Champions of the Apocalypse (22 page)

“Take cover!” he shouted.

The defenders did their best to crouch behind the bodies of the enemy or the wooden sections that formed parts of the bulkhead of the wagon. It was no good though, the powder weapons blasted through the cover every time. The only saving grace was that it took over half a minute to reload the weapon with the black powder and lead ball.

“Fall back!” shouted one of the men, as he threw down his wooden shield and clambered towards the front of the wagon and away from the battle at the rear of the train. At this part of the train, two dozen people were busy shooting from the sides at the galloping enemies nearby. The rest of Thrax’s group started to move backwards as the fire from the approaching Raiders pushed them back. The two gunners had climbed down from the engine. They were now crouched at the end of the wagon, taking it in turns to reload and fire. In this way, they could fire a shot every fifteen seconds or so. Whilst this continued, more of the Raiders jumped from their horses and onto their own engine so that they could climb over and onto the rear of the escaping train. Another man with a powder weapon dropped down onto the wagon and prepared his weapon. It wouldn’t be long before they had enough warriors to keep up an almost continuous rain of lead down the length of the train.

“We have to stop them. If they take this wagon we’ll lose the train!” shouted Ulric.

One of the spearmen who had already taken a few steps back shouted over to him.

“How can we fight against those weapons?” he cried hysterically.

“They are no different to crossbows. Come on, charge and clear them. We’ve done it before, we’ll keep doing it till they stop!” replied Ulric.

As Thrax made to move forward, Ulric followed and a small number of the spearmen moved with him. At least the same amount stayed back, their fear of the weapons proving too much. It didn’t seem to affect Thrax though and the last thing they saw of this part of the battle was Thrax, Ulric and a few spearmen disappearing into the white smoke of the weapons with their weapons drawn and ready.

* * *

Synne had ditched her crossbow and moved to the faster and easier to use curved blade. Though the defenders on the first wagon had managed to hold off the attackers, the engine was now where the most effort was being directed. Rather than trying to board it, the Raiders had peppered those on the platforms, until only Synne and two others were left. With their numbers whittled down, and the return fire down to firing sporadic shots, they were moving in for the kill. A dozen men were riding on both sides and two were already climbing along the sides of the train. Synne knew that any other part of the train was expendable, if they lost the engine they would stop and that meant slavery or death. She gave a hand signal to the other two defenders and they moved quickly to her position at the rear of the engine, just above where the engineers were. As they worked their way back, she shouted over to Jonas who was busy handling the defence of his own wagon. He looked over to her, noting the precarious position the engineers were in.

“Jonas! I need fighters on the left!” she shouted.

Jonas couldn’t catch every word but it was clear to him that she needed help to secure the engine. He signalled he understood and then grabbed two of this men and starting directing them whilst pointing at the engine. The two defenders reach Synne at the rear of the engine. Both were well armed and motivated, the possibility of returned to slavery was proving a strong factor in their decision to fight.

“Stay here, attack anybody that gets too close. There are a few coming from the wagon to help, tell them to take the left running boards and to keep the Raiders away from the cab,” she said.

“Where are you going?” asked Anna, the daughter of a blacksmith from Haven.

Synne was already lowering herself down the ladder and to the running boards that ran the entire length of the train. She looked up at the woman who stood atop the train with her curved sword on her belt and a loaded crossbow in her hands.

“I’ll clear the Raiders from down here, watch the top and get the extra fighters down on the left, I’ll deal with this one first!” she said and then disappeared from view.

At the lower part of the train Synne had to be careful to avoid the moving piston and gears that moved at a wickedly fast pace. Four Raiders were clinging to the side and inching towards the cab. Synne was now blocking their way though she was well aware that the left side of the train was in the same position. Five men had already tried to work their way along the top of the engine from the front, but Synne and the others had easily stopped them with a deadly crossfire from their crossbows. She could only hope that the two she had left there were able to keep them busy if they tried it again, at the very least long enough for her to get back.

The first Raider was now only four or five feet away. He wore a mixture of leather and metal armour with animal skins and furs on his head and shoulders. His face was painted with bright colours and he carried a weird kind of mace in his left hand. Grabbing a handle with his right he swung himself forward and right in front of Synne. She leaned back a few inches and stabbed quickly with her sword. The strike was slightly off target and passed between his arm and chest. He squeezed his arm tightly against the weapon and stopped it moving.

“You’re dead, little girl!” he laughed.

With his left arm now busy keeping the weapon trapped, he pushed forward another step and delivered a snap kick to the front. His foot caught Synne in the thigh and dropped her to the running board. By some miracle, she avoided getting caught in the gearing. He stepped a little closer and made to kick again. As he lifted his foot, Synne moved fast and grabbed at his other leg. With a quick tug, she yanked his leg from beneath him and he stumbled forward. She kept low and he tumbled over her and over the running board behind her. With a terrifying scream he caught his right hand in the gearing and in an instant, it was torn off to leave a bloody stump. Synne didn’t hesitate, and lifted herself up with one of the grab handles and kicked him hard. With his left hand holding his mace, and his right now bouncing off the ground, he had no grip and flew from the train. Synne didn’t see where he landed. She didn’t care, another three men were approaching and they had all seen what she’d done.

The next man screamed at her though most of the sound was obliterated by the sound of the engine and the wind rushing past the train. Having seen his comrade torn apart in front of his eyes, he was being far more cautious. Keeping a step away from her, he swung out his blade, only for it to be snared inside the engine’s gearing. It clattered away leaving him to jump forward to attack Synne with his bare fists. Synne was ready though. She lifted her blade high and brought it down in a fast vertical strike. The Raider didn’t quite reach her and instinctively raised his right arm to deflect the attack. Synne’s blade cut cleanly through the arm and an inch into the top of the man’s head. It was quick, bloody and in seconds, the man joined the first to the dusty plains.

Only two Raiders remained and they were being much more careful. The nearest was shouting to the man behind him and Synne was getting worried. They were planning something but what it was she couldn’t tell. Taking a few steps back, she reached the side door of the cab. Through the gaps in the hatch she could see the two engineers, both of them working away to keep the engine moving at its maximum speed. Synne banged on the hatch. At first they didn’t hear the sound, then Jac spotted her and split the small metal hatch open.

“Yes?” she asked.

“How far till we reach the Trading Post?” she shouted.

“Three hours once we get out of the valley.”

Synne wiped her head in frustration. From memory, the valley and the mountains where she had found Thrax would take anything up to an hour to pass through.

“Once we’re in the valley the horses won’t be able to follow, the track is narrow, they’ll have to take the high road and it’ll slow them down. How long till the valley?” asked Synne.

She turned to face the direction the train was travelling in and noticed that the two Raiders had started moving towards her, though this time they were brandishing crossbows.

“Crap!” she cried and grabbed the ladder so she could swing herself behind the cab. It was in the nick of time as one bolt whistled past and embedded in the wooden frame of the tender being pulled behind the engine.

As she clung on precariously the sliding hatch to the rear of the cab opened and Tom shouted out to her.

“Ten minutes to the mountains, then we’re clear all the way to the Trading Post!”

Before she could reply, he had slid the cab hatch shut and Synne was stuck on her own. Popping her head to the side of the engine, she saw one of the Raiders pulling back the string on the crossbow. Whatever she did, exposing herself to fire wasn’t going to be one of them. She looked up and spotted the other defenders still loading and shooting from their position high on the top fighting platform of the engine. Anna saw Synne and stopped whatever she was doing to lean back and shout down to her.

“We’re okay so far. Jim took a hit to the leg, we’ve bandaged it for now. There is one on the top and three on the side. I think we can hold them off though.”

Synne nodded in satisfaction and slowed herself for a brief moment to check behind. The battle was now raging, as a number of Raiders had managed to board Jonas’ wagon. From what she could see the defenders outnumbered them and were making short work of the attackers.

“Hey, bitch!” came a voice from the engine.

Synne spun around to see the Raider holding onto the ladder and pointing his wicked looking crossbow at her chest. Right behind him was the second man who also carried the same kind of weapon. She was dumbstruck, they were too far to reach without taking a step and the bolt from the weapon would hit her easily before she could do anything.

“Raider!” shouted Anna from the top fighting platform.

The distraction was enough to give Synne an opening and she went for it with everything she had. Jumping from the low platform at the rear of the engine she landed near the first Raider and punched him in the face with the knucklebow of the sword. He staggered back but still managed to raise his crossbow. With a crunch and a squeak from the rusty hinges, the door to the cab swung open and in one heavy movement knocked both men off the engine and in an instant they were gone. The head of Jac popped out.

“You okay?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

“You bet!” answered a much happier looking Synne.

A flash and several loud bangs reverberated along the train, the noise coming from the rear of the train. Both Synne and Jac looked back to try and identity for the cause of the trouble.

“What was that?” shouted Synne

Jac disappeared inside the cab and then reappeared.

“Thought so, they must have taken control of the last wagon.”

“How do you know that?”

“We’re slowing down!” she answered before helping put in more fuel into the fire.

“I thought we were too heavy to slow down?” asked Synne.

“They can slow us down, but only so far. They must have locked the brakes on the end wagon, we’ll be down to walking speed in a couple of minutes at this rate,” she said before turning back.

Synne looked carefully at the engine and then back to the raging battle behind her.

“Anna, can you hold for five minutes?”

“No problem!” came back the reply.

Synne leaned over to the gap at the rear of the cab.

“I’ll take care of it!” she barked and then turned to the tender.

Due to the high sides on the tender, it was clear of the enemy but as she climbed down to the first wagon, she found things very different. As the train started to slow, it was becoming easier for the Raiders to jump onto the sides. Dozens of small fights were raging and as she moved along the narrow section, she was forced to defend herself. The first attack was actually an accident by one of the defenders. An old man had spotted her arrive and brought his axe down. She only just avoided it and grabbed the old man around the arm.

“I’m on your side fool!” she shouted and then ran off, ducking around weapons as she went.

Jonas was busy pushing a Raider back over the edge and off the wagon with a broken spear. She ran up to the edge and helped push the man over before turning to Jonas.

“Good to see you, come to help?”

“No,” she replied as she glanced around.

“Where is Cainon?” she demanded.

“He’s gone. Two of their men got in here and cut him loose. I managed to get that one,” he pointed to a dead Raider on the ground.