“Okay, go,” Rezkin said. He disappeared before either man registered his departure. Rezkin slinked through the dark, moving from shadow to shadow. The quarter moon provided just enough light by which to see, but the clouds and trees created pockets of darkness. Moving quickly but silently, he circled around behind the encroaching foes with battle energy coursing through his veins.

The bandits were spread out in the grasses in no particular fashion that he could discern. He dispatched the first without a sound, the man never even detecting his presence. Rezkin stalked silently to the rear of the second, and the bandit whipped around just as Rezkin bore down on top of him. Kingslayer sliced through the doomed man’s gut, and he released a guttural moan as his intestines spilled across the grass. Rezkin drew Bladesunder across the man’s throat to put him out of his misery. Red blood, black in the darkness, spurted over the ground, but Rezkin was already gone.

The noise from the last victim had alerted the next man in the line who jumped up with a shout. At just about the same time, the clash of metal and shouts resounded from other locations around the hill. Rezkin’s third opponent ran at him with a growl, raising a one-handed battle-ax over his head. The man brought the ax down toward Rezkin’s head, and rather than parrying the heavy weapon, Rezkin dodged and knocked it aside. The man swung his other fist around, which held a long, serrated dagger. Rezkin used his short sword to block the strike, taking the hand off at the wrist, and Kingslayer came down in an arc nearly splitting the man in two.

The other two attackers came at him at once, each wielding a two-handed longsword. Rezkin slashed at one opponent while blocking the other, keeping them both far enough away to be effective with his two weapons. Within seconds he had disarmed one and gutted the other. He dispatched them both without hesitation. The entire encounter had only taken a few minutes, and he could hear the heated exchange of metal on metal elsewhere on the hill.

Corporal Lattery was still exchanging blows with one of the two swordsmen, but he was bleeding from a deep gash at his shoulder. Rezkin slashed at the assailant’s back as he ran by, and the corporal was able to finish the man. Rezkin ran toward Lieutenant Jimson’s location, the corporal hot on his heels. The lieutenant was engaged with three of the bandits, while one lay dead in the gulley. Just as Rezkin and the corporal arrived, Jimson prevailed over another of the aggressors, leaving only two to eliminate. The three men made short work of these last and then sprinted toward the camp to assist those on the other side.