Even Gods Must Fall - Christian Warren Freed Page 0,83

teeth. Felt beads of sweat drip onto his hands and face. Piper stared into dark eyes filled with aggressive hatred and felt the strain of exhausted muscles as he tried to push back. All of his focus lay in the struggle just to survive. He feared he might have made a catastrophic mistake by insisting to join the assault. Lord Death’s chariot could be heard racing across the night sky.

Piper suddenly changed tactics. Giving in to his opponent’s strength, the Wolfsreik commander jerked back and sidestepped. Momentum forced his enemy ahead and it was all he could do to stop in time and compensate for the lack of resistance. Piper had just enough time to recover and raise his shield. Two quick blows jarred his forearm. Sparks danced from his iron shield. Gritting his teeth, Piper launched into a furious counterattack.

Swords met. He attacked from a low guard, knowing it might prove his undoing, but this was close-quarter combat, not the open-field warfare he’d grown accustomed to since assuming command of the vanguard. It was intimate, far more personal, and Piper battled for his life. Every action was told in the eyes. Every move telegraphed without doubt. However much aggression his enemy bore, it was no match for the cold experience of a veteran. Piper eventually wore his enemy down and slipped past his guard.

His sword bit deeply, crunching bone in the right shoulder. Wounded, his enemy cried out and reeled back. Piper had the opening he needed. His sword moved like lightning. The tip caught at the base of the throat and plunged through the back of the neck. His enemy dropped in a pile of flesh, grasping his throat as blood pumped freely down his chest. No time to waste, Piper stepped over the dying man and cut down another from behind.

“Open the damned gates before we’re all killed!” he shouted above the roar.

Instinctively he knew that several of his assault teams were dead. Soldiers fought harder, desperate to clear the way and let in reinforcements. Eventually the defenders were subsumed, dead to the last. Piper pitched a shoulder into raising the heavy bar. Ten soldiers added their strength while the handful of others still capable of fighting defended them from the melee going on in the courtyard.

The bar lifted with a groan. Men strained. Dust and wood chips fell to the muddied ground. Finally freed, Piper’s group tossed the bar aside and hurried to pull the gates open. Scores of angry soldiers charged into the redoubt. Piper and the others barely had time to duck aside before they were trampled beneath heavy boots. With the gates open, the battle heated quickly and ended quicker. The defenders had no stomach for the level of violence the Wolfsreik brought. They fell by the dozen. Soon enough the enemy standard was ripped from the flag pole. The redoubt had fallen.

Piper sheathed his weapons and headed into the slaughter. His soldiers were well versed by now. Squads immediately set about collecting the bodies while medics and sergeants scoured their own ranks for accountability. A triage area was established near the gates. The cries and groans of the wounded were mercifully minor compared to what might have been. Memories of the hospitals in Rogscroft sickened Piper. Anything less severe was a blessing.

Blood-stained soldiers stormed through the redoubt. There would be no prisoners. Piper joined their ranks, eager to find any relevant intelligence in the offices. Thus far none of the defenses had given up any secrets. He quietly hoped to find Badron dead in one of them, but it was a dream only. The deposed king wouldn’t be fool enough to get caught in one of these. Piper was left with pleasant thoughts but empty hands. He hoped Rolnir met with better success in the west.

“Commander, you have to see this,” an ashen-faced sergeant said after coming out of the main headquarters building.

Piper’s heart quickened. The look and tone of his trusted subordinate left him rattled without knowing why. The soldiers of the Wolfsreik were seasoned professionals. For one to be so visibly shaken whispered ill tidings. He hurried into the building. The stench of rotted flesh immediately struck him, making Piper gag. His eyes narrowed. What evil has been done here?

What he witnessed went beyond anything he might have imagined. Five decomposing bodies were laid out in a circle, heads all touching. Their hands were folded over their chests, feet placed together. The ground was stained dark with blood, enough to