On The Anvil Of War by Jason M. Green (best books for 20 year olds .TXT) 📕

moment, he swung his arm up and struck the soldier in the side of the head as hard as he could manage from his position.
The soldier launched to his feet and blood sprayed from a wound on the side of his head where his right ear once was, and Vega realised that he had grabbed a cleaver that fell when he upset the rack. He rose to his feet clutching the bloody cleaver, and he saw the knife coming towards him again. Time seemed to slow for him, as his warrior's instincts kicked in for the first time since before his son was born, and he began moving without thought, letting instinct guide his movements. He easily dodged the knife, ducking low to split open the soldier’s stomach, before coming back up and planting the blade of the cleaver deep in the side of the soldier's neck. Before he had time to stop and think about what had just happened, however, he heard the sound of a blade clearing a leather sheath. He ducked, as a sword cut the air where his head had been moments ago, and he grabbed the knife that the other soldier had dropped. From the feel of the weapon, he knew it was a knife designed for fighting, and the width and angle of the guards reinforced that theory. He turned quickly, as another swing was taken, and he caught the sword’s blade on one of the guards. The soldier tried to push the sword down, but using his superior size and strength, Vega pushed the soldier’s blade away, and then he closed the distance between them before the soldier could bring his weapon back into play. He drove his fist into the soldier’s stomach, making him double over, and then he slammed his fist down into the base of the soldier‘s skull. As the soldier fell to the floor, knocked senseless or perhaps dead, Vega went deeper into the house to retrieve something he knew he would now need.

Outside, Krow was throwing water at the burning house, and using his axe to break off chunks of burning wood to keep the fire from spreading. His efforts he soon realised were in vain, as the flames leapt ever higher. He looked around, and saw Vega running out of the house carrying a large wooden chest on his back. Over the noise of the crackling flame, he heard Vega telling him to give up on the house and to follow him.
Krow placed his axe back in its loop on his belt. "Why do you want me to give up on the house?" he asked, though he knew trying to save it would be futile at this point.
Vega dropped the chest onto the ground before replying, "The inside is too badly burned to remain standing, and I can always build another house." He opened the lid of the chest and pulled out a bundle of clothes. From within the bundle he pulled a hauberk, a black and red tunic, and a long object wrapped in leather. He quickly donned the hauberk and tunic before unrolling the leather to reveal a sword he’d not looked on since a few months before his son was born, over five years ago.
Krow stared at him, puzzled by the sudden change in his friend's attitude, and saw a dark bruise beginning to form on the side of Vega's head. "What happened in there, Vega? The side of your head is bruised."
"It is nothing of importance." Vega picked up a belt and the sheath containing his sword, which he wrapped around his waist.
"I thought you hung up your sword years ago," commented Krow, with a bit of concern in his voice.
"The soldiers have taken Ebon and Attilla from me, and I am going to get them back at any cost." He whistled and a large black horse trotted over to him, which he quickly saddled. "You may join me if you like, Krow, but do not try to stop me." Vega leapt onto the horse and raised his sword above his head. He let loose the loud howl of a man possessed with the battle-rage typical among men born in the Northern Lands.
Feeling a stirring in his breast from the thought of Ebon and Attilla being taken prisoner, Krow leapt onto his own horse, and they followed the trail of the soldiers who recently left the clearing. Based on the number of separate tracks, Krow estimated that eight soldiers caused the fire and took captive Vega's family. He looked around as they entered a small forest, and he pulled the axe from his belt. Under his breath, Krow muttered, "Just like things used to be."

Vega rode silently, as he watched the hoof prints on the ground. He saw that they split apart a few feet ahead, and he told Krow to take the left set of tracks. Without waiting for Krow to say anything, Vega rode off to the right. He ducked under branches, and each breath he took becomes deeper than the last, as he noticed the tracks getting fresher. He raised his sword, as he saw more tracks join the ones he was following. In the distance, he heard talking and his heels dug into his horse's flanks. The animal responded immediately and launched forward.
Vega burst from the trees and into the centre of a small camp, where two soldiers were pulling down a hide tent. They looked at him in surprise, and before their weapons could clear their sheathes, he leapt from his horse, and attacked them with an almost feral viciousness. With each stroke his blade spilled blood, and the confrontation was ended nearly as quickly as it had begun. Once the last soldier fell, Vega saw that Ebon and Attilla were nowhere to be seen, and so he rode back into the forest without another glance at the men he had just killed.

Krow followed the tracks until he came upon a tall man standing in the centre of a clearing, with a pair of dead soldiers in pools of blood to either side of him. The man was dressed all in black with a black hat pulled down far enough to hide his features. Nestled in the man’s long arms was Ebon, and the young boy seemed unharmed, which brought Krow much happiness. The man gently placed the child on the ground, and then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
Once he recovered from his surprise at the man’s disappearance, Krow leapt from his horse and yelled, "You are welcome at our fire when you have need of it." Despite being deep in the woods, Krow didn't even hear birds, and he knew that the tall man who rescued Ebon was none other than the man known as Stavros the Slayer. Certain that Stavros left no soldiers alive in the immediate area, Krow kneeled down to check on Ebon, since the boy didn’t seem to be stirring. He found a slow and steady heartbeat, and then he picked up a familiar herbal smell on the boy’s breath that told him he had been drugged, likely to make it easier to transport him. As quickly as possible, he went over to his horse and removed a couple of things from one of his saddlebags. Without hesitation, he mixed a few herbs and some water inside a metal cup he always carried with him, and poured it into Ebon’s mouth. As the boy began to swallow the mixture, Krow heard something crashing through the trees, and turned around with his axe ready, protectively clutching Ebon close to his chest.
After a few more seconds of noise, Vega rode into the clearing. "I see you’ve found Ebon," he commented.
Krow nodded, as he gently lifted the child up so Vega could take him. "To be perfectly honest, it was not I who found him."
"Who found him if it were not you?"
"Stavros."
Vega stopped breathing for a moment, as he heard the name being spoken. "I've not seen him for a long time."
Krow nodded. "Few alive have seen him more than once. Either way, I can easily tell this is his work." Krow pointed at the two soldiers lying dead on the ground. "They didn't even have a chance to draw their weapons before he killed them."
“Why does he not react to my touch?” Vega asked, as he pushed some stray hairs from Ebon’s forehead.
“They drugged him,” Krow replied with a solemn tone. “I gave him something that should bring him out of his stupor.”
Vega held Ebon tightly. "At least my son still lives, but I must find my Attilla."
Krow pointed at some tracks that led away from the encampment. "I am guessing she is wherever those tracks lead." He mounted Wotan quickly, but then he patiently waited for his friend to start leading the way.
Vega tightened his grip on Ebon, as he made his horse move in the direction of the tracks. Behind him he heard Krow, and he remembered riding with Krow in a past he had decided to try to forget when he chose to start a family.
The tracks turned after a short distance, leading towards what Vega knew to be a small hill, and after less than a minute they exited the trees and began going up the hill. Vega saw three horses ahead of him, and as the distance closed he noticed that two of the horses were being ridden by soldiers and the third horse, which was between the soldiers, was carrying someone bound with ropes. Recognising the person in the middle as Attilla, Vega let loose a war cry and rode down the hill. The sounds of hooves followed him and he knew that Krow was still riding at his back. Vega saw one of the soldiers look back, and then shout something to his comrade. The other soldier looked back, and then they both began to increase their speed, tugging the reins of the horse in the middle to make it match their speed. Vega increased his own speed, and without looking back, he knew that Krow was doing the same.

Sitting atop the hill overlooking Harrvall, the army under the command of Krow waited. They saw two soldiers and a woman go over the hill a few metres away, and then saw a man astride a large horse, who was holding a child. Going over the hill close behind they saw Krow, his long black hair flapping in the wind, as it pulled loose from the leather thong that held it in place. He was holding his axe above his head and yelling something unintelligible. The man at the front of the column of warriors told the rest to follow him and he rode after Krow. Over fifty men on horses charged behind their chosen leader down the hill and across a flat expanse of land. The man in front pulled out his sabre, and those behind him drew their own weapons. One of the men in front raised the crow's head standard, and it flapped wildly in the wind.

The soldier to the right of Attilla looked back, and saw that the number of people behind him had increased many times over. He yelled and urged his horse to go faster, as the other soldier did the same. He slapped the rump of the horse bearing the prisoner, and it too increased speed once more.

Krow heard what sounded like thunder behind him and looked back. He saw his entire army following him with their weapons drawn, and he laughed at how the soldiers being followed must now feel. He reached back with his free hand and unbound his hair the rest of the way, letting it fly freely in the wind. Then he placed the leather thong in a pouch on his