'Shield down,' said Denser.
Hirad heard The Raven begin to move but couldn't take his eyes from the fires. In the centre of them, Ilkar's body lay, consumed by flames of his own making. Dead. After all they had survived together.
He heard a concerted roar and the sound of running feet. The dirt by his head sang, an arrow skipping off a stone inches away. He could hear the Black Wings coming but he felt weak inside, unable to react.
But into his confusion came a voice.
'Hirad, move!'
The Unknown stooped and grabbed his collar, jerking him from the ground. His face was too close to focus on.
'Hirad, don't let this be a waste. We have to move. Get in line.'
Hirad's vision cleared. He couldn't allow Ilkar to have thrown his life away.
'I'm with you.'
He grabbed at his sword and moved. The Raven had backed up as close to the fires as they dared but there were gaps in the line where he and The Unknown should be standing.
He started to run, heard The Unknown clash swords right behind him and saw Denser spread his arms wide.
'Down!' shouted Erienne. 'Down!'
Hirad dived straight forward, feeling a thump as The Unknown dropped beside him. The freezing chill of an IceWind washed over their heads into the approaching Black Wings. The screams began but Hirad didn't stop to look, already scrabbling up and racing for the Raven line, the enemy closing fast to his left.
The Unknown was right by him again and they slithered and turned together. The Black Wing charge had been literally shattered. More than ten had been caught in the blast, their flesh solidifying, the blood freezing in their veins, hearts stopping as the ice rushed through their chests. Bodies had fallen to break into shards, and where the spell had caught a trailing arm or leg the victim writhed, shivered stumps clutched in disbelief, the sounds they made awful.
The Unknown tapped his blade on the packed earth, waiting. A surge of anger enveloped Hirad and he roared into the faces of the Black Wings.
From the right, the Black Wings ran in. Hirad snapped his blade to ready, blocked up and swept back low, the keen edge of his blade slicing through ribs and gut. He wrenched it clear and checked his next target.
'Ren, seek the archers,' said The Unknown. 'Denser, Erienne, offence. We can't afford a shield. Cast whenever you're ready.'
Behind them weakened timbers continued to fall, and now the Black Wings came in from three sides.
On The Raven's left the TaiGethen and Rebraal launched a stinging attack. All four had dual short blades drawn and used them to devastating effect, forcing the Black Wings back. Beside The Unknown warrior, Aeb, his axe and long sword whirling, practically struck the head from his first enemy and crashed his sword again and again on the weakening upper defence of the next, eventually breaking through to carve the blade through shoulder and deep into chest.
The Unknown himself fought silently and powerfully, his dagger flicking everywhere, defence that could attack at will. He slashed it across the face of one man, who reacted by bringing his blade up to block the return blow only to catch the Raven warrior's sword in his waist. The Unknown turned it, pulled it clear and kicked the body away.
Hirad had no such pretensions to silence. Looking for a way through to Selik, he bellowed into the faces of those against him, using his sword two-handed, driving his arms to work it through again and again, his muscles beginning to protest. He ignored the pain, leaning in and butting the nose of his nearest enemy before heaving his sword through close to his own body and into the man's ribs. He forced the blade clear, raising it to block the next Black Wing's strike and sweeping immediately down to hack into his leg. The man fell on his dead companion and Hirad chopped down on his neck to finish the job.
Ren's bow thrummed with metronomic regularity, her arrows taking the remaining two archers from the platforms above the gates before getting to work on the men in the middle of the compound.
But, for all their killing, The Raven were being pushed back by sheer weight of numbers. Hirad took a cut across his chest as he leapt away from a clever reverse strike, the blow slicing his armour and drawing blood. He blocked the next away, Darrick next to him taking the man out with a downward stab through the collarbone into the heart.
'We need more effort!' called Hirad. 'Where are those spells?'
'Right here,' said Denser. 'On my signal.'
Hirad changed to a one-handed grip, punched into the mouth of the man standing in front of him and kicked him clear.
'Now.'
Hirad ducked. The DeathHail surged out, dealing awful damage. Needle- and razor-sharp flecks of ice fired into the faces of the Black Wings, flaying skin from bone, goring into eyes and ripping holes in hands and clothing. In front of Hirad the attack momentarily collapsed. At the same time Erienne dumped more FlameOrbs at the back of the press, and from the far left the ClawBound pair broke free and panic engulfed the edge of the attack.
'Push Raven, now!'
Hirad stormed back into the fight, sensing The Unknown and Darrick on either side. He opened up a huge wound in the side of a man whose face was covered in blood, levered him down and raced on, hacking into the top of a skull, kicking out right and connecting sharply with a groin and ripping his sword clear to bury it in the chest of the next.
He looked left. A blade was coming at him. He raised his guard but there was no need. The Unknown turned the blow aside easily and plunged his dagger into the eye of the Black Wing, where it stuck as the man fell. Aeb thundered on, bleeding from his waist and thigh. His sword sheared that of his opponent, his axe bit through backbone.
'Come on!' shouted Hirad.
Almost too late, he saw a sword flash his way. He swayed instinctively left but it caught him in the side. He felt the edge come through his leather and cut his side, deep but not debilitating. He cried out, clearing his head of the sudden pain, and clamped his right hand on the hilt of his opponent's blade, pushing it clear as he crashed his own down, chopping deep, very deep, into the Black Wing's hip.
Next to him, Darrick slipped two amateur thrusts with embarrassing ease and shuddered his own blade into the neck of his enemy. The Black Wings were down to their last men and it showed. The battle swung conclusively The Raven's way.
Out on the left, the ClawBound pair sank fangs, claws and fingers into exposed flesh. The TaiGethen, movements blurring, rolled, kicked, stabbed and slashed out, driving men in front of them. Hirad took on a raw recruit, saw the fear in his eyes and batted the boy's axe blade aside before skewering his right lung. He coughed blood in a spray and fell back and aside. Hirad's path was clear.
'Selik!' he shouted.
The Black Wing turned and ran back towards the barracks.
'Raven leaving the line!' said Hirad.
'Covered,' said The Unknown.
It was all Hirad needed to hear. He tore off after Selik, the cuts to his arms, leg and side pulling and bleeding. He gasped at the sudden pain but didn't let up, leaping up the stairs into the barrack block and kicking the door in.
'Nowhere to run, Selik!'
A door banged up ahead, Hirad shouldered his way through it and saw Selik at the opposite side of the small room, working at a lock and stiff bolt.
'Turn round, Selik,' said Hirad.
Selik did so, drawing his sword. They were in an office. A desk and chair were to one side and a bookshelf held various papers. A window let out on to the compound where The Raven and TaiGethen were mopping up the remnants of the Black Wings.
'Brave move, that,' said Hirad.
'I felt I couldn't take you all on,' replied Selik.
'Well, now it's just me.'
Hirad beckoned him on, keeping his blade in his left hand. Selik rushed at him, over-arming his sword. Hirad stepped smartly aside. Selik's motion brought him on, his sword cut thin air and Hirad helped him through, shoving him hard in the back and sending him careering into the bookshelf. Selik turned.
'Oops,' said Hirad. 'Fa
ncy another go?'
Selik was fast, Hirad gave him that. This time he moved in and whipped out a strike left to right at waist height. Hirad stepped back, his sword cracking across Selik's, driving it down to thump into the floor. The barbarian saw his opening, slashing in an upward arc, but Selik saw it coming and swayed back, the breeze of the sword ruffling his hair. Hirad came on again, jabbing straight forward and moving right to dodge the counter-thrust and steady for the next. Selik obliged, a wild swing Hirad took on the up, knocking it aside hard.
Losing control for a heartbeat, Selik reversed half a pace, his sword in no position to defend himself. He tried to bring his defence back in front of him, but overcompensated and Hirad, waiting his moment, struck down two-handed and took Selik's sword hand off just above the wrist. Selik howled in agony and staggered back against the bookshelf, papers cascading over him. He stared down at the bloody stump in disbelief and up into Hirad's eyes.
Hirad's heart was beating so hard he thought Selik must be able to hear it. He stood over the hated man for what seemed like an age.
'I have waited for this for a very long time,' he said.
'We will still prevail,' managed Selik. 'You can't beat us. No one beats the righteous.'
'But you won't be there to see it.'
With every ounce of strength in him, Hirad swung his sword, severing Selik's neck. The head cartwheeled off, bouncing onto the floor and rolling to rest by the door the Black Wing had been trying to escape through.
'Still no way out,' said Hirad.
He turned and ran back through the barracks, bursting into the sunlight, a grim smile on his lips. Their leader was down, the Black Wings were beaten and The Raven and TaiGethen were mopping up the stragglers.
Close to him, Auum despatched a pair of frightened youths, moving impossibly fast. His left elbow crunched into one's throat, the dagger in his right hand thudding into the other's temple. Hardly pausing, he led his Tai up the steps and past Hirad into the barracks to search for their prize.
Back in the compound, Aeb delivered the final blow, weapons crossed in front of him, axe carving unprotected flesh, sword swiping into helmet, crushing metal into skull. His victim dropped, blood dribbling down his forehead.
It was over.
Hirad leaned heavily on his blade, feeling the exertions of the morning. His body was slick with sweat, he sawed huge breaths into his lungs, the cuts in his sword arm and side stung very badly and every muscle ached.
He looked at The Raven, experiencing none of the elation he was used to after winning a fight. None of them did. Erienne was comforting Ren by Ilkar's charred body while Rebraal looked on, head half bowed. Denser and Darrick shook hands as if they'd played chess not won a game of life and death.
Thraun stood alone, blood dripping from his sword, just staring around him. The ground was stained deep red-brown and here and there severed limbs still clutched swords and axes. Already the birds were circling.
Of The Raven, only Aeb and The Unknown moved, checking bodies. They released the dying from their pain and searched for any without tattoos who could possibly be saved. Hirad pushed himself straight, circled his shoulders and walked towards them.
'I got him,' he said, satisfaction crawling through him. 'I got that bastard.'
The Unknown wiped a hand across his bloodied face, wiping clean a cut across his brow. He nodded.
'He was always going to be yours,' he said, and opened his mouth to speak again but shock cascaded across his features.
Both he and Aeb snapped their heads round towards the gates and began backing away.
'Oh dear Gods,' said The Unknown. He hefted his sword. 'Raven! Raven form up. We've got company!'
'Oh, no,' said Hirad, not sure he could swing his sword again. 'Who is it?'
They continued backing away towards the barracks, Aeb, The Unknown and Hirad already in the chevron, Darrick limping over to join Hirad and Thraun loping up the other side. The Unknown turned to Hirad.
'Protectors, mages, swordsmen,' he said, voice bleak and scared. 'Too many of them. And up in the sky, those aren't birds.'
Hirad looked up. Now he could hear the chittering, see the shapes. And down they came. Simultaneously, the stockade gates rattled, The Raven twenty yards away from them now.
'Spells coming,' said Denser from close behind. 'Be ready.'
The gates rattled again, bowed towards them and burst inwards in a hail of splintered timbers and sheared bolts. Hirad put his arms across his face, feeling the blast hit, wood whip by, dust ripple across him and a sizeable piece of timber thump into the palm of one hand. Daring to open his eyes, he saw dust beginning to settle and the Xeteskians walking calmly in.
'Steady, Raven,' he said.
'SpellShield up,' said Erienne.
Hirad glanced left and right. Ren and Rebraal both held bows. It would have to do.
Ten Protectors, five on each side, flanked the same number of mages while behind them a dozen soldiers fanned out, three with crossbows aimed and ready. And low over the compound now, Familiars. Laughing and spitting, promising revenge, they circled The Raven.
'Well, what have we here?' said one of the mages, stepping forward. 'Balaia's greatest mercenaries, I presume.'
'It's all over here, Whytharn,' said Denser. 'Leave us alone.'
'Don't be stupid, Denser,' snapped Whytharn, a mage in his mid thirties, tall and powerful, a deep purple skullcap pressed down over his head, leather armour covering his neck and chest. 'You know why we're here.' He looked around him. 'Some mess you made in here.'
'And there'll be another one if you don't leave now,' grated Hirad. 'We're not in the mood.'
'Your posturing is ridiculous,' said Whytharn. 'You are in no position to fight us. I am not under orders to kill, but I am to bring back the statue fragment. Give it to me.'
'I'm afraid we can't do that,' said The Unknown quietly. 'You know why.'
Whytharn studied the ground for a moment. 'And how are you going to stop me, Sol? I am well aware the Protectors won't fight you but they will protect us. And flying above your heads is plenty enough to kill you all. Don't make this difficult.' He clicked his fingers. 'Oh, and I almost forgot.' He pointed at Aeb, mouthed words in a language Hirad did not understand and dropped his arm to his side.
Denser cursed and clapped his hands to his head.
'Come, Aeb,' said Whytharn. 'Your place is with me. Step away.'
Aeb took a pace from The Raven line. Hirad went cold all over. Beside him, The Unknown seethed, his hands tightening on his sword, his jaws grinding together, his muscles bunching.
'Don't you hurt him,' he said.
'I am his Given. My judgement will prevail.'
The whole Raven line took the pace that brought them back level with Aeb.
'Don't even think about it,' said The Unknown.
Aeb took another step and before they could stop her Ren ran from the edge of the line, took cover behind Aeb's huge frame and drew back her bow string.
'He takes one more step, Xeteskian, and you die.'
Everyone started shouting at once.
Chapter 50
'Tell her to stand down!'
'Get back, Ren.'
'I'm not moving. Hear me, Xeteskian?'
'My men will fire, now get back.'
'Keep down, Ren. Keep down.'
'Last warning.'
'Yours too, mage. He's Raven. You leave him and us alone.'
'Aeb. Come.'
Even the chittering above them ceased. Silence pressed. Hirad watched, they all did. Whytharn beckoned with a finger, The Unknown leaned forward.
In front of them, Aeb took a long deep breath. He moved.
'No, Ren, no!' shouted Thraun.
Arrows and bolts filled the air. Ren fired, missing Whytharn, the arrow smacking into the mage at his side, clear through the chest. A Familiar dropped from the sky wailing, already dying. A split heartbeat later, Rebraal's arrow punctured the side of a crossbowman's skull, spearin
g his brain. His bolt flew high and wasted, another thudded into timbers behind The Raven line but the third found its target. Ren was punched from her feet, sprawling backwards by Hirad's feet. Her eyes were open but she was fighting for breath, the bolt protruding from her chest just above her sternum.
'They're casting,' warned Denser. 'Keep that shield.'
The barbarian saw red. He growled, his gaze moving quickly up and catching Aeb's. The Protector's eyes narrowed behind his mask, the pair of them looked again at Ren, back to each other and nodded almost imperceptibly.
'Raven!' he screamed. 'Take them down!'
In front of him, Aeb put one hand behind his head and ripped the mask from his face.
'Want me, you bastards? Then take me!' He hefted his axe and ran, huge strides eating up the ground.
Chaos.
The Raven surged after him, Hirad at their head, The Unknown by him and Thraun tearing up the ground, an animal bellow on his lips. Aeb swung down, his axe hammering through Whytharn's stunned body, dead before he could begin to loose a spell. Hirad drove in beside him, taking a casting mage apart at the shoulder, the arm flying into the air, spraying blood into the barbarian's face, his own pain and exhaustion a dim memory as he piled in.
Soldiers fought to get through their own line of mages to protect them, the Protectors standing confused until their minds were made up for them. At the back of the group a mage invoked soul punishment and Aeb crashed to the ground, the sounds from his mouth alien as he gibbered for mercy, his hands clamped to the side of his face.
'Get that mage!' yelled The Unknown, delivering a blow that took the sword and face of a soldier with it, his other hand punching and shoving his way through the melee. 'Release that punishment. Now!'
A bow thrummed, Rebraal's next arrow another killing shot, and, with Aeb still crawling in agony in the dust, the Protectors turned on their masters. In a single move they spun and struck, axes hacking great splits in skulls, rising to spread gore and falling again. The Xeteskians fell back immediately, but there was no escape.
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