The Seeress

Chapter Thirty-Five

The night grows old, as the Nords managed to surround the wall. The ladders were quick to find their claws gnashing at them. John panicked, watching the ladders swarm with warriors. As quick as they could, the arrows were shot at a rapid pace, but the archers themselves were not precise, and that the arrows that hit mostly landed at their shields. John himself managed to pick off several of them by himself. 

"Hold the gates!" Cuthbert yelled as the men clung to the door. The ram kept pushing from the other side, with every push the guards were at the mercy of their wrath. "No matter who comes out of that gate, stand your ground!" The gates were rammed for another time, as the bricks above crumbled.

"Fire at those bastards," John ordered as the arrows continued to rain on them. John was bewildered how the men still fought even with one arrow stuck either on their arm or chest. John was quick to pull an arrow, which landed on their heads. John knew it must be some form of sorcery that they could withstand more pain than ever before. The berserker themselves take half a dozen arrows to fall.

"Aim at their heads!" John yelled, as the gates continuously were rammed. Several Nords were already too impatient and hacked at the wooden doors to create large enough holes. The chaos unfolding could make a man deaf with incessant shouting. Cuthbert was quick to land a spear on someone's head, as more axes skewered the wood of the gate.

"Harder, push harder!" Knut yelled as the roars of the warriors persisted throughout the night. As the fire pervaded the walls, John worried that even if the ram could not bring down the wall, the fire would consume them either way.

"Edwin, get out of the walls and head back to the centre!" John said as he pulled yet another arrow. But Edwin knew that his words were not to heed, and rushed towards the gate instead as if his shield and sword did not slow him down in his haste. He saw how the defence line thinned as the roars outside became louder.

"The Nords will breach the gates, they are too strong!" the lieutenant Godwin said, as the gates became weaker with each push. "How would we know that the men sent to kill the seeress will succeed?"

"We will know, when the fires dissipate and when the spirit of men will break," Cuthbert yelled, as another Nord felled by his spear. The Eastern wall was also nearly overtaken by the Nords, as to Cuthbert's horror, he could see the flag waving over there. It was clear that the Nords had already taken over the Eastern wall.

"Aim at the ones at the wall!" John cried out, as their attention was immediately divided between the two armies. Knut was quick to see their flaw and in a hurry, the Westerners found themselves hugged between two sides.

John saw a losing battle ahead of him. The Nords already had them surrounded, and for each of them dead, they managed to kill two more. The arrows weren't enough, and they were mostly spent. To their horror, the gates that were supposed to stand for hundreds of years finally crumbled down to the ram.

"Edwin, we have to run now!" John cried out as he saw another Nord swinging an axe towards his side. Upon dodging it, to his horror, it came from a berserker, and his body was quick to break John's. Upon each blow, the berserker broke several of John's ribs and pulled his fist straight to break his head.

As John closed his eyes, he felt blood splattered across his face. The berserker's body limped lifelessly, as he saw his son's blade filled with blood. Although shivering, Edwin was quick to come to his senses. For a brief moment, John felt pride seeing his son stained with the enemy. "Is the passage still clear for us?" Edwin said.

"Hopefully," John muttered, his hand held to his chest. Edwin held his father's body as they both fled from the battle. Within the rage unfolding, Knut was quick in his strikes. Cuthbert saw the battle clearly turning against them, but he did not waver at the sight of the Nords. With each strike, his spirit remained.

But a sudden strike was quick enough to wound him, his shoulder pierced as Cuthbert's body shuddered. Before the other could strike at him, his body was pierced through, as Cuthbert saw Godwin attending to him.

"Sir... we have to fall back," the lieutenant said. Cuthbert faced reality and was forced to agree with him. As it unfolded, Cuthbert ordered the men to fall back, but not before he himself was attacked. Godwin pushed him downwards, and slit his throat quickly. Until he himself had his hand cut off.

Before Cuthbert could reach him, the wound made him ache, as the Nord struck his axe on Godwin's head. The blood smeared onto his axe enraged Cuthbert before his body ached again. He could not save him, and neither most of the men. And it was then he remembered his family. Lynette and Edward came to his head. "Fall back," Cuthbert ordered, as slowly their grip on Broncaster falls.

Broncaster crumbled, as the people inside quickly fall prey to the pillagers. Cuthbert saw the fortress burn, as he knew he had yet to receive word from the party he had sent to kill the seeress. Even if Broncaster fails, he can die knowing he had killed the last seeress.

Cuthbert ran towards the inner levels of the castle, as the Nords came forward. He knew that he had failed the civilians inside as they screamed. The fires were prevalent everywhere. As if it wasn't enough, the seeress seemingly made sure that the fire burned most of the city, including the armoury. It came to Cuthbert that they rather want to see it destroyed than take it themselves. He came to his chambers, far away from the madness outside. It was where he saw his wife bleeding on the ground, and next to her lay a dead berserker. Cuthbert saw his wife and held her close to himself. "Our boy... he..." Lynette said as her head tilted towards him softly.

Before he could grieve for her, he heard loud footsteps coming from outside. It was clear to him that there was no escape for him. He swiftly picked up his sword, and he rushed to them without aid. Cuthbert was blind to his own injuries, and his mind was set on taking many lives before the injuries take hold of him. And at last, as he saw the corpses surrounding him, he allowed himself to fall.

John was sure that the passage out of Broncaster would be clear. Of course, only they knew that when the time came for them to rescue Harold. "Out of the tunnels again," John said as they descended further into the darkness. With only a damp fire, they were quick in leaving the fortress. But not before they saw a small boy wandering there.

"What is he doing here?" John said as Edwin came to his side. He saw tears flowing from him, and saw an amulet that was considered regal. Alongside a knife strapped to the boy that held a bloody knife. "What are you doing?" John said as Edwin tended to his wounds. The boy simply cried as he barely nodded to him. It was clear that he was lost. 

"What is your name?" Edwin asked the boy. The boy gulped his throat as if he had never drunk for a long time.

"Edward..." the boy said. "My family... they..."

"Your family are Cuthbert's," John knelt down to see the boy's face clearly. Edwin did not care whose family he came from. 

"We can't possibly leave him here," Edwin said as John himself could not care much. But there was no point in leaving him alone. John merely nodded, as Edwin carried the boy along. Despite the armour wearing him off, he knew that the boy should not be left behind. At least he would have saved someone.

As they left the fortress, the three could still hear the screams from there. It was clear that the Nords have conquered Broncaster. Edwin took another time to look at Broncaster, almost entirely in flames as the screams echoed. "The Nords would spend several days just pillaging the city," John said. "We can make it to Volmeria,"

"Do you not grieve to see the city fall?" Edwin said. "Broncaster, where you fought for..."

"The Westhaven that I fought for died a long time ago..." John said. "They don't deserve my loyalty or any others that are," John did not take a second look as he swiftly walked away. The fire could burn as bright as he cared. Edwin took another glance at Broncaster before he left, tugging the boy with him. The colony that thousands of Westerners fought for, had finally been lost.