Marno’s Shield Preview
Hello again! I have decided to share a preview from my book Marno’s Shield, which is currently available on Amazon. This is one of the action scenes. Let me know what you think of it.
Hissing and screaming echoed through the camp as Marno woke up. Unsure of what to make of it, he left the small cottage and quickly realized that Tigrand and the other men of the house had also left. Because they were resting, Marno did not sleep with his armor on but because there seemed to be an emergency, he wished he had. After having pushed aside the regret, Marno threw on some clothes, then grabbed his swords and ran out.
Snarakes had attacked the men in the cottages, at first about ten beasts. While one or two had been stopped, they had taken double that with them. Veernan and the other men had joined to face the majority of them, a group of four snarakes, hoping to overwhelm them with a crescent attack formation. Some of Marno’s countrymen had been frightened because of the surprise attack and made for their horses, while others tried to go at it alone only to be dropped. Marno knew that he had to join the others, a united front was their best weapon against the beasts. Immediately Marno ran toward the group but could not help but turn as he ran. He immediately regretted this glance to the left however, seeing as he saw a man get bitten on the leg by a snarake then on the arm and torso by another. The man kept fighting and tried to thrust his other sword into one of the beast’s middle. While Marno was proud that his fellow Syrenese kept fighting in spite of death, the last thing he wanted to see was a man get eaten alive! The snarakes kept chomping and settled down for a meal, which Marno knew he could use. The first snarake was rested now and ate, while Marno jabbed his sword through its head. He had to join the others now before he was attacked as well, so he ran to them. Glad that most of his unit were there, Marno fell into the left most edge of the crescent formation. Marno felt hopeful that he and the others would be able to drop the snarakes, but a thought troubled him, where was Tigrand?
Veernan was on the right of the crescent formation, while four snarakes tried to bite the group but were met with double-sword blocks. The beasts raised and lowered their strikes repeatedly but were blocked every time. The men were beginning to get tired, however. Despite meeting with firm resistance, the snarakes had the Syrenese in a vulnerable position. Two snarakes in back altered their strategy, the left end of the crescent formation was whipped in the legs by the snarakes tails whereas the right end was whipped in the chest. Marno had no idea that snarakes could do that! Marno and the man next to him were both uprooted and because of the shock of this attack, Marno dropped his right sword. The front snarake lunged at Marno and tried to bite him in the chest but only got a mouth full of plate armor. If the snarake had bitten him in the chain mail portion, it would have a mouth full of blood. The man next to Marno was less fortunate, as his life-ending screams indicated.
Lying in wait was one of Veernan’s ideas, which he had ordered one of his men to do. With ferocity exceeding those of the snarakes, Tigrand charged in, ready to get revenge on the snarakes. Tigrand did not want to wait until an opportune time to intervene but it was one of Veernan’s orders, so he kept it. Seeing as Veernan was about to die, it seemed like a good time to act. Both swords slashed at the head of the snarake standing over Veernan, followed by another downward slash at the one that knocked him down. Tigrand alternated the attacks until the strong yet not invulnerable snarakes, eventually fell. With swords soaked in blood, Tigrand now joined the recovered Marno and finished off the hungry snarakes. By this time, all the remaining Syrenese were on their feet and prepared to confront the remaining four snarakes.
Most of the snarakes retreated in fear at the sight of this new, angry attacker, but three of them then spun around to face the men while the others slithered away. The determined snarakes hissed at the retreating coward, who remained undaunted in his cowardice. The humans, however, were now on their feet, ready to fight! They followed Veernan’s lead and let out a war cry as loud as they could. The screaming strengthened their resilience and they all charged forward. Because he had to lie in wait and watch his commanding officer and best friend get attacked, Tigrand wanted justice more than the other men. In fact, Tigrand was so spurred on by the war cry that in spite of being the heaviest one of the group, somehow ran faster than the others and was the first to fight the remaining snarakes! Without hesitation Tigrand went right for the head of the snarake who in lieu of dodging, instead went for a quick bite only to take Tigrand’s sword into its throat, which he immediately twisted and slashed to remove the beast’s head. By now, the remaining men had caught up to the snarakes and could not be stopped by their bites. The swords of the fifteen remaining men overwhelmed the serpents, leaving piles and piles of snarake meat and blood all over the ground.
The snarakes had ambushed the group and that surprise had cost them dearly. No one can see their own comrades fall or run away in fear and not be affected by it. Being the commander and most senior defender, Veernan felt that it was best if he inspected the wounded. Fifteen men had died and five were missing, only one wounded man had remained.
