Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 64

The Wolf Brethren and Maelgwyn reached an
agreement, and the slim man draped still in his wolf’s
pelt ambled to the centre to meet Elise and his larger
opponent.

movement drew the eye of Donnal, who glanced over
then did a double take. Her eye met his, and she saw
that he’d seen her. She leapt to her feet and ran. Behind her there was a lot of shouting.
***

***

Andarta had heard the large group move off
and assumed that if Phelan was with them he’d be safe
for now. She was more interested in what the scouts
were doing. There were other groups in the woods
still.

As she approached the bard’s sanctuary, she
realised that not everyone had left. A group of men in
plaid lounged around the entrance, gathered around
a man with a white cloak. She snuck closer until she
could hear what they were saying.

“You’re bound to win Donnal.” A Big man
with a top knot said.

“Yes, yes,” a young man said tonelessly. It
seemed like the conversation had been going on for
some time. “We’d better get on with our other business though. Where are they?”

Andarta wondered if they were waiting for the
scouts she’d dispatched earlier.

“It looks like we don’t need to do anything
anyway?” Another of the warriors asked.
“Our mission was to bring chaos to the Holding. So that’s what we’ll do.” Donnal stated.
“Yeah. But it’s already in chaos, isn’t it.” The
same man responded.
Donnal nodded distractedly and stared up the
path. “Where are they?”
Andarta had heard enough; this was information Phelan needed. As she shuffled backwards
she scared a rabbit which leapt out of the bushes. Its

Slone ran through a few loosening exercises,
his eyes on his opponent, evaluating. The Wolf Brethren stood ready, no sign of fear on his face, his stance
loose and relaxed. Slone said a silent prayer to the One
and checked his weapons, waiting for the command.

Elise’s voice was loud and commanding, surprisingly so for one so short, he’d always thought. The
Wolf Brethren seemed content to let him make the first
move. Slone shrugged, hefted his spear and attacked.
The lithe Northman weaved as the spear
stabbed out and his sword flashed once. Slone retreated, half a spear in his hands. The Wolf Brethren stood
in the same relaxed pose as before. Slone frowned, the
man’s feet hadn’t even moved. Slone tossed the remains of the spear away and drew his hand and a half
sword. He had faced many enemies over the years, but
few were faster than him, and none were stronger. He
was still confident.
His massive overhead attack would have split
the man in half, if he hadn’t spun out of the way. Slone
turned, faster than a man his size would seem to be
able to, and his sword flicked out again and was met
with steel. A resounding tone of metal on metal rang
out. Slone grinned, knowing that his stinging blow
would have shocked the smaller man. As the man
riposted, he stepp Y