The Hunter Victorious by Rose Estes Read Free Book Online Page B

tingling numbness that inevitably followed such a
     mistake and left one vulnerable to retaliation, for one’s hands and arms were momentarily useless, unable to respond to the
     brain’s shouted commands.
    Braldt did not wait for his opponents to recover but flung himself upon them with his own blade hacking and flashing. It was
     all over in an instant, the three would-be assassins lying dead on the icy path. Braldt knew that he and his companions had
     been lucky, for the men were undoubtedly chilled to the bone and moving far more slowly than they normally would have.
    Saxo laid a hand on Braldt’s arm and opened his mouth tospeak, but before he could utter a word, shouts and muted words coming from both above and below them on the steep mountain
     path, indicated that their attackers had not been acting alone. The three men drew together, hastily donning their cloaks
     and drawing their weapons. Braldt was at a loss for what to do; their attackers were closing in on both sides and the door
     behind them shook beneath a heavy battery of blows.
    Brandtson and Saxo had grasped the situation as well, and to Braldt’s complete amazement, after a brief silent exchange followed
     by a single nod, they both sheathed their swords, gathered their cloaks around them tightly, and stepped to the balustrade.
    “What are you doing?” he asked. “Do you plan to take your own lives? Surely we can make them rue their foolishness in attacking
     us. If we must die, let us take as many of them with us as possible!”
    “We do not mean to die, although that may well be the outcome,” Brandtson said as he threw a leg over the stone rail. He looked
     at Saxo, whose white-bearded features were already beginning to blur in the driving snow, and the two old men grinned at each
     other, a look that contained a lifetime of memories, bitter as well as sweet.
    “We have done this many times before as boys,” Saxo said as he struggled to straddle the balustrade while tucking an unhappy
     Thunder securely inside his garments. “Although I had fewer fears in those days and my bones were less brittle.”
    “But surely you do not think that we can climb down,” Braldt protested even as he heard the first of the enemy approaching,
     desperately hoping that he could dissuade the two old men from what would surely be suicide.
    “Come, Braldt, we know what we are doing,” Brandtsoncommanded in a tone that brooked no argument. “Follow us. Do exactly as we do.”
    Braldt hesitated, then threw one last look over his shoulder as a tight group of shadowy figures emerged from above, the steel
     of their blades catching the dim light. He could hear a steady stream of curses flowing from the other direction, and at that
     very moment the outer door to Saxo’s chambers burst open, revealing a horde of men outlined in the light of the room they
     had just vacated. The odds were too greatly stacked against them. Feeling a sense of hopelessness, Braldt stepped over the
     balustrade just as a hand darted forward and seized his ankle. His sword flashed and was greeted by a horrified shriek and
     a hot stream of gushing blood as the hand released its grip and the arm, greatly shortened, jerked away.
    Braldt felt his cloak yanked and he stumbled and nearly lost his balance before sitting down hard on the steeply slanted flank
     of the mountain. “Wrap your cloak around you as tight as possible,” Brandtson whispered harshly. “Lay as flat as possible
     and keep your feet pointed down. Use your hands if you need to brake, but whatever you do, do it slowly, for sudden moves
     will break your bones or flip you over.”
    “How do we avoid hitting rocks?” Braldt asked, the foolhardiness of the scheme seeming only one notch lower than intentional
     suicide. But if two old men were willing to risk their lives in such a venture, could he do otherwise?
    “Pray,” Brandtson replied with a short barking laugh, and then, whooping into the wind, he was gone,