Paladin of the Peaceful Lady

Chapter Eight Peace Shattered

He had reached the small slope atop which he would be looking down into the small valley his farm lay, he just needed to reach the summit. He was about to come atop it when he noticed movement in the trees just ahead and to the right of the track. He swerved Daisy just in time as an arrow whipped past his neck, another came from the left and struck the big horse in her shoulder. She whinnied in pain, fumbled a step then regained her balance and kept on. Drake got low on the animal and reaching down pulled the arrow out, he watched as the blood on the arrowhead seemed to turn to smoke and vanish as it dripped off the heavy broadhead. Daisy whinnied again, and Drake felt the heavy shafts in his subconscious tear into her chest and another punch deep into her ribs just in front of his right leg. Daisy stumbled and tried to catch herself but then went down in a crash, legs flailing. Drake sprang away just before she hit the ground and tucked his head into a roll that sent him into the heavy brush on the right side of the track. He managed to keep his quarterstaff in the jumble, he came to a stop and lay still, the heavy overgrowth concealing him as he caught his breath.

"Where'd he goes?" came a voice from the other side of the track. Daisy nickered softly from the place she had fallen in the middle of the trail.

"Fell off on this side I think" another voice much closer.

"We got his horse good" the first voice chuckled, "she'll feed us for a week!"

"I wouldn't get too close." the second voice responded again, this time it sounded closer still and just to his left, but he still couldn't see anything through the leaves.

"You just look over there, if he hasn't popped up yet he's probably got a broken neck or knocked out, I'm gonna finish the horse off."

Drake tilted his head back, he could just make out a figure standing by Daisy, the big animal's breathing came labored and heavy. He saw the man pull his bow back to finish the job, "now" Drake said in his head. The horses rear legs whipped out and caught the man just as he released. There was a crack, as the hard hooves hit him on the shins and a cry of pain from both animal and man. Daisy lay her head down on the ground and as she exhaled, her hair seemed to shimmer like a heat wave, her body seemed to ripple and then slowly from her rear legs up to her nose she seemed to turn to a wispy smoke blown away on the breeze and was gone.

The second man had come out onto the road at the cry from his companion and had stopped amazed at the sight of the horse disappearing before his eyes, in her place lay three arrows as if dropped there carelessly from a quiver.

Drake took the distraction and rolled onto his belly then brought himself to his hands and knees exploded from cover, he wasn't more than five paces from the man who was still standing. The man started to turn, and the look of shock was plain on his face, Drake didn't have time to hold the staff properly, he just thrust the end out like a spear and caught the man under his chin in the throat. The man dropped to his knees his hands clasping up at the ruin that was his esophagus a kind of wheeze came from him, before Drake spun the staff around and coming across from his right, brought the back end into the man's temple, the steel bound end caved his head in and his body fell back and away from the blow, twitched once then lay motionless. Drake whirled on the first man who was clutching his shattered legs and trying to scoot away into the brush on the other side of the track. Two steps and Drake was over the man, he swiped his hand away as the man grabbed for a belt knife, the heavy staff easily breaking the fingers. The man fell back into the dirt as tears came down his face from the pain and fear.

"How many are you?" Drake spoke softly trying to cling to some secrecy.

The man cried and didn't answer, Drake swiped his ribs with the staff, and he doubled up coughing. When the man got his breath back Drake asked again, "how many are you?"