Read The Exodus Sagas: Book I - Of Spiders And Falcons for Free Online Page B

horrible accuracy went past him by at least ten feet. “You are no warrior of note among your kind, for certain!” the knight said loudly, bolstering his confidence a bit more. He moved faster now, knowing the direction of his enemy, in and out of trees, over massive frozen roots, and there it was, she was , and an ogre child with her. He stopped, ducking yet a third hurled limb ripped from an oak well above his reach, but not the reach of this beast. One sheep ran as the ogre child stood up from holding its mouth and neck, the other livestock lay half eaten, and the farmhand looked long dead and twisted into a merciless position impossible to survive. For a moment or perhaps two, the vengeful knight paused, seeing mother and child, despite their hideousness, out in the terrible cold, surviving on what they could and he felt a spark of pity in his chest. Crack and a thud followed as the body of the farmhand was launched overhead from the child, now yelling in ogre at the knight, as if that gesture would get him to leave. James stepped ahead quickly, closing on the mother who stood ready, long clawed hands still fresh with sheep’s blood waiting for the knight. He ducked as if to go under her reach and as she screeched out a roar, he spun to his right blocking her hands with his shield and cutting deep into her flank. The child on the move toward him, James cut again at her chest as she turned, missing her as she back stepped. The ogre youth dove at the knight, knocking into his shield arm and the two fell to the ground, the ogre on top and flailing his clawed arms with ferocity. Snarls and spit and rage came out of him, and James saw the mother coming in now, sure the two of them had him down for good. The sword held tight over the shield, James thrust it forward three quick times from his back, each time cutting into the shoulders and neck of the young creature, still larger than the knight. Blood projected all over the shield, staining the white tabard as well, and as the beast child scrambled to get up, James cut wide across it’s throat splitting open skin and vein and neck into a fatal mess of flowing ruby red and black. Suddenly, with a violent ear piercing scream, the man was lifted into the air and slammed into the nearest willow tree, then again. His head ached from the jolting and hitting the iron winter bark, icicles fell for twenty feet around as he took a third blow from the ogre witch. James was pinned, so he kicked her chest and chin as fast as he could, all the while being plowed into the tree behind him by the arms of an avenging ogre mother. Crraaack , the tree roots gave way a bit from the icy ground and she fell forward with James against the willow. He scrambled over the fallen branches and roots to regain his stance. Quickly and with fury she rounded the tree, dripping blood from her wound in the flank, James jumped off of one of the upturned roots and hurled himself to her left side, plunging the blade deep into her chest where it remained. He fell hard and tried to roll up to his feet, but the snow had given way and he sunk in too far to keep momentum. James turned in time to see that the ogre wench had the blade through her chest and out the back, but still had life enough to run, run the other way. Never had James seen an ogre flee, at least not from him. Blood streamed more than dripped, leaving a heavy trail of dark crimson, making it easy to follow her, and so the old knight did.
    It had been hours since James Andellis had seen a landmark he recognized, and hopefully, he prayed, she was not leading him to any more family unarmed. His sword, there it was, twenty feet ahead, he ran to it, picking it up from next to a frozen stream. James looked around, rapidly searching for the trail, nothing. His back felt the pain of claws ripping his flesh through the chainmail he wore under the tabard. He squinted and held in his pain, took one step forward, and spun round completely to his left leading with