Samual by Greg Curtis Read Free Book Online

galloped towards him, saddened somewhat by the sight. Even more than the others, the stragglers confirmed all that the soldier had told him the previous night and more. The same sorry tale of battle, loss and death. They were a rag tag group. A party of soldiers – possibly a border patrol by the looks of their armour – with a group of civilians in their midst. Traders were also in the group, complete with two trade wagons. But instead of wares in the backs of their wagons, they had women and children. At least a dozen.
     
    Too many of the soldiers were wounded for his liking, and few had had time to dress their injuries, while those bandages that had been tied were blood soaked. Meanwhile many of the civilians were wounded as well, and the fear and sorrow on their faces was enough to tell him that even those who were uninjured were carrying a heavy burden of pain and grief. They had lost people, friends and family. Their feelings added to his anger.
     
    “To me!” Even as he called to them, Sam was drawing his spare greatsword and battle axe from Aegis' pack. They were all he really needed, while the rest of the supplies she carried – mainly food, clothing, some spare armour, medicine and of course his goat – they could use. Well, perhaps not the armour, though they could probably sell it for coin. Three full sets of blackened snake scale armour would be of little use against steel golems. Its value was in the way it allowed its wearer to creep up on his prey silently. Besides, it wouldn't fit.
     
    When the first of them reached him, he told them to take Aegis  and anything else they needed and keep going up the trail as far and as fast as they could. He would catch them up. They didn't try to talk him out of staying once they saw him with weapons drawn and fire already dancing off his blades. They could see he was both a wizard and a warrior and they understood he was planning on fighting. They would not interfere.
     
    Two of the women from the wagons jumped on Aegis, lessening the load on the other horses a little, and in a few more heartbeats they were behind him, galloping away as fast as they could. No doubt a few looked back as they fled, staring at his armoured back and wondering who he was. But they weren't foolish enough to waste time in conversation.
     
    A few moments later the clearing was once more silent and Sam was alone. But the enemy was closer. He could feel them, like tiny charges of lightning dancing over his skin. He could almost see them in his mind. Happily he knew they were still at least half an hour away, but to feel them this strongly from such a range meant that they were even more powerfully enchanted than he'd guessed. It was time for him to prepare his magical defences. And by then he knew he had to. This would not be a simple battle, it would be war.
     
    His initial thought had been that there would only be a few of them. The advancing scouts chasing down the stragglers and clearing the region of enemies. That at least was a logical military action. But sensing them as they approached he realised that that was not the case. He could feel perhaps several hundred of them, maybe even more. They were hunting as a pack and were chasing the elves hard. These weren't the scouts he'd expected. They were the first wave of an army, harrying their defeated foes, and preparing the way for a larger force to follow. Hand weapons and the odd fire ball as he'd planned to use against such numbers would be useless. Instead he began preparing his most powerful magics, concentrating as he never had before.
     
    Knowing he would need every ounce of strength he could muster to fight so many at once, and yet relishing the fight like one too long soaked in blood, he began by channelling all the fire he could find. He drew heat from the sun above, and the warmth from the ground below. He also pulled some of the life spark out of the forest. With only half an hour to prepare himself and plenty of need,