Commander Reinwelt sat atop his horse at the front of the line, overlooking the situation. Fifty or so bandits had taken Old Scotrik's tavern, leaving only two survivors to report the raid. These bandits knew what they were doing, and no one even knew if they'd still be there. The fault of Reinwelt was that he believed that these men could not fight. Twenty some men had been sent out to deal with them, and Lodd was one of them.
Lodd stood in the first row, directly in the middle. He could see what was going on as well. He counted thirty-three of the bandits outside the tavern, so the rest must have been inside. Most of them had bows, something that Reinwelt's force lacked. We need to get down there without giving them shots at us, Lodd thought. Reinwelt thought differently.
"It's time to show these men what it means to mess with Pravish! Charge them!"
The command took Lodd by surprise. He stumbled forward the first few steps, and then broke into a sprint. He was garbed in mail, wielding a short sword and a buckler. The stomping of men followed him all the way down the hill, while arrows fell. While the arrows descended upon the party, he continued forward. He could see their eyes now, getting closer and closer. Finally, the arrows stopped. The bandits had sheathed them for their real weapons.
Lodd yelled a war cry, and leaped over a short wall. There before him stood one of the bandits, the first of many. The bandit took a hard swing with his great sword, and Lodd ducked. The bandit's blade lodged into the wall, rendering him unarmed. Some men wouldn't kill an unarmed man, but Lodd wasn't one of them. He slashed the bandit quickly in the chest, sending him to the dirt.
Lodd saw the windows of the tavern burst open, and arrows began flying out of them. He quickly brought up his buckler, but some men weren't quick enough. Men still getting over the wall were hit, to fall back down. Lodd eyed his next target, a small bandit that wielded only a knife. Lodd charged him.
The bandit hadn't even seen Lodd coming, and barely dodged out of the way. Lodd turned swiftly and slashed, aiming for the throat. This time, it connected. Blood flew from the cut, and the bandit went into the air, landing feet away. He took this peace to check the situation. Reinwelt's forces were taking the outside of the tavern, but were still being shot apart by arrows from the inside of the tavern. Lodd motioned to a nearby soldier to follow him into the tavern.
They ran up the stone path to the doorway, slashing at the backs of nearby bandits. When they arrived at the door, it flung open for them. A burly bandit stood before them, wielding a two-handed axe. Before the bandit even knew that Lodd was a foe, Lodd stabbed him in the gut. The bandit's eyes lit up as he looked down at the sword, and then fell to the ground with a great thud. The bandit archers turned to the doorway, stringing their bows.
Lodd charged straight in, buckler raised. A few arrows hit the buckler, but he got to the first archer. The bandit was in the process of sheathing the bow when Lodd hit him. A quick strike to the chest felled him. The other soldier was already in combat with another of them, and more soldiers were pouring in through the windows. Most were in combat, so Lodd ran up the stairs. One of the remaining bandits yelled out, "There's one coming up the stairs!"
Up the stairs, there were three of them. They all had their weapons drawn at this point. Each hit Lodd at once, Lodd barely even being able to block the attacks. In between the hits, he took a stab at one, felling one foe. The next two fell just as easily, the last even falling down the stairs as Lodd walked down. The bandits down the stairs were mopped up, and the soldier's eyes were on Lodd. He raised his sword, and the celebration begun in cheers.
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Topic: Taking the Tavern (Short Story) (Read 658 times)