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Unto the Ages: Chapter 161
🕑 Added 2025-04-01 15:10:52 +0000 UTCAfter one and a half days of hard riding, or in Grud’s case, running and jumping, Grud and his riders neared the Thunder Strider’s tribe.
Along the way, Grud and his men took down some lookouts. At first, they were lookouts from other tribes that were close to the route they were using, but as they continued, Grud ran into more Thunder Strider lookouts or just those who were unfortunately out foraging.
Eventually, they dismounted some distance from the tribe so the sounds of over a hundred galloping horses would not be heard.
As Grud sat to rest his aching legs from all the running, one of his younger sons, Kota, who accompanied him, came back to report what they saw when ordered to spy on their target. “Father, they suspect nothing. The gates are wide open and people seem to be going about their business.”
Grud nodded and grunted in acknowledgment, “But it will not stay that way for long. Those we silenced on our way here may be due to return. We must strike before they suspect something is wrong. Tell the men that we will move to attack when the horses and I are rested.”
Kota nodded and was about to leave, but he had a slight look of hesitation. After a second, the hesitation steeled, and he turned to Grud, “Father… My brothers and I ask if we may have the honor of being the tip of the spear for this attack.”
The request made Grud frown with worry. Naturally, as their father, he did not want to see any of his children die, and allowing this request was an unnecessary risk. As his gaze remained fixed on his steely-eyed son, Grud let out a sigh.
Of all the sons he brought along, most were born a few years before the long winter and did not have the chance to undertake their coming-of-age hunt due to the disappearance of prey. Instead, they fished to prove their ability to provide. However, they all grew up hearing tales of Grud’s and their older brothers’ coming-of-age hunts, feeling lesser for not experiencing the same rite of passage.
Now, his sons wanted to prove themselves as men in battle to make up for missing their coming-of-age hunt. As much as Grud wanted to forbid them, he knew that coddling them would do them more harm in the future.
With a sigh, Grud said, “I will allow this. Now go and prepare for battle… and tell your older brother Orin to come and see me.”
Hearing Grud’s approval, Kota ran off with a smile to share the news with his brothers.
A few minutes later, one of Grud’s older sons, Orin, came before Grud. “Father.” Orin greeted Grud.
Grud nodded and said, “Son. I am sure you heard how your younger brothers long for battle?” Grud asked, and Orin nodded in reply. “They seem too eager to spill blood to prove themselves. I fear their overeagerness will lead to their deaths… I ask that those of you who have been properly blooded in battle care for the younger ones.”
Orin cocked an eyebrow at Grud and replied, “What do you mean they are not blooded? Did we not raid a few tribes on the way here?”
Grud just shook his head. “Those were small and unprepared tribes taken by surprise. What we are facing now is different. While we will take them by surprise, they are a large tribe with enough people to stall us and issue a proper response even if we are inside the walls. When that time comes, the younger ones will face a formidable enemy that had conquered the region during the long winter.”
Orin, having children of his own, nodded in understanding, “Worry not, father, all of your sons are strong, and we will keep our younger brothers safe.”
It was true. On average, all of Grud’s sons were taller and more well-built than most men around. This feature was so common that unrelated people were sometimes mistaken for a son of Grud if they were of large stature. Satisfied with Orin’s answer, Grud nodded and shooed him away to prepare.
Some time later, everyone was mounted up and ready to go. Without speaking a word, Grud charged forward with a bundle of spears in one arm and a spear ready in the other.
After ten paces or so, the rest of the men on horses, led by Grud’s sons, charged out behind him.
It did not take long for the gate guards to spot Grud and his riders charging toward them, but just as they let out a shout of alarm, the two gate guards were nailed to the sides of the gate by Grud’s thrown spears.
Shouts of alarm sounded out, and soon, there was the sound of drums being beaten to signal an enemy attack, but as people tried to close the gate, more spears thrown by Grud rained down, killing anyone trying to bar their entry.
***
True to his word, Grud stayed back, throwing spears at anyone who tried to close the gate until his sons reached the gate and started swinging their weapons. Once inside, the riders spread out, and the more senior and experienced of Grud’s sons led their younger brethren down the different roads between buildings, slaughtering anyone in sight.
Their father’s orders were that the Thunder Strider tribe was to be killed down to the last man, woman, and child. And after that was done, all that was to be left of the tribe was ashes blowing in the wind.
So their father has spoken, and so it shall be done.
By the time Grud’s riders had penetrated a third of the way into the tribe, they started encountering organized resistance, and between buildings, their horses started becoming a detriment to their maneuverability, so they dismounted, turned their horses around and slapped the horses’ butts to make them run back, trusting that there would be someone at the tribe’s entrance to wrangle the horses before they got out the gate.
From there, Grud’s men went house to house, butchering every living thing. As for Grud’s sons, they were deeper inside the tribe and facing a far more organized force that was using their buildings as choke points.
Prior to charging into battle, the older among Grud’s sons divided themselves into groups, each one of the older and more experienced brothers led a bunch of their less experienced brothers.
As it turns out, inheriting the genes for big, muscular bodies and being equipped with sturdy armor provided by their father made Grud’s sons excellent shock troops. They were able to effortlessly wield larger weapons and throw their weight around.
They may not be as big or as strong as their father, but physically, they could be considered the current peak of what humanity could naturally offer.
When they crashed into the Thunder Striders, who were using the gaps between buildings as chokepoints, Grud’s sons were having an easy time breaking into their defensive lines. They sent men flying back by kicking their shields, hacking and smashing apart shields and bodies with their large two-handed weapons, and just making a mess of the enemy defensive line.
While the younger of Grud’s sons went wild on the battle line, the older brothers took up a more reserved approach. Every time one of their younger brothers started going too deep, they would call them back; failing that, they would be dragged back into formation. Other times, when the younger brothers got injured or got in trouble from going wild and not conserving their strength, they too would be relegated to the rear.
***
With all his riders inside the enemy’s walls, Grud leisurely jogged past the Thunder Strider tribe’s gates. By the time he got inside the walls, the entrance was fully under his rider’s control.
As Grud looked around, he could see fights happening down every road. Not knowing where to go, he decided to get to a higher vantage point to see what the situation was like.
Grud climbed up an abandoned watch tower and looked over the tribe. From there, he could see most of his sons fighting deeper in the tribe.
After looking around for a target, he found what looked like an enemy commander and jumped off the watch tower to like the commander, only to see a squad of his sons come around an unseen corner and kill the commander in a flanking maneuver.
Having his kill stolen from him, Grud stopped on the roof and continued his search, only to find that every street was filled with men from his tribe, fighting the enemy who barely had time to put any armor on.
Grud then decided that he had had his fill of slaughter for the past few days and to leave the rest to the younger generation. Instead, to pass the time, Grud traversed the rooftops, calling out high-value targets to his sons and other fighters from his tribe.
As Grud’s forces butchered their way further into the tribe, he noticed that the center, which consisted mostly of his sons, was moving too far ahead and leaving the rest of the tribe’s fighters behind.
This was starting to leave gaps in the loose battle line between the buildings. To remedy this situation, he called out to some of his older sons to spread out among the battleline and try to keep an even pace with each other.
When he felt that his men had a handle on things, Grud looked up and gazed at the most opulent building in the distance. It was the tallest building at three stories high, and most of its construction was made of stacked stone. A most labour-intensive building. Grud shook his head as he knew he was going to destroy it.
Grud jumped from his roof to another toward the opulent building. His objective was to topple the enemy tribe’s symbol of power.
When Grud landed in front of the gates to what was most likely the chieftain’s home. He was confronted by ten well-armored men, all with their weapons raised and pointed at him. “Stop or die!” the one with the most ornate helmet shouted at Grud.
Grud just leisurely walked toward them. “I will not stop, and all of you are not enough to kill me. So what would you do? Will you waste your lives trying to kill me?... but then again, that is a pointless question, you are all going to die shortly.” Grud said as a menacing feeling came over the well-armored guards, making all of them have cold sweats and shiver in their armor.
As Grud got closer, one of them lost their nerve and screamed a war cry that sounded like it was filled with fear instead of courage, and charged Grud. The man behind the changing man reached out to try to catch the charging man while shouting, “No! Don't!”
But it was too late. The moment he entered striking range of Grud, Grud swung his mighty spear, bisecting the charging man at the waist.
“Shit! Surround him and wait for my signal!” the leader of the guards shouted.
But just as the other men stepped into action, Grud was suddenly before them, and five more men were beheaded in one wide swing. After the return swing, there were no more guards to stand in his way.
