Chapter 6

It was just before dawn when I left to go water a tree. The ladies shortly joined me outside and took care of their morning ablutions. We left the cart and our goods behind with the wolves except for what we carried on us. The women had food and a change of clothes.

I had my throwing knives on two arm bands around my forearms, 10 arrows on my left leg in the quiver, an axe and two hatchets on my belt with my combat knife and mo bow. I figured that Malnot wouldn't know what a bow was and I might get lucky and get the first strike in.

We walked south along the eastern edge of the river. At midday we took a break. I double checked my weapons when we were within an hour of the village. No animals bothered us as we went along and we didn't see any other people.

When we approached the village, a man about 5'8" tall with dark hair and three scars diagonally across his face approached us with three other men behind him. There were no women or children present that we could see.

"You have my bothers wives," this ugly bastard said to me.

"You must be Malnot," I said, "I wish I could say I had heard good things about you but I never lie. I have come to retrieve my goods, won in combat like my wives. Do not try to stop me and I will leave you in peace. Try to stop me and you will die."

Malnot and the three behind him all laughed.

"Leave the women and all your goods on the ground and I'll kill you quick," Malnot said, "Fail to do so and I will hang you upside down from a tree and beat you until you beg for death. It will last for days. You don't even carry a spear. How do you expect to beat all four of us with no spear?"

"Last chance," I said.

He could tell by the look in my eyes that I wasn't fooling around.

He began to raise his spear and I shot him through the shoulder with an arrow. He spun to the ground screaming. The other three men advanced and I dropped my bow. Turning to my left, Desiree tossed me my spear. The men spread out while the women retreated out of harm's way. Malnot was writhing on the ground.

As the men approached, they tried to maneuver me so that one of them could get behind me. I wasn't about to allow an enemy to have access to my back. I raised my spear and threw it into the chest of the man on my right and stepped that way. The other two were more confident now because I appeared to be unarmed.

I crossed my arms and said, "Your leader is wounded and I have killed another of you. If you don't put your spears down right now, you will be dead."

"We will kill you first," said the one to my left, "I have always wanted Desiree for my own and this is my chance."

Quicker than they could blink, I uncrossed my arms with a little snap of the wrist at the end of the movement. Two men now had throwing knives embedded deep into their throats. They both dropped their spears and one even managed to pull the blade out before he bled out. They were tough, I'll give them that.

I pulled my throwing knives from their dead bodies. Then I wiped them clean on their tunics and returned them to their hidden sheaths. Then I retrieved my spear, handed it to Desiree and went to get my arrow.

Malnot was still on the ground. He had managed to make his way by crawling about 10 feet from where he fell in my first volley. I pulled my combat knife and smashed the pommel into his skull knocking him out. Then I retrieved my arrow by pushing it through his shoulder, unscrewing the broad head and then pulling the shaft back through the wound. There was a lot of blood.

I tied Malnot's hands behind his back, stripped him of his flint knife. I then grabbed him by his right ankle and started dragging him toward the village.

I shouted in my loudest voice, "I want to see the shaman, the augurs and the elders of this village immediately! We have to decide what to do with Malnot and I believe that I have mates and goods to collect before I leave."

An old man with a feathered headdress came forward first.

"I am Fornok the village shaman," he stated in a quiet voice. "Who are you great warrior?"

"I am Frank. Calnot found my camp about a week ago and tried to kill me. He failed and I took responsibility for his mates. I came here today to retrieve the goods that I inherited from Calnot when he died."

"Frank, you are the greatest warrior I have ever seen. You killed three men and knocked out another in less than 30 heartbeats. It was amazing. I will summon the villagers from where they were told to hide in the woods and bring the elders to you."

My ladies came to me and there were hugs and kisses all around. None of them expected me to live in a 4 on one fight. I was glad I surprised them. If there had been a hidden warrior behind me, I might not have fared so well.

It took an hour for the village to assemble. By the time they did, my ladies and I had eaten and had a cup of pine needle tea. There were more than 30 people assembled around the village central fire. Most of them were giving Malnot dirty looks. A group of three older women were looking at me and talking to each other rapidly.

Malnot was awake now and wouldn't stop yelling about how he was going to kill me and anyone who helped me. I punched him in the jaw and he was out cold. Assani gagged him with a buckskin rag tied around his head. Hopefully that would keep him quiet while I took care of business.