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Back A Night of Flames
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

Then I felt a pain in my midriff. Looking down I saw with a shock that he held a knife in his right hand. He pulled his fist back and once again delivered a powerful blow, higher this time, that drove the wind from my lungs. Without thought, I bellowed, and tried to hit him with my shield. But he was too close, embracing me tightly, and as near as a lover. I could not punch him with the shield boss, instead I was only able to deliver an ineffectual blow with the inside of the linden board.

Shrugging off the weak battering from my shield on his back, he again hammered his knife into my stomach. The only thing that saved me was the byrnie I wore. I had ring-shaped bruises for many days afterwards, but the byrnie turned the Norseman’s blade, preventing him gutting me like a mackerel. But I knew iron links could be sundered. The man was strong and determined. Left unchecked, his knife would eventually break through my armour and pierce my flesh.

In desperation now, panic rising within me like bile, I twisted and writhed in his grasp. His next strike missed its mark, glancing against my side. He was too close to allow me to bring my sword’s blade to bear, but I was not about to release my grip on the weapon. With a howl of pain and fury, I punched him in the face, my fist wrapped tightly around the sword’s grip. The hilt and pommel smashed his lips and teeth, his blood shockingly red on the golden hair of his beard. A wave washed over us both, filling my mouth with cold water, making me choke and cough. The river had cleaned away the blood from his face. I hammered my sword hilt into his mouth again, sending a fresh spurt of blood over my fist and his chin. His grip weakened and I pummelled his face another couple of times before I was able to shove him away. His eyes were glazed now, his face streaked with gore from his broken mouth. I did not hesitate. As soon as he was at an arm’s length from me, I slashed down with my blade, shattering his skull. He fell back, to float away, his pallid, blood-soaked face staring up at the storm clouds above us before his body tumbled over and was lost to the river.

My chest and stomach ached where the knife had gouged at my byrnie, but I was not seriously hurt. Shaking off the shock of the encounter, I cast about for more hidden adversaries. There was nobody near me now apart from Wistan, his father, and the Norseman he faced.