The Spirit of Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

outline of the town. Black smoke climbed into the sky in thick pillars of ember and ash, blotting out the starlight. The whole city was ablaze and drowning in flame before their eyes.
    “Damn them!” The soldiers cursed. They screamed in rage and hissed with disdain.
    Cain rested his head against the wall and pounded the planking with agony. “They killed my wife and child…they killed everyone I tried to protect. Now they raze my home…”
    “We have to retreat,” a soldier cried, “the city is done for, we are done for!”
    Cain turned to the man. “There is no retreat! I will not rest until every one of their heads lie wrenched upon a spear! We will face our enemy as one, or I alone!”
    He walked forward and the crowd split, leaving a clear path to his horse. “Cain,” Aaron said as he grabbed his friend’s arm. “I understand your pain. I know you are angry, we all are…but don’t be stupid. There are hundreds of Arzecs out there. We have to call the retreat…”
    Cain simply glared back and pulled his arm from Aaron’s grip. He jumped onto his horse and grabbed hold of the reins. He looked over the last of his soldiers and Andaurel’s militia.
    His fellow soldiers followed suit and mounted their horses. Cain’s friends rode up to his side and soon all were saddled and facing the open stable doors.
    Aaron returned Cain’s gaze and smiled lightly. “If you’re willing to face certain end, then I won’t let you face death alone.”
    “And I wouldn’t have it any other way…” he turned to face his men.
    “The Arzecs have slaughtered our families and friends. They butchered our brethren, burned down our homes, our city, our livelihoods…and now they want us.”
    Cain drew his sword with a ring of steel and the remaining soldiers drew their weapons in turn.
    “And we will give them that, with sword and shield.”
    He looked to his fellow soldiers, the men he had known his entire life, to meet the enemy who had taken everything from them. He looked at them solemnly for the last time and tore his gaze back to the dying town.
    Without a word, he reined his horse forward and began riding down the path. His friends followed, and behind them, the soldiers in formation. There was nothing left to say. Only one thing remained, to paint the streets with the blood of their enemies.
    As they approached the town, they saw what was left of the Arzec force. Six hundred now remained in their way. They formed a solid line of sword, shield, and pike at the edge of the town, the burning buildings of Andaurel at their backs. Their only hope of escape, the main road, was now entirely barred off.
    The soldiers continued their death march toward the pyre of Andaurel, undaunted by the sheer number of enemies before them. Disbelief fell on the faces of the Arzecs at the sight of the forty soldiers who still dared oppose them.
    Cain raised his sword and let out a fearsome scream. His soldiers followed his lead and spurred their horses towards the city.
    The Arzecs hesitated for a fleeting moment as the riders galloped up the hill and charged straight for them. This hesitation led to the only weak spot in their defense, the only hope of escape for Andaurel’s defenders and the only hope they needed.
    The small wave of horses crashed down upon the Arzecs and plowed head first into a sea of steel.
    The riders shot through their formation, struggling to keep their horses galloping amid the overwhelming masses. Bodies fell from their ranks, crushed under hoof and torn asunder by the blades of their enraged enemies.
    The soldiers continued hacking through endless waves of Arzecs, blood and bodies flying, screams filling the air. The riders trampled anything that stood in their way, pushing on toward certain death.
    They at last reached the streets of Andaurel. An ocean of fire instantly engulfed them, hell arisen to disembowel the fated city.
    The riders embraced the flames and leapt into its abyss, a mass of Arzecs close