The Diary of Werner Adem

Part 04

In which the enemy stage a night attack an hour before dawn.

Godsday, Deathweek, Stormseason, 606 TA – 4 hours after dusk

Rooting around in the tavern and seemingly abandoned hovels has saved a couple of lives but in the end the villagers all go back to the store, possibly because we go with Murray’s suggestion to barricade the south end of the bridge and camp out after the villagers say the nearest ford for the river is several miles in either direction.

Once we’ve moved furniture from the tavern to make the barricade, me and Rules take a stroll down the south road to see if we can find any sign of Reg’s torch-bearers from a couple of hours ago but we find nothing in the dark. We get back to find Rules is on first watch and I’m on last.

I’ve barely got my head down when Rules is shaking me awake. He reckons he heard birds flying down the river and fears they might be familiars sent by our enemies. I climb over the barrier and look up and down the river but see nothing out of place and hear nothing more than typical river noises – maybe they were familiars, or maybe they were local geese out for a night flight. I get back to my blankets.

When it comes to my watch no one else has seen or heard anything – good, I like long, boring watches. But I’ve not been on watch long, less than half an hour, when I hear something on the riverbank to the north. I look hard, maybe there’s something moving but I can’t tell for sure.

Maybe Rules’ birds from earlier have got me rattled but if I was going to make a night attack the hour before dawn would be my choice – sentries are at their lowest ebb then – so I wake up Murray and tell him my fears. He listens, grunts agreement that he can hear something and tells me to wake the others while he checks it out.

A minute later he gets back, puts on his armour and grabs a lantern, so he’s taking it seriously. Reg is awake and goes with him. Everyone’s up and armoured when they get back – they found bear tracks in the mud heading for the store!

Murray, Reg and Painkiller head for the store. I find myself searching the store in the dark and quietly cuss myself – it’s a rookie’s mistake to get too focused in one direction. Stanis and Rules man the barricade, keeping watch north and westward, I climb on the roof of the nearest hovel, slightly larger than most, giving me a fair view all round, particularly southward.

Within a minute I make out something on the roof of the store. I don’t want to draw attention by shouting so I cast Light on the roof, lighting up another bear demon – the bastards must be breeding the damned things! The thing vaults to the ground the far side of the store and the glow of the Light spell briefly illuminates something moving east beyond it.

With the store lit up like a Helios temple Murray, Reg and Painkiller seem to settle down to stake out the store in case Beardemon comes back when the light goes out. I stay on my roof and watch all directions, especially southward. Stanis and Rules stay on the barricade.

Two minutes later the Light spell ends and the store is plunged into darkness. A minute later I think I see something climbing another hovel east of the store. This time Painkiller casts Light and again we see the Beardemon on a roof. Seconds later I hear Painkiller call out that it’s protected by Countermagic. Again the demon jumps off the far side of the roof and is lost to view. It’s still an hour before dawn.

We spend a tense half-hour and it’s just starting to get light in the East when the Temple bell rings twice – sounds like Jonin’s guards have spotted something and I see Murray, Reg and Painkiller set off down the east side of the village toward the Temple. It would be nice if Jonin has some neat runemagic in these circumstances, but his strategy seems to consist of keeping his head down.

I’ve taken this position because of the threat from the south and my close attention is rewarded when I glimpse a flash of a lantern briefly uncovered, just past the Temple, coming up on the tavern. Just then Rules shouts they can see horsemen approaching from the southwest, by the river, on the south bank. As I cast a glance toward them I see a light play over the bridge from the tower on the north side of the river.

I knock an arrow and bring Speedart to mind as I return my gaze south – Stanis and Rules are outnumbered but they have the barricade and I can’t ignore the intruders to the south.

My patience is rewarded when in the moonlight I get a clear view of one horseman to the south and let fly an arrow with Speedart – it flies true, hitting him in the face and he flies backward, falling over his own crupper. Alas my second arrow at his friend is wasted – it seems each Speedarted arrow is lethal but all my other arrows shoot the Moon.

Well they know I’m here now and my mates need me on the ground so I jump down the east side of the hovel just as Reg jogs along the road. I just glimpse Murray (hard to miss in the gathering light) and Painkiller moving across further away. I think I can leave our friends to the south to Murray, Reg and Painkiller so I glance round the corner and see three barbarians charging the barricade along the riverbank at the gallop. Since someone is shining that lantern from the tower it seems Stanis and Rules are badly outnumbered, attacked from two directions.

The charging riders must either leap the barricade or swerve wide to come around the back. Either way they’ll be vulnerable to attack from their flanks and rear so I ready my spear and shield and cast Mobility. I think about casting Bladesharp, Parry and Shimmer but I’m still down on Power from last evening and have cast more spells since – I don’t want to make myself vulnerable to enemy spells, and anyway I’m confident in my prowess with my weapons.

May lighting strike me! I misjudge my charge, going too early, and one of the riders sees me. (In the growing light of dawn I may be more visible than they are with the dark behind them.) He swerves toward me, so I meet him face-on, rather than take him in the flank.

My enemy comes on at full gallop but my spear is the perfect anti-cavalry weapon and I’m better than him. He manages to parry my spear and my shield knocks his lance aside (but I don’t think it was going to hit me anyway).

All is confusion – the other two riders have swept by the barricade but I don’t know if anyone’s been hurt on either side. The three barbarians have to rein their horses in and wheel. I take the opportunity to get my back to the hovel I’ve just left – if he tries charging again he’ll crash head-first into a brick wall. I gamble with a Demoralise but it doesn’t go home.

Then my opponent comes back for another go, moving warily. I see him kick a foot free of a stirrup – I know he’s going to jump so I charge him, hoping to catch him in the air. Luckily for him I’m a strike rank behind and he parries my thrust but we’re on equal footing now.

Suddenly Reg comes from behind me and there’s two of us. Our friend is distracted by Reg’s sword into parrying the wrong opponent and I stick him in the guts – unfortunately I can’t really lean in to it or he’d be dead already but his legs go out from under him.

I curse myself for a fool when I pull my spear out by reflex – I should have left it in him then I could feint with my dagger and watch him kill himself trying to parry. Out of the corner of my eye I see one rider going down at the barricade – the other seems to have just wandered off, Befuddled possibly?

But suddenly three more riders expertly vault the barricade, having approached over the bridge. Two swerve away but one comes straight on at Reg.

That leaves our sitting duck to me but he knows he’s dead already and duly co-operates, letting me stick him again with my spear and he falls back – a body can only take so much.

To my left Reg has expertly butchered the charging rider’s horse but the rider vaulted effortlessly to the ground – I hate these bastards but I must admire their horsemanship. I heft my spear and move to help Reg. I wonder how Murray and Painkiller are getting on with the bastards to the south?