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.'Steady, now!' Dogman took heart fromthat, but his heart didn't last long.He rocked back and forth, feeling sick.'No, no,' whispered Shivers, his eyes sliding around like he was looking for away out.Dogman could feel the hairs on his own arms rising, his skinprickling, his throat closing up tight.A nameless sort of a fear was takinghim, flowing up the hillside along with the mist creeping through the forest,swirling round the trees, sliding under the trunk they were using as cover.'It's him,' whispered Shivers, his eyes open wide as a pair of boot-tops,squashing himself down like he was scared of being heard.'It's him!''Who?' croaked Dogman.Shivers just shook his head and pressed himself to the cold earth.The Dogmanfelt a powerful need to do the same, but he forced himself to rise up, forcedhimself to take a look over the tree.A Named Man, scared as a child in thedark, and not knowing why? Better to face it, he thought.Big mistake.There was a shadow in the mist, too tall and too straight for a Shanka.Agreat, huge man, big as Tul.Bigger even.A giant.Dogman rubbed his soreeyes, thinking it must be some trick of the light in all that gloom, but itwasn't.He came on closer, this shadow, and he took on more shape, and more,and the clearer he got, the worse grew the fear.He'd been long and far, the Dogman, all over the North, but he'd never seen sostrange and unnatural a thing as this giant.One half of him was covered ingreat plates of black armour studded and bolted, beaten and pointed, spikedand hammered and twisted metal.The other half was mostly bare, apart from thestraps and belts and buckles that held the armour on.Bare foot, bare arm,bare chest, all bulging out with ugly slabs and cords of muscle.A mask was onhis face, a mask of scarred black iron.He came on closer, and he rose from the mist, and the Dogman saw the giant'sskin was painted.Marked blue with tiny letters.Scrawled across with writing,every inch of him.No weapon, but he was no less terrible for that.He wasmore, if anything.He scorned to carry one, even on a battlefield.'By the fucking dead,' breathed the Dogman, and his mouth hung wide withhorror.'Steady, lads,' growled Threetrees.'Steady.' The old boy's voice was the onlything stopping the Dogman from running for it, and never coming back.Page 267 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html'It's him!' squealed one of the Carls, voice shrill as a girl's.'It's theFeared!''Shut your fucking hole!' came Shivers' voice, 'We know what it is!''Arrows!' shouted Threetrees.Dogman's hands were trembling as he took an aim on the giant.It was hardsomehow, to do it, even from this distance.He had to make his hand let go thestring, and then the arrow pinged off the armour and away into the trees,harmless.Grim's shot was better.His shaft sank clean into the giant's side,buried deep in his painted flesh.He seemed not even to notice.More arrowsshot over from the Carls' bows.One hit him in the shoulder, another stuckright through his huge calf.The giant made not a sound.He came on, steady asthe grass growing, and the mist, and the Flatheads, and the fear came withhim.'Fuck,' muttered Grim.'It's a devil!' one of the Carls screeched.'A devil from hell!' Dogman wasstarting to think the same thing.He felt the fear growing up all round him,felt the men starting to waver.He felt himself edging backwards, almostwithout thinking about it.'Alright, now!' bellowed Threetrees, voice deep and steady as if he felt nofear at all.'On the count of three! On the count of three, we charge!'Dogman stared over as if the old boy had lost his reason.At least they had atree to hide behind up here.He heard a couple of the Carls muttering, nodoubt thinking much the same.They didn't much like the sound of this for aplan, charging down a hill into a great crowd of Shanka, some unnatural giantat the heart of 'em.'You sure about this?' Dogman hissed.Threetrees didn't even look at him.'Best thing for a man to do when he'safeared is charge! Get the blood up, and turn the fear to fury.The ground'son our side, and we ain't waiting here for 'em!''You sure?''We're going,' said Threetrees, turning away.'We're going,' growled Dow, glaring round at the Carls, daring 'em to backdown.'On three!' rumbled the Thunderhead.'Uh,' said Grim.Dogman swallowed, still not sure whether he'd be going ornot.Threetrees peered over the trunk, his mouth a hard, flat line, watchingthe figures in the mist, and the great big one in the midst of 'em, his handdown flat behind him to say wait.Waiting for the right distance.Waiting forthe right time.'Do I go on three?' whispered Shivers, 'or after three?'Dogman shook his head.'Don't hardly matter, as long as you go.' But his feetfelt like they were two great stones.'One!'One already? Dogman looked over his shoulder, saw Cathil's body lyingstretched out under his blanket near the dead fire.Should have made him feelangry maybe, but it only made him feel more scared.Fact was, he'd no wish toend up like her.He swallowed and turned away, clutched tight to the handle ofhis knife, to the grip of the sword he'd borrowed off the dead.Iron felt nofear.Good weapons, ready to do bloody work.He wished he was halfway as readyhimself, but he'd done this before, and he knew no one was ever really ready.You don't have to be ready.You just have to go.'Two!'Almost time.He felt his eyes opening wide, his nose sucking in cold air, hisskin tingling cold.He smelled men and sharp pine trees, Shanka and damp mist.He heard quick breath behind, slow footsteps down below, shouts from along theline, his own blood thumping in his veins.He saw every bit of everything, allgoing slow as dripping honey.Men moved around him, hard men with hard faces,shifting their weight, pushing forward against the fear and the mist, makingready.They were going to go, he'd no doubt left of it.They were all going togo.He felt the muscles in his legs begin to squeeze, pushing him up.Page 268 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html'Three!'Threetrees was first over the trunk and the Dogman was just behind, men allround him charging, and the air full of their shouts and their fury and theirfear, and he was running, and screaming, feet pounding and shaking his bones,breath and wind rushing, black trees and white sky crashing and wobbling, mistflying up at him and dark shapes inside the mist, waiting.He swung his sword at one as he roared past and the blade chopped deep into itand threw it back, turned the Dogman half round and he went along, spinning,falling, shouting.The blade hacked deep into a Shanka's leg and snatched itoff its feet, and Dogman spilled down the slope, slithering around in theslush, trying to right himself.The sounds of fighting were all round, muffledand strange.Men bellowing curses, and Shanka snarling, and the rattles andthuds of iron on iron and iron in flesh.He spun about, sliding between the trees, not knowing where the next Flatheadmight come from, not knowing whether he might get a spear in his back anyminute.He saw a shape in the murk and sprang forward at it, shouting as hardas he could.The mist seemed to lift away in front of him, and he slithered toa horrified stop, the sound rattling out in his throat, nearly falling overbackwards in his hurry to get away.The Feared was no more than five strides from him, bigger and more terriblethan ever, broken arrows sticking from his tattooed flesh all over
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