The day had finally come for the two to leave. Dave got his knives and swords with him, and hid his armor behind a simple cloth shirt. He then covered himself with a fur coat, to conceal the blades completely, took his money, which he had converted into three gold coins to carry them easily, and took off towards the fields. Eddie, while he couldn't do much in the way of preparing yet, scouted the guards carefully, to detect any odd behavior from them. He didn't get any weird vibes from them yet, but he had to inform Dave immediately if he did. One wrong thing would scrutinize their plan if not accounted for.
Once in the fields, Dave paid the supervisor his usual fee with some of the marks he hadn't converted yet, and was led to the quarters. The sun shone above, and the day was calm, without any noise, while the summer crickets hadn't appeared just yet. This meant they had to be extra careful with their plan, so as to not make a commotion or too much noise. The two met, and exchanged their usual greeting in front of the supervisor. The slave seemed particularly nervous that day, and it seemed a bit off, so the supervisor decided to head north, towards the estate.
"He is going to inform the Lords. Once we turn our backs he'll start running thinking he will go unnoticed. He may have understood our plot", Dave said calmly, but looking like a predator whose plans had been foiled
He took out one of the knives and a short sword, and gave them to Eddie. "Slash and point towards the enemy. Block with the dagger. RUN NOW!" he said, shouting the last part, and started running towards the gate himself. It would be all over once the supervisor informed his Lords.
He saw the three guards standing at the gate from far away. They seemed relaxed, and had gotten some beer to drink from the old warehouse by the gates, but when they spotted the two youths, they prepared themselves and stood up, one of them grabbing his sword, while the other two picked up their wooden lances.
"STAY CLOSE, I'LL STRIKE FIRST. BUY ME SOME SECONDS WITH THE OTHERS" Dave shouted. It was stupid to yell their plan in front of the enemy, but there was no other way, he couldn't do otherwise while running
Eddie was flabbergasted. He had never been in a real fight, one without fists, but with blades and blood. His stomach felt like it was all tied together with knots, and his knees could barely hold his weight. He held the blades in front of him and just ran alongside Dave. He was now doubting the plan for the first time, but there was no other way. The will to live and be set free pushed him to run to the gate.
A loud clang of metal echoed through the open fields, as Dave clashed sword to sword with the guard. The other two were about to join in, but were clearly inexperienced, and were afraid of stabbing their own comrade by accident. That moment of indecisiveness was all Eddie needed to compose himself. He threw his dagger towards one of them, seemingly wasting a shot. The flying knife was parried at the last moment, but it threw the soldier off balance. Eddie managed to exploit the opening and slash at him with his short sword.
While Eddie was fighting with the two spear wielders, trying to buy some time, Dave was pushing himself to his limit fighting the swordsman. The guard was clearly more experienced, and if it wasn't for Dave's physical strength, he would be on the back foot after a few seconds. The swordsman had just exploited a small opening in Dave's defense to thrust at his chest. Dave managed to parry the lounge, but in return received a surface slash on his now exposed side. He quickly threw himself at the opponent in a dangerous counterattack.
The soldier was taken aback by the sudden change of style, and just as he was about to respond, he received a kick in his groin. He was instinctually folded in two by the pain, and his head was quickly cut off by Dave's sword. Dave knew his counterattack was dangerous and unorthodox. If the guard had dodged the kick, he would have just slashed at Dave while he was still performing his kicking pirouettes, but a sharp attack was his best weapon against a stronger opponent.
He quickly rushed to Eddie's aid, who was fighting the two much more inexperienced guards, but once he turned his head, he saw the figure of a horseman, lightly armored and armed with a war hammer, quickly heading towards them. They had to kill the two guards quickly.
Eddie, who was fighting the two guards was actually in a comfortable position, or at least as comfortable one could be while fighting to the death for the first time. Once he mustered the courage to throw himself close to them, he realized that close combat was the greatest drawback of a spear.
The two guards would be thrown into
imbalance just by thrusting with the lances, and carrying two giant sticks that constantly clashed with each other, made it impossible to coordinate. They had left Eddie with a lot of obvious openings to exploit.
One of them suddenly threw himself forward towards Eddie, in a desperate attempt to sway the tide of the battle. He missed his target by a longshot, and left himself completely open. Eddie managed to exploit the opening, and actually stabbed him in the throat. The soldier let the spear fall down, as he grasped his neck in a desperate attempt to breath. It was all futile. His lungs were filled with the metallic taste of blood, as his comrade's head was swiftly severed from its body by one of Dave's slashes.
"I'm afraid we'll have to run right now!", Dave said, pointing to the direction of the horseman, who was now only two dozen yards away from them.
Eddie rushed towards the gate near him, but Dave stayed behind for a split second, to get one of the spears the guards dropped on the ground upon dying. He quickly raised it towards the horseman, who managed to stop his horse without getting shish kebab'd at the last moment. Staying up on the horse would only make him a target, so he quickly dropped down the horse, careful to not leave any openings. The man was well built, and carrying the hammer seemed no problem for him, despite its weight.
"I am Lord Myrian, heir to the Dukedom beyond the Woodlands. I supervise the farmlands and the town of Aesfield. If you surrender right now, I'll spare your life with only a few whippings, and maybe a cut nose. Can't say the same for the slave though", The warrior stated, with a firm, and maybe proud voice, but readied his hammer, just in case.
Dave decided to reply with his sword, taking a defensive stance and grabbing his sword back from its sheath.
"So be it", said Myrian, grinning from ear to ear. He was a seasoned warrior, who had served to the border and rose through the ranks, without even needing the help of his father. Killing two little pests that dared to defy the Empire and the Duke's rule was small business for him.
Despite his fighting experience, and his exceptional skill with his hammer, Myrian was at a disadvantage from even before the battle started. The earth of the field had become soft, after seasons of rain and snow eating at its firmness. This would make his footing unstable while wielding a heavy weapon, and his balance would be severely compromised. Moreover, fighting against two people able to switch between them, and fought with sword and spear could make their moves unpredictable. So, even with his confidence in his skill, he waited for one of his two opponents to attack.
Dave struck first, grabbing the lance and lounging forward, while utilizing the momentum of a jump to add extra weight to his attack. Dodging the strike seemed easy for the Lord, so he simply sidestepped, and tried to strike at the spear to smash it in two pieces, making it useless. Dave managed to quickly pull back, partially losing his balance and creating an opening for his opponent to strike. Myrian made a side swing to smash at Dave's face, and putting behind all of his arm strength up to the shoulders. Dave barely managed to dodge it, and quickly stepped back, throwing the spear towards his opponent. It would be useless up that close, and he didn't need it since Myrian hopped down his horse. Myrian dodged, while Dave had his next strike at the ready. He moved his fight close to his opponent, utilizing the bad mobility of the hammer at such small range to his advantage. He made hit after hit, with feints upon feints, and while Myrian managed to dodge or parry every one of them, due to the small distance separating them, he was unable to counterattack. He tried to step back, but Dave simply followed him wherever he retreated.
Eddie could only watch the battle, as intervening amidst that fight would only put Dave in danger and complicate things. He grasped his sword, holding it at the ready for whenever a good opportunity presented itself to jump and slash. He then noticed the old warehouse near the gate. He never really paid it much attention, as he rarely went near the gate, but now, an idea was slowly forming in his head. The warehouse was used for storing mainly two things: white bread and its ingredients, and some barrels of wine or beer. Since it had no windows, and was completely closed, you had to light a lamp to see your way through.
"DAVE, TRY TO HOLD ON FOR ONE MINUTE", He screamed to his friend as he rushed to the warehouse.
Myrian grinned to Dave, thinking the slave had just abandoned the fight. Dave was barely able to hold on. The tide of the battle had turned again, as the young warrior slowly exhausted Dave of all his stamina, making him unable to strike much anymore. He was quickly forced on the defensive, and could hold the sword only out of sheer willpower, and the sluggishness of his opponent.
Eddie came out of the warehouse holding a lamp and a torn, heavy sack of flour. Myrian was faced opposite to the warehouse, so he was unable to notice anything. Eddie moved slowly, due to the weight of the sack, but Dave was able to decipher his friend's plan, and wore a grin on his face.
Seeing Dave's distraction as an opportunity to strike, Myrian managed to push his opponent back with a shoulder thrust. Dave was taken aback due to the weight, and completely lost his balance. His hand broke as the hammer finally managed to hit a target. Using only his strength of mind to prevent himself from fainting due to the pain and exhaustion, he quickly stood back and retreated.
Eddie was now close to his target. He had moved silently as a mouse, and when he found himself next to Myrian, he unleashed hell. He tore the sack completely, letting the white flour create a fog, suffocating his opponent. He then quickly jumped back and threw the lamp, creating mayhem.
Myrian's skin blackened and flaked, opening wounds and filling them with flames as the resulting explosion found its target. He screamed and gasped for air as the fire consumed the oxygen, in and out of his lungs. His hair was carbonized by the flame, and further increased the strain put on his brain by the heat.
When the explosion caused by the combination of flour and fire died down, Myrian was still alive, but barely. He couldn't breath, as the heat had effectively caramelized his lungs. He dried to draw a breath, but his airways were filled with blood, further clogging them up. He pleaded with Eddie, silently, with only his eyes, to put him out of his misery. Eddie complied, pushing his dagger deep into the man's throat, and slicing it. All signs of life were gone from the Lord's eyes now. He hadn't been a good or kind person in his life. But he had high aspirations. Becoming a commander in the army, turned the heir to the Dukedom, going to academies and learning martial arts. And now, his life was snuffed out in excruciating agony by a man he thought he owned. The memory of his death would be etched in Eddie's memory forever.
He fixed Myrian's and the guard's bodies straight, to at least pay some respect to the lives he took. He then collected his and Dave's blades, sheathing them in his belt. He lifted the now unconscious Dave and carried him on his back. He would take care of him and his wounds once they got out of there. A raindrop fell on his hands. He saw another falling to the ground. Soon, a light drizzle was falling around him. He slowly walked into the woods to hide. The residents of the estate wouldn't suspect anything for some time, so he went in his own pace, until he reached a thick point in the forest. He sat down on the earth of the forest to rest, as the rain was falling down around him. He was finally free