Icebound - Chapter 2
#4 of Icebound
Chapter 2 of Icebound
Shadowdale, 1372 DR. 6th day of Highsun.
Aiden jerked his head up to see the flying wizard raise his staff, causing another lightning bolt to strike the ground below. Aiden had no idea how long he had been sitting there with Norin, but it was pretty clear that there was still a battle being fought.
At the sight of the wizard, Aiden clenched his teeth in rage, hard enough to send pain shooting through his jaw. The mage was responsible for all of this. Aiden set his brother's body down, and scrabbled for the bow he had dropped earlier, pulling it from the muddy ground.
He grabbed for an arrow from his quiver and had it whistling through the air before he even realized he'd fired his bow. Another arrow followed right behind it, and a third. By the fourth arrow, Aiden realized that the arrows were doing nothing; they had all shattered against an invisible sphere of force that surrounded the wizard. At the clatter of the arrows breaking, the mage noticed Aiden again. The mage raised his staff.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and Aiden sprang toward a nearby alley, trying to get out of sight. The bolt of lightning hit where he'd been standing, and the thunderclap was still more than enough to stun him. He crashed shoulder first into one of the buildings, and then scrambled back to his feet, his ears ringing. He swore under his breath; he couldn't even hurt the wizard. He slammed his fist against the wood planks of the wall and yelled, "No! It's not fair!"
Even if he couldn't kill the wizard, there were still several bandits attacking people on the ground. He could hear fighting all around the village, the clash of steel on steel and the screams of rage and pain strangely muffled through the ringing in his ears. He couldn't see anyone else from between the two buildings, but on the other hand, the wizard couldn't see him either. He drew another arrow and nocked it, then turned to go out the back of the alley, trying to stay out of sight of the mage.
As he went around the side of the building, he caught sight of a bard who normally sang at the Old Skull Inn, Lady Silverhand. He couldn't remember her first name offhand. Something weather related. She was fighting with a slender rapier against a pair of bandits, somehow managing to hold them at bay, despite being much smaller and armed with a lighter weapon.
He took aim at one of her opponents, an unshaven man with dirty hair and scraps of armor. The bandit was in the middle of a wide swing, trying to simply overpower the woman with brute force. Aiden's arrow went through the man's chest.
Lady Silverhand parried the wide sweeping blow near the tip of her rapier, forcing the blow downward. She spun gracefully out of range, her long silvery hair and rich red dress twirling, somehow elegant despite being soaked from the rain. She took advantage of the bandits momentary distraction to run the rapier through the man's heart. She pulled the thin blade back out just in time to block her other opponent's overhead blow with the hilt of the rapier. She continued spinning, bringing her other hand out in a straight thrust, stabbing the second man in the chest with a dagger before dancing back out of range.
Her second foe apparently didn't realize that he had been stabbed and pulled back for another vicious sweep. Aiden's next arrow went through the man's skull. The bandit fell backwards as his muscles went limp, collapsing in the mud.
Aiden walked over to her as she looked around, suddenly remembering that her first name was Storm. Seeing no threats, she turned back to Aiden and asked, "Where's your brother?"
At first he didn't understand what she said with the ringing in his ears, and she asked again. Aiden's head bowed and he began to cry. Storm realized immediately what had happened and pulled him close in a hug, careful of the weapons she held. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry."
She held him for a moment before putting her hands on his sides and pushing him back. "We need to find your father," she said, pushing his chin up with the hilt of her dagger and staring him in the eyes. "Save your tears for now, young man. If we don't hurry, more will die."
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Aiden nodded, lifting a hand to wipe his tears away. He snuffled and followed her as she jogged lightly down the street, going around one of the buildings. As he rounded the building, he could see why she had gone this way. At least twenty people were fighting along the main street, including his father.
Storm continued to run down the street, somehow light-footed in spite of the boots that she was wearing. Aiden wiped the rain off his forehead, drew back his bow and began looking for a target.
A man in leather with a long beard was swinging an enormous spiked club at a man he knew to be the town baker, despite the helm he wore. The portly baker had somehow crammed himself into a breastplate and greaves. He was using a steel kite shield to block the bearded man's strikes, while he tried to beat at the man with a mace. The hardened leather seemed to be more than sufficient to stop the baker's blows.
Aiden took aim at the bearded man in leather, waiting for just the right time. He released just as the man stepped back for another blow. The bodkin tipped arrow went right through the leather armor as if it weren't even there, sinking into the man's stomach up to the fletching. The raider missed his next blow and looked down to see what had gotten him. It proved to be a fatal mistake. The baker took advantage of the momentary distraction, cracking his mace into his opponent's skull with the sound of wet pottery breaking. The bandit dropped to the ground.
Aiden looked for another person he recognized. He vaguely remembered seeing one of the people in front of him around town, but had never talked to. The man was dressed in brown robes, armed with just a staff. He was barely fending off his opponent. Aiden didn't recognize the robed man's foe at all. He took a chance and picked his second target, the unfamiliar face.
His target was wearing rusty metal armor and twirling a strange, double-ended weapon. It had an axe head on one end and a spear tip on the other. He was making alternating quick thrusts with the spear and occasional swings with the axe end.
Aiden took a quick shot at the man, but missed as the man in rusty brigantine lunged forward with the spear-tip of his bizarre weapon. The arrow embedded itself in a wall, narrowly missing one of the others in the dense melee in front of Aiden. He pulled another arrow and took aim, this time waiting until the axe/spear wielder drew back from a thrust to release.
The arrow went clear through his target's arm and lodged in the man's side. The armored man tried to make another swing before realizing that he had been shot, twisting the arrow until the shaft snapped. He yelled in agony, and the robed man with the staff clubbed him down.
Rapid movement from the corner of his eye made Aiden turn his head to the left. A huge, bearded man was running toward him. The man's savage grin had several gaping holes from missing teeth. The whites of his eyes showed clearly amidst the dirty face and lank hair around his head. The grinning man was swinging a wicked-looking spiked ball attached with chain to the end of a stick.
There was no time to pull another arrow. Aiden grabbed for the shortsword at his waist and pulled it out just in time to block the blow aimed at his head. The whipping chain nearly tore the blade from his hand, and wrenched him into the building next to them. His head slammed into the corner of the wall. As the flail came swinging around again, Aiden tried to lift the sword to block it, but his arm refused to move.
The blow smashed into his chest, throwing him to the ground. Laying on his side, he could see several soldiers from the Tower of Ashaba, the local keep, coming up the road toward the village. His chest hurt terribly, and he tried to roll onto his back.
He couldn't get his breath, and his chest felt like it was on fire. He lay there on the ground looking up, and saw the grinning man pulling back for a kick. The boot was coming for his face and he jerked, trying to roll away, but too slowly. The sky above him went from gray to black in an instant.