He agreed and turned back to the others. "Brody, Silas, and Pierson are first at the door. Woodard, Malina, and I will spell them. Alyssa, James, and Westerly last. I did not see exactly how many there were, but it looked to be around forty or so. Probably about thirty left, after Wood and I thinned them out. Alyssa, you keep an eye on that other doorway. Just in case. Do you think you can sense one of their shaman working magic without seeing him?" She was double-checking her shield when he asked, and so it took a second before she responded. In the momentary silence, they could hear goblins getting closer.
"I should be able to. I will be ready to counter him, but that may keep me from helping defend the door."
"That will be fine. I only saw one, and that is about right for this size group, but be ready for more if needed. Keep the magic off of us, and we will take care of the Goblins."
She bowed her head in affirmation and moved to the center of the room before kneeling in the dirt. Breathing slow and steady, she expanded her magical senses to the area surrounding the room they were in. Spirit magic, like Air, had always been second nature to her, so this task took minimal effort. Air currents gave her a feel for the size and obstacles in the ruins. They also allowed her to have a good idea of the whereabouts of the enemy as their passage disrupted the air. She warned the others just as the Goblin force was entering the other end of the hall. Her eyes were closed, but her senses told her that two of her companions began to fire arrows down the hallway as fast as they could. Goblins were dropping in the hallway, but the ones behind them came on with little slowing. Concentrating on searching for any magic caused her to lose focus on the enemy charging them, but she thought the original number must have been closer to fifty.
The wolf was prowling back and forth from farther back in the ruins, but was still close enough to watch them. Spirit magic concentrated around its head and a trail of it streamed away to the north until it left her area of influence. Just as she was about try and expand her senses out farther, she felt the shaman enter the area. Or rather, felt the buildup of energies as he prepared to unleash a destructive blast of fire and air at the building they were in. The weapon was crudely formed, but was powerful. With no time to do anything but react, she pulled her concentration back in with the exception of the shaman and his immediate surroundings, and just as he was releasing the orb she struck. Using a strong spell of Air, she formed an incredibly dense blade of force to slice through the shaman's magic. It had only traveled a few feet from the Orc's hand when her spell tore through it, releasing all of the pent up energy. She could feel the shaman tumble end over end as the blast caught him up and threw him backwards. Knowing that threat was temporarily dealt with, gave her a moment to check on her friends. Her hands were shaking as she pushed a sweat dampened strand of hair out of her face, and took a deep, shaky breath.
Meric, Brody, Malina and Silas were all engaged with the mass of goblins trying to force their way into the door, and Woodard was helping a wounded Pierson move back out of their way. The enemy had made a push farther into the room when Pierson went down, and Meric and Malina were struggling to drive them back on that side. The one thing they had in their favor was the pile of already dead combatants hampering the goblins as they tried to move forward. Keeping a magical watch for the shaman, she also looked for an opening to help them out. She could not do much, not if she wanted to have any strength left to deal with her magical opponent, but any little bit might make a difference. To her left, Brody and Silas were doing enough damage that the enemy was beginning to shy away from that side, but since the others in the hallway were forcefully pushing them into the room they did not have much of a choice. As Malina was forced back a step, James came to her side and together they were able to halt the beast's progress into the room. Redoubling their effort, the five of them began forcing the throng back in the other direction.
A few of the smarter goblins seemed to realize that the bodies were causing them too much trouble and ordered the rest to fall back and take some of the dead with them. As they tried to retreat, her group pressed harder, Meric and Malina took two more down that tried to disengage, before they were at the entrance. When they got closer to the doorway, everyone but Meric, James, and Brody fell back to take a breather, until the goblins finally pulled back completely out of reach. A few of the more reckless darted forward to grab at the dead and drag them out of the way, but were not able to make much headway. There were only about twenty left alive, not counting the two Orcs, and the commander was still back at the far end of the hall.
Since the shaman was still down, she thought it might be worth it to even things up a bit more, so as the two sides stood watching each other, she stepped forward and tossed a fireball over Meric's shoulder. She kept the amount of energy to a safe level, so that it would not bring the ceiling down on them, but knew it would still cause some damage.
The goblins were so caught off guard that they did not even try to dodge. It struck one in the right hip and when it released the full power contained within, that goblin and the three closest to him were killed instantly. The next five were severely injured, and all but six were knocked to the ground and took some damage. She stepped back feeling satisfied that she had given her friends some time to recover, but was startled when Meric and Brody charged out of the room through the rain of dust and debris shaken loose by the blast, headed toward their foes without even a glance at each other. Silas went through right on their heels, followed a second later by Woodard. Malina passed in front of James as he spared a quick jerk of his head at Pierson, and then went after them. Alyssa turned in the Lieutenant's direction, finding Westerly at the man's side trying to stop a badly bleeding leg wound. She focused on her magical senses enough to make certain the shaman was still down and then went to Westerly's aid.
It took longer than she would have liked to find the right pack animal with the medical supplies, and she rushed back dropping the bundle next to Westerly and digging through it for the materials needed to make a tourniquet. After they had stopped the bleeding from his leg, they tried to make him comfortable. Alyssa had trained with healers and could handle most light wounds, but this was beyond her. She knew that they would have to get him to a real healer if he was going to survive, but had no idea if there was even one close enough to matter. His color was steadily getting paler, and his breathing more shallow. She was gripping Pierson's hand tightly and telling him it was going to be okay when she felt the shaman begin to gather energy for another fireball. Releasing her grip, she sat back on her heels and tried to concentrate, but just as she was getting ready to counter his spell again, she felt the magic suddenly dissipate without fully forming. Taking a moment to study the air currents in the area that the shaman had been, she discovered two people walking back toward the building. She did not know for certain, but she thought that the magic user must have been located by her friends and tried to lash out at them prior to them killing him. Whatever happened, there was no longer any magic other than hers in the vicinity.
She was leaning forward to grip Pierson's hand again when he coughed, spraying blood. She and Westerly began frantically searching for another wound, but they had only gotten his outer tunic removed and were starting on the chain-mail when he stopped breathing. A few minutes later, they found the wound in his lower back. The leg had been so bad that they never noticed the cut on his back. She watched through watery, blurred vision as Westerly reached over and shut Charles Pierson's eyes for the last time.
She could feel the tears streaking down her face as she looked to the entrance of the room in time to see James come through, with Meric just behind. James' eyes never left Pierson as he entered the room and moved slowly to his Lieutenant's side. She wiped away her tears and got up so he could take her place. Fighting down the sob that wanted to break out, she walked over to Meric, and let herself be pulled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
That Was Too C
lose
Meric and Brody attacked their disoriented enemy hard and with no remorse. They struck fast, driving through on the left side of the hall and turning back to the center when they made it to the other end of the pack. This further confused the Goblins, but it also cleared the way for Silas, who they knew would be right behind them, so he could take out the Orc commander. Once the commander was down, the Goblins would be interested in nothing more than escape, especially since they had been so decimated by Alyssa's attack. Meric did not plan to let any of them get away. He had learned that lesson the hard way back in the war, when they let a group flee only to later find that same bunch of survivors had slaughtered a family they came across as they fled.
Blood and sweat trickled into his right eye, and he blinked rapidly to clear it as he squared off against two Goblins. They were struggling to maintain their balance amid the dead and wounded at their feet, and Meric did not give them time to recover. He blocked a hasty swipe from the opponent on the left, carrying its weapon into the path of the other Goblin, tangling them both up and leaving him the opening needed to finish them off with two quick strikes. Ducking under another whistling blade, he surged back upright aiming for the new foe's unprotected side, but pulled up as he saw a sword slice through half of the goblin's neck. He took the reprieve offered and looked for the next enemy combatant, only to find them all down and either dead or being finished off by James, Malina, or Woodard. He also saw Brody passing through the opening in the end of the hall that the Orc had been standing at. Stepping carefully among the tangle of bodies and pooled blood, he searched out any more Goblins to put down, and moved back down the hall to the room they had just left. James met him just before they got to the door, and Meric took one last look to see Malina and Woodard heading in the direction that Brody and Silas had taken.
"The Orc?" James kept his focus on the opening ahead as he asked.
"Silas will finish him off, and Brody will back him up. If Alyssa left the shaman alive, they will take care of him too; though they might need the others to help."
They passed the threshold and found Alyssa and Westerly both bowed over Pierson, as he lay on the floor. James stepped to the side just in time for Meric to see Westerly reach over and close Pierson's eyes and bow his head even further. Alyssa stood and moved away to allow James to kneel at his head, and then she turned and came over to Meric. He could see the tear tracks down her cheeks, and reached out to try and offer her some comfort. He pulled her to him and held on to her as they both watched James put a hand over Pierson's heart and whisper something to the man that had become a close friend to them all. Meric could see a solitary tear splash against the Lieutenant's chest and then James stood and turned his red rimmed gaze to lock with his own welling eyes.
"We need to make sure the area is secure, and then we can lay him to rest. He would have been the first one to tell us to keep moving." The man's voice was thick with emotion, but he kept his back straight.
Meric could feel Alyssa's hair brush his cheek as she nodded along with him, and they all three headed out to the hall. He glanced back into the room to see Westerly moving toward Pierson with a cloak stretched out to cover him up. They would have to mourn later, but he promised himself that he would not ever forget the rock-solid Lieutenant and all he had done to help them.
They could see the rest of their party coming back into the hallway at the other end, so they waited just outside of the doorway. Brody and Silas were smiling as they came down the passage, but those smiles fell away when they saw the three of them.
"Pierson?" Brody was the one to inquire.
Meric shook his head.
"Did you finish it?"
"The commander and the shaman. We couldn't find the Tracker, though. We'll have to keep an eye out, and try to put a few arrows in it once we are on the move again."
They went back into the room, with the exception of James and Malina, who they left to comfort each other. Westerly was still kneeling at his friend's side, but he looked up at them as they returned.
"Do you think we could bury him in that clearing with the stream? He seemed to like it there. Said it was peaceful," he said in a hoarse, almost whisper.
"Yes, I think that he would like that," Alyssa answered, wiping at another tear. They all moved to help prepare the body to travel, until Alyssa took charge when she realized that there were too many hands involved. She directed Westerly and Woodard to wrap him up, with Brody and Meric standing by to help carry him to the horse. Once secured to his mount, they spent some time patching up any wounds and then began leading all of the horses back outside. It was a silent and saddened procession that wended its way through the ruins and back into the forest in the direction of the clearing they had rested at earlier.
It took much longer to make it back to the stream, since they were moving at a more sedate pace. They chose a shaded spot with a good view of the brook, and dug a deep grave. Once he was covered, Meric drove Pierson's sword into the ground at the head of the grave and they hung his shield on it. Brody had spent some of the time it took to get to the clearing scratching out the soldier's name and rank on the shield, adding a short, but fitting epitaph; Friend, Brother, Protector, Hero.
"Creator please accept our brother into your warm embrace. For you know more than any, that the quiet, unassuming, kind man the world got to see was only a glimpse of the beautiful, honorable soul that was contained within. May he find the peace he so truly deserves." Woodard finished his prayer and turned with the others to gather their horses. Meric was the last to leave, and with a whispered "good bye, my friend" he went to Ferron and mounted up. Alyssa was once again riding beside him as they reached the far side of the clearing, and stretched out to squeeze his hand before they entered the forest once more. He returned the gesture, grateful to have her in his life.
They only had another hour or so of daylight, but all agreed that they wanted to travel as far as they could with the time left. The days were starting to get shorter with onset of fall, and it was agreed that they should keep moving as long as was possible. Once again, they made a hasty camp in the dark and were up and moving before the sun could rise.
The somber mood clung to the group for the next two days, and Meric realized that night that he would have to do something about it. He knew how the others felt, and wanted nothing more than to think of his friend and how much he missed him, but they still had a job to do. Pierson would understand, would even be admonishing them if he were here. He began by talking about the man as they sat around the camp fire. He spent a few minutes talking about how he would miss him, but then he started telling them about fond memories he had of the stoic Lieutenant. After a couple of these, James caught on to what he was doing and joined in with an amusing story none of the others had ever heard. Everyone had at least one light-hearted tale about their friend. There were tears, but there was also laughter and healing. It would still hurt, and they would still miss him, but it would help them to carry on as they knew the man would want them to. With most of the dark mood lifted, Meric felt that they were going to be okay.
They passed two more sets of ruins over the next week, and he and Silas spent some time telling Alyssa any tales that they knew were associated with the sites. She was listening to them in apparent fascination while they told her about the last ruins they had seen off in the distance, once known as Khaara-Dir. It was a half buried, crumbled down fort on a hillside a mile or so north of the game trail they were currently following.
Legend had it that the fort was once the keep of the barbarian warlord Shoza who conquered much of the land that was now Rennick, 2500 years or so ago. He was building an empire, when it all came falling down because of a witch. The warlord was purported to have taken one look at her and decided she would belong to him. The young woman was in love with a local farmer, and spurned the mighty lord in front of his men. Enraged, the warrior took her and her love captive, and then made her watch as he tortured and killed the farmer. He the
n took the woman to his bed, even as she fought and screamed and insulted him. When he finished he threw her down to the floor and stood over her taunting. He told her that this would be her fate every night until he tired of her. She stood proudly before the man that had just assaulted her, bruised and bleeding, she spit at his feet. Then, folklore has it that she held up a kitchen knife she had taken from a long forgotten meal left at the bedside, when he cast her off. The strong, arrogant warlord laughed at her pitiful weapon and bade her strike at him. As the legend goes, she then spoke in a voice that sounded like a thousand tortured souls, and Cursed the warlord and the rest of his line. As the curse ended she slit her own throat, sealing the spell and his fate. It was said that over the next five years, Shoza's world fell apart. His family became sickly, and died. His men started dying in strange accidents, or disappearing. His livestock and crops all died as a drought struck all of his lands, leaving the surrounding areas untouched. Any heirs he tried to father, died taking the mothers with them. In the end, he was abandoned by all of his people, and it is believed that he took his own life by hanging himself from the very battlements they could see were almost eaten away by time.
When Silas finished speaking Alyssa gave a little shiver, and then shook her head. "I will just choose to believe that is some silly old story so I can sleep at night. Even though I know it could really have happened, and just what the woman did," she told them.
Silas grinned and replied, "It's supposed to be haunted."
"Well, I have never seen a ghost, but I do know how a curse works and will be avoiding those ruins from now on."
The land had gradually become hillier as they got closer to the foothills of the mountains, and they were taking the mid-day break atop one such rise a week after the fight at the ruins. James beckoned for Meric to follow him and the two walked away from the group to the opposite side of the hill. Meric hunched his shoulders and reached back to bring the hood of his cloak up. The wind up in the higher elevations was cold and cutting. They stood in silence for a minute, and Meric looked back toward the rest of their party as he allowed his friend to take his time with whatever was on his mind. He almost laughed out loud seeing the identical looks of confusion on Alyssa's and Malina's faces as the two watched them from afar, then turned to look at each other, and then back to them again. Chuckling, he turned back south to survey the land as he waited. Miles upon miles of the terrain was visible in that direction, where the land sloped downward, and he trying to see if he could make out anything familiar when James cleared his throat. Meric turned to give the man all of his attention.
A Soldier's Honor: The Scepter of Maris: Book One Page 24