“Well, this is a fine mess you kids dragged me into!” said Morcel as he gripped his axe. His eyes probed the brush, trying to get a lead on where the strike would most likely come from. “I could have been drinking mead in a tavern with two girls on my lap!”
“Focus, Morcel!” snapped Jacob as he held his staff out straight in a defensive stance. “This doesn’t help anything right now!”
“You said you owed me! You, Jade!” Morcel yelled as he shifted his axe from one hand to another, trying to keep in line with the eyes that seemed to constantly shift positions in the brush.
“What!” exclaimed Jade as she kept shifting the position of her daggers from point up to point down and back again. “You can’t be serious! Maybe we’ll talk about this another time, OK?”
“Get ready, you bloody fool!” said Eric as he tried to focus on getting his mind right for the inevitable confrontation, but he was having trouble concentrating with Morcel acting crazy like this. “We need you right now. Don’t fall apart on us!” This is not like him at all. He is no coward! What is he thinking about?
“You said you owed me. Well, I’m calling it in right now. You have to do what I say. On your honor!” the warrior bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Time seemed to stand still as the warrior slowly stepped out of the circle and turned to face the other three. His face shone with serenity as he looked each one in the eye for several seconds. His eyes fell on Jade last, whose face was filled with pure horror and confusion. Morcel gave her a slight smile followed by a wink. He felt nothing but peace in his heart. His death would have meaning.
“I’m calling it in, Jade,” he said in an utterly calm whisper. “Protect Eric...save Tarmerria.”
With a thunderous cry that shook the leaves from the trees, the warrior whirled around just as one of the cats leaped from the brush. His axe buried deep into the beast’s skull. Morcel pulled it free just in time to catch another across the throat, nearly decapitating it. Dark blood pumped out like thin tar as he ran through the brush screaming wildly, “I’m right here you dogs! Come and meet your end!” He ran through the brush at a blistering pace as thorns and sharp branches cut deeply across his face, calling out taunts as loud as he could.
The three friends watched in horror as the beasts went flooding across the path through the brush on the other side. They took the bait! Sounds of battle and Morcel’s loud continuous taunts could be heard off in the distance. His sacrifice was complete. The warrior would die a warrior.
“No!” Eric screamed as he tried to run off in the same direction. Both Jade and Jacob tackled him before he could even take three steps. “We can’t leave him,” he said as he thrashed wildly to escape their grasps. “He’s going to die!” Crash! Jade’s fist slammed down into his face.
“That’s right, you stupid farm boy! He is going to die!” she screamed as she released yet another right hand. “He sacrificed his life for you. Many have given their lives for you. They sacrifice. They give up all they hold dear in this world, and all you do is question them, you bloody fool!” Jade was unleashing rights and lefts with almost every word now, held-in frustration released like a river. “You never once—NOT ONCE—honored their sacrifices! Every single person in the world has more faith in you than you.” She got in one more right-hand before Jacob was able to finally pull her off.
Eric was a bloody mess at that point. Jacob had to hoist him up while putting one arm over his shoulder so they could move quickly and get out of this area. Jade grabbed all the bags and they were off as fast as they could move. Eric simply had to shake off the cobwebs from the pummeling he received. After fifty feet or so he was able to move on his own. Jade led the way, not looking back a single time.
They marched on for several hours before stopping again. It was now closer to morning than the middle of the night. On one hand, pressing on would have allowed even more distance between themselves and the incident, but they were completely exhausted and simply needed to stop. Jade lied down immediately, not saying a word to either of them. Jacob and Eric stayed up for a bit longer, each chewing a piece of jerky. It was hard to tell the time of morning, given the light never seemed to change much.
“I’ve never seen her that mad,” said Eric as he used some of the water from one of the skins to wipe dried blood from his face. His eye was swollen, along with many welts on his forehead. “It’s possible she’ll never speak to me again.”