115

Prince Graygor’s voice rings out above the din of battle as he orders the Palace Guard to charge the pikemen. The ground shakes beneath the pounding of the horses’ hooves as they gather speed, their pennons streaming from their levelled lances. The Drakkarim huddle shoulder to shoulder and nervously dig the butts of their pikes into the hillside to steady their shaky hands. The knights reach the hill. They thunder up the slope. A blaze of lightning hurtles from the top of the temple but it is mistimed: it crackles harmlessly over their heads and explodes behind them, hurling nothing but scorched earth into the sky. The Prince screams his battle-cry and the knights slam into the Drakkarim with a deafening roar. Men and metal howl in agony as the heavy horses break like a wave against the wall of pikes. You see a rider lifted out of his saddle on the point of a pike, and a ramp of black metal suddenly appears where a score of Drakkarim have been trampled into the ground. The Prince and a dozen of his bravest knights break through and gallop on towards the temple, but the Drakkarim quickly close ranks and seal the gap. The remaining Palace Guard are forced to a halt and engage the pikemen in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

You reach the hill and leap over the steel-clad bodies that litter the slope. As you near the mêlée you see two Drakkarim rushing towards you from the side, their axes raised to hack you down. ‘For Sommerlund!’ you cry, and turn to face their attack.

Drakkarim: COMBAT SKILL 22   ENDURANCE 32

If you win the combat, turn to 297.