The Ember Thief

Chapter Twenty Six - Graves of teeth and ivory

Bawbee turned, rolling the two shields around his body to deflect a hail of arrows before crossing them together to receive a hammer blow that dropped him to one knee. He pushed back up, ramming the edge of his shield into the kidneys of the Vosh Chimera, making the man fold over and roll backwards. 'They're persistent. I'll give them that,' Bawbee boomed as a sweeper lunged a rapier towards his body.

Pinki slid down the icy hill on her back and through Bawbee's legs, springing back up to deliver a devastating spinning kick to the sweeper's face sending the woman spiralling over. 'If Raide is out, they'll all be coming for us now,' Rogan shouted clutching Pinki's side. 'We can't keep this up.'

'Incoming!' Osi shouted from the tower.

Bawbee overlapped his shields and knelt over the girl as more arrows pinged off the metal surfaces. One slipped through a gap and wedged itself into the big man's left shoulder, making him cry out.

'You alright?' Rogan said, looking up at the huge man towering over him. Bawbee winced, gritted his teeth and just nodded. 'We should head back to the tower, we'll hold them there,' Rogan said, as the volley stopped.

'Go. I'll make sure you don't get an arrow in your back.' Bawbee called, with beads of sweat rolling down his face. Pinki broke free and made a run for it back up the hill.

Bawbee scanned the defences to see the Vosh raptors swarming around the wall that protected the fortress. The lumbering frame of Marcus Gunvar at the centre. Marcus pulled a sticky, wrapped cloth package from out of his satchel and cut the fuse wire short. He threw it high in the air for the ballistic behind him to skewer it with a well-placed arrow, sending it flying towards the Asher aegis.

Bawbee heaved up a shield and felt a solid thud on the other side, followed by a hissing sound. He peered over the rim of the shield to see the cloth mound stuck to the metal surface. He shook it as hard as he could before throwing his shield and bringing the other one up. As soon as it left his hand, there was a blinding flash of fire that lit the faces in the cheering crowd. Bawbee found himself lying on his back with his ears ringing. The armour on his left leg was charred and pitted with small holes from the metal fragments. The snow beneath him turned red. Vosh Chimeras poured over the walls rushing towards the fallen giant.

Osi grabbed Pinki, who trying to run back down to the fallen bear. 'There's too many,' he said, pulling the screaming girl back.

Bawbee looked at the distance back to the tower and the approaching black hoard. His eyes dropped, and he placed a hand on the bear painted on his chest, a small smile briefly came to his lips. The crowd had risen to their feet in anticipation as Vosh came charging through the snow. The rush of Chimeras headed straight past him, apart from one man who slowly walked up to where Bawbee lay. He had long tied back black hair and a harpy eagle on his chest. 'It was a mistake coming back, Samson,' he said, spinning a heavy spear in his hand.

'It's called loyalty, Marcus. Do you even remember what that is?' Bawbee said coughing.

The man ignored the question. 'You had a chance to join the winning house a long time ago, and you should've taken it. We could have been brothers.'

Bawbee gave a short laugh. 'I'm happy with my choices,' he wheezed, giving Marcus a cutting look. 'Are you?'

'We do what we must to survive,' Marcus shot back, rearing back the spear over his head. 'Here ends the career of Asher's great bear.' He lunged the spear down hard at Bawbee's chest to the shriek of the crowd.

Two arrows stuck the Vosh bombardier in quick succession. The first in the arm the second exploded on impact on his chest plate, sending him flying back down the hill.