The Hammer's Fall
Page 14
Five …
He prowled the trees beyond the edge of the camp, hoping for something, anything slightly less insane to come to him. He was still hoping for something he might actually survive.
Six …
Logan cinched the elfin armour tighter around his chest. He freed the hammer at his waist. It felt light in his hands.
Seven …
The tree was easily forty feet tall and seemed to be nearly rotten. It looked as though it would fall with the next strong wind. If he could help it along a bit then it might prove to be just the distraction he needed.
Eight …
Quickly refastening the hammer to his waist, Logan stepped up to the tree. He took a moment to line up the tree with the main group of goblins in the camp. When he thought he had it right, he placed both hands against the trunk and adjusted his footing.
Nine …
The muscles in Logan’s back and arms strained as he heaved. His arms quivered and shook with the exertion. For a moment, he thought it wasn’t going to happen.
Gods, no, he thought. The tree isn’t going to fall.
Then, he thought of El trapped in the cage, waiting to be added to the boiling cauldron. He thought of hungry goblins waiting to devour her. He drew a breath deep into his lungs, felt the fury rush through his veins. His vision tunnelled for a moment then, with a surge of anger and strength, he felt the tree start to give.
Almost, he thought. One last …
The tree’s roots tore up from the ground in a shower of earth and debris sending Logan sprawling as the tree crashed down into the camp, splintering as it hit the ground.
“Ten,” muttered Logan, as he jumped to his feet.
A vessel of barely restrained violence, he walked into the goblin camp, drawing his hammer as he went. The camp itself was in total disarray. Logan’s distraction had been successful. Goblins ran about everywhere.
Logan smiled to himself, as he realized that he had aimed his tree correctly. It had fallen into the group of squabbling creatures and at least four of them had been crushed under its weight. The others had managed to scramble out of the way.
Pity, thought Logan. Apparently, they’re faster than they look.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Goblins To The Left Of Me …
The first goblin never knew what hit him. Logan entered the camp behind the perimeter guard, who was watching the confusion caused by the falling tree. Logan’s hammer arched down on the little monster, mashing the goblin’s skull and crushing its spine as it went. The creature collapsed in a heap without so much as a whimper.
Unfortunately, the next wouldn’t be so easy.
A cry of alarm went up as the scrambling goblins noticed Logan. They came at him en masse, a churning sea of teeth, claws, spears and knives.
Here we go, thought Logan. Time to play.
An evil smile crept across his face as his hammer swung into the swarm of goblins, knocking several of the creatures back.
Pushing a spear strike aside with the handle of his hammer, Logan spun into the wielder to avoid a knife thrust from one of its companions. He swung his hammer as he went. It slammed into the arm of the goblin with the knife. Logan felt the goblin’s arm snap under the hammer’s metal head. The goblin’s cry of pain brought a larger smile to Logan’s face and he snapped out with his elbow to smash the nose of the creature still holding the spear.
As he brought up his hammer to follow up his elbow strike, Logan found his arm weighted down by another of the beasts. Logan growled deep in his chest and powered his arm up. The goblin holding his arm came with him as he struck the spearman in the chest with the hammer. The bones in the spearman’s chest splintered under the impact, but the little beast clinging to him managed to sink its sharp teeth into the flesh Logan’s forearm.
Fire burned from the wound as he grabbed the beast with his free hand and threw it from him, a chunk of his arm going with the creature. Logan felt the now familiar rage surging up from deep within. He let it come. He begged it to come. As the rage came, the pain faded into the distance. Not gone, never gone, just away, a seemingly endless reserve from which to draw strength.
Movement from the side caught his eye and Logan dropped to one knee as a spear was thrust for his head. Grasping the spear with his left hand, he gave a quick pull. Just like with Jonah so many years before, the goblin way yanked off balance. It fell into the upward strike of Logan’s hammer. The goblin’s jaw shattered, its eyes rolling into the back of its head as it collapsed in a shower of goo and grey matter.
Logan felt claws rake down his back. They tore through the ties on his armour as they quested for his flesh. The armour fell in a useless heap on the ground.
Claws stabbed down into Logan’s back, tearing deep gashes into his muscles. The goblin must have thought he was out of Logan’s reach by staying in the middle of his back. The goblin was wrong. Logan reached back with his overlong arms and grasped the creature around the back of the neck. As Logan squeezed, he felt the beast tearing its claws along his forearm as it tried to break his hold. With a quick twist of his wrist, Logan snapped the goblin’s neck. Logan threw it into its brethren.
With a height advantage over his diminutive opponents, Logan was able to see over the goblin’s heads. What he saw should have paralysed him with fear. In the grip of his rage, it didn’t. The goblin mage was facing him and as Logan watched, he saw him finish his casting. Logan reacted instantly. Dropping his hammer to the ground, he lunged into his attackers. With strong hands, he grasped two of the monsters by their throats and lifted them up off the ground. The goblins kicked and clawed, but they were unable to break Logan’s hold.
Bringing his hands together and crouching as low as possible, Logan used the two goblins as a shield against the mage’s attack. The fireball struck the goblins first. They screamed and writhed in Logan’s grasp as the fire burned through their flesh. Logan added his own scream to theirs as the fire made contact with his own exposed fingers and hands. The heat blistered and burned the flesh from the backs of his hands and exposed forearms.
In a moment, it was over. The goblins he held were still and the fire had subsided. Rising from his crouch, Logan tossed the remains of the burned creatures aside. The mage’s eyes went wide with shock as Logan advanced. The mage began to chant again, his voice shaking from his previous exertion.
A spear thrust from behind punched through the flesh of Logan’s right side. He whirled to face his opponent, spinning to the left and causing the spear to tear from his flesh. Logan’s left hand caught the spear as his right palm splintered the goblin’s nose into its brain.
Turning, he was just in time to parry the knife of a charging goblin with the side of the spear. Spinning the spear, he thrust its point into the goblin’s throat and was covered in a fountain of blood.
Over the sounds of combat, Logan could hear the chanting getting louder as he fought toward the mage. He knew he wouldn’t survive another fireball. The chanting ended and he saw the ball of fire coursing toward him. With no goblins close enough, Logan crouched low, raised his arms, turned his head from the attack and waited.
The heat never came. It was absorbed by a shield of air that shimmered a foot in front of him.
El must be free, he thought as he surged to his feet.
A wash of joy flowed over him at the thought, a strange counter to the rage. It was quickly smashed down in pain as another of the goblins bit deeply into his ankle. Logan stepped quickly and crushed the beast underfoot.
The shield disappeared shortly after the fire ball and Logan continued forward. A goblin lunged at his head only to find itself in Logan’s strong hands. Logan used the goblin as a club, using it beat down one of its tribesmen, killing both creatures in the process.
Giving himself further to his rage, he kept moving forward. One thought pounded through his head. He had to kill the goblin mage before it could launch another attack.
The mage was chanting again.
With his focus on
the mage, Logan was only dimly aware of pain as a goblin drove its knife into the large muscle of Logan’s thigh. Reaching down and yanking the knife from his leg, Logan buried it to the hilt in the goblin’s eye socket. Logan continued forward.
As the last of the goblins went down under Logan’s strikes, the chanting suddenly stopped. Logan threw himself to the ground and again waited for the heat of the fireball. As before, it never came.
Pushing himself to his feet, adrenaline surging through his body, Logan looked around. The path he had taken through the camp was littered with the bodies of the dead. Before him, the goblin mage lay crumpled in a heap on the ground. The tip of a fine bladed throwing knife protruded from its throat, its eyes glassed over in the shock of death.
Logan was covered in blood. Much of it was from the goblins, though enough of it poured freely from cuts and tears in his flesh. His hands were a burned, charred mess. Bone showed through in some places, while blisters oozed in others. His entire body ached and still the blood burned in his veins. He’d never felt so alive.
Tilting his head back, a primal howl ripped from Logan’s throat. Pounding his fists hard against his chest, blisters tore and closing wounds reopened. The gore splattered everywhere. He didn’t know why he did it, it just felt right.
Then, the moment was over and Logan was empty, the adrenaline, the rage, the pain, all of it gone. He sat down where he stood, amid the blood and the gore, amongst those he had killed and those who had tried to kill him. His eyes lost their focus and stared off into the void as his mind shut down.
He had no idea how long he’d been sitting there, when El’s voice reached out for him from somewhere far away.
“Logan?” her voice came again. This time it seemed closer.
Her hand gently touching his arm is what finally brought him back from the void. Turning his head slightly to look at the beautiful elf crouching beside him, he waited for her to speak.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He could see the concern clearly in her face and he nodded in response. He felt as though he were lost in a dream. He didn’t know if he could trust his voice.
Not yet, anyway, he thought. Besides, how do I explain it to her, when I don’t even understand it.
“We’ve got to get back to camp Logan,” she spoke carefully, as if worried he would break.
Again he nodded. He felt her hands helping him, as he rose to his feet. He knew he should be in pain and by the way El was looking at him he figured he should be in a lot of it. But, right now he felt nothing.
He started off back to camp with El at his side. As they reached the edge of the goblin camp, Logan stopped and took one more look around at the carnage he had caused. A small smile creased his blood soaked face. It came from the animal deep within glorying in its brief freedom. It quickly fled as the memory faded.
Chapter Thirty: Meeting A New Friend
By the time they approached camp, Logan was beginning to feel more like himself. They had walked most of the way in silence, which had suited Logan just fine. He was still trying to deal with the mish-mash of emotions that his rampage had stirred up within him. But, as they neared the camp Logan tried to start a conversation.
“So I take it Lan’thor was able to get you out, huh?”
El smiled faintly before responding.
“Obviously, Logan about that …”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t come get you myself El,” Logan stammered. “I wanted too.”
Logan dropped his gaze as El stopped and turned to him. She placed a gentle hand on his bare chest.
“No, Logan, I understand. You did what you had to do.”
She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.
“I know, I should have told you guys where I was going,” she continued. “It was just that I felt the energy being raised and I had to go investigate. I really didn’t stop to think about what I could be walking in to. Pretty stupid, I guess.”
She turned away from him as she finished. Logan reached for her, but resisted the urge to rest his pulped and battered hand on her shoulder. She must have felt his movement, though and she turned towards him.
“We all survived,” he said before adding with a smile. “No harm done.”
She raised an eyebrow as she gently took his hand in hers, lifting it between them.
“Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “But, I’ll heal. I always do. Just do me a favour. Next time, could you give us a bit more time to prepare?”
El returned his smile.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” he asked, a perplexed look upon his face.
“Coming to get me, of course,” she replied in exasperation. “What do you think?”
“Ah,” Logan blushed. “It was nothing. Besides, Lan and I needed the exercise.”
The last was said as they were coming into camp. Lan’thor looked up from where he was sitting by the fire talking with a figure draped in a black cloak.
Must be the other captive from the cage, Logan thought.
“Speak for yourself,” Lan’thor announced to Logan. “I’m in tip-top shape, I’ll have you know.”
Lan rose to his feet and crossed the camp to greet his friend, but stopped short at the sight of him.
“Which is more than I can say for you, my friend,” he stated.
Logan shrugged off his concern and moved nearer to the fire.
“I’ll be fine,” he replied. “I just need a bath. Now, is someone going to introduce me to our new friend or what?”
Lan’thor eyed him closely for several moments.
“Alright,” Lan’thor agreed. “Just remember, I’ll want to check those wounds in the morning.” Lan’thor looked up at the sky. “Which I’d say would be in a couple of hours.”
Lan gestured toward the figure in black.
“Anyway,” the tall elf continued. “This is Raeth. Raeth, this is Logan Hammersmith. Though, you’ll have to excuse his appearance. He’s normally a bit more presentable.”
Lan flashed Logan a quick smile.
“Though not much,” he continued.
Logan returned his friend’s smile, as the figure in the black cloak rose to its feet and stepped daintily around the fire to greet him. The way the figure moved, gave Logan the distinct impression that Raeth was female. Assuming that, he noticed that she was about average height for a human woman and about average build.
Unfortunately, that was about all Logan could tell about her. She was covered almost completely from head-to-toe in the heavy black cloak and her face was wrapped in a thin black scarf. All Logan could really see was the woman’s eyes and they were coal black, much like his own.
Raeth clasped Logan’s outstretched arm in greeting. Her grip was firm and sure and in the state he was in, it was all Logan could do not to cry out in pain. Seeing his obvious discomfort, Raeth quickly released his arm and took a half step back.
“My thanks, to you and your friends,” she said in a voice Logan found oddly musical. “I was sure I was about to become the main course.”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied. “We’re just glad we came along when we did. Though, if you don’t mind my asking, how is it that you ended up in such questionable company?”
Logan could hear the smile in her voice as she answered.
“No, I don’t mind. I was traveling north in hopes of finding work in one of the human cities. Unfortunately, traveling alone through the swamp leaves you rather vulnerable. The goblins came across me while I was sleeping and I woke to the butt of a spear being smashed against my skull.”
El who had been silent until this point, studied the human girl coldly before asking.
“And, what kind of work are you looking for in the north?”
The derision in El’s voice was not lost on any of them and Raeth’s steady gaze fell on the elfin girl.
“I take care of inconvenient problems for people of substance,” she answered in a calm and equally cold voice.
The sarcasm was clear in El’s voice. Raeth turned fully toward the elf, squaring her shoulders.
“I seem to recall that I wasn’t the only one in that cage, oh great and magnificent mage,” she said with contempt. “And, at least I had no chance to fight when I got caught. What exactly is your excuse?”
Logan could feel the magic gathering as El advanced on Raeth. The raw power of it made Logan’s skin crawl. Thankfully, Lan quickly stepped between the two women.
“Now ladies,” he placated. “We’re all friends here. Let’s play nice.”
Logan had to agree. There was no point in fighting amongst themselves. Besides, his hands were really starting to hurt. The excitement of the fight had completely left him and his head was beginning to swim. Logan sat down heavily.
Lan’thor noticed Logan almost collapse to the ground and was over in a flash.
“Logan?” concern clear in the elf’s tone. “Are you okay?”
Logan tried to wave him away, nearly falling over for his trouble. It was then that Lan’thor got a good look at the wounds on his back and what was left of his hands. Lan’s eyes went wide with shock.
“Gods!” Lan’thor exclaimed. “El quickly, I need water and that salve from the village.”
El grabbed up the pack with the salve as Raeth grabbed the water skin and handed it to Lan’thor. Pouring water into a bowl from the pack, Lan’thor carefully began to wash the blood and dirt from Logan’s mutilated hands.
“I told you,” Logan managed with a weak smile. “I just needed a bath.”
Logan passed out as El began rubbing the salve into his hands.
It was mid-morning before Logan woke. His body ached and he felt as though he’d wrestled a bear. Something moved against him and he found El asleep beside him. He sat up carefully trying not to wake the sleeping elf.
Lan’thor and Raeth were quietly talking across the fire, but fell silent when they noticed that Logan was awake.