Spellscribed: Ascension (11 page)

"Is everything all right?" Berand asked.

Joven turned and nodded to him. "The baby is well." he said. "Now, before we let the wolfmen overrun the village and change that, let me see what your defenses are."

Berand followed the bodyguard out of the house, the both of them leaving the widow to her cooking. "What?"

"I don't intend on letting your people do all the work." Joven said. "If anything gets through the walls tonight, then I won't be able to complete the Spengur's request. I will not let that happen. Now show me your defenses so I can help protect the village tonight."

"We've been defending this village for
days now-" Berand began angrily.

"I can tell!" Joven shouted. "You're all exhausted! How much longer do you think you can keep this up before you make a mistake? How many people will die because you refuse to recognize you're at your limits?" The barbarian's hands were clenched in fists, his voice echoing off the pines up the side of the mountain.

Berand flinched, something he would not have done were he not so tired and strung out from several days of continued combat. The people of the village had been constantly on the defense for days, and they didn't have enough people to effectively form shifts of men guarding the walls. They had been cycling a few people off the walls at a time to sleep, but everyone was resting however they could between attacks.

"I...well then, fine." Berand said. "I suppose I shouldn't turn down an extra sword arm. Follow me."

Joven followed the man up onto the wall. From the way the land was laid out around the village, the front area Joven had ridden up to was the easiest place from which to assault the village. The pine trees coming down the mountainside came within thirty yards of the walls, meaning that there was a relatively short area that charging attackers were vulnerable to enemy fire. The other three sides of the village were surrounded by a hundred yards of open terrain at minimum. Farmland covered the back half of the open area around the village, and an archer could hit anything in line of sight for a hundred yards with no trouble in the low breeze.

The biggest problem was the intensity of the wolfmen's attacks. They fought without weapons and with little or no armor, but went on unless dealt massive damage. It wasn't a huge difficulty; overkill was a barbarian's specialty.  But their lack of self-preservation and ability to use tools was triggering a warning in the back of Joven's mind. He'd fought wolfmen before; they'd always fought tactically, as a team, and with equipment. These packs were bigger than he'd seen them in before, but they had no coordination or tactical reason.

It was almost as if they had lost their minds. Joven was concerned, but also glad for the change. It was a great deal easier to defend against a simple minded enemy than a clever one. The only problem they had was the fact that dozens would attack in each wave, and they had hardly a few seconds warning before they would attack again. Their numbers were enormous; already Joven counted at least a hundred dead in the field and at least two dozen dead against the wall.

Joven pointed out some areas where the wolfmen would be naturally inclined to charge up. He also shifted the positions of the archers and spearmen so the archers could position over the gate, providing cover for either side's walls if the spearmen were being overwhelmed. He also tasked groups of a single spearman and three of the village’s youths to go outside the walls and haul the bodies away from the village. They would be under watch the whole time, but they needed to get the dead away from the walls. The next attackers could use the bodies as step ups to climb the wall. They could spare three teams. The spearmen were to lance the corpse in the head before the youths would drag it away by the ankles.

While Joven was directing the preparations, he caught sight of a glimmer coming from deep in the woods. He would not have seen it if the suns hadn't been setting. It hadn't looked like a natural phenomenon, so he searched to find Berand.

He found the man dozing, sitting on a barrel that was leaning against one of the houses inside the village. Joven knew the man needed his sleep, but he had to check to see if they had noticed it before. He reached out and shook the man by the shoulder.

"Berand, wake up." he said.

The man woke with a start, blinking up at him.

"Have your men seen anything in the woods between these attacks?" Joven asked.

Berand blinked at him again, then shook his head.

"Did anyone even scout the woods since the first attack?"

Berand shook his head.

"I'm going to go see what it is. Get some rest."

Berand didn't reply, instead closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep again.

Joven passed through the gates, keeping an eye on the forest line. The nine working on disposing of the bodies were hustling to get done as fast as possible, but would be at it for at least another hour. Joven believed he should be able to get back before they were done.

He unhooked two hatchets from his belt, stalking into the forest. He moved cautiously, but not with great stealth. Wolfmen had a sense of smell that made sneaking up on them almost impossible. The best he could do was move quickly and effectively through the woods and draw as little attention as possible.

He moved in the direction the light had come from, careful to avoid making too much noise. As he moved forward he could hear the sound of fighting. His attention perked, and he ran towards the sound. If there was someone this close to the wolfmen, he'd have to get him inside the walls.

Joven came around an elder pine and skidded to a stop. He blinked, not quite comprehending what he saw before him.

Seven wolfmen lay in pieces in the woods, their bodies savagely chopped apart. A single wolfman battled desperately against five of the same kind of wolfmen that Joven had fought outside the village. The lone wolfman wore fur and steel llamelar armor, bracers, and shin guards. He had a pair of finely crafted short swords in each furry hand, and he dispatched the first of the five wolfmen with practiced ease.

Joven could see that the wolfman's breathing was labored, and the points of his swords dipped as he fought exhaustion. The warrior had been fighting his own people for quite some time, from what Joven could estimate. He hadn't even detected the barbarian's scent, he was so tired.

In that moment, Joven considered just letting the enemy overwhelm the warrior, then finishing off the remaining wounded. It would make the fight a great deal easier and he wouldn't expend energy he may need bringing the baby to Endrance. Wolfmen had been the enemy of his people for longer than his people could remember.

But then he thought about what Endrance had told him about the wolfman that had spared his life. The Spengur would want him to help the warrior. If he let this one die, he would be going against his friend's wishes.

As the wolfman stumbled back, trying to get more room to fight the remaining four wild wolfmen, Joven erupted out from behind the tree with a roar of challenge. The four wild wolfmen turned to him as he released both hatchets with a powerful overhead arm throw. They struck home, embedding deep into the two wolfmen's heads. As Joven closed in, he pulled the spiked club free from his belt.

The armored wolfman jerked to the side, wheeling away from both Joven and the other wolfmen. He seemed confused, but kept out of the big human's way. Joven sidestepped the first wolfman's attack and swung his club, bashing it in the skull with the spikes. He thrust his foot out and caught the other one in the chest, knocking him back while he yanked the club free from the dead wolfman's head. Joven advanced on the other and it fell just as easily.

His grim rescue completed, Joven turned to the last wolfman standing. They stared at each other for several seconds and Joven finally just shrugged and put the club back into his belt. The wolfman studied the barbarian as he caught his breath, watching the big man collect his hatchets with a yank.

"I don't even know if you can talk." Joven said, wiping the blood off on the dead wolfman's fur. The blood on his hatchets and mace were dark, almost clotted. "But I think if you are fighting these things and I'm fighting these things, then maybe we can not fight each other. At least until we've got nothing else to fight."

The wolfman sheathed his short swords, both sliding into a scabbard over each shoulder. He straightened and nodded his head to Joven.
"I can talk," the wolfman said, his voice rough but tightly controlled. "I do not wish to fight you." His gaze slid over the four dead wolfmen. "I get the feeling I would not be much of a challenge for you."

Joven grunted. "Nah," he said. "I'd only killed half of what you did here. Who knows how many you fought before this. You'd be a worthy foe."

The wolfman watched him carefully and then rolled his shoulders in a strange sort of shrug. "Very well." he said. "Why did you help?"

"I don't entirely know, honestly." Joven said with a half-smile. "I guess Endrance would be unhappy with me if I let you die."

The wolfman regarded him with a curious expression on his canine face. The wolf's ears were pointed in different directions, listening for other sounds, but his eyes were on the barbarian. "This Endrance, he is your alpha?" he asked.

"Alpha?"

"Your pack leader?"

Joven scratched the side of his nose. "I guess..."

The wolfman nodded. "I am called Wrach, second of Gnaeus's pack."

"And Gnaeus is
your... Alpha?" Joven asked.

Wrach nodded.

"I am Joven." the barbarian replied, tapping his chest. The second of - I am the guardian of Endrance."

Wrach squinted at Joven. "I do not understand."

"Understand what?"

"Is not your strongest your Alpha? Then if he is strongest, then why must you guard him?"

Joven did not have the head for diplomacy; his preferred method of dealing with confusing words was to put a fist into the speaker's face. However, he would gain nothing by punching the wolfman, so he kept his irritation in check.

"It's complicated." Joven admitted. "Endrance is stronger than me in many things, but his body is tiny and weak. It's not much of a weakness. I've not seen anything that his lightning cannot strike down."

The wolfman tilted his head, one ear flicking. "Lightning?"

"Yeah."

"I've heard about a mage who struck down wolfmen with a powerful bolt of lightning, but I thought that Gnaeus was only telling tales."

Endrance had told Joven about the wolfman that had let him live. "So it was Gnaeus who had met him?"

"All he said was that the mage had an unusual scent." The wolfman's ears swiveled into different positions. "We need to move soon, more of the Atastos will be coming soon."

Joven frowned. "Atastos?"

Wrach shook his head. "The closest word your kind has to it is ‘undead.' It is not right, but it is closest to our language."

Joven nodded. "Ah. Where will you go?"

Wrach shrugged. "I will return to my pack to report to Gnaeus. You should return to the people you guard. You are lucky to have only found a few Atastos."

"So few?" Joven asked. "The village has killed over a hundred."

Joven didn't know that wolfmen could grin. "That," Wrach said with a toothy grin that reminded him of a dog, "is just a small part of the full pack that is to come."

* * *

Wrach watched in darkness as the barbarian finished scouting the pass. He had been lucky that the man had come by, or else he may have died before being able to return his report to his Alpha. Gnaeus was relying on him to bring the news back to him. The Atastos had begun to move. Something had to be directing them; otherwise instinct would have kept them wandering individually in the wild parts of the wilderness.

Instead they were moving in large numbers, and he still hadn't figured out why. Wrach flicked his tail and slunk through the trees the way he had come. Perhaps the mage that the barbarian mentioned could be of assistance. He would ask Gnaeus about it. The Alpha had met the human and would know better if he could be trusted.

Wrach moved stealthily through the rough, mountainous terrain with the expert skill of a veteran scout. Coupled with the night vision and sense of smell of the wolfmen, he was quite able to avoid being detected by all but the most skilled of hunters.

The moons rose and the night grew deep. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of battle. Shouts and screams carried over the mountainside and he could tell that the Atastos had found the village again. Perhaps Joven had what it would take to protect them. Perhaps he fell quickly. Either way, he did not expect to hear from the man again.

He felt grateful that the man had saved his life; it was considered a given fact that a packmate was on his or
her own when traveling through the populous areas of the northern lands. Even more so than the Ironsoul pack, the barbarian pack would typically attack them on first sight. Instead, Joven had saved his life and even shared information with him.

His Alpha must be incredibly powerful, for such a capable warrior to fight under him happily. He heard no sense of malice towards his Alpha or ambition to replace him; a sign that his pack was well cared for. Wrach didn't know how it was done in the barbarian's pack, but whatever it was that his Alpha was doing, it seemed to be working well.