Champions of the Apocalypse Read Online Free

of the most expensive markets. This was one of the items his sister, Synne, was currently studying and learning about. Ulric look surprised to see the leader of the Brotherhood out with such a small body of men.
    “Ulric, my clan is here, as required by our agreement. We have already run into two parties of Raiders, who I might add are being taken back as spoils,” he said as he looked at Ulric’s contingent of tough looking fighters.
    “What are your plans?” he asked.
    “The Blood Pack has already cleared the border villages, there is one large group left that is travelling back to the Wastelands. We will ride out and intercept them before they get there.”
    “Where is the rest of the Brotherhood?”
    Lar shrugged, “Who knows, maybe they were distracted on the way.”
    “The order from Lord Galan was that all forces were to assemble here under my command. The agreement between the League and the Brotherhood says you must provide a force equal to ours,” said Ulric angrily.
    “Well, take it up with him when you go home, Ulric,” he said with a snigger.
    “As for the Raiders, what if they reach the Wastelands?” asked Lar with an odd expression.
    “Let’s make sure there is no if!” replied Ulric sternly.
    One of the local scouts spoke up.
    “We’ve seen them about a mile away, there were too many of them to stop. They have prisoners and projectile weapons,” explained the man.
    Ulric whistled and three of the men brought over their horses.
    “Not for much longer, Lar and the rest of you, follow me, we will stop them!” he barked as he climbed onto his horse.
    As Ulric galloped off to the North with his warriors from the Guild and the Blood Pack riding alongside them, Master Lar looked at them and paused.
    “Not long now,” he said as he smiled.
    He signalled to his own men. With a nod, they mounted their own horses and with a cloud of dust joined in with the rest of the mounted host as they galloped to battle.

    * * *

    Synne stood with the reverence required when meeting the head of her House, Lord Galan. The man was in his late sixties and in his younger days been a warrior, much like Synne’s brother Ulric. The struggles of the past years had taken their toll however and the old man now walked with a pronounced limp. He was sat at his table, always guarded by his personal assistant, the mute but deadly Gratus. The two had fought side by side and at some point in the past, Gratus had been captured and tortured by one of the many clans in the Brotherhood. It was a mark of his loyalty that had made his enemies remove his tongue, a punishment that he apparently had returned on them tenfold.
    “So these are actual designs for machines of war? Real machines, not fanciful designs?” asked the Master.
    “Yes, father. The one design here is very simple and allows a lantern to be carried on the arm, as well as this shield device and a weapon. I think it is for use at night, probably for guards,” she explained.
    Turning a few pages, she stopped at a very detailed design for a war machine that allowed men to climb up and over a high wall. It was mainly constructed with wood, though the pivoting sections looked like iron. There were a number of metal cogs and levers, but nothing unknown to Synne.
    “The designs are detailed yet there is nothing here that appears contrary to science. I have already started on a model of one of the simpler designs, but my work is being slowed because of the text. If you look here, you can see the descriptions but they are in a different language. It looks like the language of the Germans and not one I am familiar with. I do have several texts in the library related to it though,” Synne said.
    “Curious. What of these techniques with the weapons, can we make use of them?” he asked, as he pointed at the pages with fighters using a variety of weapons.
    “I will check with Ulric when he returns, though from my basic training so far I do recognise some of the