Brave Men Die: Part 1
Page 16
‘Oh, you think I care, how sweet.’ Pollux turned around again, surveying the damage and putting his sword into its sheath. He looked for Octans, avoiding the confrontation that he knew he couldn’t dodge.
‘I guess you will want a new bodyguard now? One that won’t run off to try and take the wall and leave you to fend for yourself.’
‘I’m not helpless. To be honest I’m more dangerous than you are with that sword. You’ve got the job til you die or this war ends. Deal with it.’
‘So where did you end up hiding while I killed the last of them?’
‘It wasn’t only you,’ Ara taunted, her tone condescending.
‘So you were watching? Somewhere close then, so you could test me and see how I went.’
‘I was here and there,’ Ara replied, not wanting to give him any credit for his guess.
‘Good to know. Guess I better get you back to your friend before she thinks I let you get killed,’ Pollux joked.
‘Better get used to it. You fail and she will have your balls.’
Pollux looked over at Ara as he picked up his shield. ‘Yeah, I kind of like things where they are right now. You know, attached and in all the right places.’
Ara turned and smiled, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. She went down the slippery, blood-soaked stairs carefully. A Kyzantine soldier sat slumped on the stairs, his hand outstretched reaching for his blade that lay just further than his fingertips.
Walking past the death didn’t faze her. Ara had seen dead bodies before. It was the wounded that made her swallow the little spit in her mouth as her heart thumped in her throat. There were no Kyzantines left alive, men or women. The Fists hadn’t taken prisoners, they hadn’t even tried. The men from Buckthorne, however, were in worse condition in her opinion. Some were dying, just much slower, others would live but the pain that they were in must have been excruciating.
The Fists were straight down to business. The captain stood bloodstained — so Ara assumed he got into it at the end — ordering his men to move the dead and salvage what they could. Runners were sent back down the pass to the waiting baron and the rest of his forces, and they would be there shortly.
Pollux had gone off, distracted by the sight of his friend from earlier. The big blond slapped him on the back and cheered that they both managed to survive. His friend’s blade was thick with gore and still dripping as he embraced Pollux in a hug that sent the blade whipping closely by the back of his head. Ara left him to his reunion and went searching for Daria to vent her frustration at another failed protector and at the fact the next — her third — had a cute smile and was witty and charming, qualities she assured herself that would not make him anymore likeable.
Daria was sitting on a bench that someone must have pulled out of the barracks for her, positioned in the centre of the pass where she could soak up the sunlight. Behind her stood her chosen protector, hands behind his back, his eyes still scanning the area for signs of threat. Perhaps he thought this was his chance to join the ranks of the acolytes. The man was taking the temporary position far too seriously, but she half wished her current one would be slightly concerned with her safety and rather than off seeking glory and beer. Well, maybe beer, all soldiers drank the stuff and Ara assumed that was how this lot would celebrate winning a battle.
Daria indicated for Ara to sit beside her, shuffling slightly over to make room.
‘Your new man didn’t survive the first encounter?’ Daria enquired.
‘No and his replacement is off with his buddies,’ Ara said under her breath.
‘Not the kind of man you want for the position of safe guarding your person.’
‘You remember the two laughing buffoons from before?’ Ara asked.
‘Did you get the big blond or the handsome brunette?’
‘Handsome brunette,’ Ara answered.
‘Shame, I would have preferred the big blond.’ Daria shrugged and looked disinterested. ‘But I guess he might get you out of your rut, and I should be grateful for that. You have been far too temperamental lately.’
‘Daria, I’m not going to take off my pants for the first guy with a cute smile.’
‘Cute smile? What other attributes have you noticed? Muscles, eyes, bulge in his pants?’
‘Only the path he cut through the soldiers on the ground, the bloody mess that he left on the rampart, and the Kyzantine leader that he left in pieces on the tower top.’
‘Impressive.’
‘You can say that again. The commander was a skilled swordsman, as good as the acolytes that are trained to protect us, and Pollux took him apart. There was never a moment when Pollux didn’t have the fight under control.’
‘So the handsome young man will be around for a while. Unless he runs off and gets himself killed when his unit is ordered to march into the valley.’
‘They won’t hold Black Claw? What have you heard Daria?’
‘I happened to overhear Cronos and Byrn talking earlier before I left the assembly area. The baron wants to push as hard and as fast as he can to make a statement to the Emperor. He will charge into the valley and knock on Iron Talon Gate and see if the Kyzantines will come out and play. He has not changed with age, he is still the hot head from his youth but with more grey in his hair.’
‘So this doesn’t end here … well, at least Pollux knows how to use a sword.’
The two magi sat there in silence, watching the military units held back in reserve casually make their way up the pass. Within moments of orders ringing across the mountain landscape the compound at Black Claw was turned into a thrum of activity. Tents were erected, areas were cordoned off as pens for the horses and supply wagons trundled in. Buckthorne’s military was efficient, Ara had to give them that.
Pollux collapsed beside Octans, grabbed hold of the offered flask of water, and raised it to his lips. Greedily gulping down its contents he uplifted the remains over his head and half-heartedly rubbed his face to wash the blood off. He turned to Octans to clarify that he had got it all, but his friend cracked a smile and he knew he had probably missed a lot.
‘I almost didn’t make it back there.’
‘A lot of guys didn’t. Marc, you know the sergeant, he took an arrow through the eye just after he gave the order to charge. I saw it hit, saw his body spin and then just drop.’
‘Fuck.’
‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget that Pollux, it was something from another world, something that made my heart pound faster. I kept thinking I’ve got to keep my shield up, and I just kept running forward with the rest of them. Then when the lines met, it’s like my body remembered what it should be doing and I waded into the fight.’
‘I wasn’t lying when I said I almost didn’t make it. There was this moment on the tower top when it was three on two and I thought that I was going to die.’
Pollux captured his friend’s eyes before continuing, making sure he was paying attention and got what he was saying.
‘The Kyzantine commander was up there. He was dressed like a scout but he was the one giving the orders. It got down to just one on one, and I was outclassed. There was this moment where I thought this was the end, when his sword just kept hammering against my shield.’
‘He was that good?’ Octans interrupted.
‘And then some. He was better than both of us combined.’
‘But if he was that good …’ Octans let the words hang, inviting the response.
‘Something inside me just snapped. I realised if I died I was leaving that other soldier up there to fight two opponents and he would have been cut down. We were standing back to back for a reason — to make sure that we didn’t feel a blade slide into our backs. That if we were going to die, we would see the death stroke coming and could take solace that we did what we could.
‘When the next blow came down on my shield I swung out and threw it at him. I couldn’t hide behind it any longer, you know, couldn’t let it feed the fear of dying. I gave it everything I had, went thr
ough the wards, and managed to get a lucky shot in.’
‘Luck,’ Octans murmured. ‘I told you it was two parts skill and one part luck. We just have to be the luckiest bastards out there on that battlefield and we can walk away from it.’
‘You are dreaming if you think luck will hold out,’ Pollux replied.
‘It doesn’t have to, not all the time. Once you get into the rhythm, the muscles remember and do all the work. You think quickly, keep your eyes open and don’t think about walking away. Focus on the present, the sword in your hand and the guy coming at you. Nothing else.’
The two sat there in silence, their chests rising and falling heavily as the adrenalin took its course around their bodies. Muscles ached but would recover, scratches would heal and mend.
‘Do you know how many died?’ Pollux queried.
‘Best not to think about it,’ Octans answered, not taking his eyes off a spot in the distance.
Pollux thought that maybe that was the best way to deal with it. Just not think about it. It’s not like he had ordered them to their deaths, that wouldn’t be on his conscience, he just hadn't been there for them when they needed someone by their side.
‘I saw you run up the stairs, lead the charge onto the rampart,’ Octans admitted after the silence stretched uncomfortably long.
‘You didn’t come with me did you? I couldn’t see you, but then I wasn’t really looking at the faces, just focused on the moment.’
‘No, I went up on the other side. You know what I thought the moment I saw you doing it? I thought to myself that you were going to get all the glory, and that I would be left behind.’
‘Octans …’
‘No, wait. Do you know what I did? Probably not … I cut my way to the stairs on the left. Took them two at a time and started killing my way along the wall. The first few didn’t really have time before I got to them, but the others were prepared. I didn’t have anyone behind me like you did. Not until halfway along when some of the others caught up, did I have another Murukan fighting by my side.
‘I could have been swarmed, totally killed up there, but the thought never crossed my mind. The only thing I wanted was glory.’
Pollux had nothing to say. He couldn’t deny he had wanted it too. Today was a day to aim for it, a possibility that it was in reach, just in a different form than he had planned for. But he had waited for some others to go with him, didn’t want it bad enough to get himself killed in the process, or anyone else for that matter. Fuck, it was all a mess.
They sat there a while before Kryst came over. The sun glinted off his bald head as he loomed over them, waiting for them to stand. The best he got was Octans grunting and Pollux mumbling ‘sir’.
‘You two did pretty well for yourselves out there today. I’m sure it’s not exactly what you two had planned with the tournament and making a name for yourselves and all, but it worked the same.’
Pollux and Octans looked at him, confusion flittering over both men’s features.
‘Everyone has been talking about your duel on the tower top with the enemy commander. From what I hear it was the most spectacular piece of combat in the history of duelling.’
‘It wasn’t anything that special captain. I managed to get lucky, that’s all,’ Pollux interrupted before Kryst could say anything else.
‘And you Octans, single-handedly taking half of the left rampart? I looked up and saw you tearing your way through those bastards. It was a sight to remember, not the prettiest of things, but memorable.’
‘Thanks Kryst,’ Octans replied, suddenly interested in the captain’s comments and the praise.
‘You might have heard that two of my sergeants died retaking Black Claw. You might not have, it doesn’t really matter. I’m offering you both the positions. It only seems fitting that the two heroes of the day get the promotions.’
‘What if we don’t want to be promoted?’ Pollux queried, his stomach tightening as he realised next time someone died it could be because of his orders.
‘You don’t have the option of declining. You are heroes and you do what is expected of you. Just don’t fuck it up or it'll look bad. Understand?’
‘Yes sir,’ Pollux and Octans replied in unison.
Satisfied, Kryst walked away, leaving the two new sergeants stumped at their promotions, contemplating the consequences and ramifications — the glory and the hardship.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
BATTLE BROTHERS BOOK ONE
MURUKANS
Buckthorne
Castor Fallon member of the Nails
Pollux Fallon member of the Fists
Cronos Scythe Baron of Buckthorne
Hydrus Scythe Captain of the Nails, son of Cronos
Byrn Emery Buckthorne Master-of-Arms
Volans Thorr Lieutenant of the Nails
Argol Larson member of the Fists
Octans Werth member of the Fists
Kryst Tipton Captain of the Fists
Tobias Sutton Captain of the Buckthorne Watch
Gerard Morgan member of the Buckthorne Watch
Tove Curran member of the Fists
Lucas Bray member of the Nails
Jacob McCabe member of the Nails
Ron Hudson member of the Nails
Aron Patton member of the Nails
James Cole member of the Nails
Gravid’s Drift
Arryn Dunn Earl of Gravid’s Drift
Cygnus Dunn Captain of the Howlers, son of Arryn
Thol Dunn second son of Arryn
Lacey Dunn daughter of Arryn
Zeke Aspring Captain of the Musea Pass
Brak Aspring officer at the Musea Pass, son of Zeke
Barcus Ruthorford engineer at the Musea Pass
Wez Lund member of infantry
Sarkridge
Wade Hardison King of Murukia
Daymon Hardison Prince of Murukia, Commander of the Murukan Horse
Reza Hardison Prince of Murukia
Walter Dejeski Knight-General
Samuel Rodderick Knight-General
Ryan Braithe Knight-General
Ben Curdish Knight-General
Carham
Hector Danyels Duke of Carham
Magi
Ara Rowsell Seventh Circle mage
Daria Gleason Eighth Circle mage
Mira Sykes Fourth Circle mage
Others
Duncan Avil Commander of the Gorgon Pass
Lynx Kiernan Murukan scout
Doric Ilett soldier at Black Claw Gate
KYZANTINES
Dagenham
Sebastian Jorgh Emperor of Kyzantium
Derrick Jorgh General of Imperial Guard, son of Sebastian
Indus Jorgh General of Imperial Guard, first daughter of Sebastian
Tucana Jorgh General of Imperial Guard, second daughter of Sebastian
Pyxis Jorgh General of the Wraiths, third daughter of Sebastian
Telis Dorado Lord Commander of the Imperial Guard
Robar Ballis General of the Imperial Guard
Thom Soto Assassin
Madeline Vargas Assassin
Tarkinholm
Cunx Rivera Captain of the Wraiths
Calan Delgado Member of the Wraiths
Redisberg
Chase DeVile Lord of Redisberg
Odion Fizdis Captain of the Redisberg First and Fifth
Skyview
Eugene Quandrus Exarch of Skyview
SERAPHIM
Avernus Murcutt Leader of Seraphim, mage of Seraphim first cell
Edrazil Nash warrior of Seraphim first cell
Devilin Nash warrior of Seraphim first cell
TYREANS
Granbury
Giles Bryson King of Tyrea
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dan Adams is a Sydney-based writer. When he’s not penning kick ass war stories, he’s working on his guns — the arm variety, rather than the weapons featured so prominently in his books. He loves slushies and
always finds himself climbing too many stairs on Wednesdays. Follow him on Twitter at @DanAdamsWriter
COPYRIGHT
VoyagerImpulse
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First published in Australia in 2014
This edition published in 2014
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Copyright © Dan Adams 2014
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