Robin Hood | Thief of Skandia

Chapter 25 (Little Jon)

Song: Gasoline by Halsey

From the central command position, Robin watched as the smooth drill of the archers caused havoc among the Temujai ranks. Now that the attacking force was aware of them, Will's men had no chance to repeat the devastating casualties of those first three volleys that had all but wiped out a complete Ulan. But the regular, massed fire of one hundred archers, and Will's accurate direction, was breaking up attack after attack.

In addition, the Temujai now realised that their own favourite tactic had been effectively countered. If they sent one group into close combat while another stood off to provide covering fire during the withdrawal, they knew that the second group would instantly come under fire from the archers on the Skandian right flank. It was a new experience for the Temujai. Never before had they encountered such disciplined and accurate return fire.

But they were no cowards, and some of the commanders were now substituting raw courage and ferocity for tactical ploys. They began to storm towards the Skandian line, abandoning their bows and drawing sabres, trying to break through in close-in fighting, determined to bury the Skandians under sheer numbers if necessary.

They were brave and skilful fighters, and against most adversaries they might have faced, their ploy would probably have succeeded. But the Skandians revelled in hand-to-hand fighting. To the Temujai it was a matter of skill. To the northerners, it was a way of life.

'This is more like it!' Erak bellowed cheerfully, as he moved forward to intercept three Temujai scrambling over the earthen bulwark. Halt felt himself shoved to one side as Ragnak rushed to join his comrade, his own battleaxe causing terrible havoc among the small, stocky warriors who were swarming over their position. On Erak's other side Hood fought the Temuaji with savage intensity. She drifted slightly further away from him as she pummelled through anyone who dared to oppose her, skill as a weapon master showing.

Behind her Erak saw the Temujai with his sabre raised over her head. Unable to get there in time to save her, he watched in horror. 'Hood!'

She turned around as she saw the swordsman a split second later she saw Jon with his axe block the blow and swiftly lodge his axe into the mans chest.

'What are you doing?' She questioned gruffly.

'Please forgive me Aasta. It wasn't like that.' He grunted between breathes as he ripped the axe out of the mans chest and fought beside his old friend.

'Damn it Jon, all I needed was my friend and you weren't there for me.' She gave in as she swung at another man, sending him reeling

'I am so sorry Aasta.' Robin grunted as she killed another Temujai soldier. 'Could you forgive me?'

'Of course, I forgive you. Damn it. I thought you were dead, now all I want is my friend back.'

' I won't leave you this time Aasta.'

Erak felt his heart heave back into his chest when he saw she was all right. He recognised the Skandian that saved her as the one she had fought with. Aasta? He thought, but was quickly drawn back into the fighting.

Halt stood back a little, content to let the Skandians take on the brunt of the hand-to-hand fighting. His gaze roamed outside the area of immediate engagement until he saw what he was looking for: one of the Temujai marksmen, recognisable by the red insignia on his left shoulder, was searching the milling crowd of men for the Skandian leaders. His eyes lit on Ragnak as the Oberjarl called more of his men into the breach the Temujai had forced. The recurve bow came up, the arrow already sliding back to full draw.

But he was two seconds behind Halt's identical movement and the Ranger's huge longbow spat its black painted shaft before the Temujai had reached full draw. The rider never knew what hit him as he tumbled backwards over the withers of his horse.

Suddenly, the savage little battle was over and the surviving Temujai were scrambling back down the earth slope, capturing any horses they could and hauling themselves into the saddles.

Ragnak and Erak exchanged grins. Erak slapped Halt on the back, sending him reeling. Jon and Robin clasped forearms in refound friendship.

'That's better,' he said, and the Oberjarl growled agreement. Halt picked himself up from the dirt. Robin grinned at the sight as she glanced over.

'I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself,' he said dryly. Erak laughed, then became serious as he nodded his head towards the right flank, and the small group of archers, still pouring steady fire into the attackers.

'The boy has done well,' he said. Halt was surprised to hear there was a note of pride in his voice.

'I knew he would,' he replied quietly, then turned as Ragnak dropped a ponderous arm around his shoulders. He wished the Skandians didn't have to be quite so touchy-feely in expressing their feelings. Built the way they were, they put normal people at risk of serious damage.

'I've got to admit it, Ranger, you and Hood were right,' the Oberjarl said. He swept his arm around the fortifications. 'All of this, I didn't think it was necessary. But I can see now that we would never have stood a chance against those devils in an open conflict. As for your boy and his archers,' he continued, gesturing towards Will's position, 'I'm glad we looked after him when we first caught him.'

Erak raised one eyebrow at that. It had caused him considerable anger that Will had been assigned to the freezing conditions of labour in the yard – an assignment that should have meant almost certain death. He said nothing, however. He assumed that being supreme leader gave one a licence to forget uncomfortable events from the past.

Robin was now studying young Will's position with a critical eye. The defensive line in front of the archers was still well manned. Of all the Skandian positions, it seemed to have suffered the lowest number of casualties. Obviously, she thought, the Ulans were avoiding direct confrontation at that point. They'd seen what had happened to the troop that had charged directly at the archers.

But she knew that the Temujai general couldn't allow this situation to continue. He was losing too many men – both to the constant volleys of arrows and in the desperate hand-to-hand fighting with the Skandians. Soon, he would have to do something to nullify the unexpected problem posed by the archers.

She would have been interested, but not surprised, to know that Haz'kam's thoughts were running on pretty much the same lines. Robin tightened the grip on her sword and sunk it into another Temujai as they tried to swarm the Skandian lines again.

She felt the enemy wall falter as the fighting shifted to the left, and she saw a break in the line and lunged forward with her sword, the impact sending a burst of pain up her left arm, but the pain disappeared quickly, and she stabbed to her left with the point of her weapon, and the steel tip ripped into flesh and bone, and a horseman fell to the ground at her feet. Robin stepped over the fallen body and attacked the next man who tried to fill the gap, her blade caught the man in the throat. Robin ripped the sword free and moved on to the next as her last opponent fell to his knees, hands grasping at the wound.