Chapter 700: Win for us!
Following a series of sharp orders from Barsali, the demons surrounding Carwynn’s men lowered their weapons, pulling back to form opposing ranks lining the roadway, spaced just over a dozen paces apart. Some of them looked less than pleased with their orders, but the other two serpentine demon-knights banged their weapons together as if celebrating before slithering along the dirt road to speak with their companion.
"You will be given time to tend to your armor and weapons," the flat tailed demon said on behalf of Barsali. "Drink water, replace your shield, do what you can in order to fight your best. You will be given five minutes to prepare."
"Five minutes?" Carwyn asked, blinking in surprise. He’d expected to begin almost immediately.
"And not a minute longer!" the flat tailed demon said. "I’ve started counting, so go and make peace with your vile god while you’re at it!"
Carwyn moved slowly, still testing his body for the aches and pains from his fall. It was a minor miracle that he hadn’t broken any of his limbs and that, at the worst, a few ribs had cracked from the impact. The soft mud had helped, as had the padding of his gambeson under the coat of chain mail that he wore, but there had been a tremendous amount of luck to it as well.
Before approaching his men, the young knight stopped beside the fallen body of his horse. The stench of blood and death mingled with the thick, cloying odor of decay from the mud to assault his nose, and mud had mixed with blood to obscure the once shining grey and white coat of his treasured companion.
Cloud Stepper had been his mount for nearly three years now. The horse was a gift from his father, presented to him the day after he stood his vigil and swore his oaths as a knight.
In three years, he’d never ridden Cloud Stepper into a real battle, nothing like what had happened today, but the horse had been with him everywhere he went for years. They rode together in tournaments from Hanrahan Barony to Aleese Barony and even in Lothian City last year.
More importantly, Cloud Stepper had carried him and Olwyna out into the countryside for countless picnics and excursions when he courted her. Olwyna was such a delicate woman that he felt like the proud war horse hardly noticed her weight because he never once complained of the extra burden of carrying two riders. Or perhaps it was because Olwyna always brought an apple or carrot or some other treat any time Carwyn came calling.