Victim of Fate Read online

  "Hold there!" a man coming up the ledge said. He wore courtly-looking plate armor and was followed by a group of several warriors wearing steel breastplates and chain leggings. "New recruits?"

  Alto stopped and stared at him. He realized he held his sword in his hand again, but at least he wasn't pointing it threateningly at the man.

  "Yes, we just got here today," Patrina said.

  He frowned and reached up to tug at his short and wiry black beard. "I think not. I've heard of that blade. And of the man that wields it, or should I say the boy? You've made a name for yourself, Alto, but you have no grasp of what you've dabbled with!"

  "Are you Kazim?" Alto asked with narrowed eyes.

  The armored man snorted. "Kazim deals with the rabble here; I have a higher calling. I am Beck, Knight of the Silver Dragon," he stated while stiffening his back. "Now put that sword down and come along like a good boy. I can see from the look in your eyes that you're nothing more than a pawn of powerful forces at work. Why die for something you don't understand?"

  "I've been threatened by a lot of people lately but so far I'm still standing. I think I'll take my chances," Alto said.

  Beck scowled. "You're foolish and rash, just like the wizard said. Very well, a thousand gold to the man who delivers him to me. A hundred if all you bring is his head."

  Alto heard Patrina's gasp but the importance was lost as his own head swirled. A price of a thousand gold for him? But he was nobody! He turned and saw Garrick drawing his sword and stepping forward to intercept the first of Beck's minions. Alto shook himself free of his shock and lunged ahead to protect Garrick's flank.

  Each swing of Alto's blade smashed aside steel and flesh. The impacts struck reddish flares that made men cry out and fall back from him, though more pushed from the ledge behind Beck and others began to arrive from the tunnel they'd only just fled from. In spite of their strength and ferocity, the three companions found themselves being pushed towards the edge of the ledge and surrounded before they could hope to flee back up to the surface.

  "Enough!" The cry of a man echoed over the battle and caused a lull in the fighting. Alto, Garrick, and Patrina stood breathing hard and bleeding from minor cuts. The growing army arrayed against them parted as Beck forced his way through. "I see Fizzulthorp was right about one thing—you are irritatingly persistent. Well, then, boy, it's time you learned you're not the only one with a magical sword!"

  Beck drew his sword and slashed at Alto, cutting through the air so quickly Alto was barely able to move his blade to deflect it. Beck followed through with more rapid attacks, knocking Alto back and forcing him off balance. He knew he had to reverse the momentum but Beck played him like a cat toying with a mouse, even drawing close enough to backhand him with his left hand across the cheek.

  Garrick roared and leapt at him, chopping overhead with his sword, sure to split the knight in half. Beck stepped ahead and used his sword to slap Alto's out to the side. Garrick's blade glanced off his pauldron instead of crushing through it as it should have.

  Beck turned and grinned at the stunned barbarian. He kicked out with his leg, connecting with Garrick's stomach and forcing him to stumble back a step. The northerner grunted and clutched at his stomach while he tried to replace the lost air in his lungs.

  Beck's sword was back in time to block a clumsy slash from Alto. Alto felt his sword repelled by Beck's weapon, almost as though the man had caught it and thrown it away from him. Alto stared in shock as he realized they could not win this fight.

  "Now you understand why you are a peasant and I am a knight," Beck taunted him. "There is no replacement for years of training and a proper bloodline. What's worse, I understand your father's a farmer? And to think you had the audacity to think you had the right to challenge my order!"

  Alto let his eyes fall and saw that the edge of the stone ledge he stood upon was only a few feet behind him. Perhaps if he could enrage Beck and make the man charge him, he might trip him or find a way to force him over the edge? He looked back up, lest his plan be guessed.

  "You're not finished yet, are you? I'm above such things, but think of the hardship your lady friend will endure once you've been captured. These men are angry and I fear they'll take out their frustrations on her. I can kill you at any time, but I'll give you this one offer. Throw down your sword and I'll see to it that she's released free of harm."

  "Don't you dare," Patrina growled.

  Alto glanced at her. She was bleeding from the wounds she'd received fighting without armor. Nothing life-threatening, but her dress and small clothes were dirty, bloody, and ruined. Her outfit alone had probably been worth more than he'd earned working on his father's farm his entire life.

  "Alto, I won't let you give up," she hissed at him. "I'll gut you myself for being a coward!"

  Beck laughed. "Such spirit! That's the mark of nobility, boy. Not the meek eyes of a sheep you've got."

  "I'm not a sheep." Alto turned to stare at him. "Even the wolves know enough to fear me. You keep offering deals. I think you're little better than a penned-in bull. Full of heat and blowing hard, but you're still stuck in a pen waiting for the next cow to be brought in so you'll feel like a man."

  Beck stared at him with his cheeks growing red. He straightened and then relaxed, even dropping his blade a few inches. "Clever, boy. But pointless. I think if you won't drop your sword, I'll cut off your hand so you don't have a choice. That should show you your place!"

  The blaring sound of a horn sounded to their right. It echoed off the cavern walls and caused everyone to cringe, save for Patrina. She gasped and spun, and then pointed and shouted, "The Kelgryn have come!"

  With a cry of war, Teorfyr led the charge down the ramp towards the gathered soldiers who surrounded the three companions. A standard-bearer rushed behind him, moving his flag just enough for Alto to glimpse Tristam, Namitus, Karthor, and Kar in the jarl's van.

  Alto grinned and turned back to Beck. He looked left and right but found the man had disappeared into the shifting masses. In his place, his plate- and chain-armored men pressed forward and hoisted their weapons.

  "Hope you got your wind back," Alto cried out to Garrick.

  "Was about to take a nap," the barbarian said as he hewed a man in half with a mighty swing. He jerked away from a swinging blade that slapped against his hip and then punched the warrior in the face.

  "Don't be fools," Patrina yelled at them. "Hold them off until my father's men get here!"

  Alto nodded. It was a good plan but there were a lot of enemy soldiers and his arm was getting tired after the abuse Beck had put him through. He clenched his teeth and fended off a strike. He would hold the line; there was no alternative.

  Chapter 21

  "This is your idea of rescuing my daughter?"

  Alto jerked his blade out of the belly of the man he'd skewered and turned his head to see Teorfyr smash aside a clumsy thrust from a spear and kick the spear wielder squarely between the legs. The jarl finished the crippled man with a downward chop to the back of his neck.

  "We ran into problems," Alto managed between breaths.

  "I see. Fall back, lad, there's too many for us to hold. We'll need to retreat."

  Alto turned back to the fray and saw a curved sword flashing in time to cut off the arm of a man lunging towards him. The point of the disarmed weapon still dug into his mail-covered side but it left little more than a bruise.

  "Don't know how you survived this long without me," Namitus said with a grin.

  Patrina cried out, drawing Alto's attention. He turned to see her smash the hilt of her sword into the face of a man who had grabbed the shoulder of her dress and yanked hard enough on it to tear it where it was laced across her chest. He fell back from her assault and was finished off by Teorfyr's sword in his chest and Garrick's blade slamming into his back and crushing his spine.

  Tristam moved beside Alto, allowing the two warriors to fall into their comfortable routine of protecting one another's f
lanks while fighting their adversaries. "Glad you caught up with us," Tristam offered.

  Alto risked a glance at him before returning his attention to the growing horde before them. The stone ramp was filling up with other enemies. The daunting force of humans was reinforced with groups of ogres, trolls, and goblins. They were pouring out of the other tunnels in what seemed an endless supply.

  "You heard the jarl," Tristam said. "We fall back. Live to fight another day. Seems you found a sweet spot here; we'll need to return with reinforcements."

  "We'll never step foot in here again if we run," Alto said while parrying away first one blade and then another. Namitus darted around the two of them, slipping between defenders and striking out to wound or kill whenever an opportunity presented itself.

  "Then we don't come back; at least we keep them bottled up," Tristam said. "Can't be much food in here—we starve them out with a siege."

  "Tunnels run through these mountains," Patrina yelled over to them over the din of steel against steel and the screams of the wounded. "You won't keep them here nor will they go hungry."

  "But we'll live a lot longer," Tristam pointed out.

  Alto launched a furious offensive, making his arm burn and his lungs heave for want of air. It drove the attackers back and left one man rolling in his own blood. He turned and located Namitus nearby, slicing the hamstring of a warrior with his scimitar. "Namitus! I need you."

  The rogue slipped back over to him. "It's good to be needed."

  "Can you think of a way I can get down there?" Alto nodded towards the cavern floor.

  "Jump?"

  "Never mind," Alto growled. He turned back to the warriors who were rushing to fill the void he'd created moments ago. He heard nothing further from the rogue and, after chancing a quick search for him, couldn't find him. He clenched his teeth in frustration and fought on in spite of the increasing weight of his sword.

  "Enough," Teorfyr said, surprising Alto. The jarl had managed to move around behind him and then up beside him. "Fall back; you're tiring and each parry comes slower."

  "I can't leave!" Alto said.

  "Lad, that's an order from your liege!" Teorfyr snapped.

  "Wait, what's that?" Tristam turned and asked.

  A sword smashed into his arm and side, sending him sprawling from the impact. Tristam's chain mail held but he cursed from the pain of the strike. Alto slammed the attacking warrior with his blade in a clumsy backhand swipe, paying no attention to the damage the strike caused. It gave the attacker pause, which was what Alto needed to steady Tristam and pull him back to his feet with his free hand.

  When Alto looked up, he saw that Teorfyr's warriors had filled in the gaps in the line, giving him and Tristam a moment of peace in the eye of the metal storm. "I'll explain later," Alto said. "We have to get Patrina out of here."

  "If that means we're going, I'm all for it," Tristam said while reaching up to massage his arm. "Damn if that didn't make my whole arm tingle."

  "Better that it's tingling and not lying on the ground beside you," Kar pointed out.

  "Wondered where you'd gotten off to," Tristam accused the wizard with a scowl.

  "This way!" Namitus cried out to them.

  Alto turned and saw the rogue was kneeling beside the edge of the ramp. He saw a rope that was tied in a loop around a jagged break in the stone. The other end dropped into the cavern below out of his line of sight. Alto grinned and ran over to inspect the work. He clapped his friend on the shoulder and then turned to see Tristam, Kar, and Karthor staring at him.

  "You're mad then," Tristam said. "I should have known as much when I heard about the unicorn."

  "We have to destroy those forges," Alto argued. "With the battle up here, they'll be undefended!"

  "For once I agree with Tristam," Kar said.

  "No!" Trina pushed through to stand next to Alto. She looked at the rope and then up at Alto. She nodded to the young warrior and smiled. "It's not just our lives at stake here. My people and yours will be hurt or killed if we don't do this."

  "Not my people," Tristam reminded her.

  "Think of the reward," Alto said.

  "Reward?" Garrick asked. He wiped sweat from his brow and grinned.

  "Who's this?" Tristam asked, craning his head to look up at the northlander.

  "This is Garrick, of the Snowbear people."

  "Clan," Garrick corrected. "Snowbear clan."

  "You're big," Tristam noted. "Bigger than Alto. Looking for work?"

  Garrick's grin grew. "If this is the kind of work you do, perhaps! It's better than hunting bear and wrestling wolves!"

  "Wrestling wolves? Hey, Alto, another man who likes to wrestle wolves! Alto? Where'd that fool boy get to?" Tristam spun around, looking for his protégé.

  "He's down the rope," Namitus said while peering over the edge and watching Alto slide down hand over hand.

  "Damn him!" Tristam spat. He turned to the others and stared at them. A severed hand landed on the ramp between them and the fingers curled and twitched before lying still. "Well, get after him then!"

  "Long ways down," Kar muttered after he peered over the edge. "Rope doesn't go all the way, either."

  "Didn't have enough," Namitus explained. "The cliff looks craggy enough to climb down without down there, though. Even has a slope to it."

  "Do I look like a spider to you?" the wizard hissed.

  "More like an old goat," Patrina answered. She slipped over the edge and slid down the rope after Alto.

  "Madness," Tristam muttered. He looked at the others and motioned with his sword. He sheathed his weapon and waited in line as the others slipped over the edge one at a time. When he was the last, he cast a last glance at the Kelgryn warriors battling behind him and saw that their line was on the verge of collapse. He took the rope in hand and readied himself for the plunge. "We've secured the lady, Jarl," Tristam called out. "Get your men to safety!"

  The leader of the Blades slipped over the edge before Teorfyr could turn and find him.

  * * * *

  Alto twisted his head to look below him. Namitus and even Patrina had already crawled down the rock wall like spiders, finished their descent to the cavern floor ahead of him. Now their swords were drawn and they were fighting off the goblins and larger creatures that approached. Alto bit back a curse and climbed down as fast as he could, even taking the chance of injury and trusting his chain link armor to cushion a slide down the last ten feet of sharply sloped wall.

  "Hurry, to the building!" Alto called out to his friends, picking himself up. He drew his sword and stepped in to help Patrina and Namitus face off against another wave of enemy creatures, both large and small.

  Alto and Namitus teamed up to confuse and overwhelm a troll while Patrina cut through the goblins that followed in its wake. By the time they’d finished dispatching their foes, they were breathing hard again. Everyone, save Tristam, stood on the ground watching them.

  Alto and Namitus rounded the corner of the building and saw creatures milling about ahead of them. They were agitated and confused, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do. Namitus opened the door and ducked inside. Alto followed him in when he heard a grunt and a crash.

  Namitus stood over a man who was slumped over a stone desk. Blood spread out across the desk in a widening pool. Namitus shrugged, and then reached down to remove a set of keys from the man’s belt.

  Patrina and Garrick pushed into the room, forcing Alto out of the way. Patrina’s eyes widened at the sight of the fresh corpse.

  "What is this place?" Garrick asked.

  Namitus peered down a hallway behind the desk before he turned and said, "Looks like a jail."

  "You would know," Patrina muttered.

  Garrick’s furry eyebrows met as his forehead creased. Alto shook his head to tell the barbarian not to ask. "Is there anyone in the cells?" Alto inquired.

  Namitus pushed down the hall and waved from the second cell. "Hello! What’s this?" he asked alou
d.

  "Let me out!" came a gruff voice from the cell.

  The others hurried down the hall to see what Namitus had found, granting the others room to enter the building and stand guard at the door. A short but stocky man stood in the cell and stared up at them. His head came to Alto’s chest but his shoulders were nearly as wide as the young warrior’s. A thick brown beard fell to the prisoner’s waist, matching the color of his hair.

  "Dwarf!" Patrina hissed. She gasped a moment later. "Mordrim?"

  "Aye, Lady Patrina."

  "What are you doing here?"

  "Not telling those raiders a damned thing, that’s what!" he growled.

  Patrina turned to Alto and explained, "This is Mordrim, the last dwarf that came to Holgasford in search of the dwarven mines in the Northern Divide!"

  "Do you know these tunnels?" Alto asked.

  "Aye, as well as any man living."

  "Can you get us out?"

  "How’d you get in?" Mordrim asked.

  "The ramp up. We need another way out."

  Mordrim grunted. "There be tunnels that run through the mountains. I can get you out, but you need to get me out first."

  "Let him out," Alto snapped.

  Namitus put the key in the lock and twisted it, unlocking the iron door. It slid open without a sound. "My things still here?" Mordrim asked as he walked out of the room.

  "There’s nothing here but a dead jailer," Patrina said.

  Garrick growled and raised his sword up. Alto pushed into his side, forcing him into the stone wall and disrupting him. Garrick spun on him but Alto's hand grabbed his forearm to arrest his sword from rising.

  "Demon!" Garrick hissed, his eyes going to Mordrim.

  "You fool, he's a dwarf! Does he look like something from the netherworld come to claim your soul?" Patrina seethed.

  Garrick glared at the scowling dwarf and then slowly relaxed. Mordrim jerked his head toward him and raised his hands so that his fingers were curved to look like claws. "Boo!"