Page 100 of Oath of the Wolf
With the burning hall at their backs, their enemies were illuminated in stark relief before them.
“Tullia!”the traitors cried.“Tullia!”
Cenric caught himself gritting his teeth, as they braced for impact, a bad habit Berdun had always tried to break.
The enemy formed lines in front of them, drawing up in a wall of weapons, shields, and armor here and there.Somewhere in that line might be Tullia herself.Further down the hill, Cenric could see the warriors from the beach fighting the second force of Tullia’s men down the slope.
If those men could get through, Ovrek’s men would have the advantage of numbers, but for now, they had to fight from weakness.The battle could still go either way.So often, that was all war was—a toss of the sticks and a prayer of favor to the gods.
“Ovrek!”boomed the king’s voice.His great bellow seemed to shake the air itself.
The lines surged forward, Cenric and Hróarr at the front.
“Ovrek!”Hróarr bellowed, shaking his axe in challenge.“Ovrek!”
“Ovrek!”Cenric joined in the chanting.“Ovrek!”
“Tullia!”the enemy shouted back defiantly.“Tullia!’
“You will have no graves!”Ovrek swore.“I will feed your eyes to the ravens and your guts to my pigs!”
Not to be outdone, Tullia shouted back.“I will make your son a eunuch and your concubines whores!”
More taunts and boasts flew between the warriors.Most of them lost in the noise.
Cenric’s heart raced, more excitement than fear coursing through him.He had never been as skilled with taunts as some, but he knew what to do once the lines met.“Ovrek!”he shouted.“Ovrek!”
The two lines barreled closer.The expectation, dread, and eagerness were so thick Cenric was sure he could smell it.
Despite all the yelling and taunting, Brynn was the first to strike, silent and likely unseen at Cenric’s back.
A man at the front of the enemy line tripped and recovered, but then another tripped and another.One man finally stumbled, then went down, pushed forward by the force of his fellows behind him.
As another man reached to help the fallen warrior, his head bent to the side, almost as if an invisible rope had caught him around the neck.
The man who had tried to help buckled, thudding to the ground.His corpse tripped up the men behind him.
The enemy line jostled, already fragmenting.
“That’s my girl.”Cenric never took his eyes off the advancing line.
Tullia’s men had come prepared with shields and armor, but even when outmatched, no man wanted to die like a coward.Ovrek’s line had not been prepared, but they had Brynn.
Brynn tripped up the advancing line, making them stumble in the grass.She took down another man just as the lines closed.
Cenric lunged, stabbing the man to the left of the gap.His spearhead caught flesh and he shoved harder before yanking it out, falling back into formation.
Around him, shouts and screams and grunts and bellows rang out, but Cenric could only see what was in front of him.He was aware of Hróarr to his right, the man at his left, and Brynn at his back.That was it.
The battle turned into a blur, stabbing and blocking.Another spear caught him in the shoulder, narrowly avoiding his neck.
Brynn’s hand touched his back, and the pain in his wound was gone a moment later.
The man at Cenric’s left stumbled, letting off a cry.Cenric didn’t see what had happened to him, but a moment later, Brynn steadied that man, too.
No wonder Aelgar had been able to win after he swayed the sorceresses to his side.If this was what they could do with just one, what was possible with two?A hundred?
Roars rang out as more voices shouting for Ovrek drowned out those shouting for Tullia.
