Curse Breaker 3

The three walked through the forest at a good clip. It was their fourth day in there, and their foodstuffs were beginning to dwindle. Maria was not happy.
“Why are we walking in this direction? If I was on my own, I’d be in a town right now eating!” she said exasperated.
Darius slid her a stern look. “We are going this way because Wren said we are going this way. We are looking for a cure to our curses, if that isn’t important to you then you are welcome to leave at any time.”
Maria crossed her arms and pouted. She knew he was right, but her stomach still continued to growl.
Wren smiled. “Here.” he said and handed her a small portion of bread. “Eat that till we take a break for dinner.”
Maria devoured the piece, but was sullen that there wasn’t more.
A noise sounded through the trees, and Darius’s hand shot to his sword. A man barreled through the foliage straight into Wren. The two fell over and Darius had his sword out and up to the man’s throat before he had a chance to make a move. He had an odd look about him, and it caused Darius to raise an eyebrow. Though he appeared to be a relatively young man, he wore a small pair of spectacles on his nose. His clothes were brightly colored, and seemed to be a few sizes too small. A rapier was slung loosely on his hip.
“And where are you going in such a hurry?” Darius questioned.
The man sucked in a deep breath. “What are you doing just standing here?! We have to escape! Move or you’ll be captured!”
Wren sat up and rubbed his head where it had struck the ground. “What?” he asked confused.
Spears suddenly surrounded them from all sides.
The man sighed. “Too late.”
Soldiers marched in fortifying the spearmen already in place. Two men arrived, one walking and one on a horse. Both were heavily armored.
“Put your sword down.” the man on the ground ordered. Darius complied begrudgingly.
The man continued. “Prince Iceford wishes to speak. Listen well.”
The man on the horse spoke to his captive audience.
“Forgive my rather barbaric means of getting your attention, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Desperate times?” Wren asked, but was quickly thumped on the head by a soldier for interrupting.
Prince Iceford chuckled. “You don’t know? You aren’t from this area obviously.” He looked over the four people and continued. “Allow me to fill you in. My father’s kingdom, the Great Kingdom of Therin, is in a terrible war with the evil Kingdom of Atris. As of right now, they outnumber us, so we are conscripting you into our army.”
Darius frowned. “Why should we fight for a country we’ve never even heard of before?”
Iceford motioned to the troops, and the spears closed in tighter.
“I don’t recall you having a choice in the matter.” He said with a smile.
Thinking quickly, Maria jumped towards Wren and embraced him. Using her sweetest child voice she cried, “Don’t take my daddy away!”
Wren confused as always whispered to her. “What are you doing?”
Maria pinched him and spoke between clenched teeth. “Saving you that’s what. Now follow along!”
He nodded quickly and turned to the prince. “Yes..er.. I can’t fight with her, now can I?”
The man on the ground turned to his superior. “What do you say milord? Shall we let him go?”
Iceford smirked. “No. Bring her along. She can work in the kitchens.”

As they marched along they chatted. “I’m sorry you were caught. It’s our fault.” Wren said to the odd man.
“Damn right it’s you fault. But it can’t be helped now. The names Peck.”
Everyone introduced each other and they continued to converse.
Darius leaned down to Maria. “So you were going to save Wren, what about me?”
Maria shrugged. “You never crossed my mind.”
She smiled at his scowl and followed up. “Maybe if you didn’t patronize me I would help you.”
They marched on as the sun set.

When they reached the encampment, Prince Iceford left the group with his right hand man. The found out later that his name was Stesh. He led them to a large tent and ushered them inside. After assigning guards to the door, he left. An older man with a criss-cross scar on his cheek sat behind a field table strewn with maps.
“Ah welcome to the army of Therin. I’m sorry about Price Iceford. He’s a pompous ass I know, but I work for his father so I have to obey him. I am General Mockson.”
Darius stepped forward and introduced them all. “Is there anyway we can get out of this?” he asked.
The General shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry, but no. The only way we will win this war is a steady stream of recruits. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“As always.” Maria muttered under her breath.
The General continued. “I’m glad you have your own arms, else you’d have to go out onto the battle field at night to get some, and that isn’t very safe. We don’t have much in the area of armor I’m afraid, but we do have plenty of tents.”
He turned to Wren. “I’m make sure your daughter gets assigned to an easy job in the kitchens. I’m sorry you were dragged into this. War is never a place for a child.”

They were brought to their tents and they all settled in for the night. Maria quickly found a problem with their accommodations.
“Why do you and I have one tent to share?” she questioned.
Wren raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure it has something to do with you pretending to be my daughter. Parents usually sleep with their children.”
Maria’s mouth dropped open. “I’m NOT sleeping with you!”
Wren shrugged. “Well then we’ll just have to tell the general the truth.”
He began to turn away when Maria stopped him. “No! We can’t do that! He’s giving me special treatment because he thinks I’m a child.”
“So you just want it easy eh?” Wren replied.
Maria gave him an evil look then retreated to the tent. Wren entered and the two readied for bed.
Maria jabbed Wren hard in the ribs. “Listen you. We sleep with two feet of space between us. If you try ANYTHING in the night I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you do.”
Wren sighed, but nodded.
They laid in darkness for several moments before a lantern lit the area. A head poked in and spoke. “You are to report to the main staging area tomorrow morning. You’re going to be heading into battle.”
Wren slowly nodded, but Maria looked surprised. She inched into Wren’s arms and brought her child voice out again. “It’s cold daddy. Hold me.”
Wren, with wide eyes, stiffly did as he was told. The sergeant left and they were in the dark once again, with Wren still holding tight. He was close enough to hear her heart beating fast.
“Uh…what was that about?” he asked without moving.
Maria also refrained from moving. “I..just panicked…” she quietly answered.
“Do you want me to let you go?” Wren continued.
Maria was quiet for a few moments. “No. It is a bit chilly.”
“Yeah…” Wren replied.

Morning came quickly and Wren stretched.  Maria was clinging tightly to his midsection much to the amusement of the kitchen woman who came to retrieve her for breakfast preparation. Though Maria was a bit grouchy at first, she quickly adopted her sweet child persona. Wren chuckled to himself and walked to the nearby river to pour a bit of water on his head to wake up. He met Darius and Peck at the mess tent for breakfast. Darius found it quite amusing that Maria was speeding back and forth with a basket of potatoes or a bushel of carrots.
“I envy your friend. We have a much harder job today.” Peck mentioned around a bite of bread. “I heard the general is making his big push today.”
Darius nodded. “Yeah, I was told to report to the main staging area when our meal is done.”
Wren nodded. “Yeah, me too. What about you Peck?”
Peck smiled. “Lucky for me, I was chosen for scout work. I’m leaving for the frontline in a few, but I won’t be in much fighting.”
They both agreed that it was indeed lucky.

Wren and Darius arrived at the staging area. The muddy plain had thousands of people in half a semblance of order. There were a few well clad trained men, but most of them were farmers with little or no armor and shoddy dull weapons. If the opposing army had any training at all then Wren doubted their chances. A man mounted on a nutmeg colored horse cantered up and down the lines giving some sort of speech. Wren listened in.
“-and your children. This fight will decide the outcome of this war. Your nation is depending on you! Hold your sword tight and let’s teach those bastards just what true valor is!”
A few scattered cheers rang up, but it appeared that the speech was a wasted effort. No doubt most of the recruits were forced into the army and had little love for the country that they fought for. With little or no warning the throng moved forward to the battlefield.

They soon reached their destination. The battlefield was a horrific site. It was littered with mangled corpses of the fallen. Broken and discarded weapons lay in puddles of congealing blood, and fires let off a stench of burning flesh. Beyond the carnage was the opposing army. They stood in a disorganized rabble with torn standards dotting the line. Wren sighed slightly. At least they were in the same state as his army.
“Listen up Wren. We both know you’re no good with a sword, so stay close to me. If someone attacks you, block then retaliate. It looks like there are a lot of untrained men out there, so use your head. Don’t pick fights, let them come to you. OK?” Darius said.
Wren took a deep breath and nodded. Darius grabbed the back of Wren’s neck and pressed their two heads together. “We’ll get out of this. I promise.” The sound for the charge came and it began.
The two armies crashed together like two giant tidal waves. Screams of the wounded and dying filled the air almost immediately. Wren ducked as a soldier swung a sword over his head. He panickly swung the Curse Breaker and scored a hit on the man’s chest. He fell with a soundless scream on his face. Wren stared at the dead man. He had never killed another human being before, only demons and animals. It was a terrible feeling. A terrible roar made him look up. A huge hulk of a man with a bearskin on was bringing down a giant war hammer directly at Wren’s head. On instinct Wren hit his knees and stuck his sword straight up. The man’s momentum caused him to impale himself on the Curse Breaker, and his weight forced Wren onto his back. Unable to move the man’s bulk off of him, Wren found himself trapped.
Darius spun about like a whirlwind. He jumped forward stabbing man, kicked the man off and parried an attack from another. Spinning, Darius cleaved the man’s legs at the knees. A third man rushed him with a pike, but he disarmed him with a swift kick, sending the pike in the air. Darius cleaved him through the shoulder and caught the pike with his off hand. He then hurled it at another oncoming man, felling him.
Wren continued trying to heave the corpse off his body, but was making no progress. Suddenly it gave way and he found himself staring into the face of a grizzled old man.
“I see you’re having a bit of trouble there sonny.” He replied and helped Wren up. Wren was about to replied when he was rushed by another man. The old man stepped in when he saw Wren had no idea what he was doing and took the man down swiftly.
“You’re covered with blood, are ya alright sonny?” he said after giving Wren an appraising look. Wren shook his head. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”
The man nodded. “Stick close to me. Watch what I do. You’ll get the hand of it.”
They grimly pressed forward and Wren did get better with experience and confidence. Darius soon joined him on his right side, sending a wave of relief through him. The three carved their way ahead inch by bloody inch. After bashing a man in the face with the hilt of his sword, Wren slipped on gore and tumbled back down the small hill they were standing on. After coming to a rest, Wren began to pick himself but froze at the sight of a man’s face twisted in a death scream. It was Stesh. Iceford’s personal guard had a hand axe embedded in his back. Wren worked his mouth, but no words came. He had just talked to the man the day before, but now he was lying before him lifeless. A gloved hand grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to his feet.
“Come on!” Darius yelled, “They sounded the retreat! Let’s go!”
Wren recovered and began to make his way back the way he had come.

The camp was a welcome sight, as gloomy as it was. Wounded men rolled in by the hundreds into the makeshift field hospital. The old man that had helped him was one, needing treatment on an arm wound. Wren had forgotten to get his name, and hoped he’d be able to thank him later. Peck caught up with them and shook his head.
“I don’t have good news guys. According to reports, the sides are still quite even. Though casualties are quite high, it seems like we may be here for a while.” He blinked when he saw Wren, who was drenched in blood. Wren noticed him staring and smiled embarrassed. “I’m fine, it’s not my blood.”
They chatted a bit more before Wren headed to the river to wash up. He reached it and sat down hard. He was exhausted. He looked himself over for wound, but found none. Upon seeing just how much blood he was wearing, he gave a grim smile.
“I wonder if this is how Darius feels all the time.” He mused. He leaned forward to the river, but stopped. In the moonlight, he saw that the river had turned an inky black from the amount of blood already washing downstream. “Looks like a few guys had the same idea.” he said as he stuck his hands in the grimy water.