Ashes of Empires

"I counted six. There could be more in the tents, I couldn't tell." Whispered Maral. "We should start back and get the others."

"Do common bandits scare you?" Teased Arik

Bakar saw a flash of anger wash on Marals face. She had ridden with the tribes 'Tengri' for going on six years. Since her 10th name day. That netted her far more experience than the other two in the group combined.

"Or mission was to scout the hills and find any potential threats to the tribe's passage. We have done that." Maral's reply drew a sigh from Arik 

"There's four of us, Maral we would have surprise on our side as well." The statement from Drobei drew a disapproving look from Maral. Not letting her intimidate him, he continued. "Bakar, what do you think we ought to do."

He had known he would be dragged into this. Still, Bakar had wished he hadn't either way they went someone was bound to get mad at him. He served the camp ahead of them and pondered on his decision. The camp was hidden in a depression in the ground where the three large hills that protected its flanks met. They had only managed to find it by a combination of chance and the shouts that seemed to echo across the hills. 

Four small tents were circling a central cookfire. On the west side, opposite the scouting group was a makeshift hitch where six ragged horses grazed. One man stood grooming a white hairy stallion that looked moderately better than its kin. Five other men sat around the fire chatting or doing whatever menial task was in front of them. 

"We attack. There are only six horses, so there are only six of them." Not waiting for Maral to voice a complaint, he climbed the saddle of his horse. "Maral and Drobei, you two are the better archers, so it is up to you to cover Me and Arik."

Bakar gestured to the top of a further hill. "Maral, you are quieter. Sneak over to the opposite hill. You will signal the attack when you start shooting."Turning to the ever-bold Arik who had already unsheathed his saber. "Arik, when they start shooting we will charge in on horseback."

A sudden scream marked the commencement of the attack. The pleasant whoosh of flying arrows filled the air, punctuated by the even more pleasant sound of a blood-curtailing scream. Bakar started full speed toward the camp spear braced at the ready.

So fast was their charge the first man Bakar cut down held nothing but the leg of an animal they had been cooking. Spear met flesh with a sickening squish as it sliced through half of a neck. With a blur of motion, the spear poked and stabbed at the next man slaying him where he stood.

A moment later, Bakar was in a blur of motion. Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, he gasped for air but found none. 

"Time to die, little man." The voice came from a burly man in leather armor scared with use. The man's missing nose made Bakar cringe almost as much as the axe descending upon him. It glistened silver as it came.

whoosh

Bakar rolled out of the way as the man slumped to the ground where he had just previously been. An arrow was lodged through the back of his skull squirting blood from the puncture. 

In a rush of movement, he grasped the hilt of the battle axe and charged the last standing man. He failed to catch him unawares, causing the axe to glance off the raised wooden shield. Quickly dashing to his left, he swung again but was once again rebuffed. At just fourteen, Bakar lacked the strength of a grown man and staggered back when he caught a blow from a falchion with the axe's blade. A second blow caught him In the left arm, slicing flesh with ease. The man swung again seeking to end the fight quickly.

"There," thought Bakar as he nimbly weaved to the right, dodging the blow entirely. His axe bit deeply into his overextended foe answering cut for cut. The axe went farther than the man's falchion and severed the sword arm at the elbow. A second blow to his temple ended the shouts of agony with a crunch. 

A few feet away, Arik finished his arrow filled foe with a swing from his expensive two-handed saber. Bounding his bleeding arm he strode to his ally walking past the six corpses of their enemies.

"That was a good scrape eh Bakar." Arik grinned jollily as he used a dead man's shirt to clean blood from his sword.

"You say that like you've killed before. This was the first battle for all of us." Replied Bakar in an uncaring tone. 

"You are cut." Arik eyed his bound arm wearily. The cut stung and bleed, but it was not so deep as to put him at risk. When they returned to the tribe he would have their Ghoa their healer tend to it.

"It seems you are a better fighter than me, Arik." 

"Careful, Your compliment will go to his head." The Feminine voice of Maral took him by surprise causing a flinch. Arik answered before he could.

"Maral, there are few in the tribe who've a bigger head than you." The reply drug chuckles from all four of the reunited group. Bakar gaged the height of the sun in the darkening sky.

"We have perhaps two hours of light left. Strip the bodies and scour the camp for anything we can take. Drobei, prepare those horses for travel we can add them to the herds." 

Bakar didn't wait for any replies as he, like normal knowing they would obey. No existing structure gave him the authority he exerted over them, but still they knew to listen when he spoke. 

The ride back to camp would take an hour of riding. Bakar was eager to return with his mission a success.