Take My Heart...: Dark Ages - Fantasy (Dark Gods & Tainted Souls Book 3) (24 page)

Chapter Forty Three.

Goldie marched at the head of his slow moving army of rabble and riff-raff almost wishing he had Farirkar and his Reds beside him. Still this was a fight he was used to, outnumbered and trying to win through guile rather than force of arms. Their forward scouts had told them they faced a force of at least a thousand men and that the King himself was with them.

Goldie rode next to the boy and the old mercenary, Lead Belly, before them a brightly painted wagon rolled along. On it, the huge plaster statue of the lady bounced along on the rough wagon wheels through the dirt. If they wanted to destroy her, he’d bring her to them. Of course, the priest and his men were actually hiding the real statue right now and he was just buying time, but hopefully he wouldn’t have to buy it with his life, or the lives of all these people.

He’d changed his clothes as had those of his men. Over their armor and weapons, they wore the long flowing yellow robes of the priesthood of the Lady. If they wanted to kill some holy people he’d give it to them. As they marched he took up a song that was bellowed by the people following him. The songs of the Lady were always funny and ribald, not really spiritual but about how she blessed some gamblers hand.

Then he saw them. Waiting on the small roadway. Five or so men on horseback. Dressed in the garb of the king’s guard. The same stern-faced men who had killed his friends in the Cold Death. They laughed as he approached and one rode to greet him, he didn’t even draw his sword.

“You Goldie?” he said in a refined voice.

“I am indeed. I wish to see the king,” he said back.

The man laughed. “Looks like you’ve saved us a whole lot of trouble, he wants to see you as well, but just you and your retainers, not all those bastards,” he said pointing to the fighters that followed him.

Goldie smiled at him broadly, “Of course not.” Goldie turned to the men and women following him and stood tall on his horse.

“I’m off to speak to the king, you’ll stay here and please don’t wander off,” he said, to laughter.

The guard turned his horse on the hard dirt and started to trot slowly down the road. Goldie, the few men pulling the wagon and the boy and Lead Belly continued to pull it onwards towards the camp and the king.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lead Belly whispered to him.

“Me as well,” he whispered back.

Within a few short minutes, the wagon had bumped its way into the camp of the king. It was a very large camp of men, ringed with stakes and ditches in a large circle. The wagon passed through the main gate and passed the armed men who just grinned at him as he passed. Goldie guided the wagon to the center of the camp and jumped from his horse, boots sinking into the mud.

He saw he was now the center of attention in the camp, many of the soldiers wandered up to him and view the statue. Goldie threw off a blanket on the wagon revealing a few large barrels of ale.

“Help yourselves lads, spoils from the town,” he threw off his yellow robe revealing his armor and sword and threw it to the ground with a laugh. “The king around?”

Before their captains could stop them the soldiers had taken the casks and disappeared into the camp with them. He was shoved hard in the back by the guard. “What are you up to?” he whispered as he shoved him towards the large red command tent that sat at the end of the ring of stakes.

His men left behind to guard the statue Goldie walked with his head high, he walked past the two guards and into the king’s tent. It had been weeks since he’d seen the man and he looked very ragged. Goldie could see some tinge of madness in his eyes that had grown and grown. He looked at Goldie with a blank expression.

Goldie swept forward and bowed deeply. “My king the town is yours, and I’ve brought the statue of the Lady to you,” he said.

The king laughed out loud and shook his head. “You surprise me once again Goldie, so you haven’t joined them? This was your plan all along?” he said.

“Truly my king, I thought why split the fee with the Bastards when I can take the town myself, it’s best fighters have abandoned the walls and stand waiting in the field, the statue is here and her priests lay dead by my own hands,” he said with another bow.

“And what makes you think that’s what I wanted? Priests, statues, that’s all meaningless. I want the town taken to rile the nobles,” the king said looking at his wine cup.

Goldie laughed aloud. “That might be what you want but not what he wants.”

The king looked at him sharply and drew his sword, pointing at his throat, “What do you know of him?”

Chapter Forty Three.

Farirkar stood looking at the fort. It was well walled with stone at least twice as high as him. The main gate made of wood that was barred. Along the battlements stood a large group of women, their strange haircuts showing in the light. He found the look quite attractive, he always liked tough women. Still this was what he was wanting. It had been too long since he and his boys had had a fight. Too many gods and schemes, not just getting bloody and fighting. He had no idea about all this stuff Josette was speaking of but if these people wanted to destroy Famir they would find it a very tough job indeed.

He turned to his men who stood behind him and was glad for them. All his Pellosi were gone and now just left were the Northman and desert folk. Probably the most likely to believe in all this shit.

“Right lads, we’ve got to take this place. No tricks, no waiting, we just hit that gate as hard as we can as quick as we can. It’s all women in there but they are fighters all. I think we all know they’ll kill us just as quick as a man would. We’re doing it for the loot and the king’s money but more than that were doing it for our homelands. We all believe different things and it’s never got in our way of killing together, but these want to take it away, they want just one god or no gods or some shit, so it’s time to get bloody. You boys with me?” He yelled the last part.

They were there for the money but people fought better when they had a reason too. The men yelled back and the guards on the wall heard it all right. With those last words, Farirkar turned and started running from the darkness towards that gate. He heard the sound of many feet behind him and smiled, it was always tense moment to worry if you were running alone.

The men were well trained at this kind of move and they ran in a tight wedge with him at the front. At least twenty of them hit the gate with full force. It shuddered but held. No siege weapons or rams, he started hacking at the tough wooden gate with his axe as did the others. He heard the screams of men around him falling to arrows for the battlement archers but he kept hacking at the wood with huge swings.

His ones the outside of the wedge forced back protecting those within with axes. Soon he saw the glint of firelight on the other side of the gate. He cut through and peered in. A sword thrust out from the other side and almost got him. Farirkar laughed and chopped it again with his axe. The whole gate was weakened now.

“Push, you bastards,” he yelled and they did.

All the men at the front then those behind and behind them, arms on backs, he felt the huge weight and strength of them and almost yelled with the crushing weight but the gate gave first. It collapsed inwards with a huge crash of shrieking wood and metal, crushing a few of the female guards who stood trying to brace it. He fell forward and came up quickly and it was all mayhem. No lines of battle, no shield wall, just them and us.

Farirkar bellowed, “Red Bastards” as loud as he could and ran into the fray of women. He saw a line of archers positioned to take his men as they ran in. Screaming he ran at them. He felt the wind of an arrow pass him and another bounced off the metal of his chest piece and then he leapt at them. There were five in the line and five behind them. He launched his huge weight and bodily hit the group.

They fell backwards, most drawing daggers. He slashed left and right with his huge axe, killing two, one got her bow up and his axe blade cut through it and into her. Then his men were behind him with swords to help. Farirkar stood with blood dripping from his face and laughed.

His men had taken the courtyard and he could see the main Keep was being hastily barred against them. Hopefully, their distraction had been good enough for little Josette.

He pointed at the door. “Let’s get that fucking door down,” he yelled as he ran onwards.

***

Stealth was clearly not Flint’s and Stone’s strong suit, but likewise, she’d never seen men of their size get over a wall so fast. They simply jumped, grabbed the top and pulled themselves over. Only Minsetta and Skinner needed the rope. They landed with a huge thud on the other side. She looked around but the ringing sounds of battle were all they could hear.

She drew her bow and they all drew their weapons.

“Come on,” she whispered and led the way through the darkness towards the back entrance. The smell of burning and blood was starting to hang over the place and a bell was ringing loudly in alarm. Much use now, she’d heard that huge crack which could only have been the main gate.

She led them onwards with her arrow notched. There were two guards at the back door which stood open and one of them kept looking in nervously. She slunk out wide in the dark and let her first arrow fly. It took the nervous guard hard in the throat and she fell, clutching her throat gurgling. The other drew her sword and ran at Josette. A huge hand pushed her aside and Stone ran in-between them. He caught the woman’s downward cut on his broadsword and brought it downwards into her. The woman fell back with an awful cut down the length of her body.

For behind in the darkness, they heard more cries and people running, more guards out there.

“You got this?” she said to the men.

They just nodded and stood to face them. Josette grabbed Minsetta hand and led her inside as the Northmen and Skinner faced the remaining guards and blocked the door. They were handy.

The main building was filled with the sounds of fighting and she knew somewhere the Bastards had broken through. She saw all the guards running towards the front door. One turned to look at them as they entered. She opened her mouth to cry the alarm but Minsetta tossed a dagger at her. It hit the woman hard in the open mouth, killing her.

Josette turned. “I can’t remember where it was clearly, you led.”

Minsetta grinned at her. “It’s close but will be well guarded, they wouldn’t leave it alone.”

Minsetta ran down the hallway towards the temple room with her remaining dagger in her hand. Josette followed her as fast as she could, looking into the rooms as she went. Minsetta passed one quickly and a woman lunged out of it at her moments after. Josette fired her arrow point blank into her back and she fell.

“Be fucking careful,” she yelled, but Minsetta just ran on.

Josette cursed and sling her bow across her back and drew her own two daggers. She turned the corner into a hall to find a solid black door blocking the way. On it held a carving of the woman thing they worshiped. In all her splendor. A full woman’s body with naked breasts but feathers down her forearms ending in bird-like claws.

Minsetta was at the door and pushed it hard but it wouldn’t budge, barred from the other side.

Minsetta turned to her. “Ideas?” Josette thought briefly. What would Goldie do?

She walked up to the door and knocked on it sharply and yelled “Quickly sisters. I have weapons for you, they are through and you’ll need them.”

They waited a moment and then she heard the sound of a large wooden bolt being slide across. The door opened and a scarred and painted face of a woman peered out, she frowned at them. Josette thrust her dagger just below the face and into the room. The woman fell back with a cry and they were in the room. She walked forward as Minsetta, rebolted the door, the sound of the battle disappeared and she felt her blood cooling as she stood there panting, her dagger drawn and slowly dripping blood.

She looked around the room. It held the huge ugly statue of the woman but around it was what she’d not wanted. Sure they had a guard but the women here looked like actual priestess. They were dressed in deep red robes and shook with fear.

One stood and she had a deep anger in her eyes, that was better.

“Women? Women? Why would women be helping these evil men to destroy us?” she cried and actually spat at Josette “And you,” she said turning to Minsetta. “I know you. You killed Angelina.”

Minsetta looked at her and without a word lashed out with her dagger, it cut the woman neatly across the throat, she fell clutching it as her life blood ran free the other woman whispering, they all stayed down.

Josette looked at the statue and almost shuddered. It looked filled with life. She’d not thought much on her vows to the Northern gods but simply liked the way the men she knew lived their lives. There was something truly evil about this thing. She looked again at the robes the woman wore, the red was so dark, indeed, the feet of the statue were stained the same and around her feet were a few bones and even a human skull. She turned to Minsetta and pointed at the statues feet.

“Blood?” she asked quietly.

“Male blood and lots of it. Their robes too,” Minsetta said back.

At that moment, the door burst open and Farirkar was standing there with a group of Reds at his back. He was panting and covered in small cuts, Massive axe in hand. He looked at them and grinned, then yelled for his men to finish up.

He walked into the room and looked at the women and then the statue.

“Need any help?” he asked, looking again at the statue.

Minsetta went up and whispered in his ear, he turned to her, “You sure?”

She just nodded, Minsetta pulled Josette out of the way as he stood forward to the statue, he was almost as tall as it and looked at its features. He grinned again.

“Famir, curse you bitch!” he spat and then swung his huge axe at the marble statue.

The stroke was perfect. With all of his massive strength, the blade flew through the air with a whistle and hit the statue at the nape of her neck. The room rang with a huge sound as a crack ran through the stone and her head came from her body. He cried again and swung it overhead and down hard almost leaving the ground as he did and brought it down on the severed neck. A crack ran through the entire statue, Farirkar hit again and it was done. The statue crumbled before them.

He turned to them and grinned like a child who liked breaking things. “Now let’s hope that actually did something. I’m sure that was worth a lot.”