Forged Destiny [Book 2: Ch. 3]

Berserker, the words above her head read.

That has to be the leader. If we take her out, the rest will surely break. I looked back towards the others, but it seemed like they were still engaged in their own fights. Blake might have still been around but it was impossible to tell and the moment's hesitation took the choice away entirely. The Berserker saw me and charged in immediately. She swung her axe high and brought it crashing down onto my shield.

My arms buckled under the force and the back of the shield slammed into my face as I was driven away. My back bumped into wood. A swift roll to the side prevented my being cut in two, and as the woman lodged her weapon into the oak, I slashed at her unprotected back. Crocea Mors bit into armour but didn't seem to draw blood.

She roared in fury. Almost too fast to see, she spun about and slammed the haft of her axe into my chest. The steel haft dented and drove the air from me, even before she ducked low, hooked the head behind my ankle and pulled.

Weightlessness took me and I cried out as I fell, only to be silence as my back smacked against the hard deck. My hands came up in time to block a vicious kick that would have knocked me out, but it did nothing to stop her settling down atop me.

She punched my guard open and raised the above her head. "Die!"

Crocea Mors came up in time to catch the axe head, but I nearly cut my own throat open in the process. The blade ended up braced across my arm, shoulder and neck – the axe pushing it down as I tried to force her off.

—Forged Destiny [Book 2: Ch. 3]