"Damn barbarians," The lawbringer growled as he looked at the heads on the tree branches, "We take the fort but then these people come in and kill our convoys."
"Are we sure it was one of the survivors?" A peacekeeper said as she came up besides the lawbringer, "Might just be a wandering bandit hoping to cover their tracks."
"Bandits don't come this high," A female voice made the pair turn to see a conqueror, her ball and chain on her hip, "Besides, a bandit wouldn't attack a caravan with a bunch of Wardens guarding it."
"And even a group of bandits wouldn't be able to defeat the Wardens," A fourth and final voice chimed in, a Warden laid his sword across his back, "Too unorganized, even harder would be attacking with stealth, this place is almost devoid of cover."
"Which means a Viking," The lawbringer said as he looked at the heads, "Probably the same one who killed James and his soldiers."
"Don't tell me you believe that survivor," The Warden said with a laugh, "A single man killing a group of highly trained soldiers?"
"You've fought the Vikings," The lawbringer growled, "You know full well what they are capable of."
"Besides, if the reports were to be believed? That one man was one of those berserkers we hear about." The conqueror chimed in as the group started to move out.
"You mean one of those fools who run in screaming and swinging two axes?" The Warden scoffed, "Those thing could barely cut through wood much less our steel armor."
"And that is why I can't stand you new recruits," the lawbringer said as he lead them around a corner, "Always thinking you're more invincible than you are."
"We're starting to lose daylight," The peacekeeper said as her head looked towards the sky, "We need to find shelter soon."
"Agreed, scout ahead to find us a suitable spot." The lawbringer ordered, the woman nodding and running ahead.
"Sir…what if she encounters our…berserker?" The conqueror asked.
"She's a veteran of the assaults on the Viking forts, a front man of Apollyon," The lawbringer replied, "She'll be fine, probably safer than us three even."
"You're giving a supposed single Viking a lot of credit." The warden replied as the trio moved forward.
"A single man can kill an army given the right tools." The conqueror responded.
"A wise saying," The lawbringer said with a nod, "Where'd you hear that?"
"A…an old monk told me it." The woman said as her head looked at the ground, the lawbringer could tell something was off but decided to ignore it.
"Huh," The warden scoffed, "Only an army that's undisciplined."
The knight would have gone on, but a sudden sound of boots hitting the snow near him made him yelp.
"I found a spot," The peacekeeper said as she pointed up the pathway, "Some trees, good firewood, nice covering from the storm."
"Then let's make hastes, this cold is starting to make my joints freeze up." The lawbringer said with a shiver. The party made their way into the wooded area, the lawbringer using his halberd to fell a few limbs. The conqueror got a fire going while the warden set up tents, the peacekeeper disappeared off to hunt some game. Soon, a few rabbits where roasting over a fire as night started to settle, the soldiers taking their helmets off.
The lawbringer was an older man, bald, one eye scratched out while the warden was a blue eyed, brown haired youth. The peacekeeper was a dark haired woman whose age was much harder to determine while the conqueror was a blonde haired young woman barely out of her teens, the four started to pick and eat at the meat.
"So, I've been meaning to ask," The lawbringer said suddenly, "I know our peacekeepers story, but what's yours?"
"John the third," The warden said with a grin, "Heir to the house of Tec and one of the finest swordsman ever trained."
"You've got a lot to learn before you say that," The lawbringer said with a laugh before turning to the other woman, "And you?"
"Oh…Charlotte," The woman said, "I'm just a nobody from a prison back home, got out to join the conquerors."
"What was your crime?" John asked, only to be cut off by the peacekeeper.
"That's enough," The woman said, "It's not our duty to know everything about each other."
"Soliel's right," The lawbringer said in concurrence, "Her crimes are in the past."
"Fair enough," John said, "Besides, how bad could she be compared to these barbarians?"
"You keep calling them that," The lawbringer cut in, "Do you really think simple barbarians could drive us to the edges of the world?"
"Lucky," The warden responded, "They surprised the Iron Legion, pushed those weak fools back, then they got a taste of real knights when Apollyon attacked. Our steel broke their wills."
"Huh," The lawbringer laughed, "You know…they have an ancient riddle, what is stronger than steel?"
"What? What could possibly be stronger than steel?" John scoffed out.
"Flesh…their answer is flesh." The lawbringer said in a low voice, John scoffed again before the peacekeeper got to her feet and stamped out the fire. The rest of the group got the message, time to go to sleep.
Charlotte woke up to see a door in front of her, the door to an old confessional. Her small hand gently grabbed the handle and pulled it open, revealing the small dark room. Her short legs moved almost of their own volition as she entered that dark room, the door closing behind her, locking her in that dark room. She sat down on the small bench, squirming to get comfortable on the hard wood.
"Now…Charlotte," A male voice echoed from beyond the black grate, "What are your sins?"
Charlotte opened her mouth, but no words came forth, the girl grabbed her throat and tried to make a noise but all that came out was air.
"Are you telling me that you have no sins to confess? Pride is a sin, Charlotte," The voice said as the girl tried desperately to get out a few words, "Still nothing? Charlotte, do we need to have a talk face to face like last time?"
Charlottes eyes widened as those words came from the grate, before hearing the door opening on the other side. The footsteps echoed as the man came around to the other side of her door, the handle turning slowly. Charlotte grabbed at the handle on the other side, desperately trying to keep it closed, her small arms straining as the door was pulled open.
"Charlotte…have you been an evil girl?" The voice said as the claws of a beast started to come around the wood, "Charlotte? Charlotte? Get up Charlotte!"
The woman's eyes snapped open as she looked into the lawbringers helmet, he was shaking her awake.
"Did you see John leave the camp last night?" He asked wildly, Charlotte shook her head in shock, "Damn!"
"John!" The peacekeeper yelled as she looked around, her voice loud and shrill. Charlotte quickly grabbed her helmet and flail as she clamored up.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice full of panic.
"John wasn't here when we got up," The lawbringer said as he looked around, "We were hoping you would know something, like if he decided to go back down."
"His tracks end at the edge of camp," The peacekeeper responded, "Something swept them away during the night."
"Why didn't they slit out throats and be done with it?" The lawbringer asked in a rage, peacekeeper shrugged in anger as she started to comb the camp, looking for clues. Her search proved fruitless as she yelled in anger, throwing her weapons into the snow.
"Pick those up," The lawbringer ordered, "We complete the charge we've been given, we've still got three men."
"But if this so called berserker could take on a warden?" The peacekeeper asked, her voice low and steady, "We should turn back, return with a larger force, we can cover more ground."
"We can't turn back now," The lawbringer replied coldly, "The first melt is coming, soon the path over the mountain will be passable."
"This isn't just about avenging our men, is it?" Charlotte asked as she turned her back to the path upwards, "What aren't you telling us?"
"He's right," Soliel responded with a sigh, "This berserker might be a survivor of the War born Union, if he manages to find his Viking brethren, he'll be untraceable through the mountains."
"And the Viking's will know our defenses…hell…" Charlotte growled as her hand on her weapon tightened.
"We must find him before he goes over, otherwise, our life becomes a living hell." The lawbringer sighed, now you know why it's so important that we find this man."
"The fortress is too valuable to let it fall back into the Viking hands," The lawbringer continued, "If they take it, they'll have the perfect position to assault our lands."
"Yeah…I know what happens when they raid." Charlotte growled as her hand tightened on her weapon.
"Let's move out," Soliel said suddenly, "We've got ground to cover."
The pair nodded their agreement and followed the peacekeeper up the mountain path, their trek was slower than yesterday, the trio keeping an eye on all sides. The peacekeeper rounded the corner and suddenly her hand shot up, motioning the others to stop. Charlotte and the lawbringer paused, before looking over the corner as well.
"John?" Charlotte asked suddenly as she saw the helmet peeking over a rock, the metal gleaming in the morning sun.
"Wait…something's wrong here," Soliel said quietly, "Be careful."
The trio slowly moved forward, their eyes darting around to make sure someone wasn't about to ambush them. They reached the helm with Charlotte walking around, her gasp was enough to get the other twos attention. The peacekeeper moved around to see what Charlotte saw, and growled as she did.
"Damn savages," Soliel said as she picked up the head, feeling that it had more heft to it than it should have. She turned it around, and the head fell out, "Didn't even take the head as a trophy."
"Took its scalp." The lawbringer said as he looked over the head, "Why did he leave this here?"
"As a warning," Charlotte said as she looked around, "The berserker is trying to intimidate us."
"It would work for lesser men," Soliel said as she turned around, "We must press on, this savage can't be allowed to live."
"Agreed," The lawbringer said as he lifted up his halberd, "Let's go."
The two women nodded as they continued up the path, eventually coming across a narrow pass.
"I'll go first," The lawbringer ordered, "If he attacks from the front, my armor will protect me, wait for me to get to the other side."
The pair nodded as the man started passing through, the lawbringer slowly moved through the pass, his armor clinking the sides of the passage until he got to the other side.
"It's clear!" He yelled back, the two women looked at each other, before the peacekeeper started going through with Charlotte following. The pair exited the other side where the lawbringer was waiting, he gestured for them to follow and as the pair did, Charlotte felt something…like eyes were upon her. She turned around to see what appeared to be a man standing above the pass, body partly obscured by the flurry of snow. The flail wielder shook her head and looked up again, only for the man to have disappeared.
"Charlotte," The peacekeeper's voice shook her out of her stupor, "Everything OK?"
"Yes," Charlotte said as she turned to face her companions, "Let's keep moving."
As the trio moved ahead, the young woman couldn't help but feel like eyes were upon them all as the snow fell around them. Charlotte kept her head turning as the came across another tight pass, she sighed as they readied to enter it. The peacekeeper went first this time, her speed allowing her to make quick work of it all, or at least it would have.
"Ah!" Soliel screamed as the pair behind her heard a sharp metallic clang, the pushed through the rocks to see that the woman was on the ground, her leg in a bear trap. Charlotte cursed herself, of course the Viking would leave this favored implements around to cover his tracks.
"Hold still," The lawbringer growled as he moved around her to the other side, near the end of the pass, "Damn it, Charlotte, come here."
The woman nodded as she walked over, going to her knees.
"Grab the right side," The lawbringer ordered, the conqueror nodding and doing so, "Pull!"
The pair proceeded to pull as hard as they could, opening the teeth inch by inch until…Soliel ripped her leg back right before the teeth snapped shut.
"Damn…" Soliel groaned as she looked over her leg before turning her gaze to the lawbringer, "I can't go on in this condition."
"Agreed," The lawbringer growled, "We'll have to turn back…but we can at least tell them that this berserker is here…"
The lawbringer was cut off as he lifted his head, before scrambling to his feet and grabbing his halberd. Standing above them was the one thing he didn't want to see, a snarling, dual ax wielding, bearded man, who roared as he leapt down, slashing at the armored man, who deflected the blow away.
"Charlotte!" The lawbringer yelled, "Get Soliel out of here!"
The woman nodded as she picked up the smaller woman, holding the peacekeepers arm over her shoulder and dragging her away. Charlotte looked back to see that the barbarian was charging her commander, who was also charging with his halberd out. The berserker dodged the spear point, slamming one of his axes into the knight's torso. The lawbringers armor held, but as he swung his halberd around, the Viking rolled away, grabbing snow and throwing it at the man's eyes.
The lawbringer covered his eyes, only to feel strong arms wrapping around his stomach. He felt his heavily armored ass go into the air, before being thrown to the ground like a rag doll. The lawbringers eyes finally lined up with their holes, before seeing a snarling man leap on top of him. One of the duel axes tried to bury itself into the lawbringers skull, but the man managed to turn his head so one of the ax blades landed in the snow. The berserker growled as he lifted up another ax, this time the lawbringer managed to grab onto the holding it as it came down. The two men stared at each other, before the berserker let go of his ax, and slammed his fist into lawbringers helmet.
The sudden blow made the lawbringer flinch, allowing the berserker to wrap his hands around the armored man's throat. The lawbringer felt his throat constricting, the slobbering face of the berserker the only thing he could see. The berserker growled again as the armored man hands stopped beating back on his arms, before going flat onto the snow. The Viking growled as he looked up, barely making out the two women over the ridge.
He snarled as he grabbed his axes and started running, his eyes full of hate. Charlotte looked back to see the snarling barbarian, before stopping dead in her tracks as she came across a small ravine. It wasn't deep, but it was slopped, if she fell, her and Soliel could expect a long slide down.
"Charlotte," Soliel muttered, "Go…Leave me behind."
"What?" The woman said as she looked at the peacekeeper, who shook her head.
"With my leg like this, I'm slowing you down," Soliel growled, "I've met berserkers, they will run you down as soon as they can…this one is different…he planned for us, set traps. You need to warn them, warn them that he's smarter than they'd realize."
"Soliel…I…" The conqueror stuttered before hearing the snarl of the berserker made her head shoot up. His form came racing down incline, Charlotte opened her mouth to speak…before an axe came out of nowhere. The woman yelped as she raised her shield, throwing the peacekeeper down the ravine before following herself as she lost her balance. The two women landed and slid down the slippery rock's, Charlotte screamed as she was suddenly launched off the incline onto the cold hard ground.
Charlotte scrambled to her feet, her nightgown billowing behind her as she kept running.
"Charlotte! Get back here!" The monster called out for him, it's deep, guttural voice filling the hallway. The young girl whimpered as she ran into the dining hall, "Little Charlotte, you've been a bad girl…let me help you."
Charlotte quickly ran under the table, her little hands and feet pushing aside the chairs to get under it.
"I know you're under there," The voice rang out, Charlotte could see the mottled flesh of the monsters legs as it walked up to the table, "Come out…we need to talk."
The monster leaned down, only to get a kick to the face. The monster roared in pain as it reached under and grabbed her by the ankle, pulling her out before throwing her onto the table.
"You bitch…" The monster growled as it started fiddling with something behind Charlottes vision, the little girl's mind was racing. She looked around quickly, before spying a knife on the table. She could feel the monsters hands closing around her thighs as it raised itself up, her little hands grabbed the knife's handle…and she whirled around, slamming the blade into the creature's throat.
The howl that sounded jarred Charlotte out of her stupor, her eyes snapping around to see Soliel currently deflecting a blow from the Berserker. His wild eyes following the peacekeeper as she tried to move back, spittle flying as he kept swinging. The berserker's first ax blow was deflected, his second ax barely missing the peacekeeper as he followed up. Soleil was still being forced back however, her wounded leg not helping the entire situation. The man growled as he lashed out with his head, slamming it into her masked face.
Normally, that kind of blow wouldn't help considering the helmet…but the Berserkers fury was far too great to be assailed by such a pitiful concept as pain. Soleil was set back as her head rang, only for the Viking to push her to the ground. Charlotte looked around desperately, her weapon was nowhere to be found…until her hand brushed a metallic object.
She picked it up, it was a sword of odd design, being shorter than most of the blades she had seen, however it still would serve its purpose. The woman slowly got to her feet, before yelling as she charged in. The Viking whirled around, skillfully dodging the thrust. The berserker growled as he lashed out with a right hook that sent her to the ground, he raised his ax to finish her before he screamed as a blade entered his leg.
His eyes snapped to Soleil, whose dagger was poking out of his lower leg, the howl of pain was more animal than man as he once again raised his ax. That's when another war cry filled the air, the trio turned to see a halberd bury itself into the berserkers shoulder. The lawbringer roared as he pushed the Viking off the point, sending him into a nearby table. The wood shattered as the man's weight collided with, sending its contents all across the cave.
A soft thud attracted Charlotte's attention to her foot, her eyes snapped to a doll. It was a simple thing, a girl in a dress, but it was the eye's that got her attention. They were made of iron buttons…like her old…
"Stop!" Charlotte yelled as the Lawbringer raised his ax blade, the armored man looking back at her, "We can't kill him."
"And why is that?" The man yelled as he looked at the woman with a snarl.
"She's right," Soleil said as she got to her feet, "He might not be the only survivor, if there are more…he might lead us to them."
That idea gave the lawbringer pause…Charlotte and Soleil could see the man mulling the idea over…before growling and grabbing the man. The berserker snarled, before a fist clocked him in the jaw.
"Tie him up," The lawbringer ordered, "Gag him, I've see his kind before…he'll gnaw his way out of his bindings."
Soleil nodded as she grabbed some rope from her pack and set to binding, Charlotte picked up said doll and tucked it away. The conqueror looked around at the cave, it was obviously the man's home, a bedroll had been set up as well as a fire pit, various bits of bone and plant matter was left out, a fire pit that had been stamped out a short while ago, and various pieces of armor. Charlotte noticed that the Lawbringer was holding something, the woman moving around to see that it was a helmet with a plume unlike anything she had seen before.
"Commander," She said after clearing her throat, "What's that?"
"Nothing," He said gruffly, before throwing it aside, "Just a foolish notion that some have gotten into their heads."
Charlotte almost started to say something before Soleil cut her off.
"Commander, come take a look at this." The peacekeeper said, the lawbringer following suit. Charlotte looked at the helmet before following, the smaller woman was holding a large piece of paper.
"A map?" Charlotte asked as she approached.
"That's not just a map," The lawbringer said with a little bit of surprised, "It's a map detailing routes through the mountain, not just the commonly known ones either. These are routes of our caravans, shortcuts to the fort, everything an attacking army would need to know."
"How did he find such a treasure?" Soleil asked as she looked at the map, "We've never had reports of someone spying on us."
"Look at it," The man said, "Some of that's Godric's writing, some of its Magnus, but no samurai…more than likely, this was a plan in case the fort fell…but that doesn't explain this however."
The lawbringer pointed at a few of the other marks, made with a more rough hand that detailed routes through the mountain to a certain point that had almost no significance if you'd didn't know what was there.
"I think our berserker has been scouting," The lawbringer said as he traced the lines with his finger, "or he and his allies have been."
"So it was a good thing we found him," Charlotte said with a smile, "Otherwise our lives would have been a living hell."
"Soliel," The lawbringer called out, "Study the map, see if there is a route that'll be faster, Aryen will want to see this immediately."
The peacekeeper nodded as she started studying the map before the man turned to face Charlotte.
"You help her, I'll keep an eye on the prisoner. Be sure to get some rest for the night, we'll be here for a while." The lawbringer ordered as he turned to tend to the Viking.
The woman nodded as she said down at the table with the peacekeeper, who grabbed her leg in pain.
"Won't be able to walk for a while," Soleil groaned, "So…why did you pick up that doll?"
Charlotte pulled the doll out of her pack and stared at it before responding.
"It…it reminded me of something, something that happened many years ago." The conqueror said as she looked over it.
"So, you saving the Viking had nothing to do with the other potential survivors?" The peacekeeper asked, getting a curt nod in response. The woman shrugged as she got to her feet and moved over to what appeared to be a tent made of animal hide, Charlotte put the doll back and looked around some more. She stopped at something, however, on the wall was a symbol, it appeared to be a blue circle with a red skull with a sword through it.
She was puzzled by this, but shook it off as she walked over to the tent as well, she opened the flap to see that Soliel was already fast asleep. The tent was larger than it appeared, giving the two women plenty of room to rest. Charlotte sighed as she took off her helmet and set it to the side, before laying down on a nearby bedroll.
"Charlotte…stay there and don't come out…" Charlotte's mother whispered as she pushed Charlotte's small body to the back of the closet, "Don't make a sound either."
"But mother…" Charlotte started before the door was shut in her face, only a crack was visible that she could see out of. The young girl stared at the room, a small one with a table and fire pit, her small doll with its iron eyes was only a stone's throw away from her. A loud crash filled the air, Charlotte's eyes snapped upwards to see that the Vikings had breached the door.
Her mother yelped as one of them grabbed her and threw her aside, it was a group of four, but the one that stood out the most was a huge man with an axe. He yelled something in the Viking language and the others started tearing the place apart but his eyes went to Charlotte's mother, he laughed and said something else in their tongue that made the men stop and walk over to his sides.
One of the men responded in kind, but his tone was full of fear. The bigger man responded in what appeared to be a reassuring tone before moving and blocking Charlotte's view, the little girls ears heard what sounded like cloth ripping. The men started laughing as an odd sound filled the air, one that the girl had never heard before. The woman started moaning as the sound got louder, the big man laughing even harder.
Suddenly, a loud voice filled the air, the four men all whirled around to see an even bigger man, this one wearing leather and chain. His beard was thick and combed, but he stepped forward, showing his blade in his hands. He appeared to be looking over the situation, before yelling in turn. The other bearded man stepped forwards making a response, the bigger man looked at the woman, before laughing. After an awkward pause, the others started laughing too.
The bigger man stepped forward, putting his hands on the other big man…before stabbing him through the chest. The stabbed man's eyes widened as he looked at the blade in his chest before it was pulled out, the bigger man turned around and seized another by the throat before throwing him aside. He whirled around, burying his blade into a third man's shoulder, tearing it apart. He then walked over to the final man and asked him a question, the man stammered out a response and the big man pointed at the exit.
The man stammered something else before running out as the big man moved over to the woman on the ground, she had started reaching for the closet. The big man looked over and started walking over to Charlotte, the little girl moved back as the man got closer. The Viking didn't even open the door, he just leaned down and picked up her small doll before turning to her mother. He then walked over, putting the doll in his pack as he did, and picked the woman up bridal style and walked out.
Charlotte was woken up by Soleil shaking her.
"It's time to go." The peacekeeper said as she helped the woman up.