Spears of Redriver

Part Twenty-Nine - Between Death and Shadow

As Carthus' spear clattered back down to the stone floor from the overlooking balcony above them, the Spears of Redriver and the Ordethi threw themselves into another fray. Swords and spears swung fiercely as they clashed against shields and armor. Carthus had no choice but to draw the sword on his hip, a new blade that he replaced Desen's old one with. He spun to face the closest Ordethi to his right and lurched forward with his shield, knocking the masked man back.

The assassin stumbled, and Carthus stepped in again, turning his sword in with a sharp strike downward. The blade cut the Ordethi warrior down, and he fell with a sharp cry. Another warrior moved to Carthus, they spun for a moment, and the assassin ducked the Maad's blade before stepping in. Before Carthus knew what was happening, he was disarmed and stumbling backward with his sword cast into the air, flying the other way. He tried to catch himself, grabbing onto the Ordethi with his free hand, but whatever he grabbed onto gave way, and he fell with his back to the stone floor.

The assassin also floundered midstep from Carthus' pull but recovered immediately. The young Maad warrior instantly rolled to the side and pushed himself up. He spun on his feet to face the Ordethi, and for a brief moment was stunned to see a woman's face, realizing he had grabbed her mask mid-fall. The Ordethi woman surged at him again in the blink of an eye, spinning her sharp curved blade in a circle. He just barely managed to raise his shield, but, the sword turned in her hand once again and collided with his leather breastplate beneath his guard.

Carthus winced as he stepped back, afraid to take his eyes off her. She was fast, deadly, and beautiful. Her movements flowed in a dance-like rhythm, but now as she stared him down with a fierce red-eyed gaze, he knew her blade cut deep. He felt the warm blood flowing through the fresh gash in his armor. Without taking his eyes off of her still, he circled backward, hoping to find a spear on the ground.

Suddenly a large Ordethi crashed into the woman, knocking her off her feet, as Ythara leaped through the air and stabbed the large man clean through with a scimitar. The three of them collided with the stone floor, and the bregiri fell on his bloody shoulder with a thud, rolling with the momentum to rise to his feet. He faced Carthus, small red rivers flowing down his face, and larger ones down his arm and side.

"We have to go!" he hissed sharply, "fall back!"

"But..." Carthus looked around at the chaos of the fight. Only two Spears remained standing by Oro's side, and the three of them were carved up, bleeding severely with a group of Ordethi forcing them back to a wall. Carthus glanced at the bregir, "we get them out and we go...get me a spear!"

"Of course!" Ythara grinned and bound back into the fray quickly.

Carthus hesitated a moment, looking back up to the overlook. The scarred assassin was gone, and in his place was a faceless shadow starring back down at the Maad. This time, Carthus pulled away from the eyeless stare and turned his attention back to the fight. He had been standing off to the side, weakly holding to his ribcage, where the blood flowed, and the searing pain spread up his chest and down his leg.

From where he stood, he watched as Ythara spun through the line of Ordethi, cutting three of them down with a single blade. He watched as the bregir took another deep cut across his back in an attempt to free the others. He moved in despite his injury, refusing to watch his friends fight. Carthus closed the distance with ease and came crashing in with his shield as a weapon. He threw one assassin down to the floor with a shield bash and then reared back before striking a second on the head with the edge.

"Go, fall back!" he shouted a command as he threw himself, shield first, at a line of Ordethi, giving the others time and space. He let out a scream, half from the anger and half from the pain as he pushed with all his might, forcing the unsuspecting men back. Carthus kept his head down under the edge of the shield as they all collapsed to the floor with a crash. As they settled on the ground from the sudden fall, Carthus pushed himself back to his feet, leaping away from the downed assassins.

"Carthus!" Oro shouted from across the room, pointing up to the overlook.

Can he see it too? The young Maad thought as his eyes raced up, and there it was, still watching them. As he caught one final sight of the shadow, it drifted up and disappeared in a wisp, replaced by a line of Ordethi armed with crossbows.

"Carthus!" Oro shouted again, waving a hand for him to follow, but Carthus knew he would never make it across the room.

"RUN!" Carthus called back to them and turned his own way. Oro called after him a moment before the Spears fled down the passage from which they came, heading back to the strange pit under the city.

The young Maad commander leaped through another open passageway just as a few bolts hit the stone floor behind him with crisp thuds. He ran on, as fast as he could with a large gash in his side, ducking around corners and stumbling through other open doorways. He had to keep going, or he would die in these catacombs, and this is not how he wanted to go. He longed for the fresh air and a light breeze on a hilltop. He longed for home.

As he turned one final corner, with thudding footsteps behind him, he stopped face to face with a large set of wooden double doors, barred with a thick beam across it. It thundered and shook suddenly before coming still again. He waited, the footsteps getting closer and closer behind him. The door rumbled again with another thud. He looked around, hoping to find a weapon, but there was nothing in sight, the Ordethi had him cornered and unarmed.

As the footsteps slowed suddenly, he could hear the assassins just around the corner. The door rumbled again and again.

"I die here today...again," he said with a grin as he remembered dying from a poisoned cut not too long ago, and then shouted, "I will go with a thunderous crash and take as many of you as I can with me to the other side."

Carthus reached for a torch hanging in a sconce next to the door and with his shield hand, pushed the beam up and out of place. He forced the fear back, steadied his hand and stepped to the center of the room with his shield hand to the sealed door and his torch to the open hallway. The first of the assassins appeared at the corner, moving slowly toward him. Their eyes suddenly fixed on the door, which took one final bash from the opposite side and came crashing open.