Chapter Three
Guido had released me, but now I was willingly following him. He seemed to be flying across the snow, but I was lagging far behind. The snow was incredibly difficult to run in.
The guards were having trouble too, but nowhere near as much as me. Their footfalls were getting closer by the second, but I dared not look back. I knew that it would just slow me down.
I stumbled and heard the whisk of a crossbow bolt tear by, right where my neck would have been. Suddenly, they were upon me, pinning me to the ground. It was only then that I realised how cold I was. I had left my coat in the bar.
I felt a gloved hand pull my head up by the head, and I screamed at Guido for leaving me. He was just stood watching. I felt the cold steel of a dagger pressing down on my neck, drawing blood.
Suddenly, Guido was engulfed in smoke and I heard an almighty bang. Instantly, the dagger slid off my neck and landed with a soft thump in the snow behind me, and felt warm blood on my skin. The hand slid from my hair and I rolled over, grabbing the dagger on the ground and slashing wildly in the direction of the guards. However, they were out of my reach, forming a small formation in the middle of the street.
I looked round. As if by signal, men were charging down the road, armed with professional weapons like crossbows and spears. I quickly scrambled up and began to run, knowing that if I stayed I would only be trampled.
There were about a score of the rebels. They were all varying in age and height, and even sex. I dived into an alleyway just as the mob roared past, but I could see that they were doomed. The guards were in phalanx, their formation spanning the entire street, so that the disorganised rabble would simply push each other to their deaths on the spears. Every soldier had to carry a spear on their back, and they were all lethally trained in its use. However, suddenly, the attackers stopped. They just stood there. Then I suddenly realised that this had all been planned.
A dozen more insurgents appeared behind the guards. They screamed defiance as they came. The guards tried desperately to turn, but their spears severely reduced their mobility. They were forced to discard them, but even then they could not brace themselves in time for the charge. They were trapped, surrounded on both sides, with no escape.
They tried to form a circle, but their foes were upon them. They leapt into the gaps in the poorly-formed schiltrom, stabbing and tearing and even biting if they got the chance. They were like animals. The guards instinctively turned to face them, leaving their back open, and then the rest of the rebels charged.
It was all over in a few seconds. The guards, despite their superior training and armour, had not anticipated the flanking manoeuvre and so had been ill-prepared and were now covered by their foes. They dropped like flies, taking only a few of the rebels with them. By the time it was over, the snow was stained with blood and corpses littered the ground.
The crowd dispersed, triumphant. Despite my anger at Guido, I had to credit him. He’d managed to claim an entire village in a matter of minutes, though I was not sure why at the time. He had drawn almost all the guards to one place and massacred them, and the few that were left at their posts were torn apart by blood-crazed villagers.
Guido was still stood where he had been before it all started, a crooked smile on his face. I stormed over to him.
“What in the hell was that?” I asked him angrily.
He immediately snapped out of his trance. “What?”
“You left me there. That guard almost slit my throat!” I was truly furious. How dare he leave me to die after getting me into that mess?
“But now his brains are on the snow. Is that not compensation enough?”
“No. What did you do to him anyway?” I was curious about what outlandish weapon he had used.
He pulled out a small contraption. It had a wooden handle, much like that of a crossbow, but the rest looked like brass. It had strange golden engravings on the sides. I immediately recognised it. It looked exactly like the strange weapons the Shreiks had brandished at me when I had tried to cross the border. What was it allied? A pistol!
“Where did you get that?” My anger was replaced by curiosity. Not even the military had managed to get the Shreiks to trade their black magic with us.
“Found it.” He answered evasively.
I nodded, deciding not to pursue the subject further. I studied the carnage. The casualties of the battle were dotted all over the place. A few were still alive.
“Let’s get the wounded inside.” I said to Guido. He raised an eyebrow. “I can help them. I’m a surgeon.” I explained hastily.
“A surgeon? We need a surgeon.” He said as we walked towards the bitter scene.
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