'Erienne, Denser, ready?'
The pair nodded, preparing, melding their constructs for wider effect.
'A short sharp shower. When it's down, we go and we don't stop,' said Darrick. 'Is everyone clear?'
'Ilks?' asked Hirad.
'My ears are on the side of my head not in my gut, Hirad. Yes, I hear and understand.'
'Just checking.'
Hirad felt a touch on his back. 'Thank you.'
Hirad readied himself, checked his hilt for loose binding again and angled the blade to see the edge. The drizzle had stopped and the cloud was shifting. It would be a bright dawn. A few birds began to call. From somewhere the bleating of a sheep carried over to them. It was tranquil. Just for a moment.
'Casting,' said Denser faintly.
HotRain filled the sky above the southernmost tents. For a while they watched it fall, tears of flame the size of thumbs. Thousands of them. People were going to die in terror. So be it. From the stockade the first shouts of alarm were raised. HotRain struck canvas and canvas burned. The screaming began.
'Raven!' yelled Hirad. 'Raven with me!'
He ran towards the first tents, seeing movement bulging against the canvas. The HotRain shower was almost gone but it had done its job, deluging the acre of canvas in flame. Everywhere smoke was rising, fires agitated at rope and cover and the pitch of voices rose with every heartbeat.
He slashed at the guy ropes of the nearest tent and thumped his hilt against a shape inside, sending the victim sprawling.
'Run!' he shouted. 'Run!'
A head emerged from a flap. Hirad smashed his fist into it and dragged the body out, his clothing smouldering. He pulled their faces close.
'Run. Don't look back. Take your friends.'
The man jabbered as Hirad dropped him, then he wiped blood from his mouth and took to his heels away out of Understone.
The Raven roared through the burning campsite. Aeb laying about him with his axe, smashing ridge poles, splitting skulls and kicking burning canvas into the air. Thraun was howling like the wolf he had once been and, like Hirad, was shouting at men to run and not look back. The Unknown and Darrick strode in behind, the mages at their backs, preparing again.
Utter mayhem descended. Swords slashed, burning men flailed uselessly, cries crescendoed and the choking smoke thickened. Hirad turned on a pair of men standing with swords ready; neither was fully dressed, neither a soldier. He sprang at them, hacking downwards as he landed, his blow striking the blade of one and jarring it from his hands.
'What are you waiting for? Fight or run, I'm happy either way.' He switched his grip three times, very fast. The men turned and ran to join those pouring into the main street and away. Most of them headed out of the town but a few went up towards the stockade in which activity must be starting in earnest.
'Raven!' called The Unknown. 'Move on!'
The campsite was pitched next to the grain store. The Raven gathered by its rear doors, out of sight of the stockade, hauled them open and ran inside.
Auum saw the signal. The rain of fire from the sky. He sprinted into the town on the north side of the main street and headed for the second tent encampment. The elves would spread their fear in another way entirely. The ClawBound panther roared and leapt at the nearest tent, her bound-elf at her side, slicing through the bindings.
Auum and his Tai split. His blade carved open the side of a tent, revealing all those inside, five of them just coming to waking. Very slowly. Auum whipped his sword into the upturned face of one, stamped down on the head of the next and moved through the panicked tent, his blade flickering, his feet jabbing out. Taking a man through the eye, he leant in to the last survivor and used the word he had been taught.
'Run!'
He peeled away. Screams filled the air around him. The panther had torn the throat from a stranger and by her, the bound-elf faced a man carrying a sword he had no idea how to use. He swung it but the elf simply stepped inside the blow and rained straight-fingered blows into his exposed neck, blood spraying over his face. The man dropped. The ClawBound moved on.
Auum tracked them through the camp. Duele emerged from a tent right, a survivor racing in the opposite direction. Evunn had split the stomach of a stranger stupid enough to face him and was moving on towards the main street. The panther darted around the camp, roaring at every turn, growling deep, teeth and claws lashing out, scraping rents in tent sides.
The sound of voices was a babble of fear. Auum smiled mirthlessly, watching the strangers run, many only part-clothed. Across the street, the other camp burned fiercely and through the tumult he could hear The Raven. Like causing a stampede of animals. The night, the fire, the smell of blood and the threat of steel. Too easy. But down on the street, up towards the end of the town where the stockade stood, it would be more difficult. Men were gathering.
It was time to move.
Lanterns were alight in the grain store, which had become a dormitory for three dozen and more. The Raven hauled the doors back to see men in the act of scrambling to put on clothes and belt weapons. Sleep was muddling minds and the storm that came at them stoked their confusion.
'Run or die!'
Hirad chased in, The Raven forming around him. The Unknown left, Darrick right.
'HardShield up,' said Denser.
Already some of their opponents were running for the opposite door but others faced them, one with the Black Wing tattoo. Hirad swung his sword right to left, clashing against an enemy blade, driving the man back. He rebalanced, jabbed forward - the blow turned aside - easily blocked the riposte then swept his blade up in a left to right diagonal, catching the man in the base of the gut. He fell back, entrails boiling from his stomach.
Next to Hirad The Unknown wasn't wasting as much time. His first strike crushed the ribs of his opponent and he stepped forward across the falling corpse, deflecting a blow with his dagger and driving his sword into the exposed midriff of the next man. Simultaneously, Aeb delivered a massive flat-bladed axe blow, catapulting his enemy from his feet to crash into the man behind.
The survivors wavered but the Black Wing brought them on. He snapped out a command for order and came at Hirad. He whipped in a quick jab which Hirad blocked, followed up with high strikes to either side of Hirad's head which the barbarian ducked and deflected respectively before being cut at the top of his sword arm. He swore.
The Black Wing smiled and came again but found Hirad had changed his sword to his left hand. The expected block came from the other side, forcing him round and off balance. Hirad seized the opening, backhanding his blade into the Black Wing's lower spine. The man grunted and fell.
'Not smiling now, eh?' spat Hirad, and looked into the face of his next victim. The man was nervous. Hirad feinted to move and he sprang back like a frightened dog. 'Had your chance.'
Hirad struck out, the defending sword knocked aside, the tip of his blade slicing through cheek, nose and forehead. The man wailed and staggered. Hirad finished him with a thrust through the chest. Everyone else had run.
'Good work,' said Darrick.
He hurried to the front entrance of the grain store and looked out, The Raven crowding behind him. Right, the scene was still chaotic; fires were burning fiercely, dozens of men running in every direction. They could see the TaiGethen moving towards the main street just by some boarded-up sheds.
To the left the picture was little different barring a group of swordsmen walking out of the stockade and moving up the street.
'There you go,' said Darrick. 'Told you they'd show themselves.'
'We'll take the back route,' said The Unknown. 'Come at them from the side.'
Nearby, the panther growled and then padded past, frightened people scattering in front of it. Her partner was close by. The TaiGethen had made the road and had obviously seen the organised group.
'Excellent,' said Hirad. 'Perfect decoy.'
The Raven ran the length of the grain store and back out into the lightening dawn. They moved quickly along the back of the store, a private house of some substance and the remains of a brothel before turning back towards the street again.
'FlameOrbs ready,' said Erienne.
'When we clear the buildings,' said The Unknown.
Voices of authority were beginning to be heard over the chaotic shouts of the poorly prepared Balaian men. There was concerted running in the direction of the stockade. Time to snuff out the voices. Time to render the Black Wing army leaderless.
Chapter 48.
Auum and his Tai sprinted down the main street, ignoring the white faces of fear they passed, heading for the heart of the army, such as it was. Rebraal was with them, sword bloodied, a gash on his thigh but grim belief on his face. In front of them, men were gathering about thirty yards in front of the stockade. Twelve men had formed a line across the street and others were behind them. Crossbowmen stood on the flanks.
The Tai unhitched bows and nocked arrows as they ran, releasing shaft after shaft at the crossbowmen. Auum's first arrow was wild but his second found an enemy arm. Duele, who was their best archer, saw his first shot rip into the mouth of his target and his second drive deep into a stomach. The bolts that came back were few and inaccurate.
Discarding his bow, Auum unsheathed one of his swords and snapped open his pouch of jaqrui. The enemy had begun moving towards them now but were still some forty yards distant. The ClawBound pair raced in along the left, inducing more panic in the strangers' ranks.
'At will,' said Auum.
Jaqrui wailed and whispered across the open space, another sound to add to the cacophony and another killer unleashed against the milling Black Wings. Auum flicked out three jaqrui. They were his last. One cut into the back of a running man's neck, pitching him forward into the mud. The second bounced off a mail shirt and the third chopped into a sword hand, slicing away two fingers.
They were closing with the swordsmen when The Raven beat them to it. Rushing from between two buildings, they fell on the left-hand edge of the line, the barbarian hacking deep into the neck of the first man, kicking out into the stomach of the next and plunging his sword into the back of a third.
The enemy bunched and turned. The masked Protector exploded into a group of four, his twin weapons whistling through the air, burying themselves in flesh. The quiet powerful blond man with the animal eyes took the arm from one man and straight-punched his companion in the chin. Both victims dropped.
The Tai entered the fight. Auum backhanded his blade into the chest of one man, drove the heel of his palm into the same face to knock him from his feet and delivered a killing thrust to the chest. He rolled right, a blade thudding into the mud by him. Darting to his feet far too quickly for his opponent to follow, he stabbed straight through the man's groin. He screamed and fell, blood pulsing out and down his legs.
The ClawBound roared together, the panther clouting a hapless Black Wing across the jaw with one paw and landing on top of her victim and biting down hard on the neck. Weaponless but never helpless, the bound-elf jabbed straight-fingered into the girth of his target, caught the sword arm in his other hand and bit forward himself, his teeth shearing through nose and tearing away. He spat out the flesh and flew in again.
Auum crashed a fist into his next enemy's chin, spun, and delivered a straight kick which caught the man on the point of his jaw. He stumbled back, bringing up his sword in defence, but Auum had dropped to his haunches. He swept away the Black Wing's legs and broke the man's neck as he fell, catching his head and twisting hard. He stepped away from the battle, knowing he was covered, and turned to see where they had positioned themselves. While a great number of the strangers had run, panicked way beyond organisation, the braver were on their way back. He could see weapons glinting in the early light and heard more orders bringing men into the street at their backs. It wouldn't be long before they were cut off and overwhelmed.
Fortunately, The Raven had seen the danger too and FlameOrbs soared out over his head.
'Press in!' shouted Darrick, slashing at the arm of a Black Wing, his sword biting deep. 'We need to break them. Come on. Erienne, Orbs to the rear. They're massing.'
Hirad hadn't noticed. He had cuts on both arms now and the edge of a blade had nicked his left ankle as its owner had fallen dead but he didn't care. This was what he lived for. Next to him, The Unknown hammered in blow after blow, his massive muscles delivering awesome power only matched by Aeb. The Black Wings were falling back before them, and with no escape right because the TaiGethen were there, were breaking towards the stockade.
The barbarian closed with a wiry old fighter, his tattoo dulled with age. Probably a man that had served with Travers. Their swords met high and Hirad pushed back hard but the man stood his ground, driving his heels into the mud for purchase. His fist whipped in. Hirad saw it and angled his head, the blow missing him left. He stepped back smartly, hauling his sword in front of him and striking out again. Slightly unbalanced, the Black Wing only just blocked. Hirad struck again, right to left. Another block. Jabbed straight. Blocked again. The man was good. But not that good.
Needing to change his point of attack, Hirad leapt to the left while his sword moved right, sweeping across his enemy's body, forcing him to block away. He saw his peril just too late, began to turn square, but Hirad sent in a haymaking punch with his left hand that caught him on the ear and sent him stumbling into the path of Aeb. The Protector split the fighter's skull with his axe, gore and brain spattering the ground and his mask.
Erienne's FlameOrbs lit up the sky, racing away to the right to splash down on undefended bodies. What small order existed in the forty or so gathered there dissolved in an instant and the air was filled again with the screams of the burning and dying.
'Raven!' called The Unknown. 'Pushing left, let's go!'
The Black Wing resistance on the street was faltering; some had already made the run back towards the stockade and the remnants, just five, were staring full-face at death. Thraun and Darrick went at them, the pair working like they'd fought together all their lives. The shapechanger's powerhouse blows rained down on the Black Wings, the sword in his hand wielded like a twig, while Darrick's fencing skills left little to chance, his quick feet making him so hard to track. They'd downed another three before the final pair turned tail and ran.
'Come on, Raven. They can't be allowed to shut the gates.'
Hirad led The Raven down the street. He glanced at the stockade. Not a man moved on its parapet. They were close now, he could feel it. He ran as fast as he could but with ten yards to go the TaiGethen cruised past him, the ClawBound pair right behind them, Rebraal on their shoulders. They seemed to be making almost no effort and Hirad found himself wondering just how fast they could go.
'Keep inside the shield!' shouted Hirad. 'There'll be archers in there.'
Rebraal heard him and relayed the message, the elves all slowing. In a group, they chased the two survivors into the compound of the stockade. There were men ahead of them. Dozens of them. Hirad slowed. Behind him, the gates swung shut with a thud, the bolts thrown across. He looked quickly around him. Archers and crossbowmen now lined the ramparts. Swordsmen emerged from buildings to their left and the shadows on their right.
The Raven, a TaiGethen cell, a solitary Al-Arynaar warrior and a ClawBound pair. And they were surrounded by seventy at least. Too many.
'Any ideas?' asked Hirad.
The panther growled but was held in check by her partner. The enemy were waiting.
'We can't take all sides on at once,' said Darrick. 'What have we got spell-wise to disable one side? Somewhere we can back against.'
'Denser's got to keep up the HardShield,' said Erienne. 'I can't deal with the area on my own.'
'Keep thinking,' said The Unknown.
A door ahead opened and a man walked out. Smeared face, one milky-white eye. Selik.
'Welcome to Understone,' said Selik.
'I could take him from here,' said Ren quietly.
'Don't do it,' said Darrick. 'We need time to think.'
'Now, as you can see, your valiant but doomed efforts to take what I have in my possession are at an end. Actually, I'm hurt you think that I wouldn't want to return the statue fragment myself.'
'Anything that hurts you is fine by me,' said Hirad. He was desperate to rush Selik but knew he'd never make it across the open space. 'But we don't have to fight here. Just give the thumb to us and no more of your men will have to die.'
'I fail to see that you are in any position to make demands, Hirad Coldheart,' said Selik. 'And in case you hadn't noticed, you are harbouring mages. I am at war with mages.'
He waved a hand and a dozen arrows and crossbow bolts hurtled down, all bouncing from the HardShield. Ren's answering shaft took one of the archers down.
'As we can see, you are shielded,' said Selik.
'And you are not,' said Hirad. 'The next arrow is for you.'
'Unwise,' said Selik. 'You would all be killed as a consequence. I am aware of your skills but even you will see this as a situation you have lost. Put your weapons down and I might spare your lives. Erienne, it would be delightful to remake your acquaintance.'
Erienne ignored him though a shiver passed across her body.
'We don't have time for your games,' said Hirad. 'We have a sick elf here and you are holding the cure.'
'Oh, I am sorry,' said Selik. 'Ilkar off-colour, is he?'
'This is getting us nowhere,' whispered Darrick. 'Unknown, any thoughts?'
The big man shook his head.
'I have,' said Ilkar.
'Am I interrupting something?' asked Selik. 'I think I made myself clear, did I not?'