Chapters (54)
- Contents
- PART I
- The Great Leveller
- Best Laid Plans
- Questions
- The Wounds of the Past
- The Condition of the Defences
- The Tiling About Trust
- Allies
- Campfire Politics
- Small Crimes
- Rain
- Bloody Company
- Long Shadows
- And Next… My Gold
- Fear
- One Hundred Words
- The Blind Lead the Blind
- Prince Ladisla's Stratagem
- Until Sunset
- Long Odds
- The Road to Victory
- Necessary Evils
- Among the Stones
- The Fruits of Boldness
- One for Dinner
- One of Them
- PART II
- Heading North
- Scant Mercy
- So This is Pain
- One Step at a Time
- The Rest is Wasted Breath
- A Matter of Time
- Scars
- Furious
- To the Last Man
- Jewel of Cities
- Luck
- Beneath the Ruins
- No Good for Each Other
- The Hero's Welcome
- Cold Comfort
- The High Places
- Coming Over
- Cheap at the Price
- To the Edge of the World
- Before the Storm
- Questions
- Holding the Line
- A Fitting Punishment
- The Abode of Stones
- Back to the Mud
- Acknowledgments
Logen roared, springing suddenly forward and lifting the Maker's sword above his head in both hands. Finnius scrambled back, but not quite far enough. The grey blade tore a chunk from the corner of his shield, sliced clean through and chopped deep into the side of one of the stones with a mighty clang, sending chips of rock spinning. The impact nearly tore the sword from Logen's hands, sent him flailing sideways.
Finnius groaned. Blood was running from a cut on his shoulder, a cut right through his leather armour and into the flesh. The tip of the sword must have gashed him as it passed. Not deep enough to kill, unfortunately, but deep enough to make the point alright.
It was Logen's turn to grin. 'That it?'
They moved at the same moment. The two blades clanged together, but Logen's grip was the stronger. Finnius' sword twittered as it spun from his hand and away down the hillside. He gasped, snatching at his belt for a dagger, but before he could get there Logen was on him, growling and grunting as he chopped mindlessly away at the shield, hacking great scars in the wood and sending splinters flying, driving Finnius stumbling away. One last blow crashed into the shield and he staggered from the force of it, tripped over the corner of a fallen stone poking through the grass and tumbled onto his back. Logen gritted his teeth and swung the Maker's sword down.
It sliced clean through the greave on Finnius' shin and took his foot off just above the ankle, splattering blood into the grass. He dragged himself backwards, started to scramble up, shrieked as he tried to put his weight on his missing foot, dropped onto the stump and sprawled on his back again, coughing and groaning.
'My foot!' he wailed.
'Put it out of your mind,' growled Logen, kicking the dead thing out of his way and stepping forward.
'Wait!' gurgled Finnius, shoving himself back through the grass with his good leg towards one of the standing stones, leaving a bloody trail behind him.
'For what?'
'Just wait!' He dragged himself up the rock, hopped on his remaining foot, cringing away. 'Wait!' he screamed.
Logen's sword caught the inside rim of the shield, tore the straps away from Finnius' limp arm and flung it bouncing down the slope on its chewed-up edge. Finnius gave a desperate wail and pulled out his knife, poised himself on his one good leg to lunge. Logen chopped a great gash in his chest. Blood sprayed out and showered down his breastplate. His eyes bulged, he opened his mouth wide but all that came out was a gentle wheeze. The dagger dropped from his fingers and fell silently into the grass. He slid sideways and dropped onto his face.
Back to the mud with that.