Below the Peak (Sola)

by Juliet Lili

  Beads of sweat itched down her temples.

  Nara sized up the two and noticed the female soldier stood a few steps behind the huge man, a mace gripped tightly in her hands as she glowered back at her with eyes promising brutality. Finally! She knew who she had to tackle first, but she still needed a strategy to take down the big man. Her gaze slid down to the huge man’s feet. He stood with his knees slightly bent and feet apart ready to charge like a bull. And it was all Nara needed to lunge forward and take the big man by surprise.

  Space wasn’t enough for her to slide in comfortably, but it had to do. Nara sprinted, twisting her shapely firm body onto her side to fit the small space, and slid down between his legs, slicing his shins and calves deep and brutally with quick flicks of her wrists. The man howled and fell to his knees, bleeding profusely.

  Instantly, Nara pushed upward on her elbows and tried to get back up to her feet but was held midway when a sharp pain spread over her scalp. There was an intense, painful tug on her hair like it was being torn from the roots.

  “Ugh!” a growl left her lips and struggled to pull out her braid under the heavy soldier’s bloody metal greave, who of now was sprawled down flat on his front crippled from the deep cut she had inflicted on him. Her ears caught the female battle cry of the soldier forwarding at her while she struggled to untangle her hair to free herself. With one arm tugging her braid, Nara stretched her left arm and picked up a discarded shield smeared with a mixture of grass, blood, and dirt. She lifted the shield over her head a second sooner before the Kalil soldier hammered down against her with a grisly mace. The solid metal shield resonated and vibrated in her hands with force. Nara clenched her fingers tighter on the handle of the shield. She stretched her legs to cut the Kalil soldier’s balance off and buy few seconds to free herself. The Kalil soldier smoothly jumped over her legs to the opposite direction and aimed the menacing mace for her face the moment she found her footing.

  Foolish! Nara scolded herself for thinking too little of the Kalil warrior’s briskness. Reflexively, she rolled over to the opposite side and avoided the mace’s sharp silver iron teeth. The mace hit the Kalil warrior’s legs causing the fallen soldier to spasm violently and shriek in agony.

  Nara’s heart galloped in fear for a long second. For a moment, she was afraid of being smashed with the unsavoury weapon. On the other hand, beyond furious, the Kalil woman threw her helmet aside together with her weapon, her sweaty hair falling on her menacing expression that resembled the discarded mace. She pushed her fellow fallen soldier aside unaware she just freed her target. She grabbed Nara by the neck, while her strong fingers squeezed her throat. The Kali female pinned her down with her body. Before Nara could blink the pain away jabbing her scalp, a heavy fist landed on her jaw. Her head tilted back with a jerk.

  The Kalil warrior didn’t give her time to recover and landed the second punch.

  A bright red flushed her face, pain lancing through her skull.

  With both hands, Nara grabbed tight onto the wrists of the Kalil warrior and struggled to tug free the crushing fingers which closed inflexible around her throat.

  Her breath thinned.

  Third blow!

  Black, red ringed spots swam in her eyes, causing a trail of blood to trickle from a cut right on her cheekbone. Hissing, Nara tugged harder. The taste of copper filled her mouth the moment she jerked free the warrior’s firm grip. Her skull rang violently, her throat worked and swallowed some of the blood flooding her mouth. She needed to get her off her. Not an easy task. Nara grunted.

  The Kalil woman was all mean muscle, her body built for the battle which only made her sturdy and exasperatingly strong. Nara grimaced as she thrust her pelvis upward with force and dislodged the soldier impaling her thighs as she was about to throw her next fist, and without wasting a second, she wrapped her legs around the Kalil soldier’s neck tightly and thrust herself up and choked her.

  The fierce warrior thrashed and tried to kick her while she drew at Nara’s feet desperately as blood rushed to her skull, eyes bulging, and veins popping and swelling on her forehead. The burning in her lungs increased with the loss of air while the two strong crossed legs threatened to crush her throat.

  Not a chance, Nara smirked cruelly at her and without hesitation, she twisted her ankles inwards, one across the other with all the strength from her powerful legs.

  Snap!

  Nara watched coldly as the light in the warrior’s eyes faded, and the pain filled expression turned slack while she fell backwards to the ground lifeless. Nara rolled her jaw and winced. A fit of a dry cough shook her shoulder and spat some blood. Her head hurt badly, and her throat was beyond sore like she just swallowed a bag of sand. Black strands of hair plastered to her forehead, her body ached yet Nara managed to crawl on her knees to the two short swords which she left beside the fallen helmet of the crippled soldier when she had let go and picked up the shield. She heard the fallen warrior’s faint breath as it wheezed in and out. Sliding one of the swords on the scabbard tied around her waist, Nara plunged the other on the man’s neck to end his misery. Blood spluttered on the cerulean breastplate she wore and on her chin. Eyes cold as winter, Nara felt no remorse for killing the two warriors. She still needed to come to terms with their betrayal to feel anything else besides shock and the burning gnawing her stomach. The burning sensation made her limbs weak, it was excruciating than the fists from the Kalil soldier. There were two things she could not tolerate. One, an ache from eating something that did not agree with her tummy and two, being in her days of the month. It was something she would never get used to no matter how many times throughout the years she experienced it. Cuts, fists or any other form of torment she could endure but not this, this was not among them. A sudden need to sleep next to the dead body beside her so she could catch her breath crossed her mind.

  I’m starting to lose it. Nara ground her teeth and staggered on her feet. Her gaze drifted to another Kalil man who was engaging in a sword fight with one of Murisa warrior. He had his back toward her and oblivious to his surroundings with his attention fully committed to his opponent. Sure, there wasn’t anything she could do about her stomach now, but lending her hand she could. A hot spark glinted in her eyes. Nara wiped the blood off her chin with the back of her hand and clutched the crimson smeared sword firmly in her hands. In light and almost soundless measured footsteps, she approached the man from behind.

  ***

  She stood under a worn down roof of a house that had survived from being reduced to ashes and rubbles. Nara watched a young lad in a dirty pale brown tunic, and black hose holds on to his mother’s worn skirt as she carried water in a wooden bucket to several handfuls of men rebuilding one of the houses that were burnt by the Kalil warriors. Above, the sun’s orange and red hues painted the beautiful sky and fell over the surrounding trees. A big contrast to the hollowness of the town.

  Nara’s expression turned grim while sadness squeezed her chest and dragged the corner of her lips down. Although she survived with some of the others and had defeated the enemy, the aftermath was not worthy of celebration.

  She and other Murisa warriors stayed in Latrell for the last three days since the attack to help the town’s folks salvage what they could from the wreckage while some of the soldiers lent their strength to rebuild and to protect the villagers lest another ambush erupted. They had also buried several civilians and warriors that died in the crossfire which among them were men and women whom she had travelled with from Vessener to accomplish the job that had to send them to Latrell. Others who’d died were ones Nara had helped to assess and handpick from the small sparsely occupied town and trained with side by side to become the new guards of their own city once her troop was gone. In the four months of gruesome practice and discipline in different tactics of defence, she had become friends with some of the young men and women that had volunteered to sacrifice themselves to protect their families and town members.

  Nara could almost hear t
he lament of the fallen buried down deep in the soil. What great unfairness! for them to be pitted against Kalil warriors for their first time to prove what they had learnt.

  Left behind were families and friends struck with grief and in mourning. She could only imagine the carnage if she and other members of Elite had departed the town a day earlier…The Kalil warriors would’ve obliterated the entire city with everyone in it. The Kali was not known of sparing their targets.

  Nara offered a quick prayer for the deceased. Odin to receive them with open arms in Valhalla and serve him as the great one deems. And the fallen Kalil warriors...be damned!

  Fury coursed through her veins. Kalil onslaught was a great act of betrayal to a relationship that had been formed a military alliance for over a two hundred years ago in the times of the Dark War. The relationship which was made for a strategic purpose had become more than just an alliance of armies, friendship, trust and companionship had formed beyond the leaders and spread among the peoples of the two kingdoms. Nara closed her fingers into a tight fist and eyes hardening against the eventide. Whether the group of Kalil Warriors attacked to their own agenda or they were given orders to do so by their King and had led them to their downfall, she cursed them.

  “Who is that you damn fervidly?” A voice asked behind her. Nara didn’t have to turn to know Barra stood a few feet behind her. But she turned around anyway, his presence a welcome distraction from the rage building inside her.

  She kept her eyes on the captain as he approached her. He was in the dark cerulean armour of that fitted his muscular body frame well, a long sword strapped to his waist, and one arm cradled his helmet leaving his striking face, a three-day stubble which covered his lower face unhidden. The light evening breeze played with the short pale brown strands of hair that fell against his brows.

  “Our distant brethren”, her voice was humourless only filled with pain and rage. Barra stood beside her. Nara tilted her head and closely looked at him in the dim light of the fading sun. His face was taut. Anger darkened his charming blue eyes, and a muscle jerked along his jaw, more than enough tale that he was mad and wrestling for control. It should be expected this from him after all he was the one who had been tasked with the responsibility by the General to oversee the training the small town’s new defence and lead their team back to the capital, once they were finished. She could see the running thoughts in his mind from the harsh set of his lips. Nara turned around to the previous position she had been when she was alone and continued to watch the busy villagers who now held oil lamps that illuminated their darkening surroundings as they worked. Silence fell between them until Barra spoke again. “I saw Schmerz the other day.”

  Her head whipped toward him while every bone in her body went rigid at the mention of the Kalil General.

  “What?” disbelief coloured her voice.

  “He was with several men, probably more than twenty standing by over the hill. He appeared to have been monitoring his men's’ actions from a distant” Barra continued, his voice strained low. Her mouth gaped, stunned by the revelation.

  “What’s this supposed to mean? If you saw General Schmerz, then the assumption that the men who attacked were acting on their own accord becomes invalid.”

  The General’s mere presence changed everything. A troubling feeling tickled Nara’s senses, as she tried to foresee the General’s presence. The cutthroat General was known for his undying loyalty to his king. King Abasi.

  “Schmerz wouldn’t issue an attack without his king’s approval”, Barra said after a momentary pause.

  “I don’t understand. Do you think this is Abasi’s invitation to war?” she asked after a swallow of hesitation, she was not going to deceive herself no matter what she would like to think otherwise, there’s only one reason the General was there.

  “I don’t know, but they would not have attacked without any reason. Regarding this from a military position, this is an invitation” Barra replied somberly, words she dared not to suggest.

  Nara was quiet for a second as a wave of disbelief and trepidation washed over her. “I just cannot believe Abasi would want such a thing, not after everything our two kingdoms have endured together. It’s a heresy of the alliance the ones before built and had kept us alive!”

  “Are you that ignorant?” Barra muttered in a tone laced with a drop of condescension that made her dislike him occasionally, had her brows furrowing.

  “Of what?” She asked. She was not the kind who entertained ignorance. Knowledge was power and useful, especially when in need, even when she would prefer not to know certain things.

  “Of how for over the last two centuries Murisa has subjected Kalil to its rule?”

  True, although the alliance was formed for a greater cause, it did not escape the challenges that came with it, like who had the authority to make significant decisions which involved the vulnerability and benefits of both kingdoms. In this situation, Murisa had the most authority when it came to political influence.

  “You know the reason. The people of Kalil failed to govern themselves and had nearly brought destruction upon us which lead to Einar’s treaty!” she retorted then added with a snarl, “And see what they have done. Apparently, they cannot be trusted to lead themselves.”

  “Perhaps they did it to free themselves. You can only subject someone for so long” Barra clipped, a vein twitching on his forehead. He looked angry, and not seemingly for what Kalil had done.

  “Why are you defending them?” Nara narrowed her eyes at him, perplexed by his odd behaviour. Barra held her gaze for a moment, noting the way she looked at him. He sighed and unclenched his teeth.

  “Maybe we brought this on ourselves. We should have seen this coming when King Lorenz refused king Abasi’s termination of the treaty” He said calmly.

  Wait, what? Her brows quirked in confusion. “I did not hear of this. When did these talks happen?”

  She would have heard of it if not from her father, then from other members of the royal court who gossiped about everything. She could not have missed King Abasi’s visit.

  Unless...

  “Abasi sent his emissary. His Majesty did not want anyone to know of this except for the General and the mage and his trustees.” Barra answered. So, it was kept a secret. She pressed her lips in irritation. If they had not hidden it from people, perhaps they would have been prepared and more cautious, lessening the loss.

  Barra expelled a breath and did something utterly strange of character. Knowing he had been aware too and said nothing, angered her even more. She made him understand this by glaring at him in the eyes.

  “Does it hurt?” He brought up his free hand and cupped her discoloured cheek. Flinching at the contact, Nara stared at him strangely. What the heck is he doing?

  Yeah, a lot, it feels like my jaw is about to drop any moment She winced when his thumb pressed on her cheek lightly.

  “A little” she muttered softly, ignoring the warmth his thumb was causing as it gently brushed her cheek. Heat spread over her face and somehow soothing her throbbing jaw. She’d forgotten how possibly she appeared to him. Quite unattractive she must look with small cuts on her bruised face, swollen blue eye with chapped dried lips. The female Kali warrior had roughed her up enough and given her a painful headache.

  “I…I’m” Barra cleared the gruffness in his voice and something she couldn’t discern in his gaze. She was getting used of his thumb ministration when his hand dropped back down, wearing a serious face. “Let us go. The rest are waiting for us.”

  And just like the giant horned chameleon that dwelled in the woodlands of Ruhig forest never knowing what colour they would change to and made your eyes a sport-was how Barra was. He was back being the hard-pressing captain she had been acquainted with five years ago, a man who had made her recruit days’ ordeal, a man whom many saw and took him at face value and failed to see another softer part of him. Once in a blue moon, she had come to get a glimpse of after joining the Elite and spend
ing many months travelling across the country and taking on secret royal missions with him. His past had a huge role to his complex character, she believed.

  Nara watched him as he placed his helmet on his head and stalked away. Not wasting another second, she wore her helmet and followed him behind to where the rest of the warriors waited at the open field, perched high on their horses, expression sullen behind their helmets. She swung up on the horse swiftly, twisted the reins in her hand and jammed the horse with her heels, and off she cantered alongside the others headed for Vessener.

  Chapter Eight

  The Forod Kingdom,

  House of Gwainor

  Calemir

  In the grand imperial court were the high lord elves assembled to discuss matters of the kingdom, the youngest of them, prince Calemir son of Gwainor sat among the elders of the High Houses. He listened to lord Ivlisar jabber on about how the absence of the ill king left the throne in danger and vulnerable, and stating it was not good for the houses of Forod nor the entire kingdom. The three houses that acted as pinnacles of the kingdom included the Imperial house of Gwainor, the house of Ontophen and house of Amlug.

  Lord Ivlisar was one of the elders representing the house of Ontophen.

  “It is only fit for one of the elders to take the throne until his Majesty decides to return to the land of the living” lord Ivlisar zealously pressed on across the table.

  Calemir looked at the elder, agitation evident in his eyes. The elder was either imprudent not to care what came forth from his mouth or foolish trying to covet the throne openly.

  “The borders are in control. No one would dare set foot inside the kingdom under my watch.” Calemir stated in a matter of fact tone, as he caught the gaze of the high lord with his own. He was the prince of Forod, and on behalf of his father, he had the authority to act as the chief General to command the kingdom’s army. He knew very well his responsibility was to protect his people to his last breath and he performed his duty exceptionally. He had his best of men on watch throughout the kingdom.