Page 102 of Oath of the Wolf
Cenric glanced left and right.
Then the man circling to his left collapsed.Brynn shifted her attention to the man circling right.
Unfortunately, the man circling right was clever enough to realize what had happened.He skirted back, joining the small formation with his other two fellows.
The men came on with their spears, prodding and poking at Hróarr and Cenric who stabbed back.Several times, the enemy warriors tried to circle, but were quick to remember why that was a bad idea.
“I am going to bind their feet to the grass.”Brynn kept her voice low, though the odds were that these men didn’t speak Hyldish.“It will only last a moment or so, but it should be enough to trip them.”
Hróarr grunted his acknowledgement.
They could use that, especially if they knew the timing.“Signal when you do.”Cenric blocked another spear thrust from their enemies.
Brynn rested a hand on Cenric and her other on Hróarr.Her voice was but a whisper as she counted down.“In three, two, one…” She squeezed Cenric’s shoulder.
Cenric let off a roar, yelling at the top of his lungs the same instant Hróarr did.Together, they took one lunging step forward.It was an old tactic they’d used before and by no means original, but it worked.
The three enemy warriors faltered, just a little.It was barely even noticeable, but with their feet bound to the grass, it took down the man on the far left, who stumbled back into his fellows on the right.
Hróarr was on the man an instant later, his axe swinging in as his shield blocked the spear.The axe struck and crunched into ribs.
Cenric slammed into the man nearest to him, spearing the warrior’s chest just below the collarbone.He’d barely gotten his spear free before Hróarr pounced on the second man, axe slamming into an unprotected forehead.
Pockets of fighting scattered all around them.Groups of four or five breaking out into their own private battles.
Ovrek’s voice rang out over the melee.“Ovrek!”
Good, the king was still alive.At least this wasn’t for nothing.
“Ovrek!”roared the king.“Ovrek!”
Cenric spotted the king himself, armed with a bearded axe, silhouetted by the burning fire of his hall.He had faced two betrayals in a single day, and his fury burst out of him in a storm of rage.
Cenric realized that the line keeping the rest of Ovrek’s men from making it up the hill had broken.Tullia’s men were routed, crushed between the burning hall and the rest of Ovrek’s rallied forces.
What remained of Tullia’s line buckled as it was attacked from two sides.A roar went up from Ovrek’s men as Ovrek’s name was bellowed into the night air.
Ovrek himself shouted above it all, crying his name as if to be heard by the stars themselves.
Cenric stabbed, lunged, and blocked.He raised his shield, lowered his spear, feinted, and charged more times than he could count.He kept close to Hróarr and Brynn.
Every time he reached back, she was there, and every time someone tried to flank them, the man went down before he made it more than a few steps.
Cenric fought and killed until the voices shouting for Ovrek were all he could hear and every man around him seemed to be a friend.
Blood splattered his face, head, and arms.Sweat soaked his tunic and trickled down his back despite the cold night air.
Cenric panted, turning in a slow circle, then looking back to Hróarr.Had they won?
“Ovrek!”the men of the hillside shouted.“Ovrek!”
The king himself strode forward, the rings in his beard glinting, arms spread wide as he let off a savage howl, shaking his bloodied axe defiantly.
A cheer went up as the survivors descended on the dead, picking over armor, weapons, and jewelry from the corpses.If Cenric wanted that lamellar kit from the dead man, he should probably go get it now.
Brynn swayed, grabbing him for support.
“Brynn!”Cenric caught her, holding her up.“What happened?Are you hurt?”
