The High King: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy, Donald

  The mar'goyn'lya with the golden emblem was no larger than the other, but Baitrum swore that he looked down on his fellow. The golden one had the greater rank, he could tell now. "Fa'duk, you are too hasty as the human said. Go back through and have the others enter now. You will help hold open the portal until everyone crosses and then return."

  The lesser gargoyle looked ready to argue or fight, Baitrum could not say which, but finally he nodded and strode back through the portal. More shadows began to cluster faintly behind the glowing window. But that mattered little as the golden gargoyle looked at the soldier with that cold look once again. "So human, tell me why I should not lay you to rest with your fellows that stink this room with their blood already. Were you a coward who hid from his fate as these others died?"

  Baitrum stood holding his injured arm gently. He was sure it was broken now, but the man could neither worry about that nor the sword that lay only a few feet away. The sword would be useless against the gargoyle's strength anyway, let alone its magic. Thinking quickly, the lieutenant answered, "These were not men I knew, nor were they friends, Fa'makel'zer. I was sent by the queen who dislikes her king to see what the wizards were up to here. If you mean to betray Merrick as I guess you do, then perhaps you could use our help as we would be glad to have yours as well."

  "Bargains, human? You are bold." A strange rasping came from the gargoyle. The soldier had lived with the mar'goyn'lya long enough to recognize their odd form of laughter. "You offer your help and then ask for ours in the same breath. Impressive, eh, Elk'gen?"

  The dragon looked over in surprise at hearing his name. He had been examining Serra, much to the girl's dismay. Body rigid in the dragon's grasp, her cloak had been removed and the silky gown had a small tear from snagging the dragon's nail. "Their bodies are so soft, Makel, it is a wonder their race has survived. Small and soft. The male is bold for one so frail, indeed."

  The gargoyle seemed to dislike the lack of title from the dragon's addressal. Baitrum knew that both fa and zer must be a part of the wizard's title. To use Makel, the dragon would have to be either friend or superior. The gargoyle chose to ignore the slight as he continued, "How could you help us, human?"

  "I assume that you have finally discovered the secret to the portal's magic or you would not have killed these wizards. I can supply you with a good place to start over and even supply you with a guide if you are so inclined to live in this world. You also need information on the nations of man that surround you that could threaten you."

  Makel snorted, "We can settle where we wish and need fear no human. You cannot help us then." Amber flames licked the mage's fingers as the decision was reached.

  "Wait!" Baitrum cried quickly. "You are wrong, great one. You know as well as I that you are still few in number compared to the world populated by men. We have numerous mages besides the ones that you have slain here. These were just the ones left behind to open the portal. The rest fight beside Merrick. If you turn against the king, he will surely hunt you down. I would even hazard the guess that his enemies would join him. They can hardly leave such a threat alone in the heart of their lands, now can they? Do you believe that you have the strength to fight all of humanity?

  "Our enemy used golems in the last battles to force Merrick to call more of your race. Your enemies already know how you can be killed, Fa'makel'zer. You must see that you will need some help to survive very long here."

  The flames slowly snuffed themselves. The dragon chuckled where he lay watching the exchange. "The human may not know our language that well, Makel, but he does know the truth." Looking at Baitrum, he continued though the dragon's words were meant for the wizard as much as the man. "Less than two hundred dragons and three thousand gargoyles, will not stand long against their magic. Your wizards and mine are few enough, Makel. Face the truth and accept it. We know that the humans may lack physical strength, but their numbers and magic will end our threat as he says. Let us accept his help.

  "Besides I find them both intriguing. I would like to know more of these humans. Flowers in a spray, you say?" the dragon finished by turning back to Serra and spoke in the language of the North Continent.

  Thus left to themselves, the gargoyle stood silently staring at Baitrum. Finally, the mage asked, "What do you propose, little man?"

  The soldier smiled.

  Merrick paced before his generals furiously. The men feared to speak knowing the king's temper and the king continued to stomp back and forth.

  "Where are those reinforcements? Where is Kar'esh?" Turning with a scowl to the generals, he hollered, "I want some answers or I swear that someone will die!"

  Suddenly the generals were all talking at once. The cacophony only served to anger Merrick more. The king drew his sword from his scabbard furiously and leveled the blade at the general in the center. "Komus!"

  "Yes, sire! We have sent word to Kar'esh to come immediately. The gargoyle will be here shortly, I'm sure."

  Twisting the blade to the next general, he questioned, "Have the assassins been sent, Mairgar?"

  "Yes, sire. We believe that the enemy has no idea that they have been infiltrated yet, so the wizards should die tonight."

  The king nodded. "With the golem wizards dead, we won't need any more reinforcements. Good. Bragus, have some scouts sent back towards Hala and find out what has happened to our reinforcements. There are thousands of those warriors in their home world. I can see no reason that they should not still be coming."

  Bragus bowed. "As you command, sire."

  "Also send a messenger to Hala, I would have news from Krulir."

  Again the general nodded.

  The king turned in dismissal. The generals all let out their collectively held breaths. Merrick had not killed anyone after all. For that, they were all thankful. If the assassins failed, however, they all knew that at least one of them would not be so lucky next time.

  A few minutes later, Kar'esh's giant form darkened the entryway to the command tent. "You requested me, Merrick," the gargoyle's voice lacked emotion, but that only served to fuel the High King's annoyance.

  "I did not request, Kar'esh, I ordered. I would appreciate you showing a little respect for me, since I am the one who is saving your people. You could learn to show up on time."

  "The savior of my race?" The gargoyle's raspy laughter came mockingly to Merrick's ears. "You bring only enough to fuel the slaughter. I find more of my warriors dying each day. For each one you bring through the portal to serve your war, I have to risk losing that warrior on the battlefield. This is a war of your making and we will help you win it, but do not try to make me believe that you care whether we live or die. You don't care if your own people die, only if they fail."

  "Don't push me, Kar'esh," the king snarled his anger.

  "Or what? You can do nothing to me or my warriors will turn on you. Do not dare to threaten me or this agreement between us ends now." The giant folded his arms across his mighty chest and scowled down upon the king whose face was turning red trying to contain his fury.

  Taking an unsteady breath, Merrick gritted through his teeth. "Fine, then you will hold to your word that you will continue to serve my interests in this war?"

  The gargoyle nodded.

  "Good. My assassins should slay the golems' masters by morning. Have your warriors prepared to attack at dawn. I want this war over tomorrow. If we destroy their magic, they are finished. I will still need you when we face Kardor. Do I have your word that you will finish what we have started?"

  "My word will stand as long as you continue to honor yours."

  "Then we are understood, Kar'esh. I will expect to see your warriors to be in motion by dawn's first light and not to be late."

  The gargoyle turned without further word to prepare his soldiers leaving Merrick to contemplate what had happened.

  Shaking his head worriedly, the man took his seat. Stroking his brown beard nervously, the High King took a moment to consider the moment. Things were coming
apart even as he dominated more of his enemies. Merrick was frustrated, but he felt that once Sileoth and Maris were finished the High King would no longer need Kar'esh or his soldiers anyway. His wizards could duplicate the golem magic with a little time, he figured. Then they could slay those gargoyles already in his world. The wizards could shatter the portal and strand the rest of the dragons and gargoyles ending their threat as their world burned from their exploding sun.

  With a sigh, he poured wine into a goblet. It was crystal, the last in a set of six. His temper had taken its toll on the others. Taking a small sip, Merrick grimaced. The drink was bitter. It had spoiled on its journey. Wine had a way of doing that, he thought. Wine and other things as well unfortunately, but the High King would do what he could to prevent anything else from spoiling. It was his destiny to prevail.

  Chapter 39- Chopping Down

  A cry in the night awakened Terris from his dreaming immediately. The dream of his distant wife and children would have to wait until he found out what was going on in the joint camp of the Marisians and Sileoth. A cry of warning during wartime could mean nothing good.

  Brushing his dark hair back from his face, Terris readied himself for trouble. Grabbing up his sword and scabbard and sliding his old, worn, leather jerkin over his bare chest, Terris stuck his head carefully outside. Men ran to and fro in complete confusion. The former king shook his head and stepped into the aisle between his tent and the ones ten feet across from him. More than a dozen Marisian soldiers were within shouting distance. Terris drew a deep breath and ordered, "Form up!"

  The men nearest him stuttered to a halt in surprise. All eyes drew to the man generating authority. Fifteen men slowly approached to form a line before him. Terris nodded. "Sergeant," he began by singling out the only man of any rank, "begin moving down this line of tents and rouse the troops. Have guards set for each tent while the rest of their platoon gathers armor and weapons. Afterwards, they will await instructions or repel any enemies who may enter. Have every other tent send a man down each line intersecting this aisle to do the same. Now go."

  The sergeant saluted as years of military training led him to do what was best for the army, even if it meant obeying a virtual outsider. Terris pointed to the soldier directly before him. "Where did the first sounds come from, soldier?"

  "In the direction of the wizards' tents, sir." "All right, you men are with me. Let's go." As Terris went where he believed the most

  trouble would likely be, he pulled more of the soldiers into fighting preparation. Ordering those he spied to get their fellows in line as he had told to the sergeant previously, Terris hurried and strengthened the men around him. Drawing another half dozen soldiers already calmed and being led by their sergeant towards the wizards' camp into his band, he soon found chaos of an even greater and more deadly kind.

  Fires and soldiers in unknown cloaks and armor had spread from a center held by the wizards' tents. Terris formed his men into two squads led either by the sergeant or himself as they shouted, "To arms Maris! To arms Sileoth! The wizards are attacked!" and more soldiers joined them quickly. The dark garbed assassins tried to flee into the less organized parts of the camp as Terris and the soldiers quickly sought to catch them up in their expanding net of men.

  It was hard to judge numbers, but Terris guessed that there were nearly thirty of them. He couldn't believe that their security had been that lax. It was a point that he realized was not completely accurate as a pair of men dropped onto the ground only a few paces away. A gargoyle landed as well after depositing his two passengers and drew a spiked mace from his belt to back the assassins before him.

  Eyes narrowing, the former general met the pair of men fearlessly. Flashing his blade and leaping to block attacks from both sides, Terris saw both pairs of eyes react in surprise. They were good, however, and, after they stepped back once to recover, the two men fought as one. Complimenting each other's attack, Terris would have lost quickly had he not brought the other soldiers with him.

  Assassins are often cowards and these two were not unique to their ilk. Seeing the others circling to help Terris, they fell back to the gargoyle's sides. The giant creature snarled and swung his mace threateningly at the former king.

  Terris held his arms outspread long enough to warn his drafted troops to hang back. He doubted that any of them knew how to deal with a gargoyle one on one. The human wasn't even certain that he knew them well enough to do so. Showing no uncertainty, Terris ordered them to flank the enemy on either side. "I'll handle the gargoyle, men. You attend to the assassins."

  The soldiers never even blinked at his orders, though all feared his life would be lost in the effort. With their numbers, even a gargoyle could be brought down though with a cost of most of their lives. If he was willing to sacrifice himself for them, so be it. They would always remember such a brave act.

  Such were their thoughts, but Terris had ceased to worry. Releasing thought to action as he had trained men to do for so many years, the former general moved with the agility of a youth. The gargoyle swung his mace aiming for Terris's head, but the man had moved beneath the reach of the weapon. His blade glanced off the creature's thick hide as he jabbed for its side. The assassin on the right thought the moment right to attack as well. Swinging his blade with a deadly grin, the man's spark faded quickly after Terris let his blade carom off the gargoyle. The carom added momentum and strength as the blade tore through the assassin's forearm and chest.

  Rolling to the cleared side, the gargoyle could not hit his moving mark. With a cry of pain, the gargoyle felt that flashing blade strike the vulnerable tendons behind his left leg. Terris stood and struck the creature's wing as he finished his sweeping strikes. Again the gargoyle screamed. One wing bled from a cut that nearly severed the leathery skin into halves.

  Nearly blinded by pain, the giant turned with a speed defying his bulk to try and smite this impudent insect. Terris swung down trying to gut the gargoyle. A thunk heralded his failed attack as the blade sunk into a more easily cut thigh. Leaving the sword sticking from the creature's leg, Terris leapt back to avoid the mace and the wielder's claws as it sought to catch him into its dangerous embrace.

  The gargoyle came to a shaking halt before Terris. Alien eyes suddenly rolled back in its head. Swaying momentarily, the giant slowly fell forward to land on its face at Terris's feet. The former king spied a thick spear sticking from the gargoyle's back. Two soldiers saluted with quiet smiles and Terris returned their gestures with one of his own.

  With a sharp tug, Terris reclaimed his blade from the fallen monster and led the men deeper into the encampment. The second assassin had been slain before the giant and so that left them with nothing to clean up here.

  More Marisian soldiers joined his ranks as the men watched a strong leader drawing the others behind. Tents were collapsed and their fires stomped out. Wounded or unconscious men were pulled away from harm and still Terris and his men found no sign of the wizards he knew to be near. Nearly a hundred men moved beside Terris looking out for or fighting when they found an enemy too slow to leave.

  It wasn't long before he found a large band of the assassins who had been left nowhere to flee. Troops from other sides of the camp had converged in varying degrees of readiness while Terris had pushed his men steadily forward. Now nearly two-thirds of the human assassins struggled to gain their freedom against more than three times their number. As Terris and his followers spied the battle, he noticed movement above them.

  Seven winged fighters dropped twice their number of cloaked, Marshallan troops before descending into the mix themselves. Terris halted his men with a single raised hand. "Spearmen, forward! Swordsmen protect their sides. Cut the beasts' legs from under them and they're ours, men. Forward!"

  Terris leapt ahead again meeting the closest of the giants. Using the rolling technique again, he tore out the tendons of its left leg. With a roar of pain, the creature tottered even as a pair of assassins moved to attack the man. Not eve
n truly seeing them in his trancelike state, Terris left one gripping a handless wrist and the other doubled over trying to hold in his split stomach. Their cries of pain and anguish never touched his ears as the next nearest gargoyle roared and struck out with his mace. The blow missed the former king, but shattered both writhing assassins with the over swung attack.

  Terris struck the creature's groin. A sickening splattering of flesh and blood rushed down both outspread legs. The man used two flicks of the blade to tear out the tendons of both legs of the screaming gargoyle. The creature fell to its knees in gargoyle tears as Terris' men finished both wounded giants off in short measure.

  Panicking with the death of two of their brethren in less than two minutes, the remaining four attempted to flee. A pair of spears caught one in both wings and the swordsmen hacked unmercifully as it struck the ground. The men were like a pack of wolves pulling down a great stag. Terris noted another struck by a spear falter in its flight. Its brothers quickly caught him before he could fall to the pack and lifted him higher into the darkness where only dumb luck would find them.

  The assassins, bereft of the suddenly vulnerable gargoyles, surrendered swiftly. They feared men who could drive away so many gargoyles let alone kill three so easily. Such men were beyond what they were willing to face. Shackles were safer and they would live longer.

  The enemy thus dealt with, Terris turned his men to finding the mages, or at least the remains of them. Only six of more than a score of wizards, could be found standing. Another three were wounded and hurting. Two more would die before morning if the remaining mages couldn't use their magic to help save them. Terris knew that the golem wizards had just become nearly useless. Without them, he was not sure the forces opposing Merrick could survive.

  He was pleased to see the gargoyles could be defeated when faced properly, but the dragons would not fall so easily yet. The solution could be found if they were given enough time, but he doubted that they would have that kind of time. The Marshallans had not killed all their wizards, but those who remained were too few. The golems would face overwhelming numbers from the gargoyles unless something changed.