The squire lifted his chin and spoke in a language Jispin didn’t understand. He shook his head. The squire tried a different language, or at least it sounded very different to Jispin. Guessing his question, he replied “I am Jispin… Jispin,” as he pointed to himself and resumed cleaning the gore off his blade on the fallen man’s shirt before returning it to his scabbard. He looked up at the squire, then around. They both noted there was only one other man remaining on horseback, the unarmored knight. The two Argentain horses and the other squire’s mount were standing, stamping nervously, blowing noisily, and steaming like a boiling cauldron in the suddenly quiet drizzle of rain. Continue reading Career Change, Part V →

Several hurled javelins before closing the last few yards, about half formed into some sort of three or four-man formation with sword and shield in front and a spearman poking over or around them, the rest formed a general line and tried to rush and overwhelm with superior numbers and speed. Four tried to get a clear shot with a bow but quickly gave up trying to see anything targetable in the heaving mass of men, tossing their bows aside and either rushed in to back up their fellow soldiers. Some Crimeans wore small black and yellow streamers on their arms or helms, and some started trying to do an end-run on the line to get a side-shot. The Argentain archers were in nearly the same predicament, but the superior number of men they faced gave them a small advantage, and Argentain arrows found their mark among the more numerous foes standing three spear-lengths away. Continue reading Career Choice, Part IV →

The knight turned to face the sounds that he apparently noted as well. He left his shield slung where it was, and flipped his spear around gently to make sure the small pennon attached near the head was hanging free and visible. Continue reading Career Choice, Part III →

Stepping around the tree, he saw the other soldier kneeling with an arrow knocked and ready but not drawn, his back straight and the bow at an angle to avoid the branches and small tarp they’d strung up overhead to protect them from the rain. The archer was a huge man who wore more armor than his now dead partner did, and his cloak obscured any clear openings. Jispin took the only attack he could. He inverted the long and still bloody knife in his hand and plunged it swiftly down into the exposed neck, angling between the high leather collar and flesh, just inside the collarbone. Jispin aimed for the heart, hoping to take major arteries and throat. He torqued the blade around after the hilt stopped its downward thrust against the gorget. To Jispin’s great surprise the mortally wounded soldier, veins flowing with adrenaline from the impending encounter with horsemen, managed to drop the bow, grab his arm with one hand while drawing a knife with the other, and fling the boy forward over his shoulder onto the soggy earth. Continue reading Career Choice, Part II →

Gotta keep writing. There is a long story I won’t bore you with as to the delays in getting sequel/prequel published properly, so in the meantime i thought I’d write a short story. Not in the same universe, more Conan-esque. Young barbarian getting a start in life.

Working title might be “Career Choice”, Part I. I’ll be posting daily until it’s done, something around a thousand words per day. Here we go: Continue reading New series / short story →