Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1) (30 page)

“Yes, I would like that, thank you K’xarr.” She knew it was foolish but couldn’t stop herself from agreeing to go with them.

“We will see you settled somewhere in the city before we leave. Turill is a huge city, perhaps you and the little demons will go unnoticed,” he said.

Endra tried not to smile too big but she just couldn’t help it, maybe it wasn’t too late to make things right with Kian? Staying in the city would be dangerous and she would have to be careful. It might be all right if she stayed to herself and kept the children hidden. She told herself she would only stay for a little while, but she knew that was a lie. She had tied herself to these men and she wouldn’t leave them now.

Vandarus galloped over to K’xarr, he pointed urgently down the Gold Road. Endra turned in her saddle to look. She saw a large group of men in red and gold chasing a man down the road towards them.

“Those men are dressed in the uniforms of the Royal Guard of Bandara K’xarr,” Vandarus said.

“Everyone, off the road,” K’xarr ordered. The man that was being pursued was on a small white horse, clearly he would not be able to out run the men who were chasing him. They would pass by the group in a matter of seconds. They were traveling so fast there was no way they would stop to trouble their group. So K’xarr had them ride just off to the side of the road so the guardsmen could pass easily.

The man on the white horse sped passed them just as two of the guardsmen fired small crossbows at the man’s horse, one of the bolts buried itself in the white horse’s flank, the other just grazed the horse’s rump causing it to fly wide and hit Endra in the thigh.

Kian looked at her leg, then he kicked his horse, charging after the Bandarans.

K’xarr stood up in his stirrups screaming, “No, Kian, don’t damn you, don’t do it. It’s not our fight.” Kian either didn’t hear K’xarr or just ignored him.

The others had not seen the bolt hit Endra and had no idea why he had taken after the guardsmen.

The white horse stumbled and horse and rider went down. The troop of guardsmen began to slow their mounts. The guardsman who had fired the crossbow was on Kian’s left side. Endra knew the Half Elf was right-handed. It would be awkward for him to strike the man, besides his horse was still running at a breakneck speed.

She watched as Kian drew his sword with his right hand and tossed it through the air into his left hand and decapitated the man in one unbroken motion. His concentration was amazing.

Most of the other guardsmen were dismounting, trying to restrain the man they had been pursuing. Kian killed two more of them before they noticed he was there. The Half Elf jumped down from his horse among the surprised guardsmen, blade flashing.

“Help him, damn it.” Endra yelled then launched her horse forward. Five of them were dead as she joined in the melee. All the guardsmen were fighting on foot but one. He was still on his horse shouting orders. Endra spurred her horse and headed right for him.

The officer turned in time to see Endra’s horse collide with his sending both of them to the ground. She rolled to her feet the bolt in her leg sending waves of pain through her body.

The officer was trying to get up as she drove her naked blade through his chest. Endra spun, blood flying from the tip of her sword to find the road in chaos.

K’xarr and Cromwell were fighting back to back, Rufio and Vandarus side by side. Siro was trying to help the man who had been on the white horse get off the road.

She looked over to see her children safely waiting on the roadside, then she plunged into the fray.

Kian was fighting two men at once, so she took the one to his left. He was good, a thrust of his long sword almost took her in the throat. She dropped to one knee and slashed at his leg, cutting it off at the knee. When she stood up, Kian was pulling his blade from his opponent’s face.

Vandarus was to her right, struggling with a very big opponent; she gripped her heavy sword with both hands and brought the blade down shearing through the side of the large man’s neck. “Thank you, beautiful,” Vandarus said, grinning.

She looked around for another enemy only to find them all dead or dying on the red-stained road. Cromwell raised his sword to the sky and shouted, “By all the bloody Gods of Tora, Kian, you are a fine traveling companion.”

K’xarr sheathed his sword. “You both are fucking crazy, if you want to fight wait until we are getting paid for it. Let’s clear these bodies off the road, Siro, see to Endra’s leg.”

The healer took her by the arm. “Sit, Endra and I will pull out the bolt.” She reached down and ripped the bolt from her leg. “I’ll just take some stiches please.”

The homely little man just shook his head. “Lady, you have traveled far too long with them. They are starting to rub off on you.”

The man from the white horse walked over as the others started dragging the bodies from the road. “Thank you all. I would be dead or worse if it wasn’t for you … oh no.” The man’s eyes grew big as he gazed down the road.

Six men in full plate armor came riding towards them one carried a banner on his lance. A golden shield with a red sword through it on a field of white.

“It’s the damn Sentinels, we should run,” Vandarus said. “There is no time and they’re going to see the bloody work we have done here,” K’xarr said, drawing his sword and walking forward.

Kian and Cromwell joined him. Vandarus and Rufio also walked into the road to stand behind their companions.

Endra jumped to her feet. “I’m not done with your stitches,” Siro said trying to hold her back.

“There’s not time for them, just get my children out of sight.” She looked to the man that had fallen from the horse. “Please help him with my children.”

“Of course, lady, I’ll take care of them it’s the least I could do,” the man responded.

Endra limped over to stand in the road to Kian’s right. They would most likely die on this road today. This might be her last chance. “I feel the same as you do, Kian, I was just too afraid to tell you,” she whispered. They looked into each other’s eyes. Endra felt in that moment that fate had stepped into her life once again.

“What the hell is the Sentinels anyway?” K’xarr asked. Vandarus cleared his throat. “Church knights that protect people who travel the Gold Road. They patrol it, looking for bandits and the like. They are well known for their skill at arms.”

K’xarr nodded his head. “Well, let’s see how hard they are to kill.” Endra and Kian both refocused their attention back to the knights in the road. There was not time now to sort out what Endra had just confessed.

The knights had pulled up several yards in front of the group and their leader rode forward. “I will know what has happened here now,” the knight demanded. All the Sentinels had their visors down and lances at the ready. Endra knew it was going to be a hard fight at best. Rufio was the only one with any plate armor and Cromwell and Kian wore none at all.

“I will tell you what happened, you armored cur,” Cromwell said stepping forward. He quickly drew his two-handed sword from his back and charged the knight. The man could not get his horse to move back fast enough. Cromwell’s great sword came down on the warhorse’s neck, severing its head and covering the big man in its blood. Knight and horse fell together. “Let us enter hell drenched in the blood of our enemies,” the Toran bellowed.

Horses reared and the rest of the knights charged together, lances lowered. “Try to get them off their horses,” K’xarr yelled. Endra saw Kian duck a lance and cut the front legs off the horse, pitching the rider head first through the air. She dove to the side just in time to avoid the point of a lance. She staggered back to her feet, the wound on her leg was bleeding freely now.

Cromwell had ripped the helmet from the man he had downed and drove his sword through the knight’s head. Covered in blood, the Toran looked like a mountain ogre standing in the road daring the knights to come on.

Kian was battling the man he had unhorsed. K’xarr had somehow dismounted another and was fending off a rain of blows from the knight’s mace.

The three horsemen remaining charged Cromwell, lances lowered, she couldn’t get there in time with the wound from the bolt slowing her down. Endra watched as Cromwell raised his sword and charge the knights on foot. The Toran was insane.

The knights to the right and left miscalculated, not expecting their target to run head long at them. The knight in the center’s lance took him low in the abdomen, sliding straight through the big warrior’s body. Cromwell dropped his sword and the barbarian and the horse crashed together with a loud thump. The horse stopped when it hit the massive man.

The Toran slid back and wrapped his arms around the horse’s neck and pushed until the beast rolled over spilling the rider to the ground. The broken lance was still in his body as he pulled the Voltakar from his belt and drove it right through the fallen knight’s breast plate.

He grinned at her, black blood dripping from his mouth onto the road. She saw Kian had killed the knight he had been fighting and was advancing on one of the other horsemen. Rufio was engaged with a knight on foot who was wildly swinging a morning star at him.

She heard Vandarus scream as a warhorse bit him just below the collar bone. Endra could almost hear the flesh rip as it was torn away.

She ran to the animal and cut one of its back legs off. The horse reared on one leg, hurling the knight off backwards. As it tried to balance on one leg, the horse fell backwards onto its rider as he was trying to regain his feet.

Endra dodged the flaying beast’s legs and slid her sword through the crease between the knight’s breast plate and his pauldrons down into his heart.

As she looked for another enemy she saw all six knights and their horses were down. Cromwell let out a terrifying Toran war cry and collapsed on the road, the broken lance still in his body.

Her head was swimming. She had lost a lot of blood but she needed to find the children. Was it getting cold? She collapsed, the last thing she saw was Kian’s face as he caught her falling body.

The glow of a camp fire woke her. She lay on her back and she could see her leg wound had been bandaged. She felt much better. Better than she thought she should.

Endra propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. Cromwell lay on the other side of the fire stripped to the waist with his wounds bound. Vandarus was beside him rubbing something into the horse bite he had suffered.

Endra looked the other way to find Kian on one knee leaning on his long sword watching her. He said nothing but touch her on the shoulder. His eyes wet he got up and walked out into the dark.

“So, the sword maiden is awake.” K’xarr said standing above her.

“I’m hardly a maiden, are my children safe?”

“They are sleeping right over there.” He pointed over to a blanket that had three familiar shapes beneath it.

“Where is Kian going?”

“Back up to the road to see if there is anyone looking around. We are a few miles from where we battled the knights, we didn’t hide the bodies so if someone comes along that cares, they will start looking for who killed the armored bastards. I want to be ready if that happens.

“I also thought he could use a break. That crazy half-breed has been sitting by you for hours. I think you should know he was worried sick about you. He almost drove the healer crazy asking questions.”

She looked out into the darkness in the direction Kian had walked. Endra wanted to change the subject, she didn’t want to have this conversation with K’xarr.

“We should thank the Gods and Siro, did we all survive?”

“Well, we almost lost Cromwell but he pulled through, he’s just too stupid to die, but it’s not Siro you should thank.”

“Who then?” she asked.

He pointed at the man that had been riding the white horse. The young fellow walked over to stand beside the Camiran. K’xarr patted him on the shoulder. “This is the man who saved you and Cromwell.”

The man gave a slight bow. “I don’t know if ‘saved’ is the right word. Cromwell was lucky the lance missed his vitals and this pretty lady had just lost a lot of blood. I’m glad you’re feeling better, milady. With a few days of rest you will be good as new. I hope this isn’t too forward of me, but I’m fascinated by you and your companions’ blood. I have never seen anything like it. I told K’xarr I would be willing to study it and see if I could find some answers for you and perhaps rid you of it if possible, if you’re willing of course. ”

Endra tried to sit up but thought better of it. “Who in the hell are you?”

“I’m a physician from Turill, my name is Rhys Morgan.”