Read Return of the Ravens (Ulfrik Ormsson's Saga Book 6) for Free Online Page A

night and became lost. Here, tear your dress." Ulfrik grabbed her collar and tore the thin fabric to reveal the top of her cleavage. It was not as enticing as he had hoped. "Show him a bit of tit and you'll be on his bed straight away. That's when you call out for me and stab him. We'll rush in and finish the rest. You'll be safe to return home after that."
    The girl stared at him in disbelief. Her trembling voice was barely audible. "You can kill all of them like that?"
    "You'll have their attention. Three will be dead before they know it; three will die as they turn to face us; and three will die when they try to fight. That's nine dead. This is the only way, girl. You ready?" He pressed into her hand the small knife he had taken from Gils's farm and held it there. She continued to stare, her mouth struggling to form words.
    Finn led her away and soon they were watching her approach the hall. She seemed tiny in the bland light. Two men appeared out of the shadows of the hall, one with a spear lowered. She started talking, and the men nodded, eventually taking her inside.
    "How long before she betrays us to Thorgest?" Finn asked.
    "The moment she realizes he has two teeth and smells like shit and ale, she'll be pointing the way to us. I just hope the bastard doesn't decide we can wait while he gets a better look at her body."
    "I'll string the bow anyway." Finn put six arrows into the ground next to him as he readied his bow.
    "Make every shot count," Ulfrik said. "I'll take up my position. Good luck."
    They nodded at each other, and Ulfrik looped around the far side of Thorgest's small hall. As expected, all nine men filed out of the hall with drawn swords or leveled spears. Some had grabbed shields and helmets, expecting an easy ambush of Ulfrik and Finn approaching the hall. Thorgest followed behind, Ulfrik's sword bright in his hand. He opened his mouth to bellow a challenge when Finn loosed his first arrow.
    The lead man collapsed with an arrow in his chest, barely giving a shout. In the moment it took for the others to notice his death, a second man spun away with a grunt as an arrow caught him in the face. The seven men, crowded at the door as they were, jumbled into each other as some tried to duck back into the hall and others leapt for cover the opposite way. Another arrow took a man in the leg and he fell in the midst of them.
    Ulfrik charged out of the cover, screaming with his ax held overhead. Thorgest had fallen back into his hall while the remaining men turned toward him. Five faces drawn stiff and white with fear turned toward him. The charge was suicide against prepared men, but they were confused and frightened. Finn dropped another man as Ulfrik closed on the targets.
    "There's only two of them," shouted Thorgest from the safety of his hall door. "I've got this one. Take the bowman!"
    Thorgest charged out with his shield in front of him. The four remaining men whirled with their shields. Finn's fifth arrow sank into one of the shields.
    Cutting to the side, Ulfrik veered from Thorgest's charge and began running in the opposite direction. His leg pained him and he cursed laying a plan that required him to run. Finn had the much longer run, and the more dangerous part of the plan. Once he had dashed to his set spot at the edge of the woods, he whirled back on Thorgest.
    The bandit leader's fury was hot, having just lost four men. His face was red and lips curled back in a snarl as he hurtled forward. Ulfrik had the advantage of reach with the ax, and swept it at Thorgest's torso. A man can pull in his limbs or duck his head to avoid a blow, but no man can alter the trajectory of his body in flight. The ax swept into his side, the wedge-shaped head hooking him around his back like a fish on a gaff. He slewed to the side and crashed to his face. Ulfrik had little skill with the ax, but knew its advantages well. He slid around Thorgest as he fell and now had the ax raised overhead.
    "Stop!" was all the bandit