Chapter 30 - Bloody dagger

"Endur, hide," the brown-bearded man said.

The kid did not have to be told twice as he ducked into an alleyway and hid behind a bunch of barrels.

Erik did not see the chief or his wife. And he didn't have time to look for them as a warrior charged towards them.

When he got closer, the brown-beared man took out a stone dagger and threw it at him.

The charging man attempted to dodge, but it still sliced him through his cheek. Bloodied, he screamed and swung his axe at Erik, who was closest to him.

He jumped backwards, evading the attack, and ordered his Draugr to strike.

Each of them moved forward, coming at the assailant from a different direction. He was startled to see Undead in the village but quickly adjusted. They only left shallow cuts on his body.

He was about to redouble his effort in attacking Erik when the axe of the brown-bearded man hit him in the back. The man screamed, and before he could do anything else, two arms grabbed his head and twisted, breaking his neck with an audible crack.

"Thanks," Erik said.

The man nodded and asked, "What's your name?"

"Erik. Yours?"

"Havrek."

They didn't have time to say anything else as more enemies came at them.

The older man turned out to be a furious fighter. And Erik and his minions ended up acting mostly as support.

They had just finished dealing with a pair of female warriors when they heard a shout.

"Help me! This way!" Endur shouted from the entrance of one of the houses.

"We told you to hide! What are you doing!" Erik shouted back as he rushed towards him.

His minions and Havrek followed.

"Thrane's sister is in this house. They are trying to take her."

The door was broken, and they all rushed inside. The house was small and modest. There was one large common room and two doors on the opposite wall. The place was a mess, and one of the doors was broken. The room beyond it was also in disarray.

And finally, there were three warriors in the large room. A short female with long black hair and two daggers. A tall male warrior wielding two axes stood beside another, one who wielded a spear and had long blond hair and a beard braided into a single thick braid.

They had just broken down the second door. Inside that room was a young woman, who Erik judged was around his age or maybe a few years older. He couldn't tell because she looked extremely slim, pale, and sickly. Her hair, however, bore a striking similarity to Thrane's. And he could see they shared some facial features.

The female warrior grabbed hold of the young woman by the hair and dragged her out.

"Let her go!" Endur shouted.

"Quiet! Stay here!" Erik shushed him.

The boy only received brief glances as their enemies were mainly focused on the Draugr. They seemed to anticipate the Undead attacking the living, but when that did not happen, the frowns creasing their faces grew.

Havrek took advantage of their confusion and launched towards the tall warrior. While Erik commanded his Undead to attack the blond one. They had to kill them first to get to the girl.

"If you want to save her, then stand down!" shouted the female warrior.

They didn't stop, however.

Chaos ensued in the small house. The furniture was further broken. Wooden pieces flew everywhere. And before long, blood-soaked the floor.

The tall warrior and Havrek were almost evenly matched. But the double axe-wielding man was younger and stronger, and before long, he started gaining an advantage. His weapons were extremely sharp—too sharp.

On the other side, Erik was actually fairing better. At times, the blond warrior wielded his spear incredibly fast, but in the confined space, he could not utilize it properly. Nonetheless, he still caught shattered the skull of one of the Undead.

But it wasn't long before Erik hacked off his left hand. His remaining two Draugr descended on the man, and he was killed.

Erik turned to check on the situation with Havrek. The man was beaten badly and on his knees.

His enemy was readying to kill the man but never managed to, as the older man had been pretending to be beaten. Luring his enemy to drop his guard.

In a quick motion, he took out a stone dagger from his belt and threw it.

The weapon pierces the tall man right through the throat.

Havrek had an extraordinarily good aim with the daggers. His Talent was most likely somehow tied to it.

Spitting blood, he fell to his knees and then face-first onto the floor.

He was dead.

Erik turned his gaze towards the female warrior, and just in time. She threw a dagger of her own toward him, aiming to pierce his heart. He attempted to evade and did, but not entirely. It sliced through a part of his shoulder.

Pain exploded through it.

Holding the wound and gritting his teeth, he commanded his Undead to attack her.

At this point, the female warrior realized that she could not use the young woman as a bargaining chip and threw her to the side.

She weaved between the Undead and went straight for Erik. Faint red mist surrounded her limbs as she moved. She was very fast.

In an attempt to push her back, Erik swung his hatchet in a wide arc.

The female warrior leaned back and evaded his weapon.

She was about to attack him again, but a dagger flew in her direction. Forcing her to evade and pushing her further back.

Her breathing became labored as the red mist faded.

Then one of the Undead was close enough to attack her. She evaded and gave it a hard kick in the chest, sending it slamming into the wall of the house.

She lunged forward again.

Desperate to stop her charge, Erik grabbed a broken wooden chair next to him and threw it at her.

She evaded it and got close to him.

Now panicking, he stumbled back, and her dagger arched towards his heart.

But an axe slammed into her torso. And she was thrown into a corner of the room.

Havrek had intercepted her just in time. He was tired himself and bleeding from multiple wounds, but still capable of fighting.

Erik did a quick scan of the space. The boy had made his way to the young woman's side and was supporting her. But they kept to the back of the room.

The fighting outside was still heated and in full swing.

The female warrior got up while gritting her teeth and holding her wound. It was a grievous one.

She cursed and looked at them with venom in her eyes.

With a single dagger left and against four opponents, her odds were not that great.

"You two, leave and find a safe place to hide," Havrek said.

They nodded and were just about to do that when Erik saw the young woman freeze mid-step from the corner of his eyes and then push Endur to the ground. An incredibly fast object flew through the open front door.

Before anyone could react.

A spear impaled the young woman through the chest. And nailed her to the wooden wall behind her.

Everyone froze in shock, and time held still.

The young woman's mouth moved silently as blood dripped from its corners. Maybe she wanted to say something but couldn't. Her final act was to give the boy a smile before the light faded from her eyes.

"NOOO!" Endur screamed, piercing the silence.

A tall female warrior, who appeared to be in her thirties, walked through the front door. She had flowing dark hair, wooden vambraces, and leg guards. And she already had an axe in her right hand and a wooden shield in her left. She was a little out of breath, covered in blood—it was hard to tell if it was hers or someone else's.

Erik thought it was most likely the latter.

"None of you are going anywhere." Her cold eyes scanned them, and she added, "If you are not going to submit. Then you are going to die."

Is there no end to them? Erik thought with a somber expression.

There was a moment of silence where the three of them observed each other. Her gaze quickly went over the Undead, who had gathered next to Erik. But she was faster to adapt to the situation and did not let her guard down.

"Hilda, when did you arrive here?"

Her gaze moved to the older man, but she did not answer. Only her eyes grew a little more serious.

Erik threw a quick glance towards the boy. He was frozen, looking at the lifeless face of the young woman.

His eyes moved towards the heavily wounded female warrior in the corner. Although crippled to an extent, she would still be able to fight. And she seemed to be preparing herself.

The two men were now in a disadvantaged position. Having to face a treat from two sides. They shared a look, and it seemed to come to an understanding.

In the next moment, all the fighters exploded into action.

Erik commanded his Undead to attack the new threat while the older man threw a dagger at her. She hid behind her shield and stepped forward to meet them.

They wanted to stall her until they took out the weaker of the two.

The short black-haired warrior had also realized what they would do and backed into a corner—she fought even harder.

The red mist surrounded her anew, and she exploded into a frenzy.

Both men received flesh wounds, but Havrek was not to be underestimated as they were clearly overwhelming her, despite Erik's lack of experience and proficiency with an axe.

There was a loud crack, and when Erik looked back, he saw the more damaged of the two Undead collapses on the ground with a shattered skull.

His lapse in concentration cost him dearly, however. And the female warrior stabbed him in the waist.

He screamed and cursed loudly.

Her bloodied grin was the last thing she showed on her face as Havrek's axe was embedded into her neck—nearly cleaving through half of it.

They could not celebrate their victory as the other female warrior, Hilda, slammed into Havrek's back with her shield.

She had bypassed Erik's final Undead and descended upon them.

She sent the old man right into the wall.

There was a loud crack as he collapsed onto the floor.

Erik did not know if he was alive.

He couldn't afford to give Hilda any breathing room as he launched himself at her exposed back. She dodged his hatched, but not entirely. It's still sliced into the right side of her back. But only a little bit.

His last remaining minion, which also bore an axe, came forward and tried to smash her head open, but she used her shield to cover herself.

Her attention drawn to Erik and his Undead, she missed the old man, who stabbed her in the foot with a shaking hand.

She screamed and pivoted, giving him a hard kick in the face—knocking him unconscious.

Erik came after her as she was slowed down by her wound. She did not manage to cover or dodge his attack, as his hatchet left a cut on her chest. But a shallow one, unfortunately.

He and his minion tried pressuring her as much as possible, but Hilda possessed an incredible instinct for battle. She dodged and weaved between the attacks and nearly dismantled the Undead in a few heartbeats. She also left a number of cuts on Erik as well.

He was going to lose at this rate. His mind grasping for anything, he attempted one last gamble. But he needed a few heartbeats to execute it.

Suddenly, Endur rushed towards Hilda, aiming to stab her with a dagger. But the kid was too inexperienced—he was shouting while attacking.

"DIE!"

She only turned her torso slightly and gave him a backhanded punch in the face. He was thrown backwards and landed unconscious near the feat of the dead young woman.

This gave Erik the time he needed.

In a few moments, their axes collided. And as the weapons clashed, the two fighters locked eyes. Erik was losing in terms of strength, but that was alright.

He brought his other hand up, and Hilda prepared to block it with her shield. However, her brow creased slightly in confusion.

Erik wasn't attempting to punch her. Instead, he placed his hand between their eyes and closed his.

Because in his hand—he held a black candle.

In a heartbeat, it flared brightly and blinded Hilda.

She stumbled back and into Erik's Undead. It drove its axe into the place between her neck and shoulder.

With a scream, she pivoted and slammed her shield into it, killing it and scattering the bones on the floor.

But still blinded, she did not see Erik. He, too, attacked her, aiming for her head. She must have anticipated him as he only grazed the side of it and chopped off her left ear instead. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the female warrior did not pause.

Still with closed eyes, she turned and kicked him hard in the chest, cracking some of his ribs. He crashed into the wall and slummed down.

The wound on his back flared, nearly making him pass out. He was beaten and bleeding. He would barely be able to stand at this point.

Erik was starting to suspect that he wouldn't survive this.

Hilda calmed down a notch, seeing that everyone was incapacitated. A hint of satisfaction crossed her face. Then she took a step forward, ready to dispose of them.

Suddenly, however, a dagger of blood stuck out of the female warrior's chest.

Hilda's eyes widened, and she looked down. Her heart was pierced.

"What took you so long?" Fee said as she poked her head from behind the female warrior.