Call To Arms by Mitchel Scanlon

Author:Mitchel Scanlon
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2011-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

QUESTIONS OF SURVIVAL

The wolf stood at the head of the trail, its nose raised as it warily sniffed at the air. The goblin rider on its back waited patiently, eyes darting quickly from left to right as it scanned the forest on either side of the trail.

‘Move, you bastard,’ Holst said, whispering quietly so neither the wolf nor its rider would hear him. ‘Get a move on, before the wind changes and it ruins everything.’

Finally, the wolf came to a decision. Satisfied, it lowered its nose. Taking its behaviour as a sign, the goblin spurred his mount on down the trail, simultaneously turning to signal to the other unseen riders behind him that the way ahead was clear.

‘Now we wait,’ Holst said, his voice barely audible. ‘Give them time to draw abreast of us, then it’s wolf stew on the menu.’

Crouched beside him as they hid concealed in the undergrowth at the side of the trail, Dieter waited with bated breath. The situation brought back memories of the times in his childhood he had spent on hunting trips with Helmut Schau, stalking deer and other wild game through the forest in the lean seasons when the summer was over and the harvesting was done. The difference was he had never known such danger when they were hunting deer, nor been so hungry as he was now.

‘Nearly there,’ Holst spoke in a barely audible murmur as the goblin scout and his mount padded past them. ‘Let Rieger take the scout. We’ll take the leading riders in the war party, and let the others take the rest.’

Following behind the scout, another half a dozen goblin wolf riders rode into view. They came down the trail at a brisk pace, unknowingly moving closer to the ambush.

Dieter heard a sound like the cry of an owl come from further down the trail. Confused at hearing a nocturnal bird make its call during the day, the wolf riders looked dumbly around them. Too late, the significance of the call dawned on them.

‘There’s the signal!’ Holst yelled. ‘Attack!’

Dieter was already ahead of him. Leaping from the undergrowth, he attacked the nearest target. The wolf and its rider tried to turn to face him, but he was already thrusting with his sword. The blade caught the wolf in the side of the neck, silencing the growl building in its throat. Raising his shield to ward off the blows of the goblin rider, Dieter thrust his sword forward again, stabbing the wolf deep in the heart. As the creature fell he lashed out his sword at the falling rider, killing the goblin before it hit the ground.

Elsewhere, his comrades had been just as successful. It was over quickly. Along the trail, the wolves and their riders were dead. The ambushers had killed their victims without suffering a single casualty.

‘All right, that’s good work,’ Holst said, casting an eye back to the head of the trail to see if there were any more goblins following behind the ones they had killed.

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