by Dave Hazel
More tears streamed down the terrified girl’s face. “I am scared Mykal. If we go through that door the people will most assuredly turn us over to the soldiers,” she said which confirmed she didn’t think he could turn himself invisible.
“Here, watch this,” he whispered and couldn’t keep from laughing. He couldn’t resist toying with her. Despite the life and death situation they were facing he couldn’t help but be playful. He wanted her to stop crying and hoped this would work. “Pay attention to me. Take your index finger,” he said and raised her hand. “Point your finger,” he added and waited until she pointed her finger. “Now very slowly, and be very quiet cuz I don’t want your neighbors to hear, but slowly reach out with your finger and press my nose like you are pressing a button.”
“I do not understand,” she moaned and wanted to cry. She was more convinced Mykal must have suffered a blow to his head.
“Just do it,” he said and laughed quietly despite the bizarre circumstance they faced. “Slowly press my nose. Do it,” he said forcefully with a wild smile.
“Okay,” she said and gave in. She slowly raised her hand and seemed fearful to touch his nose. She was afraid Mykal would get angry when his fantasy world collided with the danger of their reality.
When her trembling finger pressed the end of his nose he made a strange noise like an odd beep, “Bu-woop,” and suddenly he was gone from sight. Her shocked face shook and her eyes blinked a couple of times. She looked at the end of her finger, her out stretched index finger, and didn’t know what to do or what to think. He wasn’t there. He was gone.
He stepped behind her and made himself visible and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to face him, he smiled because her index finger was still pointing into empty space. “I’m over here,” Mykal said quietly. “Now watch,” he added and reached up to press his own nose and suddenly he was gone again. He quickly reappeared and said, “Oops, I forgot to say bu-woop,” he added and disappeared again. He wanted to laugh when he saw her jaw drop even more than the first time.
She stood there shocked and stunned into complete silence though her mouth was wide open like she had much to say or was trying to draw flies.
“I’m over here,” he said after he got behind her again. He chuckled when she turned to his voice and he still wasn’t there. “Oh I forgot to say bu-woop,” he added playfully and turned visible so she could see him. “I’m just playing with you. I honestly can turn invisible.”
“How?” Her quiet voice creaked. She was more confused and his humorous playfulness made it more difficult.
“No more joking around. I can turn invisible and I will use it to get us outta here,” he added and his tone suddenly reflected his play time of teasing her was over. “I know it sounds crazy, but I can turn invisible and I will use it to help us get outta here,” he repeated to comfort her while he grabbed her and hugged her gently.
“I am shocked. I do not know what to think of this,” she admitted.
“You have to keep this secret between us. You can’t tell anyone. Now let’s go in there. I’m following behind you and I’ll be there even though you can’t see me. If things go bad I will deal with it. But you can never repeat this to anyone. Promise? You gotta promise me,” he added when she stood there and seemed dazed. “Only Towbar knows about this.”
“Yes, okay. I will trust what you say Mykal,” she said and watched him disappear. Mykal reached out and knocked on the door for her because she looked scared.
After a second knocking on the wooden door a younger woman answered the door. The woman wore her hair back tied into almost a bun and a ponytail. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties and looked plain. She didn’t wear makeup and as a blonde she had a pretty wholesomeness about her. She looked strong like she would be a hard worker.
The younger woman looked beyond Doninka as if she expected someone to be there. She knew guards were supposed to be in her presence at all times. “Hi Doninka. Can I help you?”
“I am frightened with all the noise I heard,” Doninka said with a genuine fear in her words. “I wish to speak with your parents and see if they may know what is taking place. Do you know what has happened?”
“I do not know. I too am frightened and I do not know what to expect,” she added and looked behind her up the stairs. The guards were not to allow Doninka to roam free.
“Are your parents here? May I speak to them?”
“Yes. Yes. Please enter,” the girl said and opened wide the door so that Doninka and Mykal walked in. “Our concern through the entire night has been looking for Baby. Baby is missing and my parents have been trying to find Baby.”
“Baby is the dog, am I correct?” Doninka asked for Mykal’s benefit because she knew the dog’s name.
“Yes. Baby has been an important pet to my parents for many years especially for my mother. They are distraught and believe Dabinau and Angolow took Baby away. They have always been jealous of Baby. My mother’s fear is they may have harmed Baby. My mother had a spat with my brothers over the treatment of the dog and now we can not find Baby. Baby has always been such a loving friendly animal. Then there was the strange attack that occurred. All is so strange right now,” the girl explained.
It suddenly occurred to Mykal why the brothers gave him an odd look when he accused them of harming the ‘poor baby’. They thought he mentioned the name of the dog, but Mykal was speaking of the creature itself. It made him snicker that they were shocked when he said that to them. ‘They probably wondered how in the hell I knew the name of the dog,’ he chuckled in thought.
Mykal felt terrible that he had to put down the dog, Baby, because of the torture it suffered at the hands of the parents’ sons. He was so glad that he killed them and wished he could have tortured them like they tortured the poor animal. Knowing that they tortured the animal because they were jealous of the sweet creature, he wished he would have had the time to really punish them. ‘Oh no, is this the friggin ring thinking for me?’ He wondered because he felt the rage rising.
“Mullday, will you please get your parents for me?” Doninka asked
“I will get my parents,” Mullday, the teenage girl, replied and left the room.
The older heavyset woman walked into the room followed by her quiet, but strong, white haired husband. Mykal’s first thoughts when he saw the couple was they were taken out of World War Two photos he had seen of Russian peasants. The woman held a crumpled handkerchief squeezed tightly in her hand. She was sobbing and looked distraught.
“Doninka my dear, have you seen Baby?” The older woman sobbed while her husband placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“I am sorry Larna. I have not seen Baby,” Doninka answered and looked at the woman who appeared as if she had lost a child. “If I see Baby I will be sure to let you know. I know how precious he is to you.”
“Have you seen Dabinau and Angolow?” Larna asked. “I believe they may have taken Baby. They were angry with me and swore to get even with me,” Larna explained and started to sob again. “I hope they would not harm Baby. They know how much Baby means to me.”
“If I would have been here Dabinau and Angolow would not have threatened to get even with you my dear,” the husband said and tried to reassure her by squeezing her shoulder gently. “You know how the boys are. They talk much more than they should,” the father added and looked beyond Doninka as if someone should be there with her.
“They threatened me that they would take Baby from me,” Larna exclaimed and she sounded distraught. It was as if she was still trying to convince her husband their boys may be responsible for Baby’s absence.
“Dabinau and Angolow have always been mischievous children,” the father said as if in defense of his two sons. “However, I do not believe they would have done anything to Baby,” he said and directed his words to Larna. “My dear, I do not believe they would have taken Baby from you. I will question them when I see them next,” he added to comfort his wife.
Mykal felt terrible for the woman. This Baby was her baby and her two rotten sons not only killed the poor animal but they tortured Baby to get their frustrated jealousy out. Mykal felt his anger boiling and wished he could have a re-do and go back in time to spend some time with those two scumbags who deserved far worse than he gave them in the short amount of time he had to deal with them. As much as he would never hurt that dog he knew he had to put it down or it would still be suffering terribly from what those two ‘low life scumbags’ did.
“I am sorry,” Doninka said shyly and looked down. “I came down here to see if you know what all the commotion was earlier. I heard soldiers running and yelling and I am fearful.”
“Where are your guards?” Larna’s husband asked her. He looked like a friendly older farmer, but his tone made him sound like he could be a retired soldier.
Doninka looked nervous and started to stammer and stutter slightly. “They left me alone. I, I thought they would have come down here,” she said but sounded scared. She knew they were up in her living area on the floor dead. “They went down the outside stairwell,” she lied and sounded slightly misleading. “Then there was all the noise and they did not return. When I looked out the door they were gone and the stairs are gone as well,” she said and almost gasped as if to express her fear.
“Are you sure they did not return to your room?” The man asked as if he didn’t trust what she was saying. “What of Dabinau and Angolow? Are they not in your quarters?”
“No Fronpar, Yurkin ordered Dabinau and Angolow out onto the stairwell. Sometime after that Yurkin and Gomnon went out onto the stairwell also. I saw them leave, yet they did not return. After all the strange noise and the shaking of the building, I went and looked at the outside exit, and most of the stairwell is missing,” Doninka gasped as she spoke politely with the man due to her fear of him. “They may have been injured or they may have left when all the uproar occurred.”
“They have been given strict orders not to leave your side,” Fronpar declared. Though he looked like a big, strong, old Russian farmer from the 1940s he sounded like a soldier who was a stickler for following all rules and regulations. “Why would they leave your side when they were strictly forbidden to do so?” He asked and furled his brows which showed he doubted her story.
“I do not know why they would depart. However, they left me there all alone and now I am scared. That is why I came down here,” Doninka replied and sounded more frightened which raised Fronpar’s suspicions.
“Let us go look at the stairwell and see what it is you are talking about,” Fronpar offered and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side.
Mykal raised his Glock 17 and was ready to shoot the man. He knew if he shot and killed the man he would have to kill the older woman and her daughter as well. As much as he didn’t care to harm them he would gladly kill the man who suddenly became a threat. He didn’t want to harm the teenage girl or the poor old woman who was crying over what her two sons probably did to her dog Baby. But Mykal was determined to do whatever was necessary to protect Doninka and himself.
“If you will look out your door you will see that the stairwell is gone and that the next building is on fire which is at great risk of causing this building to burn up,” Doninka said and pointed to the other side of the home so Fronpar would go to the outside stairwell and not go up the enclosed stairwell into her room. He would find the two dead soldiers and she would have no way to explain why she lied, let alone be able to explain their deaths. “That was another reason why I rushed down here. I think there may be a great chance this building will catch fire. We must hurry.”
“Fronpar, please,” Larna asked while she sobbed. “Go look into it. We may be in danger and we may be trapped if there is a fire. I need to find Baby. You know those soldiers were probably chasing a drink when they escaped down the stairs,” the older woman said as if they had known the two men. She didn’t want to admit one of them was her brother.
‘That’s right, one of them said the two scumbags who tortured Baby were the other guy’s nephews, the sons of his sister,’ Mykal thought and wished he could reveal himself just to tell the woman the truth about her beloved dog and reveal what worthless human garbage her sons were.
Fronpar turned and rushed from the room. Mullday looked frightened when her father ran from the room. “Doninka, do you think we are in danger?” The girl asked.
“That is what I fear and that is why I came here. I do not wish to be trapped in this building if it is to go up in flames like the other building. And yet, I do not wish to bring trouble on myself to depart without an escort,” Doninka answered and never once let on to them that she was a princess who was being held as a prisoner. She knew they heard a rumor that she was a criminal waiting to go before a judge and that was all they knew of her situation. Fronpar was the lead soldier responsible for her captivity until she was to be taken away.
Fronpar shouted for his wife and daughter to come to him quickly. Doninka stood in place and looked for Mykal but didn’t know if he was standing in front of her or beside her. He placed his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there, but he didn’t want to say anything to draw attention. They both knew the family was looking at the broken stairwell and the fire of the next building.
Suddenly Mykal’s right hand and most of his arm tingled and shook. He knew if he was visible he would see his flesh turn green in color meaning the green fog was active somewhere in the area. He believed Towbar created the green fog to take his group away from the general area before dragons would be used to help the army of soldiers who just took a beating. Doninka started to freak out when her hands trembled and both turned green. As she was ready to complain or cry out Mykal wrapped his invisible hand over her mouth. “Be quiet,” he whispered softly into her ear. “Towbar used the green fog to get the men away from here. It’s okay. It will pass in a few minutes. It will not hurt you.”
“I’m scared,” she said and started to cry when Mykal removed his hand from her mouth. She spoke just as the daughter walked back into the room.
“Do not be frightened Doninka,” Mullday said. “We must depart. The fire is very close to our building. My father said to come and get you so we may depart. Come, come,” she said and waved her to come along.
They walked through the home and it was fairly dark. Mykal was afraid he would trip over something he couldn’t see. They went through an inner door and went down more stairs that brought them into the interior of the first floor. Mykal expected to see more people but there was only one older man who tried to gather up some precious possessions or family heirlooms that he didn’t want to chance being burned up.
They ran out the back door and there were many soldiers running around trying to help contain the fire, and to help those who had been wounded while they checked on the dead. Between the buildings Mykal clearly saw the smaller building fire was raging out of control which would be good for he and Doninka since the main focus of the soldiers would be to extinguish the flames and stop the blaze from reaching other buildings. Mykal heard many voices yelling various commands and questions. Some were in the common tongue and some were in a foreign language.
He looked between the two buildings and he could see a couple of bodies that he believed were Dabinau and Angolow. With all the chaos and disorder Mykal hoped Larna and Fronpar would not see them or at least not recognize them. He felt bad because he knew the body of Baby the dog would be in that general area too. He could see there were far more soldiers on that side of the building than where they were. Many of those soldiers survived the attack of the ‘metal beasts’ after they had been awoken.
“I must help them,” Fronpar said to his wife and daughter. He looked to Doninka and then turned to soldiers who were running by. “You two,” he yelled and suddenly they stopped. Either his voice sounded commanding enough or they recognized him. “I need you two to guard this one here,” he said and pointed to Doninka. “She is not a threat
, however very high ranking officers will arrive at some time soon to take her away. It will be your lives for her life. Do you understand my orders?”
“Yes Commander,” they shouted together and snapped to a lazy form of attention together.
“Do not let her out of your control and do not harm her,” he said and bore into them when he spoke the second part of his command. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes Commander,” they shouted with the same enthusiasm.
“Take her away from the turmoil that is starting to grow here,” Fronpar ordered. “As a matter of fact, take all three away from here until I, personally, come to you,” he said and paused to give thought to his change of plans. He clearly eyed his daughter and wife and must have feared having his family come in contact with the officers he expected to arrive. “Yes, I myself will come and take the girl from you. I will personally turn the girl over to the expected officers. You are not to allow the three women out of your sight. One is my wife and the other is my precious daughter. The third is a ‘visitor’ as I explained. Take them to the Tavern on the Mound.”
“Yes Sir Commander Fronpar. We will obey your orders and wait for you to come for us,” one of the two said and they both seemed to slap their chest which was a form of salute.
“Thank you Fronpar,” Doninka said. “I feared I would have died up in the building,” she added and pointed to the third floor.
Fronpar ignored her while he hugged his wife and daughter. “I must help them fight the blaze. I desire the two of you to go with these soldiers and Doninka so that you will be safe and out of the way.”
“I must find Baby, dear,” Larna said with a moan.
