Sam Barone: Eskkar & Bracca

A few more strides, and he loosed a shaft into the back of Takcanar’s remaining man, who by now could do little more than stagger along. At such close range, the arrow penetrated deep into the man’s body. He fell hard onto the earth, his arms spread wide.

Ignoring the dying man, Eskkar guided his newly acquired mount toward Takcanar, now the only survivor of Katha, his family, and his men. Takcanar, less than fifty paces ahead, glanced over his shoulder at his pursuers. Eskkar saw the fear on the man’s face.

Takcanar knew better than try to outrun a horse and rider. Clutching his sword, he turned to face his pursuers.

Eskkar slowed his approach until Bracca drew alongside. Eskkar handed him the bow and quiver, and drew his sword. He put the horse to a full gallop, heading straight at Takcanar. For a moment Takcanar held his ground, then he darted aside, trying to strike at the horse’s legs. But Eskkar guided the chestnut slightly away, and his long sword swung down with all of Eskkar’s strength.

Takcanar managed to parry the blow, but the force of the stroke sent him reeling to the ground on one knee. Before he could regain his feet, Bracca rode up and put an arrow into Takcanar’s belly. With a cry of pain, he dropped his sword and slowly crumpled to the ground.

Wheeling his horse around, Eskkar trotted back to the where Takcanar lay holding his stomach and the bloody arrow with one hand, and fumbling for his sword with the other.

“You should know better than to spit at a steppes warrior,” Eskkar said. He slipped from the chestnut, and whirled the blade up, then down. Takcanar tried to block the stroke, but already the arrow had weakened him. Eskkar’s blow knocked the smaller blade aside before it clove into the side of Takcanar’s head. Blood and scalp splattered over the grass.

With a shriek of pain, Takcanar dropped the sword, his legs thrashing wildly. Eskkar shifted his grip and clasped his sword with both hands, the long blade pointed straight down. “This is for Iltani’s husband.” Raising it high, he drove the blade with all his strength into Takcanar’s chest. With one final gasp of breath, Takcanar’s eyes rolled up into his head, and he went limp.

Eskkar stared down at the corpse for a moment. “Coward!” He spit on what was left of the man’s face, then had to use both hands and one foot to free his blade. He cleaned it on Takcanar’s tunic, then scooped up the dead man’s sword.

Bracca grunted in satisfaction. “Bastard. Maybe you should have let him bleed to death.”

Eskkar shrugged. “At least it’s finished.”

In silence, they rode back toward the farm house. But as they drew close, Eskkar spoke. “You know, Bracca, we could stay here for a few days, to make sure that Iltani’s safe. They’ve plenty of food, and you could amuse yourself with Tiba.”

Bracca laughed, a long chuckle that went on and on. “Oh, no, friend Eskkar. I saw the look on Iltani’s face this morning. We’ll stay one more night, then we leave at dawn tomorrow. Any longer, and I wouldn’t be able to drag you away from her. In two days, she’d have you on your knees in the mud, working in her fields.”

As if picturing the sight, Bracca laughed again. “No, it’s time to move on, before something else happens to keep us here. Besides, we’ll need to get far away before we can sell the other two horses and all the swords.”

Eskkar opened his mouth to protest, then closed it. Bracca was right. Better to leave before he got too involved. Still, Eskkar could console himself with the thought of one more night with Iltani. That would have to be enough, he decided. No woman, not even Iltani, was worth becoming a dirt eater.

Bracca broke the brief silence. “You know, now that we’ve got good horses, there’s no need to ride any farther north. We can swing to the southwest, and head toward Uruk. One of the outlying villages is run by a rich elder. I just happen to know where he buries his wealth.”

More than likely the village elder had a few copper coins in a sack. Still, Eskkar had no better suggestion, and one direction was a good as another. Besides, riding with Bracca always brought some new and unexpected adventure. Something unforeseen always managed to change their plans. One of these days, the man would get them both killed, but that’s what riding with Bracca always entailed.

“Good enough, friend Bracca. But the elder better not have twenty men guarding his treasure.”

“Only a handful of slow-witted farmers, I promise you, friend Eskkar.”

Eskkar snorted at that unlikely prospect. Nevertheless, he now possessed a fine horse, and soon Bracca and he would have extra coins in their pouches. And there were still many places they hadn’t visited in the Land Between the Rivers.