by Sam Sea
Two wildmen came through the door toward the spit, seemed looking for their seconds.
Instead of human flash, they were met with the woodman’s enraged roar and his sword which rose high up in the air before coming down on top of the nearest of them, splitting his head in half like he was made of straw. Ronnich didn't even bother to pull his sword out, but there, stuck in the wildman's body, he lifted it all up and pushed it through the chest of the second wildmen who stood dumbfounded behind.
He did not feel anything then other than the pure rage, not even the arrow which shoot an inch by his ear as he found the target inside the burned-down house.
"I'll kill you all!" he screamed as he raced forward.
All priests and their guards simultaneously took to bows and arrows that flew the very next second stopped five of the crackers before they closed half of the distance.
"Form the defensive line with the wagons! Horses, untied and take them back… save them!" The Grand Master yelled orders, and they half-mooned their three wagons and used them as a protective wall.
The black wave of wildmen came at them at once, from all sides. It was manic, disorganized attack, with bewildered men who ran at them as fast as they could. Arrows stopped them just as fast. It seemed that Derran had trained his guards well for almost each one of them found its target, and for those who did not fall down on the first shot, soon three more pierced their chests.
Mikka took one of spare bows and shoot as well, finding their throats and hearts, in a constant motion which could almost hardly be seen by a human eye, not allowing most of them to even make their spears fly.
"You stay inside the wagon!" she told Les when all her arrows were gone, but he would have none of it. He climbed on top of it, and with Mikka's old crossbow joined her. It took time to load a crossbow, but he did it at the speeds which surprised even himself.
Mikka didn't stay in the protection of the bowman for a very long. She flew behind the first house, and her sword cut off the head of a wildmen who tried to meet her. The steal of her blade was too fast and too strong, and exes the one wildman had broke to pieces as it met it, less than a second before his head did the same. She then danced between two of them, slicing off one leg right at the knee as if it was a twig, while the other found his heart sliced in two.
Most of them had no armor, and leather they used to cover themselves us was just unable to stop the tip of Mikka's blade as she went on to carve through them.
When five of them try to circle her, she ran, and sprung to the window of the cottage, flipped her whole body in the air, and cut two of the wildmen who stood dumbfounded in a sing stroke. The others stood their ground a second too long and lost heads.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Ronnich plowing through the wildmen with his long sword, and arrows. A few of them were ready to target him with their spears, but Mikka's knives flew through the air and soon three of them lay dead or dying.
Derran and the group did not sit idle either. As the attackers ranks dwindled, they slowly moved forward, holding the line and shooting those that decided to hide away. Les got off the cart and with two short blades in his hand, he entered each house looking for those who decided not to come out. But hiding did not seem to be their way, and as soon as any of the wildman would see them, they would attack with their inhuman screams announcing their intent.
Les stretched his body and did his own dance among them, his two sword slicing and dicing anything in their way.
"Hey, I told you to guard the prince..." Mikka called on to him as they made it toward the end of the village.
"I could not resist... I just had to see how you do it, you know?"
Mikka just shook her head, and drops of blood flew off it. "Go back to the boy. Derran thinks that he is important. I have this."
As they made all the way through the village without any wounded or dead, Derran stooped and looked to the forest which covered their way forward. "They may attack further up. So, while we are here in the clearance and can see them coming, I want four teams of three archers. One stay and guard the coach. The other three go and pick all the arrows we shot out. The way things are going, we may need all of them really soon. Work in haste for they may come back at anytime."
Mikka went back to the wagons. There was a water there that would clean her face and hands of blood.
She heard whispers of priests and guards still in shock. "They most of all like to eat little girls and babies...they say their meat is softest."
When she was all drenched clean, she saw the old priest approach her. "Do you understand why we need order now? You may not think so, may think that rules are not important, that people might be free to do whatever they want… but we are all two steps away from this..." Derran met Mikka's eyes.
"I know this, so stop trying to teach me," Mikka said with sadness netted into her voice..."I saw this on too much on Pluk."
Ronnich and Lord Eirnar joined them. "This was just a scout party."
"What are they doing this south? They've never came this far." Ronnich could not understand.
"This was not a scout party... I am afraid… This might be just a decoy. Suddenly the wildmen became very smart, so it seems.... They attacked here so the king sends his troops further up north. But I bet that the main body of attackers are positioned to strike the very heart of the kingdom, on the opposite side.”
“We need to warn the king."
“He is probably in Three Rivers now…”
Mikka instantly thought about Silent, about what they would do to her."We need to go there now. Ask for any kind of help. But get us there now!"
As they brought their horses back and leashed them back to the wagons, they were ready to leave.
"Is it just me, or do these wildmen look even worse than those we killed yesterday?" Les asked them as he pulled one of them off the road.
“You are right… their forehead seemed to have grown, and their muscles too… skin seemed to be going dark around their shoulders…see?” Lord Eirnar was saying.
“Have you ever seen anything like that before?” Ronnich asked
"No, I never did" Les had to admit. Their bodies seemed to be even more broad shouldered, packed with muscles. Some of them were so strong that needed three arrows to bring them down. But the worst were their faces with unnatural stares full of hate and anger that death had frozen.
None of the priests dared say anything.
"Is this some kind of magic, Grand Master?” Ronnich asked. "I thought wildmen before and rode through their country, killed hundreds of them. But I never seen any like these... And they all look the same. I've known men to eat others, but not like these... Not when there is so much food around. They could have slaughtered that cattle over there if they wanted meat. It seems like... some kind of dark magic, priest. And I certainly would like to know about it."
"I’ve never seen this before, " the grand master answered. "Upticus? How about you?"
The other priest dressed in white shook his head in denial.
"What the hell is going on here then? It seems like they all went mad."
"They are monsters who killed my uncle, and…" The little prince, who finally stepped out of the carriage stopped himself from finishing his thought aloud.
"You need to go back inside the car. It's not safe here. A spear can come down raining on us any moment, and what would you do then?" One of the priests told him.
"They are monsters, I'm telling you... my uncle was wrong after all, they are not men."
"No, your uncle was right... Wildmen are men, and these here... Look how their flash has turned dark on some places?" They turned the closest of the attacker around, and saw his naked abdominal area all black.
"This might be some type of disease... " The old priest said after examine few more of the fallen bodies. "But of what kind, I do not know..."
Everyone got very silent then,
“Don't touch them with your hands..." He warned Les as he turned one arou
nd, and took his arrow out of his throat.
“We won’t drink water from here…” Derran told them as they slowly started to go down to exit the village. “It might have been spoiled with the disease or whatever this had done to them…”
Mikka took a horse, and as they all watched the carnage around them, she rode next to Derran.
"I have to say I am very surprised,” she said in a quiet voice.
“You became so much more than a sword master…”
“Is that all I was to you?” he answered her.
“No… You know you were not. And I won’t start about that, not now. But here, oh boy… everyone looks at you for an answer. You are but a god to them, huh? I can see it clearly. In a way, you control the religion. You can teach them anything you want to. If you choose to say that this planet is the center of the universe, they will believe you. If you choose to tell them that there is no life anywhere else and that you are god who came from heavens who can give them life or death, they would believe you... So, the only question is, why are you doing all of these? Is it the power you love? Power over their lives? Over a whole land? Is that what it is?"
“Would you believe me if I told you?”
“Derran, I am not sure you know yourself… I mean, you might have fouled them, you might have even fouled yourself to think you are doing the right thing, but I… I see you finally for what you are… And before this is all over, you and I are going to talk.”
Chapter 15 - The Witch
They did not make it was out of village when one of their riders raised their hands and called them over. Lord Eirnar rode to see what it was all about.
"Hey, come and see this." He called them to come behind one of the burned down homes on the far left side of the village. The woman was chained there, to the ground like a dog, her brown, rough rags clearly showing she was not from the village. Dark, long and messy hair which was obviously never washed, even less brushed covered her eyes and half of her face.
"What are you looking at, horse-lovers?" she greeted them with a growling voice.
"A wildwoman in chains? Isn't this a sight to see?" Lord Eirnar said as he jumped off his horse, and moved toward her with a sword already drown.
"Wait!" Derran commanded. “We will not kill what we don’t have to…”
Lord Eirnar turned around and gave him inquisitive look. “After everything they’ve done?”
“Look at her face,” Les commented from behind. “Her face looks… almost normal.”
“Yes, butt-ugly, but yeah… normal,” Ronnich said.
"Who are you?" Derran asked and moved close to her. "And why are you in chains?"
She hissed as a snake toward Derran, moving away from them as much as the chain let her.
"Speak fast, or his sword will speak for you."
She looked at Lord Eirnar’s sword and his eager-full face, and thought better not to keep her mouth shut. "I am Wanda, the woman of the Old Oak-Double Tree..."
"You are too young to be a witch, and, it seems too stupid as well…since you've been chained, so..."
“Yes, some say I'm a witch, some say...other things. Your men did not chain me. Mine did "
"Why?"
"Maybe I didn’t like what was happening, maybe I told them not to do what they were doing… So they chained me to shut me up and get rid of me."
"What is it that you maybe didn’t like?"
"This is not our way, regardless of what you think... This is all your fault to begin with.”
“You are the second person to say that… Explain, explain fast for we have no time to waste on you!” The grating voice of the old man made even nervous horses stand still.
“These used to be my people, some called us madmen from Irtria. But we were never that man. And ever since one of you horse-lovers went there to talk to them, they became even more mad than they normally are... He first send gold to them, then iron like we never had before, swords and daggers... Then he brought wine which men drank, than the fruits and food, and more they ate and drank, more crazy they became. Their face changed, their bodies became monstrous! They started to eat everything in their way… And it's all your horse-lovers fault!|
"Have you actually seen this horse-lover that went to your Irtria?"
The woman nodded her head. "Welda sees everything... Welda knows everything."
"What did he looked like?"
"Well, he had two ears and..."
"Did he have two eyes as well, and a head on top of his shoulders?" Les teased her.
"Don't mock me boy! You haven’t learn your lessons yet, have you?" Her hissing might have scared a little boy, but Les was still laughing at her.
"Would you be able to recognize this man if you ever see him again?"
"Of course I would... The face of evil you never forget." the woman answered instantly, seeing her chance to continue living longer. "Sure I could... I can tell you right now, two headed eagle was on his chest..."
Ronnich and the old man exchanged looks and turned their eyes to the prince sitting in the carriage.
"Just let me go out of these chains, and I'll come with you wherever you go."
Derran thought about it for a second, and then use his sword to break her chain form the ground. But as soon as he did it, she screamed words that meant nothing to them all, then wrapped herself in her robe, and the fog rose around her. It almost looked like the same thing Derran did to Mikka a few days back.
They all pulled out their weapons, waiting for the worst. Silence hanged in suspension, but then the moment passed and the fog cleared enough that they could not see Welda anywhere.
"Where were you going?" Mikka’s shout from two houses down reached them, and then a slap that a piece of a wood would make if cracked across someone’s head. Seconds later, Mikka appeared carrying the unconscious woman over the back of her horse.
"I guess she thought she was smart," Mikka told them. "If you want to keep her, you better watch out for her. That should not be that hard since you both seem to use same tricks. But, she is your problem now, and she better does not slow us down. I have no time to waste."
When she woke up, tied with the rope to a supply wagon, the first thing she did is zeroed in on Mikka and yelled at her. "You.. You, the one that knocked me out... I swear I'll have my vengeance on you! " She screamed and cursed at Mikka. "I’ll have it before this is all over! You will pay for hitting old Welda! Nobody hits old Welda!"
"Yeah, they just chained you down like a dog? So, I guess that’s all right." Les said as he didn't enjoy not at all anybody threatening Mikka.
But Welda didn't listen. She jumped off the wagon and as much as her rope would permit ran toward Mikka’s horse. "You-"
Mikka slapped her so hard with the palm of her gloved hand that the smack knocked her down unconscious again. "You keep on talking like that, and I'll cut that stupid tong of yours out... You really don't need it. All we want from you is to point your finger at the right person. Just go on, talk, I dare you." Mikka told her in subdued voice, not really realizing that the woman was knocked out again.
They waited for the wagon to pass her over and start pulling her before two of the priests decided to throw her body to the back of the wagon again.
When Welda got around again, she didn't say anything anymore. For a long time she stayed all crunched up in a ball, rubbing and feeling the knob on her head from time to time.
As they got next to the river. Derran stopped their horses and dismounted. "We rest here. Horses are tired. We refill our water supply here. And you, wildwoman, you go to the river and wash yourself."
"I will not!" Welda answered.
"You're smelling west than a wet, peed-on, shit-covered dog. You are going to go in that water, you will use this soap to wash yourself, or I swear I'll pay Mikka to take the skin off your back!" He commanded.
"Why pay? I'll do it for free." Mikka offered.
"Her hair needs to be dealt with too..I bet it's full of bugs."
&
nbsp; "You touch my hair and I'll dig your eyes out!" She screamed at the priest who suggested it.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. And you better let them do it, or else, I'll put a chain back on you, understand?"
Then Derran opened one of his bags and took out a clean robe. "And when you clean up, you wear this from now on, understand? As long as you are with us, you will look decent and leave your wicked ways behind..."
Welda hissed at him but thought better of not protesting.
Les was observing the old priest and how quiet he was, how at peace he was just sitting down before he decided to interrupt his calm. "Look, even if you think you can make him talk, you will never be able to get to him..."
"Why do you say that?"
"There are three roads that lead to our temple. Three roads that are being watched way before the temple itself. So, the master uses craws and knows of everyone who is coming at least a half of a day in advance... Much like your priests have used in your monastery. Yes, I’ve seen your crows, and I know you do the same thing.
"Then we won't use roads."
Les smiled. "There are training camps all around, and horse patrols controlling areas... I am telling you. He will know of your coming before you think he does. If you go there in force, with thousands hundreds of men, like some kings of the past have tried, he will slip through the tunnel of caves out to freedom, leaving behind a score or two of his expendable fighters to hold on an army. He will go to a safe house, and regroup there, and then find the way to strike at you when you least expect.
“I know that because he has done it in the past. Where is the house of Sloktor now? After them nobody dares to try what you are suggesting."
"Yes, that is very much what I expected you to say. Very honest... I appreciate that. But I was never planning to go there in force. This is exactly why there will be only five of us."
