Brody wrapped the girl in the blanket, even covering her head, before picking her up and making sure her head was tucked into his neck. He didn't want her to see the carnage all through the house, so he made his way quickly back outside and headed to the wagon. The little girl was still shaking as he brought her straight to Alyssa, gently handing her off and turning back to see the captain's eyes locked on the front entrance of the house as he waited on his second in command to finish his sweep.
Alyssa's soft words of comfort to the frightened child were soon inaudible as he strode up to wait alongside James. He smoothed a hand down the front of his face and took his first deep breath of clean air since stepping into the house. He wasted no time in taking a few more, hoping it would help clear the taint from his nose and lungs.
James maintained his focus on the house, but asked Brody if the child was unharmed.
"I believe she's fine physically, but what she must have seen and heard will always leave her somewhat mentally scarred," Brody mused sadly.
As the Captain was thinking that statement through, Meric rode up to them and dismounted. Brody looked back in the direction that his friend had come from to see Private Miller now on watch, and thought that James must have sent him to relieve the former Rennick commander. Brody assumed that James wanted the man's opinion on what was found. After Silas and Brody, Meric had the most experience fighting Orcs and Goblins of anyone present. James also knew from stories they had told and rumors picked up in the past that Meric had won many battles against the creatures in the neighboring kingdom's war with them. The captain would probably want to hear from all four of the ex-soldiers from Rennick, and sure enough as he took a quick look around he saw Malina guiding her horse in their direction. Meric turned to the house and began walking in that direction when Brody stepped forward to block his path. He was shaking his head before his friend could even question him.
"There's nothing in there you need to see. Silas will have noticed anything of importance the others might miss." Brody held eye contact with his friend until the man eased back a half step and nodded to him, agreeing though obviously troubled. The four Rennick natives had all lost people they knew in the war and each held painful memories, but he knew the carnage inside would too closely resemble what happened to Meric's family when he was younger. That was the kind of memory no one needed to relive.
The sun was just reaching the tree tops to the west of the farm several moments later when Pierson pushed the door of the house open and headed to his Captain, followed closely by Silas. He had a bleak look on his face as he began his report.
"We encountered and dispatched one Orc and six Goblins," he began. "As far as the farm's residents, we found one body in the nearest barn and eight bodies in the main house. All mangled pretty badly, as if something had been feeding on them. With the body Malina found and the girl Brody discovered, that would account for all of the people known to be living here. It is possible that there were visitors and someone got away, but since no signs were found suggesting that, it is likely not the case."
"Creator protect... they were eating them?"
Silas spoke up to answer the Captain's question, "Goblins are known to have a taste for human flesh, mostly raw. Orcs generally stick to animals for meat, but there have been some cases where a battle crazed Orc joined in with his soldiers in a victory feast."
No one spoke for a second as that sank in, then James shook the look of horror off of his face and focused back on Pierson. "Anything else to report?" he questioned.
"When Silas and I were discussing what we found, he felt, and I agree, that this attack was only a day to a day and a half old and the damage to the bodies was too extensive for just the force we found here. An assumption is that these were left behind by a larger attacking force to watch for our party, but they got too distracted 'feasting' and going through two barrels of beer and one of wine. They lost their heads and we caught them unaware," he finished.
"An assumption we will go with unless any one has other thoughts. Brody, do you agree," James asked?
Brody just nodded his head as he thought.
James looked a question at Meric who cleared his throat and spoke, "I believe as Silas said that these combatants were a part of a larger force, probably left here to watch the farm and report back to the rest when they saw us. That would give them a count of what they faced and time to set up an ambush. Probably in the heavily wooded stretch of the road ahead. There are a few spots where the trail curves that would be ideal. We are now closer to help in the direction we are headed so they would likely assume we would not turn back. I would hazard a guess that the ambush point is already set, and they will be waiting on us. The Orc was left here to keep the goblins in line, but it appears he was not too disciplined himself."
James was nodding slightly as he listened, his eyes focused on the ground in front of him. "Alright, we will set up for the night in the barn without the body in it. Pierson, have some of the men begin setting up camp, but give me three for a burial detail. We will lay these people to rest as well as we can. Malina, do another sweep to make sure we will not be receiving any uninvited quests. We will place a watch on the roof of each of the buildings for the night. We can make some plans on how to proceed in the morning."
Brody scratched at his beard as he looked around, then he took one last deep breath of clean air before going to help with the bodies. He was looking forward to catching up with the beasts that slaughtered these people.
CHAPTER TEN
Ambush
Malina crouched next to Meric as he surveyed the enemy position ahead. She scanned the surrounding woods to ensure there was no more than the one lookout her companion had taken out moments before. After she had found the ambush point, she and Meric moved back into the dense woods on the north side of the trail while Stewart and Woodard had taken the south. They had waited for an hour after shift change and then taken out the sentries silently, as the rest of the men moved into position. Malina had scouted the enemy thoroughly and knew the timing of the shifts, the number of enemy troops, and the approximate position of the Orc commanders; one on either side of the road. At a prearranged time, one of the soldiers would ride the wagon hard toward the ambush site. As soon as the enemy attention was on the oncoming cart, she and Meric would make sure the Orc was eliminated and start picking off targets while half of the escort's troops charged in from rear of the enemy position. If all went according to plan, the same thing would be happening on the opposite side of the trail and they would catch the beasts completely by surprise. They had discussed taking one of the Orcs alive, but decided against it since they were outnumbered and did not want to add any possible risk for their royal charges. She knew the appointed time was drawing close and was not surprised when she saw Meric draw back on his bow and sight on the Orc that was ahead, currently scratching its backside and facing the road. Thankfully the trees were sparse here at the ambush location, so they had relatively good sight lines to their targets. She immediately drew and started tracking another target. Malina knew that the purpose of sending two scouts to each side was so there would be a backup in case the first shot missed, but she had been in plenty of battles with the man next to her and had no doubts that his arrow would find its target.
She could tell when they heard the wagon as the Orc and quickly after, the Goblins, all turned to look back toward the bend in the road that the cart rounded a few moments later. Before the enemy could realize that the wagon was by itself and with only one person on board, Meric loosed and quickly set another shaft to string. After setting her second arrow Malina realized that she would only get the two, and possibly a third shot before their own people were joined with the goblins, since they had started their charge the moment they saw the Orc crumple to the ground with an arrow through the heart. It was their hope that the noise from the wagon would help mask any sound from the men charging into the rear of the enemy position. That part of the plan appeared to be mostly successf
ul, as only three of the goblins turned before the men were as close as a few feet away. Those more alert fighters were able to let out a warning cry, but that worked in the humans' favor due to the fact that warning cries could also be heard from the other side of the road. This added some confusion about where the threat was coming from, in affect achieving the needed surprise to give them an edge. It might also have helped that by the time the two forces met on her side, there were already five bodies on the ground (either completely still or barely twitching with an arrow having ended their part in the fight).
She had just started to draw the bow for her third shot when the soldiers on their side, led by Brody, had crashed into the enemy. Letting her bow drop to the ground, and sprinting ahead to help, Malina saw an arrow zip by her to the left and take one of two goblins that were trying to attack Pierson from opposite sides. The arrow struck under the right arm-pit and knocked the hapless attacker into the legs of another goblin that was engaged with Corporal Harper. Harper did not hesitate in using that advantage; as the enemy tried to stop its fall with both hands, the corporal's sword sliced clean through the descending neck. Malina's arrival next to Pierson caused the goblin he was facing to panic when it realized that the odds had suddenly turned around on him. The goblin warrior lunged at the lieutenant leaving a wide open target for Malina to slide her dagger under the ribs, piercing the leather armor at the seam where it was tied together. The angle was not quite right for her blade to reach the beast's heart, but she knew that the wound would slow him down, and Pierson should be able to make short work of the wounded foe.
She barely slowed on her way past, looking for another of her fellows to assist. Ahead of her to the left, Westerly was easily handling his opponent, with another lying motionless nearby so she left him to it. On her right she saw Brody shifting around two goblins that were lying at his feet. One with a deep dent in its forehead that looked to be a close match to the edge of Brody's shield, its dead eyes seemingly staring up through the trees at the patches of clear sky. The other had just stopped trying to remove the axe that had been buried completely in his chest and left there. The goblin gave one last wet, rasping breath and died. The third of Brody's opponents had been retreating rapidly until he saw the big warrior no longer held the fearful axe. Appearing to gathering up some courage, the goblin reversed direction and charged just as Brody was pulling a long, sharp dagger from his belt sheath. Malina continued to assess her surroundings, leaving her friend to handle the outmatched enemy fighter. She moved to where the last two of her companions were struggling with their combatants. Weber was actually clinging to the back of a goblin, screaming, and plunging his dagger into his opponent's neck repeatedly. The enemy warrior was swinging his sword clumsily over the shoulder trying to get at the human, unsuccessfully for the most part, though there were some cuts on Weber's left arm and what she hoped was a minor cut to the scalp. The goblins swings gradually became slower and he dropped to his knees as the fight went out of him with the blood gushing from his neck.
She finally turned enough to see Miller limping backwards away from an advancing goblin and holding a badly bleeding leg wound with his left hand, shield missing from that arm while his wavering sword was gripped in his right. Her attention was drawn to some motion beyond him that turned out to be one of the enemy fleeing through the woods at full speed. She continued toward Miller thinking she would have to track it down after helping her fellow soldier, when she saw the sprinting goblin stumble to the side and fall over; a flash of red fletching visible briefly before being lost in the foliage. She had a quick moment to marvel at the shot Meric had made, hitting a running target from considerable distance through the trees, before she was at the goblin attacking Miller. She was closing on the beast and planning to hamstring him before she was detected, but the goblin must have noticed when Miller's eyes flickered her way. He spun quickly and caught her blade on his sword just as it nicked his skin. She darted backwards, dodging his return swing and giving herself some room. The brute came on strong maybe thinking that he had an advantage over a weaker opponent. The goblins swings were met by her blades every time, but the strength behind the blows forced her to only be able to deflect them as she moved back. The grinning beast did not seem to realize that she was leading him to where she wanted him, and just kept on swinging and advancing. Finally ready, Malina baited the goblin into a vicious backhand swing which she dodged and immediately lunged back forward to his unprotected middle. Her short sword cut into his side and she spun away. The goblin staggered and blinked in surprise before looking down and probably expecting to find himself disemboweled. Shocked that he had only received a deep, but still not mortal wound, he grinned and took a step toward her. The grin was still on his face as his head rolled to a stop at Malina's feet, with hair from his topknot fluttering to the ground near the suddenly shorter body. Malina looked at Brody with a smirk on her lips, and as he stood behind the fallen body he winked at her and bent to clean his axe on the corpse's clothing.
"It took you long enough," she said.
"What?" he looked at her innocently. "We were just enjoying the chance to watch a true professional at work. Right, Westerly?"
The wide-eyed soldier standing next to Brody nodded emphatically. "It was like poetry in motion," he said and turned back to the others still smiling.
She glanced at each man to make sure no one else was seriously injured, seeing Pierson already moving around where the wagon had stopped in the middle of the road and crossing to check on the rest of their companions, she went to Miller to tend to his wounds. Knotting a torn piece of cloak tight around the wound to stop the bleeding until Carver could take a look at it, she then stood from her kneeling position beside him. Using another piece of the cloak to remove some of the blood off of her hands she surveyed the area once more.
Wiping sweat from her brow and squinting as a shaft of sunlight struck her face, she started for the road to check on the others. She could hear no sounds of fighting coming from across the way and hoped that meant that all was secure. Just as she cleared the edge of the trail, she could see James and Silas doing the same ahead to her left. She smiled, happy to see her grinning friend and the Captain's handsome face, both men without any noticeable injury. Motion back down the road from the way they had came caught her attention. She could see the back of Private Stewart jogging around the bend in the trail, presumably to bring Alyssa and the girls from their hiding place.
"Well that was fun," she said to the pair.
"Never a dull moment with the four of you around." James stopped in front of her and gave her a tired half smile as Silas continued past to check on their friends, she was sure.
"Pierson told me about Miller. It looks like he was the only serious injury," James commented. "That went smoother than I expected. Simple, yet effective."
"Meric's plans usually are... well as long as we don't get any nasty surprises thrown our way," Malina chuckled, then reached out to grab the Captain's arm. "You should be proud of your men. They handled themselves well considering we were outnumbered and that was the first time any of them had faced an Orc or Goblin."
James nodded, then got a bemused look on his face, "though it is kind of hard to be impressed with them after fighting next to Silas." He shook his head and wiped some sweat off his neck, "he killed four by himself, and helped with two more. That man is something else with those swords of his."
"I know what you mean," she said looking back over her shoulder hoping to catch glimpses of the three men she thought of as brothers through the trees and seeing Brody gesturing grandly as he reenacted his fighting for an amused Silas. "I think they have me a bit spoiled. There isn't much that can stop those three when they set their minds to a goal."
"Let's not forget about the mystical lady warrior scout, who can track a bird in a tornado and slice through her enemies like a scythe through wheat." James laughed at the look on her face and continued, "Westerly is over there, already telling the boy
s how you toyed with the eight foot tall goblin brute before beheading him from five feet away. The man fancies himself a bard, you know. They will be singing about you in taverns all over Glendon by the end of winter." James was openly grinning now, seemingly enjoying her discomfort.
Malina rolled her eyes and turned away from him so he could not see her blush. "I didn't even kill the goblin he's talking about, Brody did, and the thing was my height."
As she headed over to where Brody and Silas were checking the fallen bodies she thought she heard James mutter something about 'mystical powers' before she was out of range. She stopped beside Brody as he was rummaging through the Orc's clothing looking for any clue as to what they were about.
"Where's Meric?" she asked.
"Arrows," Brody grunted and went back to his search.
Watching him brought back memories of other, much larger battlefields; Brody doing this same thing, Silas searching through the body strewn landscape for friends to save or enemies to dispatch, Meric looking over the carnage with deep sorrow at the loss of life. They had each done all of these things at some point in time and still bore internal scars to go with the visible ones. There were some happy memories to go with the victories, but the painful ones always seemed to find the surface first. She would most often flash back to the battle at Porral Pass and being on her knees in that field full of blood infused mud in northern Rennick, screaming and moaning all around. She held a boy too young to truly be considered a man, yet dying in a field along with the rest of them. Holding him tight and watching the life drain slowly from his eyes as he called out for his father and mother. She never found out his name.
She shook her head and made an effort to move beyond these morose thoughts. She was alive, as were her friends, and they had a mission to see through. Squaring her shoulders she made her way back to the road to inform James that she was going to check out the enemy encampment she had found in her earlier scouting. It was about a hundred yards back through the woods on the north side of the road. She found him talking with Alyssa, who gave Malina a relieved smile when she saw her and squeezed her hand. Malina had been surprised that she and noblewoman had not only gotten along, but appeared to be on the way to becoming good friends. She had no problem with the woman being nobility, but just did not think they would have enough in common to talk about.
A Soldier's Honor: The Scepter of Maris: Book One Page 7