Chapter 25
Riverside Struggle
In group strategy, you constrict the instant your adversaries are about to launch their action.
- Miyamoto Musashi, extract from Book of Five Rings
Morirex charged the six Zora by himself, shaking his head to and fro, braided beard and bearskin shaking as he growled like a savage animal, his growling gradually becoming a battle cry, putting himself into a frenzy. The six Zora looked at the charging man, wondering what the heck he was doing, for they had never seen such strange behaviour before. The driver swung his sword sideways, attempted to chop off a few legs, but the Zora, without looking, skipped back to avoid the big man's swing.
One Zora suddenly thrust his spear into the side of the driver's neck, and then twisted the shaft. Withstanding the pain, the driver slashed his blade at the Zora's legs, who jumped off to the side, avoiding the attack, and applying body weight into the spear midair and driving it deeper into the driver's neck. The old man writhed in pain, growling, and began swinging his sword haphazardly.
The six Zora stepped back to face the charging Morirex, who unslung his shield, brandished his sword, and began gnawing on the rim of his shield. The Zora split, three going to the left and three to the right, flanking the charging barbarian and jabbing at him. He stopped biting his shield and blocked most attacks with it, then ran to the right, feeling the three Zora behind him thrusting their spears repeatedly into his back, but the bearskin resisted the spearheads.
Morirex slashed his sword about, and the Zora obviously skipped backwards while jabbing their spears repeatedly. But the barbarian was unfazed, wild-eyed, eyeballs bulging, mouth open, lips pulled back to show the teeth, tongue curled upwards, eyebrows furrowed, beard and hair shaking, and the man absolutely bloodthirsty.
The frenzied barbarian continued running, wanting to at least trample a Zora or two into the ground, but the damn mermen kept skipping around, avoiding the charge. However, the barbarian leapt at the same time a Zora thrust at his legs. The Zora hopped back, but the warrior, being much taller, managed to chop the tip of his sword into the Zora's forehead, fracturing the skull. The Zora limply fell onto his side, fractured forehead leaking blood like a cracked gutter pipe.
The five other Zora, eager to avenge their friend, all lunged at Morirex, jabbing into his back, legs and arms, anywhere his shield did not cover. The flint-headed spears cut through his boots and sleeves, but not the bearskin. The barbarian spun around, backhanding his shield sideways and disarraying a few spears and then swinging his sword horizontally, though the Zora skipped out of the way to no surprise while sending a jab to the man's face, but all he did was lower his head so that the bearskin muzzle took the spear.
The driver, despite having a hole in his neck, fought on, trying to swing at the legs of the Zora while on the ground, but as always they easily evaded his attacks. Every time he tried to pick himself up, a Zora would quickly ram a spear at him and push him down with it, and then quickly retrieve the spear and hop back to defend against Morirex or the driver. The driver kept trying to cut the Zora but was too old, too heavily armoured, and too slow to strike them. Morirex stood nearby the driver to protect him, though by standing there, the spears would lash out and peck at his shins or back, for the Zora were constantly dancing around to attack from all sides while keeping their distance.
Haavelmo tried to get up to join the fight and help defend the driver, but his injured shin was too much and he fell. The Zora noticed him but left him alone; Morirex was obviously the bigger threat. Haavelmo tried a second time to stand up and failed again. His third attempt gave him great pain and he fell back onto his bottom. His fourth try did better, he resorting to using his shield as a crutch. Before he could do anything significant, while the five Zora fought Morirex, one of the mermen quickly charged Haavelmo. The Norseman, leaning over his shield, pointed his sword like a spear at the incoming Zora. Having the much longer weapon, the Zora spearman simply rammed the spearhead into the man's forehead, who had only waved his sword helplessly in hopes of deflecting the shaft, but was nevertheless speared in the head. He dropped his spear and fell over, shield also falling over, with only half his senses, blood spurting out his skull.
Morirex noticed what happened to Haavelmo, feeling strikes into his shield and legs but ignored them, and the Zora who speared Haavelmo ran back to fight Morirex. The barbarian then shouted his battle cry again, this time so loudly that he made a few Zora flinch, and from that, sprinted forth and bashed his shield into a Zora's front, feeling a few spears jabbing into his ribs, but he nevertheless knocked the Zora he hit over and stabbed the merman in the sternum. The barbarian then placed his own sternum on the back of his pommel, applying body weight over the hilt to drive the sword through the Zora's heart, the merman letting off a vibrating whirring cry, and that was the end of him.
Morirex flicked his sword out sideways, cutting the Zora he killed open and then the momentum causing the blade to swing across the air, but the Zora dodged it easily. One of the mermen thrust his spear into Morirex's forearm, spearhead cutting in-between the two bones and rendering his sword-arm useless for a moment. Morirex kept holding onto the sword, but another Zora quickly grabbed it by the blade and yanked it out his hand. The man pulled his right arm out the spearhead, and then the five mermen stepped up-close, thrusting their spears with all their strength into the barbarian, who put his shield close to himself for protection, feeling the spearheads poking holes into his legs, arms, back and face, skin at his face breaking apart and spurting blood.
Meanwhile, as Morirex fought multiples, the eighteen barbarians who charged down the river ran into the river, hoping to be able to fight, but predictably, the Zora simply swam into the centre of the river and were out of harm's reach. Furious that they could not fight their amphibious enemy, the barbarians shouted insults, bashed the flat of their swords into their shields, gnawed on the rim of their shields, flailed their heads back and forth or forwards and backwards, kicked at the water, and some sheathed their swords to grab stones from the river and throw at the Zora. Skirmishing ensued.
The Zora had prepared this location beforehand, for as they swam down to the riverbed, holes had been dug so that the mound piled against the current, and sticking into the riverbed were javelins and harpoons, as well as sharpened shells piled in the holes. With many weapons prepared, all the Zora had to do was swim down, grab a few, surface, and continue the skirmish, but the projectiles could not pass the shields. Since most of the barbarians stood in the water, the water covered their legs from projectiles as well.
Most Zora skirmished by keeping their distance, swimming towards the other side of the river to throw javelins, harpoons and sharpened clamshells, drawing the men deeper into the water. A few Zora swam along the stream from upriver, to tackle into the legs of the barbarians who went into the water. With speed aided by the flow of the river, two Norsemen lost balance and fell when Zora swam into their legs, but were not deep enough to actually be dragged easily, and other men simply grabbed shoulders and pulled those who fell back up.
Ten barbarians walked out the river, talking about heading for a bridge leading across the river (it led to Kakariko Village) off in the distance down the river, leaving Guomundur and the seven other warriors to stay at the riverside and defend it, but the ten barbarians noticed Morirex and the driver in trouble, as well as Harnack and the Norseman who received a harpoon into the shinbone (Haavelmo).
Morirex fought the four standing Zora by himself with just his shield and feet, though could do little as he was always out of reach, the Zora utilizing the length of their spears while keeping their distance, intending to perforate the man until he bled out. The ten other barbarians thus charged, and the four standing Zora fled.
Morirex quickly finished-off the first Zora he hit in the skull with his shield earlier, stabbing through the neck. The barbarian forced his sword out, blood dripping from the edge, and then checked on the driver. A few men sheathed their swords and helped the heavy man up to his feet now that his attackers fled.
Morirex and the ten barbarians helped the driver walk to the wagon, five barbarians at the back of the group walking backwards with their shields facing the river. Sure enough, several projectiles whizzed at them, either hitting their shields or going into the ground. The driver was put onto the back of the wagon, the old man's neck bleeding. Harnack and Haavelmo were also helped back to the wagon. The five who blocked the projectiles with their shields headed back to the river.
Surprisingly, perhaps thirty Zora heads popped out of the water, floating with the current, and thirty javelins arched through the air and landed on shields or the ground, but more than enough javelins were thrown to stall the barbarians and damage their shields. A few barbarians sheathed their swords, and grabbed the javelins that stuck in the riverbed near them, and they threw them back at the Zora, though the targets were only heads and shoulders, and all missed.
The Zora could also use the water as a means to shield themselves, as buoyancy slowed down projectiles, and the javelins that hit the river gradually floated away, but were grabbed and hurled back at the barbarians! Skirmishing would continue for a while.
The five barbarians who left the river made for the bridge, as it was still a structure useful for defence, and its railings provided some cover. The thirty Zora suddenly disappeared underwater. Guomundur and the seven Norsemen near him walked down the river to head for the bridge, keeping their shields over their right side, just in case of projectiles, which occasioanlly flew their way.
Leaping out like graceful flying fish, several by several, many Zora appeared, twenty leaping out the river on one side, and another twenty leaping out onto the other near the bridge, water flicking and dripping down their lithe frames and fins. Upon hitting the ground, the Zora rolled forwards over their shoulders and stood up, all of them armed with a two-handed spear. The twenty Zora who appeared on the western side of the river landed near the five men making their way to the bridge, and the twenty Zora who landed on the eastern side of the river, landed near the bridge, and they ran over it to guard it.
"Get out of there! They will flank you!" Guomundur shouted, warning the small group of barbarians who were only too eager to get into a fight, but the Zora would reach them before the other barbarians could.