Serenity Valley (30 page)

Bells was moving with the speed and
grace of an elk. She would run, take stance, exchange a few sword
blows, forcing the man off balance, then she'd deliver the death
blow while he was two moves behind her. Three men tried rushing
Goodwin. She planted her katana in the ground. With the flick of
her right hand, a throwing knife sank deep into one of the men’s
forehead. With the flick of her left hand, a death star lodged in
another man’s eye socket. This left one for Goodwin to handle, whom
he quickly engaged. Being rushed from behind while throwing her
weapons, Bells grabbed her katana, did a cartwheel to the left,
spun, and flashed her blade. The man’s head rolled on the ground
before the body knew it was missing. Observing it all, Ox said to
himself, “Deadliest woman ta walk da earth’s surface that one be.
There be too many a them, though. If'n they got reserves, we be
swimmin' a river a shit.”

Just then, Goodwin sliced into a man’s
neck with his short sword, putting him down. Just as the man was
falling, a thin spear flew from the woods and lodged deep in
Goodwin’s right shoulder. His sword arm was rendered useless. This
put Goodwin on his back, pulling the spear out of his shoulder. By
the time he had pulled the spear out, three men targeted him and
rushed in. At a run, Bells threw a throwing knife at the closest
man. It lodged in his throat to the hilt, severing the spinal
column. As Goodwin tried to get up, Bells ran over him, forcing him
back down, and launched herself in a somersault, slicing another
attacker through the shoulder and severing main arteries. She
landed on her feet in front of the third man, too close for him to
swing his blade. She plunged her katara up through his chin, into
the brain. She released her fist grip on the dagger and left it
stuck in the man’s head. She quickly went back to Goodwin and put a
foot on him to hold him down. She held her katana with both hands
straight up and to the right side, taking a low stance. She was
ready to defend the one she loved.

From the trees, Ox yelled out,
“Goodwin’s down, protect Goodwin!”

Captain Terric stopped swinging
Screamer long enough to bark out, “Ten men circle the lord and
lady! Hold what you got! If'n the man next ta ya falls, kick his
arse out the way and close ranks.”

Ox said to himself, “Lovely bastard
you be, Terric, havin' such a way wit words.”

Within several heartbeats of time, ten
men had encircled the lord and lady, defending all comers. Bells
stuck her katana in the ground, ripped part her skirt off, and bent
to plug up Goodwin’s wound. Terric worked outside the perimeter of
the circle. When numerous attackers would approach, he would thin
them out before they reached the defensive circle. Ox saw one man
take Terric on, trying to match blades. Terric swung his
seventy-two-inch Screamer from overhead. Screamer made its horrible
banshee cry, then it smashed through the man’s sword, breaking it,
crushing through the man’s shoulder, cutting rib bones and stopping
in his chest cavity. Terric almost produced a repetitive song with
Screamer. First, you hear a banshee cry, then a clash of metal,
followed by a deep thunk, usually followed by a human scream. Ox
said to himself, “Bastards just never ta learnin'. Terric ed make
ta fine butcher, he would.”

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 arrival. 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.”