The Test of Ostra

by Rory D Nelson

  Cammilia barks out a warning. With lightning quick reflexes, Dante crouches down with Cammilia and he brings up the shield. The arrow hits it squarely with maximum force. Dante pushes forward with his body to absorb the hit.

  As they head for the midway point, they duck down in time before being pierced by another arrow.

  Dante maintains his count. They are well past the two-minute point. Only another forty seconds stand between him and failure. This arrow field is precarious. But if he launches one of the stones at the stop button, the arrows will be stopped. He picks up a stone and launches it. It misses. He is close. Dante concentrates, focuses, and feels the button. He hurls the stone, using a quick snap of his wrist for maximum velocity. His aim is sharp and hits the button perfectly. The arrows stop shooting. Dante runs across with Cammilia. They stop and look toward Dotore while trying to catch their breath.

  “Two minutes forty-four seconds!” yells Savelle. Dante feels his head move in the barest of nods. He is well pleased though he tries to keep it from his face.

  “Congratulations!” says Germanicus evenly. “You passed! Looks like you’ll be around for a little while longer yet.”

  Despite Dotore’s reluctant praise, Dante is undeterred and glowing. He hugs Cammilia fiercely, basking in the momentary triumph. No one can take this day away from him.

  Chapter 29: Titans Face Off

  “Do you think it’s Pent?” asks Micah.

  “Are you tripe?” asks Malachai. “You’ve got a bird’s beak for a sniffer. Do you have a bird’s brain as well?” Sullen, another one of Malachai’s men, laughs out loud at the slight. He quiets down when Malachai throws one of his admonishing glances in his direction. “Of course, it’s Pent. Who else could it be?”

  “If we ride hard non-stop, mayhaps we can get to Cortez before they reach us,” offers Sullen.

  “Ai, and if Pixie was brain food, you would be the smartest one here and could lead us all.” This time Micah laughs.

  “We can’t risk an all- out shoot-out at or before Cortez. This is our prize and we are due for a proper bounty. Pent will have to come and take it from us. You ken?” asks Micah, sounding a little unsure of himself.

  “There is a concern, so it does,” says Devlin, Malachai’s brother and right-hand man.

  Malachai nods. “Ai, know well to what you are referring, so I do. Why is he riding with so many men? We know Pent has four or five riders in his posse. So why all the men? Pent has aligned himself with others hoping to subdue us. Pent knows he is no match for me one-on-one, so he enlisted extra.”

  Devlin shakes his head. “No, something doesn’t feel right about this. Pent would be upset if you had taken his bounty. That’s true. But to enlist other men for such. Can’t believe he would have done it. Pent doesn’t have the coin to enlist so many men, considering the outcome is questionable. He’s a hot-head but not stupid.”

  “Maybe he lured the others with the prospect of taking Talgath’s stash,” offers Sullen.

  “But he found himself a posse pretty quick,” notes Micah.

  “I know Pent,” says Malachai. “He would never have offered any coin for a questionable campaign. Have you thought maybe the posse hired him on? Would seem to make sense. Mayhaps they’ve been tracking us. That would seem to fit the scenario better.”

  They nod in agreement. “That would make sense, so it would,” says Devlin. “Pent would have jumped at the chance to make money once he knew his bounty was gone.”

  Malachai nods. “Ai, so it would. They will make a play for us, no doubt. We will have to get the drop on them first.” The others nod.

  (2)

  Tennyson walks into Herod’s receiving chamber, holding an important document in a leather bag. He smiles resassuringly at Herod. “You have good news for me?” asks an elated Herod.

  Tennyson nods. “Ai. Excellent news. We could not have been more fortuitous Herod-Sai.” He extracts a document from his leather satchel and presents it to Herod. It is somewhat messy, the parchment paper is worn and brittle, but the words on the document are legible. It’s a copy.

  “I made a copy of the document with parchment paper. I broke into the Hall of Records. Have a looksee.”

  Herod picks it up and peruses it. As he reads, a big smile emerges on his face. “Ha Ha Ha!” bellows Herod.

  “I have over-estimated my rival. I would have thought his shares would have gone to the board. That would present a plethora of complications. But no, the comp has bequeathed his shares to his daughter-in-law, Lonnie. If he meets his death, his shares will go to her. Seems he may meet his death sooner. You ken?”

  “Ai, Herod-Sai.”

  “I would recommend caution, Herod-Sai.” warns Morgana. “Selenius is quite a popular councilman. His death will not be taken casually. You can send one of your henchman to take him out, but I would advise against it.

  Herod nods his head. “I ken you are right, Morgana. This needs to be quiet with no doubt his death was an accident. You ken?” He looks at her, with a conspiring glint in his eyes.

  She nods her head. “Ai, Herod-Sai. A most prudent course of action.”

  Chapter 30: Strategy

  Bunter, Friscoe, and Callie wait patiently at a high point in the ridge overlooking a small clearing in the forest floor. They have purposely left tracks for them, knowing that this will be their path. They have put down several kindling branches underfoot throughout the forest floor, knowing the sound will carry far in the forest.

  Raoul and Jeffries walk through, keeping low to the ground. Their cautious stepping will not matter. Micah and Sullen take careful aim with their sniper scopes and rest their hands on the triggers while checking for wind velocity. They take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger, creating a deafening boom in the forest.

  The repercussions are instantaneous and deadly. Raoul and Jeffries fall to the ground as blood spews from their bodies. They twitch for a few seconds and then lie still.

  “Good shot, comp,” says Micah.

  “Ai, you too,” says Sullen. Dougfried, who crouches parallel from them, motions to them. Another group is coming. After hearing the shots, they spread out and disappear through the thick vegetation- exactly what Malachai had counted on. Good. They are scrambling.

  Several other men head up through the inclined ridge in hopes of outflanking the snipers. Dougfried signals to Sullen and Micah. They head to the crossbows and set the traps, ensuring the crossbows are well-hidden. The thick vegetation and a large patch of razzle berries will induce the men to seek another route, guaranteeing they will come up to one of these five paths.

  They motion to each other, signaling to leave the area quickly. Four of Felinius’ men head up to one of the paths carefully-two men in each path. The first one crosses the tripwire, and the crossbow releases an arrow which catches a man directly in the groin and another man directly in the chest. He instinctively clutches his chest and falls to the ground, screaming in agony and then surrenders to darkness. The others retreat, giving themselves away to Rennie, the sniper who has positioned himself high on the ridge. When the men begin to exit, he fires several rounds, hitting a couple of them. They fall to the ground, blood spewing from cavernous wounds.

  “That was four of my men!” says Pent indignantly, through clenched teeth, trying to make as little noise as possible.

  “A necessary diversion if we hope to outflank them. You ken?”

  “Seems you don’t mind sacrificin’ my men, while your men still breathe.”

  “Would you have me asked for volunteers? You knew this was going to get bloody. It must consider the stakes. You ken? Follow my plan or go back. That is the choice before you.”

  Pent shakes his head. “No, came this far, so I did. Can’t be going back now.”

  “We know their position now and we are ahead of them. It was the only way.” Felinius turns to his men. “Meyer, Dokken, Prucheck, go on that ridge and set up a sniper post. The men will be returning at tempest halt. Take them out as t
hey make their way back to camp. Dalemore and Bridgetton, you ride with us and we’ll set up a perimeter watch post. Pent and I will go into camp and initiate the offensive. You ken?”

  “Ai.” They say.

  Minutes later, several shots ring out from further down the ridgeline. Pent and Felinius exchange a knowing look. Their snipers have taken out the enemy’s. All is going to plan so far.

  (2)

  Malachai hears the shots ring out again and looks at Devlin. Sullen, Micah and Dougfried don’t have the intelligence and military experience to ascertain what had happened. Devlin does. “Looks like we got the drop on their men and now they have done the same to us. You ken?” asks Devlin.

  Malachai nods. “Ai would appear so. I ken that they sent some men in to create a diversion. A smart plan. Pent has had some aid in planning. He’s not that good.”

  “Should we be worried?” asks Devlin.

  Malachai smiles confidently. “As the sayin’ goes, ‘An ounce of worry ain’t worth its weight in shit, set watch and warrant it’. I’d advise us to remain cautious and be on full alert. Send Micah, Sullen and Jax farther up the baseline to act as looksees. Godfried will guard our bounty. You and I will take cover and act accordingly. I ken that this may very well end with a shootout.”

  Devlin nods somberly. “Ai, ken that you speak truth. I for one, will not forego my share. Not now, not ever.”

  (3)

  “Send Bridgetton up ahead of us by about a hundred yards,” orders Felinius.

  Pent looks at him indignantly. “Oh, so my man can take the first bullet from a sniper shot?”

  “If necessary.” says Felinius.

  “Dalemore is a crack shot with the crossbow. If we can get some sort of fix on his position, we can take out their snipers. Otherwise, we are sitting ducks. What would you have me do? Risk all our lives?”

  “Why don’t you go?” asks Pent.

  Felinius smiles sardonically and then abruptly belts Pent across the bridge of the nose, causing a laceration to appear with a fair amount of blood to seep from it. Felinius then grabs him by the cuff of his shirt and points his speed shooter at him. “Send your man Bridgetton or I’ll send you to an early grave. You ken?”

  Pent nods. “Ai. Suppose I’ll have to.”

  Pent reluctantly sends Bridgetton up ahead. He is either too stupid or overly confident about the fact that he is likely walking into a trap. He walks about fifty paces and then his head explodes like some macabre pumpkin, sending brain, bile and blood matter from the cavernous hole. He slumps to the ground, his body twitching and soon he is still.

  Felinius signals to Dalemore. He crouches down and gets behind a large bush. He is barely able to see figures in the tree line about two thousand yards away, barely in the range of his longbow. He hides behind the bush and then takes careful aim. A couple of shots ring out from the snipers. They don’t come close but close enough to set Dalemore on edge. He takes a deep breath and then squeezes the trigger. The first shot rings out perilously close to Micah. He instinctively fires back, wasting bullets and exposing himself.

  Felinius continuously moves closer during the temporary stalemate. Dalemore squeezes off a couple more rounds and one shot hits Sullen in the leg. He cries out in agony, giving away his location. After the brief exchange of arrows and gunfire between Dalemore, Micah and Sullen, Felinius moves about five hundred yards closer. He ducks behind a large cypress tree and sets up his long rifle. He is now within range of an accurate shot. It’s not exactly pube play but well within striking distance.

  Pent, unaccustomed to such quick movements, is out of breath. He subconsciously crowds Felinius. Felinius is annoyed. He looks at Pent. “Do you mind, ruffian? You are breathing on me and disrupting my aim.”

  “Sorry.” Pent reluctantly takes a few steps back.

  Felinius lines up his first target, which is difficult, considering he is partially camouflaged from the close tree line. The gunfire line though has enabled him to estimate his position. He checks the wind velocity and sets the marker, zeros in on the target and takes a deep breath. And then he squeezes the trigger and misses. He readjusts, lines up his target again and fires again.

  Sullen drops to the ground and clutches his chest. Felinius sees a figure drop from his perch and run off. He doesn’t have the time to get a fix on him and permits him to escape. Felinius barely makes out another figure. Shots begin to ring out very near him. One shot hits a branch only about fifteen yards from him. Pent instinctively inches closer to Felinius. Felinius smacks him away.

  “Just hunker close to the ground, rat. Don’t want you breathin’ on me and disruptin’ my aim.”

  Pent does that and lies flat on the ground, tilting his head to the side. Felinius smiles at his discomfort. Everything about the man offends him, his arrogance, appearance, his boorish behavior, his stupidity and most of all his detestable smell.

  Felinius fires off another few quick rounds and then motions to Dalemore to move closer. As he does, Felinius signals again to send off a couple more arrows. Dalemore does and one shot comes perilously close. Micah fires back. Felinius gets a fix on his position exactly. He lines up his site, aligns his aim for wind velocity and takes a deep breath and then squeezes the trigger. A concussive blow thunders out along with the contents of Micah’s head. He drops to the ground.

  “Got ‘im,” says Felinius.

  He looks at Pent and then Dalemore, who is running up to them after the direct hit. “Let’s go men. Now we finish this.”

  “Ai,” says Pent. “High tide we take our bounty, so it is.”

  “We are due for some payback as well,” remarks Dalemore.

  Godfried, unhappy with the duties of bounty watchdog, sits with Talgath and keeps a watchful eye on him. They both hear someone running through the forest in a mad rush. When the man becomes visible, they see that it is Jax.

  Jax, out of breath and sweating profusely, approaches Godfried and Talgath. “What happened? Heard the gunfire, so we did. Where is Micah and Sullen?” asks Godfried.

  “They were taken out, so they were. They’ve got a bowman who can hit just about anything and their sniper finished off the lads, so he did. He’s good.”

  “Seems you lads may be needin’ a trigger man, but seein’ that my hands are preoccupied with these cuffs, can’t rightly help you. So, what say you?” asks Talgath.

  They look at him as if he had lost his mind. “Oh, sure you would like that, wouldn’t you? You would just assume kill us as anyone, wouldn’t you? Do we look tripe?”

  “Actually, you do. I can get you all out of this. You know I won’t get past Malachai. I would be folly to think I could muster past him. You ken?”

  “Set watch and warrant, we’ll get ourselves out of this mess. You will not be getting out of those chains and that is all there is to it.”

  “Have it your way then. You can’t be spending any of that bounty if you are dead then. Can you?”

  “Let’s rendezvous with Malachai and Devlin, men. High tide we ended this. We will make our last stand with him, set watch and warrant.”

  Felinius, Dalemore and Pent all proceed cautiously up the forest floor, expecting some sort of trap, ambush or subterfuge, but none jump out at them. Dalemore and Pent are on edge because of it. “Where are they all?” whispers Dalemore.

  “They have to be setting a trap for us, set watch and warrant it. It’s what I would do, if it were me,” says Pent.

  “Malachai knows we would be expecting some sort of trap. He is sharp and will not go down easily. You know this well. He would rather kill the bounty than surrender it to us. His corpse is still worth half.”

  “Won’t settle for half,” says Pent, through clenched teeth.

  “Then let us be on our guard,” says Felinius.

  Godfried and Jax pace and twitch nervously, having seen the rest of their men die violently. Devlin’s face appears calm and resolute, which belies his trip-hammering heart. He wipes away the sweat from his brow. He is
as scared as the rest of the group, except for Malachai, who remains unflappable. He is calm, even-tempered and seems unconcerned.

  “Whoever his partner is, he’s good,” says Jax, stupidly.

  “You tripe, warthog? No fucking shit he’s good. Pent never would have made it this far on his own,” says Godfried, in a scolding tone.

  “Pent’s a greedy cunt, too,” says Malachai. “He won’t settle for half. I know this to be true. Let’s ensure we have a fair fight. Why not put him in directly in our line of site?”

  “What did you have in mind?” asks Godfried.

  Malachai smiles. A smile erupts on Devlin’s face, knowing what he intends.

  (3)

  Felinius, Dalemore and Pent all proceed cautiously up to the embankment and what they witness is something neither Dalemore nor Pent could have fathomed. Felinius is impressed. A circle of trip wires surrounds the encampment, making it nearly impossible to get in there without setting it off. Talgath sits upon a horse with a noose around his neck while his rope is attached to the tripwire. Godfried sits behind Talgath. He holds his pistol to Talgath’s head.

  “Hello boys!” He yells from behind Talgath. “That’s far enough. Drop your weapons!”

  Felinius laughs. “Ai, a trap worthy of a Knight, set watch.”

  Pent and Dalemore look at Felinius as if he has lost his mind. “They got the drop on us, so they have. What do we do?”

  “I’ll have my men drop their guns. What say you? As for me, I’m keeping mine,” says Felinius.

  “Do it!” yells Malachai. “I’ll put a bullet through his head, and we can all have a nice shootout to see who will get half the bounty for the corpse!”

  Godfried looks at Malachai desperately as if he has lost his mind as well. “What say you? I’m right here! That’ll be my head as well.”

  “I’m not settling for half!” snarls Pent.

  “You won’t have to,” says Felinius.He eyes the rope holding up Talgath. It is thick but not that thick. He takes out his shotgun and readies it.