A Question of Loyalty (Black Company fanfic)

[Imperial Overlord]

A question of Loyalty


I don't know where to begin so I'll start with my name. I'm called Gaunt and I am doing this because I was told to. A messenger from the Tower passed orders that I should keep a journal of the events of my life during my service and so I am. I don't think I'm the only one doing this, but I do know the order comes from her and so here I am.

I am assigned to the service of The Limper and he's busy being the busy social butterfly when he isn't squeezing his domain dry or orcastrating bloody massacres. The Limper knows war, but his preference is a straight up meatgrinding battle of attrition. It's hard on the troops and with the Circle in the field he can't just blast his way through with brute force. When the shit starts rolling, its best to be elsewhere. The Limper has a bad temper at the best of times.

But he's my commander, I wear his badge so I don't have much of a choice. So, the bright boy that I am, I volunteered for a field assignment as soon as I could to get the hell away from headquarters. He gives it to me. I soon come to regret it.

The Limper assigns me to the service of a Colonel Stanick, a nasty piece of work if there ever was one. His reputation is so nasty even I've heard of him and I am well out of the gossip chain. So I head out the meet the colonel and report for duty.

A passing corporal points me in his direction. He isn't in a big hurry to stay around. The colonel isn't a line officer and I know better than to expect to find him with a regiment. I was expecting something a little different than a villa.

I'm on the road for almost an hour before I reach it. Full wall, gate, guard dogs, the works. There are two guards at the gates with crossbows and they mean business. But then again, I'm pretty damn scary myself. And I'm wearing The Limper's badge. I pass the sergeant (the other was a corporal) my orders and he waves me in.

The colonel liked to live in style, I can tell you that much. The place was nice, if you like whore houses with a large decorating budget. I didn't even want to think about how much theft was involved in furnishing this place and that wasn't even taking into consideration on how the colonel got his hands on the villa in the first place.

There were a bunch of soldiers in the place and although most of them were armed, almost none of them wore armour. They fit into three categories. Cynical veterans, high quality young recruits, and ambitious bastards. The officers were almost always of the last category and there were a lot of officer. There were also a lot of girls and the oldest one was maybe twenty. No others civvies present.

The colonel was in a sitting room, playing chess with someone wearing a captain's insignia. The colonel was tall and lithe, every inch the dashing hero from a saga of the Jewel Cities. The captain was pale, squat, and had eyes like chips of ice. I handed the colonel my orders. "Gaunt, reporting by order of The Limper," I said.

The colonel looked up at me. His eyes danced with what someone else might think was mischief, but what I knew was malice. "So you're our sorcerer. What can you do?" His voice was friendly and charming. Every note of it was a lie.

"I'm good with light, shadows, cold, and not being seen," I replied.

"A trickster," he smiled. I'm the one wearing the black mask and mail, and I was unnerved. I was the sorcerer and some of my training was set down by The Lady herself. And I was the one who was afraid.

"Just the kind of man we need. The Limper wants revenge and we're going to give it to him."

[Imperial Overlord]

Feel free to lay in with comments, criticisms, and questions.

[Shroom Man 777]

I have no idea what fantasy universe this is in. I don't like fantasy. But I can tell you this, you've got a fancy little piece there. It's cool. I like it.

[-=Talfwr=-]

I think with a few more descriptions of the surrounding area, say for example the room the colnel is in, it would show more of what the other characters in your fantasy are like. Heck of a lot of potential coming from this. I like, please keep me posted.

[Dead_Ghost]

Interesting. I wouldn't mind knowing if this is based on a fantasy world already "released" ((Black Company fanfic))

I passing corporal points me in his direction

I didn't understood what you meant with this. Was it "A passing corporal points me in his direction"? If so, "his" should be replaced with "that", no?

[Imperial Overlord]

The Black Company is a series of fantasy novels by Glen Cook revolving around a mercenary band called The Black Company. The story is told by the Annalists of the Black Company, which is the physician Croaker for much of the series.

For this fanfic I am trying to duplicate Cook's voice, which does vary between the Annalists, but is usually somewhat world weary and cynical, with a hidden romantic streak.

The language does tend towards the venacular (for Croaker at least) and is often description light. I will provide enough background details and descriptions so that those who are unfamiliar with the Black Company will be able to appreciate it.

A full discussion of the Black Company should probably be done in fantasy, but I will certainly answer any quick questions here.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter II

Wonderful. The colonel is looking foreward to getting payback for the Limper. The Ten Who Were Taken have feuds and grudges dating back to the days of the Domination and perhaps from before even that. They say shared suffering builds bonds between men, but a couple centuries buried alive under the Barrowland haven't made them buddies.

This thing must have something to do with another one of the Taken. If it was the Rebel, it wouldn't be this special ops colonel and his dirty tricks unit. It would be a full out offensive with hammer blows from the man himself. No, if The Limper is being sneaky it is to fuck with another one of the Taken without the Lady finding out and calling him down on the carpet. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn't regret leaving a few of the Taken in the ground next to her husband.

So it will probably by Shapeshifter or Soulcatcher. Those two are the ones that The Limper has a real hate on for. Just dandy. I get the opportunity of being crushed between two powerhouses, with the extra bonus of my bosses enemies being better at this shit than my boss.

The colonel gestures for me to take a seat an I do. He's got to be completely around the bend to be looking foreward to this. I sat down on an overstuffed couch with big tassely whore house pillows. "Why don't you have something to drink?" said Colonel Psychopath, who had a smug smile on his face. A girl wearing a one piece wrap that was too damn light for this season offered to serve me. There were bruises around her eyes. I waved her off and tried not to think about it.

Colonel Stanick continues smiling as I wave the girl off. "Ever hear of an outfit called the Black Company?"

"Yes. Mercenaries from the Jewel Cities or thereabouts. Supposed to be good."

"That's right. Soulcatcher brough them over the Sea of Torments when she took Beryl. Their last job was being the former Syndic's bodyguards before his sudden death." Beryl was technically an ally, but the new regime was in The Lady's pockets. "They've made a nuisance of themselves. Limper wants us to put them in their place."

Great. We're messing with Soulcatcher's new toy. Captain Ice Eyes still hasn't said a thing. Well fuck him too. The colonel invites me to dinner, as if this was the Gardens of Opal. I accept, because there is no other choice.

The villa has a nice dining room, which the colonel hasn't gotten around to redecorating in the nuevo brothel style. Clean, elegant classical decoration, a table cloth was was well woven, but a simple pattern. The half naked girls waiting on us ruined it though.

Stanick held court like he was a Rebel lord from the "good old days." He might have even appreciated the irony, if I had mentioned it. Most of his crew of murders are here, maybe thirty men. I hated maybe half of them on sight. The others had the decency to be uncomfortable. The rest roared with enjoyment and toasted their master.

It got worse as the night went on and the wine flowed. I saw where it was going and excused myself early. They offered me a girl and I took her. Giving her a nights free from them in a comfortable room was the pitiful extent of the mercy I was able to convey. I did my best to make sure she was comfortable and then sacked out. Her stare stayed with me and made it hard for me to get any sleep. Compassion had become an alien thing to her. She didn't recognize it when she saw it.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter III


I guess you might be wondering what the fuck I am doing serving The Lady. Fair enough. The Rebel talks a good game, about freedom, and ancestoral rights, and about the darkness of The Lady's servants, and the evil of the Domination, and the prophecies of their overthrow, and the return of the White Rose, and all this other feel good Rebel horse shit.

But I've seen the handiwork of Raker and Harden and the rest of their buddies on the Circle of Eighteen. They aren't any better than the Ten Who Were Taken. As for the Domination, it may have been hell on earth, but the victors wrote that history and The Lady left her husband in the ground when she and the Taken broke out of the Barrowland.

The Lady carved her new empire out of the kingdoms that grew up on the carcass of the Domination. Petty kings and wizard lords and tyrannies and what have you. For most folk, it was better under The Lady's empire than it had been before. The taxes more reasonable, the officials more honest, the forests and the cities safer. And so it was for about a generation before those displaced aristocrats formed the Cirlcle of Eighteen and raised the Rebel flag. They don't want freedom. They don't give a shit about the people. They just want to squeeze the peasants in the noble tradition of their ancestors. At least the Taken answer to The Lady.

Of course, with a full scale war on, she's a little busy and can't be watching her Taken to make sure they are being good little boys and girls. So Limper has a lot more slack than he usually has and then there is that whole war thing on top of it. So I'm riding out of this perfectly comfortable villa in the company of rapists, torturers, and murderers to go fuck with people in The Lady's service because The Limper got his feelings hurt.

We headed out in the morning. Stanick had horses for his entire crew, as well as remounts. I rode out with them. Let me announce that I am not a talented horseman. I managed but I was raw in a couple places for a while, but I think I managed to hide most of my discomfort. The mask and the leathers help. I fell in with two men, Vask and Murzo. Vask was an old hand and problably had his conscience removed a long time ago. Murzo was new blood and a little eager to please. He was a big kid, strong and cheery. A bit of a showoff. I liked him.

The weather remained good, which since it was heading fall and we were going north was no small thing. We passed a few battle fields and through a number of villages. These areas had been pacified by The Limper, a method which involved massacring everyone at any sign of resistance.

Stanick and Ice Eyes rode through like gods, making their demands of the locals and getting almost everything they wanted without qualm. Stanick didn't seem to be pushing too hard. I wonder if The Limper employed him not because he was good, but because he would do anything.

The second week in, we passed the Tower at Charm. We were pretty far, but it was easy to see because it's so damn big. The Tower is a cube five hundred feet in every dimension. The remnants of the stone used to construct it lie scattered around the Tower, huge blocks of stone which break up any attempt to approach it. Except for one pie slice shaped wedge that was clear and smoothed as a well manicured lawn. The only open approach to The Lady's home.

I kept looking over at the Tower as we passed. Something kept drawing my attention to it, almost like I could sense someone watching me. Maybe it was nothing, but I felt it. It was to prove a dangerous distraction.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter IV

We rode up the road toward the city of Elm and beyond that the Salient. The Rebel had a presence in this country, harassing bands of raiders that made trouble for the Lady, sucking away troops that could be used to hold down Forsberg or crush that cast iron bitch Whisper. It got colder and wetter the further north we went and all the damned trees made it easier for the enemy to ambush us.

One moment I was feeling a buzzing feeling in the back of my head from the Tower and the next I'm flopping off my horse and into the mud. My limbs don't work and I can dimly make out shouting and the clash of weapons around me. Some part of my brain functioned enough to realize that we had been ambushed and that I had been hit with a spell. Maybe I would have sensed the sorcerer if I hadn't been distracted, maybe I wouldn't have. That didn't matter now. Survival did. I managed to get some control over my arms and legs and I started to crawl.

The Rebel was laying in to us pretty good. A blast of sorcery, a flight of arrows, and a charge from the trees to finish us off before we could rally. It would have worked if we had been infantry, but we weren't. We were The Limper's pets and we were cavalry, so the arrows only dropped a couple of guys, and those who hadn't been dropped on their asses by sorcery fought back.

The Rebel pulled a few guys off their horses, mostly by killing the horses, and then laying into them. More than a few of our boys gave them a sword or an axe across the face for their efforts. But we were outnumbered and strung out in a line. And their sorcerer was on the job.

I got up just as three boys rushed forward to put me down. I whipped out my sword, not that I could do much with it in my state. Murzo split one of the Rebel's head with an axe and I took the opportunity to fall back. The Rebel moved around to get a good shot at Murzo's horse without taking a face full of steel and I saw an opening. I smacked one of them in the side with my sword. He much of been wearing mail because he staggered and grunted, but didn't go down.

It did take some of the pressure off Murzo, so maybe he could dispose of the other guy while I was keeping this one busy. He feignted and I fell for it, allowing him to stab me in the chest. He wasn't the only one wearing a mail shirt. It hurt though. He had opened himself up with that lunge, enough so even a mediocre swordsmen like myself could get a lick in. I brought my blade down on his left shoulder with less than poetic grace. It got the job done. I felt his collar bone break on the impact. He staggered back. I slashed him across the thighs and he went down.

Dropping him wasn't such a good thing. It let the Rebel sorcerer get another shot off at me. A cluster of javelins made of scarlet flames came my way. I turned sideways and they all managed to miss me, which was a good thing. The javelins struck the trees and the ground on the other side of the road and exploded noisely.

I threw a Shadow Fist at the witch, who was modestly sized figure of indeterminate sex whose features were obscured by a heavy cloak. He was standing beside a tree. The blurry bolt of shadow struck him and staggered him, hopefully buying me time for a follow up. Or perhaps I could deal with the half dozen of the Rebel coming my way with sharp implements in their hands and murder in their hearts.

I had a trick ready for them. I call it the Door into Winter and I usually keep one ready for emergencies. I let it loose. The air howled, the grass withered and turned white, and the Rebels fell over, armoured in ice.

The wizard was up to something again and I tried to wreck his work. It must of succeeded, because nothing came booming my way. A few arrows came my way. Two hit, one failing to penetrate the mail and the other grazed the side of my head. I scuttled back behind a tree before they fired again. I laid down a simple ward against sorcery. It wasn't much, but I needed all the help I could get.

I whipped up a cloud of darkness and threw it across that stretch of the road. I dashed across before their sorcerer could do much about it. I came out close to one of the archers. It would take him just a moment to nail me.

He didn't have that time. A Shadow Fist hit him in the neck and he fell over chocking. I kicked him in the side of the head to keep him down while his crushed trachea killed him. He obliged me by rolling his eyes up and flopping in an uncordinated manner as he suffocated. The other was trying to get a bead on me, but there was a big tree in the way.

I sent snakes of different coloured lights through the air to strike at his eyes. He recoiled and I smacked him in the chest with another Shadow Fist. He went down, maybe stunned, maybe more seriously hurt.

The Rebel sorcerer announced his position with another stun whammy. I fell to my knees, my head reeling. I saw him, not to far from me. He was going to hit me again before I recoverd and then as many times as necessary to finish me off. An then he was going to work on the rest of the troops.

Except he hadn't hit me as hard as he hoped. I sent three shafts of light blazing at him. Two hit him, one in the shoulder, the other in in the upper chest. His flesh burned where the light struck him. It didn't put him down.

I hit him in the chest with another Shadow Fist. Such a simple spell. Really just a more powerful version of the Golden Hammer and that is a mere child's spell. He staggered as I walked toward him, a blast of cold gathering in my hand. He straightened and tried to do something.

Too late. I unleashed my spell. He was instantly covered in hoar frost. He fell rigidly to the ground. I turned around, toward the fight still raged. I had work to do.

[Petrosjko]

Good work. The protagonist has been established as a likable character, and is interesting enough that the reader cares about his fate.

It is a bit obscure for non-followers of the novel series, such as myself, but not so much so that the thrust of the story can't be followed.

Other than some misspellings ('forward' is a consistant one you're doing here, unless it's an anachronistic spelling from the novels), the one critique I'd really lay on this is a tendency you have to fall into a rut of similarly sized paragraphs. It only goes for about three paragraphs or so, but in this reading format it really catches the eye.

[Imperial Overlord]

Thank you Petro.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter V

The Rebel didn't clue into the fact that they had lost their witch immediately, so I had to make sure they got the message. I whipped up a trick I had been working on and shot beams of chartreuse light from my hands. They put out enough heat to turn steel red hot in seconds. I turned two archers into torches. Then I got down to work.

A net of shadow went up, screening our boys. The Rebel had gotten cocky, going after mounted men while on foot. They had done some damage, but the survivors were being instructed in why this was usually a bad idea. I smacked a couple around with a few Shadow Fists. Lollying around stunned is a less than ideal condition to be in close quarters combat and most of them were swiftly sent on to their eternal reward.

About this point the Rebel got the idea that things weren't going as planned and decided to bug out. The flickering shadows I had set up around them made that easier, something I kept in mind for next time. So a lot of them slunk off, but some of them weren't able to make it out when there buddies left them in the lurch. Captain Ice Eyes and the rest made short work out of them. Three got taken captive.

We had gotten hit pretty hard. Eight guys dead, twice that number wounded. Stanick and a lot of his boys weren't too nice to begin with and they were seriously pissed. It was clear to a blind man that these guys were know nothing no rankers. But that didn't stop Captain Ice Eyes.

At first they were just tied up while we took care of our wounded. I'm a crappy healer, but I'm not completely useless. I gave the wounded a once over a did what I could. It wasn't much, but it helped.

Captain Ice Eyes had a nice little fire going by then and had heated up a knife. He went to work. It was bad, really bad. The Rebel were tough guys, but he had them calling for their mothers pretty quick. It wasn't anything I wanted to be near. He kept at it. They spewed out whatever gibberish they thought would make it stop. He didn't. A lot of people were clustered around them, smiling. The one with the biggest grin was Vask.

Stanick stopped it, but not out of mercy. We had to get a move on. So Ice Eyes opened their bellies with the dagger before tossing it away. Stanick wanted me out front, so I could winkle out anymore ambushers. So I was.

Murzo and Vask rode up beside me. Murzo was a little shaky, but otherwise good. Vask was unusually talkative. "Nice spell slinging."

"Thanks," I replied. It seemed the safest response, but he wanted to keep talking.

"They certainly howled when you burned them down." There was a big grin on his face, the kind of smile that most men have when they are talking about a sexual exploit. I pretended not to be sickened. "Damn, that was a good trick. We can get some good use out of that. Witch work scares people even worse than pain."

Great. I was getting a recruitment pitch to be the pet torturer for the Limper's pet psychopath. Life keeps on getting better.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter VI

We headed up north, through the Salient Gap. Fortunately we hooked up with a couple regiments of regulars, guys wearing Nightcrawler's badge. Like all good gaps between mountains, the Salient Gap screams ambush to the paranoid mind and by then I was plenty jumpy. We got through it all right and headed north into Forsberg, which was The Lady's first conquest when she and the Taken busted out of the Barrowland.

The Salient is shaped like an arrowhead pointing south. It's flat, mostly open country dominated by towns and fields. It's the heart of Forsberg, which is a cold, wet country with a lot of trees. North of the Salient you have the city of Oar and north of Oar lies the The Great Forest and the Barrowland.

Nightcrawler's boys didn't like us much and I can't say I blame them. Stanick only hooked up with them to avoid further Rebel ambushes. He made it clear that he thought he was better than Nightcrawler's commanders because he was a Taken's pet and they despised a political officer fucking up their military operation. The regulars also didn't care much for Stanick's boys high handed manners. It got real tense pretty fast.

I was fortunately enough, just an observer. In The Lady's army you learn that anyone wearing a mask is one of the Taken or one of The Lady's wizards. Nobody wanted a piece of that kind of trouble and left me out of the general nastiness. It wasn't too surprising that we parted company pretty quick.

Stanick had some kind of plan, but he was keeping it close to his chest. Soulcatcher was running the Salient and embarrassing him/her was one of the reasons The Limper wanted the Black Company to take a fall. I heard rumours about other reasons. Embarrassing incidents involving the deaths of some of his pets. The Limper is not someone who lets go of his grudges.

Stanick kept pushing us ahead until we hit this town called Ivy. Not a big place, nothing special. He paid a visit to the town's military governor and took Captain Ice Eyes along for the outing. They came back smiling like a cat who had just caught a canary.

Stanick didn't hide his cards for long. The Black Company's quarter master occassionaly made supply runs down here, in between sparing with Raker. He didn't come alone, of course. And if something happened to him, the Black Company would send some of their guys to investigate. They would be some of its best guys, probably including one of the Company's wizards. In particular, the group would probably include a guy called Raven, who The Limper had a special hard on for. We would take them and out and the Black Company would be out some supplies, men, and Raven. None of it tracible back to The Limper, should Soulcatcher take it to The Lady.

If possible, we were suppossed to take Raven alive so we could drag his ass back to The Limper. So in short we were going to ambush one of the best damn units in the north twice, screw them up now that finally someone is having some success against that bastard Raker, and then drag a bad ass back to The Limper where he knows he's going to face a fate worse than death. I really don't like this plan.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter VII

I was getting fleeced at cards when the news to pull out came in. They had unbent enough to invite me in and I had accepted. I couldn't play wearing a mask, of course, so I took it off as the cards were dealt my way. It was either this or watch some of the boys slither around the serving wenches. They weren't the kind that went upstairs with you and were probably part of the owning family. Two of the soldiers, a big blond named Will and a viscious dark haired whip of a man named Hark, were persistent. They weren't taking no for an answer. The others would back their play. And I would have to choose between doing the right thing and pissing off the guys who might knife me in my sleep.

So I took the coward's way out and joined the card game. I had tried something subtle, slowly dropping the temperature around them to give them something else to think about. Hark really hated the cold and whatever gods that existed had mercy. Hark took the final slapping away of his grabby hands, wrapped himself in his cloak, and sat his ass down by the fire.

Murzo was even worse at cards than me, but Vask and Catto seemed to be alternating who would take our money. It was uncanny enough to make me suspect cheating. I was wondering what to do about it as Will planted a kiss on a struggling barmaid before letting her go with a laugh. The innkeeper wasn't looking happy.

Stanick and Ice Eyes came through the door. Will stopped paying attention to the girl as the bosses strode in. "We're moving out," Ice Eyes ordered. "Get your shit packed. We're hitting the road." Saved by the psychopath. At this point, I was willing to take any favors I could get.

The plan was unveiled as we hit the road. Pulling this scheme in town, in Soulcatcher's territory, was just asking for trouble with the local garrison. So we weren't going to hit them there. We were going to take over a roadside in and hit them when they came through. No chance for anyone else to crash the party. The "murder all the witnesses after, including everyone at the inn" was left unstated but understood.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter VIII

It was easy in the end. I was being pushed towards a decision I didn't want to make, but I knew which one I way I would jump. There are limits to what I am prepared to do.

I already had a plan. The situation I was in set certain limits. No survivors, no witnesses. That and the lack of time to put it into motion pretty much constrained me to doing it at the first opportunity.

So I did. We road out to the end, through Forsberg's intemiable forests. We took a quick rest break around noon. A quick bite to eat and a chance to stretch our legs before hitting the road again. Or answer a call of nature. I took a quick walk into the woods, but not to empty my bladder.

There was a spell I had learned from the Limper. I had only a fraction of his strength, but it would do. I said the words and made the passes. When I walked back towards the men I was glowing a dull bloody red.

Eyes turned my way. Hands went to weapons. They weren't looking to me as a foe, but as a sign something was up. I felt bad about the betrayel, even if most of them deserved worse.

I opened the Door into Winter in their midst. It killed a dozen men instantly, freezing them and their horses. Those further away were only covered with frost or felt a chill wind.

They reacted quickly to my treachery, but I was already working on my next spell. I unleashed a jade beam from each hand at my former comrades. I caught Frakes in the face, burning the flesh off the front of his skull. Dorian took the beam in the chest and went down with his mail links glowing red. Another dead, another maybe down. Now it was their turn.

Two javelins hit me hard enough to stagger me, but not cut through the glow. Davo, Stev, and Pinky came at me with swords drawn. I whipped up a shroud of darkness and drew my own blade. They came out of the darkness, but I was off to the side. I slashed Stev's belly open.

It was easy. His mail parted under my edge as if it was tin, not steel. The Limper's spell did more than shielded, it enhanced my blade. I beat down Pinky's blade, notching it with every stroke. Davo scored on me a couple times, but they were weak strokes. I barely felt them. I split Pinky's skull open to the jaw and rounded on Davo.

He was white with fear but his courage hadn't deserted him. He knew that he was going to hit me damn hard if he was going to do anything. He raised his blade and took a step back. Fate, that fickly bitch, betrayed him. He slipped in the mud. I ran him through the chest while he was down. I could here his spine grate on my blade.

Too bad for me that the others had gotten around my shadow cloud. I dropped Murzo and Catto with shadow fists, but Vask got his hands on my arm. The veteran had figured out hitting me with steel wasn't working out that well, but I could still be pinned. With my other hand I put my dagger in his neck. The stubborn bastard continued to hold on.

Ice Eyes was holding his bastard sword in a two handed grip and was coming from the other side. I serious doubted my spells ability to hold off a full power swing from that monster. I swung around, using Vask as a human shield. Ice Eyes brought his sword down hard, finishing off his own man by cleaving his skull. I was splattered with Vask's blood and brains as Ice Eyes raised his blade.

But I had freed my arm from Vask. I rushed forward as Ice Eyes blade came down. I slapped it aside with my right arm. It hurt like hell. I could fell the vibration all the way up to my shoulder. But it worked. I slammed into Ice Eyes, who was probably stronger than me. I stabbed him in the thigh, just beneath his mail coat. The blade grated on bone as it went through. The handle became slick with blood and slipped out of my hand. He fell, clutching at me. I punched him in the face with my right hand. It hurt, but it was satifsfying. I half fell forward towards my cloud of darkness.

I pushed through to the other side. Mikel had a was there with a drawn bow and Nikos was beside him with a sword in hand. Mikel put an arrow in my chest. It went through spell, leather, and mail. It hurt like hell, but it didn't seem to be imparing me much. I invoked two more burning beams. I turned both their heads to cinders. I turned around and dropped the shroud. Stanick was there with a battle axe, Murzo was up with his sword drawn, and that big bastard Bull was moving up the side with a sword in each hand. Gods I was so tired.

The were about to give me the opportunity to work anymore sorcery. I unleashed a torrent of blue-white flame on Bull. He screamed for a moment before he blackened and fell. Murzo and Stanick charged.

Stanick was going straight in at me, Murzo a bit off the side. I leaped at Murzo. It startled him and I was able to brush his blade aside with my arm. I had left my dagger behind in Ice Eyes's leg, so I was unarmed. Fortunately Murzo had one with in easy reach. I grabbed it, twisted around, and stabbed Murzo. Hard.

I pushed the blade up through his stomach and into his heart. His face was inches from mine. I saw the hurt over my betrayel in the eighteen year old's eyes. Then Stanick hit me in the back with an ax. I felt bones break.

I fell on top of Murzo's dying body. I rolled away and raised my arm. Stanick hit me again. The blade didn't bite into my arm, but the impact broke the bone. I screamed in pain and frustration. The evil fuck was going to kill me and all the blood spilled would be for nothing.

I screamed out a word of power. My vision swam and I fell back. I struggled back into a siting position. Stanick was shaking his head and getting back to his feet. I had broken ribs, a broken arm, no weapons and no strength left. I picked up Murzo's sword and got to my feet.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chapter IX

I had no energy left for sorcery and not much fight left in me. Stanick had already gotten to his feet. He was just going to beat down my guard and hack my down. Unless I did something desperate.

I lunged forward with Murzo's sword. Stanick was still a little woozy and dodged back, moving the axe across to sweep aside my blade. A good move, but my injuries didn't slow me as much as I expected. My blade was lighter than his axe and better balanced so I was faster on the recovery. Stanick. I slash opened his forarm before he could counter.

The ax dropped as he hurridly switched hands. I lunged and stabbed him in the thigh. Murzo's blade was good enough that I punched through the mail links and drew blood. Stanick limped back. So did I. I raised my hand.

I don't know if I could have mustered a spell that could have been useful, but Stanick didn't know that. He lunged forward, swinging the axe. He would have killed me if he connected. I side stepped out of the way and whacked him on the shin. He howled in pain.

It was butcher's work after that. He couldn't catch me and was using his bad hand. I nicked and cut and battered him until he could barely stand. I sliced his hand open and he dropped the axe and then I ran him through. Only then did I allow myself to collapse.

It was a long time before I moved again. I retrieved my sword and bound my wounds as best as I could. Minor sorceries sped my healing. I rode away.

A Rebel ambush would be my story. Thin, but who was going to look too hard? I would be well away from the Limper for a while, would probably be reassigned to a local unit. Might even fight the Rebel.

Stanick's crew were a bad lot, for the most part. I don't pretend to be a saint, but we had fought together and killing them didn't sit to well. But I couldn't be a party to what they had done and what we were going to do. I don't know if that makes me strong or weak, but that's the choice I made.