Champions of the Apocalypse (27 page)

He slashed his short sword against the man only to be forced to duck from a wild cut launched by one of the other Raiders. The cut was shallow against Khan but it had done its job and grabbed his attention. Khan smashed one of the defenders out of the way with his fist and then cut hard against Ulric.

“Get down you bastard!” shouted Ulric as he slashed at the back of Khan’s legs.

The cut managed to catch him just below the knee where the armour was weakest. With a cry, he dropped to his knee. One of Thrax’s students jumped forward and stabbed at the injured man. Though Khan’s armour was thick it could only stop so much. In seconds there were three people cutting and stabbing at him.

“Get back!” shouted Ulric.

They ducked aside and continued their battle with the rest of the line as Ulric made to finish him off. Khan was bleeding from a dozen wounds but incredibly was able to stand.

“Is that it?” he shouted and with unnerving speed swung his left and right arm to bring both swords towards Ulric. He tried to avoid the cut but it was too fast. The first blade slashed open his shoulder and he only avoided the second because Synne had joined the fray. Parrying the blade, she hacked at the wounded man and continued attacking, striking at any opening she could find. The big man stumbled back, his wounds now seeming to take their toll. He turned back towards his own forces.

“Lar!” he shouted and then dropped to the ground.

Synne didn’t pause and placed her blade along his throat. She looked up at Lar and then yanked the weapon, drawing a mighty gash across the warrior’s throat.

“Bitch!” howled the leader of the clan.

Cainon heard the cry and pushed back Thrax long enough to see what was going on. At spotting his dying comrade, he roared and then punched Thrax hard in the face. The old warrior stumbled backwards and Cainon stormed towards Synne. Thrax’s students jumped in the way and cut at him with their swords. He caught the first sword in his flail and then grabbed the blade, ignoring the cuts it caused in his flesh. In his right hand, he pushed out the flail and then slammed it into the first man’s face, turning it to pulp as he crumpled to the ground. The second circled Cainon, shocked at the death of his friend and his confidence now failing, Cainon lowered his hand to his belt and pulled out a small but deadly looking knife. In one swift movement, he flicked the weapon forward and caught the student in the throat. He fell down, frothy blood gurgling from his throat.

From the side of the arena the crowd were completely ignoring each other, in many places the Raiders were now intermixing with the people of the town as they pushed ahead to find a better place to watch the bloody battle. Already nearly half of the fighters were dead or badly wounded and nobody could tell which way it would go. Jackson, still stood at the side was fidgeting, probably wondering whether he should stay or try to escape before a decision was made, one way or the other.

Thrax spotted the approaching Lar and pushing ahead the two warriors faced off against each other. Both men carried their massive two-handed swords and both were well aware of the abilities of the other.

“Thrax, old bastard. Perhaps we can come to some arrangement?” said Lar as he lifted his weapon high to his shoulder.

Thrax stepped forward with his right leg and pushed his own sword out like a spear tip, tempting Lar to attack his blade. Lar tried not to fall for it but the movement looked like a thrust. He swung down his weapon and tried to swipe the tip away. Thrax simultaneously pulled his blade out of the way and swung to around to the left. With a quick step, he struck Lar hard under his right arm, just above his ribs. Against anybody else it would have ended the fight, but the thickness and quality of Lar’s armour stopped any penetration and simply knocked him off balance for a moment. He staggered and then stood up.

“This is what happens when you have resources, Thrax!” he laughed as he gestured towards his armour.

“Armour won’t save you, it will just prolong your agony!”

He swung his blade from the left, slashed down and then stepped to his right and cut along the opposite angle. Lar was fast though and neatly stopped each attack with a similar cut. He tried to counter with a thrust to Thrax’s face but with a quick dodge to the side, Thrax simply struck Lar in the stomach with the hilt of his own sword and then twisted it around to bring the blade to his head. Again Lar managed to stop the attack and the two men faced off against each other with their swords locked together.

Synne and Ulric were struggling against Cainon and his group of five warriors and it was proving to be the toughest fight they had ever fought. Whilst this uneven battle continued, another from their group had been knocked out of the fight with a cut to the chest and one had simply run away. Bara was on the ground and trying the drag out the wounded Anna who was still pinned under the body of the dead warrior.

Ulric picked up one of the curved swords from the dead Khan and proceeded to weave an intricate and continuous sequence of movements around him. It was a system Synne had been reading to him of a long dead art form from a group known as Indians, though she had yet found out who they were. The Raiders pushed forward and two were quickly caught in the fast movements. One took multiple slashes to his arms and face whilst the second took a blow directly to the top of the head. Synne dodged a blow from Cainon and slashed at his right arm. The cut went deep, making his arm useless to the fight. She twisted the sword around in a figure of eight and brought it down again to finish him off but Cainon had other ideas. Grabbing one of the nearest Raiders he threw the man towards her and her sword. Neither of them had time to do anything and the poor soul crashed onto her blade so hard it pushed through the sternum and out through his back. She staggered backwards only to crash into one of the Raiders. She was now disarmed and quickly kicked and punched the man to force him away. Another stepped in, this one was wielding a double edged axe. He lifted it to strike and she glanced to the side, looking for anything she could use.

Ulric jumped out to the side and caught the axe on one of his own blades before the two men could take advantage of her moment of vulnerability. He batted the axe to the side and slashed the man from the forehead down to the chest. Then Synne leapt on the final warrior and smashed him to the ground. As they rolled on the dusty floor, Bara dragged out the unconscious Anna and seeing the man near her, moved over and stuck her knee into the man’s throat, whilst Synne continued striking the man. Ulric stepped in front of Cainon, his bloods dripping from his recent kills. His enemy stood motionless apart from lifting one of the spears he had just pulled from a dead warrior. He held it over his shoulder like a javelin and prepared to hurl it at Ulric. The two men stood facing each other, both daring the other to move. Whilst this standoff continued, Synne helped Bara to drag Anna out of the ring. As Synne reached the side, she noticed Thrax and Lar were still fighting though both were tiring from the epic fight between the mightiest warriors in the Contest.

“Won’t any of you help us?” she cried to those watching.

“Hey, if anybody enters the ring we all enter!” responded one of the Raiders.

Synne moved up in front of the man who straightened up to intimidate her. Synne looked down as though cowering and then as a sneer appeared on his face she slammed her fist hard into his nose. Blood spurt across his cheek and he stumbled backwards. A great roar of laughter spread around those watching. She turned back to see Thrax knocked down on one knee with Lar standing over him. Ulric and Cainon were now attacking and parrying with zeal though neither seemed to be besting the other. Grabbing a spear from the ground, she ran towards Thrax.

“Get down!” she screamed.

Thrax spotted her from the corner of his eye and instantly dropped to the ground, completely exposing the front of Lar. Synne threw the spear with all her might and it flew hard and fast towards the man. He tried to move out of the way but it still caught him in the right of his chest and embedded several inches into his flesh. As he stumbled backwards Thrax grabbed his great two-handed sword and slashed from left to right in a powerful horizontal cut. The blade bit hard into the man’s throat and sliced his head clean from the body. As the headless corpse slumped to the ground, Thrax turned to Synne and grinned.

“Good work,” he said before spotting Ulric who was in trouble.

“Help him!” he shouted.

Ulric was caught in a lock and was unable to move. Thrax and Synne rushed over and as he spotted the two, he dropped Ulric and started to swing his flail above his head. He looked about, spotting the dead and wounded that littered the field. Only the four of them remained in the fight and he was seriously outnumbered.

“Cainon, it is over, you can’t win,” said Ulric.

Thrax lifted his sword up to his shoulder whilst Synne picked up one of the many curved swords lying on the ground. She held it out in front and ready for the fight.

“What do you suggest?” answered Cainon sarcastically.

“Surrender and pledge your clan’s allegiance to Haven,” he shouted.

“Surrender!” he laughed.

Cainon made a few swings and light strikes with the flail. He wasn’t trying hard to hit them, just keeping them on their toes and unable to easily initiate an attack. Ulric stood directly in front of him whilst Thrax was on his right and Synne to his left.

“You’d rather die?” asked Thrax.

“Actually,” answered Cainon as he stopped swinging the weapon and dropped it to the floor, “I’d much rather watch you die!”

From his belt he whipped out two small throwing daggers. Before the three could try to respond, he threw them both at Ulric. The first he was just able to deflect but the second struck him low in the side. He cried out in pain and Thrax moved to catch him.
 
Cainon turned to run, he was obviously hoping to take advantage of the situation by escaping in the confusion. Two of the Raiders at the far end had pulled up a horse and he was hurtling towards it. Synne chased after him and leapt forward, stabbing with her sword at the same time. She was lighter and faster than the hulk of a warrior and her blade slid in quickly though his shoulder blades. He tipped forward onto his stomach, still groaning but unable to move. Synne pulled out the blade and kicked him over so she could see his face before turning back to Thrax.

“Is he okay?” she asked.

“It’s alright, looks superficial to me, he was lucky, very!”

Synne sighed with relief before turning her full attention to Cainon. She lowered her sword and pushed out the tip towards Cainon. The crowd went silent, each waiting to hear the final words of the Contest.

“This is my last offer. Yield, or die?” she demanded.

He lay there on the ground, moaning in pain but Synne showed no mercy. She placed her boot on his stomach and pushed hard.

“Answer me!”

Cainon tried to lift his upper body but only managed to lift himself up a few inches.

“I, I yield,” he groaned before collapsing.

Synne stepped back and looked to the crowd. She sensed confusion, some were overjoyed and others looked as though they were waiting for fighting to break out. A few were already drawing weapons.

“Wait!” she shouted.

She turned to Ulric and Thrax who gave her a nod to continue.

“It is over. Lar and Khan are dead, and Cainon has submitted to our authority. These lands are forfeit to us and our leader, Ulric of Haven!”

Most of the townspeople started to cheer, the realisation that they were no longer under the thrall of the Lar and his alliance with the many Raiders along the border. A few of the Raiders, presumably those who had been forced to join against their will, removed their armour and marched over to the crowd on the side of the town. In just minutes, the number of Raiders had dropped to only a dozen hard-core fighters. They stood with their weapons drawn and expecting a fight to the death. Thrax shouted over to Synne.

“We’ve got a problem!” he cried.

Synne rushed over to find white foam coming from Ulric’s mouth. She dropped to her knees and rested his head on her leg. Ulric stated to splutter and cough, something was seriously wrong.

“Poison!” swore Thrax.

He tore at the material near the wound to find discolouration around the cut. Under normal circumstances, it was no more than a flesh wound.

“What have you done?” shouted Synne.

Cainon said nothing but simply continued to drag himself away from the arena and to his small band of warriors. Ulric coughed several more times and reached out to Synne, she grabbed hold of his hand, feeling the trembling throughout his body.

“Make him suffer!” he groaned and then with a final shake went limp and still.