing and snarling all the while. The Thanes snarled back at them.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The attacker’s chieftain barked at his warriors, shaking his sword at them, ordering them to surround the Thanes, to make for the horses and the Ranger Queen. But the chieftain’s words were cut short with a strangled gasp. The warriors nearest turned, and saw with surprise their chieftain lying headless upon the ground, and the grey cloaked swordsman standing over him with a savage grin.
With a feral cry, Pike fell upon the warriors, his sword felling three of the them before they knew what was happening. Fear and uncertainty rippled through the whole band, which Erasmus felt immediately.
“Now! Charge!” The Paladin broke ranks and rushed forward, the Thanes following him to crash into their stunned attackers. Caught between the Thanes on one side and the demonic stranger behind them, the attackers instantly became of confused rabble, crashing into each other as they tried to run. Erasmus smashed aside one foe as his sword ran through another. The hill top was soon awash in pools of blood.
The battle became a slaughter, the Thanes (and Rangers) pursuing their foes, but none of them dare come close to Pike and his flashing blade. He was drenched, head to foot, in blood, his eyes almost taken on a mad look, like a wolf who was latched on to his prey, its eyes rolled over white as its mouth filled with blood.
In all the confusion, an armoured champion, seeing Erda left unprotected as she stared in quiet horror at the scene, rushed forward in a crouch. Brune saw the danger in time and rushed to meet the foe. Brune roared in defiance, raising sword and shield, but the champions hurled his spear and took the Thane in his thigh. Brune toppled to the ground in pain, and the champion rushed past him, short sword drawn. Erda was drawing a knife from her belt, urging her frightened handmaiden behind her. But before the champion could reach her, Myra charged at the man with Erasmus’ sword aimed for his chest. With a desperate cry, she bowled into the warrior, and both fell into a tangle of limbs. The warrior lashed out blindly with his dagger. Myra rolled away. She reached for her own dagger, but saw that her sword was lodged firmly in her enemy’s chest, who was uselessly clawing at it while he died.
Myra, dizzy and nauseous from the smell of all the blood, looked about at the carnage all around. Dead and wounded enemies lay all over the campsite, some trying to crawl away, until a Thane stooped over them to cut their throats. Myra rose to her feet and searched for Erasmus. She saw the Paladin, covered in blood and gore, kneeling over the prone form of Buri, blood spilling from beneath his crushed helm. When Myra approached, Erasmus looked up at her with a solemn, haunted look.
“Erasmus… I…”
“What happened,” Erasmus said flatly. “You of all people should have seen them coming from miles away…”
Myra’s heart leapt into her throat. She remembered that she had not truly been keeping watch. But Erasmus only shook his head, left the dead Buri where he lay, and walked away from the camp. Myra looked down at the Thane, young handsome features staring up at her through his mask of blood. She fell to her knees, and wept.
For hours afterwards, still the company atop the hill could hear the cries of the attackers as they fled into the night, and mad howls of Pike as he fell upon them, one by one, until the night was silent once again.