Page 14

The three men stood around him. "Let go of your spear, boy," one of them said. "Such a weapon is more suited for hunting boar than defending against grown men."

Sétanta smirked. With a twist of his body, he pivoted on one foot. Gripping his spear tightly he swept around with a force, taking the legs out of the three men. Three thuds as their bodies hit the ground.

"I warned you," Sétanta said. "Return from whence you came! I do not wish to deprive children of their fathers this night."

As the three men struggled back to their feet, the rest came charging after him. Sétanta shook his head. This wasn't how he wanted this to end. After all, just because he was good at fighting didn't mean he took pleasure from besting others in combat.

His brow turned hot.

It wasn't that these men tried to rob him. He understood that unskilled peasants often had few options if they hoped to survive. But he couldn't just turn over his goods to these men, either. If he did, they'd only repeat their folly and if the next traveler they targeted was less skilled they'd likely kill him to seize his belongings. He had to face them, which is what infuriated him the most. He had no choice but to fight. And Sétanta hated fighting...

With a thrust, he speared the first charging man through the abdomen. With a kick, he fended off the next as he retrieved his spear from the first attacker's gut and thrust the opposite end of his spear through the second man's neck.

The third man stopped in his tracks and took two steps back.

"Please, young man. I have three children... I have no other way..."

Sétanta nodded as he gripped his spear, now stained with blood on both ends. "Return to your family."

Something struck Sétanta over his head from behind. The boulder one of the thieves struck him with shattered over his skull, sending him into a daze. The heat boiled up within him again...

Then the anger... the same sensation he'd had before. The ríastrad. He couldn't control it.

"Run! All of you!" Sétanta shouted as he felt his body contort, his bones cracking, his skin hardening. "This thing... it will kill you all!Run!"

The thieves, the moonlight highlighting their terror-stricken faces, stepped back away from him. But they weren't running. Not yet... and even if they ran straight away their chances of escaping the ríastrad were slim.

Sétanta knew what was going to happen. They'd die, each one of them. Nothing angered him more than that. But as the rage boiled up, the ríastrad only became stronger, more uncontrollable, more barbaric...

Sétanta had no choice but to watch. He only had flashes between his blackouts. Chasing them down, one by one, through the woods. His jaws ripping through flesh. Bodies and blood. If he just gave up his attempts to control the beast, if he released the anger... he'd retreat into another blackout. At least that way he wouldn't have to see it... he'd only have to live with the bloody aftermath.