BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan

by J. Eric Booker

  Once everything was cleaned up and completed, which included the breaking of camp, Baltor drew the portal rune into the air nearing two o’clock in the morning. Of course the troops stood by in their brand-new marching formation, which were in columns of twenty. Every soldier standing on the outside column carried a lit torch.

  Once drawn, only moments later, a three hundred-foot length by twenty-foot tall prismatic portal magically opened up in the middle of the air just next to Baltor’s position.

  With Cheo, Yaush, Stormea, Petrol, Thorn, and the guide-on bearer in the lead, the entire army began the march, or the ride, through the portal.

  Once on the other side, they observed that they were only about a half mile away from the exterior six-hundred-foot-tall walls of Pavelus, and that the sun was only now about to set below the western horizon beyond the Sea of Albusina!

  Of course, all the guards standing on the top of the walls panicked by the abrupt appearance of a prismatic portal opening up a half-mile in front of the city gates—only seconds later, the major-general was gazing at the portal through a scope.

  While gazing, he said, “Be ready to shut the doors, men, upon my command.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Nearly a minute after the portal had first opened, the general finally saw the first humans on horseback exiting the portal … flying high in the front of the ranks was the Flag of the Sharia Empire!

  “I’m not one hundred percent certain,” this general said, “but they look to be our boys are returning home. However, because of my uncertainty, shut all the gates of the city, and put us on ‘orange alert…’

  “Also, send one of our fastest riders to Commanding-General Runa, and another to the Sultaness immediately, so they can be briefed of the situation.”

  “Yes, Major-General Lockheart!”

  Nearly three hours later, Baltor was the last soldier to step through the portal, which was an hour after sunset—the second he arrived on the other side, he passed out from exhaustion yet again. This time he could not be revived…

  CHAPTER XIX

  Only a few seconds earlier, Brishava had just arrived at the top of the defensive walls, in order to see what was going on for herself.

  After Lockheart had given her the scope, she observed the portal for only a split-second before it vanished back into thin air. Never before had she seen such anything like it, nor would she ever forget!

  As her right eye scanned through the scope all the way up to the front ranks, a few minutes later, she at last saw the Flag of the Sharia Empire, as well Cheo, Yaush, Stormea, Petrol, and Thorn. Even at six hundred feet up in the air, she still observed that though the people she recognized all bore smiles upon their faces, their eyes all tried not to show sadness and grief. Unfortunately, she did not see Baltor or Humonus anywhere! This worried her greatly.

  “King Cheo,” she called out through a megaphone the general had just handed her, “Is that you?”

  With a smile, Cheo cocked his head from side to side, indicating the affirmative.

  Brishava looked over at Lockheart, and ordered, “Major-General, open the front gates. I’m going to ride out personally on my horse.”

  Lockheart, on the other hand wasn’t convinced, and so he asked, “Are you sure that’s wise, your majesty? We don’t know one hundred percent that it’s them. It could be a tri—”

  “I know it is them. I feel it in my heart, mind and soul.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” he replied. Looking over at the soldier who stood next to the drawbridge lever, he barked, “Make her command so!”

  That soldier replied, “Yes sir!”

  While the front gates slowly opened, Brishava hurried down the stairs of the lookout tower; and once on horseback only seconds later, she rode out to the army—her entourage of guards followed.

  Once she had neared to a distance of ten feet away, a few minutes later, she stopped her horse before saying with a delighted smile on her face, “Greetings King Cheo, Yaush, and everybody! How are you, my friends?”

  Returning the smile, everyone said or signed back, “Good!”

  Brishava asked, “Where is my husband?”

  “He is currently passed out in the back of a bunk wagon,” Cheo signed back.

  Confused, Brishava asked, “Why? It’s nighttime.”

  “That’s a very long story, which I would rather have him tell you all about when he wakes up,” Cheo signed. “For now, will you please command all your troops to set up camp outside the city? I don’t think there’s enough room for everyone to fit comfortably inside the city. Is there?”

  “We’ll just have to make the room for everyone, even if we’re all a little cramped,” Brishava said.

  Looking over at Stormea, she smiled and said, “Commanding-General Stormea, nice to see you again!”

  Even though he recognized that she had used his old rank, he still happily said, “Thank you, my Sultaness. As always, it is definitely a pleasure to see you, and to see home, too!”

  He purposefully had not said anything about his new rank, because then she would easily figure out that something happened with Humonus … after all, there had always only been one Ruling-General of the Sharia Empire, since this empire had been established five centuries ago.

  She ordered, “In one minute’s time, command the Forces into the city. Meanwhile, I’m going to spend some time with my man alone—even if he is sleeping.”

  With a bow, Stormea replied, “Yes, my Sultaness. His wagon is on its way up here now as we speak—a few minutes longer tops is all you will have to wait.”

  “Oh, by the way, where is Ruling-General Humonus?”

  “Umm, that is another question best answered by your husband.”

  “Okay…” she said hesitantly, while her eyebrows slightly furled.

  Once the bunk wagon had arrived, soon after, Brishava hopped off her horse and hurried on over. Climbing inside, she saw her husband Baltor soundly sleeping on the bottom right bunk.

  Despite the fact that he was unconscious, she still laid her body next to his, wrapping her arms lightly around her husband’s waist, while kissing him all over his neck and face—Baltor did not wake up at all…

  One minute after the kisses had begun, but not yet stopped, she heard Stormea call out, “Forces of the Sharia Empire—forward, march!”

  After Brishava had her fill of kisses, about two minutes and a hundred-or-so kisses later, she cradled her head upon Baltor’s chest, patiently waiting for the driver of the wagon to take them to the palace.

  Once they had arrived in the courtyard of the palace, forty minutes later, the guards carried their Sultan into his bedroom, and laid him into his bed.

  It wasn’t until the following night that Baltor finally awoke. Upon opening his eyes, he saw that Brishava had her head comfortably lying upon his stomach.

  With a happy smile that instantly grew upon his face from ear to ear, Baltor happily exclaimed, “Brishava! How are you, baby?”

  “I’m very good my husband, especially now that you are back,” Brishava cooed with her own smile.

  Using his right hand, Baltor ever so gently grabbed the back of his wife’s head, and just as gently pulled that head closer to his own. For nearly an hour or so, passionate bliss erupted between both husband and wife…

  Once that “quality time” had passed, Brishava—very sweaty and out of breath—gave one final deep kiss upon the lips of her husband who was lying right beneath her. She then climbed off, threw on her robe, and assumed a seated position with her legs crossed and her elbows leaning upon her knees.

  “Whew…” Brishava sighed. Still slightly out of breath, she asked in between those short pants, “So, I should have thought to ask you before, but where is Ruling-General Humonus?”

  After sliding a silky sheet halfway up his body, a look of deep sadness quickly began to cross Baltor’s eyes and face. A few seconds later, he breathed deeply before answering sadly, “He—he died valiantly fighting against the dra
gon single-handedly.”

  “No…” Brishava whispered, just before she turned her head to look at empty space. A few seconds later, teardrops began to pour out her eye-sockets and down her grief-stricken face.

  Fighting back his own tears, Baltor somewhat changed the subject as he asked, “Where is Chelsea?”

  After wiping away much of the tears with both of her hands, as well sniffing back all the accumulated mucous in her nostrils, which combined actions took nearly a minute, Brishava answered, “I sent her to Thorium several months ago with a two-fold mission. One, establish our new territorial boundaries with Queen Calitta’s help; and two, warn all the Thoriumites about the dragon and its army. So, it is safe to assume that the war is totally over by your return? No one would tell me anything.”

  Baltor answered, “Three weeks ago, I killed the dragon myself. As for the gnome army, a few of them did manage to escape far too deep underground, but most were easily outflanked and killed—fortunately they can’t procreate!”

  After a look of remembrance crossed her face, Brishava informed, “Chelsea’s pregnant.”

  With shock in his voice, Baltor sat up in bed and asked, “What?”

  “Yes…” Brishava sighed, as more tears began to pour from her eyes. Through the tears, she answered, “She will be very sad when she learns of Humonus’s death.”

  Still shocked, Baltor stammered, “I—I didn’t know she was pregnant…”

  She had once again begun to wipe away even more tears that sprouted, while answering, “None of us knew until several weeks after you guys left. It was going to be a surprise!”

  Due to the gravity of the situation, Baltor could no longer control the bloody tears that had begun to pour out of his eyes, down his cheeks, and drop onto the white silky bed sheets.

  Only a few seconds later, he cried, “This is still such an unbelievably hard thing for me to deal with—my mentor and my best friend’s loss. I was so close to saving him, and yet not close enough!”

  As Brishava was fully aware of her husband’s mysterious illness, she simply placed her right hand on his right shoulder, answering, “I know how much you loved him—we shall build a statue of him in commemoration and memory, and place it in the very middle of Pavelus! He’s a hero…”

  Looking over at his wife, he sadly sniffed, “Yes…”

  With the corner of the cotton sheet that was now completely ruined anyway, she began gingerly dabbing away the blood off Baltor’s face. All the while, she sighed aloud, “Yes…and you know what else? I personally believe Humonus is in heaven, as he was a very good and noble man throughout this whole life!”

  After a five-second pause, she added, “True I’m sure he made his fair share of mistakes, as we all do…but it’s how we learn. Yet we must also know that death is a part of life, as we shall all die one day, including you and I. So, we must treasure every precious moment we have. Right?”

  “Right, my love,” Baltor said with a small smile. Glancing over to the mirror, he observed that she had gotten every last drop of blood off his face. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” she replied, giving him a quick kiss on his lips. With that smile still on her face, she asked, “So, I must know…how did you get the Vispano Knights to rally to our cause?”

  Nodding his head affirmatively, he answered, “Well, I’d really like to answer that question, as well the question of how the entire Province now belongs to the Sharia Empire, at the victory celebration, whenever that is…if that’s okay.”

  Though very shocked to hear this news, she answered with a question, “Are you serious?”

  “Yup…”

  “Well, we have the celebration scheduled tomorrow night at nine p.m., as there is a ton of food that needs to be made,” Brishava answered with a smile of her own.

  “Perfect!”

  Brishava said, “I have a question that can’t wait until the victory celebration—I saw you guys traveling through a magical portal, even if it was but for a second as I had arrived just in the nick of time… Yet King Cheo said that you alone should answer this question of how teleporting came to be?”

  “Well,” Baltor said, “simply put—the moment I slayed the dragon, I acquired all her magical powers. One of those powers happens to be teleportation, as well telepathy, though there are dozens of others to be sure.”

  Squinting her eyes ever so slightly, Brishava said, “Hmmm…”

  Seeing the strange look upon his wife’s face, Baltor countered, “It’s true!”

  “I believe you, Baltor, but it’s still very shocking to me that magic actually exists—even after having heard about from enough people, and seeing with my own eyes, this teleportation portal. After all, all I’ve ever been told about magic since I was a little girl is that it’s a myth and not real.”

  Well, it is very real and definitely no myth. I have become an extremely powerful magic user!

  It was only because Brishava had been looking directly at Baltor’s face that her mind realized that he had been speaking telepathically. Once shock had been overcome, perhaps thirty seconds later, she finally exclaimed, “Wow!”

  “Don’t worry, Hun,” he said verbally. “I’m not going to probe into people’s thoughts, including yours, unless they want me to, or I have to for some emergency situation.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “By the way, I’m planning on teleporting to retrieve Chelsea later tonight.”

  “Why is that?”

  “So that I can relay the news, as well so she can be a part of the Humonus’s funeral, as well the victory celebration. Well, on second thought, maybe she won’t want to celebrate very much?”

  “You really are a very thoughtful person, aren’t you, my husband?”

  Baltor cocked his head to the side as he said, “I try to be.”

  “Well,” she replied, “as she is also our ambassador, she must doubly know. Moreover, who better is there to comfort her when you tell her about your mentor, your ruling general, and your best friend?”

  “You’re right.”

  “So are you ready to take a bath, so that the servants can get you dressed? I need to take one, as well.”

  “Is there any blood on my face?”

  “Nope.”

  Baltor nodded his head, and said, “Okay, but once I’m ready, I’m going to immediately go retrieve Chelsea. I shouldn’t be gone too long. I love you!”

  “I love you too, but I might not be around as I have tons and tons of affairs that need my attention for tonight,” Brishava said, just before she gave her husband one final kiss, and entered the pool to bathe. He followed after her.

  Once their baths were over, she exited the room in her shower robe, so that her handmaidens could dress her in her dressing room.

  Meanwhile, Baltor, who had just finished putting on his underwear, walked in front of the mirror, and called out, “Assistants—you may enter.”

  His six assistants entered the room from the walk-in closet, while pushing the portable closet on wheels. After a bow, they began the process of grooming and dressing their Sultan into comfortable-yet-elegant attire that consisted of a sky-blue suit and boots that all had thick, gold-laced trimming, as well putting on his Sultan’s crown and rings.

  Once the assistants had left, Baltor mentally conjured up the image of Chelsea upon the world map. The second he got her location, he drew the teleportation rune into the air, which caused a portal to open up in front of him—he walked through the portal.

  Chelsea, who was just about to enter her bedroom in order to retrieve a book, almost had a heart attack upon seeing the prismatic portal!

  As soon as she saw Baltor walking through, her nerves quickly abated as she greeted, “Hi Baltor—I mean, my Sultan! How on earth did you make that happen?”

  Baltor smiled as the portal closed behind him. He next said, “Hi Chelsea—long story I’ll tell you about in a bit. Let me first say that you are definitely looking pregnant!”

  “Yes
, I still have quite a few more months to go though.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes—Humonus will be so surprised when he finds out himself. Where is he?”

  “Well,” Baltor said with a pause. “I think you should sit down when I tell you this.”

  Chelsea gulped, but took a seat in her room. After Baltor closed the door, he said, “Humonus did an outstanding job as the ruling general of my army. Most sadly, he was forced to sacrifice his life in order to save everyone else’s. He died a hero death fighting against the dragon. I’m sorry! There was no way we could save him, though I tried.”

  Chelsea asked in shock, “What?”

  Tears began to pour down her face, while Baltor fought back his own tears. A moment later, her body collapsed—she would have crashed onto the floor, but he had caught her and held securely on.

  Baltor said, “I’m sorry Chelsea, I really am!”

  With tears continuously pouring out of her eyes, she stammered, “I—I can’t believe it!”

  Baltor explained, “You must Chelsea…it’s true! His last words to me were to tell me that he loves you! I was there when he died.”

  For a long while, Chelsea cried … Baltor remained patient and continued to hold her.

  When the crying finally abated, nearly thirty minutes later, Chelsea looked up into Baltor’s face, with tears still running down her eyes. She asked, “So is this the reason you have come here tonight? To tell me that he died?”

  After a sigh, Baltor answered, “I wasn’t going to tell you until tonight, but because you asked, I had no choice but to answer. The reason I actually came here was to bring you back to Pavelus with me, so that you can attend his funeral and burial tomorrow morning, as well be a part of the victory celebration tomorrow night. After all, had it not been for Humonus, we would not have won this war! He is a hero.”

  “How can I celebrate? My husband’s dead, and my unborn child is without a father!”

  “Chelsea, I know just how much of a hard time you’re going through right now. I know that I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again…