Nork's forces fell on the Southlanders. Gregory's blade flew from throat to throat. Derrick stood behind him. Malik fought on his right. Reno and Nero fought on Gregory's left.
The Southlanders were unorganized at best.
* * *
Xander watched the night sky. Derrick's light raced into the heavens, and Xander knew it was time. He rallied the Cat Riders. They started in with the crossbows.
* * *
Lisa, Teresa, Prince John, Rollin, and a few others stood on the castle wall. A great lifting of pressure seemed to pass through the Southlander army as the crown was shattered. The spiders revolted and threw off their riders. But the men of Quintak's army closed on the Rangers guarding the tent.
Lisa transformed into a hawk and flew away.
Teresa bent down to thirteen-year-old Prince John. She smiled at her son. "You should be down there, with your father."
"Really?" The boy asked.
"I mean it."
The boy shouted, "Men, to the horses! Rollin, find a horn blower and sound the rally!"
Rollin yelled, "To the horses!"
Within moments, Prince John and Rollin were riding side by side, leading a great charge of Rangers out of the castle. Lynken's regular army wasn't far behind.
* * *
Lisa landed next to Juxta and transformed back into human form in a flash of white. "I'm not a chosen one!"
She summoned great bolts of lightning, laying waste to everything she willed to die.
Chapter Seventy-Five
Jason chased after Quintak. The old Magi turned to face him. Quintak raised his right hand and summoned light. "You can't defeat me. Your sword will be useless."
Jason raised his sword up over his right shoulder. He brought it down with an amazing quickness and let go. Quintak summoned lightning at the same time. Jason's aim was true. The lightning fell on Jason. The sword flew across the twenty feet between them and planted itself in Quintak's chest.
Jason spasmed for a moment, but the lightning died down. Stepping forward, he put his hand on the sword hilt. With his foot on Quintak's torso, Jason pulled the blade free. He chopped off Quintak's head and picked it up.
* * *
Between healing chants, Juxta shouted, "You're so grounded when we get home, Luther."
"You know I have a wife now? She claims a child is on the way. You really can't boss me around anymore," Luther said.
"He's right, dear," Lisa said, "but he's still going to listen to his mother."
"Of course."
Blades flashed all around them. The Rangers held their ground, and bodies were starting to pile up. William shouted, "Let's push our way forward to the wells. I could use a drink of water."
Men laughed.
Nork's forces were engaged. The Rangers and guardsmen from the castle hit hard. The Cat Riders were mostly toying with their prey, using crossbows. The Southlanders began to run. Their women and children chased after them, except for Luther, Jason, and Timothy's wives.
* * *
The armies of the free men rested outside the castle. King William ordered kegs brought forth. Juxta passed out the last of the five-gallon barrels he had in secret. Somebody cleared his throat by the castle gate. Men looked. Prince William stood there with pale skin. He seemed rather shaky.
King William turned to Lisa. "Can he have a drink?"
"A small one only, it'll be enough," she replied.
The king ran up to the prince and gave him a shoulder to lean on.
Somebody shouted, "Yo!" From the other end of the troops. A man pushed himself through the armies: Jason with Quintak's head in his hand.
King William raised his voice. "We must forgive these dumbass young men. The war would have come to us no matter what."
Men nodded and sighed.
"You stabbed me in the back," Prince William said, with a mean glare at Jason.
"I was out of my mind, brother," Jason said. "Please, forgive me."
"Not until I've had the chance to stab you in the back."
"As you wish." Jason turned his back on William.
Prince William smiled. "I don't even have a blade, brother."
Jason turned around.
Luther pointed his index finger at Juxta. "I want to know how to whack somebody in the throat from far away."
Juxta let out a little hehehehe laugh. "I don't make the rules, ask Kirl or Quann."
A lightning cloud formed low to the ground. A well-formed woman, naked other than a green shawl, stepped out in between the lightning. Men howled, drooled, and fell to their knees.
The God of Nature spoke in a low tone, but every man heard. "I'm defeated, again."
Gregory was closest to her, and he stepped forward. "Are you the reason our people have lost their fertility?"
"You have some nuts to address me, without even telling me your name."
"I'm Prince Gregory, heir to the throne of Nork!"
She turned her back on him, showing off a perfect butt.
"Answer my question!" He yelled.
She spoke but did not turn. "I'll rebalance things. Before I put all my energy into the Southlands, but I'll play fair."
She drifted off into the mists.
* * *
One month passed. A Ranger reported to King William. The Ranger bowed.
"Oh get on with it," William said.
"The Southlanders, not all of them returned to the Southern wastes. Many settled in Lynken."
William squinted his eyes.
The Ranger nodded vigorously. "Yes, they have planted crops and built houses out of mud and grass. They're living on your land!"
"We have to allow this," Teresa said. "We're a land of free men, and we must open our hearts to these people."
William rose from his throne. He paced around in a little circle three times. "Scribes, listen up." He waited for the scribes to give him their attention. "There's a simplified code of our laws, as well as the laws of the One True God. We must make copies of this parchment and post the copies all over the Southern lands. Every Southlander must be made aware of our laws."
The scribes nodded and flexed their writing hands.
"They must accept the One True God and our way of life," William continued.
Teresa interrupted, "Not every man of Lynken prays to the One True God."
"Well, at a minimum, they must send young men to compete in our Ranger trials, and they must provide men for our regular guardsmen. They must pay the taxes defined in our parchment of laws. If they have a grievance, it must come before this court."
The scribes didn't move.
"Do it now!" William said.
Links to other Books:
Juxta, Magi (Epic Fantasy)
www.facebook.com/GCPWriter/ Author Facebook Page
Winter's Line (Fantasy Adventure)
R.A.E.C.E. Genesis (Military Sci-Fi)
Zombie Flick, Horror Comedy
Evelyn's Book (Fantasy Adventure)
Author Bio
Geoff spent hundreds of afternoons during his formative years dueling over a hot box of dice playing tabletop wargames such as Titan and Axis&Allies, games with strong military components and fantasy elements.
He taught himself to program computers as a young pup. The first software Geoff developed professionally was a Chemical Weapons Attack Simulator for the USAF. He did it in Visual Basic 3.0 in Win3.11, on a 386SX16 processor. Since then he has built websites professionally and browser based multiplayer kingdom games.
Geoff started writing Thanksgiving of 2003. He penned his first novel between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year. He had high hopes for it of course, but errors plagued his first draft. He wrote an epic fantasy next, Juxta, Magi. Then he crafted a military sci-fi, R.A.E.C.E. Genesis.
He had no clue how to get published. He didn't know how to fix all the errors in his manuscripts. It kind of hit him like lightning one day. Sinclair Community College might have an English class he could take.
He dis
covered English Composition I&II, Fiction Writing, Advanced Fiction Writing, Novel Writing, Horror Fiction, and the most awesome class ever, Text Editing. Geoff took classes with Ed Davis and Tim Waggoner. He'd still be taking classes if Ed had not retired. He may take more classes.
Geoff has written eight full length novels and a novella. Most of them were self published. They were largely never sent to publishers, and he's hoping to change his methods. He penned over fifty short stories. Fifteen of his shorts have been published.
For five years Geoff ran an eZine, Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, and being an editor, having a slush pile to go through, has helped him grow as a writer. Possibly as much or more than all the classes he took. He quit mostly because he read one too many Man-Eats-Own-Leg stories.
Luther, Magi: Blood of Lynken II Page 24
