The Song and the Serpent

Adan and Kian dashed down the steps.

Judging by the sound of footsteps behind them, the others had obeyed Kian’s command and followed them to the base of the tower.

When they reached the bottom level, light streamed through the doorless entry.

“We need to take them by surprise and try to divide them before they know what hit them,” Kian said as they ran for the door.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Adan said.

They left the safety of the tower and stood for a moment under the gray shadow of clouds and pine branches. Riding up the hillside, following the path that Adan and Kian had ridden only moments before, the troop of Undelmans were fast approaching. Their unmistakable robes of bright yellow, purple, and orange flapped around them as they galloped up the hill. Covered faces and spiked helmets hid their features.

At the sight of the two of them leaving the tower, Adan saw three men in the lead point at them and shout to their companions.

Adan allowed the memory of Farel’s destruction to wash over him. He recalled images of their companions being slaughtered at sea, of the priests in Undelma, of these men setting fire to his home, and killing Kian’s family.

“Straight at them!” Kian called, leaping onto Havoc’s back.

Summoning his rage, Adan hauled himself onto Arrow and kicked the mare’s flanks.

The two of them flew at the enemy, goading their mounts to full speed.

At first, Adan saw confusion on most of the Undelman faces. Then realization dawned and they began to draw their weapons. One of the men in the lead, a man wearing only orange colors, shouted something to his companions.

Arrow and Havoc galloped straight at the oncoming warriors, side by side.

Adan glanced over at Kian to see him gritting his teeth, staring ahead. He looked back at the enemy warriors, who had all drawn their curved blades by now. Adan had a brief moment of realization as they drew near: What they were doing was rash and suicidal, and they would probably die. He accepted this thought and set his jaw.

They were fifty paces away.

Twenty five paces…

Ten paces…

Adan saw several of the Undelmans tug on the reins of their mounts, to slow them in an attempt to avoid colliding.

A battle cry escaped Kian’s lips, right before impact, and Adan shouted: “Down with Sithril!”

With a loud crash, they met the first line of horsemen. They used their first strikes to deflect oncoming blows as they passed in between the horses of the Undelman warriors. Then Adan began hacking wildly at the men around, swinging left and right, parrying and thrusting, trying to return every attack with a strike of his own. He felt his curved blade slicing through flesh many times. Arrow galloped straight through the troops of warriors as he slashed. Adan could still hear Kian’s roar to his left.

After a long moment of desperate swinging and slashing, Adan found himself at the back of the troop. He looked left and saw Kian, looking around in surprise. They had ridden straight through the warriors and come out on the other side. They pulled on the reins and spun around in unison.

Adan saw a large gap in the row of warriors where they had ridden through. More than five horses were riderless, their warriors now bleeding in the ground. Through the gap, Adan could see Samo, Fin, Laxander, and the twins charging bravely at the remaining warriors.

“Peel off!” Kian shouted, turning and riding back, now on Adan’s right.

Adan spurred Arrow forward, riding left, and mirroring Kian’s action. They both attacked from the rear on different sides, trying to outflank and confuse the warriors, and draw attention away from the others.

Three Undelman warriors tried to turn their mounts to face Adan. He dispatched the closest one with a well timed slash. The other two tried to direct their horses on either side of him and attack him from both sides. Adan caught the blade of the warrior on the left and maneuvered his sword to intercept the other oncoming blow from the right. He leaned in close to the first warrior and punched the man in the jaw with his free hand. The warrior flew backwards as Adan blocked another blow from the right-hand warrior. Then he spun the warrior’s blade out and away and stabbed the man in the gut.

As the third warrior fell, another two took his place. Adan recognized the man on the right as the leader of the group, clad in his pure, bright orange robes.

Adan didn’t wait for their attack. He pressed forward and slashed at the leader’s head. The man pulled back to avoid Adan’s blade with lightning speed, and slashed back in return.

The leader’s timing and form were perfect. He was far more skilled with a blade than the others.

Adan was forced to block this man’s blow as the second warrior rode up beside him and swung for his head. A quick duck saved him from decapitation, but he had been forced to take his eyes off the leader and expose himself.

Adan had just enough time to put his left hand behind his exposed neck and head before the leader brought the pommel of his scimitar down on Adan’s head.

Pain exploded in his hand, and the force of the blow knocked him off of Arrow’s back. The ground rushed up to meet him and Adan felt more pain throughout his body and he flipped forward and landed on his shoulders.

Instinct took hold of him and he rolled away from Arrow, ignoring the aches in his body. This wasn’t the first time he had fallen off a horse during a fight.

For the briefest instant, Adan lay dazed on his back.

He realized that he had kept hold of the sword in his hand, and as he looked up he saw that he had rolled underneath the legs of the leader’s horse, miraculously avoiding the animal’s hoofs. The horse reared on its hind legs as the leader tried to turn his mount toward Adan and trample him.

Instinct and adrenaline took over and Adan rolled backwards again, away from the heavy hoofs. He forced himself to stand, and hold his sword upright as the horses hoofs hit the ground where he had been laying.

The leader urged his horse forward, straight at Adan.

Adan had the briefest moment to contemplate his next move before a wooden staff appeared on Adan’s right and struck the leader in the neck with a loud crack.

The man crumpled in the saddle and dropped his sword. Adan sidestepped the horse and looked to see Samo, holding the other end of the staff. Their eyes met, and Adan nodded in thanks.

The orange clad leader fell off his saddle and crashed to the ground, where he writhed in pain.

The second warrior, who had been busy maneuvering his horse around Arrow, rode at the two of them. Adan and Samo outflanked the man and unhorsed him with a quick succession of blows. As the man fell to the ground, his helmet fell off and he rolled in the dirt. Without warning, Laxander came running up with his shovel and slammed it down on top of the warrior’s head. Adan heard a crack and the man stopped moving.

Adan looked over to the fallen leader just in time to see Kian take the warrior’s head off with a sweeping blow. The severed head rolled on the ground as the leader’s body fell limp.

Kian immediately grabbed the spike on the warrior’s head and pulled the helmet free, revealing the leader’s face. Long dark hair crowned the head and a trim beard surrounded the face, which was frozen in a twisted look of pain and fear.

Kian grabbed the warrior’s hair and picked the head up.

He turned around, facing the rest of the men.

Adan surveyed the carnage around them to see if there was anyone left to fight. None of the Undelman warriors stood alive. Kian and the others had made quick work of the remaining men. Fin, Nolt, and Bolf stood a short distance off, surrounded by riderless horses and prone bodies.

As Kian surveyed the field, he lifted the leader’s head in one hand and his curved sword in the other. The stolen blade dripped with blood.

Kian bellowed a shout of victory, and the men responded in kind.

They had slaughtered the enemy without a single casualty, and Adan roared in defiance to Hugo and his men.

As their shouts died down, Kian tossed the leader’s head into the dirt and turned to face Samo.

“I take it we’ve earned enough of your trust now for you to tell us what you are doing here,” he said. “Tell me, are there more Estan’s hidden nearby?”

Samo looked at Kian with a combination of fear and wonder.

“You are correct on both counts m’lord,” he replied. “Many small villages in the outer parts of the kingdom were warned of the coming destruction, but the warning came too late for them to travel safely to Farel. So instead, they banded together near this place. Some of them are even now still arriving.”

A faint, distant hope shot through Adan and he blurted out, “Did anyone from Enys Island come here?”

Samo looked at Adan and nodded. “Yes, although I don’t have any names. Many from the villages there came. Their bard Ansel is one of the few who believed Hurst.”

Adan and Kian’s eyes met and the distant hope in Adan’s chest kindled to a blazing fire.

Layla might be alive!

“Can you take us to them?” Kian asked.

“We are charged with guarding this tower and keeping watch of the west,” Samo replied, “but one of us can surely be spared to escort you there.”

”I’ll go!” Laxander practically jumped forward. “I’d be honored to take them to New Esta.”

Kian’s brows furrowed and he looked from the younger bard to the older. “New Esta?” Adan heard a hint of disdain in Kian’s voice.

”It’s simply what we're calling the place,” Samo said. “Laxander can certainly take you there. We will remain and dispose of these bodies.”

“Not forgetting to take their armor and weapons,” Fin added. “We need as many of those as we can get.”

Kian looked at Laxander. “How quickly can you be ready to leave?”

”In moments,” Laxander replied. “Just let me retrieve my pack and we can set off.”

As the young bard turned and ran toward the tower, Kian turned back to Samo. “How far is the journey?”

“Less than half a day’s walk. You should arrive well before evening.”

Kian nodded. “Good. We’ve traveled far and it would be good to have a safer place to rest for the night.”

”Have you had food for your journey?” Samo asked.

Kian and Adan looked at each other, and Adan’s stomach growled at the mention of food.

”We did,” Adan replied. “But we ran out two mornings ago, so we’ve been without food for over two days.”

Samo’s eyes widened. “Two days? We can at least help you break your fast.”

Samo gestured to one of the twins, Nolt, Adan thought, and the large man followed Laxander to the tower to fetch food.

“We don’t have much,” Samo continued. “But we can certainly spare some dried meat and oat cakes to sustain you.”

“We would be very grateful,” Kian replied, leaning against Havoc, who had cantered up to him and nudged him with his large nose.

Arrow had wandered off, away from the carnage after Adan fell off his back, and it took Adan several moments to get close enough to catch the horse's reins. Once he had finally brought Arrow back to where the others stood, Laxander had returned with his pack, and Nolt was returning with the promised food.

As Adan approached, he noticed Fin, Laxander, and the twins looking at Kian with the same combination of fear and wonder on Samo’s face. Their faces gave Adan the clear impression that they had never seen anyone fight like he and Kian had fought.

Nolt gave Kian a large handful of dried venison and four small oatcakes, which Adan and Kian devoured ravenously. Adan tried to eat slowly, not desiring to make himself sick, but the first taste of the salty meat reminded him of how hungry he truly was. If Adan’s stomach wasn’t so empty, he would have turned his nose up to the dry, flavorless oatcakes, but in his current state, they were like fresh loaves of warm bread.

While Adan and Kian ate, Fin, Samo, and the twins began scavenging the dead bodies for weapons, supplies, food, and anything they deemed useful.

“Laxander won’t be able to ride to the fortress with you, since you only have two horses,” Samo said. “Would you be willing to walk with him while the horses carry the spoils back to the fortress?”

Kian nodded. “That seems the best plan.”

After eating his first meal in days, Adan wanted to rest in the shade for several moments, but his desire to reach the fortress Samo had told them outweighed his desire to rest. He and Kian helped the others strip the enemy warriors of weapons, armor, belts, pouches, waterskins, and anything of value. Swords and spears were bundled together and tied with strands of rope, armor was wrapped in cloaks and blankets, and all else was packed into saddle bags.

Within moments, bundles and bags lay across Arrow and Havoc’s backs, and Laxander had retrieved his pack once more.

Samo grasped Kian’s arm. “Thank you for fighting with us. I doubt we could have defeated them without you.”

Kian nodded. “You’ve repaid us already.”

After grasping the arms of each man, Adan and Kian took the reins of their mounts and turned to Laxander.

The young bard nodded at them and turned back toward the tower.

He led them around Cellion to the opposite side and began walking due east through the pines.

Adan turned around and looked back at the others they had left behind. He caught a brief glimpse of the four men dragging the bodies of the Undelman warriors to pile them together.

There would be no burial for the enemy warriors. Fire would be the means of their disposal