Chapter 29
Corazon blocked the sword with his own, kicked the vampire in the stomach and then brought his sword down in a swift arc to remove his head. He turned and instantly blocked the next attack, this time taking the vampire’s legs out before stabbing him through the throat to sever his spinal cord.
Troy backed into him and they turned, attacking any who dared to get too close.
They were doing well so far. Many of the enemy had been slain, but they had lost numbers too. Those numbers were mostly humans. The generals had ordered the humans to drop to the rear and finish off any injured enemies.
They had lured the enemy in and the battle was being fought close to the garrison wall in the valley, within range of the archers on the walls. The moon was the only light on the battlefield. No torches warmed the night.
Corazon broke rank again and drove forwards with Troy and a group of men from his company. Sword clashes rang through the darkness, a tinny echo against the steep sides of the valley. The sound of battle cries and pain filled his ears. Nowhere was silent tonight. He killed two vampires in quick succession, slashing them across the back of the neck. Troy stayed close. Across the way, Corazon could see Karin leading her men. It seemed she wasn’t going to obey the generals’ orders for captains to remain near the rear either.
He wanted to be here, in the thick of battle with his men, not hiding behind them. This was the time when they needed leadership most of all. He had to be here with them, to give them courage and lead the way. They needed him.
He revelled in the fight, in the clashing of swords and fists and feet, in the violence. He didn’t feel the cuts that laced his arms and body. He was too lost in the heat of the battle and the fight for survival. He had to survive. He fought for Scarlet, to protect her and return to her.
Troy’s scream filled his ears and he turned towards him, bringing his sword around at the same time. Anger raged through him when he saw the blade in Troy’s side and then the vampire responsible. Corazon roared and switched his sword to his left hand. He slammed his right fist into the vampire’s chest, punching a hole in it and tearing out his heart. The vampire fell to the floor, his sword sliding free of Troy’s flesh. Troy pressed his hand against the wound, his eyes wide and full of shock as he stared at him. Corazon flexed his fingers. There wasn’t time to explain to Troy where his strength had come from.
“Keep safe,” he shouted over the noise of battle and then pushed past him to kill a vampire about to attack him.
“You too,” Troy shouted and turned with him, battling at his side again.
It felt good to have Troy close. He knew his child would fight to protect him just as he would fight to protect him. They would look out for each other. He glanced at Milton, checking on him. He was close still and Corazon hoped it stayed that way. Milton wasn’t without injury, none of them were. There was a gash across his arm that was bleeding badly and hindering his ability to fight. Another gash cut across his helmet and had left a bleeding trail where it had caught his cheek. He checked the rest of his men, eyes quickly scanning the battlefield.
They stopped on Violet. She looked as though she was enjoying the fight as much as he was. He grabbed his sword with his right hand and cut through a man. It was easy when he used his heightened strength in that arm. He could slice a man in two. Daliel shouted something at Violet, catching his attention. He looked across to see her behind Daliel, his hand on her arm as he fought the vampire who had attacked her.
A roar from up ahead made his head snap around. Constantine. He was leading the battle, lost in the in the bloodlust and haze. He was feral, an animal, butchering any that strayed too close in the name of glory. It sickened Corazon.
A volley of arrows flew overhead in the direction of the garrison. Corazon’s eyes followed them. They clattered harmlessly off the wall and some of the soldiers shields. An answering volley zoomed overhead towards the enemy. He singled out Scarlet on the wall. She was standing at the front of her group, proud and shouting orders while she fired her bow.
She looked down at him, paused and then fired an arrow straight at him. The feathers of it brushed his black helmet as it zipped past. A strangled noise behind him made him turn. The vampire clutched at the arrow sticking out of his throat. Corazon helped him with it. He cut off his head.
He was glad that Scarlet’s aim had improved.
Scarlet was pleased with herself. So far, they had only lost one archer and it wasn’t from her company. She remained close behind the five archers kneeling in front of her and holding thick shields up to protect the rest of the group. It was a tactic that had worked so well that the other groups of archers had quickly adopted it. They only lowered the shields once the archers behind were ready to fire another volley.
She signalled to the archers to fire and they let loose another volley of arrows, sending them zipping into the dark distance. It was difficult to see where the enemy archers were. Corazon had been right. It was taking all of her faculties to fight this battle. She was glad that the moon was with them tonight, illuminating the land enough that she could watch the battle below at least.
She picked off another two vampires that were about to attack one of her side and then raised her hand, silently telling the archers to reload their bows. Aradne was doing well. Several times, she had fired out of sync with the others, reloading her bow in order to fire off a shot to protect Milton or one of the others in her company.
There was a clamour from the distance and she squinted, focusing there. She could see the archers and realised that her side had reached them. Her tactic changed. With the enemy archers having to draw their swords to protect themselves, her archers were free to assist their soldiers now by picking off the enemy.
“Assist all those you can,” she shouted and her command was echoed by the other lead archers along the wall. “Pick off or injure as many of the enemy as possible.”
Scarlet turned and raised her bow, firing in quick succession into the throng below. Her side outnumbered the enemy now, but something inside her said that could change any moment. There was no need to get complacent. This battle was far from over. They needed to turn the tide.
More enemy soldiers appeared, swarming the battlefield and pushing her side back towards the garrison. It made it easier to pick them off but at the same time made her nervous. There were just too many of them and her men were tired. She had to do something to help those on the battlefield before it was too late.
She couldn’t lose Corazon or Troy.
A vampire below her was shot in the arm with an arrow and instantly fell. She traced the path of the arrow back and saw it was the humans that had fired it. Racing over to them, she grabbed one of their arrows and sniffed it. Poisoned.
It was a risk, but one she had to take.
“Do you have more of this?” she said to the startled archer whose arrow she had stolen. “The poison?”
He nodded and pointed down at the courtyard. “There’s a barrel in the tent.”
“Does it kill humans?”
He looked at her as though she had gone insane and wanted to kill his kind.
“I don’t want to kill your people, that’s why I’m asking. If a human is hit by accident... or a werewolf... will it affect them?”
He shook his head. “No. This one is vampire specific.”
Strangely, that was a relief. She followed the line of his finger to the tent and leapt from the wall, landing soundly on the courtyard stones. She pelted across it, rushing to get to the tent. When she reached it, she practically ripped the canvas door open and looked around. There was a small barrel near the entrance. She picked it up and sniffed it. It was the same poison that coated their arrows.
She made sure that the stopper was firmly in place and then ran back to the wall, leaping up the steps two at a time to get back to her men. She placed the barrel down beside Aradne and tore the lid off. Grabbing a quiver of arrows, she removed them all and dunked the heads into the barrel. She placed them back into the quiver head down so she wouldn’t get poison on her hands.
“Aradne,” she said and Aradne looked at her. “Run to the other groups and tell them to send someone with their arrows. They are to dip them into this barrel. It’s poison. It won’t kill the vampires, but it will knock them out. Tell them to avoid getting it on their skin.”
Aradne nodded and ran off. Scarlet intimated for one of the other archers to continue dipping the arrows and then distributed the ones she had already dunked to her archers.
She took one of the arrows and aimed at the battle below. The moment it hit the vampire she had aimed it, he went down. A soldier nearby decapitated him. She shouted for the others to do as she had done. Before she could blink, her whole squad were firing the poisoned arrows and the enemy were dropping quickly.
Scarlet grabbed another arrow and fired it at a vampire who was attacking Troy. Corazon looked up at her. She didn’t need to be able to clearly make out his face to know he was confused. She motioned for him to kill the vampire. He did and then looked back at her. Troy stepped closer to him and said something. She could tell by the look on Troy’s face that he knew what was happening.
Her squad picked off more of the enemy and they began to drop everywhere, leaving gaps in places. Her side were quick to remove their heads, ensuring they were dead. She watched Corazon and Troy heading off into the darkness.
In her heart, she knew they would win now.
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