Fading Light chapter 2

Quickshot trotted down the small hill from the farm, Richard almost falling asleep in the saddle. It was getting late, and it had been a hard day’s work. Quickshot had a noticeable limp. Damn Richard thought, I worker him too hard. As he arrived in the village the mayor came out of his house to greet Richard.
‘All finished for the day, Richard? Well, come inside, I have something I need to talk to you about.’
Richard reluctantly dismounted. All he wanted was to relax at home before starting work the next day.
‘Richard, tomorrow is the national festival of Gods in this land. We have been asked to send a representative to the castle to present a gift to the king. We would have asked Paul, but he has a prior engagement, and since you’re his best pupil, I felt it best that you should be the one to go. Paul is holding onto the gift. You should go and get it from him.’
As the pair left the mayors house, they spotted Rebecca caring for Quickshot. Richard went to stop her before she discovered the horses injury, but it was too late.
‘What is this?’ she asked, her voice slowly rising. Richard began to back away. Although she was shorter than he was, he was still utterly terrified of her. ’You worked him too hard, again! You don’t have any consideration for this horse. You just treat it like a work animal. But if you don’t respect him, he won’t respect you!’ At this, she grabbed the reigns and led Quickshot away. The mayor looked at Richard.
‘I’m sorry about this, my lad. I’ll see if I can talk some sense into her in the morning. You go to Paul’s house and get the gift.’

Richard walked towards Paul’s house and was almost at the door when he saw something strange. The workers were returning from the fields as usual, but something was different. They were running and many looked panicked. Richard started to walk towards them when he saw Rebecca trying to keep hold of Quickshot’s reigns whilst trying to organise the workers. Richard started to run towards her, when he stopped in his tracks. Close on the tail of Rebecca and the workers was a large group of armoured horsemen. Richard felt helplessness wash over him as he watched the horsemen close in on the group when a shout from behind him grabbed his attention.
‘Richard take these, and follow me.’ Richard turned just in time to catch a shield and sword thrown at him by Paul. He clutched the sword tightly in his right hand, and hugged the shield close to him as he charged with Paul. They let the workers pass and then stood in front of the horsemen, swords held at the ready for any attack. The horsemen reached them and Richard swung with all his might. He knocked the lead horsemen off but the sword did nothing against the armour protecting the soldier. The other horsemen stopped and dismounted, drawing their swords in readiness. Richard and Paul stood their ground, and waited for the charge.

When it came, the pair were ready, and effortlessly attacked and blocked attacks as the seemingly endless number of horsemen attacked. One swung at Richard who ducked and plunged his sword into the exposed armpit of the man. The soldier grunted and blood flowed freely from under his helmet as he collapsed to the ground, but Richard was already turning to face his next foe, who attacked with a spear, giving him the advantage of range. However, Richard hacked at the spear haft until he was close enough to see the mans eyes through the helmets visor.

Elsewhere, Paul moved with the precision of a man with experience. He kept finding the weaknesses of his opponents and exploiting them. He avoided all the attacks and managed to cut a path through the soldiers. He looked to the side to see how Richard was faring, but his attention was immediately drawn back as another soldier rushed him.

Richard turned to face his newest foe. This one carried no sword or shield, but a ball and chain that was at least twice as big as Richards body. Richard dodged the first swing, but the chain wrapped around the sword, and it was wrenched from his grasp and flew across the battlefield. Richard did not let this stop him though as he ducked under another attack and picked up a spear from a nearby corpse. He spun the spear in an impressive display and jabbed at the soldier. However, it did nothing to stop the man who continually pressed the attack. Soon Richard was forced back to the edge of the lake and kept himself balanced to prevent himself from falling in. Unfortunately, Richard was soon disarmed and the big man laughed at Richards impending fate. As he loosed the ball and chain from his grip, a blur leapt in front of it, and the sound of metal shattering pierced the air. Richard and the soldier looked to their side to see Paul lying on the ground, clutching his now broken arm, remnants of a shield next to him. The big man looked at Paul, then back at Richard. Richard was too stunned to notice the big man raise his foot, and he was suddenly aware that he was underwater, heading down. He saw a glint of metal on the lakebed, and swam towards it. His sword lay resting and he picked it up, and began to swim for the surface.

The big soldier walked towards Paul, swinging the ball above his head, and laughing as he prepared to deliver the death blow. Suddenly, a splash from the lake drew his attention as he saw a shield fly through the air. He walked towards the lake, intent on finishing his former opponent before dealing with the now injured man. As he reached the lakes edge, Richard leapt from the water and plunged his sword through the small gap between the chest plate and helmet, blood spurting out from the gap into the water and onto Richard, who drew his sword from the mans throat and fell back into the water. The big man continued to stumble around, ball now swinging wildly out of control. Richard leapt from the water again, kicking the man in the chest so he stumbled backwards, ball and chain wrapping around the armoured man. As he continued to stumble, he looked up to see the shape of Richard, soaking wet, walking towards him, sword held loosely at his side. The man breathed heavily, and coughed blood into the helmet and looked at Richard, then spoke.
‘You fight well for one so young, but this is just the beginning.’ Richard continued to walk towards the big man, then stopped right in front of him.
‘If this is just the beginning, then I’ll make sure I’m there at the end.’ Richard jumped and kicked the man in the chest, sending the armoured foe into the lake. Due to the thick armour the man had on, and because the ball and chain was wrapped round his body, he could not swim to the surface and instead sank into the depths of the lake, cursing the young boy who had just defeated him.