A roar went up from down on the beach.Cenric realized that the other warriors who had not been present at the feast had seized their weapons and now attacked Tullia and her men from their flank.Tullia must not be as unanimously supported as Cenric had feared.
Tullia’s own warriors were flanked even as they attempted to encircle Ovrek and his band of survivors.Everything broke down into chaos.
These were Valdari fighting Valdari.Everyone looked the same and that left nothing to do but attack the men who attacked you and hope they weren’t friends.
The lines broke and chaos took over.
“Ovrek!”shouted a man to Cenric’s left.“Ovrek!”
“Tullia!”bellowed an answering call.“Tullia!”
In the dark, with no banners and nothing else to identify them, the men were calling out their leaders’ names.It was as much to keep from killing friends as it was an oath of allegiance.
“Ovrek!”Cenric answered.“Ovrek!”
“Ovrek!”Hróarr howled, swinging his axe as another man came at them.
From around them came answering cries of “Tullia!”
“Ovrek!”cried men farther down the beach.“Ovrek!”
A man came at Cenric with another spear, stabbing for his legs.Cenric caught the attack on his shield, shoving the man’s strike wide.
The man screamed, then went down.It took a moment for Cenric to realize Brynn had used a spell, but another man was coming at them before Cenric had the time to praise her.
Cenric couldn’t see the man’s features, he was a dark, yelling outline tinged in red from the light of the burning hall.This one wore armor, so he must be someone moderately important.
Cenric tried to stab the attacker, but his spearhead scraped along steel lamellar.The man came in roaring, a monster behind his helm’s design of a snarling bear.
Sword swinging, the attacker got past Cenric’s spear, smashing into his shield and knocking him back.Cenric rooted his back heel as he knocked into Brynn who jostled into Hróarr.
Brynn muttered something that sounded like a curse and Cenric muttered his own as the armored man’s sword swung for his head.Cenric ducked low behind his shield, acutely aware that he had no armor himself.He shoved with his shield.The impact rattled up his arm and the boss clanged into the stranger’s armor, but the attacker was undeterred.With that lamellar, the other warrior probably hadn’t even felt it.
Sparks showered around the man’s head and Cenric realized Brynn must be trying to find purchase with her spells.
The warrior flinched back, but recovered, coming in for another swipe with his sword.
On Brynn’s other side, Hróarr seemed engaged with his own enemies.
Cenric lost his grip on his spear.Instead of reaching for it, he pushed it to the side so it wouldn’t trip him up.Grabbing his shield with both hands, he stepped back just once, then smashed the shield edge first toward the other man’s head.
The stranger’s sword stung Cenric’s upper arm and pain shot up Cenric’s shoulder an instant before the shield struck.
The other warrior’s head bent back with the popping of bone and he toppled over like a felled tree.The man hit with a hard thud, the fire shining off the lamellar plates.Cenric would have liked to take that helm and armor, but there was no time for looting.
Numbness spread through Cenric’s left shoulder, but he was still able to use it.Glancing down, the sword had not cut through his sleeve, but blood seeped through.How had that happened?
“You’re hurt.”Brynn’s hands were on him the next moment, her power sliding into him.
Cenric never could tell when she was working magic, but this time he felt her power like a wash of heat.The pain dulled into an ache and then vanished.
There was no time to thank her as Hróarr let off a great bellow, facing down four men who appeared to be together.These men weren’t armored, but they carried shields and spears.
Cenric couldn’t see their faces, not in the shifting shadows of the hall fire, but they seemed enemies, so he snatched up his spear again and made ready to face them.
Brynn stepped a little further back, letting Hróarr and Cenric draw their shields closer together.
Two of the men came at the front, closing in.The other two swept out like wings, coming to flank them from both sides.
