by James Wolf
Baek began to tremble, as he realised those hulking shadows were Ugurs. The three fingers of Baek’s right hand – poised ready against his bowstring – began to shudder, and he took a calming breath to help still them. The Krun army was spread wide, and Baek could see the misshapen figures stretching far back into the forest depths.
Cedran raised the horn she carried to her mouth, looking towards Baek. But Baek shook his head. He knew the enemy needed to come closer.
Baek watched the rowdy Krun Horde close to sixty yards away. The Ugurs waited behind the Kruns, sending their weakling slaves to die first.
Baek caught sight of the Ugurs, saw how they were much larger than their Krun cousins, taller and far broader than Men. Like their Krun brethren, the Ugurs’ pale skin was putrid yellow, and they appeared ravaged by illness. But Baek knew to not underestimate these formidable monsters. Where the Kruns’ bodies were bags of shrivelled up desolate husks, the Ugurs’ skin bulged, straining to hold over-ripe muscles from bursting through. The Ugurs had monstrous lumbering skulls, ridged with bony plates. Their heads were so thick and heavy that they hung forward, slumping over their tree-trunk necks and mountainous shoulders. The Ugurs’ square lower jaws, and great yellow teeth, jutted out in a permanent scowl. Baek shuddered when he thought what these monsters would do if they got hold of him. But he told himself he had a job to do, and his home to protect.
Baek could make the shot through the trees, but he was not sure of the rest of his Warders. We must make every arrow count, Baek thought to himself. Just wait a little longer, let them come a little closer. His pulse thumped through his body faster than the beat of the Kruns’ drums, but he fought down the impulse to flee. Hold still! He urged himself, and prayed that his fellow Warders would do the same.
Baek waited until the enemy advanced to forty yards. The Krun were oblivious to the concealed Warders. He could now make out the yellow of their squinting eyes. Baek nodded to Cedran.
A booming horn blast resounded through the trees.
Baek leapt to his feet and released his arrow, as did the other hidden Warders all around him, loosing a volley of deadly shafts whistling through the forest. Baek aimed at one of the lead Kruns, who carried a red standard with the black emblem of a spiked mace crossed with a scimitar. Baek’s arrow thudded home right between the Krun’s spiteful eyes. Two dozen other Kruns crumpled under the piercing shower of arrows.
‘Run!’ Baek yelled, and the Warders turned and sped back to the village.
The Kruns looked around in bewilderment. They saw the woodland cloaks fleeing into the forest, and screamed as they started after them in a furious chase.
The howls reverberated through the trees, causing Aborle to quake in fear. Taem saw the Warders emerge from the depths of the forest, hurtling back towards the line, Baek leading them. A great cheer rose up from the Aborle ranks around the village. Ten seconds later, those spine-chilling howls took physical form as Kruns swarmed out of the forest in hot pursuit. The Krun numbers grew until there were hundreds in view. Many Aborle gaped in horror as the vicious enemies rushed towards them, screaming for blood.
A great cloudburst of arrows was loosed from the high platform above Taem’s head. Some fell short, a few hit trees, but many lanced through their targets, tearing through the Krun ranks. Taem caught a glimpse of Gerandel Malaran among the Aborle on the high village walkways, longbow in hand.
Baek and his Warders were making for the right flank, clearing space for the left flank to launch a barrage of flighted death. Forty arrows from the left flank flew high into the air, in a great arc, falling like sleet onto the Krun. The rustle of a fierce wind whipped through the trees, as high over Taem’s head another volley was loosed from the high platform, dropping many more of the enemy. Screams of pain now echoed through the besieged forest alongside the frenzied howling.
Yet still the Kruns came in row upon row – hell-bent on destruction, murder and pillage.
By now the Warder scouts had reached the right flank and formed up with the other bowmen there.
‘Draw!’ Baek shouted, standing a few yards from Taem.
Sixty bows were pulled back to the cheek. Taem drew his bow in one fluid motion, as Logan had taught him. He eyed down the shaft of the arrow, aiming at the chest of a running Krun. The enemy was close enough to shoot straight – rather than shooting at an angle to compensate for the distance.
‘Loose!’ Baek yelled.
Taem saw his target go down, as did many others in the charging Krun front line. As the frontrunners died the second wave tripped over their comrades tumbling bodies. Many of those were trampled as the Kruns and Ugurs behind scrambled over the fallen. The blood rage had overcome the charging Kruns and Ugurs. They did not any care if the fallen Krun bodies were alive, as they stomped on over their downed brethren. The main bulk of the enemy horde was bombarded with arrows from the Aborle line, and more Krun fell. The Kruns and Ugurs were wicked creatures with a malevolent yearning to destroy anything good, and this drove them on through the deadly storm of arrows. They would slaughter every Aborle in the village, and then fight each other for the loot they could steal from the tree huts.
‘Shoot at will!’ Baek cried.
Devilish howls battered Taem’s senses, dominating the whistle of flying arrows and the calls of the Aborle leaders.
The Krun frontline was barely thirty yards away – and closing – but taking heavy casualties from the onslaught of arrows. Taem put down the bow and drew his sword from his back, gripping it with both his hands. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Baek releasing arrow after arrow at a phenomenal rate. More Krun fell, pierced by Aborle arrows, but still they came surging onward. To his left, Taem heard Captain Traylark shouting for the Forest Guard to lower their spears and ready themselves for the onslaught, her clear voice ringing above the horrendous howling. The handle of Estellarum felt so comfortable. The blade felt so light. Its single edge gleamed with a bluish sheen. The sword was a part of him.
A wave of Kruns crashed down on the Aborle. Choking them; drowning them.
Taem slashed upward, stopping a charging Krun dead in its tracks. The Aborle next to him fell. Two hideous Kruns were on the forest woman, stabbing with cruel serrated knives. Taem’s vision was pummelled by a hundred flashes of motion. His ears were pierced by thunderous confusion. To Taem’s left a member of the Forest Guard had impaled one of the enemy on her spear, which she was unable to pull loose from the dead Krun, so she rushed to draw her sword. A hideous Krun vaulted at Taem. He blocked the downwards attack, parrying the enemy’s sword past his right side. He withdrew his blade and swung out, opening the Krun’s throat from right to left. Taem whipped Estellarum down and across, cleaving through another enemy. He blocked high, parried inside and decapitated a Krun on the other side. Taem turned to his right, raised his sword and blocked a swing of a Krun axe. His retaliating strike cut deep into its ribs.
Taem’s senses were besieged on all sides. The chaos threatened to overwhelm him. Kruns and Ugurs fought like wild animals. Aborle crumbled under their ferocious charge. It took all Taem’s wits to maintain any concentration amongst the madness of the raging battle. Any thought of winning the battle was lost. A single moment was the difference between life and death. The only thing he could do was defend himself, stay alive.
Captain Traylark was forced onto the back foot by a fierce Krun opponent, and she stumbled. Steadying herself, Shandor brought her double-ended weapon from down by her side across her body, striking out with both spear heads. The force of the blow of the first spear-end knocked the Krun’s weapon out of its hand. The opposite spearhead cut across its chest. The beast toppled to the ground clutching its destroyed torso. No enemy now stood within two spear lengths of the Captain, and her fellow Forest Guard protected her flanks. In her brief respite she surveyed the carnage of the battle around her. Her Forest Guard held solid. Many charging Kruns had died, impaled on the waiting Aborle spears. Volleys of arrows were still landing in t
he rear of the Krun force, loosed by the Aborle high up on the walkways of the village. Nevertheless, the flanks were being overwhelmed. Although the flanking charge of the second Forest Guard unit was imminent, the Captain could see it was the right flank that was in danger.
All around Taem confusion ensued. Somehow the enemy were to both sides of him, and at his front and back. The screams of battle and the clash of steel roared up to deafen him. He bounded to the side and cut through two Kruns that had been gutting a grounded Aborle. The right flank was faltering. If it should fall, the centre could not stand alone. Out of the corner of his eye Taem glimpsed a Krun swinging at him in attack, with a serrated short sword. Taem brought his arms up. He rotated his sword, so the blade pointed down to the forest floor. In one flowing movement he spun full-circle, to cleave his attacker in two. The Sodan thrust Estellarum upwards, stabbing the next Krun through the neck. Taem whipped his Starblade across, back and over. Two more Krun fell down dead. Taem glimpsed, as he cut through another adversary, that Baek was desperately trying to hold together the Aborle of the right flank, bow in left hand and broadsword in his right.
Holding Estellarum in his left hand, Taem ducked down and snatched up a discarded Aborle sword with his right hand. The Aborle sword was much lighter than his Starblade. He tested the new blade’s balance, whirling both swords in overlapping figures of eight. He could take on many unskilled opponents with two swords.
With a battle cry, Taem threw himself into the Krun ranks. He was a whirlwind of blades. Whenever the enemy came within the circle of his range they died. The heat of battle consumed him. His only thought was of killing the enemy.
An Aborle beside Taem gargled on his own blood as he fell to his knees, trying to pull out the Krun spear that had skewered him. Taem cleaved down his Krun attacker with a mighty blow. Leaping forward, Taem’s right blade swung across his body, smashing into a Krun torso. A split-second later Estellarum followed the same path, striking the wounded enemy with such force that its torso separated from its legs. Two Kruns approached Taem to the front, either side of his centre-line. Flicking both his wrists down and then forward, Taem twirled both swords in mirrored circular paths, cutting into the two enemies and sending them sprawling. Bringing Estellarum back to his left side, Taem parried his next opponent’s blow. Taem followed through with his body twist, and removed the top part of the Krun’s skull with his other sword. Taem charged to the side, Starblade swinging, and smashed down two Kruns who had just sliced up the Aborle defending Taem’s flank.
Gerandel and the other Aborle positioned on the high platforms – the older Aborle and young ones barely more than children – shot deep into the Krun army, so not to risk hitting their own. As a veteran of previous battles, Gerandel knew to concentrate on what he had been ordered to do, but he could not help but keep an anxious eye on the right flank, where his son was in the forefront of the battle. Mainly though, his eyes were drawn to Taem as his swords flashed. The Sodan danced amongst the evil creatures, dealing out their deaths.
Taem had scythed his way through the melee to Baek, ‘We must hold the line!’ Taem roared as a tremendous downward strike obliterated one of his innumerable foes. ‘Hold it until the Krun are out-flanked!’
Taem decapitated a Krun with his right sword, and simultaneously blocked a different opponent with Estellarum in his left hand, Starblade parallel to the ground.
Stealing a moment to glance around, Taem yelled to Baek, ‘Your Aborle fall back. Rally them to you!’
The Sodan’s two swords crossed over each other, removing a Krun head from its rancid body.
‘To me, Aborle!’ Baek cried. ‘For the forest! In the name of the Light, to me!’
Hearing this, the retreating Aborle pushed forward towards Baek with redoubled effort.
‘Now what?’ Baek released an arrow into a Krun chest from point blank range. The corpse catapulted back through the snarling mob.
Taem looked at his friend for a split-second, unsure, before he shouted, ‘Forward Aborle! For the Light!’
Taem surged into the Krun line, smashing a path through the enemy. Both swords flashing – cutting through the Kruns like he was going through a cornfield. Taem lost himself in the fighting. He defeated opponent after opponent, acting on instinct, relying on reflex and training. Baek was right behind Taem and more Aborle fought to meet them. Taking up the battle cry, ‘For the Light!’
Captain Shandor Traylark watched, with incredulity, as the right flank of her army flooded forward. She was no novice to battle, but what she was seeing now was extraordinary. The mysterious countryman was more than a swordsman, he was a blademaster. Shandor had never seen the like of it, and she had trained with King Musafon himself. Shandor was brought sharply back to attention as a Krun axe came swinging in for her head. The Captain swerved aside, just saving her scalp by a hair’s breadth, and was again hurtled back into the churning fighting.
One of Taem’s swords thrust low into a Krun abdomen, whilst the other sword careered into its upper arm, severing it from his foe’s body. He was aware of Baek and other Aborle battling around him – but, to Taem’s growing anxiety, the enemy were far more numerous, and he was becoming isolated as he charged forward. Taem swept his right sword in a crescent motion, knocking a Krun’s spear from its hands. Using the motion of the first strike to spin full circle, he followed through with his left sword, cleaving the evil creature’s head.
Three Ugurs loomed forward to challenge Taem, snorting their hatred of this puny human upstart. Their immense bodies quivered with the desire to rip him into pieces. Taem saw their bitter hatred in their yellow eyes.
Taem weighed up his fiendish opponents. He could not match the Ugurs’ brute strength, in their thick arms they held heavier weapons than Krun would carry. They wore dirty clothes of black and stained red, and two wore crude mail shirts over their short sleeved tunics. The third wore a helmet with a viciously spiked crown, and a blood red shirt, with the rough black symbol of the crossed mace and curved scimitar on his chest. In that moment, the Ugurs glared with all their menace at Taem, but he was too fired up by battle to fear them.
The first Ugur charged in, and Taem leapt forward to meet it. Taem used Estellarum to block a hefty scimitar swing into the left side of his body. The blow rocked the Sodan. A different Ugur swung its weapon in the direction of Taem’s exposed back. Taem just managed to swing his right sword over his shoulder, pointing the vertical blade down, defending the attack. The Sodan grimaced as the muscles of his right arm and shoulder strained under the juddering force of the blow. Time slowed for Taem, as he realised he was in mortal danger. The third Ugur rushed at Taem front on, raising a mighty battle axe in both its hands. Taem was surrounded, his defence exposed, vulnerable! Danger! Taem frantically swept both his swords up in front of him, forming a cross to catch the heavy weapon. As he did he launched himself backwards. The force of the mighty axe-blow knocked the longsword out of Taem’s right hand and smashed him to the ground. But as he fell, Taem turned to land on his left shoulder and rolled backwards away from his opponents. Using the momentum of the tumble, the Sodan jumped back up on his feet to face the disbelieving Ugurs, holding Estellarum in both hands.
The Ugurs flashed each other bewildered scowls, how had the man survived? Curse him!
The forest battlefield was far emptier now, many combatants from both sides had fallen. Taem used the extra space and circled to his left, lining the Ugurs up so he could take them on one at a time. Taem heard the crashes of steel-on-steel all around him, but none close enough to invade his sphere of combat. Taem bounded in. The scimitar wielding enemy was first. Snarling and baring its great teeth, the Ugur jumped forward to meet Taem’s attack.
Their swords clashed in the north-west of Taem’s fighting compass. And in the next instant, came diagonally down and met in the south-east as Taem blocked. The Ugur’s brute strength was countered by the Sodan’s speed and technique. Taem went on the offensive, swinging high, going for the Ugurs
left temple. The Ugur threw up a clumsy parry. Taem riposted a lightning second strike at its left thigh, cutting deep. The Ugur crashed to the ground. Taem leapt forward, twirling Estellarum over so he held his blade point down. The Sodan drove the point of the Starblade down through the Ugur’s mail shirt into its chest. The burly Ugur gasped its last breath, as the celestial-blue sword pierced through its heart. Taem glanced around, searching for danger and a fresh opponent.
The Ugur who had almost cleaved him in two lay dead on the ground, shot through the eye by an arrow from Baek’s bow. The third one had turned and fled, stomping heavy-footed and hunched over. The Ugur cradled its bleeding arm as it disappeared into the forest, an arrow protruding from its shoulder.
All of a sudden there were no more foes. Taem saw the Krun that had not been killed were all fleeing, back into the depths of the forest.
Aborle horns were blown in triumph, and a great cheer exploded from the Leafholme army. The yelling snapped Taem to attention, as if waking him from a daydream, and relief surged through him. His heart soared as the elation of being alive hit him. Taem felt he was taking his first breath, feeling the sun on his face for the first time. He felt reborn! The feeling of euphoria was so strong that Taem could not hold back from roaring in victory, as he thrust his sword into the air. Taem’s feral battle-cry was so loud that all the Aborle joined him in hollering, raising their weapons in homage. Taem roared in triumph again as he drove his sword point skywards, and he noticed for the first time how the blade glistened with oily black blood. Had he killed that many of the enemy, Taem wondered?
Taem wiped the slimy blood off Estellarum, leaving only the blue sheen of the Starmetal. As the exhilaration of victory faded, and Taem regained his composure, he took a moment to assess the situation. He was standing sixty feet from the main Aborle line with Baek and fifteen other Aborle, including three Forest Guard. Around them lay hundreds of dead bodies, mostly Krun, but many Aborle also.