they had left.
I look grimly at his unmoving body. Then I turn to see the reaction of the Tygnar army.
There are cheers from behind me. A chant begins. They are saying, “Dragonhammer.”
The Tygnar army is silent. Swordbreaker stands at the front, apart from them all. He only stares at me for a moment. Then he raises his hand, and suddenly clenches it into a fist.
Three cavalry ride from their group towards me. A dark smile curves across my lips and I stride purposefully toward them.
Their sharp pointed lances are pointed at me. They are galloping at nearly full speed, closing the gap very quickly.
That’s right, I think. Come.
A knife flies from my right hand and into the right-hand soldier. He goes limp and leans to his left, so he and his horse go galloping off in a different direction. The soldier on the left is not a concern. It’s the one in the middle.
Just before he runs me over, I leap to the right and give the hammer a powerful sweep. The horse emits a horrible yell as it careens into the other rider, and all four beings, human and horse, become one heap on the ground. Then I stop and wait, glaring at Swordbreaker.
He stares in disbelief. Then rage covers his face and he blows the warhorn.
My smile gets darker.
The army behind me answers their warhorn as I hear one word. “CHARGE!”
Then the armies run at each other, throwing all prior agreements to the side.
I wait in the middle of the field. When my line pushes forward, I push forward in line with them.
The armies collide.
With a yell I destroy the first enemy I see. Their soldiers lock in fear at the sight of me, the man who threw down their champion at the bat of an eye. The morale of my men skyrockets at the sight, and they fight with ever increasing vigor.
I fight through their line and find a troll bashing through ours. Time for him to go.
He does not acknowledge my presence until his knees have given out underneath him and my hammer finds a place in his forehead. He grunts as he struggles to get back up. Before he can lift himself, I fling myself up his arm and onto his back, but then he turns and thrashes anything he sees, leaving me holding on for dear life. He stops suddenly, aims himself at our forces, and then charges on all fours.
Unsteadily I climb and give him a crack over the top of the head.
He stumbles and crashes to a halt, dead. Then I leap off and continue the work of death.
I must find Swordbreaker.
Very few of the opposing soldiers ride horses, so it’s easy to spot out the ones that are. Atop one, probably a hundred yards away, Swordbreaker proves his name.
As I begin my approach and throw aside one of his minions, he looks me right in the eye and receives the message I silently send him. You will die.
He rides toward me and I ready myself. He carries no spear, but holds a longsword in his left hand. He slices anyone to get between us, and I do likewise.
When he gets within twenty feet, the horse suddenly falls out from under him. He bails and the horse tumbles, stopping just in front of me. An arrow sticks out of its side.
There’s no time to see where the arrow came from. Swordbreaker advances on me and I ready myself for whatever battle he brings. His sword captures my attention. It has only one sharp edge, and the top curves back to make a wicked point. The weapon seems to be constructed of normal steel, but along the sharp edge the metal has some sort of milky whitish sheen.
“Dragonhammer,” he says. “You live up to your name.”
“I’m glad you think so,” I reply.
“Fight like a dragon,” he says, ignoring me. “Have you ever seen a dragon fight?” I give him a quizzical look and he says, “Me neither. I just thought it would include a little more… fire.” As he says the last word, he hits his sword hard against the armor of a dead soldier, striking it like a match. The sharp edge of the blade bursts into flame, along the whitish metal.
I merely smile.
“You like it?” he says. “Know what it is?”
“Firesteel,” I reply softly.
He nods. “Impressive. Cost me a fortune, but I thought it would be the weapon most fitted for striking down Dragonhammer.” He says my nickname like it’s an