Lord Soth by Edo van Belkom Page B

knights were out of sight, heading toward the village.
    “Caradoc!”
    “Milord.”
    “You will continued skirting the mountains and come at the village from the south. I don’t expect you’ll come up against much resistance, but you might run into several ogres on the run.”
    Caradoc grinned at the thought. “Yes, milord.”
    “Take Knight Kern with you,” said Soth. “Be careful through the mountains, but move quickly.”
    Caradoc nodded.
    Kern followed, nodding to Soth as he passed.
    That left Soth and six other knights, including Sword knights Darin Valcic and Zander Vingus, for what would basically be a full-frontal attack.
    Soth took a deep breath. After all these years as a knight and the countless battles and adventures he’d been a part of, he still felt the same excitement beginning to build within him. It was a nervous sort of tension, an almost euphoric sensation that would continue to build until it all but disappeared upon the onset of battle. Then, his knightly instincts and years of training would take control and he would fight like a man possessed, not stopping until the last of his foes had been vanquished.
    But that would all come later. For now, he savored the sweet feeling of anticipation, struggling with himself to keep it in check lest it overtake him too early. He still had a responsibility to his men to lead them safely into battle, for if one of them should die during the fight, a little pieceof him would die along with that knight.
    He drew his sword, held it at the ready and gave his mount a gentle squeeze with his legs. The horse began moving forward.
    The rest of the knights followed.
    Soon after they set out, the path curved to the right as it followed the bend of the river feeding into the pond. There was a small farmhouse on the right of the road. Soth sent two knights to inspect it, but it proved to be empty of either villagers or ogres.
    They continued on, Soth in front and three knights to either side of him in a loose V shape. As the path straightened out, they were able to see Center Square. Apparently, Paladine was smiling favorably on their expedition because they’d arrived just as the ogres were packing up their booty and preparing for the trip back to Throtyl. As the knights watched, several of them were casually inspecting their loads unaware of their impending demise.
    Soth gauged the distance between his men and the ogres. He was close enough that any thoughts in the ogres’ minds about running for cover would be out of the question. The knights would easily be upon them before they reached safety.
    No, Soth’s attack plan had left them only one option, stand and fight.
    Soth raised his sword high above him and kicked at his mount. The horse surged forward and in seconds the air was full of the sounds of charging hoofs.
    The first ogre to see Soth stared at the knight for a moment as if he were looking at death itself. He moved left, then right, then finally picked up his nearby club and took up an improvised battle stance, ready to fight.
    Soth continued to charge, leaning right and swinging his sword, the length of which outdistanced the ogre’s club by half. The leading edge of the blade cut through the ogre’s midsection, spattering Soth and his horse with blood. The ogre stood upright a moment, then doubledover before dropping heavily to the ground.
    Quickly, the rest of the ogres became aware of the oncoming knights. Some decided to flee, heading north or south in search of cover. The last knights on either side broke off from the main assault to take care of these, cutting them down as they ran. After that, the knights swung around to rejoin the main group, leaving any further runners for the knights positioned to the north and south of the village.
    Soth’s charge had brought him through Center Square. He stopped his horse and dismounted, preferring to fight the rest of the battle on foot. The other knights had also dismounted and were now involved in