13 Warriors

13

Warriors

Michael O’Gara

Copyright © 2014 Michael O’Gara

All rights reserved.

eBook Edition

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a fictional work coming from the author’s imagination. Any similarity to actual persons, events, places, organizations and companies, is purely coincidental.

Published by Heartland Indie Publishing LLC

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 1

It was beyond anything Kars had seen in his many years as a warrior. He’d never even heard of anything like it in the many tales he’d listened to over the years about numerous wars. The dead and wounded extended as far as he could see and there were few men standing upright. Kars reckoned there was less than one man standing for every hundred men dead or lying wounded waiting to die. This was the battle to end the war and both sides had lost.

Kars surveyed the immediate surroundings. The men they had slayed littered the ground. Near the end, few had come near his company because of the heap of bodies around them.

Gasb came walking to him. Gasb was covered in blood and pieces of flesh. He looked like some demon from hell. Gasb asked, What now?

Kars said, Find a horse and bring what is left of our men together.

Gasb nodded and plodded away showing the fatigue that bordered on despair.

Calib came dragging his sword. He was covered in blood. Kars knew it was not Calib’s for he was still standing.

Kars said, Sheath your sword. Our survival depends on what we do these next few hours.

Calib said, Yes, Captain.

Kars said, It is easy to see where the horses are among these dead. Find one and go fetch a wagon with a good team and bring it here. Hurry.

Kars started looking and found a noble about his size. The man’s head had been bashed in and his helmet was ruined. The rest of his armor was in good shape and of a quality Kars had seldom seen, but appreciated. Kars realized the man’s sword and shield were also of the highest quality. Kars lost no time in stripping the man. Kars found a purse and took it as well as the rings on the man’s fingers. Kars then stripped his own partial armor and blood soaked clothes off, wiping away blood from his hands and face. Kars put on the nobleman’s fine clothes and chain mail armor.

Kars looked for a good helmet and found one on another noble. The man seemed about the same size as Gasb so Kars took the helmet for himself, and the man’s clothes, weapons, and armor for Gasb. In the process, he found another purse and again he took the man’s rings.

Kars brought the goods to the edge of the carnage. He saw Calib coming with a wagon pulled by a fine team. Calib stopped the wagon and climbed down and came to Kars. Kars saw Gasb coming with a few of the men from his company trailing behind him. They looked defeated though they were among the few to survive and thus were victors.

Kars said to Calib, Find a noble about your size, get fine clothes and armor off him, put them on, then come back here.

Calib did it, but he was moving in slow motion. Like the others, Calib was weary to the bone and staying on his feet by sheer force of will. The fact they were elite warriors was what kept his men going. Gasb came with nine men.

Kars asked, Is this all that are left?

Gasb nodded and dismounted. The men gathered around Kars waiting to be told what to do. They were too tired to think.

Kars said, We are all exhausted, but our survival depends on what we do in the next two hours. This place will soon be swarming with pickers when news of what has happened gets abroad. There will be no order for there is no one to enforce it. We will survive only if we work together and quickly. First, everyone find a noble about your size and take his clothes, armor, and weapons. Take the best to be had. You have fifteen minutes. Gasb, I have gathered a set for you. Everyone come back here quickly and we’ll make preparations so we can be away from here before further violence breaks out. Quickly, do it!

The men hurried away. No one wanted to fight anymore this day. While the men were gone, Kars found two fine mounts. He brought the horses back and tied them to the wagon. Then he and Gasb searched nobles and took anything of value they had. Kars knew there would be no great treasure chests because the war had bankrupted just about all the nobles.

Kars turned over a noble and searched and found his purse and jewelry. Kars repeated the process several times to some profit. When the men returned wearing their newly found armor, Kars said, Each man go fetch at least one horse, preferably two, and bring them here quickly. Ten minutes only. Hurry!

Kars turned to Calib and Gasb, Help me search the nobles for purses and rings as well as good spears and other weapons.

They searched the carnage for valuables. In the process, Kars spotted an unusual helmet on the ground and picked it up. Kars appreciated the fine workmanship and tried it on. It fit, so he took it and threw down the one he had. When the small band came back together, Kars noted the men were a little more alert than they had been.

Kars said, Gather any chain mail you can find and good weapons. They will serve us in the future. Hurry.

A half hour later the wagon was full of armor and weapons.

Kars said, Now we go to the baggage trains and tents of the nobles. We need wagons, good warm cloaks, blankets, and provisions.

Yarta asked, May we take women?

Kars said, Only if they are willing, take oath, and are workers. Slaves or servants are best. We don’t need pretty delicate things that cannot work beside a man when our survival is at stake. We’ll bring a few extra women just in case.

Zersta, always a man of few words, said, Sensible.

Gasb said, You look like a great lord, Captain Kars.

Calib smiled and said, He is one if we say he is.

Zersta looked around, And we are his sworn men.

One of the soldiers, Yahn, said, It will increase our chances of survival if we serve a noble.

Kars said, "We must go west. If we go east we will meet treachery and more likely opposition from pagan nobles. There are too few of us left to go in that direction. We will have to make a new life for ourselves in the west.

Gasb said, A higher noble will have more chance for many will be cowed by the title and few will challenge it. Given what has happened here, there will be few who know better.

Kars looked at Gasb.

Gasb said, A duke, perhaps?

Kars nodded.

Gasb said, Listen you lot, you know the way to address a duke so use it with Kars. We’ve done it before with men we didn’t respect or were poor leaders.

Calib said, That is so!

Gasb looked around and all the men nodded agreement. The men knew assuming the title of a noble meant death in normal times, but these circumstances were not normal. Immediate survival was foremost on their minds.

Kars mounted a horse and led his little band to where the nobles had camped. They rode up the hill overlooking the valley. At the first tent, they found two female servants struggling to load a wagon with provisions. They were trying to roll a heavy barrel up two boards onto the wagon.

Kars stopped and said, You have the right idea, but you won’t be able to keep it even if you do get it loaded.

The women let the barrel back down. The women saw the armor and assumed Kars was a nobleman. They curtsied.

One woman said, My Lord, you will need women and we need protectors. What will follow will be ugly.

Kars knew these women were already thinking about and working to survive. They were the kind of women that would be most useful.

Kars knew well how lords acted and played the part. He said, Rise. What is your name?

Resta, my Lord.

Zersta looked Resta over and said smiling, Your Grace, this one suits.

Zersta’s use of title was not lost on the women.

Kars looked at Resta, It seems Zersta fancies you.

Resta asked, Your Grace, do I have a choice?

Kars said, Yes, but make it quickly. You can be part of our company, but you must choose a man from the company in the next few days, make oath to me, and you must come willingly.

Resta curtsied and said, Your Grace, I thank you and accept.

The other woman agreed as well. Kars pointed and the men went and quickly loaded the barrels containing salted meat and other items. The men had heard the interchange and now knew how to their number would be added to, thus increasing their chances of survival and their comfort. The women hurried about loading cooking utensils and necessities like food, cloaks, blankets, and clothes. They knew what would be useful for survival. Kars went to the tent and determined it was not suitable for their needs, but he found two warm cloaks suitable for nobles and took them to the wagon.

Within ten minutes, the group was to another tent and found three women who were huddled in a corner in fear. The men paid them no attention. They were not the type of women who would survive long. They were pretty women, but soft and needy, not the type to be of use in the hard work ahead. The party