Free The Bull and the Spear - 05 by Michael Moorcock

daughter, had been in charge of the streets, and Corum glimpsed her running at the head of a handful of warriors, charging upon two of the hounds who had found themselves trapped in a street with no exit. Some of her red hair had come loose from her helmet and it flew as she ran. Her lithe figure, the speed and control of her movements, her evident courage, astonished Corum. He had never known a woman like this Medhbh—or, indeed, like the other women here who fought with their men and who shared equal duties with them. Such beautiful women, too, thought Corum. And then he cursed himself for his lack of attention, for another beast had come leaping and snapping and howling at him. He whirled his war-axe and shouted his Vadhagh war-cry as he smashed the blade deep into the hound's skull, between its red, tufted ears. He wished that the fight would end, for he was so weary that he could not believe he could slay another of the dogs.
     
    The baying of those dreadful beasts seemed to grow louder and louder. The stink of their breath made Corum wish for the harshness of the mist in his lungs. And still the white bodies flew through the air and landed upon the battlements; still the great fangs snapped and the yellow eyes blazed; still men died as the jaws ripped flesh, sinew and bone. And Corum leaned against the wall and panted and panted and knew that the next dog to attack him would kill him. He had no intention of resisting. He was finished. He would die here and all problems would be solved in an instant. Caer Mahlod would fall. The Fhoi Myore would rule.
     
    Something made him look down into the street again.
     
    There was Medhbh, standing alone, sword in hand, while a massive hound rushed at her. The rest of her party were all down. Their torn corpses could be seen strewn across the cobbles. Only Medhbh remained, and she would perish soon.
     
    Corum jumped before he even realized he had made up his mind. His booted feet landed squarely on the rump of the great hound, bringing its hind parts to the ground. The war-axe whistled now and crunched through the bone of the huge dog's vertebrae, almost chopping the beast in two. And Corum, carried forward by his own momentum, fell across the corpse. He slipped in the beast's blood, struck his skull against its broken spine and fell over onto his back, desperately trying to regain his footing. Even Medhbh did not know what had happened, for she struck at one of the dog's eyes with her sword, not realizing that the creature was already dead. Then she saw Corum.
     
    She grinned as he got to his feet and began to tug his war-axe from the corpse.
     
    "So you would not see me dead, then, my elfin prince."
     
    "Lady," said Corum, gasping for breath, "I would not."
     
    He freed his axe and staggered back up the steps to the battlements where weary warriors did their best to meet the attacks of seemingly innumerable hounds.
     
    Corum forced himself forward, to help a warrior who was about to go down before one of the dogs. His axe was becoming blunt with all the slaughter and this time his blow only stunned the dog, which recovered almost immediately and turned on him. But a pike took it in the belly, and the worst Corum got was the thing's thick and ill-smelling blood pouring over his breastplate.
     
    He stumbled away, peering through the mist beyond the walls. And this time he did see a looming shape—a gigantic figure of a man, apparently with antlered horns growing from the sides of its head, its face all misshapen, its body all warped, raising something to its lips, as if to drink.
     
    And then came a sound which made all the hounds stop dead in their tracks and caused the surviving warriors to drop their weapons and cover their ears.
     
    It was a sound full of horror—part laughter, part screaming, part agonized wail, part triumphant shout. It was the sound of the Horn of Kerenos, calling back his hounds.
     
    Corum glimpsed the figure again as it disappeared into the