The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 63)
I was using my extended sight when I saw the next band of Raiders. They weren’t heading for the Kingdom, they were heading for me. I stowed my horse in the forest away from harm and waited in the center of the trail.
As the band got closer, I drew my swords and stood my ground. They stopped a dozen yards from me.
“Ah, so it is true. The Patchwork Knight is alive and well, and coming to the Kingdom. We will be your escort.”
“Don’t you mean prisoner?”
“Call it as you like. We were told to bring you to the Kingdom. I suggest you throw your swords down, and climb into our cage here. We will take good care of you.”
“I have another suggestion.”
“What would that be?”
“I don’t throw down my swords, I walk over there, and kill you all.”
A large chorus of laughter erupted from the band of what appeared to be 50 men.
“The rumors are true then. You really think you can kill all of us? We are the most skilled of all Raiders. We were sent here to take you alive. I don’t understand it myself considering how many you have murdered, but those are our orders.”
“I don’t think I can kill you at all. I know that I can. I gave your man a chance, so that he could tell you I was coming and for you all to leave the Realm. You didn’t heed his warning, so I must do as I said I would.”
I entered the Euphoria and gathered the aether from the stone.
“Yes, he told us the nonsense that you wanted him to pass along, and then we killed him for leaving his men like a coward. If you insi….”
I had heard enough, and didn’t allow him to finish. I ran at full speed added by the Euphoria and the aether. I was cutting through his throat before he could finish what would be his final word. I cut through the band that were standing two by two along the trail. I was half way through them before any of them knew what was happening, and by the time they did, it was already too late for them. Some tried to fight back, while others tried to run. I gave them their headstart and finished off those that had the courage to stand and die with their weapons in their hands, then I ran each man down one by one. I made sure to spin them to face me, so that they could die with my face being the last thing that they saw. Even though it was too good for them, I gave them all an honorable death.
I piled all the bodies up in the center of the trail. I counted 75 men in all. The horses had all run at the start of the battle but one cart had been destroyed in the melee as the horses began their frantic run to safety. I took the wood from the cart and placed it around the pile of bodies, to add kindling to the bonfire that soon would be.
I lit the pyre and watched it burn until the sun went down. The thick black smoke rose into the air and would be a warning to all those who would come for me. The Mudwood was now sending war bands to hunt me down. It appears that the fight was now coming to me, instead of the other way around.
The Mudwood did just that. They sent war band after war band my way. Blocking me from my final destination. No matter how many men they sent, it didn’t matter. I cut each and everyone of them down, but it slowed my progress to the Kingdom. Some days I wouldn’t even have a chance to move from my location. When one hourde was gone, another would be right on its heels.
This went on for longer than I care to remember, but I do remember. What should have taken a few months at the most, took decades. I was beginning to be an old man from this war, but I would see it through.
The war bands began thinning in numbers. At first it would be 75–100 men per warband, then it was 50, then 20. The herd was thinning, but it still seemed that the Mudwood had an infinite number of bodies to throw at me. While the numbers of men began to dwindle, so did the frequency at which they would attack.When this all started. I was seeing nearly a war band a day for months at a time, but now, I had only seen one war band within the past week, and there were none on the horizon.
It was finally time for my final march to the Kingdom. It was too long in coming, but it had truly, finally begun.
For Chapter 64 follow link below.
