An Alex Hawk Time Travel Adventure (Book 2): Lost In Kragdon-Ah

by Inmon, Shawn

  Alex, Werda-ak, and Monda-ak continued to sprint toward the door. By the time they arrived, two of the guards were down, clutching at their legs. Not fatal wounds, but enough to put them down and out for the moment.

  Alex flashed a hand signal at Monda-ak, telling him to attack the guard Werda-ak was bearing down on. That guard had lifted a longsword and stepped forward, ready to chop it down on the charging boy. He never got the chance. Monda-ak launched himself, colliding with the groin of the guard. The man bent double—as one does when two-hundred-and-fifty pounds of snarling, snapping canine collides with the most sensitive area of your body. Before he had the chance to right himself, Werda-ak swung his ax, hitting the man in the neck, just above his leather armor. The guard screamed and went down in a crumpled heap.

  Monda-ak fled that man and tore into the two wounded guards before they could stand again.

  Alex, meanwhile, had his hands full. He faced a more-than-competent fighter who used his heavy ax as a defense weapon and parried every blow of Alex’s ax and hammer.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw that Werda-ak had finished off his own man. Alex stepped to his right, causing the guard to turn left. As he did, Werda-ak plunged his stabbing sword into the man’s side. The guard arched his back, crying out in pain. That exposed his neck and Alex whipped his ax in an upward arc that severed his carotid artery and most of the man’s spine. Blood spurted like a volcanic eruption and Alex and Werda-ak jumped back, not wanting to be blinded by the cascade.

  Senta-eh arrived at the door just as Monda-ak had crushed the skulls of the two guards and their pathway was clear, aside from the small army of guards who were chasing them.

  Alex closed his eyes, said a small prayer, and pushed on the door. If it was locked and barred, there was no way they could defeat the gathering army behind them.

  The door swung open easily. All four jumped through, slammed the door and dropped its heavy wooden bar across it.

  Immediately, there was the sound of heavy bodies throwing themselves against the door. It didn’t budge.

  They turned, expecting another immediate threat, but there was none. They stood in a large hall that looked like the common gathering area. The middle section of the town hall was open all the way to the top of the ceiling, three stories up. The floors were a smooth stone and the wood of the walls was dark and fine.

  “Nice place,” Alex muttered.

  Harta-ak had led them this far, but had not told them where in the building Lanta-eh might be found, because he hadn’t known.

  After the madness and noise of what was happening outside, it was eerily quiet inside the hall, aside from the rhythm of the bodies being thrown against the door at intervals.

  At the back of the wide-open area, there was a curved staircase. Alex put a finger to his lips and led his small contingent toward it. The only sound was the clacking of Monda-ak’s nails on the rock floor.

  Where would I be if I was a tribal chief with dreams of world domination? He paused for two seconds, then smiled. I would be in the penthouse.

  They hurried up the stairs as quietly as possible, skipped the second floor entirely and stepped out onto a landing on the third floor. Alex was in the lead and put one foot out into a long hallway when a long spear whizzed past his nose, passing so close that he felt a small breeze from it. The spear thunked into the wall to his right.

  Not knowing if there would be a dozen more spears or not, Alex ducked back onto the stairs, pushing Senta-eh as he did. He hunkered down and stuck his head around the corner for a quick peek. The hallway was empty.

  That spear didn’t throw itself.

  Alex signaled Senta-eh, who moved out into the hallway, bow drawn, arrow nocked, ready to fire at anything that moved. Alex worked the heavy spear loose from the wall, tossed it in the air a few inches, gauging its heft and balance.

  A little long for me, but that’s to be expected.

  Alex loved a good spear. He dropped the weapon onto his shoulder, ready to be released in an easy throwing motion in a split second. The hallway ran the length of the building, with four doors off to the right and a thirty-foot fall over the railing to the left.

  Alex nodded at Werda-ak to move ahead, open the first door, and jump back. Alex and Senta-eh stood with spear and bow ready for whatever might come boiling out.

  Or, so they thought.

  Werda-ak listened carefully, heard nothing inside, then threw the door open.

  Alex’s jaw dropped open as two massive canines—easily able to match Monda-ak inch for inch and pound for pound—leaped out of the door, ran right past Werda-ak, and headed for Alex.

  Alex had often wondered what the people that Monda-ak attacked thought about as they saw him jump toward them. Now he knew. They saw fangs, glaring eyes, and death.

  The first dog ran without hesitation and launched itself at Alex. He knew there was no chance to counterattack—the beast was too fast. Instead, he ducked, involuntarily closing his eyes, bracing for impact.

  At the last possible second, Monda-ak also jumped, meeting the charging dog’s arc, and colliding heavily. He knocked it off course so that it missed Alex entirely. The two tumbled together and slammed into the heavy railing. It was the only thing that kept them from plunging to the stone floor below. The railing cracked, but held.

  The two dogs scrambled to their feet and faced each other, shoulders hunched, muscles bunched and teeth bared.

  Meanwhile the second dog set Senta-eh as its target. She did not panic, but stood tall and ready. It started fifty feet away and its paws scrabbled a little as it ran toward her. That gave her time to fire twice. Both arrows hit home—she could barely miss at that range—but neither stopped it.

  The massive dog leapt and hit Senta-eh with both paws, sending her over in a bone-crushing crash. She dropped her bow in the fall but recovered and tried to push the massive head away with both arms. As strong as she was, the dog was stronger. It opened its jaws wide and turned its head slightly, ready to crush her skull.

  And then the animal fell on top of her. The heavy spear pierced all the way through its body. Alex stood panting for a moment, then turned to see Monda-ak and the other dog biting and snapping at each other. At that moment, the other dog managed to get past Monda-ak’s head and gripped onto his shoulder, digging its teeth through his tough hide. It’s jaws locked and Monda-ak could not get away or find an effective place to bite back.

  Monda-ak looked at Alex and the most pitiful look passed over his features, as though he knew he was done for.

  Alex would never let him be done for. He jumped across the hallway, swinging the heavy hammer with every ounce of strength he had. He brought it crashing down on the back of the second dog, crushing its spine. Its jaws loosened and it slumped to the floor. Alex put it out of its misery with a blow to the head, then knelt to see Monda-ak’s shoulder.

  The flesh was shredded and flayed. Blood poured from the wound. He tried to stand, but that leg collapsed under him and he fell back to the floor.

  Alex knelt beside him, put his arms around the huge neck and nuzzled his face.

  “You did good. You did so good. Now, you need to stay here and play dead. Play dead.”

  Monda-ak whined, but did not try to stand again.

  Alex stood, patted him on the head one last time, and said, “I’ll be back for you.”

  From the hall below, an even louder concussion and noise came from the front door.

  “They’ve got some sort of battering ram and they’re trying to break down the door. We’ve got to hurry.”

  Alex motioned for Werda-ak to open the next door and jump back. There was no surprise behind either that door or the next.

  The final possibility on the third floor was a tall set of double doors.

  Alex, Senta-eh, and Werda-ak gathered together. Alex reached out and threw the doors open.

  Chapter Forty

  Draka-ak

  The second the door swung wide, two monstrously large warr
iors ran through them, rushing Alex, Werda-ak, and Senta-eh.

  All three were caught off-guard, but Alex reacted first. He stepped forward, caught his man in mid-stride, and took his momentum. Alex fell to his back, pulling the giant man with him. Alex pulled him along, then put his right leg in the man’s middle and tossed. Between the original momentum and the additional energy Alex supplied, the man went flying. He hit the barrier hard and this time, it did more than crack. It gave way completely, and the man plunged thirty feet, ending in a pile of broken bones on the stone floor.

  The second man had Werda-ak on his back, and was slowly moving a knife toward his chest. The knife was moving slowly only because Senta-eh was behind him, with both hands wrapped around his wrist. Still, the plunge of the knife was inevitable.

  At least it was until Alex ran forward and launched a vicious front kick at the man’s face. That broke his nose and momentarily blinded him. He dropped the knife, which allowed Senta-eh to release the arm, pull her own knife, and slide it smoothly into the base of his neck.

  Paralyzed, the man fell forward, partially crushing Werda-ak. The boy was unharmed though, and managed to wriggle out in short order.

  Alex looked around the room, but there were no other nasty surprises waiting for them. The room itself was luxurious, with low-slung couches, overstuffed pillows, and large windows covered with heavy drapes that looked down on the square.

  Alex moved the drapes aside and looked down. He had thought the city was on fire before, but now he couldn’t see a single building that wasn’t ablaze. People were now just standing around watching their buildings go up in flames. There was no longer any pretension of forming a bucket brigade.

  I guess they shouldn’t mess with stone age Special Forces warriors.

  There was one door to the left that stood slightly ajar and one on the right that was closed.

  Alex strode to the partially-open door and kicked it open. It bounced against the wall, then swung back toward him. It was a large bathroom. There was no running water, but there was a large stone tub with room for a fire underneath it and a crude toilet with a bucket to wash the detritus away.

  Werda-ak moved to the side of the couch so he could see if there was anyone hiding behind it.

  Lanta-eh was either behind the one remaining door on the third floor, or Alex had guessed wrong and she was being held below or even in another building. Either was possible, but Alex knew they were running out of time. The sound of pounding on the heavy doors below was increasing and he knew that they wouldn’t hold forever. He had burned their city, and some of the residents seemed intent on exacting their revenge.

  Alex took a deep breath, tried to shake the bone-deep exhaustion from his body, and stepped to the final door.

  That door swung outward and Alex pulled it open and jumped back, expecting an immediate attack or the final regiment of Draka-ak’s own personal guard.

  Instead, there was just one man and one young girl. Alex felt a shock of recognition. The year away had changed her. She had grown and matured, but it was undoubtedly her. After more than a year of chasing a ghost, Alex Hawk stood face to face with Lanta-eh, the Chosen One.

  If it had been a bad action movie, the villain of the piece would no doubt have been backed into a corner, holding the girl as a shield, a knife against her throat.

  Instead, Lanta-eh stood alone in the corner. Draka-ak, who was indeed the villain of the piece, was confident enough that he felt he didn’t need to lower himself to using her in that way.

  Alex held his hand out to the girl, beckoning her to him. She took a single step and Alex heard the tell-tale clink of iron chains. He glanced at her small feet and saw that she was shackled.

  Alex turned his gaze on Draka-ak. He was dressed in the same color design they had seen on the dead body of the soldier they had found in the woods, though his clothes were much finer. He was tall, with an aquiline nose, a scar that ran across his right eye, and a muscular build. This was a leader who led not only by cunning, but also by force.

  He held a weapon that Alex was not familiar with. It had a haft like a heavy spear, but on each end there was a small, curved scimitar blade. He twirled the weapon, showing an easy familiarity with it.

  He glanced from one to another of the Winten-ah rescue team. A look of pity crossed his face.

  “Is this it? Is this the entirety of the rescue force that your primitive little village could muster?”

  “No, one of us is outside, guarding the staircase. And, for a group so small, we have accomplished much. We are standing here, and your city is burning.”

  Draka-ak’s eyes hardened. “None of that will matter. Wooden buildings and a few dead villagers. Both of those can be easily replaced.”

  Alex noted a heavy key that hung around Draka-ak’s neck.

  I will have to kill him to get it, so why are we talking?

  At that moment, three armed soldiers burst through the door to the outer suite.

  They all had long swords and advanced on the three of them.

  “Manta-ak,” Senta-eh said. “Inside.”

  Alex took one step further into the room and Senta-eh pushed the door shut. She and Werda-ak would give their lives to guard that door if necessary.

  Alex turned to face Draka-ak. He knew that his heavy hammer would be useless against spinning blades. It would be too heavy, too slow to respond.

  Still...

  In one smooth motion, Alex threw the hammer directly at Draka-ak’s midsection. It wouldn’t be a killing blow, but would start the fight off on the right foot for Alex.

  Draka-ak’s eyes flew wide in surprise. In a completely unconscious reaction, he raised his weapon, causing the hammer to bounce away over his shoulder.

  With surprising speed, Draka-ak closed the distance between them, feinted left with the bottom blade, then swung hard right in a vicious blow aimed at Alex’s face. The very tip of the blade tore across Alex’s cheek, slicing the skin and laying open a wound.

  Alex danced away, trying to learn the way Draka-ak moved with this weapon.

  The beauty of it was that it was a deadly offensive weapon, but the strong wooden haft served as a blunt blocking instrument against every attack Alex could muster.

  Outside the door, Alex could hear muffled voices and the sound of combat, but he forced himself to block out any thought of that and focus. He was facing an opponent who was skilled and potentially lethal. If he didn’t give him all his focus, he knew he would fail here, at the last possible step of his mission.

  Alex and Draka-ak feinted and parried around the room, neither doing any damage after the initial slice to Alex’s face. That favored Draka-ak, though, as he started the fight rested, while Alex had been on the ragged edge of exhaustion when he walked through the door.

  It showed. Each move, each swipe of one of the twin-blades, grew closer to wounding Alex again. If this became a war of attrition, Alex quickly recognized that he would be the loser.

  Got to do something unexpected.

  He did.

  He stepped back to avoid the whizzing blade and as he did, he purposefully stumbled as though falling. Draka-ak noticed the weakness and immediately pounced, bringing one of the blades down in an overhand kill shot.

  Alex rolled out of the way, but not quite quickly enough. The blade sliced into the muscle in his left arm. At the same moment, Alex continued his fall and used that momentum to throw his ax directly at Draka-ak’s face. If the bigger man ducked or moved aside, Alex would be defenseless.

  The ax buried itself between Draka-ak’s eyes. He staggered, clawed at it, then collapsed backwards.

  Alex did not take any chances and leaped forward onto his chest. He drew his knife from its sheath and plunged it into Draken-ak’s chest.

  Alex collapsed forward for just a moment, resting his weight on his right arm.

  The fighting in the next room had stopped. Alex pried his ax loose from Draka-ak’s skull and stumbled to the door, his left arm dangling. />
  He reached for the handle, but as he did, the door was pulled open and Senta-eh stood there, eyes blazing, stabbing sword at the ready. She was bleeding from four places, including a nasty gash in her right shoulder.

  Beyond her, three more dead soldiers lay in a heap. Sitting atop them was Monda-ak. He did not always mind Alex. Blood seeped from the bite wound on his shoulder and another wound on his rear haunch.

  The only person in the room who was unscathed was Werda-ak. He stood grinning as though they had won the war.

  Alex knew better. They had won a key battle, but there was more of the war to be fought.

  Chapter Forty-One

  The Escape

  Alex turned to Werda-ak and said, “There’s a key around his neck. Rip it off and see if it unlocks Lanta-eh’s chains.”

  “It does,” Lanta-eh said. The first words Alex or anyone from Winten-ah had heard her say in more than a year.

  Alex stepped toward her. “Are you okay?”

  She smiled at the ludicrousness of that question, asked by a man with a useless left arm and blood pouring down his face and torso.

  “I am fine. I have always been fine. This was always going to be part of my life’s journey, but I knew you would be the one to find me.”

  “Right, right. The prophecy and all that.”

  Lanta-eh reached out and touched Alex’s wounded left arm. It did not heal at once. “I know you are a non-believer. That was part of the prophecy, too.”

  “You’ve got all the bases covered,” Alex said with a grim smile that was partially obscured by blood. “But, we’re not out of here yet.”

  The sound of the heavy door downstairs splintering echoed up the stairs.

  “They’ll be here soon.” Alex cast about, looking for an escape route. He ran to the window. The night was still lit by the hundreds of fires. There was no stopping it now. The city would burn until there was nothing left but charred ashes surrounded by tall walls.