by Dave Hazel
“Oh yes. When I was a young girl, my friend and I had a horse race. Our horses ran into each other and I was thrown to the ground.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Oh yes. Very much so.”
“Well, this would be far worse than that cuz we’re traveling much faster than your horse could. Plus, if you get thrown through the windshield that glass is gonna hurt you,” he explained and knocked hard on the windshield to demonstrate how rigid and inflexible the glass was. “It would be your little body busting through this,” he added and thumped on the windshield a couple more times.
“I see. That makes sense. I will obey your words,” she said and smiled while she adjusted her seat belt as he had showed her. She glanced into his eyes and saw that he cared for her.
“Oh damn,” Mykal gasped and raised his right hand. It was green and trembling, indicating the green fog was being used somewhere in the area. He looked to see her panicked expression. Her hands were green and trembling. She showed him, but he was wrapped up in his own trembling green limb.
“What does it mean Mykal?” She asked and sounded terrified.
“Someone is using the green fog, but I don’t think it’s Towbar. They’re on their way here to meet us and we agreed not to use the green fog until we’re together. If they had to use it they would have called us on the radio first. Damn, I don’t know what the hell it is unless, maybe the bad guys are leaving,” he said in the hopes that the enemy following them would be gone.
“It could be they are sending more of their forces to come after us,” she countered.
“Thanks,” he chuckled sarcastically. “You just ruined my day, cuz I didn’t wanna think that, though deep inside that was my first idea,” he added and tried to keep a positive attitude since he knew he would be meeting up with the rest of his men soon.
Mykal grabbed the radio handset and called the rest of his team.
“Mathis here,” the response came quick and was loud and clear as if they were in the general area.
“Hey Mathis, did you guys just use the green fog?” Mykal asked and continued to look in all directions but he couldn’t see anything due to the low rolling flatlands.
“No, we haven’t done anything. But while we’re on our way to meet with you, the green fog appeared on top of us and scattered us over the country side. We seem to still be in the plains between the mountains and the Black Forest. If anything, I think we may have moved closer to you, if that is possible. We’re much farther away from the Tree of Strange Happenings, because the mountains behind us are smaller like we’ve gone a much longer distance than what we had traveled on our own. Does that make any sense to you?”
“Yeah, I hear you saying that the green fog appeared over you guys and carried you away without Towbar conjuring the green fog, right?” Mykal asked and tried to make sense of it.
“Yes, that is correct.”
‘Could Zizmon-Tarl and his forces have targeted them to bring them closer to the fight?’ He wondered. ‘Maybe Zizmon-Tarl thinks Doninka is with them cuz they’re a larger force. I dunno. I really friggin don’t understand what could have happened there,’ he thought and tried to think what the enemy could be doing.
“Myk, Captain Diaz is outside the vehicle trying to get everyone gathered together and rounded up to our location,” Mathis continued and sounded a little confused.
“Is the green fog still there?” Mykal asked and looked at his trembling green hand.
“No, the green fog disappeared a few minutes ago,” Mathis replied.
“Damn, that means there is more than one green fog taking place cuz my hand is still green and trembling,” he declared and quickly believed the enemy was moving multiple forces around them.
“I have to tell you Myk, this really was a strange thing. At first when we realized we were hit with the green fog, Captain Diaz thought maybe you had tried to use the green fog to get closer to us and he thought that maybe you had gotten too close to us and hit us with it. But when the green fog cleared we saw that we really didn’t move very far. I mean we moved, but we’re still between the mountains and the Black Forest. And by the way, now you sound much closer than before.”
“Yeah, I can hear that you guys sound much closer too,” Mykal agreed.
“Is there anything you would like me to pass on to Captain Diaz and the others?” Mathis asked.
“Yeah, be sure to tell Diaz and the rest of them that I didn’t use the green fog, but I did in fact feel the green fog had been used and it seems like the green fog is being used multiple times. So I think it’s the ‘bad guys’,” Mykal replied and wondered if he was just being paranoid. “Tell them I think it’s possible the enemy is bringing more ‘bad guys’, more forces, into the field of play, but I don’t know how that would have affected you guys. I don’t know if it was by accident they hit your group, or if they deliberately targeted your group.”
“We’re not sure Myk,” Mathis replied.
“Tell them to keep their eyes open all around you just in case. I was hoping it was the ‘bad guys’ leaving the area since we got away from them, but now, since it hit you guys I’m thinking that’s the least possible option,” he added with a frown in his tone. “I do believe there was a reason the green fog hit you guys,” he added and hoped his fear wouldn’t paint him as being paranoid.
“That would be cool if they left the area. That would be very cool,” Mathis laughed into the radio as if he didn’t hear Mykal’s true concern.
“It might just be wishful thinking on my part so don’t go gettin’ all excited,” Mykal laughed. “They may think you guys have the special package,” he added in reference to Doninka.
“I hear ya boss man,” Mathis chuckled. “Do you need to talk to anyone?”
“No, just be sure to pass that on to Diaz, Finley, Ratner and especially Towbar. Tell everyone to stay alert. My hand is still trembling, meaning there is still more green fog activity taking place somewhere around us. Since your green fog had vanished, I’m really leaning more toward the enemy is bringing more bad guys onto the playing field so stay alert and I’ll talk to you later.”
“Will do Myk. I’m not sure where we are exactly, but if the green fog did in fact move us closer to you I am thinking we should be with you in the next hour or so. Who knows, maybe a couple of hours,” Mathis added so as not to give faulty information. “And notice the emphasis was that I’m the one thinking that so don’t blame anyone else if I’m wrong. The ground is rolling and sloping so it’s hard to see very far in the distance.”
“I hear ya Radio Boy,” Mykal snickered into the microphone. “But the sooner the better.”
“I agree with you there. So make sure to keep yourself and your special little treasure safe,” Mathis added with a couple of teasing kisses into the radio.
“Don’t start,” Mykal laughed and was glad it didn’t come out over a speaker for Doninka to hear. “Mykal out.”
“What did they say?” Doninka asked and stared at her green hands that still trembled. “Was it they who had used the green fog?”
“No,” he replied and chuckled at Mathis’s humor. “But hopefully we’ll be with them shortly. Go ahead and eat and I’ll drive. I’ll explain to you what Mathis thinks may have happened with the green fog.”
“What of you Mykal? When will you eat?”
“I can eats and drives at the same time,” he replied humorously and tried to sound like a hillbilly. “I gots some good learnin’s an’ some good smarts from my school days. Don’ you worry yer purdee lil’ head o’er it miss. I gots this,” he said and guffawed at his own humor while moving forward.
“I do not understand what you are saying to me,” she replied and had a crooked smile. She had come to know when Mykal was teasing her or ‘playing with her’, though she rarely understood what he was trying to accomplish.
He briefly explained the conversation he had with Mathis and his idea about the enemy’s possible ‘multiple’ use of the green fog. �
�But don’t worry about it,” he laughed. In the back of his mind he thought he heard the sound of something galloping fast and hard and it slowly grew. He continued to look out her door window and the windshield while trying to eat his MRE with one hand and drive with the other.
“I only wish to know when you are making sport of me so I could understand what you are implying, thus I could respond and stand my ground,” she said with a smile while she slowly and daintily opened her meal. She began to eat and hastily her eyes widened in complete horror, but she couldn’t say anything with her mouth full of food. Instinctively all her childhood manners and etiquette kicked in and wouldn’t allow her to speak with food in her mouth.
Mykal couldn’t understand if the breakfast MRE was that bad, and just as suddenly his brain clicked that something was wrong, something was charging at them from his side. The galloping increased and it sounded dangerous. He turned to see something as large as an elephant, yet it was shaped like a rhinoceros without its distinctive and deadly looking horn. From the glance Mykal caught, the animal stood about eight feet tall and had long legs compared to a rhino’s normal shape.
This rhino charged at a speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour and didn’t slow as it approached to make contact. It lowered its thick hard skull to ram the vehicle. The rhino’s snout and mouth was wider due to its massive size. Mykal felt as if he could see the evil eyes in the beast’s head, but they were set more to the side so in the split second he didn’t really see the ‘evil eyes’ of the creature charging him. The animal had a rider sitting on top of a seat set over armor made of metal and leather that had been placed on top of the animal’s natural protective armor which in itself seemed very thick. The rider didn’t appear to be human though it was humanoid. Mykal clearly saw a long skinny spear in one hand and the thick leather reigns in the other hand. The spear had colorful feathers tied to the shaft just below the spearhead.
Just as Mykal tried to focus on the massive force coming at him the beast lowered its head and plowed into the Jeep that was rushing along at about 20 to 25 miles per hour. “Oh shit,” Mykal yelled and braced for the contact by dropping his MRE food and he grabbed the steering wheel tightly with both hands. Mykal wasn’t sure if he imagined it or if in fact it actually happened, but the rhinoceros looking brute not only lowered its enormous head to strike the vehicle but it also thrust its head upward when it collided with the side of his vehicle to help push with its massive momentum behind it. Mykal knew the beast and its rider worked as one being to take them down.
**********
The creature aimed for the front of the strange horseless craft but only managed to bulldoze into the rear of the body. It was moving much faster than the rider had given it credit for. There were no legs to take out, but it managed to collide where the back wheel of the horseless carriage was spinning. The rider gave a screeching war cry while thrusting his spear skyward as if giving a victory shout. The Klardfurdam stopped in its tracks when it collided with the metal horseless carriage, but it clearly won the head to head battle, though it didn’t actually hit head to head.
The rider watched to see where it should drive its spear to insure death and complete victory. It looked back to see the other five Klardfurdams and their riders were approaching at a slower pace. They were warned that this strange new enemy could be a pesky and mighty foe. However, he just proved he had an easy kill. ‘There is not a human that can stand against us,’ the rider thought. ‘With the Supreme Ruler as our mental and spiritual force leader, there is no human that can stand against us,’ he thought and shouted with a screeching victorious war cry. The rider wanted his fellow riders to see how easily he took down the pesky foe on his own terms.
**********
The rhino looking being that happened to be the size of an elephant slammed into the rear of the driver’s side and the impact jolted Mykal hard. As the vehicle flipped and rolled he knew he struck his head on the side window. The shoulder straps of the seat belt kept both him and Doninka in place while the Jeep seemed to roll twenty times. In actuality it rolled three times and then stopped upright. Mykal felt that he hit his head twice or maybe more. He seemed dazed and wasn’t really sure where he was. He felt like his forehead was bleeding, but he didn’t care. He needed to make sure Doninka was okay.
Mykal opened his eyes and suddenly his body wracked with pain. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He gasped desperately while he tried to take deep breaths. He glanced over to Doninka and feared the girl was dead. Her side of the roof was caved in on her and her head was turned to one side giving him the impression her neck was broken. The poor girl was covered in blood. Blood poured down the front of her body. He hoped her jugular vein wasn’t severed. He felt too weak to be of any help to her, but the poor girl looked dead anyway.
“What the hell? Dang it,” Mykal moaned slowly when he couldn’t move due to the restricting seat belt. He looked over to the lifeless form of Doninka and wanted to cry out mournfully, and he wanted to shout in hateful anger. He was supposed to protect her, and she looked dead. “Stop,” he yelled and realized he was yelling at her blood to stop flowing. Mykal didn’t think he would be able to help her medically and yelled again for the blood to stop flowing. He felt totally helpless. He glanced at himself in the rear view mirror and believed his mind was on the edge of delirium. Mykal knew he desperately needed help, not only for himself but for Doninka. Mentally he moaned that he loved her and yet he allowed her to die under his protection.
He managed to unclip his seat belt and saw the strange rhino looking creature sniffing at his window. The rider, a long skinny dark brown creature with a long oblong head covered in a hat or a helmet. It had long locks of black hair like that of a woman that flowed from under the helmet. The creature was so skinny that each joint seemed to be large knobs that connected the bones together. Mykal’s head was down but he glanced out the window and saw the rider’s legs almost touched the ground while it sat atop the eight foot beast that looked like a hornless rhinoceros.
Mykal couldn’t make out what the rider was saying, but it seemed to be doing a victory chant of some kind while thrusting its long spear in the air. The colorful feathers flapping in the wind near the spearhead caught his attention. He believed the rider with long pointy teeth seemed to be laughing. ‘But how the hell would I know if he is laughing, singing or talking?’ The eyes seemed to be large orbs in the large skull that continually bore its long pointy teeth. Mykal notice it wore a shiny piece of jewelry around its neck. It looked like silver with a round amulet hanging onto his chest. The creature’s chest was bear and it seemed to wear only a loin cloth with a leather belt to harness a long sword from what Mykal saw. The tight skinned torso exposed its ribs to show that the rib cage seemed like it had twice as many ribs showing than what a normal human would have.
Mykal felt like he was slipping out of consciousness. He managed to roll down his window while the rider jumped off his strange armor covered mount. He didn’t see the rider for a few moments, but he believed the rider went to the rear of his bull of a rhino like animal. He heard strange sounds and now he believed the rider was calling to others. Mykal grabbed the radio handset and spoke into the radio with a calmness that belied his desperation. “We’ve been attacked,” he groaned as if he was still trying to catch his breath from having the wind knocked out of him. “I need help,” he mumbled. “We need help,” he mumbled a little louder with a groan to express his desperation. Just before he dropped the radio handset he heard much confusion in the ear piece, but he couldn’t tell what they were carrying on about. He took deep breaths and tried to gain control of his thoughts.
The tall, spear wielding, loin cloth wearing, dark brown creature walked toward his open window. Mykal thought it odd that as bad as he felt, as much as he was hurting, he wanted to laugh out that he noticed the skinny creature didn’t have nipples on his chest. The tall creature with rather large ears for how skinny he was stuck his head down to the window to examine the strange
horseless carriage. The large pointy teeth had gaps between each tooth and seemed to be always exposed as if the tall rider didn’t have any lips. The teeth were brownish and gray but looked strong. He didn’t want to get bit by the beast because he wasn’t sure what kind of germs would come from such a horrendous mouth. The creature’s breath seemed to give off a musty mildew odor that Mykal recognized from bathrooms or basements that had a wet, mold, fungus problem.
Mykal wanted to laugh when he noticed that it appeared the tall creature had two noses and sniffed aggressively inside the open window as it pushed the rhino like creature back so he could inspect ‘his kill’. ‘The thing’s got two noses and it can’t smell the musty, mildew shit coming from its own mouth?’ Mykal felt like he was on the verge of blacking out. ‘Damn, this skinny thing has gotta be twelve or thirteen feet tall,’ he wondered while he fought to keep focused.
The tall rider arched back to point its nipple less chest skyward; it threw its arms out with clenched fists and gave out a high pitched screeching yell while his lower jaw jerked up and down rapidly to coincide with his high pitched communication. It appeared to be giving a victory shout. It continued to sniff wildly and aggressively and seemed to comment on the smells it detected. Mykal noticed all the long pointy teeth fit perfectly in the gaps from both upper and lower rows. He thought it odd he was looking at the teeth, and then it just hit him that the strange creature seemed to be commenting on what it sniffed inside the vehicle when Mykal clearly detected a musty, mildew funk from the creature’s mouth.
Mykal, in his semi-conscious state took offense as if the tall rider was commenting on his smell. “Screw you, you filthy, smelly bastard,” he snarled and raised his .357 magnum and fired off three rounds. Two rounds struck the nipple less chest and the thing jerked out of the way causing the third round to strike the rhino like creature in the head between its very wide set eyes. In his dazed state of mind Mykal noticed and focused on the silver medallion bouncing high in the air. The rhino creature rose up and growled like an angry injured creature and it backed away. Mykal looked for the tall skinny rider but it backed away to where he couldn’t see it. It wasn’t on the ground at the door dead which is what he hoped for. The rhino like beast shook its head wildly. Mykal saw his round penetrated the creature’s head and produced a stream of blood that rolled down the long wide snout.
