Chapter 36 - Battle of the Thicket
Tilbury. SE Britain
‘Storyteller, can you hunt? Come join us men on a little wander to find a piggy. Let’s add some fat to our dire meal’.
My brave man casts me an eye of confidence. I’ve shared with him my last spirit vision and he knows the danger. Nonetheless he marches boldly out into the wildwoods with his three would-be murderers to leave me defending Qan from Lanella. Openly I pray to the spirits of the pig, but silently I beseech the safe return of Su’lan. Outnumbered by three rogues, his chances appear too slim.
Entering a wilderness, Su’lan weighs up each of his adversaries. He slides along a narrow pig trail behind Eino the Giant, and Saabiaske the scarred Exile. The Goliath bears both a hunting spear and a war club,
A strange weapon to bring along on an innocent pig hunt thinks Su’lan to himself.
He peeks over his shoulder for the position of Farkas the Fox. Earlier the Fox had strided ahead, but the devious orphan had somehow sneaked back to his rear, and now trails from behind. Farkas stares back at Su’lan as though he is prey.
Su’lan brought three javelins with him. On seeing his choice of weapon, Eino had teased,
‘Storyteller, is your throw so poor that you need so many spears?’. Eino has misjudged my man. Su’lan intends these projectiles to be a gift for each of his companions.
Su’lan isn't a stupid fighter. He excelled at savage sports as a youth, and has engaged in scuffles during his travels. He knows he must first defeat the threat to his rear before facing Saabiaske and his big henchman. Su’lan slows down his pace to allow these two to move uphill into dense undergrowth. The Storyteller has chosen to fight the Fox here on easier terrain. Once confident Farkas cannot see him, he slides into thick scrub to lay his ambush.
Farkas stokes at his tidy grey-flecked beard. He sees Su’lan’s sudden disappearance, and thinks about how to react. The plan is for them to kill the Storyteller further uphill where the wood thins out. He thinks to himself,
If I were the storyteller, I would prefer to fight here, and I would first ambush the man following from behind. The Fox drops his hand away from his beard, then shuffles to deviate away from the pig trail.
The Storyteller can see Farkas’s action as he flanks into a thicket. Su’lan’s heart beats fast. He knows he must act swiftly before Farkas’s two friends notice their absences.
Farkas moves on his famous light feet to dart behind cover of trees and scrub. He peeks around searching for signs of ambush. He sees none, and doubts taunt,
Eino tells me that I am always too cautious. Perhaps they've reached the clearing, and are now spilling the Storyteller’s blood while I fool around back here.
He chuckles at his own hypervigilance, and abandons his stealth. The Fox pushes aloft a low tree branch, intending to return to the pig trail. From branches above a great raptor takes to the wing, releasing a screech of alarm. Farkas crooks his neck to gawk up to the barred goshawk. Distracted, he doesn’t see Su’lan’s wooden spear, launched at him. He is knocked back off his feet, landing against a tree. A long javelin of sharpened oak pierces his chest. He releases a terrible shriek as quickly he vanishes from life.
The Fox dealt with, Su’lan’s attention is caught when he hears Eino calling out for Farkas from further up the hill. They would have heard Farkas’s wail and now return. Su’lan prepares to hide behind bushes near Farkas's corpse.
Saabiaske and Eino had turned back to come to their brother’s aid. Before Saabiaske could hush him, the big fool opened his mouth and called out. Saabiaske scans the woods downhill. He sees no sign of either Farkas, nor of their two legged quarry. Maintaining silence, the two orphans move slowly back either side of the trail. Signing to each other, they reach disturbed shimmers, where Su’lan shuffled into undergrowth to lay his ambush. They both crouch low, and follow tracks. Saabiaske whispers to Eino, ‘Stay here until I reach more cover’. He rises back up to his feet to cross an opening in the forest. Bright sunlight temporarily blinds him and he lifts a hand, shielding eyes. Too late, the flash of a javelin,
Thud!
It stabs deep into a shoulder, spinning Saabiaske around to fall into tall grasses. This grievous assault was witnessed by Eino who drops down his own spear, brandishing his war club. He breaks his cover and charges forward with a ferocious battle cry,
‘Aargh! I shall eat your heart while you watch you trembling coward!’ The ogre leaps across the tall grasses to reach Su’lan crouching under the bough of the goshawk tree. Eino snarls as furiously he swings his club. Su’lan has one more javelin remaining. He grasps it tightly in his mitts. His javelin stands up poorly against Eino’s club. One swing of the mace smashes Su’lan’s casting spear into two pieces. Pain shoots down Su’lan’s arms but he holds onto the shattered section.
Eino stoked into a rage by the fall of his best friend, sees the corpse of his other friend laying up against a tree, his face smashed in by a rock. Eino’s eyes light up with vengeance for his brothers murdered by a cowardly sniper. He swings his club with more violence. In self defence, Su’lan jabs his broken spear at his attacker. One lucky thrust and its splinters jam into a fist of the Giant. In agony he drops his club. With a roar he punches Su’lan in the jaw. Again into the chest. This strike propels Su’lan back off his feet to land into ferns. The angry orphan comes for him. Su’lan gets back up, and kicks high to contact his jaw. Eino spits out blood,
‘I'll rip off your balls and choke you to death with them. I'll slowly kill your woman and boy’.
Having issued that promise, Eino catches the Storyteller in his embrace. Ribs squeeze and crack as an old fracture pops. Su’lan wheezes in pain. Eino laughs, and throws his victim against a tree. Fighting to regain breath, Su’lan searches for opportunity. He spots one chance when he sees the corpse of the Fox. His first javelin still protrudes from Farkas’s chest. Eino growls and runs forward like an angered bear. Su’lan rolls over sharp ribs to avoid his ending, and reaches for the javelin. With a stretched out arm, he grabs hold of the wooden shaft. It makes a sucking noise as he pulls it free. Eino realises his adversary has a new weapon. He leaps back to kick it away. Too late.
Su’lan is fast. With speed he lunges upwards and sharpened wood plunges into Eino’s groin. Howling with shock, the giant staggers back. Su’lan returns to his feet and jerks the spear back out of Eino’s wound. Blood sprays out. Eino’s face ashens, his eyes bulging with fear. Yet the big man finds the resilience to burst back into the fight. His huge fists swing around. Su’lan easily ducks to avoid their impact. He stabs with his bloodied pike. With further injury, Eino weakens and collapses onto his knees. Su’lan jabs his spear deeper into Eino’s big belly, pulling it back out to facilitate more blood flow. A horrible groan erupts from his mouth.
Su’lan drops down his javelin, and pulls a flint knife from his pouch, ‘I'll not permit you to die with honour’.
Eino is slain slowly. Only when Su’lan finally allows Eino’s spirit to be released, does he go searching for Saabiaske. He saw the javelin strike him but needs to check if he still lives. He doesn’t find a corpse. Blood and tracks lead him to a tree bough. There, Su’lan finds a snapped off section of his javelin,
‘Damn, he breathes and walks’.
While Eino had fought, his treacherous brother had sneaked off. Shimmers lead back towards the temporary riverside camp,
‘Tashkilla!’ Su’lan rasps with a damaged diaphragm’.