Read Online Warriors [4] Theros Ironfield by Don Perrin - Free Book Online

meet another elf mounted onhorseback. Blood ran from the minotaur’s side. Hran was weakening. The elf dropped his lance, and drew his sword. As Hran approached, the elf slowed his mount and caused it to rear up. Hran went for the horse’s underbelly. He was too slow, though. The lack of blood and the sheer exertion were just too much for him. The horse kicked Hran in the chest, sending him sprawling backward.
    The elf jumped off the horse, and ran forward to finish the smith where he lay. The elf brought his sword down in a mighty swing, but Hran rolled away. He staggered to his feet, but the elf was ready. The elf thrust forward with his long sword, striking Hran through the heart.
    Hran looked down at the wound. He tried to bring up his axe, but it slipped from his grasp. The elf withdrew his sword, and Hran pitched forward into the dirt, face first. The elf ran off after his mount. The rest of the elven cavalry were already far off across the camp.
    Sudden fury shook Theros. He sprinted to Hran’s side. Theros rolled the big minotaur over, and pulled him to a sitting position. Hran stared out unblinking into the destroyed and burning camp. He was dead.
    Tears that pain could never wring from him welled up in Theros’s eyes. Hran, his slave master, had been mentor and friend.
    The bodies of eight elf warriors lay strewn across the road. Theros dragged Hran away from the forge and pulled him up beside the shallow trench that had saved the young man’s life. Hran had died a true warrior. He had slain eight of the best elves that the Silvanesti Nation could muster.
    Theros began to dig again. As he dug, anger welled up inside him. This was no act of honor that had cost Hran his life. The elves had intentionally circled around the back and attacked the rear guard while the minotaur main forces were arrayed on the field. Looking over to the commissary wagon, he could see that the elves had slain the human slaves, as well as the minotaurs, all mostly unarmed.
    It had been the plan of a coward. A coward without honor.
    Theros continued to dig.

Chapter 9

    Klaf turned and raised his huge battle-axe. He started running forward . The rest of the command group followed him. A cheer went up from the reserve corps, and they, too, broke into a run, closing the distance between their position and the front lines.
    “Make sure they can see the army standard up there,” Klaf commanded. “Don’t let some hot-headed elf take you down.”
    Olik roared a battle cry and raised the standard high. In his other hand he held an exquisite long sword. It was of Solamnic origin, but now it was decorated with the designs of Olik’s clan.
    The noise was horrendous. Klaf’s bodyguards cleared apath around the commander and Olik. Two elves spotted the banner and charged toward the standard. If it fell, the morale of the minotaurs might be broken and the day go with the elves.
    One of the elves was immediately taken down by a minotaur’s sword. The other elf broke the circle. With a great cry, he raised an ornate blade high above his helmeted head. Olik stood his ground. He planted his back foot and kicked out with his front foot just as the elf came within reach. The foot smashed in the front of the elf’s helmet, and shattered the face inside. The elf crumpled like a sack of leaves. Klaf brought his axe down on the battered body.
    Suddenly, the elves routed.
    Many threw down weapons and ran. Some just ran. Within seconds, the only elves left were the dead ones or those trapped by fallen bodies of minotaur warriors. They soon joined the ranks of their dead comrades. The minotaur force let out a huge cheer.
    But the cheer was short-lived and died suspended in the air. Klaf looked around in confusion. He turned a full circle, and another. Then, he realized what had just happened.
    In front of him, five hundred yards away, were two fresh corps of elven infantry, probably heavy infantry with archers in support. To his rear, he could see smoke