Chapter Ten
The Berserker
As the Juns fall back to their chieftain's position, the Akira immediately set to taking their dead and wounded to the barn. The wounded for healing, and the dead to be prepared to be buried. Madmartigan and a handful of Akira drag the bodies of slain Juns out of the breach in their wall of fire, and then begin filling in the gap with kindling, dry logs, wooden furniture, and damn near anything else that will burn. Once the gap has been filled, the Lord of Tir Asleen retires to the barn to confer with his fellow warriors. He sees Dar treating the injured arm of a young woman and approaches him.
"How many have we lost?" he asks The Beastmaster.
"Twelve more of the Akira now walk among the gods, including Shad's father" says Dar, "Another eight might survive if we prevail, but are out of the fight I'm afraid."
"And of the seven of us?"
"Subotai has joined Malak among the dead."
Madmartigan turns towards the side of the barn which they have been using as a morgue. He sees Conan kneeling next to the still form of his fallen friend. The knight approaches the Cimmerian. As he nears the barbarian, he sees that Conan isn't merely mourning the loss of his friend, but is in fact praying over his body.
"May The Four Winds carry you to Crom's side, my friend," he says, "I will see you and Valeria both again one day. And, by Crom I swear that on that day I will have a bloodied sword in my hand and a host of slain enemies at my feet."
"He was an honorable man," offers Madmartigan in an attempt to comfort the Cimmerian. Conan chuckles at the notion.
"He was a thief and a scoundrel," says the barbarian,"And he was my friend."
"I saw the man he was fighting," says Deathstalker, "Had Subotai not stopped him, the Akira's death toll would have been much worse."
"His was a noble sacrifice," adds Sonja.
"Enough talk," says Conan as he gets to his feet, "There will be time enough to mourn after we have destroyed the Juns."
"That will prove to be no easy task," says Madmartigan.
"Did you really think it was going to be?" asks Dar.
"Our fire wall is burning low," the knight continues, "And our fuel reserves are nearly exhausted. We've already suffered a breach. I doubt that that particular defense will hold out much longer."
"And most of the traps set throughout the village have been sprung," adds Red Sonja.
"Over half of the adults in the village are either dead or too injured to fight," says Deathstalker, "As the outer defenses fall, the Akira will be overwhelmed."
"Then it is our job to make sure that they don't," says Dar.
"Position the Akira between the houses," says Conan, "Keep them in tight quarters. Make sure that the Juns can only attack the Akira one by one, or perhaps two by two. Take away their advantage of numbers."
"That could work," agrees Sonja, "It would give the farmers a fighting chance at least."
"The rest of us will have to draw the Juns towards us," says Conan, "Away from the farmers."
"So instead of the farmers being overwhelmed by superior numbers, we will be overwhelmed for them?" says Deathstalker, "I like it!"
"Tell Shad what the newest strategy will be," Conan tells Madmartigan, "Then get the remaining Akira ready. I have a feeling that this will be their final assault. One way . . .or another."
At the Jun encampment, Jun children, too young to take up weapons but old enough to witness the horrors of war, pound on war drums in a very precise rhythm. All around them, Jun warriors match the rhythm by banging their weapons against their shields. Walking through the horde is the largest Jun to walk the earth in recent memory. If Dako was huge, then this barbarian is downright gargantuan. Standing closer to eight foot than to seven, he trudges towards his chieftain. He wears a peculiar set of armor. His heavy black iron helm is designed to resemble the skull of some unholy abomination, with the fanged snout of a dire wolf and the curled horns of a ram. His shoulder guards, breast plate, and his shin and arm guards all seem to have been forged at least one size too large. They flop around over the areas that they are meant to protect. Hanging from the Jun's belt are a battle ax on his left hip and a heavy mace with a spiked head on his right. Both are forged of black iron, the head of the mace designed to resemble a black spiked skull.
This giant warrior is The Berserker. Once in a generation, the gods of the Juns bless one man-child with inhuman strength and endurance in battle. This child grows up learning how to throw himself into a mighty rage before charging into battle. While berserk, the Jun warrior will know neither fear nor pain. All but the mightiest of blows will not even slow him down once his rage has been summoned. And this warrior is formidable even by those lofty standards.
The Berserker approaches Karak. The Jun leader hands the gigantic warrior a goblet crafted from a human skull. The Berserker takes the offered cup and drinks down its contents. He then begins to stomp his feet in time to the beat of the war drums. The Berserker then begins to dance. Slowly at first, but he then builds up speed. As the speed of his dance increases, the tempo of the war drums increases to match. Faster and faster they go, until it is impossible to tell if the dance is controlling the beat of the drums, or if the beat of the drums is controlling the dance. What happens next would amaze and horrify any outsider who should look upon this sight. The Berserker's body begins to grow. He becomes even taller than he was before. His shoulders, arms, and legs all begin to swell. Soon the armor that had fit him so loosely just moments ago becomes dangerously close to being too tight. The Berserker takes his ax and his mace from his belt, holds the weapons out wide, throws his head back and unleashes a mighty roar. Karak points down the road to Akir.
"To the village!" commands the Jun Chieftain, "Destroy the Akira! Kill them all!" The Berserker roars again and charges down the road towards the village. Karak mounts his horse and pulls his great-ax from his back and points the weapon towards their target. "Take no prisoners!" he cries, "Charge!" This time, instead of hanging back and letting his warriors do all of the dirty work, Karak leads the charge towards the village. Scores of Juns follow their leader on horseback, while even more follow on foot.
Down in the village, the carts being used to barricade the entrance to the village have been wheeled into position and set on fire. The Akira all stand their posts, nervously watching the road leading to the village. They glance at their mercenaries as the sound of war drums reaches them. Conan and the others don't show any sign of concern over the sound of the drums. If anything, they look more determined than ever to end the Jun threat. To Shad and a few of the others, this is actually very comforting and helps them to set aside their own fears. Then they see it. A monstrously huge Jun running towards the burning carts full tilt, the remaining Jun Horde hot on his heels. Everyone is amazed at the sight, not only of the Jun's incredible size but also of the fact that not only is this Jun warrior huge and on foot, he is also out pacing the Juns mounted on horseback.
Dar is the first to snap out of the shock of the sight before them. Having been raised in the village of Emur, The Beastmaster had heard the legends of the Juns and their Berserkers. While no Emurite had had the misfortune of encountering a Berserker for generations, their legends allow Dar to recognize this massive warrior for what it is.
"DEATHSTALKER!" shouts The Beastmaster, "STOP HIM! SHOOT HIM DOWN! DON'T LET HIM BREACH THE GATE!"
Recognizing the panic in Dar's voice, Deathstalker takes aim with his Dragon Bow. The blonde warrior let's fly one of his heavy arrows. The shaft clatters harmlessly off of the warrior's horned helm. Deathstalker immediately nocks another arrow and draws it back, taking careful aim at the charging Berserker. He lets fly. This time the arrow buries itself deep into the warrior's shoulder armor, but the giant of a man doesn't even flinch. He quickly tries again. This arrow lodges itself deep into the Berserker's abdomen. Such a wound would have put a typical warrior out of the fight for days. This massive Jun didn't even slow down. Realization sets in on Deathstalker as he begins to understand the reason behind The Beastmaster's sense of panic.
"FIRE!" the gladiator shouts at the handful of Akira archers who were left to help him guard the gates, "You heard The Beastmaster! Shoot him down! Don't let him reach the gates!"
The Akira let fly with their own arrows, adding their projectiles to Deathstalker's. Some of the arrows hit their mark and bury deep into The Berserker's flesh. Others bounce harmlessly off of his heavy black armor. It hardly matters, for he reacts as though they had done no more than throw pebbles at him. The Berserker is only a few strides away when Deathstalker fires an arrow at practically point blank range. The arrow pierces the giant's heavy breast plate, the steel arrow head most certainly imbedding itself into his chest. Again The Berserker ignores what should be a mortal wound.
"SCATTER!" shouts Deathstalker a second before The Berseker crashes into the flaming carts.
The gladiator and the few Akira with him dive out of the way as the giant warrior runs head first into the fiery barricade. The heavy wooden carts are smashed to pieces as though struck by a battering ram designed for a castle siege. Burning bits of cart fly out in all directions as though a wizard had targeted it with a spell of explosive lightning. Deathstalker tumbles into a crouching position and looks up to see the massive Berserker standing in the middle of the road, pieces of the burning barricade scattered around his feet, and the Jun Horde pouring in through the breach like water through the crumbling hole of a broken dam.
Deathstalker draws his sword as he rises to his feet. Two Juns ride past the Berserker, one on either side of him, and ride straight toward the gladiator. Deathstalker cuts one Jun down off of his horse as he rides by, and a split second later ducks an attack by the other Jun by dropping to a knee and cutting his horse's forelegs out from under him. The Jun's horse collapses, toppling forward and throwing it's rider, breaking the Jun's neck. Deathstalker gets back to his feet and begins striding towards The Berserker.
One of the farmers charges The Berserker with a spear. The tip of the weapon digs deep into the warrior's hip. The giant Jun doesn't even seem to notice. He simply smashes the Akira's skull with his spiked mace, hardly even glancing in the farmer's direction as he does so. He cuts the shaft of the spear away with a single swipe of his battle ax. Another Akira farmer attacks the Berserker with an ax. The woodsman's tool cuts deep into the Berserker's thigh. With hardly a thought towards the action, the Berserker lops the farmer's head off with a single stroke of his battle ax.
A Jun warrior runs at Deathstalker, gripping a great sword in both hands, poised to strike. Deathstalker ducks under the swing and slashes open the Jun's belly as he runs past. Another Jun charges Deathstalker with a spear leveled at the gladiator's chest. The blonde warrior sidesteps the clumsy attack, cutting the spear shaft in two as he passes and decapitating the Jun with his sword.
The two champions then clash with each other. Deathstalker shows absolutely no fear as he engages the much larger foe. He comes in with his sword flashing in a remarkable series of strikes, attacking the Jun with cuts, stabs, and slashes from every conceivable angle and side, both high and low. The Berserker moves with remarkable quickness for one so large, putting his large spiked mace and ax in line to parry each of the mercenary's attacks. Sparks fly as the weapons clash, the metal ringing in the air like bells.
Deathstalker manages to slip his blade through The Berserker's defenses and slashed the larger warrior's thigh, scraping across the black iron plates. The Berserker retaliates with his spiked mace, bringing it down at Deathstalker's head. The blonde warrior brings his sword up and parries the attack. Deathstalker's knees nearly buckle under the force of the impact. The Berserker swings his ax at Deathstalker's neck in an attempt to decapitate him. The former gladiator drops to a knee, causing the larger warrior's attack to miss, and slashes The Berserker across the belly. The blade of Deathstalker's sword slips in under The Berserker's breast plate and opens a wide gash across The Berserker's belly, but the giant doesn't even feel the wound.
The Berserker swings at Deathstalker with his ax, and the mercenary parries the attack with his sword. The blade of the ax is redirected and just misses Deathstalker's head by a fraction of an inch. A split second later, The Berserker brings his spiked mace down towards the mercenary's skull. Deathstalker moves to the side, but not quickly enough as the weapon's spiked head crushes into the man's brass shoulder plate. The armor buckles under the blow, severely injuring the flesh below. Deathstalker cries out as the heavy weapon splinters the bones in his shoulder and falls to his knees. The Berserker kicks Deathstalker in the ribs and sends him flying through the air, and tumbling through the dirt. The Berserker stalks towards the blonde warrior.
Deathstalker rises to his feet, clutching his sword in his good hand as his injured arm hangs by his side. The Berserker charges at Deathstalker, swinging at his head with his ax. Deathstalker ducks under the certain death blow and slashes the larger warrior across the chest. Once more the blade scrapes harmlessly across the iron breast plate. The Berserker spins around, far quicker than one would expect for a warrior of his size, and catches Deathstalker in the chest with his spiked mace. The weapon makes a sickening thud as it drives into the blonde warrior's rib cage. Deathstalker is lifted off of his feet and sent flying through the air to tumble in the dirt. This time he does not rise.
At the same moment that this is going on, Madmartigan is perched atop one of the villagers' huts. As the Juns ride past on their horses, the Lord of Tir Asleen fires crossbows at the horsemen. He fires one crossbow, killing the Jun warrior as the bolt pierces the barbarian's chest. The nobleman drops the spent weapon and picks up another crossbow, already cocked and loaded. He fires again, catching another Jun through the neck. Then in an act of either extreme courage or extreme recklessness, perhaps even both, Madmartigan leaps from the roof and tackles a Jun warrior from his horse. As the two men tumble to the ground, Madmartigan draws a dagger from his boot and slashes the barbarian's throat. Another Jun rides towards the noble warrior, swinging a heavy flail around above his head. Madmartigan throws his dagger at the Jun, piercing the barbarian's heart and sending him tumbling dead from his mount.
Madmartigan draws his sword as he rises to his feet. More Juns ride towards the knight, weapons at the ready. A charging Jun tries to skewer the Lord of Tir Asleen with a spear as he rides by. Madmartigan cuts the shaft in two before the tip can connect with his breast plate, and a split second later slashes the horseman as he rides by. Another Jun tries to get Madmartigan with his ax, but the knight ducks under the clumsy attack and thrusts the tip of his blade into the Jun's belly. Another Jun attacks Madmartigan with a sword, but the swordsman parries the attack with his own blade, and then lops off the barbarian's sword hand. The Jun falls from his horse, clutching the bloody stump of his wrist in an attempt to staunch the flow of his life's blood. Madmartigan steps over the fallen barbarian and drives the point of his sword through the savage's heart, ending his agony.
As the remaining horsemen pass the swordmaster by, on come the foot soldiers. Many of them are either aged veterans that are past their prime, or they are untested youths with more blood lust than skill or combat experience. A young warrior charges at the knight with a spear leveled at the swordsman's chest. Madmartigan sidesteps the clumsy attack and slashes the Jun across the belly, disemboweling him. Another Jun, this one a silver haired veteran, attacks the Lord of Tir Asleen with a great ax, wielding the heavy weapon in both hands. Madmartigan parries the attack with his sword and then removes the Jun's head from his shoulders with a single stroke of his blade. Another veteran Jun comes at Madmartigan, this one armed with an ax and shield. The adopted father of Elora Danan ducks under the wild swing of the Jun's battle ax, slashing the aged barbarian across the belly, and then pivoting and stepping around behind the older warrior, slashing him across the back and severing his spine.
Another young and inexperienced Jun, this one armed with a scalloped edged drusus and a small shield, charges at Madmartigan. He thrusts the blade at the more skilled warrior's chest in an attempt to pierce his heart. Madmartigan parries the attack, and with a deft twist and flick of the wrist, he manages to disarm the young barbarian and send his short sword tumbling end over end high up in the air. The young Jun's lack of experience shows as he stops to look up and watch his weapon's progress as it begins to fall back toward the Earth. It's a mistake that the young barbarian soon regrets, the moment he feels the sting of Madmartigan's blade slash his throat. The Jun stands there stunned, looking at his opponent with a shocked expression on his face, his hands clasping desperately at his throat in a vain attempt to stop his life's blood from pouring out. He watches as Madmartigan casually reaches up with his off hand and catches the dirty short drusus by the hilt. He then whirls it about in a fancy flourish, right before plunging the scalloped blade into the boy's heart. The light of life fades from the boy's eyes as his heart is no longer capable of pumping blood through his body. Madmartigan pulls the sword blade from the Jun's chest and kicks him down into the dirt.
Now armed with a bastard sword in his right hand and a drusus in his left, Madmartigan starts cutting a swath through the Jun Horde. One barbarian attacks him with a sword, and Madmartigan parries it with his bastard sword and counters with a thrust through the heart with his drusus. Then in one fluid motion, he pulls the short scalloped blade from the Jun's chest and parries a sword attack coming from the other side with it. The second one can hear the clash of the two blades, he slashes the barbarian with his bastard sword, cutting him down. Another Jun charges Madmartigan with his spear leveled at the man's belly, intent on running him through. The knight parries the attack with his bastard sword, sidestepping the spear at the same time, and then pivoting and coming up behind the charging Jun in order to drive the tip of his drusus into the small of the barbarian's back. A Jun tries a downward, overhead slash with a greatsword, which Madmartigan blocks by crossing the blades of his two swords up high and catching the blade of the larger sword where his two blades meet. He then brings his foot up between the Jun's legs with a powerful kick, causing the barbarian to drop his weapon and collapse as he clutches his bruised genitals. The knight then crosses his swords at the barbarian's throat and draws them both outward, taking the savage's head with them.
Madmartigan looks up just in time to see Deathstalker fall to The Berserker. He quickly runs over to his fallen comrade. A Jun tries to attack him with a battle ax, but Madmartigan just ducks under the clumsy attack and hamstrings the barbarian with his drusus. The Lord of Tir Asleen kneels down next to the grievously wounded Deathstalker and can see that the blonde warrior is not to be a part of this world much longer. Deathstalker looks up at the knight, his eyes no longer able to focus. The once mighty gladiator takes Madmartigan by the wrist and places the hilt of his jewel encrusted bastard sword into the knight's hand. The once powerful warrior coughs up a lung full of blood.
"Win this war for me," he whispers. And then he is no more.
Madmartigan can't help but feel pained as he hears that request. The last time someone had said that to him, it was his friend Airk at The Battle of Nockmaar. He had just been mortally wounded in his fight against the fearsome General Kael, then he handed his sword to Madmartigan and said those same final words. Madmartigan tosses aside the scalloped edged drusus that he had acquired from the young Jun warrior and transfers his own sword from his right hand to his left, taking Deathstalker's sword up in his right hand. He then stands up and starts walking towards The Berserker with purpose, each stride coming quicker and quicker until he is sprinting towards the giant warrior.
The Berserker had just finished cleaving an Akira farmer in two with his ax when he hears Madmartigan's primal scream of challenge. The giant warrior turns toward the charging knight, ready to dispatch the enraged warrior. Madmartigan comes on in a flurry of motion, twin bastard swords whirling about with lightning speed. The Berserker's weapons move with equally blinding speed, each one intercepting an incoming blade before it can connect. The Berserker then goes on the offense, trying to crush the much smaller man with his mace, or cleave him in two with his ax. But as quick as this giant of a man is, Madmartigan is just a touch quicker. Every attack misses by just a fraction of an inch. The knight can feel the air rush past him as ax and mace narrowly miss destroying his body. Finally Madmartigan manages to get through The Berserker's defenses. He slips the blade of his old sword past The Berserker's breast plate, driving the blade hilt deep into the giant barbarian's side.
The Berserker seems not to notice. He kicks Madmartigan in the chest, launching him through the air to tumble in the dirt, much as Deathstalker had earlier. Madmartigan can't believe how hard that he had been hit. He felt like he had been kicked by an angry mule, without the benefit of wearing the finest steel armor Tir Asleen has to offer. He looks up at The Berserker, who is coming at him with his ax raised high above his head, ready to strike. The Lord of Tir Asleen rolls out of the way at the last possible instant as the ax is coming down to finish him off. The huge iron ax head is almost completely buried in the earth. Madmartigan regains his feet and, almost instinctively, brings Deathstalker's sword down in an overhead, two handed, downward slash. To his surprise, the sword cuts cleanly through the ax handle, with virtually no resistance at all. The Berserker looks at the ruined handle and then tosses it aside. Gripping his mace in two hands, he now begins to swing wildly at the smaller knight.
Madmartigan ducks and dodges as best he can, but The Berserker seems tireless. He brings Deathstalker's sword up to parry a blow from the mace and his arms nearly go numb from the impact, and his knees almost buckle. The Berserker attacks again, but this time Madmartigan ducks under the wild swing and slashes the giant warrior across the belly. The sword cuts through the iron armor as though it were made of paper and opens a great wound across The Berserker's belly. The giant appears not to notice.
Madmartigan sidesteps an attempt to crush him with the mace and slashes through The Berserker's hamstring. The giant appears not to notice. Now Madmartigan aims for the giant's heart. He misjudges his opponent's reach and is struck in the chest by the heavy spiked mace. Once again he goes flying through the air to come crashing down and tumble in the dirt. Deathstalker's sword goes flying from the knight's grasp. For some reason which he cannot understand, his injuries hurt him far worse now than they did when he held the sword. Madmartigan quickly scrambles for a weapon as The Berserker approaches with his huge, heavy spiked mace in hand. He pulls a dagger from his belt and throws it at the giant. The weapon flies true and sinks hilt deep into The Berserker's arm. The giant Jun seems not to notice. Madmartigan sees Deathstalker's sword, but he can't possibly reach it before the Berserker crushes him with that mace. He reaches into his pocket, desperately looking for anything that might save him. He pulls out the acorn that Willow had given him back at Aruk. With nothing left to throw at the giant, he throws the acorn. It hits The Berserker right in the center of his chest. In moments, the giant's strides begin to slow. His armor and his flesh begin to turn gray. As he stands over Madmartigan, that enormous mace raised over his head in order to squash his Madmartigan like a grape, he becomes a giant stone statue.
Madmartigan crawls over to Deathstalker's sword and retrieves it. The moment he takes it in hand, he feels better. Like his wounds are on the mend. Unknown to the Lord of Tir Asleen, Deathstalker's sword was one of three powerful talismans. Whoever wielded the sword was unbeatable. The weapon could cut through any armor, and would protect its wielder from harm. When Deathstalker used the sword to destroy the other two talismans, however, it's power became greatly diminished. What neither of them knew, was that when Deathstalker gave the sword to Madmartigan with his dying breath, his life force had passed into the weapon, in essence recharging it. It is now as mighty as it ever has been. Madmartigan looks over at the stone statue of the Juns mightiest weapon.
"I owe you one, peck," he says. Then he runs off to rejoin the battle.