CHAPTER NINE
Beltzer awoke first. His body was stiff and he stretched. At that moment he saw the attackers running into the cave. He rolled to his knees and came up with his axe. The fire was dead, the light poor. Beltzer bellowed a war-cry and charged. Two of the men ran at him, the third ducking and sprinting past the axeman. Beltzer ignored the runner and hammered his axe into the first of the attackers. A sword plunged through his jerkin, narrowly missing the flesh on his hip. Dragging his axe clear of the falling warrior, he backhanded a cut into the second man’s ribs, the blade cleaving through to the lungs. Then he spun, ready for an attack from the rear. But the third man was dead, killed by Chareos.
Finn raced into the cave, his knife raised. He stopped as he saw Beltzer and Chareos standing over the three bodies.
‘Some watchman you turned out to be,’ said Beltzer.
Finn slammed the knife back into the sheath by his side. ‘We killed three and wounded a fourth,’ he said, ‘but they doubled back on us.’
‘How many more are there?’ asked Chareos, wiping the blood from his blade.
‘I don’t know,’ answered Finn.
‘Find out,’ Chareos told him. Finn nodded, turned on his heel and ran from the cave.
Beltzer sat down and chuckled. ‘A night to remember, eh, Blademaster?’
‘Yes,’ agreed Chareos absently, turning to where Kiall and Okas still slept. Kneeling, he shook Kiall’s shoulder.
The young man opened his eyes and flinched. ‘Oh,’ he whispered. ‘Are we safe?’
‘We are back at the cave,’ replied Chareos. ‘How safe we are remains to be seen. You did well back there.’
‘How do you know?’ Kiall asked.
‘You are alive,’ said Chareos simply.
‘Shouldn’t we be out there helping Maggrig and Finn?’ queried Beltzer.
‘No. The game being played is theirs. We would be a hindrance.’
Chareos took his tinder-box from his pack, cleared the ash from the fire and started a new blaze. The three men settled around it, enjoying the warmth. A scream sounded from beyond the cave and Kiall jumped.
‘That could be Finn or Maggrig,’ he said.
‘Could be,’ agreed Beltzer. ‘What about some food?’
‘A good idea,’ pronounced Chareos and he turned to Kiall. ‘Prepare some oats. My stomach is starting to think my throat has been cut.’
‘What about Finn?’ demanded Kiall.
‘He can eat when he gets here,’ replied Beltzer, grinning.
Kiall moved back to the packs and took a hide sack of oats. He glanced at Okas. ‘He’s still sleeping,’ he said.
‘I doubt that,’ said Chareos.
The three questors sat in silence as the oats bubbled and thickened in a copper pot hung over the fire. The thin grey light of pre-dawn brightened the sky as Kiall ladled the food into two wooden platters.
‘Not eating?’ asked Beltzer as Kiall sat back.
‘No, I lost my appetite,’ answered the younger man, flicking his gaze to the bloodied corpses. ‘How can you think of food with a stench like that in the air?’
Beltzer shrugged. ‘It’s only meat, boy, and bowels and guts.’
Finn entered the cave moments later and sat down, his eyes red-rimmed and weary. Maggrig followed a few minutes after. Both men ate in silence.
‘Well?’ asked Chareos, as the meal was finished.
‘There were four more of them.’
‘Did you get them all?’ enquired Beltzer.
‘Yes, but it was close. They were skilled, very skilled. What do we do now?’
‘We wait for Okas,’ answered Chareos. ‘You should get some sleep.’ Finn nodded and moved to the far corner of the cave, wrapping his lean frame in a blanket and settling down with his head on his saddle.
‘They almost took us,’ said Maggrig. ‘At least one of them had a better position. His shot missed Finn’s head by a finger’s width.’
‘Did you find their horses?’ Chareos asked.
‘Yes. We stripped the saddles and turned them loose. Finn thinks they were outriders for a larger force – probably the same group that took Ravenna.’
‘Then they were hunting us,’ said Chareos.
‘Of course they were hunting us,’ snapped Beltzer. That’s why there are bodies everywhere.’