by R A Oakes
Hearing Lothar howling in pain, two wolfhounds rushed to help him. One knocked Tark to the ground, but as he fell, the captain shoved his thick shield into the wolfhound’s huge, slavering mouth. Next, Tark plunged his sword into the frenzied beast’s heart, and the animal died instantly.
Running interference, the second wolfhound placed himself between Tark and Lothar, then after cautiously backing away, helped the wounded animal reach the open field.
However, Zenkak remained in the thick of things and, glancing around, settled on Kato as his next victim. Earlier, back at The Rock, he was the one who’d warned Andrina and Chen’s warrior women that Lord Daegal knew about their sister warriors killing 25 of his men.
Letting out a tremendous growl, Zenkak leapt at Kato clamping onto the warrior’s left thigh and thrashing him around in the air. But there was something different about this young man. He wasn’t yelling as loudly, and he hadn’t panicked.
Zenkak sensed trouble.
In the next instant, the pack leader felt a knife digging into his flesh and raking across his shoulder blades. Reacting quickly, the giant wolfhound began spinning around causing the young warrior to lay flat, stretching him out and keeping the hand with the knife as far away as possible. Zenkak continued whipping around in a circle building momentum, then let go of Kato and watched him sailing over the heads of the other warriors.
Next, looking to his right, the pack leader was greatly impressed by what another of his wolfhounds was doing. The animal was missing his right ear and had a deep wound running down one side of his face but was giving his all, even fighting to the death. Just a few moments ago, a dozen warriors had formed a defensive circle facing outward at the wolfhounds menacing them on all sides, yet this daring animal had broken through and was now in the center. The beast was clawing the backs of the warriors and sinking his teeth into as many as possible. But when the uninjured warriors turned and faced him, the wolfhound was doomed, caught within a circle of swords.
Lying on the ground mortally wounded, the noble animal summoned up his last ounce of strength, turned his massive head, gripped a warrior’s sword arm and bit down hard. Even though life was rapidly draining out of him, the wolfhound heard the man screaming and died contented.
Looking around and assessing the situation, Zenkak realized his wolfhounds had done well. Many of Lord Daegal’s warriors were running away in disarray. It was a rewarding sight, but the price had been high, and the pack leader could see that he’d lost at least half of his wolfhounds. However, having accomplished their mission, which was to create confusion, fear and panic, Zenkak gave a high-pitched howl signaling his hounds to fall back.
Tragically, as one wolfhound was turning away, a warrior took a swipe at him cutting off the lower half of a hind leg. Unaware of his injury, though limping badly, the animal raced to where Zenkak and the others were gathering at a safe distance from the enemy atop a small hill. However, upon reaching the other animals, he noticed the concern on their faces, looked at his hind leg and realized he was ruined as a warrior.
And though huddling around him reassuringly, all the animals knew that a wolfhound without four good legs was useless in battle.
“Say goodbye to Chen for me,” the wounded hound growled. Then, turning towards Lord Daegal’s men, he ran as best he could and plunged into their ranks taking off a warrior’s sword arm before the others cut him down.
As he lay on his side dying, the wolfhound made eye contact with Zenkak who held his gaze until the last flicker of life drifted from the fallen animal’s eyes.
Leaping into the air in a savage rage, Zenkak nonetheless fought to get his temper under control. If it weren’t for the coming battle at Crystal Castle, where the wolfhounds would be sorely needed, they would have all charged into death without hesitation.
“We’ll be joining him soon enough, possibly by nightfall,” the pack leader said trying to console them.
And with that, Zenkak and his wolfhounds sped back to Crystal Castle.
Chapter 29
Even before Zenkak and his wolfhounds made it back to Crystal Castle, almost 100 warrior women riding black stallions came thundering out of the entrance. It was a raging torrent of dominant, assertive, determined women on horses with long, outstretched legs, glistening coats, flowing manes and pounding hooves and all racing towards Lord Daegal’s men.
At the same time, at the base of the mountain, male warriors were tending to their wounded and beginning to regroup, and many were ashamed of the way they’d fled from Zenkak’s surprise attack.
“I ran like a girl,” one young man lamented.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” a seasoned warrior said. “I saw plenty of good, experienced men behaving just like you did.”
“I’ve never faced wild animals before, at least not giant ones,” the young warrior said trying to justify to himself, more than anyone else, why he ran away.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I was almost sick, myself, when I saw those wolfhounds clamping their jaws onto some of my friends and thrashing them about.”
“You didn’t run,” the young man pointed out. “You stood your ground.”
“Yes, but I didn’t advance on them either.”
“If I could do it over again, maybe I wouldn’t run.”
“Possibly, but I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that before. It was enough to unnerve anyone.”
“I just wish I had another chance to prove myself.”
“Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” And at that moment, the veteran warrior heard something and glanced up. What he saw wasn’t encouraging.
Chen and her warrior women were shouting battle cries and firing a barrage of arrows that flew across the sky in waves and rained down upon the unsuspecting warriors with devastating effect.
Redefining the phrase “running like a girl,” a thundering horde of female barbarians stormed through the ranks of men firing their bows at will. And now, not only were Lord Daegal’s warriors screaming from wounds caused by wolfhounds, but also from broken arms and legs, or worse, caused by being trampled by powerful warhorses being ridden by women who were more free spirited and filled with more restless energy than the stallions themselves.
“Women are unpredictable!” Gwendylln shouted upon realizing that no one had expected a second attack so soon after the first. Charging deeply into the army of stunned, disbelieving men, she launched arrow after arrow. But Gwendylln also knew it was important to make the most of the men’s confusion while it lasted and then to retreat.
“Snap out of it!” Tark bellowed trying to rouse the men to action while protecting himself from the arrows with his shield.
Malavika, having ridden almost as deeply into the ranks of the surprised warriors as Gwendylln, was firing over and over at the men nearest to her. Keeping them at bay wasn’t hard, at least for the moment, since few held their ground against the warrior women, just as most everyone had been caught off guard by the wolfhounds.
Men are so predictable, Malavika thought as her arrows repeatedly struck home. But like Gwendylln, she knew the men wouldn’t stay shocked forever.
Fortunately, on other parts of the battlefield, Chen and her warrior women were meeting with similar success. Six women had formed a circle facing outward and were firing rapidly, clearing the area around them of any opposition.
Another group of warrior women and their stallions had formed two rows of ten. Each row was lined up side-by-side, the women’s legs almost touching. The rows were facing in opposite directions, their horses’ rumps almost touching, and the women in one row had their backs to the women in the other.
Added to that, the archers in both rows began firing in alternate sequence. That is, every other woman fired her bow, and as she paused to reload, the women on either side of her were firing. This alternating system provided a continuous stream of arrows that mowed down the men around them with ruthless efficiency. It allowed for no pause in t
he firing that the men could exploit to make a run at the women.
Almost 100 warrior women firing continually can do a lot of damage, and Lord Daegal’s men were being cut down left and right. Chen was in her glory.
But for as passionately intense as Chen was about everything she did, one survival skill she’d perfected more than any other was having the self-discipline not to overplay her hand. And so, sensing they’d done as much as they could, Chen ordered her women to retreat.
To the men’s despair, Chen’s retreat was as aggressive as her opening assault. While carefully making their way back to the open field, her warrior women continued putting pressure on their male adversaries. Glancing around and doing a quick count, Chen was relieved to discover that her warrior women hadn’t suffered a single casualty.
And then, the unexpected happened.
Glenda, the last warrior woman exiting the battlefield, was dragged from her horse by a man who jumped up behind her, pinned the woman’s arms to her sides by wrapping his arms around hers, and then rolled off of the warhorse with both of them crashing to the ground a short distance from the main body of men.
Having hit the ground hard, Glenda was sprawled out on the grass with the wind knocked out of her and her head spinning, but she could sense the men gathering around her. However, the first man to touch Glenda discovered she wasn’t as helpless as she appeared, and the warrior woman slashed the back of his wrist with her knife. Then, struggling to her knees, Glenda made several wicked thrusts with her knife before being struck from behind. As her skull seemed to explode, the warrior woman blacked out completely and fell to the ground unconscious.
Unaware of Glenda’s plight, the other warrior women were racing through the field when Chen suddenly heard Malavika shout in alarm. Wheeling her horse around, the black leather panther saw Malavika standing in her stirrups and pointing at something.
Taking the scene in at a glance, all thoughts of caution and self-preservation left Chen, and she spurred her warhorse and went back to get her sister warrior. Having been raised with these women since she was 15-years-old, Chen wasn’t about to leave anyone behind, not as long as she was alive.
As Chen charged to the rescue, all the warrior women galloped after her creating a wedge formation with their leader on point. As soon as they got within range, the women began shooting arrows at any man within 100 yards of their fallen sister.
Pulling her warhorse to an abrupt halt, Chen leapt from the saddle, hauled out her sword and threw herself at the men who were pinning Glenda down. Three were dead before they even knew what hit them. Two more saw the black leather panther leaping at them, but the warrior woman’s sword was a blur, and they were powerless against her.
Chen was an avenging angel of death.
The last of the men surrounding Glenda put up a brief resistance, which ended when Chen’s sword rammed right through his chest. Afterwards, when she pulled out her weapon, the man was still standing, so she punched him in the jaw knocking him to the ground.
Looking about, Chen was wild with rage. Few could work themselves into a battle frenzy like the black leather panther.
After Gwendylln helped an unsteady Glenda back onto her feet, all three women mounted their warhorses, and the entire deadly sisterhood galloped off into the open field leaving devastation in their wake.
“There’s more where that came from,” Chen yelled over her shoulder at Lord Daegal’s men. She was stating the obvious, and no one doubted her.
◆◆◆
Less than an hour earlier, Lord Daegal was on the mountain trail several hundred feet above the valley floor watching helplessly as Chen’s wolfhounds plowed into his troops.
The warlord realized he’d made a serious mistake allowing his infantry units to make their way down the mountain ahead of his archery and cavalry units. He’d underestimated his niece and was furious with himself for doing so.
With the dark sword, Crystal, almost within his grasp, Lord Daegal knew this wasn’t the time to be making such errors in judgment.
“I want that sword!” the warlord shouted more to himself than anyone else. “I’d hoped Chen would take Crystal from Glenitant, and then kill the old witch. And I’m not surprised Chen wants to keep Crystal, but I didn’t actually expect her to try to keep the castle!”
Lord Daegal failed to understand how desperately Chen wanted a place of her own, a place where she’d feel safe and secure.
To Chen, the loss of her father had been a devastating blow to her sense of security. But Lord Daegal had felt differently about his brother, Chen’s father, viewing him as useless.
Thinking back to when Ritalso had lived at The Rock, Lord Daegal smiled as he recalled his brother’s greatest weakness. The warlord thought, Ritalso cares about those around him, and because of that, it was easy to take advantage of him. Plus, it wasn’t like Chen and her father got along. My niece was always lording herself over Ritalso, bossing him around and making him do things. She was more a parent to him than he was to her.
Still surprised at her reaction, the warlord recalled the shock on Chen’s face when he’d told her about her father’s supposed disappearance. He thought, I didn’t realize she’d take it so hard. Why would Chen care that such a weakling had come up missing? She never listened to him anyway.
Without Chen’s knowledge, Lord Daegal had imprisoned Ritalso in the Monastery Castle hoping to keep his brother out of the way. Ritalso had been resisting Lord Daegal who’d wanted to turn Chen into a disturbed young woman with a violent temper.
After having Ritalso quietly and secretly kidnapped, Lord Daegal had repeatedly preyed upon the teenage girl. And so, feeling abandoned by her father and being assaulted by her uncle, Chen was pushed beyond the breaking point, and she’d become consumed by anger and hatred, which was exactly what Lord Daegal had wanted to happen. The warlord knew that such dark emotions were required if Chen was to win Crystal’s acceptance for the evil sword thrived on women who were deeply disturbed and extremely negative.
Lord Daegal had counted on Crystal being unable to resist the opportunity to be inherited by Chen who was in the direct line of succession. Glenitant had no children, and Chen was her only niece making the black leather panther the sole heir. Crystal could have decided to skip a generation waiting for another girl child to be born, but with Chen being so filled with dark thoughts and feelings, Crystal was only too eager to accept her.
However, Lord Daegal was upset that he needed Chen at all, though there was good reason why the warlord needed her help. On several occasions, he’d tried unsuccessfully to take Crystal from Glenitant, but the old witch had always proven to be a more difficult opponent than he’d expected.
But now that Chen had inherited Crystal, Lord Daegal was hoping his niece’s lack of experience wielding the dark sword would enable him to ride over the mountain with his army and take the sword from her. Blinded by his desire for power, Lord Daegal had refused to believe the truth, that only a woman could wield the dark sword effectively, even though the same was true of Baelfire, her half-sister.
And so, after years of planning and plotting, the warlord was riding down the mountain trail into Crystal Valley, but he still couldn’t understand why his niece was resisting.
“I’ll never allow Chen to keep Crystal Castle, but she could live here,” he said thinking out loud while marveling at the castle’s incredible beauty. More than just a fortress, it truly was an architectural masterpiece.
He smiled and thought, Of course, I’d want to visit her at night to confer. Then, laughing out loud, he shouted, “And confer and confer and confer!”
Somehow, it had never occurred to Lord Daegal that assaulting his niece repeatedly over the years, along with kidnapping her father, would make Chen want Crystal Castle as her own for a safe haven. Being so focused on turning Chen into a woman Crystal would want, Lord Daegal had forgotten to take into account what so much emotional damage would cause Chen to want.
However, once ag
ain, Lord Daegal thought about how good it would feel to have Chen back in a more subservient role. The warlord still didn’t understand, and he never would, which is why Chen was determined to keep Crystal Castle for herself or die trying.
But Lord Daegal’s ambitions went beyond his desire to possess Crystal, the dark sword, and Crystal Castle.
He thought, If I can get Crystal and also be present during the transformation of Aerylln, Baelfire and Zorya into the Trinity, I might be able to inject some of Crystal’s malignant evil into those three, and then Crystal’s hold on them would be substantial.
“And I’ll be holding Crystal!” Lord Daegal shouted. “I’ll finally have the undisputed power I’ve always wanted!”
Still, it angered him that his lack of preparation had allowed Chen to send those wolfhounds at his men. But he was about to get even angrier.
Watching in disbelief, Lord Daegal saw Chen and her warrior women pouring out of Crystal Castle and storming into the ranks of his army, an army already made jittery from the wolfhound attack.
The warlord watched in dismay as his infantry began scattering in all directions, ending up in total disarray.
As the warriors closest to him shifted nervously in their saddles, Lord Daegal realized he had failed them. Thus far in this campaign, he’d proven to be a poor leader and was being bested, and sorely embarrassed, by his niece. Scores of his warriors were dying down below on the valley floor, and it was his fault.
“You’ll pay for this, Chen! You’ll pay!” Lord Daegal screamed in frustration.
Chapter 30
Chen’s warrior women charged through the castle’s entrance their jaws set, their eyes hard and their stallions’ hooves thundering on the stone pavement. It was a display of power that would intimidate anyone, including Marcheto who was sitting on the courtyard floor, leaning against a wall and nursing his wounds. Aerylln, hovering protectively, was standing nearby.
