Darkwalker on Moonshae - Douglas Niles [135]
And the blow whistled harmlessly through the air, for the Rider had used a simple feint to dodge the prince. As Tristan struggled to regain his balance, he saw his enemy’s black stallion crash into Osprey. The creature held his longsword in his heavy gauntlet, extended toward Aileen’s armored back.
The point of the sword split the silver armor, causing it to fall away. Then, it cut mercilessly through the soft body beneath it. The Bloodrider struck with such force that the tip of his sword burst through the front of the hapless knight’s body and breastplate.
And as the sister died, the creature that had killed her threw back his head and howled – a high, piercing cry that bounced from the black clouds and echoed across the bloody field. Blue flame flickered around the outline of the Rider’s body and the length of his sword. Tristan saw the skin of Aileen’s back shrivel and fall away, and then the flesh, until only white bone remained.
The howl of the Bloodrider grew to an awesome pitch, until finally, the gruesome horseman gave a casual flick of his sword, throwing the lifeless hulk to the ground.
Tristan’s nerves froze, and the knowledge came, in a flood of painful knowledge that his foolishness in taking the Rider’s feint had led to Aileen’s death. Unconsciously, he retched.
A wave of hatred rushed over him, and he forgot his despair in the single-minded desire to slay the murderous Rider. Avalon sprang forward, and the silver sword reached for its victim, but a group of Bloodriders charged in to block his path.
He stabbed one, watching in satisfaction as the creature’s mouth gasped silently for a moment before falling to earth. The others pressed him back, but his weapon clashed and clanged against a succession of enemy blades. He swung wildly, striking the head off another Rider, but the attacks still forced him back.
The Bloodrider who had killed Aileen sprang away like a flickering shadow, and the prince lost sight of him. He found other opponents, and fought them mechanically. He caught a glimpse of Gavin, with perhaps half his company remaining, fighting a desperate battle against the surrounding horde of northmen. The town militia fought bravely but was trapped against the town wall.
The clouds boiled and twisted overhead, and thunder rumbled across the battlefield like a funeral dirge. It did not seem possible for such a black and threatening sky to yield no rain, but the air remained dry.
Tristan joined Brigit, as the sister and her proud gelding struck down one after another of the raiders who charged, on foot, toward the knights. As Brigit’s flashing longsword lifted the head of one raider from the man’s shoulders, another of the northmen swung a monstrous battle-axe.
The gelding twisted from the blow, protecting its mistress, but the vicious axe sliced into the horse’s unprotected loins. The horse screamed its death cry as its entrails spilled onto the ground, then collapsed into the gory mess.
Brigit managed to unbuckle her belt as the horse fell. The sister knight sprang free, then crashed to the ground, stunned. A dozen raiders, bloody weapons upraised, sprang toward her.
And then the air exploded in sound and fire. The springing northmen were outlined in flame against darkness, and then they fell, black and dead. A hundred others were knocked senseless by the force of the blast.
Again the explosion ripped through the air, and this time Tristan discerned its source. White lightning erupted from the heaving clouds, horribly burning another group of northmen before him. The force of aroused nature crackled again, leaving a third circle of blackened corpses in its wake.
Instinctively, Tristan looked toward the castle, high above. Silhouetted against the dark sky atop the parapet of the high tower was an even darker shape. From the figure, a black robe whipped sideways from the force