The Princess's Secret [completed]

21: Flesh And Blood.

Hiram.

He led the team out of the tunnel, bursting out into daylight. Immediately he struck down two men with his sword, then his eyes landed on all the troops lining the high walls of the inner courtyard.

Seconds after his group had burst into the courtyard, another group appeared on the walls of the castle, attacking the archers. Caspian led the way, shoving men over the wall before they could fire.

Another group of their men appeared on the opposite side of the walls, following Caspian’s lead, while the fourth group of his men appeared in the quartyard with Hiram. He nodded to their leader, twisting aside to dodge a blade. Arrows whizzed by, pounding into the dirt all around, sending up clouds of dust.

Hiram blocked another swing, countering with two blows of his own that sent the man sprawling to the dirt. Before he could finish him off, another barbarian was attacking him. He delivered blow after blow, knocking men to the ground left and right…

*    *   *
Caspian.

Close quarters fighting was every man’s worst nightmare, what it lacked in actual sword fighting, it made up for with brutal speed.

Nobody could swing the sword around without hitting their own men, so most of the battle was fought with daggers, and fists.

The King grabbed a man from behind, raising the crossbow to stop him from shooting at the men below.

He got an elbow in the face for his efforts. He kneed the man in the back, shoving him to his knees and snapping his neck.

He looked up just in time to see a dagger coming at him from the side. He raised his arm, hitting his attacker’s arm to deflect the blow and returning it with a fist to the throat. He grabbed the arm while the man gagged and used the soldier’s own dagger to slit his throat.

A familiar yell caught his attention, he turned to see Isidro being shoved backwards against the short wall that bordered the edge. The wall was lower than a man’s waist, but the Royal Guard had bent his knees to hit it with his lower back, avoiding being thrown over.

The barbarian pinned him against it, clearly intending to break Isidro’s back on it. Caspian threw his dagger, striking the huge man in the side. The man flinched, but didn’t release the knight.

Isidro grabbed the dagger, yanking it from the giant’s side, and stabbed him again, this time in the stomach. The barbarian doubled over as Isidro swung the knife again, slitting his throat. Blood splattered the knight, but he appeared unharmed, jumping right back into the fight…

*    *   *
Herschel.

He recognized the man he was fighting. Had trained alongside him. Somehow, this felt exactly like training, only he had to watch out for other enemies. But the rules were the same; there were none.

He blocked and countered, over and over, ending each fight as quickly as he could. Where are Thaddias’s men? He hadn’t seen any of them so far. It felt like they had been fighting for an eternity, but it had likely only been several minutes.

At long last, he noticed Thaddias’s men arriving. But something seemed wrong, they were moving past the barbarians. Herschel’s eyes widened in horror as he saw one moving towards his master, sword raised.

“Darian!” He shouted, leaping over his fallen foe and rushing towards his master. The older warrior looked over at the shout, following his apprentice's gaze- Thaddias’s knight swung, aiming for his head!