<h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    “So this is ‘sword,’ and this is ‘spear’... How do I write ‘axe’?”


    Urich’s questions were endless, and his eyes sparkled with the joy of learning.


    “’’Axe’ is...”


    As Horus continued to teach him, Urich did not take long to copy after him. His focus and concentration were phenomenal. As the night wore on, the yawns of the guards watching over the tent grew more frequent. After all, no one ever really attempted a night raid on a diator squad unless they were out of their minds.


    <i>Thwip</i>.


    An arrow ripped through the cold night air. A guard who was roaming about with a torch in his hand fell to the ground after the arrownded on him.


    “Huh?”


    Arrow after arrow emerged from the darkness. The diators and guards who were enjoying their rxation in their camp all scrambled to their feet.


    “We havepany, it’s a night raid!”


    “Grab your shields!”


    “Come on, get up!”


    The men shouted at each other and got into their battle formation.


    “What kind of lunatics are raiding a diator squad? God dammit,” the diatorsined under their breath.


    diator squads were not like the typical caravans. The diators, who were considered the squad’s ‘products’, were seasoned, experienced warriors. Even those who frequently raided the caravans didn’ty a finger on these squads.


    “A r-raid?”


    Horus moved swiftly, as he was just the man in charge of keeping the squad running, not an actual warrior like his diators.


    <i>Thwip!</i>


    An arrownded beside Horus, missing him narrowly.


    “We gotta find you a cover for now, Horus,” Urich said to Horus as he grabbed him and ran, practically dragging him along.


    <i>‘I can’t see where they’re shooting from. They were smart to attack us at night.’</i>


    Urich’s eyes were adjusted to the bright light in the camp so he couldn’t pick out the enemies from the darkness. He proceeded to close one eye at a time. He was nning to adjust his eyes by alternating opening them.


    <i>‘First, I have to make sure Horus can stay safe. Then, I’ll join the fight.’</i>


    Urich was aware of how important Horus was in keeping this diator squad running. Without him, the squad had no proper guidance. Horus was the one who always used his connections to secure their tournaments. Any diator could be reced, but their leader Horus was irreceable.


    “Horus, you need to stay here for now... Shit.” Urich dove behind a boulder with Horus, then frowned once he came to the realization.


    “K-kek.”


    Horus was grasping his neck. There was an arrow stuck in his neck, and his top had already been drenched in his own blood.


    “Hey, let me see!” Urich inspected the wound.


    <i>‘It’s stuck in deep. There’s nothing I can do about it.’</i>


    Horus’ throat soon became filled with blood to the point of blocking his speech. All he could do was gasp for air to dy the inevitable.


    “Listen to me, Horus. Look at me, and listen,” Urich said to Horus as he tapped on his cheek to retain his attention. Horus eventually locked his eyes on Urich as he trembled away. They could hear the screams and shouts echoing throughout the camp as their diator squad retaliated against the raiders.


    “You are about to die. You don’t have much time left. I suggest you stop shaking in fear and start praying to your god and prepare yourself!”


    Horus’ pupils shook at Urich’s words. He was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it other than ept it with what little time he had left.


    <i>Tinkle.</i>


    Urich pulled out the symbol of Srism from the inside of Horus’ shirt and put it in his hand.


    “The Sun god followers believe in reincarnation, right? Then I’m sure we’ll see each other again in this world, Horus. You have nothing to be scared of.”


    Horus’ trembling subsided as he nodded weakly to Urich’s assurance. After assuring his leader, Urich drew a line from his eyes all the way down to his chin with Horus’ blood.


    “I came from the other side of the mountains, Horus. Yes, the Sky Mountains. On my side, it’s all people just like me. I, Urich of the Stone Axe Tribe, swear to the sky on my name. The ones who attacked us tonight will not leave here alive. So, don’t even worry about getting your revenge, and rest now Horus.”


    With his bloody hands, Horus grabbed Urich’s. His eyes became still as he gazed at Urich.


    “Hmm,” Urich muttered under his breath. He reached out and closed Horus’ eyes. Horus was dead.


    “Promises must be kept.”


    Urich drew his axes. He had sworn vengeance. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and finally, his enemies were now within his sight.


    * * *


    “What insane people would do this? Kek!”


    “Shit, get your shields up.”


    Night raids were one of the most effective forms ofbat. When sessful, it allowed a small group to take on a muchrger enemy. The Horus diators were hit hard with a well-nned night raid. There were ten men down already, and the casualty was only increasing.


    “If you have a shield, step up to the front, dammit!”


    There was nomand to guide the diators, leaving them confused as they yelled at each other.


    “Rallo, Paul, Bajorn, grab two more men and move up the right side! Giggs and Nelsey, you two areing with me,” Donovan gave his orders in his full armor. He was the only diator with military experience, so at hismand, the diators responded to the situation.


    <i>‘The dark bushy hill, that’s where they are shooting from.’</i>


    Retreating was an option, as they did not know how many men they were up against. They were undoubtedly at a disadvantage.


    <i>‘We can’t run without trying. They shouldn’t have that many men. If they did, they would have already surrounded us and came at us with their swords.’</i>


    Donovan’s judgment was purely objective. He climbed the hill with his shield in front of him until he started seeing the shadows of his enemies through the tall grass.


    “Throw it!”


    Donovanunched his javelin ahead. A scream came from the bushes.


    “Go, Rallo!”


    The diators that took a detour jumped into the bushes as Donovan and the others charged forward with a battle cry.


    “Keugh!”


    A close-rangebat broke out. Those who joined the fightte illuminated the area with their torches.


    <i>‘Are they bandits? Mercenaries? Never mind that, it doesn’t matter.’</i>


    It was not umon for mercenaries to turn themselves into bandits. The more prestigious, upper-ss mercenary organizations were somewhat fixed armies, but a small group like this blurred the line between the two professions.


    “Keep going, kill them all! I’ll pay you double!” Someone shouted from among the enemies. It was a young man dressed in clean clothes that didn’t fit the asion at all.


    “Trios?”


    Someone recognized the face of the young man. It was Trios, the noble who had been humiliated by his champion at the Count’s party the other night.


    “That bastard was the one who attacked us? For what?”


    The diators were dumbfounded at the unexpected discovery.


    “Does he think that it’s our fault that he humiliated himself in front of the other nobles? That crazy bastard.”


    Trios’ men clearly outnumbered what was left of the diators. He had hired around thirty mercenaries to raid the Horus diators, who now had about twenty men left after being hit by their sneak attack.


    <i>‘We’re being overrun, we have too many injuries,’</i> Donovan thought to himself as he mmed his shield on the enemy in front of him. His eyes were reading the flow of the battle.


    “Die, you diator scums!” Trios’ mercenaries shouted with a high morale. They seemed to be getting quite a big paycheck for this job.


    <i>‘This would all be over if we could just grab Trios and hold him hostage, but he won’te out of his cowardly hiding.’</i>


    Donovan found himself surrounded by more and more enemies. A few of the guards and diators began to flee as they realized how outnumbered they were, not to mention the majority of the ve diators who had been released so that they could fight alongside them. Sven was the only ve who stayed behind.


    <i>‘You can’t me the ves for running for their lives. Tsk, maybe I should have gone with them.’</i> Donovan started considering his options.


    “Wo-woahhhh!”


    A beastly howl came from the bushes. A man leaped straight into the middle of the chaotic battleground.


    “Urich!” The diators eximed once they recognized the man.


    “We thought you ran away, you bastard!”


    “Me? Run away? Are you joking?”


    Urich grinned at them as he jumped into the enemies. He was, quite literally, in the middle of the enemy lines.


    <i>sh!</i>


    Blood spattered as heads rolled on the ground. Urich’s pair of battle axes danced in his hands


    “Urich, grab him! It’s Trios from the party!” Donovan eximed at Urich. He was well aware of what Urich was capable of.


    <i>‘He can ram through all of them and get to Trios.’</i>


    The mercenaries distanced themselves from Urich out of fear.


    “What? Who are you giving orders to, Donovan?” Urich yelled as he red at Donovan. They were not on good terms, and they never were. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they killed each other right then and there from all the bad blood they had umted.


    <i>Woosh</i>.


    Urich’s shoulder moved. His axe ripped through the air toward Donovan.


    <i>Crunch!</i>


    Donovan quickly turned his head. Urich’s axe had mmed into a mercenary’s head who tried to sneak up on Donovan.


    “Look behind you before you start barking orders at me, asshole,” Urich said as he drew his sword with his now spare hand. With his axe in one hand and sword in the other, he yed through anyone who wasid in front of him with his double-handed maneuver.


    “W-what is that thing?”


    Urich was on apletely different level, both here and back home. He stood out wherever he went. In the enemy’s eyes, Urich was not a human.


    “Eek!”


    Trios screamed in terror. Urich sliced through all of his mercenaries and came straight at him.


    “Look who it is, a familiar face!”


    <i>Boom!</i>


    Urich mmed his head into Trios’ face, who copsed backward.


    “M-my nose!” Trios muttered as he sped his shattered nose. Urich tilted his chin up with the t of this sword.


    “The man who is writing your paycheck is right there with our leader. Drop your weapons and surrender now!” Donovan shouted. The mercenaries flinched and dropped their weapons one by one.


    “You sons of bitches!” The diators punted the powerless mercenaries and spat on their faces.


    “P-please let me live. I’ll pay for all the dead diators. I’m a noble—I have the right to pay my way out of this,” Trios said as he trembled in fear. Urich and the other diators finally caught their breath. There were about ten of Trios’ mercenaries left. They all had their eyes closed, waiting for their execution.


    “Hey, let’s just take the money. He was going to spend a fortune trying to kill us, so I’m sure he will be more than willing to pay us even more than that,” Donovan suggested as he wiped the blood off his face. The other diators nodded in agreement.


    “If you kill a noble, the rest of them wille for you even if it was self-defence. It also won’t be good for the image of our squad,” Bachman said to show his disagreement with Donovan.


    Urich hesitated to give them his reply. Instead, retrieved his axes and walked up to Trios.


    “There’s no more squad. Horus is dead.”


    “Horus died? God dammit.”


    The diators fell silent at Urich’s words, who was now standing before Trios as he wiped the blood off the de of his sword.


    “I swore to Horus that I would avenge him.”


    <i>Schluck.</i>


    Urich didn’t give anyone a chance to stop him. He stabbed Trios’ stomach with his sword.


    “Keugh, d- do you know who I am? I-I’m...”


    <i>Crunch.</i>


    Urich twisted his sword inside Trios’ stomach. Trios’ head dropped.


    “Shit, why would you kill him!” Donovan frowned and looked at the captured mercenaries. They couldn’t afford to leave any witnesses now that they had killed a noble.


    “W-we won’t say a word about this, no, we’ll work for you! We’ll do anything, just don’t kill... A-argh!”


    Donovan beheaded the mercenary who was knelt before him. The other diators followed suit as they released a sigh.


    “I’m sorry about this, but we were both trying to kill each other just a minute ago, right? Don’t me me for this,” Bachman said as he stabbed the heart of a mercenary. There were no survivors nor witnesses.


    “Gather up the bodies and burn them all.”


    The remaining diatorsid the bodies out and collected their loot.


    “Does anyone know the funeral prayer?”


    “Oh, I know it.”


    “Good,e back in a bit and do one for them.”


    By dawn, the cleanup was finished. The survivors proceeded with the funeral ritual with their eyes bleary with exhaustion. They gathered some dry firewood,id them around the bodies, and covered it in oil.


    “Oh, Lou, receive your sons with open arms as they return to your embrace...”


    The bodies burned as a few of the diators recited the prayer along.


    <i>‘The Sun God Lou.’</i>


    Urich watched the funeral.


    <i>‘When people die here, their souls ascend all the way up to the sun where they are purified and reborn into a new life.’</i>


    The solemn prayer was finished.


    <i>‘I wonder if Horus is being reincarnated somewhere.’</i>


    Everyone feared death. Urich also grew up watching his brothers die.


    <i>‘My dying brothers and I said that we would one day meet in the spirit world beyond the Sky Mountains. But there was no such thing. Our souls cannot be here, or anywhere.’</i>


    The afterlife that Urich had believed in all his life was gone.


    <i>‘The reincarnation of Srism, the Field of Swords of the north.’</i>


    Everyone else had somewhere to go after they died. Urich did not.


    “Alright, so what do we do now?”


    The diators huddled up after finishing the funeral.


    “Well, we can’t be diators anymore. Horus was the one with all the connections, and now he’s gone.”


    “Let’s just get our money and go our separate ways.”


    “A bunch of us don’t have enough money to go back home. And what about the wounded?”


    The diators exchanged their opinions for a while. Urich watched in silence.


    He was deep in his thoughts as the dawn air was melting in the sunlight. Then, he finally opened his mouth.


    “Mercenaries.”