The undead charged into their line. A junction of hallways gave them room to flank the Roses. Anne saw Kheldar and Lugh being pushed back, and she slipped past the others to bolster them. Behind, she heard a horse’s hooves clatter over stone and bone. The sound reassured her as she made her way down the line. Three skeletal knights battered at the Privates who were slowly falling behind their comrades. Anne noted absently that her division-mates were defending admirably, but the opposing numbers were pressing them hard. She stepped around Kheldar’s right shoulder and aimed a vicious hit at the undead knight on the outer edge of the attacking arc. Invariably, it turned toward her, pressing thoughtlessly toward the nearest warm blood it could find.
Exchanging a series of blows with the creature, Anne could see Kheldar and Lugh make short work of one knight. They then chipped away at the second. Ducking a swing from her own opponent, she pivoted and brought her sword around in a heavy hit that shattered the thing’s right arm. Its heavy sword clattered to the ground. Undeterred, its oaken shield slammed into her exposed swordarm. Grunting from the force of the blow, she was forced back a step – and onto the fractured skull from another skeleton. Her foot twisted beneath her, and she began to fall….
And then he was there, his hand deftly slipping under her arm and stopping the tumble. Shielding her with the bulk of his mount, and raining blows down on the one-armed knight, he held her steady as she regained her balance. One last strike, and the undead creature collapsed, its skull fragments joining the pile on the ground. Only then did he release her arm. Looking up, she saw the torchlight gleam briefly through the slit of his helm. Their eyes met for a bare moment, thanks and relief exchanged without a need for words. Then the light was gone and only the helm looked down at her.
“You are unhurt?”
“Yes. Just a bad step. I am fine.”
He nodded. “The others are just ahead.”
Returning the nod, she set off at a jog following his lead. The line of soldiers had moved down the connecting hallway. Hearing a low battle-chant, she watched him plow into a heavy pocket of resistance, his mount muscling through opposition with ease. The faintest of smiles on her lips, she followed closely. She wove between friend and foe, keeping him in her sight. And never straying more than a breath away.