Son of Thunder - Murray J. D. Leeder [16]
The Black Ravens despised outsiders more than any Uthgardt tribe. They had special hatred for any tribe that bore the taint of civilization, and that meant the Thunderbeasts. This was the Ravens' Runehunt-they had challenged themselves to achieve the utter ruin of another tribe. They never could have laid siege to Grunwald when the tribe was strong, no matter how many times the Thunderbeasts besieged their strongholds and destroyed their aeries. But times had changed, and the Ravens now believed that the Thunderbeasts were weak and ripe for destruction. Such was the natural order. Just as the weaker members of a wolf pack were removed by violence or winter, so too were tribes eliminated. The Black Ravens considered it a sacred duty to cull the weak.
In a flash Grunwald became a battlefield. The huge ravens dodged the arrows and hammers of the Thunderbeasts while swooping in to snap and slash at their faces. Massive beaks claimed a number of eyes as the beating of great wings disturbed the fog that hung over the dead settlement. War cries blended with the birds' incessant squawking and mixed with screams of pain as arrows arced down from the King's Lodge, embedding in warrior flesh.
Brandishing a mighty warhammer, Sungar charged forward up the stone stairs to the entrance of the King's Lodge, its thick stone door firmly shut. Other warriors surged forward to join him in banging and slashing at the door.
Keirkrad chanted a few syllables and raised his hands. A wind boiled up that tore through the fog and disturbed the air above. Though not strong enough to blow the ravens from their places, it was enough to surprise and slow them so that a well-placed spear and a hail of arrows brought two ravens plummeting from the sky. When they hit the ground, Thunderbeast warriors were ready to finish off bird and rider.
The raven riders were not so many that the Thunderbeasts could not defeat them, but the arrows raining from the King's Lodge were a serious threat. What had been the Thunderbeast's strongest defense was now potentially their destruction.
"Train your weapons to the Lodge!" Thluna shouted, hurling one of his hammers at the upper window. It sailed neatly through, though whether or not it met its mark on the other side, he could not tell.
Vell focused on one detail amid the confusion-a single blue eye staring out from an arrow slit in the fortress. He concentrated and threw his spear at it, but it missed, striking just to the left of its mark and bouncing off the wall. Below the eye, he saw thin lips twist into a smile, and an arrow flew from the window directly at Vell. He didn't have time to blink before it struck him between the eyes.
But Vell barely felt it. The arrow bounced off his skin as if it had struck iron. Vell gulped in confusion and whirled to face Keirkrad. The shaman's skin was covered with brownish, gnarly scales, for he had invoked a power the Thunderbeast bestowed on its priests. Keirkrad gasped and mouthed Vell's name through the noise. When Vell looked down at his hands, he realized that they too were covered with brown scales. His heart jumped at the shock, but he felt something else flowing from his core, overwhelming his fear. His senses began to cloud, and the confusion of war faded, replaced by the perfect clarity of rage.
Keirkrad made slow steps toward Vell, and with each step, the ground around him shook-an effect of his shamanic power. The walls of the King's Lodge vibrated and trembled, dust rising from the ancient dwarven blocks.
A giant raven swooped down and snapped the neck of a Thunderbeast warrior in its thick beak. Sungar's hammer blows began to crack the stone door of the Lodge. Another Thunderbeast cried out as an arrow sank into his skin.