F-JON
The King of Donegal lay flat on his back, eyes closed. He couldn’t believe he had been bested by a woman. He feebly covered his face with the tiny shield, leaving his entire body exposed. The brave warrior disappeared and he accepted that death was imminent as panic attacked his chest. The terrible screams, echoing sounds of steel and battling bugles were flushed out completely and a disturbing silence settled in Jon Colbert’s ears. What will she attack? My chest, my neck, or will she open my belly and let my guts fall out? Just end it already.
Jon thought about Camelle and the rest of the family. He focused on the good times like the perfect wedding today that had been disrupted so he could die. Being King Jon Colbert seemed like a dream only hours ago, before this sneak attack. His noble intentions were focused on making the kingdom great. Jon wasn’t sure if he was dead or not. He didn’t feel any pain but either his eyes refused to open or the world had gone black.
At least I got my family out in time. They should be safe but did I get Ruxin killed? Hopefully, I didn’t die in vain if I saved most of my loved ones. They will never understand, but this was the right thing to do.
The chaotic sounds of war began to fill his ears again, and Jon heard, “My King, my King.” Jon’s eyes shot open and he saw one of his loyal men. Sir Gallante said, “I almost had me a heart attack thinking you were dead. I yanked her away from you, but that strong bitch drove me back and jumped down that ladder before I could stop her. They should capture her before she can get outside the city gates. We have her trapped now.”
The young knight extended his arm and helped Jon to his feet again. The King looked through an opening at the Queen of Goldenfield and her glimmering gold armor running down the hill.
Jon thought of Ruxin and hustled down a ladder to find his son. He jumped onto the blood-stained earth and tried to avoid bodies of men that were living only minutes ago. This task proved unavoidable so the King did the best he could to traverse the dark organic graveyard. He drew his sword and charged down the hill, but the battle was all but over. Even in the black of night, as the moon broke through briefly, and Jon noticed reflective blood stains extending to the bottom of the hill. Jon was in a panic as he screamed, “RUXIN.”
Bryan Caughleigh approached and said, “He’s farther down the hill, my King. There wasn’t enough killing for that one at the top. You should be right proud, your boy must’ve killed at least a dozen of the enemy.”
Concern trumped a father’s pride as Jon ran down the hill. The smells became worse and Jon’s worries increased as the death count rose. Jon had a sinking suspicion he would find the body of his son along the way. He got to the bottom and an open flat area appeared. He yelled, “RUXIN.”
“Yes father,” returned a voice close by. Jon spun in circles before his son touched his shoulder.
“Now, now, that’s some killing. We chased that bitch right out of here,” a proud Ruxin exclaimed as Jon turned and faced him.
Ruxin’s eyes were wide open and he seemed to be on a battle high. Jon couldn’t believe it. Ruxin only wore a few pieces of armor and although his entire body and face were soaked in blood, barely any of it was his.
G-LEIMUR
Leimur ran with her back to the ultimate goal. She had set out to take the castle, but now she would be lucky to leave the Capitol with her life. Captain Salina and Leimur found a few horses in the darkness and jumped on them. Both women heeled the animals and took off for Ali-Sander’s Gate. The Queen knew that if she got caught inside the city walls it would spell death. She thought about how close she had come to sitting on the throne of Donegal. She wasn’t even certain that they were going in the right direction to find the only viable exit. The pair made it back to the gate and reined up on the horses before entering the lighted area. She recognized the oddly dressed Lord Undertow waving her along as he went to open the gate. The lord struggled with the enormous wooden door but the opening started to widen and the ladies darted through. Leimur breathed a sigh of relief as they trotted back into darkness until twelve mounted men from Donegal appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the women. Leimur still had her battle-axes but this fight would equal suicide. Captain Salina and the Queen got down from their horses. Two men approached and stripped them of their weapons.
“Looks like we got the biggest prize of them all, fellas,” laughed one man.
Another man chimed in, “Wait till our new King see’s this present.”
Leimur had been through many near death experiences in her short stay on earth, but this was the only time she truly believed death couldn’t be dodged. The men bound the women's arms behind their backs and started to march them back to the King’s Castle. A familiar roar captured the night and Leimur could see tigers’ eyes glowing in the dark. The fierce yellow eyes started to move and the men from Donegal started to back away.
“Cut us loose, now,” yelled Leimur.
A man gingerly came up to the Queen and cut the thick rope from her and then moved to Captain Salina.
Leimur went up to the man who had taken her axes and reclaimed her weapons. Captain Salina retrieved her sword and daggers as the men stayed completely still. The two women walked away and the convoy of tigers followed. They marched quickly in an unknown direction for over an hour. They started moving through a dense forest that Leimur didn’t recognize. She heard another group of people and cautiously approached. The Queen of Goldenfield looked down a slight hill to a welcome sight. There were several hundred of her men with a few fires going.
General Rigby got up and rushed over to say, “Another loss. You seem to be making a bad habit of that. Now, you’ve almost gotten me killed, and I’ve supported you more than any.”
He spit on the ground and stormed off. Leimur understood her track record wasn’t stunning in battle as Queen, but she hadn’t lost her own kingdom; she had only failed in conquering the neighboring kingdom. The unit moved into Burkeville before sundown and took refuge for a while in an open plain. They seemed safe for the moment.
RUSSELL
“My mother told me he was a man of honor. She said he died defending her. Lord Turnbush slapped my mother across the face. Most men would mind their place and let the lord on his way. My father wasn’t most men.” Russell’s face lit up as he talked. “A fight broke out and didn’t end until my father choked the lord to death. The next time my mother saw him was at Lord Turnbush’s front gate. She saw his head on a spike.” His tone saddened.
Riceros tried to cheer him up and said, “Sounds like a great man.”
“He truly was. The queer thing is that I have no idea what he looked like. My mother described him often but I still can’t fully picture the man. I used to hope when we went to market that my mother would point to a man and say, ‘That is what your father looked like’, but that never happened. She said he was one of a kind, a unique soul, she always called him.” Russell still couldn’t figure out Riceros and the hump on his back that he habitually scratched.
“Where is your mother?” Riceros asked. As the words left his mouth, Russell lowered his head and slowly shook it.
He took another moment before speaking, “She worked in the castle, doing various tasks, a do anything really. One of her duties included being a food taster for the duke and duchess. My mother actually loved it. She got to eat the same food as a duke even if it were only a taste. ‘Nobody wants to kill Duke Etburn,’ she used to tell me, but I felt she was trying to convince herself more than me. Ali-Pari told me it was the turtledove soup that turned her face blue and locked up her throat. The count couldn’t do anything to help and said purple hemlock was the culprit. I was eleven.” Russell was on the verge of crying but did not let the salty liquid loose. He straddled the line between pride and pain, bouncing back and forth when he talked about his parents. “I’d ask about your parents but I pretty much know the story. There is something you might not have known that the Lady Ali-Pari told me while she was steaming mad one time. Before your mother married y
our father, Duchess Ali-Pari tried to arrange a marriage between Camelle and Ali-Varis Wamhoff. She fought with the duke for weeks over the matter, Duke Etburn preferring an alliance with Jon Colbert. You already know the end of the story so I won’t bore you with those details but you almost never happened.”
“That’s not true. Turns out the Colberts raised me but they aren’t my real parents. I am a bastard from the Seventh Island. My father has a complicated story that I can’t detail with this many strange ears about.” Riceros kept scratching the lump on his back.
Russell looked at his new friend and understood there had to be something special about Riceros, but he couldn’t see it. He was a little boy, and scrawny at that. Dragon-Eyes had tried to tell Russell about Riceros in the brief time they had away from the group but the Imp kept falling asleep. He felt much more at ease with the Cyclops on their side than the tiny kid.
Russell knew he still had to be the leader of the group. Most of his concern lay with the Imp Wizard. What if the wizard’s friend had left Gama Traka? Dragon Eyes had told Russell that he hadn’t talked to this mystery man in years. There were no guarantees they would ever find more Fuji Dust. Russell also needed the Imp to direct them to the School of the Learned Warrior but the man could barely speak anymore. Russell was amazed at how the Imp had almost reverted back into the ugly creature he had discovered in the Frozen Forest.
The perilous journey continued over the endless, humongous waves. The aquatic graveyard known as the Sea of Green had seemingly eaten the sun and spit out gray clouds that dominated the skyline. Russell held his stomach as the ship dipped down another valley of water. The battered vessel was holding up, but the old wooden ship wouldn’t last if these conditions persisted.
The uneasy sounds of moaning wood and loud splashes of water created another variable. Riceros tried to break the tension and asked, “So you’re saying Dragon-Eyes can’t fly?”
“It’s like I told you, he can do some pretty amazing things, but most of the stories are made-up tales. I had only heard two stories about him before I met the man. One was about how he married one hundred princesses in one hundred consecutive years. The story said he kept his wives in the stables with the horses. Supposedly, he went to the stables one day to find the bodies of horses with the heads of his princesses attached,” Russell said.
“I’ve heard that one,” Riceros said.
“He told me that was a bold lie. He’s never been married, not even once. The other story I heard was about him fighting off an army of demons with only his thoughts. That is closer to the truth,” Russell said.
“I heard that one too,” Riceros commented.
“Also false,” Russell revealed.
“Well then, I guess fire doesn’t come from his eyes, does it?” Riceros asked, disappointed.
“That actually does happen. He can do that and I’ve seen him move heavy objects with only the strength of his mind,” Russell told him as he looked around and whispered, “He is very well-versed in the craft of magic. My eyes have witnessed some impressive feats I once thought impossible.” Russell Seabrook wasn’t quite ready to reveal that he was favored by the angels and shared in their magic.
His feelings for Gamelda persisted but they were shoved aside with the passing days as he focused on the mission ahead. Confusion clouded his mind because he wasn’t sure exactly what the ‘secret mission’ entailed. Dragon-Eyes didn’t have a firm grasp on anything and only provided vague details of what lay ahead before falling back asleep. More than anything, Russell needed some privacy with Riceros to find out what the special boy knew. The nightmares about the men he had killed on the Pearl Islands started to fade, but those events still weighed on his conscience. He slept better on the open waters than on dry land, which surprised Russell.
He shared a tiny cabin with Lizeria but could barely get her to talk. She seemed more comfortable with Shireez as Russell looked over at the two, holding hands near the burn barrel. Dragon-Eyes slept next to the girls, curled up in a blanket near the fire. Dioneer stood in the middle of the boat. The unsteady action worried the Cyclops who didn’t want to throw off the balance. Russell thought the boat was big enough for the big man to stand wherever he wanted but also understood the reasoning.
Russell looked at the young navigator and didn’t even bother to go over and ask how close they were to Gama Traka. If he heard the captain’s recycled line of, ‘Couple of days now and we should be there. Steady as she goes,’ he was going to toss the little teenager into the depths of the murky waters.
“So what happened after your mother passed?” Riceros asked.
“I stayed on as the spurrier’s apprentice before the Duchess Ali-Pari seemed to take an interest in my story. She put me up in nice quarters and I became a ‘do anything’ around the castle. ‘Lucky you’re a cute one,’ Lady Rotondo used to tell me all the time,” Russell said, almost embarrassed.
“Well, good for that or you could still be smelling horse dung. We all get lucky in one way or another and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it,” Riceros reminded him.
“Yeah, after that I started to work better jobs and by thirteen, the Duchess treated me like her own. I know Edburgh resented me for that and for all the affection his mother poured on me. I didn’t ask for any favors, but I’m sure he saw it otherwise. I thought Edburgh would lose his mind when I was knighted by his father in a special castle ceremony,” Russell revealed.
“Pray, why didn’t you introduce yourself as Sir Russell Seabrook?” Riceros wondered.
“Because I’ve renounced the title. Yes, I would have eventually received lands but I didn’t want to defend rotten kings anymore. I also realized that as soon as Ali-Pari died, everything I had attained through her might disappear. Not might, everything would disappear. That’s when I met Dragon-Eyes in the Frozen Forest and realized there’s more than just defending false principles,” Russell said.
“I’ve always wanted to explore the Frozen Forest,” Riceros told him.
“I’ve been there countless times and unless you find a wizard, the Forest isn’t that exciting,” Russell said with a grin.
His stomach started to feel better until a bone-shattering wave slammed into the port side of the boat, knocking everyone down. Russell smacked his head on the mizzen mast and when he got his bearings straight, water rushed up, past his ankles. The boat tilted and Russell tried to find his friends. As he looked for Dragon-Eyes, his ears were filled with the haunting sound of stressed and cracking wood. The front end listed hopelessly, and Russell realized evacuation was imminent. Some frantic passengers dove into the enormous waves.
Russell started to strip off his baldric and ring mail as he looked for the Imp Wizard. Half the ship had been gulped away and the tilt became more severe as Russell moved to the top. He removed all excess weight that could lead to an instant drowning and plunged into the chilly waters. Russell assumed the sea would be warm. He looked back as the last tip of the Red Kraken went under and now Russell Seabrook was at the mercy of the Sea of Green. These waters were fabled to have killed more men than the Gods themselves. If a boat can’t handle these conditions, how can I?
Russell slapped at the choppy waters, barely staying afloat. He rode down a wave as the speed increased dramatically until it reached the bottom. The tide grabbed hold and pulled Russell into the salty brine. He frantically worked his way back above and sucked in a glorious breath of air. Unfortunately, he fell back under and drank some nasty sea liquid. He bobbed up and down, nerves going wild, and regretted skipping all the swimming lessons Ali-Pari had set up for him. Russell had come up with an excuse to get out of every session. He had never been a strong swimmer even in still waters and these waves seemed to have the strength of a thousand sea warriors. After being tossed around violently for several minutes, Russell started to tire. He was expending all his energy just to keep his nose above the water.
He felt ashamed because he was supposed to be the fearless leader. The leader had no idea if
any or all of his companions were alive or dead. However, Russell started to think the group would soon need a new leader as he started to go under more often and drink more of the salty cocktail of the sea. His arms flapped slower and slower until they barely moved through the rippling waters. He stressed every muscle to keep his neck above until he finally ran out of strength and began to plummet. Just as he accepted death, an angelic, soft forearm hooked his chin and dragged Russell Seabrook above again. He gasped and pulled in deep breaths until he steadied himself. The sun pushed through the dense black clouds and provided enough light for Russell to see two things. Lizeria had been his savior. Somehow, the tiny girl with arms as thin and light as feathers held the grown man above water. The other welcoming sight was a pink-pebbled beach in the distance.
Land looked so close but the tide seemed to be pushing them farther away. Lizeria rotated her body and hooked her arm through Russell’s, locking them together. The two lay on their backs as Lizeria tried to teach him better technique with his feet. She then demonstrated how to use his off hand to paddle. The quick lesson paid instant dividends as the uneven pair powered its way through the treacherous conditions. Russell closed his eyes and tried to maintain the pattern of the movements. Being on their backs helped conserve energy and Russell thought he could keep going for a while but eventually his stamina would run out. Lizeria seemed like she could swim forever and Russell thought more about the amazing courage of this tiny creature who had saved his life for the second time.
Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3) Page 15
