by Rocky Bills
Basilea and I were very busy at our end of the field. Three attackers came at me at once. Fulk eliminated one with an arrow shot to the throat. I blocked a sword cut with my axe, pivoted, and spun to the right. With a strong blow with my kukri blade, held in my left hand, I chopped his leg off above the knee. The third man was almost on me. I sheathed my kukri and grabbed a quoits from my pouch with my left hand. When he swiped at me with his sword, I trapped it behind one of my axe blades, spun all the way around one revolution to the right, and cut the jugular vein in his neck with the edge of the quoits.
I looked at Basilea and sensed something was wrong; she wasn’t moving well. She had multiple attackers coming at her, so I threw the quoits overhead, sinking it deeply into one of her attackers’ stomach. Basilea took on the other two attackers. With her left hand, she threw a death star, which severed one man’s jugular vein. With a swift upward flash of her katana, she severed the last man’s arm. With an adjustment, she made a downward flash, and his other arm fell to the ground. After her last movement, she stumbled, but quickly steadied herself. Then I noticed what was wrong, she had a shaft sticking all the way through one thigh. I yelled to Fulk, “Arbalest in the trees!” I pointed with my axe to the general direction I thought the sniper would be. Just then, I saw a bolt launch from a tree. I yelled to Basilea, “Bolt!” and pointed at it with my axe. She was able to react and actually chopped the bolt in two with her katana.
Ox yelled out from his tree, “Fulk, get the sniper, ya gots thirty seconds, that be what takes ta wind one. And cover Basilea, she’s bolt shot.”
Fulk yelled out, “I can’t get the angle.”
“Change position! I can’t help ya!”
With two arrows in his teeth and his bow over his shoulder, Fulk lowered himself on a rope, upside down. Wrapping one ankle around the rope, he used the other foot to steady himself by bracing it against the bottom of the tree limb. In a few seconds, Fulk had an arrow notched and sent it to a tree 100 feet away, and a few seconds later, a body fell to the ground. Fulk yelled out, “I got the bastard.” Just then, Fulk saw something that made his heart skip a beat. A second bolt launched from a tree farther down. Frantically, he yelled, “BOLT!”
Basilea was busy with two attackers. I was trying to get to her but got stopped twice and had to fight. Basilea ended one attacker and was dealing with the other one when I heard Fulk yell, “BOLT!” My whole body turned red-hot, as I felt helpless to do anything, I watched the bolt strike Basilea high in the left side of her back. Basilea screamed and fell to her knees. Her attacker saw her go down and raised his blade to deliver the death blow. She jumped to her feet in a fluid motion and shoved her katara under his jaw and through to his brain, where she twisted it from side to side. She released her fist on the dagger and fell to her knees. I was under attack, but without taking my eyes from her, I deflected the thrust with my kukri and sank my axe deep in the middle of his head. Fulk notched his second arrow and shot. The scream and the falling body confirmed the kill. Fulk hung upside down, staring at Basilea. Time seemed to move in slow motion. Basilea reached in her shirt and pulled out her locket. She opened it and looked at the engraving. She looked at me with her deep emerald eyes and made a kiss with her mouth. She went pale and blank-faced as she fell over, still clutching the locket.
Ox yelled out, “Fulk, report!”
Fulk replied, “I got the second sniper. I, I was, I was too late!” Hanging upside down, tears rolled down his forehead, falling to the ground as he yelled, “Second sniper killed Basilea!”
Bells let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell to her hands and knees next to Goodwin. Screaming hysterically, she threw up on the grass in front of her. Barely conscious, Goodwin reached over and grabbed her arm, holding it firmly. Bells covered his hand with her other one. Ox yelled, “Get yer arse back in position. Cover Gamel! NOW!”
After the announcement of Basilea’s death, the cry of “Kill them all!” was heard frequently. The guard fought with renewed energy. Screamer’s song played more quickly. When things seemed their worst, a truly horrible thing happened. A second wave of attackers appeared along the treeline. Ox yelled, “Second wave comin', prepare yerself.” What he really thought was, This be the end, then. Ox counted twenty, and more coming.
I looked at the incoming wave attack and thought, Good, good, I end this now. I want the pain to end! Basilea lies dead thirty feet from me, and those who can end my pain will soon be here. Why wait? Let’s meet them halfway! My heart raced. It knew and objected to the fact that I would have it stop shortly. A light pink haze covered my eyes, making everything appear in tones of pink. I turned toward the attackers and ran. It felt strange. I was running fast, but everything had slowed down around me. I holstered my kukri and found my last quoits in the pouch. No reason to hurry, the attackers moved so slow, it seemed I had forever. I launched the quoits from shoulder level as hard as I could. I wanted to see a head fall. I was rewarded a moment later when the quoits sliced through a neck and lodged in the face of another man behind the first.
Ox yelled, “Fulk, cover Gamel!”
“Gamel, get out of there!” Fulk bellowed.
“He can’t hear ya, lad,” Ox hollered back. “He been taken by da blood rage; just cover 'im!”
I twirled my axe once, releasing the wrist strap, and grabbed it with my left hand. With my right hand, I grabbed a death star and threw it into a man’s eye socket. I reached with my right hand and clasped a throwing knife. I threw it into another man’s forehead. Still, the attackers moved slowly while I moved quickly.
Ox watched as Gamel made his run for death. He had seen this before. Gamel’s pain would be over soon enough. The next thing Ox saw almost shook him out of his tree. Demon was racing down the treeline, screeching the horrible battle cry of a stallion. Through flared nostrils, massive quantities of air were sucked in and expelled with a mist of moisture. Totally lathered and screeching with rage, Demon was the perfect picture of insanity in a horse. Without slowing, he plowed right through the black-robed attackers. Bodies were sent in every direction. He literally ran over anyone in his path as he headed straight for Gamel. While plowing down the enemy, Demon turned his head and grabbed one of the black-robed men by the shoulder and took him along. He bit down viciously, crushing bones. The man stabbed at Demon, opening a deep gash in his neck. Demon kept his speed while giving a violent head shake, snapping the man’s back, and threw him away. The crumpled mass hit a tree twenty feet away and slid to the ground. Demon continued crushing through the invaders. He reached out and picked up another one. With a violent shake, he tossed the corpse over his shoulder.
Fulk covered Gamel from his tree limb. He held the bow, with his left arm positioned to shoot. With his right hand, he notched and shot arrows. The procedure was like a machine. Fulk was shooting at an amazing rate. The only thing that slowed him was judging for distance, elevation, and tracking ahead. Fulk reached for his next arrow and found his huge quiver empty. Without hesitation, he slid down the rope and hit the ground, running toward Gamel. His arms pumping, he held his short sword in his right hand and his bow in his left. He was almost to Gamel when Demon streaked by with a screaming man in his jaws.
I was still running. My last throwing weapon was used. I put the big battle-axe in my right hand and twirled it once to engage the wrist strap. I drew my kukri in my left hand. I was ready now. I found a group of eight attackers coming directly for me. This should do nicely. I turned and ran at them yelling, “KILL THEM ALL!” They were right in front of me, then something black and quick simply swept them away. They were no longer there. Now I had to find some new ones. Something was beside me, and I looked at it. “Demon?” Demon answered with a horrible squeal. I said, “They killed Basilea, Demon. Let’s kill them all!” Demon answered with a stallion's battle scream. He rose up on his hind legs and gave another bloodcurdling scream, and we ran toward the next group of attackers together.
Ox had almost recovered from Demon’s arri
val. Having shot his last arrow, he was taking another look before joining the ground battle when rocked by another arrival through the trees. Even in Ox’s tree, the vibrations could be felt as Mildred’s massive frame thundered through the newly re-formed ranks of the attackers. She plowed them down like cornstalks. On her back was a brightly dressed Gypsy swinging a curved four-foot blade, yipping like a rabid dog. He was finding his mark as he swung from side to side, chopping and slicing. Mildred picked up one screaming man and held on to him while Ivan split his skull with his blade. She threw away the corpse like a leaf and headed straight for Gamel and Demon, simply crushing anything in her way. When Mildred and Ivan had just about mowed down a path to Gamel, Fulk came running up next to them, chopping with his short blade and slashing with his bow. When they were almost to Gamel and Demon, Ivan jumped to his feet on Mildred’s back and began twirling something above his head. It looked like two iron balls with a rope between them. He made four revolutions and let the contraption fly. It made contact with a very surprised attacker. After one revolution around the man’s neck, he tried to get his fingers under the rope. The metal balls quickly tied his fingers to his neck in the next revolution. On the third revolution, the rope ran out, and the iron balls crashed into the man’s skull, killing him. After observing this exhibition, Ox said to himself, “I gots ta get me ones a them.” Ready to slide down his rope, Ox heard the one hundred angry, screaming men who had been ordered to stand by at the barracks running to the battlefield. Thank God, he thought, we goin' ta live. He yelled down from his perch, “Lieutenant Renald, have half yer men reinforce ta defense perimeter here. Send ta other half farther down ta Gamel.”
Renald barked, “A and B Company, here with me, Sergeant Odo, take C and D Company to the other end of the field. KILL THEM ALL!”
The men all roared their battle cry. Half the men moved off at a run, and the others fortified the tired guards. The perimeter was expanded to one hundred feet, with just Bells, Goodwin, and lots of dead inside the circle. Bells was back on her feet with her katana in the ready position. Renald joined Terric outside the perimeter, ready to thin down the numbers reaching the main defenses. Terric looked at Renald and said, “What took you so long?”
Renald replied, “Someone forgot to tell us where the party was taking place! Now that I’m here, I wish I had my long sword.”
“Here, use mine. I’m too tired to swing it anymore.”
Renald swung it around over his head and Screamer sang its horrible song. “That’s hateful! I like it!” Renald said with a sinister smile. Right after that, they engaged a group of attackers.
Ox yelled out from his tree, “You men stay out of Gamel’s way. He got the blood fever bad. Ya get inta 'is way, he’ll cut ya down!”
After he finished speaking, the kitchen ladies arrived armed with short swords and daggers. Ox thought, Now we gots to look after women on ta battlefield. First insane horses an yelping Gypsies, now women; God save us.
Ox yelled out, “You kitchen wenches fight how I taught ya, or you be gettin' ya teats cut off. Get in ya wolf packs ta hunts!”
The women quickly formed into groups of four each and started hunting invaders. They soon were engaged and men were dropping. The wolf packs moved on to find others. When two or more men were found together, other packs joined in, surrounding the men. They began slicing and stabbing from all directions. Ox yelled down to Terric, “By God, da ya see ma fierce kitchen wenches? They cun fight all day an' come home and cook their own celebration feast, they can!”
Terric and the other men laughed as they continued to fight off attackers. Ox could feel the pounding vibrations through the great tree he perched in. The sound of war cries and clashing of metal was next. Ox yelled out, “Incoming, mounted cavalry a pushin' them ta you!”
Renald barked, “Company A fall out, and form a line one hundred feet from the treeline! Runner Ira, here!” Ira was in front of him before he stopped speaking.
“Sir!”
“Get to the main house healer wing. Get them moving this way. Organize some of the folk to carry our wounded to the exhibition grounds for treatment. Set up the hospital there. Set up a temporary morgue at the training grounds, and bring water. Take two men from B Company to help you!”
“Yes, sir! Nate, Masci, on me.”
“Ira!”
“Sir!”
“Why are you—”
Before he could finish, Ira was at a full run, with two other soldiers trying to catch up with him.
Terric looked at Renald and said, “That man has some speed!”
Renald stated, “We been working together since we started soldiering. We been through at least fifty battles before we found a home. He’s never let me down. God help anyone who tries to take our home!” Terric was very impressed with Renald and the men’s resolve.
Ox was observing how things were going at the other end of the field. Company C and D had arrived. There were no lines, no organization, just a battle melee, wholesale butchering.
There is little sound now. What I hear seems far away. I know Demon is here with me. I do hear his screams sometimes. I think Fulk may be nearby somewhere. More soldiers have come; they are taking too many. They need to leave them; these are mine. No more fancy moves, no maneuvering, just run to them and crush them under my blades. If they strike me, it's okay; I will strike them harder. I will kill them all! A thing running to me with a spear, the thing moves so slowly. I wish it would get here sooner so I can end it, so slow it moves. It’s here finally. My kukri sweeps the spear away so easily. I want to take its head. My kukri is across the neck, my axe crossed to the other side, pull the blades, the head is gone. I need to find another thing to end. A thing with a sword is here. Good, I want to feel it. I sheath the kukri, block the sword upwards, my fingers gouging through the throat, pulling the throat out. Yes, that is the feel of a thing ending. I need to find another thing. I will hunt more things.
Ox yelled to the men forming a line one hundred feet from the treeline, “Here they come, prepare! Kitchen wenches stay next ta yer packmates, always fight as pack, never fight alone!” The kitchen ladies had filled the gaps in the defensive perimeter when the men fell out to form the line. Today, the women weren’t just cooks. They were covered with blood and gore, just like the men they stood next to. The attackers started to form up at the treeline while mounted soldiers prodded them forward with lance and charger. They would make a last desperate attempt to reach Bells and Goodwin. When the attackers were formed, one of them blew a horn, and they started running toward the defensive line. Within moments, great pounding vibrations were felt through the ground. Demon and Mildred were responding to the horn as if summoned to battle. They came side by side, carving a wide path through the intruder line. Riding Mildred, Ivan was alternating hand holds with his four-foot curved blade, chopping on one side, then the other. The horses were killing many men. Mildred picked up a man, shook him violently, and tossed him over her head. She ran right over another man, crushing him under her massive hooves. Demon was carrying a corpse in his mouth and using it to beat men as he ran past. He stopped to let a group of men surround him. He started kicking with his hind legs while pivoting on his front legs. Men were flying twenty feet through the air like leaves on the wind. All De Ferrier soldiers were screaming battle cries.
Renald barked, “Company A, attack!” The front line of soldiers was running to engage before he said attack. The soldiers attacked in a manner similar to that of Demon and Mildred. A thunderous clash of metal was heard as the angry soldiers plowed into the invaders.
More things are coming out of the trees; good, I like ending the things. They are different tones of pink, and they don’t belong. I will hunt now. My axe feels funny. The grip is all wrong, slippery. Ah, junk on the grip, dark red stuff, light pink, like brain. I will clean the grip.
Fulk was engaged, using his short sword in his right hand and his katara in his left. He used the heavy side braces on the fist dagger to bloc
k sword swings, striking blows with his short sword. He stayed close to Gamel, but stayed well out of his way. His best friend had gone insane with battle fever. Even his eyes were bright red, except for the pupils. He watched Gamel twirl the great axe one revolution and stick its spike in the ground. He reached down and tore the shirt off a dead man and began wiping the gore off the axe handle. An attacker ran at him with a sword. With an easy movement, Gamel stepped to the right, causing the man to miss and be off balance. With a stiff left forearm to the neck, the man was on his back in front of him. Gamel stepped on the man’s neck with his left foot. The unarmed man squirmed under the pressure, trying to escape. Gamel went back to cleaning the axe handle while the man thrashed about. When Gamel finished cleaning the grip, he wiped off his hands on the gory rag, pulled the axe out of the ground, twirled one revolution to secure the wrist strap, and started to walk away, almost forgetting about the man under his foot. As an afterthought, he stomped the man’s throat and walked towards another group of attackers.
Ah, a big group of things now; good. Now they will end me. I want it to end, end the pain. I am hollow now. The nothingness eats away at me. I will end more things before I go away. Running now, to the things. They are always so slow. I cannot wait; the nothingness will eat me before they get here. I will jump on top of them. They can cut at me then, and I will end some of them. Things are falling under me. They fall slowly. I can end them while they get up slowly. I feel cutting in my side. It doesn’t hurt, only feels like a pressure. The thing that stuck the blade in me has no arm now. I will pull the blade out. The things smell like fear, like fear and piss. I will kill all of the stinking things now.
A soldier fighting next to Fulk yelled, “What’s he doing? He can’t attack that group and live.”
