The Homecoming 118.

At Home...

At the last moment, sir Percavelle Lé Dic quickly takes a couple of steps back. And sir Hamdell and sir Jarmick crash into one another as they attempt to swing their swords at the former earl of Lé Dic.
The noblemen from the Harkonin fief, who ran at the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che from opposite directions. Hit the ground with a clatter.
The nobleborn knight who once ruled the Lé Dic fief, steps forward and kicks sir Hamdell in the side. Sending the former Harkonin army captain rolling away, groaning in pain as he does so.
Then the former paladin, kicks sir Jarmick's sword away. As the landed knight from the very south of the Harkonin fief tries to grab his weapon that he's dropped.
The nobleborn knight, the only ordered one out of the seven of them on the road, before the south side moat of his family's castle.
Then kicks sir Hamdell in the rump. Sending the landed knight from south of baron Harkonin's fief sprawling.
Then sir Percavelle Lé Dic or Percy as he's more commonly referred to by the rest of the group, lifts up the faceplate of his full helm, and looks over at sir Taevar the Harkonin army commander, and grins.
With a sour smile upon his face, sir Taevar says "Get up" to the knights Hamdell and Jarmick. Baron Harkonin's army commander after glancing over at sir Balick, the only other landed knight from the Harkonin fief, here facing the former earl of Lé Dic, he can truly trust.
Says to the other five knights "When i said together, i meant together" as sir Jarmick and sir Hamdell scramble to their feet, which the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che allows them to do.
"Don't forget your sword there Jarmick" says sir Percavelle Lé Dic in a cheerful tone, as sir Jarmick after getting up, moves back. While sir Hamdell winces as he backs up with a sore side, where his armour has been dented in by the right sabaton of the former knight of the first class.
After darting a look at sir Percavelle, sir Jarmick whose armour is now no longer so shiny, and has scratches along it. Hurries forward and picks up his dropped sword, before he backs away from the nobleborn knight who is the uncle of the lady Linara Lé Dic.
Not yet my lovelies, Percy thinks to himself with a glance down at the heavy canvas bag on the road, that he steps up next to once more.
The heavily armoured knight who was once the earl of the Lé Dic fief, after grinning again, clangs shut the visor of his full helm, with a slap of his right gauntleted hand.
"Together" quietly says the Harkonin army commander, sir Taevar, who glances to his left, and adds "You ready Olmard?".
"Ready" is the slightly slurred reply of the dazed sir Olmard, whose faceplate of his full helm is dented in.
"You ready Malmaré?" asks sir Taevar who looks over at the youngest of the landed knights from the Harkonin fief, who is bleeding from his left shoulder plate.
Sir Malmaré just grunts in reply, and grimaces behind the visor of his full helm as he grips his sword in two hands.
Baron Harkonin's brother inlaw, then looks at sir Balick, who like him. Has faced sir Percavelle Lé Dic before. Though in a tourney setting, not on the battlefield.
Seeing the Harkonin army commander looking his way, sir Balick slightly nods his head.
"Ready?" says sir Taevar to the knights Hamdell and Jarmick "And don't rush in by yourselves again" adds the Harkonin army commander when the last two landed knights from the fief to the east, nod that they're ready.
Glad that their soldiers have given them a wide berth. After all, when knights on opposing sides in battle face off against one another. It should be them to fight against each other. And let the common born soldiers get on with something else. In this case, the continued assault upon the massive castle that's the ancestral home of the Lé Dic family.
"Now!" orders sir Taevar, which illicits a grin from sir Percavelle Lé Dic, who reaches back, and grabs something behind him on his belt, it's a hammer. And it's significantly heavier than the hand hammer he threw at sir Olmard.
Though the enemy who have surrounded him on the road, move quickly forward and attack him at once. Some of them move quicker than others. And again it's sir Hamdell and sir Jarmick who rush at him first, before their fellow landed knights who are vassals of the baron Raevar Harkonin.
Percy holding the haft of the hammer, basically choking it at where the haft goes into the head.
Punches it into the chest of sir Jarmick who he's turned to face.
The heavy hammer severely dents in the shiny breastplate of the poor knight from the south of the Harkonin fief. As the former earl of Lé Dic suspected, the armour is of inferior quality, and the dent is more of a rip, than a dent as sir Jarmick is knocked backwards onto the ground, and his sword is flung from his hands from the impact of hitting the road.
The knight in the order of Saint Mar-che who was once a paladin. Hunches forward, almost bending forward.
He grins as he's whacked in the back by the sword of sir Hamdell who has rushed him from behind.
The commoner who was made a knight by baron Harkonin during the war of succession. Yelps in surprise, more than anything, as his longsword is jarred from his hands, and goes flying after he struck the shield of Saint Mar-che that's on the back of the former earl of Lé Dic.
Sir Percavelle spins to his right, letting go of the haft of his hammer, and quickly catching it again further down the haft. Just before he slams it into the side of the wounded sir Malmaré, who came forward quickly. But is swinging his sword rather slowly in both his hands.
The youngest of the landed knights from the Harkonin fief, drops to the ground screaming. After he's hit in his wounded left shoulder by the former paladin's hammer. Crushing in the already damaged upper vambrace.
The heavily armoured knight in the order of Saint Mar-che who though is in his forties, is still incredibly strong, and more importantly, incredibly quick.
Spins away from the other three landed knights who serve the baron Harkonin. Though to be fair, the dazed sir Olmard, didn't actually come at him. He's wandered off more to the right across the road, instead of straight at him like sir Taevar and Balick have done.
"Get up you two!" demands the Harkonin army commander of the knights Hamdell and sir Malmaré who are on the ground.
Sir Taevar who has quickly backed away from the former earl of Lé Dic. Looks on in disgust at sir Hamdell who has a hole in his breastplate, and is trying to get up off the ground. While young sir Malmaré, is lying on the ground, on his right side, groaning in pain. As his left shoulder plate is badly damaged. He's probably got a shattered left shoulder to go with the blood that's flowing from it.
Meanwhile, sir Hamdell has scurried away to retrieve his longsword that went flying from his hands when he struck the back of the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che.
While sir Balick grabs the dazed sir Olmard, and turns him in the direction of the landed and ordered knight who is the uncle of the lady Linara Lé Dic.
Who sir Taevar sees, has lifted the faceplate of his full helm again, and is grinning as he looks at the noblemen from the Harkonin fief.
Mad fucking idiot, baron Harkonin's army commander and brother inlaw sourly thinks to himself as he looks at the heavily armoured knight who is in the order of Saint Mar-che.
And while sir Jarmick has got up off the ground, and staggered back, breathing heavily after getting knocked down, and getting part of his breastplate torn open. Sir Malmaré is still upon the ground, groaning in pain.
He screams in pain when the former earl of Lé Dic kicks him, causing him to roll onto his back.
Then with a grin at the other landed knights from the Harkonin fief, the former paladin swings his hammer down at the faceplate of the wounded nobleman on the ground.
The former knight of the first class smashes his hammer down a second time into the visor of sir Malmaré's full helm. The third time he does it, blood sprays forth from the badly smashed in faceplate of the young knight from the north of the Harkonin fief.
"Bit of a poor showing there young fellow" says sir Percavelle Lé Dic in his loud boisterous voice after he smashes his hammer down a fourth time into the faceplate of sir Malmaré, then stands up straight.
"I say you'll have to do a lot better next time" adds the former earl of Lé Dic, who then looks down at the youngest of the noblemen from the fief to the east, who have confronted him here on the road, on the south side of his family's castle, and he says "Well, it seems there won't be a next time for you young fellow wot".
The heavily armoured knight in the order of Saint Mar-che grins at the other landed knights, in particular sir Taevar, then he closes the faceplate of his full helm, after glancing down at the dead sir Malmaré, and murmurs "Like father, like son". Having now killed both the father and son in battle nearly twenty years apart.
As sir Jarmick mutters "Fuck" as he looks at the dead sir Malmaré on the ground. And even the dazed sir Olmard nervously swallows when he sees that the youngest of them is dead.
Sir Taevar after sourly smiling once again, shakes his full helmed head, and says to the others "When i mean together, i fucking mean together!".
"Now, now Taevar" says sir Percavelle Lé Dic who is grinning from ear to ear behind the visor of his helm "Don't be so tetchy now" adds the former knight of the first class, who continues with "It can't be helped that you're all incompetent ninnies, after all you lot hail from the stinking dung heap of a fief called Harkonin" and with a look at all of them, ending with sir Jarmick, he says "Not to mention inbred heathens who follow the despicable old ways of the dark druids".
"Damn you Jarmick, together!" shouts baron Harkonin's army commander as an enraged sir Jarmick yells incoherently in anger, and rushes sir Percavelle Lé Dic before the order to do so.
The heavily armoured knight in the order of Saint Mar-che grins as the poor knight from the very south of the Harkonin fief charges him.
With his shiny armour scratched up, sir Jarmick runs forward swinging his longsword at the former earl of Lé Dic. Who just stands there completely still, waiting for the nobleman from the fief across the border to the east.
Then the former paladin swings his right arm forward from where it's down beside him. Flicking his right gauntleted hand forward, flinging the hammer he's holding, out of his hand, and forward at the charging sir Jarmick.
Now all suits of armour that are made of plate. Have it virtually everywhere. Including what's known as the waist guard. Which protects the groin, or nether regions.
That maybe so, but still if you get hit directly there. It still hurts, especially if it's hit by a blunt weapon. Like a hammer, which has been thrown with a underhanded flick. With skill, by someone who has done it a lot, on both the tourney field, and on the battlefield.
It doesn't help that sir Jarmick's armour, though shiny, and polished to a high sheen before the battle for Lé Dic castle began, isn't exactly the best quality.
For he gasps in pain as he staggers to a halt, when the hammer thrown underhanded at him, hits him in the groin.
He doubles over, putting a hand down on the road, as vomit suddenly sprays from the air holes in the faceplate of his helm. He groans again as he gasps in a breath as he stands upright.
Then suddenly, his own longsword that he's dropped, is slammed into his chest, through the rent that's in the front of his breastplate.
"I do believe that's yours" says a grinning sir Percavelle Lé Dic who lets go of the hilt of the longsword he's just shoved into the chest of sir Jarmick "You don't want to be leaving it behind now do you?" adds the former knight of the first class.
As the landed knight from the very south of the Harkonin fief stands there, as blood now flows from the air holes in his visor, where only a couple of moments ago, vomit spewed from it.
Sir Jarmick goes to reach for his sword that's through his chest as he stands there. He lifts his hands up, they don't get far, before he topples over sideways to the ground, dead.
"Ahem" Percy clears his throat, then lifts up his faceplate, and with a grin plastered on his face, he says "Next?" as he looks at the four remaining knights from the Harkonin fief who are on the road.
Seeing that the former earl of Lé Dic is no longer holding a weapon, even though there are others on his belt, including his sword on one hip, and what looks to be a long dagger on the other. Sir Taevar shouts at the three remaining landed knights with him "Now!".
And for once, they all obey his command. And the four of them rush the ordered knight who is the uncle of the lady Linara Lé Dic. Even the dazed sir Olmard goes in the right direction as he runs at the heavily armoured knight who is a member of the order of the Knights of Saint Mar-che.
The former paladin who has turned to his left a bit, runs forward a few steps, then dives forward at one of the oncoming enemy. The former knight of the first class, dives forward beneath a hastily swung sword, and slams into the still unsteady legs of sir Olmard.
The dazed knight whose faceplate is partly smashed in, goes down with a bone crunching yelp. Sir Percavelle rolls to his right, and springs to his feet, and spins around, as the other three enemy knights, turn and come back at him again.
The former earl of Lé Dic didn't just dive forward at the legs of sir Olmard to knock him down. He also dived this way, because that's where his heavy canvas bag is on the road.
And the heavily armoured knight in the order of Saint Mar-che, grabs what's in the bag, and pulls them out, one in each gauntleted hand, as he gets to his feet and spins around to confront the other three landed knights from the Harkonin fief.
"Oh my beauties!" says a chortling sir Percavelle Lé Dic, as he lifts up what's in his left gauntleted hand, as sir Balick swings his broadsword with a savage swipe at him.
It's about the length of a sword, not as long as a broadsword, but a bit longer than a shortsword. It's basically an iron rod, and it has what look likes iron teeth about four inches in length, sticking out of it along it's length. It resembles a large iron hair comb if someone was to describe it.
But what it is, is sometimes called a swordcatcher. But it's known by it's more common name, a swordbreaker.
Sir Balick's blade slams in between two of the iron teeth of Percavelle Lé Dic's swordbreaker. Then the former paladin, yanks his left arm to his side, twisting his wrist as he does so. Sir Balick's broadsword is ripped out of his hands.
Then the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che shoves forward what he's holding in his right gauntleted hand.
The grip looks like the back end of a lance. It certainly has the round guard you find on wooden lances.
The grip is about two feet in length. While the other end of it, beyond the round guard. Is nearly two and half foot in length.
It resembles a poinard, it certainly looks like one. It's a relatively thin piece of metal, looking like a rod of stock that blacksmiths use.
Though it's actually highly tempered steel. And it has four sides, all flat, that ends in a tapered end. Like what a leather worker uses to punch holes in his work.
And that's what sir Percavelle uses it for, to punch holes in his work. As it easily punches a hole in the breastplate of sir Balick, goes through his chest, and out his back.
The former paladin pulls the poinard like weapon out of the chest of the landed knight who he disarmed with his swordbreaker.
The hole in the breastplate of sir Balick is only the size of a small coin. But that's all it needs to be, when the flat sided, tapered weapon went through his heart, killing him instantly.
As sir Balick drops to the ground dead, sir Taevar and sir Hamdell come to a halt, while the groaning sir Olmard tries to get up off the ground, but is unable to as his legs are either broken, or his knees have been dislocated after the former earl of Lé Dic dived into them.
Looking at the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che, and what he's holding, the Harkonin army commander says in disgust "You cheat!".
Laughing as he flings away the broadsword in his swordcatcher, sir Percavelle Lé Dic lifts up the visor of his full helm, and says with a grin upon his face "That i am".
Then lifting up the unique, and totally un noble like weapons he's got in his hands, he says to sir Taevar, sir Hamdell, and the groaning sir Olmard on the ground "Next?" . . . . . .