CHAPTER 881: IMPOSSIBLE HOPE

Olwyna watched the men arm themselves with whatever crude weapons they could find, and her heart sank even further. These men weren’t soldiers at all. They were craftsmen and farmers, many of whom had never swung anything heavier than a hammer or scythe. How could they hope to stand against the creatures that had taken her husband?

And yet, as she watched them pick up everything from shovels to garden rakes, she didn’t see a single man turning away when his turn to take a weapon came. They were afraid, some more than others. Many shifted nervously, giving their improvised weapons awkward practice swings as they found their place in ranks behind overturned tables, but none of them ran and hid in their cellars or tried to flee from the south gate.

"Your father should be here," she whispered as she pressed both hands to her belly, feeling the child move restlessly within her. "He should be the one protecting us, not..." she tried to say, but she couldn’t finish the thought. Not lying dead in some unmarked grave from the wounds he suffered in the horrible duel against the demon knight. Not captured and tortured by demons, living his days in agony alongside his soldiers. Not any of the terrible possibilities that had haunted her for half a month.

The baby kicked hard against her ribs, as if responding to her distress, and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. Everything hurt these days. Her back hurt, her feet hurt, but more than anything, her heart ached like it had been carved out of her chest because the person who belonged there had been torn away from her.

"Sir Rhodri, Sir Rhodri," an out-of-breath soldier called as he pushed his way through the crowd of men to reach the old master’s side. Like many of the soldiers who remained in the village when Carwyn left with his caravan, the soldier was older than most, but his eyes were still sharp and his grip on his mace was still firm, and that was enough as far as the old soldier was concerned.

"Yer lordship," the man said once he reached Sir Rhodri. "They’ve come up on the hillside an’ they sent out men under a white banner. Demons, yer lordship, an’ one of ’em’s the demon knight what captured Sir Carwyn," he said confidently.

In the days after their caravan was taken, all of the wagon drivers and common farmers who had been allowed to escape returned with their own version of the story of what happened the day that Sir Carwyn dueled a Demon Knight for the safety of his men. They disagreed on the details, but all of them had clearly described the serpentine demon with the strange plumed helm who slew Sir Carwyn’s horse and then faced him in single combat.

"And?" Olwyna said, abandoning her position guiding women and children into the manor in order to join her father-in-law. "Is it true? Is my husband with them?"

"He, he is, yer ladyship," the old soldier said. "He’s riding a horse, wearing his armor, and the Hounds of Belvin are clear as day on his shield and tabard, yer ladyship. If he’s a prisoner or not, I can’t say, but..." he started to say, only to trail off as he became uncertain of his next words.

"What? Out with it, man, time is precious," Sir Rhodri snapped.

"Yes, yes, yer lordship," the man said, wringing his hands as he searched for a way to explain what he’d seen. "It’s just, you see, yer lordship... Yer son, er, Sir Carwyn, he, he rode at the head of the demons. He rode out five hundred paces from the gate an’ then he held up a hand to halt the others an’ I’ll be cursed to an afterlife wandering the darkness if I lie, but the demons stopped when he said to stop, yer lordship."

"You’re saying that these demons are following his orders?" Sir Rhodri said, staring in open-mouthed disbelief.

"He couldn’t," Owyna said, shaking her head fiercely. "He’s a good man, he, he must be their prisoner!"

"What about the rest of the demons? What are they doing?" Sir Rhodri asked. His bushy white brows drew together in a fierce scowl, and the lines on his worn, leathery face grew even deeper as he tried to imagine what had happened to his son since he went missing half a month ago.

"Stopped, yer lordship," the old soldier said in a voice that suggested that he didn’t believe what he was saying. "They pulled tha wagons and carts up far enough to see tha gates an’ tha village, but then they jus’ stopped."

"Did they form ranks? Organize their soldiers for a charge?" Sir Rhodri asked impatiently. His hands tightened on his reins, and for a moment, he was tempted to ride off to one of the watch towers himself in order to get a look for himself, but he forced himself to stay calm until he had answers to his questions. "Did they bring out a ram for the gates or anything to burn down the walls?"

"No, yer lordship," the confused soldier said. "They jus’, jus’ stopped. Right there on the road like it were nothin’ at all."

"Father-in-law," Olwyna said, placing a hand gently on Sir Rhodri’s armored knee as she looked up at him with soft, pleading eyes. "If they rode out under a white banner..."

"I know what you’re thinking, lass," the old knight said as his eyes softened beneath his snow-white brows. "But these demons know our ways, and they play fierce tricks to lure a man into their fiendish traps. If this is another one of their schemes..."

"But what if it isn’t a trick?" Olwyna asked. "I, I don’t think that Carwyn is leading them, he would never betray us like that. But, if he’s a prisoner... if there’s a chance to bargain for his life," she said, fumbling for words that would convince her father-in-law to take a chance, any chance, to save her husband’s life.

She’d thought that he was lost forever when the villagers returned with word that he’d fallen in a duel and then the demons took him away, but now, hearing that he had returned and that he was well enough to ride a horse, even in this frigid weather... she had to believe there was a way that they could be together again.

"You’re lucky that Acolyte Holm has already taken the elderly and the infirm into his temple," Sir Rhodri snorted. "I might burn for this, you know," he said as he gave his daughter-in-law the best smile he could manage under the circumstances.

In the end, as he looked down at the swollen belly that carried his grandchild, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the chance to bring home the soon-to-be-born child’s father. And if it went badly... losing a grandfather for a chance to have the child’s father welcome him into the world was a worthy trade.

"Go find me ten strong men who can look menacing," Sir Rhodri commanded the old soldier. "I’ll ride out and speak to them. But make sure every man knows... we may not return alive from this. If they won’t take the risk, don’t shame them or force them."

"And tell them," Rhodri started to say, hesitating for a moment as he wrestled with his conscious before he looked his daughter-in-law in the eyes and said something that a good knight-protector of a village never should. "Tell them that if the chance comes, they need to carry my son home. I may not be able to fight the demons off for long, but I can buy them time enough to bring him back within the walls."

"After that," Rhodri said. "Everything will be up to my son."

"I understand, yer lordship," the old soldier said as he saluted with his fist to his chest before he dashed off in search of ten men who would be willing to risk their lives for a chance to rescue Sir Carwyn. Some men might think it would be impossible to find ten fools who would stand up to demons just to rescue one knight, but the old soldier had lived in Raek all his life.

He knew how much Sir Carwyn’s selfless dedication to helping the village grow and prosper meant to everyone. He also knew how much greater Carwyn’s stature had grown in the hearts and minds of the villagers when he fought a duel with a demon knight so that the common folk could flee and return home instead of being captured by the demons along with their wagons.

No, the old soldier wasn’t worried about finding ten men who would try to help rescue Sir Carwyn. He was worried about what he would have to say to the eleventh man and everyone after him who wouldn’t have a chance to repay their debts to the young knight who had already done so much for them.

Because if one thing was certain, it was that the Hounds of Belvin didn’t hunt alone... and these men would do anything to bring the leader of their pack home.