Lefewer
Nathan grabbed the reins of his horse with all he could, jerking from left to right trying to prevent losing his balance and being overthrown from the great stallion. Time was running out and all he could think of was, would he be too late. The sun began its decent into the horizon as darkness began to engulf the night sky. Branches and twigs flew by his head barley missing his cheeks as his horse galloped and jumped over dead trees and small ponds. How could he have been such a fool to fall for such an obvious diversion? Nathan dug his heels into the horse as the noise of oncoming riders grew louder by each passing second. The distance between him and those in pursuit began to close. Visibility began to diminish until all Nathan had to ride by was the broken moon light that seeped through the tops of the trees. Nathan was almost home when he heard the sound of an arrow fly by his ear. Then numerous of arrows began to descend upon until one finally made impact on the back of his left shoulder.
The pain was almost unbearable as it dug into his muscle scraping the bone with each movement. The voices sounded dangerously close but there was nothing more he could do. The end of the forest was in sight, he could barely make it out but nonetheless it was there. He then felt the puncture of another arrow as it penetrated his left thigh. His blood dripped steadily and profusely as he tried to force his leg against the warmth of the horse’s body. Nathan’s long black hair fell into his face as he turned to look behind him. The dark silhouettes of approximately six riders were now within two breaths away. He turned to his stallion and with his wounded leg asked for a faster pace, but the steam that rose from the horse’s nostrils signified that he was exerting as much as he could. The smell of smoke and cinder began to engulf the night air. The sight of glowing read and yellow flames slowly came into view. They were burning his home to the ground and he was still too far to do anything about it. But what turned his stomach the most was that he had no idea as to the whereabouts of his wife. Was she able to escape in time, surely she must have. Nathan had to believe that she did in fact have time to flee. He couldn’t cloud his mind with such thoughts or he would be useless in battle. The luxury of choice was no longer his to call upon. He had to turn and fight those from behind or suffer a stray arrow that would end his life or worst yet get home just to be outnumbered from the front as well as the rear.
A mixture of feelings washed over his entire body. A great veil of sadness lay upon him as he imagined his wife being killed. A sense of regret tumbled within his gut for leaving in the first place instead of staying behind to protect her. Nathan had to shuffle all those feelings aside freeing his mind to the task at hand. The horse’s stride began to decrease its speed until it finally came to a complete stop. Nathan reared the stallion so that both would face their enemy. The horse stood restless as Nathan withdrew his rifle from its holster. The enemy must have gathered that Nathan had stopped to fight for they should have arrived by now. The crackling sound of burning wood filled the atmosphere; no other sounds of wildlife could be heard. Nathan put his rifle up to his shoulder and commenced to aim into the shadows. He lined his sights between the tree trunks as he scanned to the left and right of his position. The air was razor cold as it hit his face and the back of his neck. Snow flakes began to drift into view. The horse shifted its stance every few moments as if agitated with the climate.
Silence drowned the scene making the woods seem tranquil. Nathan grew impatient; he had to get home to confirm that his wife did escape. He couldn’t waste time here, not like this. Then in the corner of his eye he saw a branch move; simultaneously he shifted his weight and shot the individual that released an arrow which came close to hitting Nathan on his right flank. Then pulling the reins motioned the horse to speed out of the woods. The arrows continued as Nathan finally emerged from the wilderness and onto the flat lands of grass that led to his home. Nathan could see the whole view, his home fully involved in fire and pitch dark smoke. His livestock had been butchered as his helpers lay bloody and dead on the ground. Some had arrows protruding from their chests while others were unnecessarily decapitated. Nathan was now consumed with anger and hate towards the enemy. He wanted to kill them all for everything they had done and continued to do.
All of a sudden Nathan felt the horse jerk to a complete stop throwing the two of them to the ground. Nathan felt himself slip in then out of consciousness as he struggled to pull his leg from underneath the horse. As he freed himself he realized that an arrow had struck the horse into the neck causing a fatal injury. Nathan gazed down the field and saw the riders advancing towards him in full stride. Reaching underneath his dirty brown overcoat he pulled his rifle out and steadied himself on the ribs of his dead horse that lay on its side. Then holding his breath be began to aim, once the enemy was in sight he released the smoke from his nostrils and fired hitting the enemy in the head. He quickly repeated these steps shooting at least three more until running out of ammo. Two were now upon him, seeing the first ride straight for him he took his rifle and swung it knocking the enemy off his horse. The grounded enemy took a long wide knife out from his boot and ran towards Nathan who in turn removed his own knife from its sheath. The knife came down to strike Nathan on the head, but instead hit the barrel of his rifle. Nathan then seeing this opportunity broke the knee cap of his adversary and using his free hand drove the knife straight into the heart of his enemy who instantly feel to the earth. Just as he withdrew his blade an arrow hit him on his neck scraping a large portion of his flesh off. An enormous amount of warm blood began to flow with ease soaking his shirt and skin underneath. Nathan turned to see his home and suddenly saw an image that appeared to be his wife. Someone had his wife by the hair dragging her to front of the home. Nathan took a step towards her direction but was struck from behind by the remaining enemy. Nathan could feel the shaft of the knife as the enemy released it from his back.
Nathan stood idle for a moment; bewildered at the sight that lay before him. He yearned so intensely for the strength to run and free his wife, but to no avail his legs would not react. Nathan feeling heavy fell to his knees where he stayed gazing into the fire and at his wife. Then in plain view the two shadows fought for a moment with a backdrop of flames and heat, until ultimately the larger shadow struck his wife in the stomach with what appeared to be a long knife. Nathan felt utter disgust with himself for not doing anything, and total hatred for the one who ended her life. The enemy thinking Nathan was dead brought the knife in front of his neck to slice his throat. Nathan seeing this grabbed the hand that held the knife and pushed it upwards with all his might imbedding it into the chest of his enemy. Nathan felt weak and extraordinarily heavy as he crawled towards his dead horse. He then retrieved a long bow and arrow which he then used to aim. Holding what felt like a hundred pound weight, Nathan pulled the arrow back and when he thought it best released the arrow which then flew across the field at an enormous rate. Nathan waited until it made impact before he could take a breath. The figure stood motionless when the arrow made contact. The dark silhouette then turned to face Nathan’s direction. Nathan couldn’t understand it, the arrow made direct contact to the head which would have brought down any enemy. The dark figure then began to run into a full sprint towards Nathan who sat next to his horse unable to move. Nathan felt a slight moment of fear as this thing came running towards him. Nathan readied himself with his knife and waited for the figure to get into arms length. As the enemy approached, Nathan could see what appeared to be some sort of armor that surrounded his entire body and head. It was grayish in color and stained with blood. The armor appeared cumbersome and made of lead, but the figure was moving swiftly as if it were made of paper. The figure was enormous in height; well over six feet as it quickly grabbed Nathan by his wounded neck and flung him across the field with the greatest of ease. Nathan hit the ground with a large thud as blood was forced out of his mouth. Nathan was able to hold onto his knife through the struggle and when his enemy came from behind and lifted Nathan off the grassy earth and into the air again Nathan stabbed the enemy in the head, but the blade broke into a few pieces leaving nothing but a handle in his bloody hand.
Nathan stared into the eyes of death as the two glanced over each other. The enemy appeared to be a knight dressed in armor. A million thoughts skimmed across Nathan’s mind, for he thought knights no longer existed and what were they doing here in the New World?
“Who are you?” asked Nathan with blood in his mouth as the figure held him up by his deformed neck. The figure stood looking over his prey with only his yellow eyes visible. The helmet he wore showed years of wear and experience.
“Vosc,” replied the figure in a deep unknown accent. Nathan then felt a cold blade enter his abdomen. It was a shock and very sudden but the damage was done. The figure then released Nathan who fell to the ground like a lump of dead flesh. Nathan lay on his side watching the figure along with his followers disappear into the woods from which it came. Breathing was becoming difficult as his life slowly began to dissipate. His view slimmed down as darkness emerged to take over his sight. Suddenly all he could do was hear off into the distance the sound of burning wood and crackling lumber. He was dying and strapped to his bruised soul was the weight of regret and hate. He failed his wife and could now do nothing to avenger her if he was dead. He damned the figure responsible for his current state, this Vosc character. Then with his last breathe before passing out he said his wife’s name, “Madeleine.”
Just a few seconds later a horse appeared with a rider dressed in a black cloak. The rider glazed over the wreckage until he heard a voice in the field. Dismounting from his horse, the figure approached Nathan and began to assess for life.
“This one’s still alive, but barely,” said the figure with a low tone. He then lifted Nathan onto the back of his horse with almost no trouble. Then pulling on the reins headed towards the burning home. The movement of the horse caused Nathan to awake only momentarily. When he opened his eyes he saw a man with short black hair and a sword across his back.
“Who are you?” sluggishly asked Nathan.
“Please, save your strength. My name is Lefewer, I’m here to help.” Nathan after hearing this closed his eyes and fell to sleep.
“Copyright © 2004 by Robert Dominguez Jr. All Rights Reserved.”