Rosalis and the survivors had finally made it to Wolfholde. Anselmus also rejoined them, his wound quickly healing itself, leaving only a mere scar. They entered the gates and proceeded to walk through it. The villagers suddenly scattered about the place, hiding behind trees, behind houses. Rosalis heard voices and turned her head. She saw a villager on his knees, his head placed on a chopping block. The executioner stood next to him, a black hood over his head, a large axe in his hands. Another man stood next to the villager, saying something, carrying out the sentence. A woman was held by a knight, her arms restrained behind her. She screamed and yelled, pleading for them to release her husband. They ignored her and continued with the sentencing. Marmaducus went to step forward, when Rosalis suddenly stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. He looked at her.
“We can’t just let them do this!” He said in a loud but hushed tone. Rosalis shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but there is nothing that we can do for him.” She said. “We will be walking straight to our deaths. Besides, we have more pressing matters at stake.”
Marmaducus looked at the scene with fear in his eyes, just as the executioner raised his axe into the air. He brought it down onto the man’s neck, cleaving it easily. Instantly, Anselmus snapped his head away, screwing his eyes shut, grimacing. The head dropped to the ground and blood poured out from the stump. The judge kicked the corpse over and then walked off, the executioner following after him. The knight released the woman and she ran over to her husband's headless corpse, collapsing next to it, bawling her eyes out. The knight walked off, having no regard for the poor widow. Rosalis sighed sadly, releasing Marmaducus? arm and continued forward. Suddenly, a guard snapped his head their way.
“Hey!” He called out to them. He began to walk up to them. Having no choice, Rosalis and the rest were forced to flee, hiding inside a tavern. They sat down at a table and ordered tankards of mead. They waited and prayed that they would blend into the crowd. Benedictus looked at Rosalis.
“What should we do?” He whispered.
“Do not do anything.” She replied quietly. The guards suddenly burst in and looked at the first thing that their eyes caught. The back door of the tavern was swinging open gently. They ran through it and disappeared. Once they were sure that they were clear of the danger, Rosalis and the rest got up, when suddenly, there was a loud whistle outside. They immediately sat back down again. The guards had returned, accompanied with four agents. The agents slowly walked about the tavern, taking note of everyone. They stopped at one table and Rosalis looked up at them.
“Come quietly.” He told her. “You shall be taken to Wolfgrimm. If you do not obey, there shall be trouble.”
Rosalis nodded to her companions, signalling them to listen to the order. They all stood up. One of the agents looked at Benedictus and smirked.
“Where is your God now, monk?”
Suddenly, something in Benedictus snapped. He roared in a rage and stabbed the agent through the chest with his staff. Immediately, a brawl erupted. Anselmus suddenly grabbed an agent and threw him across a table, scattering tankards all over the floor, spilling the fresh mead. Beneditus spun his staff and impaled yet another agent. Anselmus drew out his falchion and swiped it across one enemy, taking an arm. The agent screamed as blood sprayed out from the stump, covering a window. Anselmus finished him off, slashing the blade across his neck. He collapsed to the floor, already dead. With the brawl having been won, they quickly left the scene. Anselmus looked at Benedictus, cleaning the blood off his blade.
“That was quite something.”
“Just because I am peaceful, does not mean that I do not know how to be violent.”
The group walked up to Wolfgrimm’s castle and stood at it, hiding away from prying eyes. Two knights stood at the gates, holding halberds in their hands. Rosalis looked at her companions. “We will need to find a way on how to get in without raising an alarm.” She said. “Obviously, going through the front gates would do us no good.”
“If only Forthwind were here.” Anselmus said. Rosalis sighed.
“Forthwind is gone. There is nothing that we can do about it. We will just have to continue on without him.”
“What about the entrance to the crypts underneath the drawbridge?” Marmaducus suggested. Rosalis looked behind herself and saw a gate underneath the castle’s drawbridge, leading beneath the castle itself. She looked back at Marmaducus.
“Good eye.” She remarked. And so, they proceeded with sneaking around the castle and made their way beneath the drawbridge. They stood at the gate to the crypts. Marmaducus and Anselmus stood at either side of the gate and grabbed it. Straining silently, they lifted the gate upwards, allowing Rosalis and Benedictus to crawl through. Slowly and carefully, they also made their way inside and silently put the gate back into its original position. It clanked onto the ground with minimal noise. Rosalis led the way through the tunnel and they were greeted with a staircase and a door at the top of it. They walked up to it and opened it, finding themselves in a corridor.
“We have intruders!” A voice suddenly called out. They had been spotted by a sentry. Having no choice, they proceeded to run through the castle, trying to navigate their way through it. They burst their way through a pair of large doors and stared as Wolfgrimm stood in front of them at the far end of the large hall.
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“Greetings!” He called out, his voice echoing. “Rosalis, it is a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I have to say, that I am quite impressed that you have made it thus far. I mean, look at you – you are a woman. But of course, I would not like to be that judgmental. How is old Edmund doing? Good? That’s good to hear. I wouldn’t want him to miss the great event that I will bring to him and his mighty kingdom. You see, I wouldn't want him to miss out on the fun. Even if you do somehow get out of this kingdom alive, I will still march my army to Frinnor and have it razed to the ground. You should give in now, at this very moment in time. Join me, and I will spare you a long and painful death.”
“Never.” Rosalis replied, anger in her eyes. Wolfgrimm tilted his head slightly to the side and waved a hand lazily, not seeming to be bothered.
“So be it.”
Suddenly, there was the sound of clanking sabatons and in an instant, Wolfgrimm’s knights proceeded to pour into the room, surrounding their targets. They all drew their weapons out as Wolfgrimm grinned and looked on in delight.
“Kill them all!” He ordered. Without waiting for a fourth word, the knights began to stab and slice at them. Within a second, a bloody massacre ensued. The group began to fight for their lives, stabbing, slicing and hacking. Benedictus stabbed one knight through the chest with his staff and drew it out, stabbed another one. He spun round and stabbed a third knight through the face, deforming him. Anselmus proceeded to cleave through enemies with his falchion. In a flash, an arm was taken, then a leg, then a head. The blade cleaved through femurs and shoulder blades as though they were made of hot butter. Blood sprayed out all over the place, painting the throne room. Marmaducus quickly dispatched the others, crushing through them like they were mere pastry. Rosalis sliced and spun her sword, cutting down the rest like they were weeds. Blood and bodies quickly covered the place, but still Wolfgrimm enjoyed the show that was put on for him. Suddenly, one knight stabbed Benedictus through the chest. A second knight also seized a chance and yet a third sword was stuck into the monk. He collapsed to his knees, having just enough strength to hold himself upright with his staff. Blood was soaked into his cloak, pooling beneath his feet like a red pond. Blood ran from his mouth. Anselmus fought his enemies, but suddenly, an axe was swiped across his throat and blood gushed out all over the floor. He gasped and collapsed to the ground, choking, dying a moment later. Marmaducus saw his friend’s corpse out of the corner of his eye and suddenly, his eyebrows twisted themselves in a fury. He roared in rage and proceeded to swing his warhammer at anyone that was foolish enough to face him. He swung at a knight and blood and brains were spilled all over the floor as the warhammer collided with his face, pulverising the skull. Marmaducus swung his weapon into one knight’s leg, and there was a terrible crack of bone as the leg bent to the side, crippling him. He collapsed to the floor, screaming in abject agony. Marmaducus brought his warhammer down onto the knight’s head, crushing it like an egg. Having been blinded by his rage, he soon fell as a spear made its way through his back. Despite having a spear stuck into himself, Marmaducus continued to exact furious vengeance on his enemies. Soon, the wound sapped his strength away from him and he fell to the ground. Without giving him another chance, one of Wolfgrimm’s soldiers took his sword and plunged it into Marmaducus’ chest. Despite being heavily wounded, Marmaducus killed the knight and drew the sword out of himself, dropping it to the ground. Using the last of his strength, he got up from the floor and took his warhammer in both hands, yelled a war cry as he ran towards Wolfgrimm with the intent of smashing him to a pulp. Wolfgrimm stood up from this throne, drawing his sword out and merely stood in place. A knight went to draw his sword out, but Wolfgrimm held up a hand, stopping him from doing so. The knight took his hand away from his sword and stood in place, obeying. Marmaducus made it to his enemy and went to swing the warhammer, but Wolfgrimm slashed his sword across his neck, easily decapitating him. Marmacudus’ headless corpse stumbled for a couple of seconds and then collapsed, pooling out blood everywhere. Rosalis continued to fight, piling bodies around her, despite herself being heavily wounded. Her face was scarred and decorated with dried blood, her armour was scratched and scuffed. She then collapsed to one knee, fatigued, and stuck her sword into the ground to keep herself from falling over. One henchman was about to swing his sword down onto her head when suddenly, Wolfgrimm shouted out. “Stop!”
In an instant, the fight stopped and Rosalis looked around at her enemies, surrounding her. Suddenly, they all stepped back from her. She propped herself up onto her sword and stood up straight onto her two feet once more. She looked around as she saw all of the henchman retreat from her. Her bloody eyebrows bent themselves in a fury. “Come on then!” She roared at them in rage. “Fight me! Fight me, you spineless cowards!” Suddenly, she heard a cage door open and turned around. A wolf stepped out and stalked up to her, snarling, drool running from its mouth. Its face and fur were decorated with scars and matted with dried blood. The henchmen surrounded Rosalis, trapping her inside with the bloodthirsty beast.
“Let the fight commence!” Wolfgrimm announced. He suddenly gave a sharp whistle and the wolf snarled, diving for her, ready to tear her throat out. The henchmen began to heckle and cheer, eager for bloodshed. The wolf ran at her and suddenly clamped its jaws down onto one of her greaves, biting into her leg. She screamed in pain and collapsed. The wolf tugged at her, still its jaws in her armour and then suddenly gave a short yelp, released her. It snarled at her as blood dripped from its mouth. It had wounded itself by biting into the sharp steel. The wolf ran at her and jumped up, bringing her to the ground. Rosalis kept her blade up, trying to keep the drooling, snapping jaws from tearing her face off. The henchmen whistled and cheered, enjoying the show. Rosalis sharply moved her right arm to the side, causing the blade to slice through the wolf's skin. It howled and retreated. Rosalis got up and it ran at her for a second time and suddenly, Rosalis plunged her sword into the wolf’s mouth, causing the point to poke out slightly through the top of its skull. She stood up and put the dead wolf to the floor. The henchmen quieted down, losing their bets. Rosalis put her sabaton to the wolf's head and drew her blood stained sword out. Suddenly, she brought the sword down onto the wolf and twisted it. She stabbed two more times and cleaved through the bone. She picked up the wolf’s separated head and threw it to Wolfgrimm. It landed at his feet and he looked down at it, snarled just as the same as it. He looked up at Rosalis and suddenly jumped up from his throne, pointed at her in fury. “First man to bring me her head gets a crown in their salary!”
Suddenly, everyone began to converge on her, weapons drawn. One of Wolfgrimm’s henchmen made his way through the crowd and came out with a hand cannon. The rest of Wolfgrimm’s army cleared the way, leaving Rosalis out in the open. The hand cannon had a long handle and a large muzzle. It almost looked like that of a cylindrical paddle that had been hollowed out. The henchman took a small sack and bit away the cork, proceeded to fill up the cannon with gunpowder. Chucking away the empty sack, he took a bunch of arrows and put them inside the cannon. Taking it in both hands, he aimed it and another henchman proceeded to light it. Rosalis realised that she had no chance but to retreat and save herself. She sheathed her sword and turned, ran for the castle’s balcony. She jumped into the abyss, just as the arrows all shot out. One of them ricocheted off of her pauldron. Falling from the castle, whilst flailing her arms and legs about uselessly, Rosalis landed into a lake. Benedictus stared in shock at the spot where Rosalis had just been. Wolfgrimm quickly strode up to the balcony and looked down at the sixty foot drop. He saw ripples in the lake below. He frowned. “Why did she do that?” He contemplated to himself. “There is now way that she could have survived the fall.” He turned around and looked at Benedictus.
