Deke Brolin Rhol

by Doug Backus

  When she picked herself up from the ground the Kaltaures soldiers had surrounded her. As they stared at her, looking her up and down, she thrust her sword forward slicing open the stomach of the nearest one. When she turned around to swing at the soldier advancing on her from behind she was hit in the head and fell unconscious to the ground.

  She awoke to find herself shackled to a tree. The beasts were feeding on the prisoner she had failed to save. The grotesque snakes that formed their hair stabbed out at scraps as they shoveled meat into their mouths. Knowing that nobody had any idea where she was, she remembered what Roland had said and knew he had been right. She had made a terrible mistake and was going to pay for it. They would either enslave her or eat her; neither was a particularly pleasant way to go but if given a choice she would take death. She had heard far too many stories about the way enslaved women were treated by the Kaltaures.

  When they finished their meal they unshackled her from the tree and bound her hands to a rope attached to one of the Kaltaures horses. She screamed and cried for them to kill her. They had chosen to enslave her.

  The soldiers rode through the woods with her dragging behind. She had tried everything she could to taunt them into killing her but they only laughed. She finally gave up, walking slowly behind the horse and saying nothing while the soldiers tormented her. When they had stopped for the night, they shackled her to a tree again and contemplated who would have her first. She had slowly fallen asleep from exhaustion.

  She awoke to her shackles being taken off again and with her last bit of strength she yelled, turned and struck her enemy in the face with her forehead breaking the nose of a Lealian elder. She stood there in shock until seconds later she heard the voice of Roland behind her telling her she would be alright. Upon hearing his voice she had burst into tears. The Kaltaures soldiers lay dead on the ground surrounding their makeshift campground, the victims of Orler arrows and swords. They had also lost one Lealian warrior in the fight. She had known Salden since she was a small child.

  Kaelyn began to apologize profusely to Roland when he picked her up off the ground but he would hear none of it. He never spoke of the incident again. Perhaps he thought she had learned a valuable lesson. None the less she never forgave herself for being the reason behind Salden’s death.

  Roland gently guided her through the camp in silence. Eventually, they came to a stop beside a Pegapire. It was the first one she had ever seen and as Roland helped her onto the magnificent animal he introduced him to her as Palto. She learned later that Palto had been the one to find her after Roland had asked him to help in the search. Perhaps Palto had seen something in her that he liked that day, Kaelyn thought, realizing that Palto had now saved her life on two occasions.

  The voice of Issa beckoning to her brought Kaelyn’s mind back to the battle she had been fighting for the past several hours.

  “Kruntulla have joined the Kaltaures,” she yelled.

  Kaelyn looked down to see three of the enormous beasts swiping at Pegapires whenever they charged at the Kaltaures soldiers. It made ground fighting almost impossible and the Pegapires casualties were climbing. This was an unexpected turn which gave the enemy the advantage. It left the Pegapires to fight mainly with the Phits thereby allowing the Kaltaures soldiers to fire their weapons at will from the ground, with little resistance. Neither Kaelyn nor Issa could think of a feasible strategy. If they retreated, the Lealians would exit the tunnel and eventually be slaughtered without the Pegapires help, but if they continued to fight the Pegapires might well be wiped out. They could not afford any more casualties.

  After watching two more Pegapires fall victim to the battle Issa told Kaelyn to remove a wooden horn from her side and to blow it as hard as she could. Kaelyn lost all hope knowing that this would sound the retreat of the Pegapires.

  “Issa, if I blow this horn my people will be doomed!” Kaelyn screamed through the wind.

  “And if you don’t mine will, and yours will follow. We must regroup, Kaelyn. We have lost too many already. Without the Lealians we stand no chance. It is not what either of us wants, but we both know it is what we have to do.”

  Kaelyn could not argue and sadly put the horn to her lips. She was about to sound the retreat when she noticed a large portion of the Kaltaures army beginning to run south toward the tunnel. She looked over to see her people, hundreds of them, storming onto the fields of Aura toward the Kaltaures.

  “Issa, they have arrived!”

  “Then we have hope,” Issa said while reengaging the battle with renewed faith.

  The Lealians who were well adapted for ground fighting had quickly formed two platoons. The front platoon clashed with the Kaltaures soldiers using swords while the second fired hundreds of Orler arrows toward their enemy.

  The climate in the battle changed within minutes. Most Kaltaures soldiers were no match for the Lealians who were masters in swordsmanship, and the Kaltaures army who had been taken by surprise, were losing soldiers by the dozens after falling victim to the Lealian archers.

  Kaelyn could hear Issa communicating with the other Pegapires telling them to join with a Lealian when they had the chance. It was not an easy task though as the Phits continued to relentlessly attack and the Kruntulla had now moved over toward the Lealian ground troops. This was balancing things out again. The Kruntulla, although not very smart, had skin as thick as a tree making it difficult to cause damage with any weapon.

  Several Pegapires had seized the chance and were able to join with Lealian archers who still remained a safe distance from the Kruntulla. This allowed the archers to fire on the Kruntulla at short distances causing at least some damage. But it was not enough. The majority of their arrows simply bounced off the Kruntulla’s skin. It was hardly even slowing the beasts down and the ground troops were suffering because of it.

  “Kaelyn, we must deal with the Kruntulla. The only way to kill it is to penetrate the skin and sink arrows deep through its brain. We must make an outlet for the archers to fire at,” Issa said as she circled high above one of them.

  “What do you have in mind?” Kaelyn screamed back.

  “A sword will cut through the layers of skin. We have to create a hole, take a patch of skin off its head and then penetrate it with as many arrows as we can.”

  Kaelyn knew what that meant. Issa could not fly close enough for her to use the sword on the Kruntulla. It meant she was getting off.

  “Okay, get me as close as you can.” Kaelyn said without hesitating.

  Issa was not surprised to hear Kaelyn’s response. She was impressed with the young warrior. Kaelyn reminded her of another Lealian she had fought with in several battles leading up to the retreat, named Hallin. He was three times Kaelyn’s age and could handle any weapon that was put in his hands.

  She remembered the last time they had fought together, it was outside Aura. They had been walking along a pathway toward the stronghold near the base of Mount Sibileo. There were nine of them, eight Lealians and her when they were attacked by Ralcriff and a troop of twenty or so Kaltaures.

  Hallin had heard the Ralcriff coming out of the forest and alerted the rest, thus giving their small contingent the chance to prepare and find cover. As the Ralcriff leapt from the forest and down a dirt bank toward them, they were met with arrows. The Ralcriff had not stood a chance with the seven Lealians on the ground along with Issa and Hallin in the sky piercing their wretched bodies with arrows.

  It had also allowed Hallin and her to spot the Kaltaures soldiers following behind them. Hallin instructed the Lealian warriors on the ground to circle back around the Kaltaures and attack them from all sides using their swords. The forest was too dense to use bows. It was a short battle that the Kaltaures lost. Hallin was a brilliant strategist and he had taught her this skill over their time together.

  Issa remembered what happened next all too well. She and Hallin had met back up with the Lealians on the ground. Everyone’s spirits were high after coming out of the fight victo
rious. A young warrior was reenacting how he was able to take out two Kaltaures soldiers on his own when he suddenly evaporated in a stream of flames. Phanthus had planned his assault well; everyone was now scattered and in the melee that followed, Issa could not find Hallin.

  She flew through the sky and was able to spot and safely remove two of the Lealians from danger. She returned to save more only to find four of them burned to death. Still, she could not find Hallin and did not know yet whether he had survived or not. She flew in mad circles around the burning forest looking for any sign of him. So intent was her vigil on the ground that she did not see the Phit coming up behind her. She had no time to react before her wing had been broken causing her to crash to the ground breaking her legs.

  She lay there helplessly and watched as two more Phits flew down to finish her off. When they drew close one suddenly dropped from the sky, an arrow embedded in its gruesome head. She had looked over to see a badly burned Hallin running toward her. He had discarded his bow after using his last arrow and had no other weapons. She tried to lift her head in an effort to fend off the remaining Phit but she could not move for the pain. She could see her time was near, the Phit was going straight for her neck, its gaping mouth was dripping saliva, anticipating the taste of blood. She closed her eyes waiting for its teeth to penetrate her exposed skin but it never came.

  When she opened them again she saw Hallin hanging from the jaws of the Phit in midair wildly punching at the beast. He had managed to get in between her and the Phit. It was over in moments for him and she screamed when the Phit dropped his lifeless body to the ground and circled back toward her.

  It was not her time though. The Lealians she had saved had managed to alert other troops and they arrived in force, killing the Phit before it came within reach of her. Phanthus had long since disappeared. She was taken back to Tamon. Her broken bones mended quickly but she could never erase the memory of Hallin dying such a horrible death to save her.

  Kaelyn was now standing on Issa with her sword at the ready. “Issa move closer!”

  She did, narrowly missing two Phits that had approached them from the side while her mind had been elsewhere. When Issa saw them both fall to Kaelyn’s sword she refocused herself. “Kaelyn, once you have opened the wound on the Kruntulla, jump and I will be there to catch you. I will not let you down.”

  “I have no doubt, Issa.”

  They were nearing the giant. Kaelyn could see seven Pegapires all with Lealian archers that Issa had summoned. They were forming what looked like a V in the sky above them. This formation would allow them all to fire a clean shot at their target. It was up to her now. Issa flew over the head of the Kruntulla and Kaelyn jumped. When she landed, she thrust her sword into the beasts head and held on tight so as not to slide back off.

  She was having difficulty pulling herself to her feet as the Kruntulla madly flailed about, but after several seconds she managed to, pulling the sword from its head. She drew her sword back behind her shoulder and began to swing it forward in an attempt to scalp a portion of its thick skin off and complete the target but when the Kruntulla grabbed at whatever was causing his head to hurt, she was forced to duck. Kaelyn lost her footing and started sliding off.

  Issa looked from the sky, and knowing that their plan was about to fail, quickly flew downward to catch Kaelyn before she fell, but she didn’t. Issa could not believe her eyes while watching Kaelyn roll over twice with her sword held high above her head. On the second turn she jumped to her knees and swung her sword with all her might cutting a small piece of skin from the Kruntulla’s head. Completing her goal she jumped to her feet and kicked herself off its head, flipping into a free-fall. Issa was there to catch her but when Kaelyn landed she could not hold on and bounced backward. Gravity was causing her to fall from Issa’s back. She toppled off but managed to grab onto her tail and hold on. Issa maneuvered around the Kruntulla who was madly trying to crush them with his hands.

  She was flying around the front of the Kruntulla when it suddenly seemed to freeze and come crashing toward the ground. Issa flew as fast as her wings would carry her to avoid being crushed by the toppling body of the beast.

  Issa came around the right side of the Kruntulla flying directly upward between its two arms just before its body hit the ground. Following this, she managed to flip Kaelyn around onto her back before stopping in midair. They could hear the cheers from both the ground and sky. The archers had found their mark and the plan had succeeded. The Kruntulla lay dead on the ground.

  The death of the Kruntulla forced Solharn’s army to rethink their strategy. They retreated to the eastside of Aura to gather themselves. It was a welcome break and allowed the Lealians and Pegapires to finally join for a well needed rest.

  By the time they had landed on the ground Kaelyn realized that it was around the same time yesterday that Jayden and Oisin had been inflicted with the Ralcriff quills. She climbed off Issa wondering if they still lived.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Palto didn’t take long to agree to the plan. It was much the same as his except now he would have a little more help. They would wait until Deo transformed back into the bird and then it would be time.

  In the meantime, Deo got Jayden back on Palto and secured him so that he would not fall. Deo could feel by the touch of Jayden’s cold and clammy skin that he was not far from death. Once he was secured they waited.

  Ω

  Kiran had gone to great lengths to make sure that Deke was relaxed and would not be distracted. Mary still stood by him making sure he was alright. Many of the Rholians had now gathered near the wall, wearing makeshift armor and carrying weapons, should they need to enter the tunnel to fight. Kiran looked them over seeing that many were younger. It made sense. Their age was probably a huge factor in being able to get to the Realm when Solharn finally defeated Elissa. She could see in their faces that some were scared, but many had a look of determination etched in their faces. Their pain for the loved ones they had lost, at the hands of Solharn, would certainly help them on the battlefield.

  “It is time Dietrich,” Kiran said walking over to him. “Let us pray we are successful.”

  Ω

  Palto watched in amazement when Deo transformed back into the bird and flew toward the Kruntulla.

  In minutes, he could see the Kruntulla madly swatting at something around his head. That was his cue. He wasted no time, flying rapidly toward the entrance to the tunnel. He flew low to the lake until he reached the base of the mountain and then shot straight up through the water that had escaped the Kruntulla’s blockade. The Kruntulla was none the wiser and Palto easily slipped unnoticed into the passageway leading to the sacred realm.. Unfortunately, the Phits that had been left behind to guard the entranceway to the Realm were still there. One flew down the tunnel to alert the others, while the rest instantly flew toward Palto as he landed.

  Palto took out the first two Phits with his powerful jaws and discarded them in a lump against the wall of the tunnel. Another, that came from his rear was met with his hoof and fell helplessly to the lake below. Two others made the mistake of looking into his eyes and were instantly paralyzed. The last one managed to bite into his side ripping a deep gash into his body. He knew it would go for his neck next, so he crushed it into the wall using the weight of his body before it had the chance.

  There was no point in going after the last Phit that had flown off to warn the others. The Phits could easily maneuver through this tunnel using their wings. Palto’s wing span was too wide and it would not be possible to catch it on foot. He looked at his side. The wound was deep and oozing blood but at least Jayden was unscathed. He hoped Deo would arrive quickly. Now, he too was in dire need of the Wall of Solace.

  Ω

  Deke continued to concentrate. He could barely process Mary’s voice whispering to him. Her voice was soothing, which was probably why Kiran had chosen her for this task. Yet as she began to tell him that the next stage of the plan was here, it sounde
d strange.

  This was the part of the plan which Deke feared the most. There were so many unanswered questions. If Deo was still in the process of flying around the Kruntulla, the transformation would cause him to fall to his death. If by chance they still had not left the woods by the lake he would be unable to fly, which would cause the plan to fail. Finally, even if everything had worked as they hoped, how long would he be able to keep the transformation of such a large animal alive before his energy was completely drained?

  These were questions that he would have to wait for. As he began the transformation he hoped he would not be disappointed in the answers.

  Ω

  Palto was relieved to see Deo fly up to his side. Deo looked around at the dead bodies of the fallen Phits, strewn about the cave. Looking at Palto, he noticed the wound he had acquired in the battle and was concerned. However, there was nothing he could do for him in this state other than take his place at the front as planned, and wait.

  “I hope this doesn’t take much longer Deo. One of the Phits was able to escape me and I am sure it has informed the others by now. We will not stand a chance against a battalion of them. If the transformation has not happened before they arrive you must leave me behind and fly to the wall. It makes no sense for all three of us to die here.”

  Deo hoped it would not come to that but knew if it did, Palto was right. They could both hear the Phits coming closer. The telltale whine of their wings easily gave them away. They would be there in minutes.