Chapter 33 Cenric
Cenric
Cenric crouched on the bank of the river, keeping to the shadows of the trees. The ship had sailed up the narrow inlet and disappeared some minutes ago.
The water had been shallow enough for some of the horses to cross to the other side. Olfirth’s men tied ropes to the trees on the far bank, then crossed back. Under better circumstances, they would have blocked the inlet with stones and logs, but they had limited time.
They used rocks to weigh the ropes beneath the surface, stones that would be small enough to fall free as soon as the ropes were drawn taunt.
Cenric crouched in the shadows of the trees, hands wrapped around one of the lengths of rope.
One of Olfirth’s riders remained mounted, another coil of rope at the ready. His job would be to lash the prow of the ship and drag the craft to the side.
Cenric waited with his shield slung over his back, gripping the rope tight. He caught snatches of voices from upriver. Women’s voices.
Was one of them Brynn?
“This is going to be funny if it turns out to be some harmless fisherman,” Edric whispered at Cenric’s back.
Cenric shot a hard look to his thane.
Edric shrugged. “We were all thinking it, lord.”
Cenric looked back up the river, where he could see the water through the trees. In moments like these, a heartbeat seemed to last a lifetime, and a breath could last an age.
Either they were about to fight at least three sorceresses and their sorcerer bodyguard, or this was all for nothing and Brynn was lost.
Cenric shifted his stance, adjusting his grip on the rope one more time. Olfirth’s thanes gathered around him, all holding onto their own ropes, ready for the fight. Tension rippled through all of them, that kind of excitement tinged with dread.
Olfirth stood beside Cenric, axe resting against one shoulder. He held his shield loosely, waiting.
The trees made it impossible to form a shield wall with any cohesion. Forests were pernicious, cruel battlegrounds that hated everyone equally. Cenric could only hope that the pines would protect them from any attacks from the sorceresses.
Brynn had told him living things were easier to attack. Perhaps the trees would absorb some of the magic.
Cenric? Snapper’s confused question filtered through.
Wait. Cenric didn’t need the dog getting underfoot or caught in the middle of a battle.
“Ho,” one of Olfirth’s thanes called softly.
Up ahead, the ship glided back into view. There were several new figures on the deck, including the familiar form of Selene, his mother-in-law.
Then he saw Brynn.
She was dressed exactly as her corpse had been in his foretelling—in a tattered shift and bound with ropes. She stood between two men, her arms lashed in ropes from her wrists to her elbows. Something that had not been in his vision was locked around her neck—a locking band made of dark metal not unlike a thrall’s collar.
Fury burned in Cenric’s chest at the sight of her bonds, washing out the relief he might have felt at seeing her alive. How dare they. How dare they.
Cenric adjusted his grip on the rope one last time, looking to Olfirth. The old man lifted his hand.
If they raised the ropes too quickly, the people on the ship might be able to cut them before the cords hooked the front of the hull. If they were raised too late, the ship could sail past.
Cenric cracked his neck, a shiver of anticipation went through him.
The ship glided to the mouth of the inlet. Olfirth shifted, then his fist dropped.
As one, Cenric, Edric, and Olfirth’s thanes yanked the ropes taunt. They leaned hard to the left, bracing around the trunk of a large pine as the ship jerked into the lines.
The horseman sprang into action, looping his rope over the prow of the ship and veering his animal back into the trees. With a line connected to the vessel, the horse jerked it sideways, pulling the craft partway onto the shore.
Cenric spotted the shapes of men and sorceresses knocked against the deck of the ship. Several appeared to be recovering, drawing weapons and shouting in alarm.
But he’d lost sight of Brynn.
Armed men leapt from the ship, several rushing to try and cut the vessel free, but Olfirth’s thanes charged to meet them.
With the ship immobilized, Olfirth’s men swung their shields from their backs onto their arms and Cenric did the same. Battles cries split the air as the first of Olfirth’s thanes clashed with the sorceress’s men on the riverbank.
The spear wasn’t going to be much use in such close quarters, so Cenric drew his sword. He rushed toward the ship, Edric at his back.
Olfirth let off a war cry and leapt into the fray.
Cenric made it to the edge of the trees before the air itself seemed to crack. There was a sound that was not so much a sound as the absence of sound, like the silence before the crash of thunder.
A blast of power burst from the ship. Everything exploded into golden light, blinding and disorienting.
Cenric went weightless, hurling through the air. He smacked into the earth onto his back. Air was forced out of his lungs and everything in his vision turned white. His ears rang with a high-pitched shriek.
For a moment, he blinked and gasped at the sky, blind, deaf, and unable to breathe. It felt like forever, but air slowly filled his lungs again and he made out the shapes of trees overhead.
Cenric! Snapper’s panicked cry flooded Cenric’s thoughts. Cenric hurt? Cenric! Snapper hovered over him, licking his face and pawing at him frantically.
Edric’s voice filtered through the ringing. “Cenric? Cenric! Are you alive?”
“Alive,” Cenric grunted, ruffling Snapper’s ears to reassure the dog.
Edric lay a few steps away. Around them lay the shapes of Olfirth’s thanes. The men stirred, groaning as they struggled to rise.
Rolling onto his side, Cenric clawed his way to all fours.
The blast of power had pushed back the nearest trees, bending great trunks like reeds for a basket. Several of those nearest the bank had been flattened entirely, pushed out by the force of that spell.
The surge had gone in all directions, forcing up water, silt, river plants, and rocks. The ship was gone, or more accurately, it lay in pieces. Boards scattered among the mud and broken trees like the feathers of an unfortunate wooden bird.
“Brynn.” Fear rose in Cenric’s chest. She had been on the deck of the ship. Where was she now? Stay away from the strangers, he ordered Snapper.
Strangers? Snapper cocked his head, tail stiff.
Stay back.
Bodies littered the beach, thrown in every direction. Most of them appeared to be moving, but that had been a massive amount of power. Even if Cenric’s experience with sorceresses was limited, he knew that hadn’t been normal.
Those who had been closest to the blast had been thrown back into the trees. The surge of power had forced the water up and away, but the river continued to flow, washing pieces of the broken ship and flotsam of the blast out to sea.
Cenric found his sword and snatched it up. He came across a shield and though it wasn’t his, he picked that up, too, slinging it over his left arm. His shoulder ached and his whole body felt tender after being stuck by the blast, but he ignored that for now.
Armed, he didn’t wait for the others to join him. The warriors for the sorceresses that had been closest to the blast were helpless right now.
Cenric came to the first man lying on the riverbank, groaning and scrabbling at the ground for his dropped weapon. He sliced down sharply through the man’s neck, severing the spine in a clean blow.
Not far away, a young woman lay on the beach. It was one of the twin sorceresses who had served Selene. She whimpered as she rose, bedraggled, black dress covered in mud. Blood flowed from a cut on her temple as she tried to claw away from him.
“Where is Brynn?” Cenric demanded, stalking after the girl.
She looked to still be in her teens, her dress wet and sticking to her like a shroud. She shook her head and raised her hand in his direction.
Cenric realized what she was doing the next instant and raised his shield on instinct.
A blast of fire rippled across the wood, then winked out.
Cenric batted it aside and lunged. He stabbed straight into the girl’s chest, just below her collarbone.
She screamed, her whole body seizing. She looked down in shock at the blade, her wide eyes making her look even younger.
Cenric yanked his sword free and slashed sideways, the force of the blade shearing through her cheekbone and into her brain. Her body hit the mud in a gory mess, and he stepped over it toward the wreckage.
Where was Brynn?
More of Olfirth’s thanes staggered through the trees to the riverbank, rushing on the men who had served the sorceresses. Some of the men recovered, drawing weapons. Others were slaughtered in the mud where they lay.
“Anselma!” screamed a female voice.
Cenric spun around to see the other twin sorceress clawing to her sister’s side.
“You killed my sister!” the girl screamed.
Cenric raised his shield to face the girl. He had seen what Brynn could do and wasn’t sure a shield would be enough, but there was no way out of this fight.
The girl’s nostrils flared and her eyes were wide in horror and rage that Cenric knew well. She raised her hands, and he could only guess she had drawn power and loosed it.
The lashes of magic clawed across Cenric’s shield, scoring like whips but not piercing.
Cenric didn’t hesitate. He charged and swung in with his sword.
The young sorceress lashed out again, but her spell glanced off Cenric’s helmet, failing to find purchase on the metal. It was a single mistake, but it cost her life.
Cenric’s sword caught her in the ribs, ramming up from her side to pierce her heart. There was a moment’s shocked horror where she stared with wide eyes at the man who had killed her.
He ripped his blade free and let her fall to the ground. Hopefully, Brynn would forgive him for this.