As he rounded the building to where the gym hall was he saw that one of the large, reinforced windows had been smashed completely from the inside out. And judging from the racket coming from inside, he had found the source of where the noise was coming from.
The officer crouched below the window level and quietly made his way along to the smashed out window. There, he slowly raised his head just enough that he could sneak a peek at what was going on inside. The sight before was one of shock and horror. Bodies lay strewn all over the gym hall, blood oozing from them, turning most of the hall floor red with blood. Several men dressed in black with bows and arrows slung over their backs, seemed to be walking around, checking to see if some of the fallen victims were dead; and if not they were plunging short swords that they held in their hands, deep into the casualties to finish the job.
In the right hand corner of the hall close to where PC Hughes was, three men were on their knees, hands behind their backs, with more of the men dressed in black standing over them. One of the men that was dressed in black was holding aloft what appeared to be a piece of jewellery, a chain by the looks of it. The man also looked like he was the one in charge, he had an air of authority about him and right at this moment he also appeared to be rather pleased with the jewelled chain he was holding.
He was saying something to one of the men on their knees now with a rather smug look on his face but PC Hughes was unable to hear what was being said over all the other noise in the hall. The smug man in black then turned around and starting walking away from his captives, towards the far end of the hall and the exit.
PC Hughes suddenly became aware of the sound of footsteps from behind him. As he turned around, he was confronted with the sight of a man unlike any he had ever seen before. The man was enormous, as wide as he was tall and he was walking right towards the PC. The giant stopped just before PC Hughes, who opened his mouth to say something, but words failed him. PC Hughes was a reasonably tall man himself, but the giant towered over him and made him feel an inch tall.
Also rather worryingly thought the officer, was that this beast of a man before him looked extremely angry too. The giant looked straight at PC Hughes, growled, then raised his right arm and brought down his large balled fist and thumped PC Hughes right on the top of the head. PC Hughes could see it coming, but was so frozen with fear that he couldn’t manage to function. When the huge hand collided with his head, everything went dark and PC Hughes slumped in a heap on the grass.
Chapter 46
Dante was feeling extremely pleased with himself as he slowly walked across the gym hall. He had taken the Straize from the wretched Elf and now with the boy having the other one back in their own land, power beyond all belief was within their grasp. The only question for Dante now was whether to be loyal to the Queen and take the stone back to her and bide his time; or whether to find the boy and take the other stone for himself. If the legends were true, he would be powerful enough to defeat Venera once he had both gems and had bonded them with the precious weapon he’d made discreetly for himself.
The temptation was unbearable, but despite how much he desired the power, he knew the smart move would be to stay loyal for now. For as soon as he returned and did not report to Venera right away, she would become suspicious and immediately send for the boy. Also even if he did find the boy first, she would be with him, which would complicate matters and make it no easy task just to take the stone. If Dante failed, his true intentions would be known and if he were not executed by Venera herself or sent to the treetop prison, then he would at the very least be outcast from the Fairy lands.
No he would have to be very clever indeed if he was to one day overthrow Venera and become ruler. The smart move for now was to stay loyal and keep his true intentions hidden. He then looked at the precious gem in his grasp and promised himself that his day would come sooner rather than later.
Dante stopped walking and turned around to face his men again, thoughts of power having distracted him momentarily. ‘Oh….and kill them too’ he said as he flicked a lazy finger in the direction of Riezgar and the two other Elves who were on their knees. Turning away from the soldiers before him, he then began striding towards the exit once again. Yet before he reached it, he felt a large thump vibrate through the floor then an almost inhuman scream forced him to look back at his soldiers again.
The gigantic Elf he had seen when they first arrived had returned, and had just taken two of Dante’s soldiers out by charging right through them. He now had his sights set on the few Fairies that were scattered over the hall making sure the fallen Elves were finished. The third soldier that had been guarding over the trio of Elves on their knees, was now in the process of having his neck snapped by one of the very Elves he had been guarding.
Things were getting messy thought Dante, time for him to go. He had what he came for and therefore had no desire to go back and challenge that rather impenetrable-looking giant Elf. His guards could deal with that, or not, he didn’t really care either way; and off he ran out the gym hall door.
Chapter 47
Riezgar was furious with himself, had he not taken his time to gloat over Doogard he would have been back in Alfheim long ago with the Straize and receiving praise and reward from old Drer. But no, due to his careless disregard of the threat from the Fairies, here he was on his knees, handing over the gem and about to be executed by a stinking Fairy.
Even if he managed to get out of this mess, Drer would have him executed on the spot when he learned of his incompetence. Not that that meant he was giving up, not a chance, he thought. He was just biding his time for the right moment to make his move. If today was the day he was to die he would at least make sure he went down fighting. The Fairy who stood over him holding the Straize appeared to be their leader. He was talking away to Riezgar, probably gloating the same way Riezgar had just done with Doogard—but he had just learned a very sharp lesson on gloating. So as it was, Riezgar was not even listening to what the Fairy was saying. He was instead planning his next move; when the moment was right he would pounce from his knees and snap the neck of the one who stood before him. Seeing as he was their leader, then that was who would fall first.
However before he had the chance to do so, their so called leader turned on his heels and began walking away from Riezgar, towards the exit. As he did the three other Fairy soldiers that were standing over Riezgar and two of his guards, shuffled along so that they now stood directly over each other. The soldier who now stood before him raised his sword and pressed the tip of it just under Riezgar’s chin. You had to laugh at the irony of the situation, thought Riezgar and so he did, which made the soldier look at him strangely before slapping him with the back of his hand.
‘Not so funny now Elf, are we?’ said the Fairy with a smug look on his face.
The laughing stopped and Riezgar now gritted his teeth and growled at the soldier. ‘You’ll pay for that in a moment,’ he thought to himself.
The so called leader who appeared to be fleeing the scene then called back something about killing them. The soldiers in turn raised their swords to strike and Riezgar made his move. He was far too quick and skilled a warrior to be taken down by this pathetic Fairy who stood before him. As the Fairy raised his sword, Riezgar leapt from his knees, grabbing the Fairy’s arm that held his sword. He twisted it in a flowing motion that moved his own body at the same time from in front of the Fairy to behind him, and gripping his arm in a rather unfortunate position for the Fairy. He then drove his knee upwards into the already twisted elbow of the Fairy, causing bones to shatter and rip right out of his skin.
Riezgar could feel the bones breaking as he hit the mark and the Fairy let out a scream that gave him a feeling of immense satisfaction. He then grabbed the Fairy around his neck, tucked in tight behind him and spun towards the other two Fairy soldiers. The reason being so Riezgar could protect himself from any incoming sword attack by the other Fairies. However, as they spun round there was no incoming threa
t at all. All eyes were looking in the other direction. Grogar had just appeared from the large, broken hall window and was now in full war cry as he charged towards the other two Fairies next to Riezgar.
The Fairies were frantically trying to grab their bows and managed to fire off a couple of arrows at Grogar. They struck the giant in the chest and shoulder, but had no impact in slowing or stopping him and moments later, he crashed right through the pair of Fairies with the power of a freight train.
Riezgar was overjoyed to see his giant friend return at just the right time. He then whispered into the whimpering Fairy’s ear. ‘Not so smug now are we……….Fairy!’ He twisted the Fairy’s body one way and his neck the other, breaking it instantly. As the Fairy soldier’s body slumped to the ground, Riezgar looked around to see where the one that had taken the Straize was, but unfortunately he had disappeared from the hall.
Grogar had already set his sights on the remaining Fairies that were scattered around the hall and Riezgar’s other two guards that had been on their knees, had now taken the Fairies’ bow and arrows from the two that had been bulldozed by Grogar and were helping Grogar pick off the last few Fairies.
Riezgar picked his weapons up from the floor then set for the exit, shouting for his guards to follow suit. They needed to catch that Fairy quickly and get the Straize before he had a chance to return to the protection of the Woodland Kingdom.
Chapter 48
Eric stepped out of the portal on to the rocky ledge without any problems at all. ‘Must be getting used to it,’ he thought to himself. Doogard followed only moments later, but Eric had already spotted the stunning view and had wandered over closer to the edge of the mountainside ledge. He gazed out and marvelled at the view, the open lands, the forests as huge as he had ever seen before, the waterfall pouring down from higher up on the mountain that they were now standing upon and the long, winding river that it fed coursing through the land. All made even more beautiful by the amazing, red sky that emanated from not one, but two setting suns: one to the east and west, and three moons in the sky that were about ten times the size of earth’s moon.
As Doogard approached, Eric said, ‘You don’t half have some stunning scenery in this world eh?’
‘Yes, that we do boy, but I’m afraid now isn’t the time to hang around and enjoy it. They’ll send out a search party to see who just came through the portal and well, if they find us hanging around here it definitely ain’t gonna end well for me—not sure about yourself, but no point in finding out, so c’mon let’s move.’
Eric sighed a little to himself but trudged after the Elf without comment. As they followed the path along the ledge, Eric noticed Doogard looking up to the sky as if looking out for something. Doogard must have sensed what Eric was thinking as he said, ‘Keep your eyes open for dragons.’
‘Dragons?’ blurted Eric and instinctively looked towards the sky himself.
Yep, that’s what the Fairies use as a form of transport. Bit wild and unpredictable for me though,’ replied Doogard, ‘but that’s what they’ll be using when they come to check it out here, so keep your eyes on the lookout.’
Eric shook his head a little and thought to himself, ‘Dragons……really?…...what next?’
‘Look, there’s two coming now,’ said Doogard pointing up into the red skyline. ‘Damn they’re quick, I thought we would have had more time than that. We need some cover now!’
Eric could just make out the shape of two large, flying creatures in the distance. As he squinted his eyes to try and make out the creatures a bit better, Doogard grabbed his shirt and yanked him.
‘C’mon boy, over there looks a good place to take cover until the guards have been and gone.’ Doogard pointed to an area off the path and up the mountain a little that had a good covering of trees and bushes amongst the rocks and boulders.
Chapter 49
With Max leading the way on Aazer, they arrived at the portal and circled overhead a few times, looking for any signs of anyone. With nothing visible Max signalled to Finn and Tala to head down and land, which they did alongside Max and Aazer on the mountainside ledge next to the Fairy portal.
As soon as Max had dismounted from Aazer he began searching the ground looking for any recent tracks or signs of activity. Finn dismounted and then helped Tala down which earned him a big smile, which in turn made Finn smile too.
He then wandered over to the edge of the cliff ledge where he had stood after his first time travelling through the portal and looked out at the stunning view. It felt like so long ago now and yet it probably wasn’t. Come to think of it he wasn’t really sure how long ago it had been.
As he turned back to see what the other two were doing he saw Tala tending to the dragons and feeding them some sort of snack she’d produced from a satchel attached to Flix’ reins. Max had begun to wander off down the path that led away from the portal. ‘Hey wait up’ shouted Finn, and jogged after him.
‘So……do you think it was Eric that just arrived here? asked Finn as he caught up with Max.
‘Can’t say for sure at the moment, it’s hard to pick up tracks on this rocky ledge. If he has though………’ Max faltered. A rustling from a cover of trees and bushes, just off the path amongst the boulders of the mountain, drew their attention and stopped Max mid-sentence. His hand instinctively gripped the handle of his sword.
He quickly released it again when out of the bushes burst Eric, with a great big smile on his face. ‘Finn, it’s me!’ he shouted as he climbed over some rocks and made a small jump down onto the path. As he landed, Finn was over and smiling as the two brothers embraced each other. ‘Never thought I’d be so glad to see your ugly mug again,’ said Finn to his brother. As they both laughed, Eric punched Finn on the shoulder, ‘I’ll ugly you, ya cheeky sod’ he replied and they both laughed once again, more from the joy and relief of finding one another after all that had happened.
Finn turned to look at Max and noticed he once again seemed to be on high alert, his hand was placed on his sword handle and he was scanning the bushy area on the mountainside that Eric had just emerged from.
‘Max, it’s okay, it’s just my brother……what’s wrong?’ Finn asked.
‘Your brother didn’t get here by himself I’m guessing, so there’s still at least someone else hiding amongst the brush, watching us?’ replied Max. ‘So who is it Eric? How many are hiding back there?’ he continued. Eric wasn’t sure what to say. He realised now that by running out as he did, might be alright for him, but could be dangerous for Doogard. Eric remained silent, unsure how to handle things.
‘C’mon boy, tell me who’s there?’ said Max, this time with a little more authority in his voice.
Eric looked at his brother for help as he felt under pressure from Max but didn’t want to give up Doogard. Finn looked but at his brother and could see him struggling with something, but he himself was unsure what to say. Thankfully for Eric a voice called out from the bushes and saved him from having to make a decision.
‘It’s okay Eric, I’m coming out,’ boomed a loud voice from the bushy area. All eyes fixed on that area as the sound of twigs snapping and bushes bristling became louder, then out came the large figure of Doogard. As he leaped down from the boulders on to the path, Max drew his sword. Doogard withdrew the small dagger he kept hidden and the two foes began to circle each other, eyeing one another suspiciously.
‘Whoooa…….’ shouted Finn, unsure what to do.
‘You’re a long way from home, Elf!’ said Max, then as he eyed up the small dagger, he smiled and added, ‘a little underprepared for the occasion too I see.’
Doogard glanced down at the dagger, then at Max’s sword, then shrugged his shoulders and smiled, ‘don’t be fooled by the size, I promise you I can be as deadly with this as you can be with that.’
Eric strode into the middle of the pair of circling foes. ‘Don’t be stupid, put your weapons away.’ He turned and looked at Doogard before he added, ‘Doogard is my frie
nd Max, he has protected me and saved my life from other Elves. That’s why we’re here—he can’t return to his own land because of me. My gran said to trust you and that you would protect us. If that is true then you can trust Doogard too.’
Max stared at Eric for a moment, taking in what he said, he then turned and looked at Finn who nodded in agreement with his brother. ‘Okay Elf’ said Max, ‘You’re safe for now, but don’t make me regret my decision.’ He then sheathed his sword.
Doogard also slipped away his dagger, while replying rather sarcastically: ‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ This earned him stern looks from Eric, Finn and Max.
‘Max!’ Tala’s voice from further up the path made them all turn around to see her pointing into the sky. ‘The guards are coming!’
As they all looked up in the direction of Tala’s pointing, they could see in the distance what looked like two large dragons flying their way.
‘Quick Tala, send Aazer and Flix away, that’ll distract one of the scouting parties,’ shouted Max. He then turned to the others. ‘We need to move and find cover quickly, they’ll be here shortly.’
‘Back in there?’ said Eric pointing to where he and Doogard had been hiding moments ago. ‘No, it’s too close, we need to move further away from the portal. C’mon lets go,’ he added, then began to jog off down the path, glancing around to make sure Tala was on her way too.
The Other Side Page 15
