Thairen looked to him and then followed his eyes across the river. “Damn,” he whispered.
Their surprise was blown – a tarp-covered boat was hung up on something, maybe another root, in the middle of the water. They needed to move quickly before reinforcements arrived.
“We need to climb up,” Thairen whispered.
“No. We need to stay. They can’t see us from the embankment.”
“If we stay here much longer, the war will be over. And we will have lost.”
Simcane bit on his lower lip. He’s right. Damn him, he’s right.
Thairen leaned into his ear, “Besides,” he snickered. “I need to get this churn off of me soon. It’s driving me crazy.”
Simcane looked down at his arms as they hovered just above the water. Churn! His arms were covered with a thin, pulsating film. With his adrenaline, he hadn’t noticed at first, but now that Thairen had alerted him, he couldn’t think of anything else. Each pulsation was another bite from their microscopic teeth. First, they’d simply chew on dead skin. Next, their victim’s capillaries would begin oozing blood, which would attract even more churn and other more deadly predators. But once that outer layer of skin was gone, he knew that the irritation would change into excruciating pain as their teeth gnawed on raw flesh and nerves.
“We have to have patience,” he whispered, mostly trying to convince himself. He sensed Thairen’s aggression boiling.
Simcane’s leg throbbed beneath his cold, wet attire. Soon his flesh would be raw like a bad burn. Thairen fidgeted, telling Simcane that he wouldn’t be contained much longer.
Their decision was made for them. An ungodly roar rang out from the not-too-far distance.
Thairen whispered, “They are coming and they bring their machines.”
Simcane turned away. “We need to stay calm,” he insisted, but he was too late. Thairen climbed up the embankment.
Simcane ordered him to halt, but he might as well have commanded the water to stop flowing. Thairen hollered back, “Get to the others.”
“No,” Simcane answered as Thairen disappeared over the top. “You’ll be massacred.”
Simcane pulled himself up the bank to the edge and peered through the dead, shin-high grass. Thairen rushed the distant enemy like a madman. His shrill war cry was unlike any Simcane had ever heard. The Teks were without their armor. Their hesitation showed their surprise.
The rumbling machine that accompanied them fired a flash from its long cylinder, followed by a monstrous explosion of dirt and fire at Thairen’s side. But the rushing maniac wasn’t fazed. He never slowed, closing the gap between himself and the enemy. The nose of the machine fired again but again missed as Thairen zipped from side-to-side.
The Tek soldiers withdrew their swords; Thairen removed his knives. With squeals of delight, he leaped into their masses.
Simcane wanted to help, but he knew for the sake of the mission he could not. While he watched Thairen’s fight for survival, he ripped at the churn on his arms and legs. His flesh from head to toe was raw with peppered specks of oozing capillary blood.
He looked away from Thairen for a moment and to the Tek water supply ahead. The enemy forces had abandoned their posts to race toward the commotion.
Thairen was right – the crazy bastard’s plan was working.
The fearless soldier grunted and screamed as he thrust his knives into enemy flesh. There was nothing artistic about his aggression, only raw fury. He spun away from one lunging sword, and then drove his knife into another attacker’s chest. He ripped it out with a spray of blood and stood beneath it like a shower. Another Tek swung his sword, but blood squirted from his neck before he could finish his assault.
More Teks, armored Teks, rumbled and hissed toward the battle.
A sword swiped across Thairen’s back but the crazy warrior didn’t flinch. As he continued his killing spree, he was engulfed in Tek bodies. Simcane swore he heard laughter. And it wasn’t laughter from the soldiers.
Thairen disappeared for a moment before leaping from within their swarm. He was free.Now run!
But instead of running, he turned back and leaped again. One of the Teks plunged a sword through his gut. Simcane cringed. Thairen paused for a moment. Then he pulled on the blade, sinking it deeper until it pierced through his back. It appeared he had taken the blade deliberately to get closer to his assailant. With a wide swing, he drove both of his knives around with such velocity that they stabbed through the Tek’s throat and embedded into his own hands. He pulled the blades free.
Thairen stumbled back from his prey. He grasped the hilt of the sword lodged in his gut. He grunted, yanked the blade free, and dropped it to the ground. He wobbled and fell to his knees as the other Teks surrounded him. They stood and stared, unsure of how to attack.
Simcane pulled himself over the edge of the bank. There was nothing he could do. He started along the edge toward the water supply. As he neared, the rest of his team stepped out from behind one of the enemy’s abandoned metal machines.
He shouted, “We haven’t much time to distance ourselves. They will search every bit of this land.”
Willum grinned. “That Thairen is insane.”
While hopping and pulling at the churn on his legs, Simcane looked up and snapped, “He bought us the time we need to escape. Let’s not waste it.”
B.J. said, “He’s fearless, I’ll give him that.”
Simcane stopped tugging at the churn long enough to glare at him. “He was reckless. Let’s move out.”
They came to the shallow, hand-dug creek that flowed inland from the river.
“This is their water supply,” Simcane said. “We should be behind their forces soon.”
Gillian asked, “Do you think they drink from this water?”
“Sure. That’s most likely its purpose. Drinking and bathing anyway. If the filthy bastards even bathe, that is. Why?”
“No reason.” She dropped her lower garments and sprayed a stream of piss into the waterway that would make any man proud.
B.J. shook his head. “Very mature,” he said. “Are you finished?”
She squirted out her last drop. “Quite,” she said and pulled her drawers up with a smirk. She backed into Simcane’s stonewall chest and peeked up at him. “I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”
“Hmnph,” Simcane grunted. “Well, what are you all waiting for?” he asked before dropping his own britches and adding to the water supply.
CHAPTER 60
THE LOWLAND BATTLE
The army of thousands in Andon’s command plowed their way through the heavy brush of the Lowland-Epertase border, leaving only matted fields and footprints. Their oxen struggled, dragging massive catapults over the bumpy, downhill terrain.
The army arrived at a weed-covered, wooden sign that amazingly still stood, bearing the name “Grande Villa.”
Andon thought, what an elegant name for such a worthless dung pile of a town, and he said so out loud. The narrow streets were deserted, just as they had hoped. Andon led his men through the nearest town to its western edge. The catapults barely fit through the streets, occasionally taking off the edge of a building or smashing a porch to splinters. When one of the catapult’s wheels snapped in half, the soldiers were forced to leave it blocking the way and divert to the next street over.
Andon ordered to his second-in-command, “Spread the word. The town is ours. Anything the men find, food, water, anything, it is theirs. We will not be leaving anything for our enemy nor will we be leaving anything for the Lowlanders to return to.”
The columns of smoke in the distance told him the Teks had entered from Lithia. The battle wasn’t far away.
“We will use the town for cover. Position the catapults at the ends of each road. Assemble our forces for urban battle and make sure the Teks can see us when they arrive.”
For the rest of the day and into the night, the soldiers prepared the town. The catapults were anchored, the fron
t lines were set to display strength, and the town was filled with wave after wave of soldiers. Now all that was left was to wait.
It didn’t take long; the spies had been right. At the outskirts of town, Andon stared over the weed-infested field as the Tek army came into view. Their forces methodically formed their front lines.
Andon and his army studied them for two days as black-clad soldiers and rumbling machines hunkered down for the long fight ahead. The enemy appeared hard, battle-savvy, and patient. Andon’s men grew anxious; it was told in their questioning whispers.
Over the several days of waiting, the men wondered aloud when the fight would start or why they brought no ammunition for their catapults. Andon would reveal the answers soon.
On the fourth day, Andon decided time had come to divulge the entirety of the plan to his men.
He called for his lieutenant. “Inform the soldiers of our objective.”
“Is it time to get word to Terik?” his lieutenant asked.
Andon nodded. “Yes, send the word north.”
“Of course, sir. The retreat starts tonight, then?”
“Yes. Just how we planned. Leave everything, the catapults, the oxen, everything. Stealth and speed are most critical now. First, send the rear sector at dusk behind the cover of the town. Next, you will lead our second wave away when the moon is at its highest. I will bring the rest of the men, the front line, and meet you, gods be willing, in Epertase in three days. Explain to the men that we held our plan secret as the Teks are savvy warriors and if our men did not show a fear of the coming war, we may have been discovered.”
The lieutenant held his brow as though he was concerned for some aspect of their plan. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “The Teks will surely see when the front lines pull back. What if they give chase?”
“They’ve fortified their forces for our attack. By the time they realize we are retreating and get new orders, it will be too late.”
The lieutenant offered his hand. “Good luck, Andon.”
Andon took it. “And you as well.”
CHAPTER 61
THE LOWLAND LAKE
It was almost dawn. Terik’s orders could come at any moment and he was ready. His men were ready.
Terik stood before a massive wall of stone and concrete that reached as high as two castles and stretched as far as he could see. Over the years, chunks of the concrete had cracked and fallen to the ground, leaving massive craters and looking like a piece of termite-infested wood.
“Unbelievable,” he whispered as he touched the wet, gray surface. Deep, foreboding cracks leaked water along the structure’s face.
“What’s that, sir?” his first-in-command asked.
“They were going to die, anyway,” he mumbled to himself.
“Sir?”
He stood quietly in thought. A billion gallons of water being held back by this ramshackle wall. Their leaders never kept it up. They never kept it up.
“Don’t you see?” he shouted. “Their dam is crumbling. It’s about to give way as we speak. It’s not even safe for us to be here now. We must get back to higher ground right away.”
Before he could move, he was interrupted by a troubled, delicate voice from behind. “Mister?” the voice asked, startling him.
He spun around, surprised to find a woman standing before his steed. His first-in-command seemed stunned as well. They had been so immersed in their mission that they let a single stranger stroll up next to them. Terik might have been embarrassed if more of his men had seen. The woman was barefoot, wearing nothing more than a large fruit sack with holes cut out for her arms, head, and legs. She looked like she hadn’t eaten for days and her skin was reddened from the cold. Her bruised face indicated she had spoken defiantly to the wrong person.
“Who are you?” Terik asked. “How did you find us?”
“Mister,” she stared at his feet. “I followed your horses. I need help.”
“Go on.”
“I have escaped a Lowland prison.”
“Prison? Where?”
“In town. That way.” She pointed in the direction of a winding, dilapidated dirt path of a road. “Not far by horse. If you follow the road you can’t miss it.”
Terik’s top commander asked, “Why were you there? In prison, I mean? What crime did you commit?”
“No crime,” she said and for some reason Terik believed her. “Hundreds of us were gathered up and locked away. We didn’t do anything except fail to fall under the spell of our leaders. There are children and babies in there. My son is there.” She bit her lip in a clear attempt to fight a breakdown.
“If you weren’t guilty, why did your leaders do this?”
“I heard whispers while they led us to jail. They called us sacrifices to the approaching enemy.”
Terik glanced at his lieutenant who wore the same look of horror that he was sure was on his own face.
“How did you escape?” he asked.
Biting her lip no longer worked and she sobbed openly. “One of the drunken guards fell asleep on top of me and I snuck out.”
She dropped to her knees and grabbed his hand. “Please help. I’ll do anything to find my son.” She kept her gaze on the ground as though ashamed. “They’ve had their way with me many times.” She hesitated and sucked in an unstable breath. “If it would help, I guess you could as well. If you’d like, I mean.”
Terik gently lifted her by her arm. “Lieutenant, take this girl back to our camp. Get her aid and food and something warm to wear. I’m going to the prison.”
“What if the word comes while you’re gone?”
Terik curled his upper lip and crinkled his nose like he’d smelled something foul. “Then do what you’ve been ordered.”
He mounted his steed and clopped along the overgrown dirt path. He was alone in his quest and he’d probably die, but the outrage that boiled within his veins could never allow such an injustice to occur.
It was midday by the time Terik came to the first signs of a town. An old blacksmith’s shop, empty of course, sat beside a place to keep horses or asses or whatever one might ride in on. Filthy shops and saloons were at every turn. A general store, ransacked with smashed windows and shattered doors, stood next to a law enforcement house. One could only guess what these people considered law. At the far end of the strip he saw his destination – a stone, windowless structure, larger than the biggest castle he’d ever seen.
Any society that needs a place so large to keep miscreants doesn’t seem like a society worth saving, he thought.
He chuckled to himself finding it sadly comical that in this miserable town the main road led not to a prominent ancient castle or bustling town square but to a prison.
As he crept closer, he saw slight activity at the fortress’s front gate and decided that the rest of his approach had best be taken on foot. An out-of-sight, rotted post next to an outhouse was perfect for leaving his horse. He reached into his saddle bag and withdrew a hunting knife as long as his forearm. Up-close-and-personal was the way to go, at least in the beginning. Besides, if he needed a sword, he figured there would be plenty lying around by the time he was finished.
A drunken guard sat at the entrance with his back to Terik’s approach. With hardly a sound, Terik opened the guard’s filthy throat, almost decapitating him with his adrenalinized exuberance. The guard fell from his chair in a gurgling seizure. Terik dug through his pockets until he found a key. A big key. A master key.
Disturbing moans and blistering screams filled the prison as he passed through the fortress door. But the screams and moans weren’t what disturbed him the most; it was the maniacal laughter from the heartless captors. This wasn’t a prison, it was a house of torture and the torturers enjoyed their jobs. The stink of dried blood and feces and death filled the dankness and was as close to unbearable as anything Terik had ever experienced.
These Lowlanders are monsters, he thought with his hand over his nose. As evil as the people we fight
against, I believe. His heart sunk with a realization. And we’ve unleashed them onto Epertase.
A guard strolled into view from around a hallway. His eyes exploded wide. He drew in a lungful of air. Terik hurled his blade, landing it true before the guard could unleash his cries for help. The guard grunted and collapsed. Terik followed his knife, jerked it from the guard’s chest, and wiped the warm blood onto his sleeve. The dead man’s pocket yielded a second master key. Terik snatched it just in case.
He came to a thick steel-and-wood-framed door with a rusty padlock. The key fit perfectly. A quick turn and the lock clicked and clanked. The door groaned like an old war hero with achy bones, opening into another long hallway. Cell bars lined both walls. The fearful whimpers from behind the door grew louder.
Terik peeked into the first cage. He was horrified to find it crammed full of scared women and children.
In the far corner, in a space purposely left open by the crowd, a mother rocked back and forth over a lifeless infant. Terik had seen enough atrocities to know that the baby was long gone and that the mother was in shock.
With his master key, Terik opened the cage. Most of the women pushed to the back, though two of them stepped heroically forward. Their aggressive stances said that they’d had enough.
“It is alright,” Terik whispered. “I am here to free you.” He swung the gate open and stepped to the side to show his intentions. “You two,” he pointed to the two bravest. “Are you strong enough to free the others?”
They nodded that they were; he wasn’t so sure. He handed them the key and pointed to the next steel door. “Unlock that door for me and then open the rest of these cages. Get southeast to higher ground as quickly as possible. Go to Epertase.”
Terik continued through to the next corridor. Behind the next massive door was another hall of cells and prisoners. He opened the first cage; it was full of men. Their faces were discolored and swollen. Blood-soaked rags slowed the bleeding on some of the wounded while others had obviously spilled their plasma until they could leak no more.
Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn Page 27
