Jenny walked forward obediently but Horse stood his ground and tossed his mane rebelliously.
The dwarf knew he could pull and tug at the reins as much as he wanted, but the beast would not take another step forward until he was assured that Skharr would join them.
"Come on, you stubborn shit. We need to keep moving," Brahgen insisted and hated that he now tried to reason with a horse. "You know we cannot stay here. It will be the death of us."
The stallion still showed no sign that he was interested in moving and nickered softly.
"Skharr said it himself. Bodies will attract more of the monsters. Now, if you're interested to find out what other monsters might crawl out, or what those fucking plants will want to eat when they have finished gnawing on the dead bandits, stay where you are. See if I care."
He did care, of course. Not only because he'd come to feel some affection toward the damn beast through their time traveling together, but also because he knew the warrior would never forgive him for leaving Horse behind in the damn woods.
Whether the barbarian was alive or not didn't matter. He knew well enough that the dead could be as terrifying as the living—sometimes even more terrifying.
Finally, the stallion lowered his head, neighed softly, and pawed the dirt before he took a tentative step forward to follow Jenny.
The donkey had enough of waiting as well and looked as close to panic as he'd ever seen her. She brayed loudly at Horse, whose head lifted sharply. He stamped his hooves in surprise with his ears flattened against his skull.
But she had the last word and she turned away and walked toward Brahgen. A few moments later, the stallion proceeded to follow with no further argument.
The dwarf couldn't understand what their exchange had been but he had a feeling that Jenny had snapped at him to recollect whatever balls he had and start walking.
The warhorse seemed to listen to her far better than he listened to Brahgen, but the end result was the same and the youth felt an odd rush of success as both beasts plodded after him down the road.
Perhaps Skharr wasn't quite as mad as he seemed. The two beasts were intelligent enough to reach the same conclusion as he had, after all.
The fact that Horse was willing to stand his ground and risk death while waiting for the barbarian was admirable as well. He could only wish that he might develop a similar bond one day—perhaps with Jenny or some other beast.
It might even be the two-legged kind, but that was a thought for another time. All he needed to think about now was that he had to get them out alive. He looked at his hands, still covered in blood, and slowly wiped them clean with a kerchief he carried in his coat pocket. The steady clops of the horses behind him were oddly comforting.
All he could hope for now was that Skharr was still alive and would meet them somewhere along the road. He had possibly run into trouble but his words had been clear in directing him to stay on the road.
Hope seemed like an odd thing to consider in the gloom of the forest around them, but it seemed strangely clear in the moment. He'd stood his ground against the fucking bandits and won. With help, of course, but he hadn't dreamed that he would be capable of that before. Perhaps Skharr was right.
But that was a matter for another time as well. Brahgen shivered when he heard another crackle from the forest around them and he increased his pace. The two beasts followed suit without need for him to urge them to move faster.
Chapter Seven
Many rules could be learned about the world. Skharr had discovered that most of those could only be learned after experience had taught them as lessons. Of course, this could have been because he was a fool who could not learn from the mistakes of others.
One rule he thought he did not need an object lesson on, however, was to stay away from godsbedammed fucking bears.
The beasts could be found almost anywhere in the world, even in the Druums Woodlands, although there was always a sinister twist to any creature in these woods. A massive bear stood its ground against him as he took another arrow from his quiver and put it to the string. Without so much as a whisper of warning, the mountainous bundle of fur and angry muscle rushed toward him.
The arrow flew and he could see it pierce the beast's shoulder a few inches behind the skull, which was what he had aimed for.
He had a feeling the wound would merely anger it and he flung himself aside and narrowly avoided a swipe from a massive paw. The claws grazed his shoulder but not hard enough to cut through the padding of his clothes. In seconds, he was on his feet again, two arrows in his hand, and he nocked one as the beast whirled to attack him again.
There was no time for careful aim and he loosed the first of the arrows into the bear’s hindquarters while the other sailed a little high and barely grazed the creature's skull before it thunked into a nearby tree.
The war bow was not the finest weapon for the situation. It took him too long to draw and his aim was compromised when the creature surged into another attack.
Skharr tossed the weapon aside and circled behind a heavy pine tree as the bear charged blindly toward him. All the arrows had done was enrage it further, and he took a step back as its impact with the tree felled a handful of branches above him. He drew his ax and darted around the trunk as the beast swiped at him again. With a roar, he pushed forward and buried the ax head into a massive paw.
It was the bear’s turn to roar and it jerked back and inched away while it inspected its wounded paw. The barbarian tried to keep the tree between himself and it before it rushed into motion again. The beast was about the size of a small troll and it took all the willpower he had in him to stand his ground as it closed on him again, wounded and angrier than before.
He dove under a swipe and his shoulder caught a root and twisted awkwardly. A jolt of pain streaked through his body before he found his feet and attacked his adversary before it had the time to turn and attempt another assault. He swung the ax down on the creature's neck as hard as he could as a paw swiped his legs out from under him. The weapon bit deep and he twisted it and felt the crack of bone breaking under his falling weight.
It could only be the spine from the way the whole beast suddenly stopped and fell like all the life had fled from it. The head continued to move and the massive jaws snapped at him as it tried to swing to catch him.
The rest of its body did not cooperate, however, and Skharr dragged himself slowly to his feet. He scowled at an ache in his legs where the claws had caught him.
"My apologies, big-un," he said quietly. "It was a choice between you or me."
The bear didn't appear to understand what he was saying but he felt the apology was necessary regardless. He had intruded on its territory, after all, and it had reacted to defend itself, even if he hadn't meant it any harm.
But in the end, he wouldn’t lay down and die for that, nor would he regret fighting for his life.
He did feel like there was a painful lack of purpose in their fight, however. The barbarian shook his head and swung his ax to finish the beast before he plucked his arrows from its body.
"Now," he muttered, "where the fuck was that road?"
He didn't want to wait to find out what scavengers were probably waiting in the shadows.
He wouldn’t leave Skharr behind. The barbarian had gone off to do things his way, and Brahgen had no doubt that he was capable of looking after himself.