"What is up with these bells?" A guard asked as he looked Jason over.
"So that idiot with the missing teeth cannot say he couldn’t find me in the battle" Jason said loudly as the other team came stumbling in with their swords. The man with the missing teeth snarled at Jason as the few spectators laughed.
"You won't be so chatty in a while" the man with the missing tooth said.
"You are scared of me" Jason taunted. "You won’t fight me, you have the survival instincts found in healthy women, wellbred slaves & the offspring of submissive prostitutes."
Jason could see the man practically shaking in rage as some of the guards laughed loudly at Jason's insult. Jason could see people getting to their seats as the two teams were put on the opposite side of the fighting area. A horn was sounded and Jason limped away from his group towards the side and held the halberd like he could barely support it. Lefty, Mattie, Daphne and Kaleb locked shields and kept their spears ready as they were advanced upon. Jason shook a little so the bells would ring, the man with the missing tooth came right over in a fast stumble. Jason switched his grip from the middle of the halberd to the end and used the extra distance to thrust. The tip of the halberd went through the man's stomach and was withdrawn and stabbed through the top of his enemy's foot. The man with the missing tooth howled in pain as Jason backed away, one of the men who supposedly had killed a member of the city watch tried to come to his rescue. It wasn’t even a close fight, the man with the missing tooth was too hurt to provide much back up and Jason was fresh. The first attack was a thrust but Jason abandoned trying for another one when he saw he was in perfect hacking position. The axe like blade on the halberd came around and dug in deeply in the man's collar bone, Jason withdrew his weapon and went back after his first opponent who he stabbed three more times with the tip of his weapon. Jason left them alone and went to help out his group, Daphne thrust out a spear which the other murderer grabbed and yanked hard. The man screamed as the nails dug into his hand and let go of the spear, Daphne was thrown off balance but the action gave Mattie a clear target. Mattie's spear dug deeply into the man's thigh as Daphne was able to get back into position before anyone could do anything.
"They have nails or something coating their spears" the man growled in pain as he went to put pressure on his bleeding thigh. "Do not grab them without looking."
Jason brought his halberd around in a full arc to the back of his opponent. The man was too worried about his leg and his hand that he didn’t even turn around as the blade bit deep into his neck. Jason dropped his halberd and pulled his dagger just as the blow hit, the other two were not looking his way as he pulled his dagger out and stabbed one man in the back of the neck. The last man saw the blow and went to attack, Lefty caught him right in the armpit with a spear. Jason backed off him and just held his dagger ready. The man was quickly killed as all four members of Jason's group stabbed into him, then into the other two men who were obviously dead. Jason looked around at the rest of the field, the toothless man was stumbling from blood loss and barely holding on to his sword, the man with the collar bone was on the ground bleeding out. Kaleb ordered the group of four to move towards the two as Jason was able to sheath his dagger and grab his halberd, before he could join in both enemies were dead. They had made it, there wasn’t many people out to see the fight but all they had to survive was one.
"It was us or them" Kaleb said looking at Mattie who looked like she was going to vomit. "No use in getting sick about it, they would have killed us and laughed about it later on. At least we get the chance now to get out of here, it is better being one of the Knights of Death than dead in this place."
Jason silently agreed as he left the field. He had found out a lot about the Knights of Death and thought it was the stupidest name he had ever heard of. Their job could be one of two things, the first was as secret unofficial envoys of the king. They would enter other lands and act as muscle to bolster the forces there. The king would declare them free citizens and claim he had nothing to do with them all the while collecting money and other favors from his secret allies. The king didn’t care if any of the Knights of Death died, he would have gotten rid of criminals. Same thing if the Knights tried running away, he still would have had gotten rid of criminals. The second thing Knights could do was to enter the Untamed Lands and go after resources, other nations would also be there unofficially as would many smugglers and other people. Jason had planned on running away once he entered the Untamed Lands, but his plan was flawed. First he wanted revenge, he could not just walk away from that. Secondly the people who came up with the Knights of Death were far smarter than he thought. Telling on or catching two legitimate runaway Knights would spare someone from the Knights of Death. So would collecting a certain amount of freshroot or killing a lot of the enemy. Once one those magic numbers are reached, a Knight would be given the option of joining the army, working in the fields or helping build roads and things. The army was only a ten year commitment, afterwards Jason could meet back up with Patrick Dawson and kill the idiot. Working in the fields or building up the kingdom were both twenty year commitments that Jason didn’t want any part of. Jason wondered how he would react if he saw Lefty or Mattie trying to escape. Jason didn’t think he would be able to turn either of them in.
Jason was too busy celebrating with the others and had not paid attention to any of the other fights scheduled from the other teams of wagons that had came in during the time he was there. Jason was also too busy celebrating to notice Lord Story when the old man walked angrily into the area he was in and right up to them.
"This is a disgrace!" Lord Story said prompting everyone to rise to their feet. "Two women, a crippled boy and an old man. Those idiots deserve to die for being too gullible, but now what am I going to do with you lot. Only one of you has any hope of surviving in the Untamed Lands, so what do I do with the rest of you? You all should have died quickly and easily, now I am stuck with you. The army doesn’t take old men and one-handed boys and I doubt any of you would do much better in the fields or improving the roads. You two women, your commitment is going to be working in one of the King's orphanages. If you mistreat the children or anything else horrid you will be thrown back into the arena. The one I am sending you both to is in the capital and is ran by followers of the Light Bringer. Many people hate it there because of how pious those Light Bringers are but you shouldn't have a problem if you shut up and do as you are told. If you don’t want that assignment then in a clear conscious I can send you off to become a very short-lived Knight of Death.”
“We will take it Milord” Mattie said as she got up and bowed.
“I know you will” Lord Story snapped. “You there brute, your ride is already here. You will report outside to a red carriage. Before you go, please tell me you did not go into battle with bells strapped all over your body.”
“I did Milord” Jason replied.
“And that fucking idiot fell for everything” Lord Story said shaking his head. “I am also guessing you are not as injured as you let on.”
“I feel fine Milord” Jason replied. “I didn’t need my enemy to know that.”
“Very well” Lord Story replied. “Leave now, as for you other two…”.
Jason had left the room before he found out what was to happen to the other two but on a whim decided to grab the bells he went into battle with. They were a good luck charm, they saw him succeed in a battle he had no business winning, at least not as dominant as he did.
CHAPTER 7
“Alright Bells, you ready for this?” Geoff asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be” Jason replied. “I hate this place, I would rather be out there gathering freshroot than here in Daum.”
“We all would, but you are just a victim of your success” Tom said as he handed Jason his halberd.
Jason had taken to using a halberd, he had been a Knight of Death for a little over three months now and it had treated him well in battle. It was not the same ju
nk as the first one he used, Jason was able to ask his handlers for special materials and created this one on his own. The shaft was made of something called ironwood, Jason had never seen the tree before but the wood from it was both dense and heavy. The blade was imperial steel, it was heavy but that weight had come in handy several times already. The tip of the halberd had pierced many cheap breastplates and the axe portion had gone through many more. Jason had stopped practicing with his blade as much and instead used the halberd to become more familiar with the weapon and work on his strength. The halberd had also been his undoing, the Kingdom of Daum, if it could be called that asked the king for help and only the best fighters were sent. Jason was well known as a good fighter and was infamous for his supposed good luck charms, the bells he wore.
Daum from what Jason had been told used to be a regular kingdom, that all changed two or three decades ago and they were now all a collection of city states. City states were big cities who were led by their own ruler, they were not united and feuded with each other all the time over hunting, mines and other resources. One of the city states was called Kerlin and their ruler called himself a Warlord. The Kerlinians has started gobbling up surrounding city states in an effort to become one nation, if they were successful in gathering all the city states, this would make Daum one of the strongest nations around and a rival for Sapin. Because of this the king wanted to keep Daum separate, he had sent the Knights to help bolster the city state of Calaware. Calaware was situated in the middle of Daum and the Kerlinians were now before them and ready to fight. Jason had been put on the wall, his job was to protect a section from men with ladders or other implements from scaling the wall.
“Where are your bells?” Tom asked angrily. “We need those damn bells.”
“I got them” Jason replied.
“Well put them the fuck on” Geoff replied. “I have been in a lot of shit with you and I believe those bells are good luck.”
“Master Youst said I can't wear them” Jason replied.
“Well Master Youst can kiss my ass” Geoff replied. “He aint up here on the wall with us and if either of us decided to leave he couldn’t do piss to stop it. Only reason we listen to that idiot anyway is because we all want to get back to our lives in Sapin. We could have left this place a long time ago, now put on the fucking bells.”
Jason smiled and knew they were right, he had hated Youst almost immediately. Youst was a diplomat in Calaware, he had only one person helping him with his duties which was more than enough from what Jason could see. Youst really didn’t have a job for the most part, he spoke with the voice of the king but the king had nothing he really wanted to say in Calaware until recently. Youst now thought he was more than just some minor noble, Jason had found out if Youst didn’t except the position he wouldn’t have any way to care from himself back home in Sapin since his family was virtually copperless. Now though he was given twenty men to boss around, Jason’s group and some others Jason heard came straight from fighting for the right to become a knight. Youst could play the part of the snobby noble and he relished it, calling everyone dog shit and going on tirades. The upcoming battle scared the shit out of him though, Jason could tell and now that the Kerlinian army was at the gates he was sweaty and started giving out stupid orders to make himself seem more competent, like forbidding Jason to wear his bells. Jason put on his bells and heard Tom give a sigh of relief.
“The Musician of Death is back” Tom smiled. “All hail the Bell Ringer.”
Jason could hear shouts coming up from the other Knights surrounding him, the native Calawarians looked at him oddly as Jason vibrated a little to make the bells chime. As soon as Jason stopped he heard a horn, that was the signal to get ready. Jason laid down his halberd and picked up his bow, they would work in buddy teams until the enemy got too close. Jason grabbed an arrow from Geoff, Geoff would ensure he always had an arrow to fire. Jason sighted his bow and waited for another horn blast, once he heard it he let his bow twang and sent an arrow at the awaiting enemy having already picked out a target. Jason could see the bow in flight even as he was handed another one and sighted it quickly. His first bow slammed into a man with a blue headdress, Jason thought he was some kind of leader since the men around him didn’t have on anything so fancy. The man with the blue headdress took an arrow to the shoulder as Jason let another one fly, that arrow landed in the man’s chest and Jason looked for another target. Jason figured he could have been like the other archers and just went after the closest enemy, he could have taken a lot more people out that way but Jason had a score to settle. Jason imagined all of the leaders of the opposing force were nobles and the rest commoners. The nobles he pretended quickly threw away the lives of commoners, Jason wondered how many of the men he was looking down at were only there because someone with a lot more power threatened them. Jason was sure at least one man down there wished he was someplace other than in a battle. Jason would avenge them, he would avenge them and his father, the Kerlinians were not Patrick but like the pompous noble they were quick to throw away lives of the commoners. Jason took out another man in a fancy headdress and anyone else he could see that looked to be in charge. Jason had brought his kill count up to six when enemy archers and spear throwers started targeting him, his actions on the small wall had been noticed.
“Shit” Geoff said ducking. “It’s like they are aiming for us.”
“They are aiming for us” Jason replied. “I have been killing off their leaders.”
“Well fuck” Geoff replied. “If things get too damn crazy then I am going to give myself up. I aint dying out here for people who mean nothing to me.”
“Neither am I” Jason said as he quickly rose, found a target and fired off his arrow. Jason wasn’t sure if it struck the man he was aiming for but wasn’t worried too much about it either. What he was worried about were the tens of arrows and one spear released in his direction. Jason stayed low on the wall and crawled to another section leaving his spot open. Geoff followed him as Jason found an area that already had an archer. The archer though was scared shitless and Jason wasn’t sure if the man even fired a single shot, Jason did not know his name but the archer and his helper were both cowering. Jason could tell neither wanted to be on the wall, they were native Calawarians but had no desire to die for their birthplace. Jason stood up and found the blue headressed officer that was scanning the area Jason was just at and fired, the arrow sailed through his ear as Jason grabbed another arrow and fired at an archer that was next to the man then ducked.
“Did you get him?” Geoff asked.
“Yeah but those damn bastards are everywhere” Jason replied. “They have ladders as well as ropes and hooks.”
“Looks like we better get back in position” Geoff said then looked at the two frightened men around him. “You tossers better come up with something because I don’t think the enemy will care if you shot them or not. It is too early in the battle to be worried about prisoners so you both will just be killed.”
Jason started crawling back to his portion of the wall when he noticed the men on the wall start drawing their melee weapons. Jason stood up and rushed over to his halberd and had it in his hand just as an enemy soldier peeked his head over the wall. Geoff shot him in the face point blank with an arrow as Jason braced himself. Another of the enemy appeared and Jason stabbed him in the face, the man behind him got an arrow as Tom let out a shout.
“Help!” Tom screamed as Jason turned to see him in combat with an enemy soldier. Another of the enemy was climbing up the wall next to him. Jason thrust his halberd into the back of the enemy then turned as Geoff shot went wide of the target he was aiming for. The man climbed up but was quickly beheaded, Jason had position, momentum and a heavy enough weapon that collided with the man’s unprotected neck. The sight was shocking but Jason quickly recovered.
“We gonna die on this fucking wall” Geoff said as he loaded another arrow. “Time to get the hell out of here.”
Jason nodded a
s Tom grabbed him from behind and gestured to a ladder leading into the city part of the wall. The enemy was already in the city and locked in combat with the regular forces, Jason followed Tom down the ladder and was quickly assaulted. The first man went down quickly, Jason had a lot of range on the man. His second opponent foolishly came in closer hoping to use the length of the halberd against Jason, Jason gripped his weapon in the middle and started twirling it around and eventually caught the man across the face with the small steel ball at the other end Jason put there for balance. The blow probably did not kill his opponent but knocked him to the floor where Tom finished him off.
“Where to?” Jason asked.
“We are going to get Youst” Geoff replied. “Make him release us to the army, he has our papers.”
“What if he won't?” Jason asked.
“Then we will leave this damn city until the fighting is over” Geoff replied. “We might even join up with the invaders until all of this blows over.”
Jason followed Geoff and Tom to Master Youst’s residence, the man was outside screaming and cursing at Quigley, his helper in Calaware. Jason could see Youst’s carriage was fully packed and waiting, the problem was that they had no horses. Quigley looked pitiful and was sporting a fresh bruise on his eye and was holding his shoulder where it looked like someone stabbed him.
“Quigley where is my damn horses!” Youst screamed as he began turning red.
The Warrior of Sapin Page 6