“Hopefully a few will make it back to the docks,” Lorik said. “If they do, they’ll spread the rumor of what happened, even exaggerate the story until no one from the waterfront will help Marsdyn.”
“What do we do now?” Vera asked.
“Nothing more we can do. We need to wait and see if Marsdyn will attack. Go ahead and call Stone back up. He can help us watch.”
“His name is Liam,” Vera said as she walked toward the ladder. Lorik heard her call down, “It worked. Lorik wants you to come back up.”
Stone climbed the ladder quickly, anxious to see what had happened.
“And what do you want?” he said flirtatiously.
Vera didn’t answer, she just leaned forward and kissed him hard. Lorik turned away and watched the path. Stone and Vera joined him after a few moments.
“The body scared them?” Stone asked.
“Terrified them is more like it,” Vera said. “When Lorik shot his arrow at them, they broke and ran. Some down the path, others straight into the mud bogs like you thought. The Riders must have ordered them to go back, but when Lorik told me to scream, that was the last straw.”
“They attacked the Riders,” Lorik said without taking his eyes off the path.
“Wow, that’s better than I had hoped for,” Stone said.
“Me, too,” Lorik agreed. “We may not get that lucky again.”
“Marsdyn lost a few men to the pirates,” Vera said. “That’s less men for us to fight.”
“True, but now all the obvious tactics have been played out,” Lorik said. “Who knows what Marsdyn will do now.”
“I think he might just attack,” Stone said. “He’ll be furious, the same as he was the night you killed Grayson and the pirates attacked me. He rode them down, all the way back to their ship, from what I heard.”
“I didn’t kill Grayson,” Lorik said. “That animal Mert did that. Grayson could have lived. He’d have been crippled, but he could have lived.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stone said. “You did what you had to do, and now there’s one less Rider to deal with. I wish I could see what was happening out there.”
The light was growing brighter by the minute and the day was clear, but the scene of the attack was just too far away to make out any details.
“Well, there’s at least two horses down on the path,” Lorik said. “I’m pretty sure I saw that much.”
“There’s several bodies too,” Vera said, “pirates and Riders. Marsdyn will have to move them out of his way before he can charge in on us.”
“I wonder...” Lorik said.
“You thinking about moving forward and picking off a few more men as they try to move the bodies?” Stone asked.
“Yes, it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?” Lorik said.
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
“But you wouldn’t be able to get back up here in time,” Vera said. “Not if they come charging through.”
“We could make a rope lift,” Lorik said. “All you’d have to do is push off the counter weight once I took hold of the rope.”
“That’s a good idea,” Stone said. “I can rig that. You get into position. The rope will be waiting for you when you need it.”
“Thanks,” Lorik said. Then he grabbed his quiver of arrows and hurried to the ladder.
Crossing the yard between the barn and the corral was as familiar to Lorik as his reflection in a mirror, but never before had he felt so exposed, so unsafe. He knew that killers were coming soon, and if he wasn’t ready he might get caught in the open, exposed and defenseless. He had his bow and quiver, but he wished he had his axe. The big, heavy weapon would only have slowed him down and been a hindrance when he raced back to the barn. Still, the axe was a solid weapon that gave him a sense of strength.
He came skidding to a halt behind a stack of milled timber that he’d hauled in but never used. It was only waist high, but it made a perfect defensive position. He nocked an arrow and glanced back over his shoulder and saw that Stone was busy working on the pulley system he would need to get back into the hayloft. Then he focused all his attention on the path.
He only had to wait a moment before he saw the Riders trotting toward him. There were twelve men on horseback, all heavily armed. The sight was intimidating even though he was still too far away to be in immediate danger. He waited as they came to a halt on the path where the bodies of the pirates and the fallen horses lay. Two men dismounted and moved forward to remove the obstacles. They hadn’t noticed Lorik, but he knew they would soon enough. He took aim, drawing back the arrow to his cheek and sighting down the arrow’s shaft. He then raised the bow to account for the distance. The Riders were just inside his range. Hitting a target at that distance was always tricky, as there were just so many factors that could influence the arrow’s trajectory. A slight breath of wind could send the arrow off target, as could a defect in the shaft or a slight kink in the fletching.
The bowstring thrummed as Lorik released it. The arrow arced into the air. Lorik’s target bent low to pick up one of the dead pirates feet. He straightened just as the arrow flashed down. The outlaw saw the streaking projectile just before it struck him in the chest. He didn’t cry out, but simply fell over, dead.
At first no one realized what had happened, then the second arrow came flashing down. Something had knocked the second arrow off course and it hit the ground with a thud. Then Lorik saw the Riders standing in their stirrups, straining to find him. It didn’t matter that they were far away, he still felt panic fighting to erupt. He steeled his resolve and fired another arrow, but when this one fell short, too, despair blossomed in his mind. His hands were shaking, making it difficult to take the careful aim necessary to hit targets at the extreme range he was shooting.
He could hear someone shouting orders, and he assumed that Marsdyn was telling his men to move forward. Although it was what Lorik wanted, it made it all the more difficult to remain steady knowing that ruthless killers would be coming to try and kill him. He waited a beat before firing his next arrow. This time he shot for the group of horsemen, and the arrow took one of the outlaws in the arm. Then the group was moving forward, their horses trampling the dead bodies and struggling not to stumble.
Lorik shifted his aim from the riders to the horses themselves. His next shot hit the lead horse in the chest and felled the animal. The Riders immediately behind the fallen horse stumbled, and several riders fell from their mounts. Then the other Riders whipped their horses into a gallop. It was a necessary move, as the outlaws had only two options, to move forward at speed or retreat, and Lorik was sure Marsdyn was done retreating. He fired another arrow, this one flying high of its target and hitting one of the outlaws with only a glancing shot. It surprised the Rider but he managed to keep his seat. Lorik risked one more shot, firing on instinct and then turning to race back to the barn.
As he ran, images of his father and mother doing everyday tasks around the barn and house flashed through Lorik’s mind. He felt slow, as if he were running through sucking mud. His legs felt heavy and time seemed to slow down. His back burned, expecting an arrow or javelin to pierce his skin and tear out his heart, which was thundering like the sound of hooves on the hard-packed path behind him.
Up in the barn, Vera had watched Lorik firing his arrows. She was frightened, almost too scared to move. When Liam had gone out in the night to deal with the men watching from the path, she had been worried, but now she was terrified. If Lorik and Liam’s plans didn’t work, they could be killed, and she would be raped and tortured. She strained to see what was happening on the path, but even though the day was bright and clear, the Riders were simply too far away to make out clearly. She could see a blob of movement, but that was all.
“Shouldn’t he be pulling back?” she said to Stone.
He was busy tying a sack of oats to the end of the line. It was a big burlap bag and he had strained to climb the ladder up into the hayloft with it on his shoulder. It was easily a hundred pounds, he estimated. He had rigged the pulley with a rope, which dangled down to the ground. The opposite end of the rope was in the hayloft and Liam tied it securely to the sack. Then he looked up.
“He’ll come when he needs to,” he said.
“If he waits much longer they’ll catch him.”
“He knows what he’s doing,” Stone said.
Just then they saw Lorik turn and sprint for the barn.
“Is that enough weight to lift him up?” Vera asked.
Stone nodded, but said nothing. He knew it wasn’t enough weight to counterbalance Lorik, but he had known that all along. He had gone down after Lorik left the barn and secured the doors. Then he found the bag of oats and carried it up. Now he waited, watching the scene that played out below.
The horses were clear of the bodies and riding hard down the path. Lorik was only halfway back to the barn, and it would be a close race. Then, just as the first three horses reached the end of the path, flames erupted from the ground. The first three horses were untouched, but there were four Riders just behind them. Their horses panicked, rearing in fear and throwing the outlaws to the ground. Three caught fire and began to burn. Their screams made Stone’s blood run cold, and Vera was shaking visibly beside him.
Lorik had taken out two of the Riders with his arrows and now another four were down because of the liquid fire that coated the path. Three were now on the property, racing after Lorik, and another three were trapped on the path. Stone lifted the sack of oats.
“Are you going to throw it out when he gets here?” she asked.
Stone nodded and then wrapped his arm around the rope.
“Throw one of those jars over Lorik’s head,” he told her. “It will buy him some time.”
Vera bent low and used the small lamp to light the wick on the jar of liquid fire that Lorik had prepared. She waited, her heart racing, as she watched Lorik run. He wasn’t fast, and the horses were gaining on him quickly. The outlaws had their swords out, ready to cut him down. Then Vera threw the jar as hard as she could.
Lorik was running, but he knew he wasn’t fast enough. He thought about turning and making a stand, but all he had was his small utility axe. It wasn’t a suitable weapon for facing a man on horseback. Then he saw the jar flying toward him, and then it passed close over his head. He heard the glass shatter and then the liquid fire burst into flames with a whoop.
The horses neighed, and Lorik dared to hope that he might survive. He had seen the flames on the path and knew that at least some of the Riders were held back by the fire there. He hoped he could get up into the barn’s hayloft before the other outlaws came onto the property. He was panting hard when he reached the barn. He had glanced up and seen Vera waiting anxiously, but he didn’t see Stone. He grabbed the rope and wrapped his arm around it. Then the rope tightened, pinching his skin and digging into the flesh as it pulled him up. His arm felt as if it were being jerked from his shoulder and he saw a dark shape flash by. The hayloft window was more like a door. It was twice as wide as Lorik and just as tall. It started at the floor of the hayloft and rose up almost to the roof. He stepped on the hayloft, his ears ringing, and struggled to get his balance. The he untangled himself from the rope, ignoring the searing pain where the hemp had rubbed the flesh raw. He turned and saw Vera, with one hand reaching out into midair, her face flushed and the veins in her neck standing out.
He realized with a start that the ringing he thought he was hearing was actually Vera screaming. He turned and saw the horses circling the fire from Vera’s jar and then he noticed that Stone was standing at the foot of the barn on top of a spilled bag of oats. The young warrior was alone, facing three mounted foes. He had his knives drawn and he looked deadly, but the Riders weren’t deterred.
Lorik immediately drew an arrow from his quiver, but Stone wasn’t waiting. He dashed forward and threw his hands up in front of the first horse. The animal reared, pawing the air as Stone backpedaled. The Rider was struggling to stay on his horse, but the next outlaw passed him and swung a large, curved scimitar at Stone. The young warrior ducked low and dove into a roll, tucking his shoulder and coming up in a crouch with his knife slashing at the horse’s hind leg.
Lorik fired an arrow from the hayloft that took the third Rider in the shoulder and knocked the outlaw out of his saddle. The congestion of horses took the Riders a moment to untangle, and Stone took advantage of the time. He sprang up like a cat, behind the rider with the large scimitar. The outlaw tried to bring his weapon into play, but it was too unwieldy for close combat. Stone’s knife plunged into the outlaw’s side just as Lorik took aim at the other Rider, who had finally gotten his horse under control. But the arrow flew high and sailed over the outlaw’s shoulder. Stone shoved the wounded Rider off his horse and hopped up into the saddle. The last Rider closed with Stone, striking out at the young warrior with a double-edged short sword.
Stone parried the thrust with one knife while he turned his horse with his knees. The animals were now side by side, and the outlaw threw a wild punch that caught Stone behind the ear. It wasn’t a powerful blow, but it put Stone on the defensive. The outlaw leaned forward, slashing with his sword at Stone’s head, but the warrior leaned away and tried to cut the Rider’s sword hand. ,His knife blade wasn’t long enough and caught only air. The next strike came at Stone’s leg, and, while the warrior avoided the blade, his horse wasn’t as lucky. The sword gouged into the animal’s flank, causing it to jump to the side and kick out.