The Sworn Knight by Robert Ryan (novels to read txt) 📕

But the knight had guessed she would attempt this, and evenas he stumbled he righted himself and moved behind a beast again. Her arrowstruck the beast, but it was not a killing blow. It yelped, but came on withthe arrow sticking out of its flank.

Ferla wasted no more time on Savanest. She marked theclosest beast scrambling up the slope. It was a thing on four legs, still parthuman, covered in bristling hide and with the tusks of a boar protruding fromits face.

The arrow flew true, taking the beast in the throat. Itreared up, and when it screamed the voice was human. But it fell to the ground,and those who were once its comrades in arms but now its packmates scrambledover it as they climbed the slope.

Another arrow sung through the air. It took a beast in theeye, and it tumbled backward to trip and cast over those who came directlybehind.

And so it went. Ferla had no sense of time. All that existedin the entire universe was that rocky slope, the beasts and the plying of herdeadly skill. All over the slope the evidence of that skill lay in tumbledheaps. They were dead, or dying. Blood soaked the rocks, and screams rent theair louder than the thunder.

She heard little of it. She saw little of it. There was onlynock, pull, aim and release. And ever she aimed for those beasts that led thechaotic charge against her. Each time that one fell the others jostled aroundit, seeking to avoid its flailing claws or gnashing teeth. Unless they werebigger, in which case they trampled over it uncaring in their lust to reachher. But each death bought her a moment of extra time to loose another arrow.

Until there were no more arrows. She reached back to herquiver and grasped empty air. Her stock was used up, yet still the beasts werecoming, and they were close now.

Ferla cast aside the bow, now useless, and drew her sword.For the first time she looked upon the death she had wrought, and saw that theslope was littered with bodies. Yet still more than twenty beasts came on, andbehind them was Savanest, still using them as protection.

Nearby, Kubodin yelled a wild battle cry, and he pulled aspear from the ground and cast it into the onrushing attackers.

On her other side, Asana did the same, only silently. Butthe spears were not steel tipped, and the beasts large. Some of the enemy fell,and some were wounded, but most came on despite the rain of sharpened shafts.

Ferla could see their eyes now. The drip of saliva frothingat their snouts or the glint of rain on tusks. She heard their baying andgrunting, and once more fear surged over her. The enemy were too many, andthere was no way to fight such beasts, and still there remained the knighthimself, more deadly still.

And she cursed that she had spent all her arrows, for nowshe had a clear view of him, but no means to kill him.

She thought of attacking with magic, but it was not her bestskill and she must keep that in reserve to counter anything the knight himselfmight do.

The last of the spears was thrown, and then bright bladesflashed. The three companions drew close so that they might protect each otherand prevent themselves from being surrounded.

A beast with the body of a hound and the head of a boar triedto gut Asana with massive tusks, but his blade whipped out slicing down theside of the creature’s neck and sending arterial blood spurting high into theair.

Yet still he was knocked back by the weight of the dyingbeast. Kubodin cried out, and his axe swung in a glittering arc and it severedthe leg of a hound that leaped toward his friend.

Ferla faced her own enemy. A beast shambled toward her,rising on two legs like a bear. It roared in her face, saliva flying andlightning flaring behind it to make it seem otherworldly. Her sword gutted it,but still the great claws came down and smashed against her side sending herflying.

If not for the armor, she might have died. Yet she fearedsome of her ribs were broken. She rose and leaped back toward her friends. Theymust not be separated otherwise the enemy would surround them and pull themdown one by one.

The bear creature came at her again, shuffling forward ontwo legs but trampling its own intestines. Rage drove it, and magic drove thatrage. She hacked at it again, half severing its head and avoiding anothersmashing claw. But even as she did so a were-beast like a wolf, smaller thanthe others but nimble, leaped at her throat.

The creature smashed into her, bearing her back, and shefelt its hot breath on her neck. She turned and stepped back, flinging it fromher and bringing her sword up in a slashing movement.

The wolf thing howled, blood flowing from the bottom of itssnout, and tried to close again.

Ferla moved into Tempest Blows the Dust, her sword arcing upand down. Several times she struck the beast, and it fell away. She had notforgotten the bear, but Kubodin had cracked his axe against the massive headand it had finally fallen to the ground like a logged tree.

She knew what was happening then, and it sickened her. Thecreatures had not tried to kill her. They had tried to bring her down to theground. From there, she could be captured.

Better to die than that, but she had no more time forthought. Another were-hound came at her, lips parted in a rictus growl, teethshowing and eyes fixed in hatred. She fended it off, but she saw Asana stumble.

Dead creatures lay around the sword master, but blood welledfrom a bite in his arm, and it was his sword arm too. Yet somehow he managed totake the hilt of the blade in his left hand, and he fought nearly as well thatway as with his right.

The three companions were being overwhelmed though, andFerla felt the maddening frustration of that. There was nothing to do but fallback, which they did. But the advantage of the slope that had served