Rescue Or Recovery

by Dave Hazel

  Title Page

  TOWBAR’S WORLD—BOOK 5

  MYKAL’S MISSION – RESCUE OR RECOVERY

  By Dave Hazel

  Text copyright © 2016 David F Hazel

  All Rights Reserved, including reproduction

  in whole or in part in any form.

  100817

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 01/24/1984

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 01/25/1984

  CHAPTER NINETEEN 01/26/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY 01/27/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 01/28/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 01/29/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 01/30/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 01/31/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 02/01/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 02/02/1984

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 02/03/1984

  PERSONNEL TO SEARCH FOR DONINKA

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This is a continuation of the story in Towbar’s world.

  Book 5 is not meant to be a stand-alone book.

  Book 5 is a continuation of book 4, thus it starts with chapter 17.

  The author highly recommends reading books 2, 3 and 4 before starting 5.

  And to get the full story Book 1 should be read first.

  Thanks DH

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 01/24/1984

  1. Tuesday, January 24th 1984

  1033 hours, In the Pass, Hidden from Public (17th Day of Rescue Mission)

  Mykal opened his eyes and looked straight up into the sky. The sky was blue with a couple of small white fluffy clouds, circled by the tree tops above him. To his left side it looked like a granite skyscraper. As he tried to remember why this place seemed so familiar he was suddenly wracked with unbearable pain. ‘What the hell is going on?’ He cried out mentally when he realized his insides felt like he was being crushed.

  He strained to pull himself to a seated position. It hurt him to do so. He recognized he was in a small clearing lying on a large rock slab with a couple of blankets set under him. This was reminiscent to something he had experienced back in the summer of 1983. This was the same spot, or a similar area where Towbar brought him to save his life from a Shay-lonk, a Soso death arrow, back in early July of last year. Mykal looked to the rock wall of the mountain and realized it could be the same location.

  He knew there was another location that was exactly the same. At the other location they had discovered an opening in the mountain wall that led to the Dwarven underground world. They left that opening as the one entrance for Mykal and his people to go back and forth to King Krago’s Dwarven kingdom. Mykal knew there were a few similar locations along the mountain walls that Towbar explained had been used by peoples long ago to sacrifice to ‘the gods’ for protection from the Sosos.

  While Mykal sat up, the pain and discomfort seemed to take his breath away. The last time he was in a similar location Towbar told him he had been unconscious for four or five days. During that four or five days he had been in a comatose state, he had actually healed from the giant’s crude surgery and magic medical treatment which included Towbar infusing his extraordinary blood into Mykal’s body. Mykal knew there was something different, something very special, about his being since the giant did his singular favor to save him. His eye sight, hearing and sense of smell had all increased exponentially. But greater than that was the ability for rapid regeneration of his flesh. He had already experienced quicker healing to his body when he had been injured previously.

  Mykal knew he wasn’t invincible or indestructible, but his chances of dying were lessened than prior to Towbar saving his life back in July. Mykal knew he should be dead from a couple of different occasions and he knew in a normal situation he would have died from the wounds he received…

  ‘When?’ He wondered. ‘How long have I been here?’ He suddenly panicked. ‘Doninka! I gotta save Doninka before the deadline.’

  Mykal looked at his watch and the date showed him it was January 24th. “I’ve been here for two days. I’ve gotta get outta here. I gotta rescue Doninka before the 7th of February,” he moaned and didn’t feel as though he could pull himself up to walk back to town. “Damn it,” he groaned and slowly lowered himself back down on the blanket that covered the hard rock slab.

  He quickly tightened and breathed deeply when his pain seemed to be the fiercest. His two sides hurt tremendously. He remembered being stabbed and the sword went through his entire body from side to side. “Damn, there’s no open wounds. I gotta be healing,” he mumbled to encourage himself. His right side and right side of his chest hurt and he recalled he had been struck with a spiked club. He clearly remembered the blunt force trauma and the blood that seemed to fill his mouth. He had been lying on the ground holding his sides when one of the soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl slammed him with the spiked club.

  “Friggin bastard,” he moaned, but then he chuckled when he clearly recollected both attackers were gunned down with machine gun fire. He felt his chest and side with his hands. There were no open wounds. It didn’t feel like there were any broken bones. ‘But how the hell would I know if there are any broken bones?’ He wondered. “It’s gotta be the healing process,” he mumbled out loud.

  Mykal suddenly panicked when he realized his weapons were gone. His holster had been removed. ‘But there are no enemies around here,’ he remembered as he released a heavy sigh. He debated whether he should continue to lie there and rest or should he attempt to make his way back to town. ‘I gotta rescue Doninka,’ he declared in thought and forced himself back to a seated position. “This frickin hurts,” he complained and wished he would have stayed up the first time. Mykal held his sides and rubbed his hand over his stomach where all the pain seemed to be centered.

  He scooted to the edge of the rock slab to get off. His feet were only about eight inches from the ground but when he dropped to the ground the jolt to his insides made it feel like he jumped down twenty feet. “Oh damn it. That friggin hurt,” he moaned while he doubled over to hold the pain. He looked all around him and wished Towbar was close at hand. He couldn’t see his giant friend. “Towbar,” he called out in the hopes that the giant would be beyond his sight in the trees. “Towbar, are you here?” He shouted. Nothing.

  “Alright then,” he sighed and slowly made his way to the trail. “Hopefully I’m not making this worse, but I gotta get things going to rescue Doninka.” He stopped to catch his breath and realized how much pain he was in. “Damn it, I gotta stop doing this stupid stuff that puts me in danger all the friggin time.”

  He walked about twenty-five feet and had to stop to rest. He stood against a tree and tried to recall the events that led to his near death experience. He remembered that he fell on his face and despite all the pain he was troubled by the grass that was in his mouth. Thinking back to his ‘close call with death’ situation, he thought it odd that he was concerned with grass in his mouth. He believed he was one blow away from death, be it a sword or the spiked club, but thankfully his men saved him by killing the ‘bad guys’.

  As he stood against the tree to catch his breath he remembered he had a gut feeling that someone close to him was going to die that day. Only it wasn’t someone close to him, it was he who was supposed to die and in any normal circumstances he would have died. ‘Diaz said not to gamble with possible last chances,’ he snickered in thought about the religious information Captain Diaz had tried to share with him. ‘Maybe he’s right. Maybe I do need God in my life, but right now I have so much stuff going on in my life and I have so many things to deal with, that I can’t be a phony about that God stuff.’

  “I’ll think about it when things calm down,” he said aloud in the hopes that Diaz’s God would understand. He looked up as if to let God know he would take t
he truths Diaz shared with him more seriously from now on. “I got both him and Ski trying to get me right with God, so I will really think about it,” he said and looked heavenward as if looking for a sign, a wink and a nod from God that he can put off making such an important decision for the time being. ‘Besides, even if God is real, I don’t even know if He would be able to hear me while we’re here in Towbar’s world,’ he thought and looked around just in case. He didn’t want God to hear his thoughts should Diaz be correct on God being the God of all creation including Towbar’s world. “I’m not really a bad guy and I’m working to be better,” he said as if trying to convince the Almighty Supreme Deity. “I’ll talk to Diaz and Ski about this stuff again when I have the time.”

  “Oh man, I really friggin hurt,” he moaned and started on his way after he felt a little stronger. “I don’t ever wanna go through this again.”

  To take his mind from the pain he thought of home. He realized how much he missed Pam and his two little boys. Once more he came close to being killed and that would prevent him from ever seeing them again. ‘The sad part about all this is they woulda never known about it,’ he thought while he stumbled along. ‘I gotta stop putting myself in these stupid situations. I gotta get there, rescue Doninka, and then get the hell outta here so I can go back home to be with my family. My little buddies need me and my wife needs me. More importantly I need them,’ he thought with a desperate smile.

  A frantic fear struck him, but he looked down at the middle finger of his right hand to insure the gold band of the magic ring was still there. ‘Damn it, I guess I am addicted to it,’ he scoffed in thought. ‘Just like a junkie and his drugs, an alcoholic with his booze,’ he pondered and realized he would have been completely devastated if he would have looked for the ring and it would have been gone. “I’ll have to do something about this when we rescue Doninka,” he said but didn’t know if he would really look into parting with the special piece of magic. “But look what it does to my thinking,” he argued with himself out loud.

  Suddenly, in the distance he heard the sound of several birds fleeing. He stopped and hid behind a tree. ‘It could only be Towbar,’ he thought to comfort himself. ‘And if it’s not?’ He wondered and a small panic started to grow. “Then I’ll turn myself invisible and hide until they’re gone,” he whispered. “I need help.”

  He waited a moment and decided to take a chance. “Towbar! Towbar!” He shouted and peeked from around the tree to see if there would be a response or if someone else should appear.

  “Mykal, my friend,” Towbar shouted back as he started to run to the voice that called out his name.

  Mykal dropped to his knees and a heaviness of relief was lifted from his aching body when he saw his giant friend rush to his aid. “Thank You God. If You’re really there, thank You for bringing him here.”

  “My friend you should be resting,” Towbar rebuked him softly when he dropped to his knees to assist the worn out looking form of his battered friend. “It is good I decided to check on you at this time.”

  “I’m alright. I’m alright. We need to get the group and go looking for Doninka.”

  “Mykal, you will do no one any good if you hurt yourself and do not allow yourself to recover.”

  “I’ll be alright. We gotta rescue Doninka. Time is becoming a growing enemy,” Mykal argued and his voice sounded ready to crack. “Where’s my weapons?”

  “I have them my friend,” Towbar said and gave a slight smile. “I admire your determination. However, we must take it slow.”

  “We will, but I gotta do everything I can to find and rescue her. I know I’ve said this a million times, but it’s all my damn fault that we’re in this situation. If I woulda just taken her with me back to my world on New Year’s Eve we wouldn’t be doing any of this,” he gasped angrily with sadness. “How many did we lose that last leg of our trip? The third time we went?”

  “Six men my friend,” the giant answered somberly. “You would have been the seventh if you would not have survived.”

  “So we lost a total of thirty-two men so far trying to find her,” Mykal scoffed angrily, but his anger was directed at himself. “I really should be one of them, but if I woulda taken her with me back to my world when I went, this wouldn’t be happening.”

  Towbar remained silent.

  Mykal looked at his close friend and knew the giant was allowing him to vent to get it off his chest. “I just don’t want any of their lives to have been lost in vain. They all volunteered to come help us find her so we gotta find her,” he declared and expressed his determination to not have them die in vain. He shook his head slowly for those they lost. “I hurt a little bit, but I’m up to going cuz we’ll be in vehicles and that will help me to rest some.”

  “Are you hungry my friend?”

  Mykal hesitated and gave it some thought. “As a matter of fact I’m starving, now that you mention it,” he replied with a friendly laugh.

  “Here,” Towbar said and handed him a leather pouch with dried meats. “We will have a great meal when we go down the mountain. I must let you know my friend. I have angered all the men except for the brothers Roy Jr. and Randy.”

  “What did you do?” He asked while he remained seated and chewed on the jerky.

  “I took you from them to bring you here. Diaz and Finley wanted you to be taken to the medical tents to have what they called emergency surgery. I would not allow it.”

  “Why, what happened?”

  “When I picked up your body you were near death. Shortly thereafter my friend, I believe you passed beyond the wall of sleep,” he announced. ‘Beyond the wall of sleep’ was an idiom of Towbar’s that meant death. “Some of the men declared that you were dead. However, I felt in my mind that you had not given up yet. I know what a fighter you are my friend. When I picked you up to bring you here an argument developed and the men became angry with me. They desired me to allow them to hand carry you to the medical tents. However, I would not allow it. I know that my magic would help in your healing process as it had when you fought for your life from the Shay-lonk.”

  “Death arrow,” Mykal agreed and nodded.

  “Lieutenant Finley argued for the medical personnel to work on you and I would not allow it. Some of the men said you were dead so it no longer mattered. Yet, they did not want me to take your body away. Roy Jr. and Randy stood beside me and argued to keep them from taking your body from me. The brothers actually took one of the crafts with Sergeant Barry and drove us here. Roy Jr. agreed with me and said you are a fighter. That was when Finley disputed it was all the more reason to take your body to the medical doctors you brought here from your world. This was the first instance Diaz and Finley became angry with me. Time was not wasted due to the insistence of the brothers quarrelling on my behalf. They were firm in their resolve my friend,” Towbar added as if a thanks needed to be given to the Dosch brothers. “Captain Diaz said he would pray to his God over our situation. It was also Diaz who told those with him to take care of the other men who were injured and to allow me to take you away.”

  “Oh wow,” Mykal laughed. “So they’re gonna be surprised when I go walking back into camp?”

  “I believe they will be my friend,” Towbar said with a slight smile. “The brothers actually convinced Sergeant Barry and his men to drive us here. I would have walked if I had to. However, due to the speed of your vehicles we made it here quickly. Sergeant Barry and his men thought I brought you here to be laid to rest for the final sleep.”

  “Yeah, they’re all gonna be surprised,” Mykal snickered as he continued to eat some of the tough dried meats from the leather pouch. “Uh oh, did you bring everyone to the front of the Pass or to the rear of the Pass?”

  “We entered from the front of the Pass.”

  “Did Hidtotim and his men ride out this way with Barry when yous guys brought me here?”

  “No my friend. Why do you ask?”

  “Cuz I didn’t want them to see the Elf arm
y that’s here in the Pass.”

  “I no longer think that will be an issue with Hidtotim and his three men,” Towbar suggested.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “When we returned, Hidtotim and his three men rode in the same vehicle we rode in. They spoke quietly among themselves and they did not know that I could hear their words. Hidtotim said he could never return to the other side of the world due to the fact that he killed some of his fellow soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl. All four spoke of their eagerness to start their new life on this side of the world.”

  “Well good, but we gotta make sure they don’t get outta our sight when we go back to that side of the world just in case, cuz if they turn on us they could end up being eyes for Zizmon-Tarl. Forget all that stuff for right now. We’ll deal with all that stuff later. Do you have a vehicle here with you?”

  “No my friend. I do not. I will return and have the Dosch brothers drive back with me.”

  “No. I’ll walk. If I gotta go slow, I gotta go slow. If worse comes to worst, I’ll just plop my ass down on the ground and let you go back without me to get one of the vehicles,” he snickered. “But I’m going back. We gotta go rescue Doninka. I still believe we’re gonna rescue her and not just recover her body.”

  “I agree with you my friend. I at least hope so. However,” the giant said to change the subject. “I do have a horse down below. You may ride the horse and I will walk.”

  “Cool.”

  “I was not expecting you to have recovered so quickly. Nonetheless, you have that strong determination and you will not be stopped,” the giant said with a slight smile. “That is a great quality to have. I see that is the same quality some strong willed children have. Parents do not appreciate such a quality until the child is grown,” the giant chuckled.

  “As you say that,” Mykal gave a slight laugh and grabbed his side. “I was kinda one of those little pain in the ass children to my parents.”