Heart of a Warrior

Chapter 3: The Red Pass

"We'll never make it!" Lennox shouted. His horse, now struggling, began falling to the back of the group.

"Isolda, I don't suppose you would have any bombs or potions in your bag that could help us here?" Alec shouted over the clamor of goblins and horses galloping. "I'm a herbalist and a healer, not a catapult, kid. I can throw a few potions to stop profuse bleeding, or cure poisons at them if you'd like!" She shouted back sarcastically.

Alec smirked and shook his head as he searched for some way out of the dilemma. "Hey Lennox, your family are natural born sorcerers right?" He shouted. The cliff's ends were nearing with every passing second, as were the goblins. The forest burned bright to their left, forcing the horses to hug the mountain as they ran.

"Aye we are. Why?" Lennox called back hesitantly. "When I give you the signal, I want you to put as big of a lightning bolt as you can manage into those cliffs, and send them to meet Mother Earth!" Alec replied with a smirk.

...

Lennox fixed his eyes to the path ahead. He watched as the cliffs to their right were coming to an end. He could hear the goblins slashing and nipping behind him. There was no way they could survive if Alec waited any longer. Without hesitation, Lennox stretched out his hand, and focused all of his energy into his finger tips. With a brilliant blue flash, lighting jumped from his hand, and struck the sides of the mountains above. Storm clouds gathered out of almost nothing, and rain began to pelt each of the party members in torrential volleys.

The force of the blast splintered the rock into pieces, and like a tidal wave crashing onto the shore. The landslide of mud and rock slammed into the horses and goblins alike, throwing the travelers from their horses and into the forest and rocks to their left. The surviving goblins, climbed over the scattered corpses and severed limbs of their fallen kin, illuminated by the trees burning bright like torches in the dark. This was last thing any of them saw, before they were completely buried in mud and debris.

...

The sound of a war horn's deep and foreboding call split the night air, as the melody of countless hooves trampling the dew laden sod, approached them rapidly. Goblins screeched and bellowed as they were cut down by arrows in the dark. Swords flashed like wraiths materializing as they cut through blood and bone. The riders made swift work of the goblins on the ground, and archers appeared from the trees, picking off the remaining goblins on the cliffs. The downpour had doused the fire among the trees, but the men could still see through the darkness, that the cliffs ran red with blood and rainwater. The clamor of battle had dwindled until the only sound to be heard was that of rain, and the occasional twitching of a fallen goblin, as the soldiers stood still, examining the carnage.

Alec's was the first hand to protrude from the mud, now stained a deep red.

"We've got a survivor!" Called out a voice. The men ran to his aide, digging desperately through the mud and grime. "Sir Duncan, Sir Tristan, over here this one has the insignia of a Huntsman on his chest." The brothers ran over and joined in the furious digging. One by one, they managed to pull the riders out of the earth, each spitting out mud, and gasping for air.

"He told you to wait you worthless piece of filth!" Isolda shouted. Before Lennox could process, she landed a right hook with her armored glove, splitting his lip and knocking him flat. "You're a burden to this journey, and the only thing you're good for is your name." Sir Tristan and Sir Duncan stepped in between the two at this point, arms outstretched.

"How dare you!" Lennox screamed as he stretched his arm out for someone to help him up. "I am a Prince. You cannot treat me like that." He continued, on the verge of tears. "Father will hear about this." Grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up effortlessly, Alec looked him dead in the eyes. "This is the real world you pompous prick. There's no one here to spoon feed you and wipe you arse."

Pointing to each of the red stained Huntsmen, he continued. "Out here, things are just as likely to eat you as they are to eat me. And in that, we are all equals. But we know the land, we know how to survive. I'd suggest you listen when we tell you something."

When he had finished, Sir Arden spoke up. "Listen, we need to move. The horses are all injured or dead. And I fear the goblins that survived will only be back with more. We should make for the fortress with haste, and I need an urgent word with the Alecroft brothers." He said as he glanced at Sir Duncan and Sir Tristan.

Sir Duncan nodded his head solemnly. "I agree. Dark things have been stirring in these parts of late. I fear goblins aren't the only things that lurk in the shadows. Captain Geoffrey, can you spare a few horses? We must get the Huntsmen out of here." Geoffrey looked around at his troops and nodded. "I can have some men to stay behind and make sure everything is dead." He pointed at a group of men standing by their horses. "You six, give the Huntsmen and the kid your horses. Make sure everything is in order here, and report back when you're finished. You'll get an extra day of leave as a reward for having to walk back."

"Whatever you do, don't forget to burn the bodies." Sir Duncan said gravely as he looked at the soldiers before mounting his horse.
And with that, the group now numbering in the fifties, fixed their saddles, and rode onward. "I didn't realize Isolda had it in her, but she's pretty fiery." Alec said to Sir Gerald with a smile. "Be weary of shield maidens lad. Where I come from, we call them valkyries, and they are more terrifying than an army of the fiercest warriors." They both laughed to themselves as they galloped into the cold night.

...

"So you're telling me the princess has been kidnapped, your only clue is a tattoo, and you think they headed north?" Sir Tristan said mockingly, after Alec addressed all of the Huntsmen in the war room."Hold on brother." Sir Duncan chimed in. "I saw a griffin flying with haste overhead mere hours before we heard the explosions and went rode out to investigate. That griffin was heading north, and there were others who saw it as well. We all thought it was a royal messenger."

Sir Arden stood up at this point, ignoring Sir Tristan's remarks. "Now that you all know our reasons for leaving in haste, I need you all to know that this information cannot leave the people in this room. I know there was some conflict earlier, but we all want the same thing, so throw out any differences you have. Out here in the wilderness, royal blood doesn't exist. You will heed my commands, but I will be open to any suggestions as well. Now, I know you're all tired, so you have around seven hours before daylight, so get some rest. We will start again at first light."

As they all stood up, Sir Arden motioned to Sir Duncan. "Before you go, you mentioned dark things stirring in the night earlier. Care to enlighten me?" Sir Duncan's countenance darkened into a grim expression. "Well sir, I believe something is causing the dead to not stay that way. We've all seen ghosts before, but this is different. We have seen things sulking in the shadows at night that frighten even the strongest warrior. Many graves have been emptied, as though something dug it's way out of it. I believe a foul magic is at work here. It's almost as if-" Sir Duncan tailed off, as he hung his head.

"Almost as if what lad?" Sir Arden pressed.

"Almost as if someone is raising an army sir."