The Path of Man (The Soul Stone Trilogy Book 1)

by Matt Moss

  “Helping,” she said.

  “You’re supposed to be inside helping the injured,” he protested.

  “Nobody’s injured yet, so I figure I’ll take a few shots at these bastards.” She moved to stand beside Torin.

  Arkin marveled at her.

  Always full of surprises, he thought.

  “I didn’t know you knew how to shoot,” he said, falling in line next to her.

  “I’ve been practicing.” She shot Arkin a grin.

  “With who?” he asked.

  «’Bout time you showed up,” Cain said to Arkin, falling in next to him. “Where you been?”

  “Just out for a walk,” Arkin said, keeping his business secret. “What’s the plan?”

  “Not much to it. See how the town bottlenecks,” Cain said. Using an arrow, he pointed down the hill and to the road. “The Order was built here for a reason. Each shop is built against the cliff side. One way in, one way out.”

  He continued. “After they get inside range, we fill ‘em with arrows. The high ground will be the advantage.”

  Arkin saw hundreds of men shifting, lining the trenches. The trenches had been dug in tiers from the top of the hill to the bottom. Each was lined with thick wooden spears, daring anyone to pass.

  Ditches were dug at the bottom of the hill and filled with water, made to slow the enemy down.

  Arkin was impressed at the work done in such a short amount of time. The defense looked impenetrable, especially with thousands of arrows concentrated on the narrow entry way.

  A thought occurred to him. “What if they break through and take the hill?” he asked.

  “They won’t,” Cain said. “But if they do, we fall back inside the Lodge.”

  “But they could surround it,” Arkin noted.

  “Yes. It’s only to give everyone else enough time to fall back,” Cain replied. “There’s a path through the mountains that is used as a last case scenario. Follow the stream.”

  “You two,” Torin said. “Quiet.”

  Everyone stilled. Silent. Listening.

  The terrifying thrill took hold of Arkin as his senses scanned the road. He looked up at the cliff tops, thinking he saw movement. He squinted his eyes, focusing. He could have sworn someone just moved up there. Then something caught his eye and turned his attention from the cliff tops.

  A rider, alone on the road, came into view. He stopped short of bow range, dismounted, and slapped the horse on its hind. It snorted and galloped up the road to the Lodge. Something was tied around its neck. It ran past the shops and houses until someone at the base of the hill met it.

  The man untied the rope around the horse, then slapped it away with a sword. He held the package up for everyone to see.

  It was the Prophet’s head, eyes still open, mouth smiling.

  The Order stood in shock, seeing Torin’s words come to life. Anger seethed in Arkin’s heart.

  “Cast it aside!” Torin commanded.

  Arkin saw the rider still stood alone.

  From somewhere behind the man, a beam of light, gray with smoke, appeared from the road and shot up into the sky. A moment passed and the beam was gone.

  A thick, gray fog appeared from the road behind the man. It consumed him and moved through the town.

  “Torin,” Arkin said, to no reply.

  Arkin nervously looked at every man.

  Stubbs already had an arrow drawn back. Beside him, Bennie did the same.

  Billy, with the bow in his lap, crouched gazing down the hill. Rows of arrows waited in the ground at his feet.

  Rico held his head to the sky, his eyes closed, lips moving a prayer.

  The fog touched the men of the Order at the bottom of the hill.

  Arkin looked at Master Coll.

  The old man stood holding his bow, tip on the ground, eyes ahead. He seemed calm.

  Beside Arkin, Cain pulled an arrow back. Arkin followed suit.

  “Hold,” Torin commanded.

  Arkin looked at Lyla. They locked eyes as the fog rolled over them.

  Silence hung in the fog. Arkin focused on his breath, attempting to push away the fear and anxiety.

  The stillness was broken by what sounded like hundreds of men at a dead run. A war cry broke out, ushering the clash of wood and steel. The front line, having traded their bows for steel, were now engaged with the enemy.

  “Come on, you bastards!” Stubbs cried out and loosed an arrow.

  Torin glared at Stubbs through the fog. “I said hold!”

  Bennie loosed.

  “Damn it all,” Torin cursed. “Aim over our men. Loose!” He bellowed.

  Arkin let the arrow fly alongside hundreds of others. He pulled another, notched, and released.

  “Come get some,” he said to himself, firing away.

  As he drew another arrow, he glanced at Torin beside him. The big man moved in a blur, letting three arrows fly in the time it had taken Arkin to fire one.

  The sound of combat began to fade.

  “Hold,” Torin’s voice boomed.

  The killing had stopped as silence hung in the fog.

  War cries of victory came from the front line.

  With a break in the fighting, Arkin noticed the surge of adrenaline coursing through his body.

  “Is it over?” he asked Torin.

  “Not by a sight,” Torin replied. “Victor is sending them in waves.”

  No sooner than Torin finish the words, another wave, much larger than the first, came carrying a war cry.

  “You hear that, men!?” Torin yelled. “That’s the sound of a thousand men. Give em’ Hell!”

  The Order gave a resounding call of war.

  “Get ready,” Torin told Arkin.

  Again, the death clash sounded at the front line.

  “Loose!” Torin commanded.

  Arkin let fly. Reaching for his next arrow, he heard something hiss by his head. More followed, and he heard Bennie cry out in the fog.

  “Shields!” Torin yelled.

  Arkin dropped and quickly guarded himself by picking up the oaken shield that lie at his feet. He crouched behind it just before an arrow sunk into the wood.

  “Damn,” Cain said, crouching behind a shield beside him. “Aren’t you lucky.”

  Arkin shook his head and smiled. Never before had he felt more alive.

  The arrows let up, but the fighting still continued at the front line.

  Bennie howled in pain.

  “Stubbs, get him to Arze,” Torin ordered. “Rico, Coll, torches!”

  Rico and Master Coll ran into the Lodge, returning with fire and arrows. The tips were wrapped in hemp and soaked in boiled tar.

  Coll handed the torch to Arkin. Rico and the Master of Arms notched the arrows, lit, then loosed.

  Two streaks of flame shot through the fog. They found their marks.

  The shops on both sides of the road sputtered flames before becoming engulfed. The buildings had been soaked with tar the day before.

  A chain reaction occurred as each shop went up in flames. It was Rico’s idea to run a rope, soaked in tar, from building to building.

  It worked. Screams filled the air as the blazes lit up the fog.

  “Formation!” Torin boomed out.

  A runner came up the hill to report. “Sir, first line is broken,” he said. “The whole place is littered with bodies.”

  “What’s the numbers?” Torin asked.

  “Hard to tell with the fog. One hundred of ours, maybe a thousand of them. The ditches are full of the bastards!”

  “You know what to do,” Torin said. “Fortify it the best you can and fall back to the next line. The blaze should give us some time.”

  “Yes, sir.” the man said, then ran back down the hill.

  Arkin crouched, thankful for the break. His body burned from pulling the bow.

  “Cain, Arkin, take as many bundles of arrows as you can carry and resupply the lines.” Torin said.

  “C’mon,” Cain said a
nd slapped Arkin on the back.

  After the two made their way down the hill, Rico grabbed what arrows were left for everyone up top.

  The fog began to lift.

  “How many we got left, Rico?” Torin asked.

  “With what those two took, and these,” Rico said, dropping two bundles, “less than half.”

  Stubbs walked, stone like, out of the Lodge.

  Injured men began to flow up the hill; some carried, some on their own.

  Lyla met them at the door. “Inside. There’s beds on the right,” she said, guiding them in.

  “How’s Ben?” Torin asked Stubbs, standing beside him.

  “Doc said it went through his liver,” Stubbs numbly replied. “He’s not going to make it.”

  “Don’t say that!” Torin said, placing a hand on Stubbs’s shoulder. “He’ll make it.”

  Stubbs’s face transformed to pure hate, his eyes fixed ahead.

  The fog lifted, revealing Victor and his entire army, poised to attack.

  Arkin and Cain resumed their positions as Victor gave the command to march. Thousands of shields flowed in front of the High Priest, filling the road between the burning buildings.

  “Well,” Rico said then spat, “at least now we can see who we’re fighting.”

  “Make ready!” Torin ordered.

  Arkin scrambled for his bow.

  “Loose!”

  A dark cloud flew at the invaders — the rain of death. The arrows crashed against the shields. The carapace of wood and metal covered the entirety of the moving beast. Only a handful of men fell.

  Another volley flew and was met with the same limited success.

  “Shit,” Torin cursed under his breath.

  As arrows kept flying, Stubbs dropped his bow and took a step down the hill.

  “Stubbs, don’t,” Torin called.

  Stubbs pulled a great sword from behind his back as he continued down.

  “Stubbs!” Torin said, then moved after him. Coll caught Torin by the shoulder. “Let him go,” he said.

  Torin cursed and loosed another arrow.

  The attackers reached the hill and climbed over corpses and mud to meet the second line. Shields were traded for swords as hand to hand combat resumed. Anyone who wasn’t engaged with the Order held their shields up to guard against the onslaught of arrow fire.

  Arkin noticed Victor in the back giving orders and talking to a huge man beside him. His commander perhaps.

  Arkin aimed at the High Priest and released, knowing he was well out of range. Reaching for another arrow, he noticed Stubbs. He met an attacker with such ferocity that his first swing cut the man in two. His giant sword moved effortlessly, cutting through leather and bone.

  A kick sent a man flying as Stubbs ducked a slash and cut another’s leg off. Screams and blood flowed around him. Arkin noticed the invaders push up the hill as the line began to break along the flanks.

  “They’re breaking!” Rico called out.

  Before Torin could respond, Rico had begun running down the hill.

  “Screw it,” Cain said, dropped his bow, and followed suit.

  Arkin dropped his bow and reached for his sword.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Torin growled at Arkin, eyes on the battlefield.

  Arkin’s instinct was to protest, but he held his place and reclaimed the bow.

  He heard a yell among the noise of battle, scanned the hill, and saw Stubbs with a blade stuck through his arm. The big man pulled the dagger free as the invaders closed in around him. He cut down man after man, but Arkin noticed him slowing.

  A man charged behind Stubbs’s back, sword held high.

  Rico checked the blow, then ran his sword through. He pulled the blade free as the man fell, spun, and cut the guts from another.

  Stubbs turned to find Rico.

  “You stubborn bastard,” Rico said.

  “I got tired of fighting with sticks,” Stubbs said. He was a vision of horror, white eyes among a body covered with blood and gore.

  A man came at Stubbs, swinging wildly. Stubbs caught his wrist with one hand and punched the man in the face. After he fell, unconscious, Stubbs turned back to Rico.

  Rico shook his head and pulled the second sword from behind his back. His blades became a blur as his feet danced. Blood soaked the ground from anyone who dared to test him and his dance of death.

  Seeing Stubbs and Rico fight off the horde, the Order from the other lines dropped their bows and ran to join the fray.

  “Stay in formation!” Torin boomed.

  The ones who could hear Torin remained, but most were already gone.

  “It’s too late,” Master Coll said. “The blood lust has them.”

  “Damn it to hell!” Torin cursed.

  Arkin watched on as Stubbs and Rico continued to make corpses. Cain was off to their side, holding his own. Billy was off to the other, dropping bodies left and right.

  Arkin hadn’t even noticed Billy leave.

  Arkin saw Jamesh crawling up the hill, blood covered and leg broken. Arkin dropped the bow and ran.

  “Arkin!” Torin called.

  “Be right back,” he yelled back, running.

  Arkin ran to Jamesh and helped him up. He cried in pain as Arkin carried him up the hill. Inside the Lodge, Arkin looked for Lyla. All he could see was injured, bleeding men, lying all over the place.

  He assisted Jamesh to an empty space on the floor and eased him down.

  “I’ll get help, hold on.” Arkin said.

  Jamesh nodded and laid his head down.

  After a moment Arkin found Lyla. Her arms strained from pushing on a man’s chest. Whatever she was doing didn’t work and she stepped away. She was in shock, her eyes wide as she looked at her blood soaked hands. Her hair had become matted, and sweat rolled from her brow across her pale skin.

  “Lyla,” Arkin said and held her arm.

  After a second she realized he was there. “I can’t do this.” She spaced the words and stared at the carnage. “It’s too much. There’s no way to prepare for something like this.”

  “You’re doing your best,” Arkin consoled her. “You’re doing great, Lyla. None of us can prepare for something like this.”

  She looked into his eyes with love and pressed herself to him. They held each other.

  After a moment she spoke. “I have to go.”

  “I know,” he said as her hand slipped away.

  “Please see to Jamesh,” Arkin said. “He’s in the other room.” She nodded, turned, and left.

  Arkin made his way outside. He saw the Order winning the fight. The enemy forces had dwindled and were being pushed back.

  He also saw a third of Victor’s army, at least a thousand men, lie in wait, reserved from the fight.

  He then saw Victor hold both hands to the sky as two green beams of light shot into the air, a brown wind swirling around them.

  “Get back!” Arkin yelled.

  It was too late.

  The ground began to shake.

  Victor extended his arms, focusing on the cliffs to the left and right. Rocks began to crumble and fall.

  “Run!” Arkin yelled.

  Near the cliffs, Billy and Cain both quickly finished their foe and began to scramble up the hill, dodging the falling earth.

  Stubbs and Rico were still engaged in battle.

  A cracking sound like thunder broke the air as both cliffs shattered and began to collapse. A wave of rock and dust rolled into the hill from both sides.

  Billy and Cain made it to the top just in time to see the destruction.

  Stubbs and Rico both ran up the hill as stone and dust closed in around them. Both were soul tapped, moving at incredible speed, but it wasn’t enough. The avalanche took them.

  “No!” Arkin cried out as the remaining members of the Order looked on in shock.

  The hill, trenches, and bodies, were all buried under stone and earth. The bottleneck defense of the Grand Highlands had been broken.<
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  Victor stood, nearly collapsed, chest heaving. His army spread out wide and began to traverse the new-made hill.

  Fear gripped Arkin like never before. As he watched the horde come up the hill he saw something move in the middle.

  Rocks lifted and rolled as Stubbs emerged from the stony grave. A man charged at him, aiming to run him through.

  Torin’s arrow caught the man in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Stubbs rose, turned to face Victor, and picked up the fallen man’s sword.

  He walked down the hill as the enemy came at him.

  Turning, Arkin noticed Torin and Master Coll loosing arrows like never before. The remaining men of the Order were firing as well. He yelled, notched an arrow, and let it fly. Some screamed, but most dropped dead from the hail of arrows. Hundreds died in a matter of moments.

  Stubbs engaged two men as bodies fell around him, littered with quills.

  “I’m out!” Cain yelled.

  “Me too,” Coll said.

  Cain rallied a group of men. “Let’s go!” he said, urging to help Stubbs.

  “No,” Torin commanded. “We need to hold formation here.”

  “But he’s gonna die!” Cain said.

  Torin jerked him by the arm. “You think I don’t know that? If we fail, everyone in there dies,” Torin said, pointing at the Lodge.

  Cain gritted his teeth, but knew Torin was right. All they could do was watch.

  The horde surrounded Stubbs and moved past him.

  Arkin picked up his sword, waiting for the attackers to meet them. He watched Stubbs cut a path towards Victor. Twenty men surrounded him and began to close in.

  Stubbs soul tapped.

  Bodies flew as twenty men lay dead, scattered about Stubbs. He ran at Victor with a bloodlust cry.

  The big man beside Victor stepped out to meet Stubbs. They clashed, both men moving at incredible speed. Stubbs fell to the ground, rose, and fought on only to fall again.

  Arkin, along with the rest of the Order, watched intensely.

  Arkin noticed the horde was almost at them.

  Stubbs got up slowly and charged with a roar. Swords clashed, but Arkin noticed Stubbs movements slowed.

  Suddenly, Stubbs spun fast and faced the hill. He took a couple small steps before his sword slipped from his hand. Blood began to pour from his neck as he looked up at the Order.

  The big man, demon-like, walked behind Stubbs and ran a sword through his back and out his chest.