Tales of the Vangen: The Black Ministry's Betrayal (Book 1)

Chapter 53: A Traitor In Our Midst

Part 4: Final Call

Dux's trick had worked. Regis had won, and Tyrannus' champion now lay headless on the ground. Unfortunately, this of course meant that all terms of surrender were now null and void.

"Get them! Kill them! Kill them all!" Tyrannus was screaming bloody murder on the other side of the courtyard, held back by Custodia as she dragged him away. The rebels, however, had charged straight into the Vangen line.

Dux shouted orders over the chaos. Iron clashed against iron, as arrows sang in the sky above. Men screamed and died. But the Vangen were holding the line. For now, at least.

A rebel appeared in Dux's view wielding a stolen short sword. He slashed at Dux, stabbed at him with the grace of someone wholly unfamiliar with the weight. Dux batted the blade aside quickly and buried his ax in the rebel's chest. Deftly he ripped the weapon out and turned, catching another rebel in the neck, sending their head flying into the crowd.

Nido's tits, but there were a lot of damned rebels to cut through. The Vangen may have had superior tactics and arms but throw enough bodies into the mix, and something was bound to choke. Dux needed to act fast before the whole damn line collapsed.

Pulling out the warhorn, he blew three sharp notes, the sign to rally, hoping the sound would cut through the noise around him. "Regis!" He yelled before severing a rebel's arm from the socket. "Regis! Where are you, Gods damn it?"

Dux was given an answer shortly. Regis came barreling through the Vangen line. One hand wielding Giantsbane, practically soaked in blood. The other securing Magus over his shoulder.

Dux felt his stomach drop. Magus wasn't moving, his face deathly pale and caked with dirt and blood. He'd only caught a glimpse of what had happened between him and Aeturnus before Tyrannus had fouled up the whole thing. Shit had gone from bad to worse, it seemed.

"We need to get out of here!" Regis yelled before stabbing a rebel and kicking him away from the line. "There's too many of them!"

"Then get Gate Secondus open!" Dux ordered. Regis charged past, moving up with the auxiliary.

Dux returned to the line, banging his ax against his shield for all to hear. "Hold the line! Drive these cowards back! Show them what the might of the Vangen truly means!"

Another wave of rebels crashed into the Vangen line only to be cut down in droves. Dux shoved a body aside just as another rebel came barrelling in, only to tumble dead from an arrow to the back. Lady Kent's levies were undoubtedly pulling their weight right now. Out of the remaining Vangen, only a quarter knew how to use a bow effectively. Something Dux planned to rectify once everything was said and done.

The next wave of rebels came harder than the last. This time pushing the Vangen line back, creeping dangerously close to Second Gate's massive stone doors. So close that he could see the Vangen soldiers fiddling at the wheel lock to the gatehouse.

"What's taking so long?" Dux yelled.

"Chain's caught!" One of the men yelled. "It won't release!"

"Well, bloody fecking fix it!" Of all the times for a mechanism to fail, it had to be this one. Rebels to the front. Stone doors to the back, and the only thing separating Dux from life or death was a rusty chain. Just his luck.

Regis shoved the man aside, "We don't have time for this." He swung Giantsbane against the chain, and the rusty iron shattered instantly. The wheel lock buckled and began to spin violently. The counterweight above came crashing down moments later, wrenching the left gate open with a terrible grinding sound.