Richard Parker - Elsewhere

Cobb, who was Samantha’s constant shadow when she was in battle, lifted his own pike, and worked his way in close to her side. She glanced up at the simple man, but he was intent on the fighting going on before them.

“Form up!” Samantha yelled and those around quickly merged into the defensive square they had long practiced. The formation differed from the diamond formation they used against cavalry and offered much more protection for those near the front. It took great discipline. To survive they had to fight as a unit, only together with a tight, bristling front could they hope to hold off a determined force of infantry.

Once her immediate group was formed, they were perfectly placed to reinforce the front lines if necessary, and for several long minutes it seemed as if they would not be needed, but then suddenly and with almost no warning the Massi lines parted and dissolved away. The front lines of the Palmerrio were quick to press their advantage and stormed through the gap. Samantha braced for the impact and against her will her thoughts centered on the baby growing inside her. Her eyes watered momentarily with fear, but she shook them away just as the first of the enemy troops came within range of her pike. She screamed, stabbed and pushed with the rest of her archers and initially drove back the attackers, killing and wounding many, but as the Massi bowmen pressed forward over the inconsistent footing caused by the dead and dying their momentum faltered. Still they held their position and closed the gap, keeping the battle from turning into a disaster. It was not until a figure robed completely in black appeared on the scene that the tide began to turn against them.

Fear exploded inside Samantha as she caught sight of the Executioner who was viciously attacking their formation several yards to her left. Only the constant attack coming from the enemy soldiers directly to her front kept her from fixating on the man in black for more than a moment. Even so her mind would not leave the Executioner that was fighting and killing so close to her. Still, she had to work with those around her if they were to have any hope of surviving, so she kept her attention on the fighting right in front of her. She didn’t even flinch as the point of her pike sliced through the eye of a Palmerrio soldier. He screamed and staggered back a half step, but then she drove the point through his neck. Blood dribbled over the steelhead of her weapon for a moment but then she jerked the weapon free amidst a fountain of blood. Mercifully the man immediately fell and was lost from view. Samantha immediately turned her focus on the next soldier as he moved forward to take his fallen countryman’s place. She continued to fight in control until the Massi archer directly to her left let out a piercing scream. Her attention finally wavered and she shifted her gaze once again to the killer from Sinis. Her heart jumped when she saw that the formation on the left side had completely fallen away. Her stomach trembled as she watched the man in black slice through Anthan Drable’s neck. The young man went down without a sound. Samantha started to turn but felt her pike being knocked aside. Her eyes jerked to the front just as the sharp edge of a long sword came crashing down on her left arm, just below the elbow. Her pike instantly fell from her grip and for a moment she felt no pain. Her ears roared and her eyes glazed over as she looked, somewhat bewildered, at the stump of her limb. She held it up, morbidly fascinated, and noticed that her forearm was still attached by a thin slice of meat and skin. Blood was pouring from her wound making the white of her bone stand out in contrast. She was vaguely aware that the soldier who’d lopped off her limb was now advancing on her, but then like an avalanche, the pain engulfed her and she screamed and fell to the ground. She cradled her wounded arm as Cobb rushed forward and skewered the man attacking her. She was awake but not completely cognizant when the big man lifted her into his arms and lumbered away from the battle, heading toward the rear of their lines.

Samantha was holding her wounded arm close to her body and supporting the flapping forearm with her right hand. She stared stunned, as the blood poured from her. It was covering her midsection at an alarming rate as Cobb ran from the battle.

“Strong girl…strong girl…strong girl,” Cobb said over and over as he flew down the hill.

‘We’re going to die,’ she thought, thinking of herself and her baby, and then ever so gently she was placed on the ground where her blood darkened the grass around her.

“Move!” she heard a voice she vaguely recognized as Van’s. The young Deutzani’s features swam before her for a moment. If the pain hadn’t been completely overwhelming she might have laughed at the horrified expression which appeared on his face. He glanced up quickly into her eyes and she saw only fear, but then without hesitation he pulled a long knife from his belt and cut away the dangling section of her arm. The pain she felt was already overpowering her senses and she did not feel anything more as he cut her lower arm away. Her eyes remained glued to her severed limb as he quickly laid it aside. Samantha stared at the fingers of her missing hand with sick fascination, and then suddenly leaned over and threw up her breakfast. While she wretched over and over, Van steadily tightened a tourniquet around her upper arm. He twisted a stick wrapped in a kerchief so tightly that she thought he was trying to pinch off the rest of her limb. She was dizzy when she finally gained control of her stomach and was able to sit up once more. Her arm was still lying there before her, white and still. She stared at it a moment.

“Away!” She suddenly shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing Van to jump and flinch away from her.

“Take it away!” she yelled again, more of a wail than a command but Van nodded to one of the men standing over him and he bent down and picked up her arm. He held it gingerly, far out away from his body, as if it were a snake that might strike at any moment. Samantha continued to stare at the limb until finally he carried it out of sight and part of her was gone forever.

Samantha’s eyes were watering ceaselessly now and her arm was beginning to throb.

“Let’s do it now,” Van said and then he reached for something out of sight. Samantha was surprised to see that it was a brightly burning torch.

“Hold her!” She heard Van say but his voice seemed to be coming from underwater.

“You gonna hurt her?” Samantha heard Cobb ask.

“Cobb hold her,” Van repeated strongly.

“You’re gonna hurt her,” Cobb insisted.

“Yes Cobb! I’m going to hurt her. If I don’t she’s going to die,” Van was all but yelling though Samantha barely heard him and did not feel Cobb’s strong hands grab on to her. But when Van pulled the stump of her left arm away from her body and over the flames of the torch she let out a long, piercing scream. Instinctively she fought against the hurt, but found she could not pull away from the massive strength of the simple man who held her.

‘I’m burning….he’s burning me!’ She thought crazily and then began to shriek even louder. She screamed and screamed and fought desperately to pull her wounded arm away from the flames, but then the shock and pain drove her into unconsciousness.

VIII

Gwaynn stepped through the bridge with a heavy heart, and for a moment was completely oblivious to the chaos all around him, and then he spotted Lonogan Bock striding toward him.

“You have him?” Bock asked, catching sight of the limp body being pulled through the bridge. Bock frowned when Gwaynn shook his head negatively and then looked closer at the body his King was placing gently in the grass. The General’s eyes went wide as he recognized Krys