The Secret of the Golden Gods Omnibus Edition

by Pedro Urvi

  Kyra did not know what to make of this. “Are they coming out to fight?”

  “We fight on horseback. Warrior to warrior,” Lone Wolf explained, as if this were a creed.

  Kyra considered the wall. It was not very high, though high enough to prevent the horses from jumping it. At the same time it did not look very strong.

  Swift Deer pointed with his spear. “They’re the soldiers of the Guard. They’re taking up their positions in front of the city. They think we’ll be afraid and run away. They don’t know what’s coming to them.”

  “We’ll tear them to pieces.” Lone Wolf said with conviction.

  Kyra was trying to find a logical explanation. “Why don’t they defend the city?” she asked. “Why are they throwing away the advantage the walls give them?”

  The two warriors looked at her in surprise.

  “You can’t fight inside the city,” Swift Deer said.

  “There’s no room for horse and rider,” said Lone Wolf.

  “Then why don’t they fight on foot to protect the wall?”

  The two men exchanged looks of perplexity and shook their heads.

  “Only a coward or a low-born fights on foot,” said Swift Deer, patting his horse’s neck.

  “Fighting on foot is an insult, something base,” Lone Wolf added.

  Kyra bit her lip.

  “The traitors of the Guard believe themselves to be superior to us. They’d never lower themselves by fighting un-mounted,” said Swift Deer.

  “You never cease to surprise me,” said Kyra, and smiled. “The more I know you, the more I like you.” She half-turned on her horse and looked back. Forming an endless line, more than thirty thousand warriors on their piebald horses were waiting for the order to attack. The scene was overwhelming. The warriors of the fourth, fifth and sixth counties, faces and arms painted in red, armed with short bows and light axes, watched the Guard as they took up their positions on the distant plain.

  “They’re waiting for the order from The One Who Walks Two Worlds,” Swift Deer said.

  Kyra longed to launch the attack. The innate fury that had been part of her all her life was struggling to emerge from within her and seize control of the situation. The enemy was there in front of her, and behind them the capital. Freedom was within touching distance. Stay cool, take it easy, she told herself as she analyzed the situation the way her brother would.

  “I don’t see the Enforcers. Where are they?”

  “They’ll be waiting inside the city,” Swift Deer said.

  “Messengers are coming,” said Lone Wolf. He pointed to the north. Three riders were galloping like lightning towards them.

  Kyra raised her clenched fist. The warriors behind her understood the order to wait. The messengers reached her.

  “Message…” the first one said, panting from the effort so that he could barely speak.

  “What’s going on to the north? Is everything okay? Are the warriors of the first, second and third counties ready?”

  The messenger nodded and swallowed.

  “Everything’s as you requested, One Who Walks Two Worlds.”

  “Very well,” she said, and turned to Swift Deer. “How many soldiers of the Guard can you count?”

  “About forty thousand. They’ve all taken up their positions.”

  “Then the time to attack has come. Give the order, Lone Wolf.”

  The warrior sat up erect on his horse. Putting his hands to his mouth, he mimicked the howl of a real wolf. A deep abandoned howl which in the reigning silence spread throughout the warrior ranks. Immediately several of them responded with new howls. And these were followed by others. Coyotes joined in, and thousands of throats howled to the skies.

  Kyra asked for a spear. Swift Deer offered her one.

  “You know what you have to do, don’t you?”

  “Yes, don’t worry,” he said.

  “Don’t get caught up in the madness of the battle. At my signal, do as we planned.”

  “I won’t fail you.”

  Kyra nodded and turned to the warriors. She raised the spear to the sky, then pointed it at the enemy.

  “To battle!” she cried at the top of her voice.

  Thirty thousand warriors broke into a gallop, shouting and howling as though possessed by evil spirits, against the forces of the Guard. Kyra hurled herself after them. When the Guard saw the enemy charging, it too charged in response. She had never experienced anything so spectacular. More than sixty thousand horses galloped over the prairie towards a fatal encounter. The sound of the galloping piebald horses created an overwhelming din, as if this were some tremendous earthquake, and an enormous cloud of dust rose in their wake. The yells and howls of the warriors added to the general racket.

  The thrill of the moment overwhelmed her. She rode hunched over her horse, trying to concentrate in the midst of the uproar. She had to half-close her eyes to protect them from wind, dust and her own fiery hair. At full gallop, the two forces clashed in the midst of the prairies outside the city. The cries now gave way to ones of fury and pain. The warriors fought with the rage of the oppressed, the Guard with the despair of those who know the next moment might be their last. The battle turned frenetic. These were not Senoca, they were harsh, battle-hardened warriors of the steppes who knew how to fight. Axe- and spear-strokes were accurate and powerful. The riders were thrown down and finished off mercilessly before they could remount or bring down another rider from the ground.

  Searching for Swift Deer, Kyra found him surrounded by his most faithful warriors, opening up a gap in the forces of the Guard. Come on Swift Deer, don’t fail me now, remember the plan. Further to the east she saw Crazy Cougar and his warriors opening up another gap. They fought as if possessed by the spirit of an enraged bear. To her right there appeared a rider from the Guard, charging with his spear in front of him. The metal tip was aimed straight at her chest. An axe flew past her eyes and a powerful impact broke the wooden spear. Immediately a second axe buried itself in the rider’s chest and toppled him from his horse.

  “I look after you,” Lone Wolf said with an axe in each hand. Riding his horse bareback, he seemed the warrior spirit of the prairies themselves.

  Kyra thanked him with a nod. The fighting was growing fiercer all the time; warriors and Guard were fighting in a chaotic tangle and very soon everything would be complete chaos. Come on, Swift Deer, don’t get carried away by the blood.

  Lone Wolf dispatched another rider with two sharp strokes of his axes. “Look,” he said.

  Kyra straightened on her horse and saw Swift Deer and his warriors abandoning the fight to run north.

  “Let’s go with him!” cried Kyra.

  Lone Wolf gave the signal to his people, and all the warriors of his county followed him at once. Crazy Cougar saw the maneuver and ordered his own warriors to follow Swift Deer’s.

  The riders of the Guard were taken aback by the sight of the warriors fleeing. This was something unthinkable; a warrior never abandoned the fight, since it meant a dishonor they could not live with. But before their astonished eyes, all the warriors were fleeing northwards. It took them an instant to react, since the officers could not believe what they were seeing. Then they gave the order to pursue.

  Kyra rode at top speed, glancing back over her shoulder to see what was happening behind her. The Guard was pursuing them. Her horse was going so fast it seemed to be flying across the plain. All around her, warriors were fleeing on horseback. The Guard was trying to catch them, but their mounts were slower. They left the city behind and headed in the direction of a hill in the distance. Swift Deer, at the head of the group, began to slow down. The warriors followed his example. Kyra glanced over her shoulder again and saw that the Guard was coming closer. Then she looked ahead and saw the wide hill they would have to go up. The Guard would catch up with them on the way up. She turned to her right and saw Lone Wolf. The warrior nodded at her in reassurance.

  They reached the foot of the hill and
began to ride up it, but the Guard were already upon them. Suddenly Swift Deer stopped, and all his warriors with him. He raised his fist and turned his mount to face the Guard. At once all the other warriors stopped their flight and turned. All except Kyra. She was looking toward the hilltop. Swift Deer made his way to the head of his warriors and withstood the charge of the Guard bravely. Kyra did not take her eyes off the top. Where are they? They should be there already. But nobody appeared. We led them into the trap. Come on, show yourselves! She was expecting to see the forces of the three other counties who were waiting behind the hill. But nobody appeared at the summit.

  And the Guard fell upon them. The warriors drove back the attack amid cries of rage. But now the Guard had the advantage and wreaked havoc among the front lines of the warriors, who were overwhelmed. Swift Deer and his champions fought like wounded animals. There was no way out. They could not escape; the hill prevented them and the Guard had penetrated deeply among the lines of warriors. All that remained was to fight like wild beasts or die. Cries of pain and fury mingled with the neighing of desperate horses. The air tasted of earth, and they could barely breathe amid the dust that rose above the battle.

  Kyra pressed her horse and forced him up to the top of the hill. The poor animal snorted in complaint but managed to do her bidding. What are you waiting for? Where are you? We need you! she thought in anguish. What she found on the other side of the hill turned her to stone. The warriors of the First, Second and Third Counties were fighting for their lives against an army of Enforcers. Eyes wide, she watched the terrible scene. That’s why they never came to the ambush of the Guard. We’ve been betrayed! The Enforcers, fewer in number but far more adept at dealing death, were fighting from silver carriages drawn by a pair of horses against the warriors on their piebald mounts. Although the warriors were causing casualties with their short bows and spears, the fight was too unequal. The Enforcers were too strong, too lethal. The rebels would not leave there alive. Hell! Where did they get those carriages from?

  She turned to see what was happening on her side of the hill and found that the situation was just as critical. A chaos of riders, mounts, blood and death whirled before her. They’re going to rip us to pieces! When she saw her people fighting against the Guard her distress turned to fury. A fury she knew well and which she had learnt to control. But now was not the time to hold back. Now it was the time to let it all out. I’ve tried your way, brother, but it hasn’t worked for me. The plan was good, we’d thought it all through, but it didn’t come out the way we expected. Now we’ll do it my way. Wish me luck, she thought, gazing at the sun. She turned her horse, faced the battle, and cried:

  “For freedom!”

  She charged downhill, carried on by a volcanic fury. Lone Wolf saw her and went to stand at her right to protect her. Crazy Cougar went to her left so as to protect her other flank. The three of them went into the thick of the battle, like a giant sharp-pointed arrow propelled by enormous force and speed. Kyra, with Adamis’s disc round her neck, was using her Power to bring down anyone who dared cross her path. Lone Wolf and Crazy Cougar dealt death to left and right, the one with his two light axes, the other with his spear and buffalo-hide shield. Seeing that they were beginning to make a way through the lines of the Guard, the warriors joined the three to form a triangle of death.

  “Follow me! For freedom!” she cried.

  A great shout followed her own. The officers of the Guard were yelling orders to deal with Kyra and the arrowhead of the attack. She was using her spear to focus her power, so that any enemy she pointed it at and who was less than three steps away was thrown against those around him. The soldiers tried to kill her, but Lone Wolf and Crazy Cougar defended her fiercely. They went through the enemy lines like a knife through butter. The warriors, infected with their leaders’ courage, began to tilt the battle in their favor.

  “Now, all together!” cried Kyra, cheering on her followers.

  And they reached the enemy officers. She immediately recognized the Commander of the Guard by his elegant white-and-silver armor. Now you’re mine. But before she could use her Power against him, the Commander threw his spear at her with all the force of a trained arm. The spear came straight at her heart, where in raising her own spear she had uncovered her breast. She tried to protect herself, but she knew it was too late. She leaned to one side of her horse and saw the spear in the air. At the same moment Crazy Cougar leapt on top of her and the spear buried itself in his side. Kyra lost her balance and clung on to her horse’s neck as Crazy Cougar fell to the ground. Two officers charged against her at their Commander’s order. Lone Wolf slipped in between, and with a lethal show of skill finished them before they could reach his protégée.

  Kyra looked back and saw Crazy Cougar on the ground, dead. Roaring with rage, she fixed her gaze on the Commander.

  “You swine! You’ll pay for this!”

  The Commander unsheathed his sword and spurred his steed towards her. But this time she was able to catch her enemy’s aura, and focused on it. She used her Power. The Commander rose from his horse and hung in the air ten feet from the ground.

  “I am the spirit who walks two worlds!” Kyra shouted.

  At this unheard-of sight, everyone around them stopped fighting, warriors and soldiers alike.

  “This is what happens to those who oppose me!”

  With a sudden twist of her hand, she broke the Commander’s neck.

  Nobody was fighting around her. They were all watching the scene in absolute astonishment in the case of the warriors, or terror in that of the Guard. She moved her hand again and let the dead Commander’s body fall. The reaction was not long in coming. The soldiers of the Guard started to flee in panic.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” she cried. With another wave of her hand she raised a wall of solid fog in front of the soldiers. The horses, terrified, refused to go through it. Unable to control their mounts, the soldiers fell to the ground. The warriors started towards them, but she stopped them with a gesture.

  “Nobody touch them!”

  At her order all the warriors stopped and stared at her.

  She turned to the soldiers. “Listen to me well, all of you! This is Swift Deer.” She indicated the Chief. “Now he’s your Commander. Those of you who wish to live will follow him into battle. Those who wish to die: say so now and I’ll grant your wish.” Her tone of voice was so convincing that it left no room for doubt.

  There was a silence, followed by a subdued murmur that grew in intensity. The soldiers started to approach Swift Deer, a few at first, fearful of their fate. When the others saw they were unharmed, they all followed them.

  “That’s better. Now we go up this hill. On the other side our brothers are fighting against the Enforcers. We’re going to join them. Between us we’ll defeat the Enforcers.”

  “We’ll follow you, One Who Walks Two Worlds!” Swift Deer said.

  “Forward! For freedom!”

  Like a horde of wild animals, the warriors and the soldiers of the Guard reached the hilltop and descended upon the Enforcers. Kyra rode at their head, with Lone Wolf on her right.

  Kyra pointed her spear at the warriors who were fighting against the Enforcers, and whose numbers were shrinking with every passing moment. “Swift Deer, help them!”

  “Onward, for the steppes!” cried Swift Deer, and took both the soldiers of the Guard and the warriors of his own county with him.

  Kyra made a sign to Lone Wolf and went straight towards a group of Enforcers who were watching the battle from a little distance away. These were the Eyes-of-the-Gods in their light carriages, who were directing the battle. When they saw the warriors were charging towards them they sent Executors in heavy carriages to intercept them.

  “Lone Wolf, deal with them!”

  The warrior glanced at her and shook his head. He did not want to leave her unprotected.

  “Do as I say! It’s our only chance!”

  Lone Wolf cursed
under his breath and nodded. He raised his arm to call his warriors after him and swerved to face the Executors who were approaching to cut off their advance. Kyra seized her opportunity and turned the opposite way in a wide arc so as to dodge the Executors, then charged against the Eyes.

  The fighting turned frantic. Swift Deer and his men were trying to help the warriors of the first counties who were being decimated by the Executors. The furious cries of the warriors and the full gallop of the horses buried the lethal silence of the Executors and the heavy advance of their carriages. Lone Wolf and his men howled to the sky. The warriors, with their piebald mounts, far faster and agile than the heavy carriages, were trying to get close enough to them to attack and move away before being stabbed by the spears of the Executors. To get close to one of them meant death, whether by the power of an Executor or the impact of the carriage.

  “Attack and move away!” Lone Wolf shouted. “Don’t get near the carriages!”

  Kyra faced the Eyes-of-the-Gods. She was now very close to them. There were a hundred or so. When the first of the group saw her galloping alone towards them like a suicidal lunatic, they watched her in puzzlement. She smiled. Gotcha! Time to die! She caught the aura of the first three Eyes. It was an ochre aura, unmistakable and corrupted. They started to react. Kyra clenched her fist round Adamis’s disc at her neck, concentrated and used the Power. The three Eyes were hurled backwards with massive force, a product of the rage she was feeling. They crashed into the ranks behind them and toppled a dozen of the Eyes. The others reacted and took out small discs to use against her.

  “You won’t stop me!” she cried, and created the defensive sphere around her body.

  The Eyes used their discs. Thirty electric charges hit the sphere. But it held. She gasped with relief. But it would not be able to withstand another attack. She had to do something. She was almost on them now. But there were too many to defeat a few at a time. The discs shone in the gloved hands of the Eyes. And she had an idea. I’ll use their own weapons against them! She stopped her horse ten paces from the group and stared defiantly at them. She waited for the Eyes to discharge against her again, then used her Power. She focused on the discs, on their flash as the power was summoned, and with an effort of concentration greater than anything she had managed before, sent the charges aimed at her back against the Eyes who had launched them.