Fireside Meeting

The woman moved to help him. The way she moved, he started to understand why some bard called it a dance, and he started to question his own style of fighting. He attacked, strait on, full force, it was about brute strength and power. She moved and slide like a dancer, her movement was something he had never seen on the battlefield.

He could see the archers taking aim at her from the tree line, and he pushed himself up through the pain. Moving he lifted the shield and felt the arrows thump into it. He gave her cover she fought the big guy. The way the man fought, Kline was sure he had seen him before.

The adrenalin started pumping again and the leg was more of a problem because it was not working as well as he wanted more than the pain. He moved blocking the arrows with the shield, his own men starting to widen the circle they were riding in to try and flank the archers.

"Grigol, Grigol," he said, trying to rouse the big man.

That is when it dawned on him, Sargent Grigol, he had seen him on the battle field. He was a mad man there too, rushing in, and even turned sides when a noble offered him more gold.

"Haidar, is he dead?" asked another bandit. "Should we call in the reserve or get outta here before the army comes?"

Haidar ignored the questions. He stood and turned to Kline, slapping the cudgel in his palm menacingly. "Listen. Give us one of your wagons, and we'll let you keep the other one. That sound fair t'you?" His cruel mouth twisted, and he inwardly laughed in amusement at his own words. He knew they made him sound weak, but the bloke looked like he could barely stand. Just maybe he would go for it. "We're gonna kill you. You know that. But we can end this right here and now if you'd just only hand over that one wagon, see. 'Cos we ain't gonna leave empty-handed. No, sir. So d'ya really wanna die for your lord, boy? Die protectin' a few barrels of vino?"

He could not spare one of the wagons. He had debts to pay, he had people to feed and protect, he needed every ounce of gold he could get from this sale. This was about more than gold, this was about people, families who depended on him. He had a duty, and this duty sparked a fire in him.

Kline looked at the man with the club and gritted his teeth. “You are wrong, the army is already here.” He said and rushed the man letting out a primal cry. He felt all that darkness, the urge to kill welling up in him, demons channeled, and darkness flowed as he rushed the poor bastard. Kline hated this side of him, it was the killer, the beast, the monster he had lived with all his life. Yet, when he let it go, it felt right, it felt as if he was a true being, and he did not know if he hated that more. Of course, these were thoughts that came to him after, when he was a man again, when he was the beast, such contemplations were unnecessary.

The man lifted the club to block the attack, but he did not see the attack was for the arm. Kline cut the limb from his body with a hard slash from the blade, severing it clean and leaving a stump there that for a moment did nothing, as if his body did not realize it had lost a part of it, then the blood ran, and he screamed.

Kline left him, screaming, and turned hitting the other one he spoke to him. The leg was hacked from him as his shield blocked another arrow, the second scream echoed in the woods. His men got the idea, no killing, just mortal wounding. He knew seeing others in pain was more frightful then just being killed, hearing the primal cries of pain and suffering was for more chilling then seeing a clean death.

“You are not going to leave at all, you are all going to die here.” He called out as if mad as well, moving and slashing, his body wounded but the rush of hate and the fury of battle drove him.

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The camp was pitched at the side of the road, the road that was now lined with the heads of the men who had attacked them. It was a fight they won, but at a cost. Three of the men were still healing up, the worst of them had used the healing potions they had brought, the minor wounds, such as the ones Kline had, would need to be healed when they reached the city.

The sun was setting, and in the woods, it was dark already. The trees cut off the daylight, and the woods seemed to embrace night even before the sun was gone. The trees seemed to close in over the little camp.

The fire burned softly, they had gathered from the forest floor, he knew the dangers of cutting into trees like these. Last thing he needed was some angry ent or forest spirit. The wagons were pulled to the side and the horses set to feed off the forest floor. Her mare was put with them for the time being. The box wagon had a tent pitched to the side of it, making a place for the drivers to sleep. The soldiers had bedrolls laid out around the fire.

Kline sat across from where Kalena lay. She was on a bedroll with her saddle used as a pillow, he had handled her himself, not that he did not trust his men, just if she woke he did not want her killing them. He was no medic, but he knew how bad a head wound could be, and hers was bad, but she would live. He was only worried with how long she had been out.

Meat cooked over the flames and they had trail bread to eat it with.

“She is rich.” One of his Van commented as he ate.

Herod looked at Kline. “Her horse is a thing of beauty too, and her saddle is worth a house I would bet.”

The observations were mote as far as Kline was concerned. “If she does not wake up we will take her to town, someone will be looking for her.”

Van looked at Kline. “We have one left.” He said and nodded to the box they had brought the potions in. “We should use it.”

“What if we meet more of them?” Kline nodded to the row of heads that lined the other side of the road.

“It is one, and she did come to help, we owe it.” Lafford said, he was an older man, one who served under Kline for a long time. “Just do it Captain.”

Kline nodded, and Van smiled, a slender and lanky kid who had used the crossbow on the cask. He was the son of one of the men he had been a merc with. Van too the bottle and sat next to the woman, unstopping the gem shaped bottle and carefully pouring the magic potion in her mouth and waited for it to take effect.