Chapter 97 Axe and Sword
The Fort.
Tatiana looked at the north and west walls. Each warrior would have to fight against three or more attackers. Arkady was too far away to help them. If she defended the fort, they would die.
She heard a horn to the north. Javier was attacking. His horses were charging towards the center and rear of the main force in the north.
Tatiana: Prepare to attack! If you cannot run, fire arrows towards the flanks of each force. All men and women who can run, follow me! With axes, swords, and teeth! We will hunt Pavel the Wolverine!
North of the fort.
Javier and his knights hurled their last spears and closed in to fight with their hand weapons. If a weapon became lodged in the body of a warrior, they would release it and draw another.
Horses trampled warriors and broke bones, shields were slammed down to split skulls, and blades cut through bodies. Spears were used to knock the knights from their horses. Axes severed the legs of horses. The warriors acted like frenzied animals. The knights were soon surrounded.
The horse of Javier was young, but it had learned to fight very well during that day and night, less than a week ago. According to the tradition of Costa Lunas, the wife of Javier had named the horse. Tulip was a tall, strong horse. He was covered in leather and steel. Around his hooves he wore iron rings with blades pointing in various directions. On his head, he wore a steel helmet with large blades protruding to the right and left.
Six men have been knocked down by blows from the hooves or blades of Tulip. The sword of Javier had delivered twice as many blows. A brave warrior thrust his spear into the stomach of Tulip. The horse kicked him so hard that it broke his spine in many places.
But the horse and its rider fell. Javier jumped free and landed on his feet. With sword and mace, he fought against the warriors who surrounded him. Captain of Banners Javier wounded or killed twenty warriors that day.
Yegor turned twelve the day before the Unification Day. He had bought his mother an exquisite hairbrush as a token of gratitude for giving him life. Yegor had successfully hunted for food. He could fight well for his age. He had fought bravely for a family member. He had killed an enemy. The young man was a full-fledged man in the eyes of the northern warriors.
Yegor no longer had a father.
The fort.
Tatiana led her warriors over the western wall towards the center of the forces of Pavel, her second cousin. She had trained all the women in her force and many of the men. They charged the warriors coming from the east and opened a gap six men wide in their formation.
With her axe and sword, she cut through leather armor and muscle. She was covered in the blood of her enemies. She and a few warriors managed to reach the inner ranks where Pavel was located.
Pavel the Wolverine and Tatiana the Puma began fighting. The older warrior spun and slashed his sword and axe at her stomach and eyes. Tatiana used her weapons to block the axe and moved to dodge the sword. He inflicted a small cut on her shoulder.
He stopped his spin and stabbed her in the chest with his sword, then swung the axe above his head, aiming it at her face. The sword struck the chainmail gifted to her from Esteban. The wound was bloody and painful, but not deep.
She stepped to the left and struck the sword blade with her axe. The steel broke in half due to the force of the blow. His axe struck fiercely, but found only snow and dry grass.
Tatiana stepped toward him very quickly. She kicked him so hard in the knee that he fell. She slasheded Pavel in the elbow, severing the tendons that controlled his forearm. She positioned herself behind him and placed the axe against his throat. Tatiana screamed, and many men repeated her message, shouting it across the battlefield.
The warrior: Pavel is under my axe. Your War Prince has been defeated.
Some men heard these words. Many also heard the horns of Arkady and the thundering of the bison hooves as they dragged chariots with long steel blades across the snow and ice.
Well over a thousand fled north in groups ranging from a hundred to just a single man. Hundreds were wounded or were so close to their enemies that escape was impossible. They threw down their weapons, and knelt.
Tatiana used the handle of his own axe and some ropes to tie the arms of Pavel behind his back. She was able to control him with one hand holding the handle. He covered his mouth with a small piece of rope and a piece of leather. Hundreds of men were tied up in a similar way.
In the fortress, after the battle.
Every person of the tribes loyal to Chief Arkady had lost a family member or friend in one or two of the battles. They were no Sisters of Shadow in the north. Family and friends collected the wounded and the dead. Bodies were already being piled up to be cremated or buried after the first battle. The fortress had many mounds that served as graves for numerous bodies after the fighting. Before the harshest part of winter arrived, when the ground was too frozen to dig, they needed to create more mounds.
The Chief was sitting on a throne created from an enormous trunk of an ancient tree. His wife and three children were to his right. His war chiefs were to his left. In front of everyone were Tatiana and Pavel, who was kneeling beside her.
Arkady: My cousin Pavel believes we should live like our great-grandparents. But he loves the steel weapons of the kingdom. He wants to fight all the other tribes to capture slaves. But he has
also gathered many tribes to kill me and proclaim himself king.
Hundreds of voices emitted bear-like sounds. The sixty-year-old warrior listened for a moment, a look of happiness on his face. He raised his arm. Everyone could see the deep scars left by a polar bear, which had left five scars on his forearm.
Arkady: Tatiana, blood of my blood. I promised the equivalent in gold to the weight of his head. What do you want for the entire body of this large rat?
Tatiana: Pavel likes old-fashioned customs. I will sell him for two silver coins. The price of a beautiful hairbrush. But I want a promise that Pavel will be a conquered woman.
Arkady: Fine. Women, cut off his cock and balls and burn them so they will not offend his future husbands. According to the old law, Pavel will be a woman in a state of servitude. Anyone will be able to buy her from another person for two silver coins or something of equal value. She can serve as a worker or, for a man without a wife, as a slave wife.