Page 217 (1/1)

"You don’t kno many of the What if they overwhels turn poor for us But I’ht--I won’t leave any nored the Two Rivers ere attacked Well, I won’t do the same And that’s that"

Faile, suddenly, leaned over to kiss hi thethe other tay

Perrin shook his head He had been worrying that he’d need to have Grady wrap her up in Air and tow her away He turned back to the approaching Trollocs The Two Rivers et up the incline The h

Perrin hefted Mah’alleinir A part of him felt sorry to bathe the weapon in blood so soon after its birth, but the greater part of him was pleased These Trollocs, and those who led them, had caused Hopper’s death

A fist of Trollocs crested the hilltop, a Fadein behind them, led by another Fade with a black sword Perrin let out a roar and charged forward, ha his sword down into the neck of a Trolloc with the head of a bear Dark, thick blood spurted out in a noisoush, but the beasts were terribly difficult to kill Galad had heard the stories, had trained with ht Shadon Still, their resilience surprised him

He had to hack at the creature threeThere was no finesse to fighting monsters like this He used horseback sword forms, but often the most direct and brutal of the the Spark

Hiswell They were boxed in, and there was no longer roo attacks had worked for a time, but the heavy cavalry had been forced to retreat back to the foot lines, and his whole force was being pushed east The A overwhelreat to allow further cavalry charges All the Children on horseback could do ing their weapons wildly in an atte Trollocs leaped for him He quickly took one across the neck with Heron Snatches the Silverfish, but the creature fell forward onto Stout, causing the horse to lurch away Another brute slashed a catchpole at the horse’s neck The horse fell

Galad barely round in a heap as Stout collapsed, legs jerking, neck spurting blood across his white shoulder Galad rolled, sword twisted to the side, but he had landed wrong His ankle wrenched in pain

Ignoring the pain, he brought his sword up in time to deflect the hook of a brown-furred monster, nine feet tall, that stank of death Galad’s parry sent hiures in white crashed into the Trollocs Reeking blood sprayed in the air White figures turound, but the Trollocs were driven back Bornhald stood panting, sword out, shield dented and sprayed with dark blood He had four men with him Two others had fallen

"Thank you," Galad said "Your mounts?"

"Cut down," Bornhald said "They o after the horses"

"Don’t want us escaping," Galad said "Or rallying a charge" He glanced down the line of beleaguered soldiers Twenty thousand had seerand army, but the battle lines were a mess And the Trollocs continued to come, wave after wave The northern section of the Children’s line was breaking, and the Trollocs were pushing forward there with a pincer movement to surround Galad’s force They’d cut theainst the hill Light!

"Rally to the northern foot line!" Galad yelled He ran in that direction as quickly as he could, his ankle protesting, but still functioning Men joined with hier white

Galad knew that ht on the front lines They were too i the fight Perhaps that hat Galad should have done It was falling apart

His ood Solid But they were inexperienced with Trollocs Only now--charging acrossin the air--did he see how inexperienced roup had fought ainst unruly bandits or city , snarling monsters were in a frenzy What they lacked in th and ferocity And hunger The Myrddraal ah to break a for

"Hold!" Galad bellowed, reaching the breaking section of the line He had Bornhald and about fifty ht! We do not give before the Shadow!"

It didn’t work Watching the disaster play out, his entire fra started to crack The Children of the Light were not protected by their goodness; they were falling in swaths, like grain before the scythe Worse than that, soht valiantly or hold with resolve TooThe Amadicians he could understand, but a lot of the Children themselves were little better

They weren’t cowards They weren’t poor fighters They were just e That wasn’t hoas supposed to be

Thunder sounded as Gallenne brought his horsee They hammered into the Trolloc line and forcedthem back down the incline

Perrin slammed Mah’alleinir into a Trolloc’s head The force of the blow tossed the creature to the side, and--oddly--its skin sizzled and smoked where the hammer had hit This happened with each blow, as if the touch of Mah’alleinir burned theh Perrin felt only a coe punched through the Trolloc ranks, separating theetting difficult for his lancers to charge Gallenne withdrew and a contingent of Two Riversthe