Breakout! part III

My head aches. The noise, it won't stop. A hollow keening that threatens to burst my ear drums. Consciousness returns and I realise that the wailing comes from me. I find myself sitting bolt upright. The night air is bitterly cold and quiet, yet the sweat pours off my brow and I taste the bitter salt as it seeps through my beard. I look around and see Eduarde, Dandelion and Pistol staring at me, no-one sleeps tonight. My eyes move to empty space where I should be seeing the sleeping bodies of Franz and Giancarlo, but they are not there.

Folly. Braggadocio, Giancarlo would have said. Always it is over-confidence that bring us undone, and never more so than now.

How we chuckled after dispatching the Montaigne assassination squad, sent to murder General Montegue, how blithely we cut our way through Fauner Pösen's guard to get to him, but then came the great woman herself.

It had seemed like a wonderful idea after the great victory at Freiburg. Why not? After Pösen had retreated, and we had been hailed heroes to the city. Let's go and annoy her some more - beat her back to her country retreat, and rescue the great Montaigne General she held prisoner there. A brilliant plan. Yes, we knew her reputation as one of the most feared swordswomen of our age, a woman who led the largest army in Eisen, but we were Franz von Tannen and companions - invincible!

So off we went, and all went wonderfully well. We colluded with the assassination squad to some extent to help us dispatch the guard, then trapped them when they tried to assassinate Montegue, all we had to do was walk on out.

But that's when the nightmare began.

As we gathered ourselves, we heard the hooves of the returning Pösen and her elite guard, defeated, angry, and none too pleased to find their hunting lodge invaded. Montegue pointed out that he had overheard talk of an exit from the lodge beneath the cellar. We raced down the stairs, Giancarlo, Dandelion and Eduarde leading the way, while Franz and I helped the injured Montegue, who had received a nasty leg wound in the short battle with the Montaigne assassins. Pistol scampered down from the outside of the tower and met us in the cellar, narrowly avoiding an encounter with the returning guard.

We bolted the cellar door behind us as we heard a screech from the great woman in the courtyard, "Von Tannen!"

A moment later there was a beating at the cellar door, "Open up, in the name of the Eisenfürst!" We tried to parley with them a short while, but not surprisingly they didn't want to listen. Franz and I began to move a couple of great barrels from the center of the room into the doorway. This turned out to be a good move, as the barrels had hidden a trapdoor.

Pistol had been overcome by the sight of so much wine, and began imbibing several of Pösen's best vintages, whilst Eduarde and Dandelion opened up the trapdoor. It revealed a very narrow shaft, leading down, small steps cut into the shaft wall. A difficult climb down.

Pistol threw away his third bottle and cheerfully dived down the shaft without giving it a moment's thought "Me first!", but Montegue had paled, "I cannot go with you, mon ami, you must leave me". He began loading a pistol.

"You must!" cried Franz, "Else our efforts be wasted, you can descend with assistance from Borstenn and myself".

But Montegue would have nothing of it. It would be too dangerous, and he would not consider putting any of us in that much danger. "I will be fine, she will not dare kill me, I am too valuable as a hostage. But you must go. And go now, for if she finds you here, your life will be forfeit. You will always be my friends".

Eduarde, Giancarlo and Dandelion were now descending the shaft, and the door was beginning to give way. Reluctantly Franz and I followed.

A few moments later we were all at the bottom of the shaft, and Pistol's head lamp lit up an eerie narrow tunnel, barely room enough for Pistol to get through. From the cellar upstairs we heard a shot, and the sound of a body hitting the floor, a short scuffle followed, undoubtedly Montegue would hold them as long as he could, but with his injury it would not be long.

Before long, we heard the roar of water, the sound grew deafening as we made our way further down the tunnel. Pistol, still leading called back to us, "The bridge is out, large cascade of water ahead. I passed some rope up the line. Pistol opened up the grapple device he has concealed on his arm. It shot a grapple across the surging torrent of water and embedded in the rock face opposite. "Success!", he chortled, and grabbed one end of the rope and swung across the abyss. However, his mood was short-lived as he lost hold of the rope. He was still able to get to the other side safely, but now there was no way for the rest of us.

Brief concern passed amongst the group, but surely Pistol would not abandon us here... And of course he didn't! "Try throwing the rope, Giancarlo" he shouted, and Giancarlo, teetering on the edge of the platform heaved the rope through the cascade. Pistol managed to grab hold of it, and secured it to the end of the broken bridge. Giancarlo secured our end, and not a moment too soon - Franz and I could just make out a feint light at the end of the tunnel, and some raised voices above the roar of the torrent.

Dandelion made his way tenuously across the slippery rope bridge, hand by hand, and we all let out a sigh of relief as he made the other side. Eduarde followed, in his usual nonchalant fashion and Giancarlo followed, going double fast, almost recklessly, but looking quite at ease, a hint of jealousy crossed Eduarde's face. I followed grimly, with a quick word to Franz to make sure it wouldn't be easy for the pursuers. Franz was up to the task, as he grabbed hold of the rope he swung his sword, slicing the rope where Giancarlo had secured it, and swung across the chasm, just as a couple of Posen's men arrived. "That'll teach you to maintain your bridges!" quipped Pistol as we made our way cheerfully off down the passage. Surely they would not be able to follow now!

But again, our joy was short-lived, as Pistol discovered the way ahead blocked by a cave-in. A small gap could be seen at the top of the rubble, but far too small for Pistol to crawl through. Dandelion passed his blooded dagger to Pistol and urged him to fling it through to the other side so that they could both work at clearing the passage. This made for faster progress, but we were sure we could hear the sounds of construction behind us!

Eventually a hole was made large enough for the rotund body of Pistol to squeeze through, and we were able to continue on our way, Dandelion now leading the party.

A faint light could be seen ahead, and we moved quickly to what we hoped was escape.

But things are never that easy, and as Dandelion made his way into what looked to be a cavern, the noise woke the caverns occupants, two large, grumpy bears!

The confined space was the worse thing. Too narrow to be fighting more than one at a time, Dandelion had to contend with the lead bear by himself. Not a pleasant task, and soon he head earned a number of raking claw marks across his body. Again he hit upon the idea of hurling his blooded dagger past the obstacle, and although injured, he made it safely passed the first bear, and was able to hide from the second. This left Pistol to take on the bear, but the bear was ready, and although they traded a couple of blows each, it was clear the bear had the advantage. A great swipe from its huge paw and Pistol hit the ground unconscious. Giancarlo soon managed to push his sword past the bear's outstretched arms, and after a couple of telling blows, the great beast fell. But that only presented him with the second of the bears.

The bears were eventually beaten, but as luck would have it, they delayed us long enough for Pösen and her men to reach us. The tunnel was still too narrow to fight more than one at a time, and Franz took on the lead soldier. The soldier was no match for the skills of Franz, and soon fell, but that perhaps was a mistake, for behind him came the intimidating figure of Fauner Pösen.

It was obvious that Pösen would soon get the better of Franz, but he fought bravely, and was able to hold her off long enough for me to attempt to bring down the roof of the cavern behind her. I carefully concentrated, and holding my engraved belt buckle called upon Villskap to strike. A bolt of white hot energy sizzled past the battling Franz and Pösen, striking the joist behind her. The wood cracked and snapped, and the roof came tumbling down sending up a plume of dust and dirt. Voices cried briefly but were muffled.

I called for Franz to retreat back to the cavern where our greater numbers could be put to use. Pösen followed, and with her four of her men that had managed to avoid the falling debris. As we retreated we found the cavern cut in half by the raging torrent of an underground river.

Franz was failing fast, Pösen had knocked him to the ground. Thinking that Pösen might give up if he were gone, he took an extraordinary move, and rolled away from Pösen's blade into the freezing depths of the river. Meanwhile Eduarde and Giancarlo were making short work of three of the soldiers. The battle was not going well for me though, I had not yet recovered from my rune-casting, and had only just recovered my axe before being set upon by Pösen's right hand man. He rained down several blows upon me, but I stood firm. I felt the tide of the battle would soon turn our way, if I could hold out the fellow I was battling, Eduarde and Giancarlo would soon be able to dispatch their opponents and take on Pösen together, there was some possibility that Pösen would surrender if we were able to knock out her allies.

However, it was not to be. Eduarde chose to dive into the river after Franz, perhaps he did not realise Franz would be ok - he had his dracheneisen breast plate to keep him bouyant - it would not be so easy for Eduarde. Giancarlo, seeing this, decided to follow, it was like watching lemmings! I looked around me, Franz, Eduarde and Giancarlo gone. Pistol on the ground in front of me, and a badly injured Dandelion trying to escape through the mouth of the tunnel. He was quickly taken down by one of Pösen's men. I lay my axe down. Surrender the only option.

Pistol, Dandelion and I were taken back to Pösen's lodge, and incarcerated in the tower. I could only hope that our friends escaped. I doubted that Pösen would kill us, I had not taken part in the battle at Freiburg, and Dandelion and Pistol were not prominent in the battle. But would we be made to pay for Franz von Tannen's escape?

I made plans. I could call upon Grenselos to free me from my bonds, I could then free Dandelion so he could make his escape, it would then be a matter of finding a way for me to get out with Pistol undetected. I pondered this for a while, before a guard entered and told me to get to my feet, Dandelion and Pistol had been tended to, and were able to stand - just. And we followed the guard out, wondering why we had been summoned.

We were taken to the gates, to my horror, Franz stood outside.

"No!" I shouted, "Run Franz, we will be fine!"

But he looked at me blandly. That same look of sad resignation that he has worn the whole time I have known him - has it just been over a year - it seems like many. "I have kept my bargain, let them go!"

He must have known what fate would await him under Pösen's hands. And as we were led away, I saw construction of gallows had already begun. We were led to Pösen's borders, where Eduarde met us, eyes downcast. Pösen's guard told us our lives would be forfeit if we entered her lands again, despite von Tannen's sacrifice.

I looked at Eduarde, he looked unwell, tired, barely able to speak. A pale shadow of the Eduarde I've come to know. "Giancarlo?" I asked. He looked up, and we could tell from his eyes that the news was not good.

"The torrent, it was so strong. I could barely get my head above water to breathe. For a short time I was able to keep track of where Eduarde was, and once I looked up and saw Franz climbing up the bank, but then I was swept away again. It must have been minutes, but it seemed like hours, I was tossed around and had no idea which way was up, and which was down, I began breathing water, and could feel my lungs filling, and the freezing cold turn to numbness, it was almost euphoric. And then a thump, somehow, I'd reached out and held on to a rock, it had knocked the water out of me, and I was slowly breathing again, fresh air filling my lungs. Franz found me and lifted me from the bank, I was barely able to move. But no sign of Giancarlo could we see. We walked along the bank for an hour, maybe two, I don't know, and eventually a hint of red, that gaudy, unfashionable tunic he wears. We rushed to it, but he was not moving, his head dashed against a rock, his face blue. Dead."

Eduarde was in tears as he told his story, and soon we joined him, our party torn apart by this reckless foray, and two of our dear friends gone.

This has not been a happy tale to tell, perhaps I am better for the telling of it. I do not seek revenge, it was our own stupidity that led to this. Today I am stricken with remorse, and my dreams so often given to images of Pierre in the swamp, now have two companions.

I would wish that it were possible that men other than Vestenmannavnjar heroes could walk through the gates of Valhalla. Why not? Franz and Giancarlo are men just like me. It is just an accident of birth that they are born in different lands. But they showed valour, and heroism. Valhalla would be better for their presence. Perhaps that is the enduring picture I should take with me, Franz von Tannen and Giancarlo Lucani in Valhalla.

Farewell.