by Narro, B. T.
He wanted to kill them, the cruel and sneaky Humans. He would find them behind their wall and punish them for the misery they were putting him through. If only he wasn’t in such agonizing pain. His teeth were clenched in frustration.
“I think I can carry you, Reela.” Terren began to remove his steel breastplate. He handed it to Vithos. “Can you hold this?”
“Why?” Vithos asked.
“So I can carry Reela. It won’t work with that around me.”
“Why carry Reela?” Vithos wondered, taking the breastplate.
“Because she can’t walk.”
“Why she can’t walk?”
Terren sighed. “Just hold the breastplate.” He knelt down.
Reela clasped his shoulder as she limped to position herself behind him. “I’m sorry about this.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Terren said.
It took nearly an hour for them to make it back. Not one word was said, except when Terren announced he needed a break and set Reela down.
When they rejoined everyone else, the rest of their army had donned armor and looked ready to march. “They were going to leave without us?” Reela asked.
“I’m surprised they even waited this long.” Terren set her down. Immediately, she took Vithos’ shoulder for balance.
Terren whistled. Thousands of men and women turned toward them. Then there was a burst of murmurs.
“Hem!” Terren screamed. “Where are you?”
“Here.” The commander came through the crowd. “We thought you were dead. What happened?”
“These three need to see chemists. None of them can fight.”
“I’m going to fight,” Zoke said.
But his comments seemed to be ignored. Hem threw his head back when he saw Reela’s face. “Bastial hell, they’ve burned you.”
She nodded. “A clear liquid—watch out for it.”
“I no fight?” Vithos asked.
“What happened to my strongest psychic?” Hem asked.
“A bad concussion,” Terren said. “He likely would only get in the way because he can’t remember what happened less than a minute ago.”
“Damn,” Hem uttered. “These psychics are worth five hundred men, if not more.”
Alex ran over. “I’m so glad you’re all—” The sight of Reela interrupted him. “My Bastial stars, what happened?”
“Back with your group!” Hem commanded.
Alex swallowed whatever he was about to say and obeyed.
“The sun is setting,” Hem said. “We must be leaving soon.” He made a sign with his fingers as he waved. Two large men jogged to him. “Take these three to the chemists tending to the injured.”
“Yes, commander.”
“I wish to fight,” Zoke said. Sister to me might be there. I can’t let her die.
“Let me see you swing your sword,” Terren said.
Zoke knew it was a test. He prepared for pain and drew his weapon. Stepping into a clearing, he took in a breath and gave it one hard slash. His body betrayed him. The pain through his neck and back was like a psychic spell, making him throw his weapon. He screamed and cursed in Kreppen.
“Lot of good you’ll be,” the commander said. “Bring them to the chemists.”
One of the men scooped up Reela. The other offered his arm to Zoke, but he refused it. “I can walk.”
Zoke barely kept up with the man carrying Reela, but finally they made it.
“More that can’t fight?” a short chemist greeted them.
“Yes.” The man gently set Reela down
“So I finally get to meet the Krepp,” the chemist said.
“Can you cure my pain?” Zoke asked. If he could move without the agony, then he still could fight.
“Let us examine you three first.” She snapped her fingers and called two other chemists by name. Then she turned back as both inspected Reela’s face and started asking her questions.
“They say your name is Zoke,” the stumpy woman asked. “Is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Pilpa. Were you the ones who went with Terren?”
“Yes.”
“What happened, and where are you hurt?”
“We had to jump off a cliff to escape enemies pursuing us. We hit many branches on the way down. One went into my arm here.” He showed her his wound. “But my neck and back are giving me worse pain. I don’t need my left arm. If you can take away the other pain, I can fight. I need to go with them.”
“Let me do a few tests.” She reached up and took hold of his head. “Your skin!” she exclaimed. “It’s so rough.”
“Will you hurry?” Zoke could see the rest of the army over her shoulder. They were forming groups. It wouldn’t be long before they left. The other chemists were tending to Reela and Vithos, but Zoke paid no attention to what was being said.
When Pilpa twisted his head slightly, his teeth came together and he grunted from the pain. She went behind him. “Tell me when it hurts.” Then she started pressing on his neck.
“Hurts!” he said louder than he meant to.
She started shifting her fingers around the side of his neck, and he yelled out again. Then she moved down his back.
“I assume you landed on your back when you jumped off this peak?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing’s broken, but you might’ve torn something in your neck. Your spine has been damaged as well. I don’t think it’s permanent since you’re still able to walk, but I don’t know Krepps enough to tell.”
“Is there a potion that’ll take away the pain so I can fight?”
“Yes, but I can’t recommend it.”
Zoke watched, horrified, as the army of Kyrro began to move. They followed Hem west.
“Give it to me now. They’re leaving.”
“The side effects would make you a lousy warrior, and you’ll make your injuries even worse. You won’t even be able to swing a sword halfway through the battle. You’ll just be a corpse ready for the making.”
Getting halfway through was better than Zoke could’ve hoped for. “That’s fine. Give it to me now.”
She looked at him incredulously.
“Please!” Zoke yelled. Then he spat, disgusted he had to resort to begging. The motion of turning his head away from Pilpa sent a rush of pain through his neck.
She grumbled and took a potion off her belt. “I wouldn’t give more than a sip of this to anyone. It’s far too strong. But you look like you weigh more than any Human. So you can have a little more than a sip. But it’ll probably do more harm than good.”
Zoke took a gulp.
“That’s too much!” Pilpa shouted, grabbing it.
“How long does it take to work?”
“By the time you reach the wall, you’ll feel a fourth of its strength.”
“Thank you,” Zoke said. He started to leave.
“Zoke, where are you going?” Vithos called after him in Kreppen.
“To fight.”
Vithos started to walk toward him, but the chemists nearby grabbed his arm. “You just told me you thought we were fighting the Krepps,” one said. “You’re staying here before you get confused and end up killing one of our own.”
“Zoke!” Reela yelled. “Keep Alex safe for Effie.”
“I will.”
It was a struggle to catch up. But he managed to reach the tail end of the army by the time he came through the last trees of Corin Forest.
Chapter 17:
ZOKE
“Alex!” Zoke navigated through bodies in search of the tall Human with black hair. Each time he bumped into someone, his neck reminded him he shouldn’t be fighting.
He passed through several groups, listening to the officer in charge delivering a speech. The Kyrro Army was lined up once again, facing Tenred’s wall.
“Alex Baom!” Zoke tried again.
“Quiet, Krepp,” a man said.
“We’re trying to listen,” said another.
Then Zoke saw a hand shoot up from between the Humans in the next group down. He found Alex’s face and squeezed his way through.
“You can fight?” Alex whispered.
“Not yet, but I’ll be able to soon. They’ve given me a strong potion for pain.”
Their officer’s speech concluded. The Humans began to chant.
Alex screamed to be heard, “You’re going to fall asleep during the fight!”
“No. Why would I sleep?”
“You don’t understand…” Alex continued to yell, but Zoke couldn’t hear the words. The chanting had become too loud.
“Tear down their wall! Tear down their wall! Tear down their wall!”
Zoke lifted his heels for a glimpse over the men in front of him. He knew stretching his body that way should’ve sent blinding pain down his back, but he barely felt the ache. The potion was working already.
However, he couldn’t see over the cluster of heads in front of him. He would have to wait to find out whether Tenred would face them outside the wall or within.
“For Kyrro!” the warriors began to shout.
For Zeti, Zoke thought.
They charged, their boots beating against the ground. Zoke stayed beside Alex, thankful he could run without blinding pain. He still made an effort to keep his back and neck straight, knowing they were damaged. But at least he could swing a sword. If Zeti was there, he was going to find her.
The farther they ran, the wider the gaps became between each person. Zoke managed to find a clear view ahead for a blink here and there. It was enough to tell that there were men and women waiting in front of Tenred’s wall.
Are their devious plans finally over? Zoke hoped so. He cringed at the thought of the clear liquid burning its way into the open wound on his left arm.
“Shields ready!” yelled the officer who led Zoke’s group.
The front men lifted their shields. A barrage of arrows struck. Some men fell, but there were others behind them to take their place.
More arrows, more blocks from shields…more men falling. Zoke and Alex veered to the side to avoid someone who’d been shot in the leg and was stumbling. Zoke bumped into a rotund beast of a man carrying a mallet. It was Half-Beard.
“Don’t get in my way, Krepp!”
Half-Beard screamed and picked up speed, squeezing through to the front although he had no shield.
“Swords ready!” the officer commanded.
Zoke drew his sword. He could see the black and red shields of his enemies through the gaps, but then his focus was drawn to Half-Beard, who had pushed past their officer and was now the first man to engage.
Half-Beard screamed and spun, swinging his mallet indiscriminately among the enemies. The first of countless and continuous cries erupted. Three enemies were flung from the force of Half-Beard’s mallet, toppling into others nearby. The wave of unsteadiness continued through, causing the men of Tenred in front of Zoke to lose their balance.
Zoke’s officer, along with those on either side, slammed their shields against their enemies. The sound was like metal exploding. The officer and his men’s momentum easily overpowered the unbalanced defenders. Zoke and his comrades stormed past, almost reaching the wall.
An arrow flew down into the shoulder of an ally to Zoke’s right, and the man continued fighting as if he didn’t even notice it. Zoke looked up to find the archer…all the way atop the massive stone wall, next to many more shooting down at them.
He almost called for Vithos or Reela but then remembered he was fighting without them. Zoke saw a volley of small knives hurtling toward the archers. Alex was one of the men throwing a dagger. It spiraled until it stuck into the chest of an enemy, who stumbled backward, waved his arms for balance, and then fell forward, tumbling down and crashing into another enemy in the middle of a sword fight with Zoke’s officer.
“For the spies you sent to the Academy!” Alex yelled, taking out another dagger and hurling it.
For Marie, Zoke thought, now hungry for his first kill.
It wasn’t long before he had three. There were many enemies, sometimes more than he can handle. But Alex always seemed to know when he needed help. Zoke did what he could to reciprocate, protecting Alex from any attackers the Human didn’t see. But numbness was taking over his neck and back, hampering Zoke’s mobility.
At one point, everything seemed to slow as he blinked. The act itself should’ve been so fast that he didn’t even notice it, but it felt like his eyes were closed long enough for him to fall asleep before they opened again.
Yet, he didn’t worry. They were winning, quickly killing all those who opposed them.
Then someone shouted, “Mages and psychics!”
A fresh batch of men and women had snaked through the openings at the base of the dilapidated wall and surprised Zoke’s allies. Suddenly, it seemed they were outnumbered. Archers atop the wall who’d previously been scared off had returned and brought reinforcements. Everywhere Zoke looked, his allies were falling to their knees from psyche or catching a fireball in the chest.
He saw Krepps cursing and spitting as they pushed through and overpowered Zoke’s allies. These Krepps didn’t wear tunics like Zoke did. The men were bare-chested, while the women had on gray leather.
He blinked again, and this time a wave of drowsiness made him teeter before he opened his eyes. Then he saw what he’d imagined countless times—what he’d hoped to find only in his nightmares.
On the wall was a female Krepp with a bow. Her black hair reached her shoulders. Her skin was the light gray of an adult who’d recently shed. It was Zeti, and she was shooting arrows at his allies as they shot back at her.
“Zeti!” he yelled, unsure what he would do or say if she turned toward him.
But she didn’t. He barely could hear himself over the noise of battle. He needed to get to her.
“You, Krepp!” Zoke spun to find his officer shouting at him. “Help them get the battering ram to the wall.”
Pointing, the officer’s finger led Zoke to eight brawny men trying to navigate the massive battering ram through the frenzy of swords.
Zoke started to turn back for another look at Zeti when he felt a boot to his rear. “That’s an order!” the officer yelled. “Get to it.”
The officer then screamed at Alex, who joined Zoke in fending off their enemies. Zoke moved with the group, blocking attackers and running his sword through two of them before another spell of drowsiness made him lose track of where he was.
This one hit him like a rock to the skull. Confused, he thought he heard his name. Expecting to look up and find Zeti atop the wall, he was surprised when the wall was nowhere in sight.
Did we already knock it over?
He spun in each direction and then found that it was behind him. He didn’t remember turning away from it.
“Zoke, Zoke!” Alex’s shouts came through.
The Human needed help. Tenred warriors had spotted the battering ram and were swarming it.
Zoke ran over as he heard his officer shout, “Watch out for the mages!”
Three women in black and red Tenred gowns had their wands aimed over men’s shoulders in front of them. Zoke wanted to throw one of the Humans attacking Alex at the horde of them, but he felt as if he lacked the strength. Numbness had been creeping through his body, nearly taking over his left arm.
Two allies raised their shields in front of the men guiding the battering ram toward the wall. They intercepted all three fireballs but were hurled backward, toppling into those surrounding the ram.
The device was on wheels, and luckily it didn’t fall over—for it would’ve taken more than eight men just to lift it. But half of those with their hands on it had lost their balance and fallen, creating a heap of bodies in the way.
Enemy psychics pushed through, two of them. They wore no armor, just like the mages. Zoke felt his tongue slip out and lick the outside of his mouth as he dashed toward them, hungry to kill.
They’d begun t
o pain everyone in the vicinity, preventing those who’d fallen from getting up. Warriors of Tenred pounced and began driving their weapons through Zoke’s allies. Alex was still fighting off two others, their officer screaming for their psychics’ assistance.
One of the enemy psychics turned her palm toward Zoke, showing a disgustingly proud smile as her eyes met his. “The Krepp!” she yelled excitedly.
He felt pain surge through him, sending him to a knee. Then his determination to reach Zeti repelled the spell. Looking at the psychic again, he found shock had replaced her hubris. She held out her hand once more, but nothing happened.
An arrow zipped over Zoke’s shoulder. A sword came from the side but missed.
“Stop the Krepp!” he heard voices shouting.
But he’d already made it to his target, driving his weapon through the woman’s soft flesh and then turning to take the head off the other psychic nearby.
When he turned to rejoin his army, a wall of enemies blocked his path. They came at him quickly, but each died before he had a chance to strike. As their bodies fell, Zoke found his allies behind them.
“Damn psychics,” one said. Another opened his mouth to say something. But Zoke already was rushing toward Alex to help him finish off the men he was engaged with.
“Get that battering ram to the wall!” their officer yelled. “Psychics, protect them.”
“I’m just one psychic,” a woman said, taking a spot next to the warriors around the battering ram.
“Where’s the other psychic in our group?” the officer asked.
“Dead.”
Zoke took the moment of reprieve to look for Zeti again. There was no one left atop the Tenred wall. The feeling of a knife twisting in his neck nearly made him drop his weapon.
The psychic must’ve been strong, for every enemy trying to stop the Kyrro assault quickly succumbed to pain.
They reached the wall, where a section had been cleared by warriors who’d advanced previously. Immediately, Alex and many of the others began to cough and hold their noses. Zoke felt the sting in his throat.
“Our chemists poured acid on the wall to weaken it,” the officer said. “Get in position.”
