by Jack Cage
“This is a bloody nice blade, old man. Let us make it the best ever,” the metalsmith said with a smile.
Relieved, Zuberi knew he had just gained an ally, and was pleased he would be able to give Amri the sword he believed he would need.
The Sefu boys had not been back to the stables in several days, but Zuberi had been busy working with the metalsmith, so their absence had been bearable for the elder Sefu man. The sword he was making for Amri would be more than a record of the Sefu family’s journey; it would become the only creation the two equally talented craftsmen ever produced together. The metalsmith’s hands would no longer obey his mind, so he would instruct the elder Sefu man through each step. For days Zuberi banged on the massive blade, and although Zuberi had great hand strength, his eyes were weak.
The metalsmith had great vision with weakening hands, so both men assisted each other. Together they worked for months on the most beautiful, but deadly, work of art the Midland Kingdom would ever see.
***
As the months went by, the Sefu brothers would occasionally get short glimpses of their father when they went out with Harold or Prince Stuart. The sight of his boys provided Zuberi with the energy he needed to complete the last major task of his life—a suit of armor for his massive warrior son. Zuberi worried the king would never give Amri the protection he would need in battle, so, to ensure Amri would be safe, the old Sefu man worked tirelessly to armor his “Black Lion.” However, time was running out for Zuberi, and his sons, even from afar, could see their father weakening.
After many months away, the Sefu brothers were finally allowed a visit their father. “Endesha look at you; you are almost as big as Amri,” said Zuberi.
“No, Father, I’m not as big as Amri. He is just fat,” Endesha said, even though he had added considerable muscle mass over the last few months.
“It is good to see you, Father. Are you still tending to the animals?” Amri asked.
“Yes, my son. I try to get to them as much as I can, but my body does not move with my thoughts anymore,” Zuberi replied with a smile. “I am so happy to see the two of you. I told you that your destinies were tied to this place and look at you both now. You are looking well, you have more food than you have ever had before, and most importantly, you are still together. I am so proud of you both.” Zuberi beamed with great pride. “What do you both do inside the castle?”
“I am a caretaker for the little one, and Amri is constantly with the king, or Prince Stuart,” Endesha replied.
“With the king?” Zuberi asked.
“Yes, Father. Endesha and I are the king’s personal guards, and one of us is with him at all times within the castle,” Amri replied.
“I am sure you two can handle those responsibilities.”
“We can, Father, but we worry about you here in the stables by yourself,” Amri replied.
“You shouldn’t, my sons. I am well here. I feel your abilities will be tested by this Carpenter person. You should prepare for the challenge ahead of you. I believe your destinies are tied to this man.”
The Sefu men enjoyed their time together not knowing this would be one of the last times they would enjoy with their father.
They shared many laughs that afternoon. Jokes were told about Amri’s awkwardness around Nsia and Endesha’s childhood fears from the old village, and although the visit was pleasant, both brothers could see something about their father was different.
His light seemed dimmer, and it was unsettling to the massive brown-skinned men. The brothers noticed the animals below were restless; the horses were noisier than they had ever been, and even though the Sefu men tried to console them, they refused to settle down. It seemed to the Sefu brothers like the animals knew Zuberi was fading, and both brothers believed the animals were correct.
31
A knock was heard on the outside of the Sefu brother’s door. Amri opened the door to find Singletary on the other side. “We must leave at once. Come with me,” said the captain
“I will see you soon, Brother,” Amri said to Endesha in their Sefu language.
As Singletary and Amri walked down the corridor, the captain said, “There have been reports of the Carpenter’s soldiers seen north of here in Hainsbridge.”
“All right,” Amri replied as they hastened toward the stables to meet up with several Red Guard Cavalrymen preparing to ride out. As they mounted their horses, Amri could see his father looking down on him from the attic. Zuberi smiled and gave his son a slight wave as the group quickly departed for Hainsbridge.
After half a day’s ride at full gallop, the group of men arrived in Hainsbridge. There were no signs of Carpenter’s men, yet something was not right. The streets were absent of people, and there was stillness in the air. Many of the families from Hainesbridge had left after Carpenter’s first attack years earlier which had left only a hundred or so people in the small village.
A crash was heard in the distance, and the men quickly produced their swords from their scabbards.
At that point, Singletary noticed Amri was unarmed, and as he shook his head in displeasure at his lack of arming the Sefu warrior, he reached into a long sack draped on the side of his horse and produced a simple longsword for the Moor.
The group of men from Harkstead Castle were only a baker’s dozen including Amri. “Search the buildings,” Singletary said, pointing one group of men in one direction and the rest in another. Amri followed behind Singletary as the men moved through the small village slowly. There were many abandoned buildings and small homes. Some had not been repaired since the first attack, and the ashes from the fires inside remained unmoved. Singletary said, “I do not like the way this looks. Fall back and regroup, then we shall go further into the village.”
Moments later, sounds of men yelling was heard on the opposite side of Hainsbridge. Singletary’s group figured it was their men and turned around to head back to them. As they rode toward the source of the noise they saw their fellow countrymen being ambushed by a group of Carpenter’s cavalrymen.
As Amri rode his Flemish down the hill, he noticed two riders swinging wildly from their mounts at his fellow Harkstead soldiers, and targeted them as he joined the fight. The loud clanging of metal embracing metal could be heard at an ear-piercing level in the heart of the village.
A few Harkstead soldiers were cut down as they tried to fight off the group of Carpenter’s men led by a man named George Davis. Davis was in the middle of the fight when he saw Amri ride past him toward the two riders. As Amri approached the riders, he saw a war hammer on the ground. He dismounted his Flemish, placed his sword tip in the ground, and picked up the war hammer.
The first rider was swinging his sword downward at the Harkstead fighters, and as Amri approached from behind, he used the hammer’s sharp hook to grab the rider’s armor and pull him to the ground. The rider’s body hit the earth, and Amri felt the vibration from the impact in his feet. Before the rider could recover from the fall, Amri disarmed the man by knocking the sword out of his hand with the hammer’s shaft, and promptly delivered a crushing punch to his face.
Suddenly, Amri became aware of someone standing over him, and with a confirming glance upward, he quickly rolled on the ground to his right. The enemy soldier missed hitting him with his downward slash, and instead, hit his own rider in the head. Amri jumped to his feet as his opponent was hindered by his weapon’s blade being stuck in the rider’s skull. Amri reset his footing just in time to block his opponent’s strike with the shaft of his war hammer.
He knew his weapon did not have a reach that could counter the sword’s strike, but could see the sword that Singletary gave him was only four paces behind him. Amri adeptly blocked three of his opponent’s slashing blows before parrying to the left and retrieving the sword from the ground.
He flipped the sword to its upright position and took an offensive stance with both hands on his weapon. He felt alive, his heart was racing, and he wanted to take all of his aggress
ion out on the unfortunate person in front of him. Amri’s back was facing a building, and knew he could use his surroundings to his advantage, so he formulated a plan as the enemy soldier lunged at him with a piercing strike.
He easily blocked it and countered with a series of strikes and slashes delivered in an attempt to turn the enemy’s back toward the building.
Within moments, his plan worked, and the enemy was fighting his way toward the building. Amri gave the enemy fighter a mighty kick to chest, knocking him against the old stonework.
In a panic, the Carpenter’s soldier powerfully drew his sword over his head to deliver a downward strike, but instead, lodged it between the stonework of the wall at his back. His hand slipped from the hilt as he tried to dislodge it, and Amri wasted no time in delivering his sword into the man’s mid-section. He forced the blade deep into the man’s body until he could feel stone at the tip of his sword.
Amri quickly checked his surroundings to see if he was in any immediate danger. With confirmation of his safety, he reached up to dislodge the sword from between the stones, and withdrew his own from the soldier’s body. Amri watched the man briefly; he was still trying to breathe as blood purged itself from his body. Seeing enough, Amri began to walk away, but quickly changed his mind. He turned back to the soldier, now slumped on the ground, and using both blades decapitated him with a devastating scissor slash.
Lord Davis could see his job in Hainsbridge was complete, but before ordering his men to retreat, he had a message to deliver to Singletary. “Tell your king that Carpenter is ready to take what belongs to him,” he said as he was lifted by one of his remaining riders and carried out of the village square. The rest of Carpenter’s men ran to mount their horses on the other side of the village.
“Shall we give chase, Captain?” asked one of the Harkstead fighters.
“No. We have to find the villagers first before we lose the sun. Gather the dead, and have all able men come with me,” Singletary commanded. He saw Amri running in his direction with a second sword in hand, a man dead on the ground, and a man without a head behind him. Choosing to ignore what he saw Amri do in his first battle against the Carpenter’s soldiers, Singletary told his men, “Go into every home and building, and find the villagers.”
It was not long before Singletary heard a call for him from up the hill. “Captain! There are some people in here,” said one of his men.
He rode up the hill, dismounted, and entered a room in one of the buildings filled with around twenty people. “Where is everyone else?” he asked the group.
“There are more people in a building a few paces up the hill. The rest of our village were in the fields for the harvest,” said a female villager.
“How far are the fields from here?” Singletary asked.
“They are a short ride to the east,” she replied.
“Make haste. The sun will be setting soon,” he commanded.
The men rode quickly to the fields, and within minutes discovered the missing Hainsbridge farmers slaughtered by Lord Davis’ men. The sight was too much for some of the Harkstead soldiers—the bodies of women, children, and men lying on the ground did not sicken Amri. He walked slowly through the fields looking upon the death beneath his feet.
Their baskets were still full of vegetables and fruits when Lord Davis and his men attacked them earlier in the day.
Singletary and his men rode back to Hainsbridge to inform the villagers of what happened.
After several hours, the dead had been collected, and the captain dispatched a rider back to Harkstead Castle. Fearing Lord Davis’ return and the darkness of night already present, Singletary decided it would be best for his men to stay the night in Hainsbridge.
Later on that evening, in the old village inn, the men sat talking and drinking ale while Amri sat on the floor in a corner of the room. One by one, they left to find sleep until only Amri, Singletary and two other men remained.
After a while their attention turned to Amri who had been sitting on the floor, silent and motionless, for the majority of the evening.[DS12]
“Hey you bloody Moor! Aren’t you going to say anything?” said the man sitting farthest away, his crossed legs propped on the tabletop.
Amri did not break his stare from the floor. Again, the drunken man yelled at him, “You are one ugly big Moor. You are not one of us. We should kill you and send your burnt body to the Carpenter so he can see what his men will have waiting for them if they attack us again!”
The other man sitting in front of the fireplace, dragging his boot along the ax blade half-stuck in a piece of wood, started to laugh in agreement with his drunken mate.
Amri turned his head to look directly into the threatening man’s eyes, and said, “Follow-through with your desires, and your deaths will come faster than your drink can find your stomachs.”
Singletary could tell Amri was of sound mind, and the rest of them had clearly had too much ale in a very short amount of time.
“Gentlemen, let us not make a foolish mistake given our saddened emotional state and inebriation, for Amri would most assuredly kill us all,” said the captain. With his back to Amri, he had not noticed the Sefu man was already on his feet with sword in hand, twirling the handle, and waiting for an excuse for bloodshed.
Amri was speaking the truth when he said the men’s deaths would have come before their drinks found their stomachs. In fact, in his mind, their deaths were already orchestrated to perfection. Amri’s first move would be to drive his right hand down on the end of the table causing Singletary to spill ale all over his face, and the man with the foul mouth would fall backward from the table. With his chair so close to the window behind him, he would stay tipped against it. Secondly, Amri would shove the man sitting in front of the fireplace backward to the ground, cracking his skull, then, taking a log from the fireplace, would throw it at Singletary, thus setting him on fire. The last of the four fluid movements, would see him take the ax from the piece of wood, and throw it at the foulmouthed man as his chair returned to its normal position after its tilt into the window seconds earlier. The ax would hit the man with such force, the only thing keeping him from falling backward through the window would be his knees catching the bottom of the table.
A foolish mistake it would have been indeed because as Amri stood, the men prepared to reach for their weapons.
Singletary could see the purpose in Amri’s eyes, and sobering quickly, acted to avoid their deaths being moments away. “Do not reach for your weapons,” said the captain.
“This Moor is nothing but a slave, and you allow him quarter with us?” said the man at the end of the table.
“He should be outside with the horses,” said the man in front of the fireplace.
Amri had heard enough, and said, “I am a slave to no one. I killed your enemies with my blade today, and for that, I will never be your slave.”
He gave Singletary the look so many victims of his rage had seen before. With that glance, Singletary knew he could not control Amri, but Hainsbridge was not the place to confront the armed Sefu warrior.
“Men, we shall calm our tongues and tend to our rest. We ride for Harkstead Castle at first light,” Singletary said as he looked across the table to the men in front of him. Amri sat down on the floor again, this time facing his targets with his sword in hand. There would be no rest for him that night.
Singletary and his men left Hainsbridge early the next morning. No one spoke about what happened the night prior. Amri worried he may have put his family in jeopardy, but believed in his mind he was just in protecting himself against his drunken captive allies.
As the men rode briskly, Amri heard Singletary yell across to another rider, “Our rider did not return yesterday with word from the king.” Something was wrong, and Amri could feel it in his spirit.
The weather was cold as the men continued their ride back to Harkstead Castle. As they crested a hill on the path, one of the riders commanded the group to stop immedia
tely. “Ahead, My Lord,” said the rider.
“I see,” Singletary replied.
“Looks like the Carpenter’s army, My Lord,” said the rider.
“Get off your horses, men,” he commanded quietly. After looking more closely, Singletary could see the dark-blue and yellow colors of Thomas Carpenter’s uniforms. A massive group of men—between 500 to 1,000 men stood in the fields just outside of Harkstead Castle.
The small Red Guard contingency would not be able to return to the castle through the main gates. There was a secret way into Harkstead that few men knew, and Singletary was one of them. “Back on your horses, men, and follow me. We will head south and double back to the castle,” he commanded quietly.
As the group of men mounted their horses and turned around, Amri gave the battalion of enemy fighters one last gaze. He wondered what type of fight they were going to bring to him.
Hours later, the men finally approached the forest just south of Harkstead Castle. It had been a very long time since there had been any need to enter the castle from this side, but Singletary took no time in locating the path. As they rode, he scanned the forest looking for the secret markings etched in the trees that would lead them to the entrance. “There’s the first marker,” he said, pointing ahead of them, and prompting his horse to a canter.
The men came before a massive wooden door with the royal seal of the Miles family set in iron across the middle. “How do we get inside?” asked one of the riders.
“You would think this is the door, but it is not,” said Singletary as he dismounted his horse.
He walked several paces to the right of the door, and moved some overgrown vines out of the way to reveal another door. “Amri, we will need your help to open this.”
Amri walked to the heavy wooden door and pulled mightily. The old wood creaked and bowed in protest of him forcing his power on the old lumber. Finally creaking open, a mighty gust of wind was felt as the air rushed from corridor beyond the old door open. “Inside men. We shall leave our horses here,” Singletary commanded.