Asgoleth the Warrior - By Bill Kirkwood Page 0,41
find him soon.’
The footsteps passed by his hiding place and Asgoleth grinned coldly. He would let them go by then follow and slay them silently. With luck they would be carrying their water bottles. He had not given any thought to securing provisions when he had attacked. His only thought had been to free Amira and escape. Well now he would remedy his lack of foresight.
He glided forward to the attack, sword ready to do its bloody work when, to his utter amazement, Amira cried out,
‘Akonites, he is here!’
Asgoleth glared at her in surprise and anger then he saw that she had not betrayed him voluntarily. Her eyes, empty of life and vitality told him that she was spell caught; a helpless puppet under the control of Demos. Even as he realised this she lunged towards him, her long nails reaching out rake his eyes out.
He gripped both her wrists in one hand, holding her easily at bay but she continued to cry out to the Akonites while she kicked and bit at him. He heard them coming and knew that he would need both hands free to fight them. Reluctantly he drew back his fist and hit her with just enough force to knock her out. For a moment recognition and shock flared in her eyes then she slumped against him and sank to the ground.
He snarled in fury as he let her gently down. These damned Akonites were going to pay a heavy price for making him do that. He yelled his wild Calthian war cry and leapt forth to deal death.
An Akonite warrior cried out in alarm as the maddened barbarian erupted from the shadows like some devil out of hell. He raised his sword but it was too late. His cry was abruptly cut off as the Calthian's blade smashed through his throat. The blade was ripped free and the man fell dying to the ground. His companions hesitated to confront this fiend from the shadows and their hesitation was a fatal mistake.
He saw that three warriors faced him and he did not wait for them to close with him. Instead charged straight into their midst, sword and dagger licking out hungrily. Even as he landed among them one of the Akonites were already falling with the barbarians dagger sheathed in his heart tearing the blade from the barbarians grip as he fell. The remaining two raised their swords and ran in from either side, hoping that one would be able to strike while the other kept the savage engaged in combat.
Asgoleth snarled and faced the man on his right. The warrior slashed at the young Calthian's head but Asgoleth's sword came up swiftly to parry the blow. The blades met with a resounding clang that drew sparks from the steel and the Akonite grunted as his stroke was halted by the strength of the barbarians arm. Then Asgoleth, instead of pulling back for another stroke, exerted all his strength and shoved the man’s own sword hilt back into his enemies face with crushing force. Bones snapped under that terrible blow and the man crashed to the ground his face a bloody ruin.
Asgoleth had no time to exult in his enemies fall there was yet another foe to be dealt with. He spun around to face the man and was just in time to avoid a vicious stab. With a snarl on his lips he brought his own sword around in a savagely powerful slash and his foes head leapt from his shoulders atop a spray of blood. The body fell and Asgoleth sprang back ready to face fresh enemies. He could hear their cries as they looked for him but as yet none had appeared. He took advantage of the respite to retrieve his dagger and relieve his fallen enemies of their water skins, then he ran back to where Amira lay.
He found her staggering out of the crevice and she gasped as she saw him. She opened her mouth to speak and Asgoleth growled in horror as the voice of Demos emerged from her lips.
‘So you still live pig! Well, no matter, my men will soon find you and kill you but before they do I want you to look upon the mountain. I want you to see the power that you have given into my hands in exchange for your princess. Look barbarian, look at the power I now command.’
Amira's eyes cleared as Demos relaxed his hold upon her mind. She sobbed and