Aye, Battleborn.
‘Twas all for Battleborn. Always.
The human village had their share of warriors, but only a handful were a match for my men. I downed one, careful to pull my blow at the last moment to break his arm instead of decapitating him, then whirled to face the next threat.
Which was a white-bearded male, old enough to be my father, charging toward me with a determined look on his face as he clutched a—was that a farming implement? With a scowl, I flipped my ax sideways, stepped to the left, and swung, punching the male in the stomach and sending him to the sand.
Old men and lads? This wasn’t an honorable battle.
MyKteerhowled for more blood, but I ignored it, knowing I needed to sleep at night, and the death of an old man on my ax would haunt me. So I swung about in irritation, wondering how to end this?—
And met my next attacker head-on.
Had I thought old men and lads were bad? Now the humans were throwingfemalesat us?
I parried her blow—where the fook had she obtained such a fine sword?—and swept around to knock her legs from under her. To my surprise, she leapt over the haft of my ax, and I realized she wore leather trews.
My lips twitched in amusement, despite my annoyance.
My attacker wore her long hair in a braid, tied back in a leather thong like my brother Sevren. Her features were as delicate and sculpted as his, as well. But the similarities ended there. While my youngest brother usually smiled, this female scowled up at me as she thrust her blade at my midsection.
Why did this make my smile grow?
Best to end things quickly.
“Step aside, maiden,” I growled, catching her blade with my ax, twisting her to the side. “Let the males have their fun.”
“Fun?” she spat at me, her blue eyes blazing with fury as she spun to attack my unprotected side.
“You have a strange definition of it, monster.”
“I am nae monster,” I told her mildly, sweeping my shield around to knock aside her blade. “Just the better warrior.”
The sound she made could only be described as a growl, and I found myself wanting to laugh in response, especially when she renewed her attack on me. To my surprise, myKteeralso seemed amused, although the threat to my lifewasreal.
Although I had mocked her, the little female was a competent warrior and had given me more of a challenge than any of her townsmen had. I was toying with her, aye, but she wasn’t an easy victory as the others had been.
The female carried no shield and her sword was shorter than the ones my men carried. With the reach of my ax, there was little chance she could get in close enough to do real damage, and I found myself pulling my swings, unwilling to actually make contact with her flesh.
In her left hand, she clutched a long, thin bollock dagger. It did little good against my weapon, but I could admit she was skilled.
“Who taught ye to fight, little one?” I rumbled, jamming my shield before her blade again. “Yer Mate?”
Behind her, I could see my men running toward the village, and I knew it meant the humans had been defeated.
“My father, you bastard!”
She swung again and I ducked out of the way. This time, however, her spin brought her dagger darting toward my side, and I grinned again as I deflected it.
“He did well,” I admitted. I tucked my ax behind my shield, preparing to step away from this battle. This feisty little human female would not die onmyblade, but I’d wasted enough time.
“I yie?—”
Before I could yield, Maardok moved up beside me.
“Do ye need help, brother?” His tone was mildly mocking and I noted he was not even breathing heavily. “A wee female is giving ye trouble?”
I shouldn’t have taken my attention from her. In my defense, I thought our battle finished, assumed she would have taken the opportunity to scramble back to a defensible position.
