Chapter 384: Accident on the Bridge

Watching the road, the wind blew cold air onto Horace and Halfdan. Blowing out white mist, the two ignored the chill they felt and focused on the road before them. Closing his eyes, Horace listened carefully. Through the wind, he could hear a few horses in the distance and nodded towards Halfdan.

Understanding what it meant, Halfdan pulled out a throwing knife, whilst Horace readied his bow. It was times like these when Horace couldn’t help but be annoyed that Halfdan only had one hand. Despite that, he had faith in his abilities to throw a knife.

Watching them get closer, Horace lifted his bow and aimed, whilst Halfdan tried to calculate the throw. Flipping the knife, he nodded to Horace. "Three. Two. One." On his count, the two attacked the two escorts. Horace watched as his arrow pierced through his target, but Halfdan’s knife flew wide, into the treeline.

Without taking a risk, he drew another arrow and fired at Halfdan’s target as the one-handed man fired two more knives, this time one hitting its target. The carriage driver only realised what had happened when the two riders with him slouched over their horses.

"ENEMY ATTACK!" Shouting out, he slammed the reins on the horses pulling the carriage, getting them to run. Horace and Halfdan watched as the carriage flew past the treelines and gave chase. The carriage bulldozed through the forest path, threatening to topple over as it skidded on ice.

Horace and Halfdan focus intensely on the path. All it took was a mistake for either one of them to fly into the treeline. The carriage hit a few low-hanging branches being weighed down by the snow, forcing the two to duck out of the way. It was a quick chase with the two making sure never to overtake. In the distance, they saw the carriage they had planted on the bridge. On it, two of Magnus’ soldiers stood out of armour. One held a torch and waved it whilst the other held a drawn bow and arrow aimed down the bridge.

The carriage driver saw it and clicked his tongue. Looking around, he tried to find another way to get through, but sighed, unable to. Slowing down on the bridge, he came to a complete stop before Magnu’s men and held his hand in the air to surrender. Stepping out of the carriage, Albus looked around in annoyance, but grabbed a pouch of gold on his waist.

"Magnus. Can’t even keep his lands in check." Walking over to Horace, who jumped off his horse, Albus clicked his tongue, "How much do you want? Ten, all of it. Name a price." Thinking they were normal bandits who learnt of his route, Ablus didn’t overtly react. He wasn’t stupid. He was unarmed, leaving his sword inside and outnumbered.

Horace held his hand out and smiled. "All of it." Hearing Horace’s accent, Albus frowned, and Horace quickly realised his cover was blown. Punching at the old General, he was caught off guard and took a step back. Halfdan quickly jumped off his horse and ran at the carriage driver, tackling them to the floor and beating them black and blue.

Albus quickly recovered and watched as Horace jumped on his toes. Looking behind him, he could see that the man holding the arrow lowered his weapon and chuckled.’They don’t want to kill me? A hostage, maybe.’It filled him with confidence as he stepped forward. Horace threw a punch, one that Albus could easily avoid.

Compared to the piercing stab of a spear, Horace’s attacks were slow and lacked the danger he had lived through on the battlefield. Albus threw a punch deep into Horace’s stomach, pushing all the air out of his body. He tried to gather himself, but was unable to do so in time. Grabbing the top of his hair, Albus pulled him forward and slammed his knee into Horace’s face. Blood fell from his nose as he was lost in a daze.

Dropping him on the ground, he lifted his foot over his neck, ready to deliver the finishing blow, but was stopped by a powerful blow into the back of his knee. Toppoling over, Albus flipped onto his back and saw Halfdan, his fists covered in blood, standing over him. Throwing a punch at the old general, it was quickly blocked as Albus calmly looked through the gaps of his arms at Halfdan, trying to figure out how to break free.

Halfdan’s assault didn’t let up as he threw punch after punch at Albus. The plan had gone wrong at the final moment, and looking at Horace, who still hadn’t recovered, he couldn’t help but wonder if they should abandon it. Albuis had already made it clear that he could kill them with his bare hands alone. It was annoying that Horace limited the methods they could use this time.

He wanted an accident, and if anyone investigated, they would find it was an accident. The guards could be killed with weapons, but the driver and Albus had to die with minimal foul play. Getting bruised could be explained, but a sword wound couldn’t.

Halfdan continued to throw punches but was caught off guard when the old general broke his guard and grabbed his collar. Headbutting Halfdan, he pushed him off and got to his feet. Halfdan quickly recovered and charged in, throwing heavy punches at Albus.

The two got loose in their own battle without realising Horace slowly got up and grabbed his head in pain. Looking at Halfdan and Albus, Horace slowly stumbled towards them. Halfdan finally saw in the corner of his eye Horace moving. Without doing anything to give Horace away, he increased the intensity of his attack as Albus looked for a chance to counter.

Horace made his way closer. Once he was inches away, Albus noticed the presence of another man and quickly spun, throwing a punch at Horace without caring for Halfdan. Horace didn’t react in time and stumbled back, his head pounding in pain. Yet it gave Halfdan a chance. Like a viper, his arms tightened around Albus’ neck as the old general tried to break free.

Halfdan didn’t know how, but his grip slowly loosened as if Albus knew a technique to break free. It was only stopped when Horace recovered and moved forward, throwing weak punches at Albus. Despite the lack of power, Horace still knew where to strike, even in his daze, hitting the small weak point where the liver was, sending a cripplin gwave of pain through Albus’s body.

With attacks on his throat, groin, liver and eye, Ablus was in excruciating pain as the world slowly got darker, Halfdan’s tight chokehold finally working. After a minute, Halfdan finally let go and dropped Albus, his body slamming into the stone bridge floor.

"We...." Horace took a breath and sat down, rubbing his temples. "Give me a few minutes." Halfdan was the same and sat down. Looking at Albus, he couldn’t help but be amazed at the old general. It was obvious he had trained himself to be formidable with and without a weapon, and could have easily had Horace or Halfdan acted alone. Looking at Magnus’ soldiers, he clicked his tongue. He knew Magnus didn’t trust him, but to give his men the order not to help them at all was dangerous.

"I know what you’re thinking," Horace said coldly, looking at Magnus’ soldiers. "I don’t like being treated like this, and I will make sure he knows that." Horace got up. His head still hurt, and his nose leaked blood, but ignoring them, he called over Magnus’ soldiers. "I need you to break the ice below once you have well pushed the carriage in with Albus inside."

"What about the horses?" One asked Horace, looking at the proud beasts.

"Force them in aswell. If you have to break their legs, do it." Without a change in emotion, Horace walked prepared, destroying all evidence of their involvement. Bloodied snow was cleared away, and tracks from the carriage were swept over. Hearing the ice smash, Hoprace looked over and saw a large hole in the ice.

Having the men come over, they got on the carriage and took it back. Having them ride back down the path Albus had previously chased, they stopped just before the bridge and turned down the hill facing the lake.

Horace watched as the two struggled to bring themselves to hurt the horses. They were soldiers and had killed many men, but in front of the animal, they struggled. Horace sighed and went over. Taking one of their word, he swung into one of the horse’s front legs. Cutting deep.

Its cries were deafening, but Horace paid no attention, quickly swinging into the other horse’s legs. Both of them screamed in pain, it was sickening to listen to, but Horace paid no attention and held his hand out to Halfdan. The small man handed over a long rope tied to the carriage on the other side of the lake, and Horace tied it to the carriage.

Nodding Halfdan ran across the lake towards the other carriage and rode forward. "Grab the beasts and pull them. Horace coldly ordered as he ran to the opposite side, holding his sword over the rope, ready to cut. After a few minutes, the cries of the horses soon silenced as they were pushed into the ice-cold water. They tried to break free, but the carriage soon fell over them, silencing them for eternity. Horace cut the rope before it could pull their carriage down and cleared the scene once again.

It was a long process, but Horace didn’t let a single thing go unnoticed. Only when it looked like the perfect accident did he happily smile and ride back to the Maximus manor. Their journey back was slow, and stumbling across the guards they had previously killed, all of them quickly disembarked. Throwing the bodies into the carriage, Horace looked at the horses and stripped them of any indicator of being tamed. Slapping them, he let them ride down the path they were going.

"You two," Horace called out to the soldiers just before they could resaddle. Halfdan silently circled around behind them. "There is one thing." Horace stood in front and plunged his knife into one of their stomachs. Halfdan moved quickly. Before the second could react his throat was slit.

"What should we do with them?" Halfdan looked at the corpse with a similar cold look. Much like Horace, he didn’t appreciate being left to fight while they stood and watched.

"His daughter got married. I will give her a wedding present." There was no cruelty in his voice as he bent down and hacked at the necks of the two men, decapitating them, only a deep annoyance and anger at having been used by his supposed ally. Quickly clearing up the scene, they carried on their journey.