The Jewel of Nirune (The Sword of Time Book 1)

by William Smart

  “What? Our last?” Ming said “I have to go with you? I am no warrior just a simple man, I was hoping to get my pay and leave I have family who are sick in another province truly sir.”

  The man glared at him. “Guard yourself!” he hissed. “Soon you will be a mighty warrior or a dead soldier, either way, you will see bloodshed this night.” With that, he turned and stomped off. The hunt was on. The orders were given.

  "Kill all but the boy and the dog!"

  Ming had never in his whole life been more excited and terrified at the same time, even that time when he had caught the girl alone in the fields, so long ago, but when he was rich ah, there could be many such girls.

  Ming had no real information, of course, just what he had gleaned in the camp but still. He hadn’t realized how important the little information was. He had already gotten one bar of silver. Oh yes, he was going to be rich. He had led them to the small house and shown them the devastation there.

  He claimed he had seen the whole thing. How he had battled the sorcerers and barely escaped with his life. Oh, it was such a good tale and the most wonderful part was when he arrived at the scene with the captain of the guard, the body’s where everywhere just as he had said.

  It was fantastic like he told a story and fate contrived to make it be true, no one would doubt him now. In the torchlight, it seemed all the more gruesome. Some of the men had been ripped apart, like by some strange unknown creatures. He almost giggled to himself when they found a body with its head ripped off it was too good to be true. And the best part was when they crept inside the little house.

  He wasn’t allowed past the gate and didn’t know what was seen in there, but the captain sent a messenger to the Palace and posted guards. That was when the hunt really started in earnest.

  They began to run now no more time for speculation. The great dragons snarling so close to him, he could feel their wish to kill. One actually took a swipe at him again when he ran too close.

  They were almost on their prey, he was so happy he almost wasn’t afraid, Almost. The captain was not far from him and he could hear the commands. Was that a note of fear, in the captain’s voice as they approached the little river?

  Caution and fear from such a one as mighty as this warrior worried Ming, who had always prided himself on knowing where it was too dangerous to be and not being there. Still, they moved ahead. There was a faint glow coming from just over the bank of the stream. Scouts came back with the news. Their prey was gathered in a little meadow just across The River Xi. It wasn't much a river anymore, more of a stream, but the name stuck from another time.

  The captain grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him away from the soldiers.

  “Alright cur!” the man said so much disdain in his voice that Ming was insulted. “Tell me about their weaponry, what do we stand against? If you saw the battle you have an idea at least.”

  “Well?” Ming started a little flippantly, he had no idea what they had but he was always up for a good lie.

  The captain pulled him very close so he could smell the man’s breathe.

  “Don’t think I am fooled old man, my men are in danger here, and if you’re lying tongue gets even one of them killed I will have it for a trophy.”

  “Wha… Why are you so angry master?” Ming said in his most supplicating voice. “Have I offended you what have I done?”

  “I saw the devastation back there old man and I saw things I am sure you did not see or you would have run home and hid under your bed. You lie and say you fought in that battle and yet there isn’t even a scratch. Had you been in that building you would have had at least the blood of others on you! I see none! Tell me what you know.”

  Ming didn’t at all like this man’s tone, however, he was in no position to do anything about it. He was shivering with fear because he believed the man would truly take his tongue, but what could he do? So he lied the best lies he could think of.

  He told him of the glowing staff that could shatter bone and brain and of the swift sword of the dog man and of the girl with her magic wand, sending fire into the ground and the foreign boy bringing terrible monsters from his own land to devastate the Empire.

  He had no idea how remarkably close to the truth he was. He shivered in fear.

  The captain grunted and shoved Ming aside. For a moment Ming cringed, waiting for the knife. When he looked up, the captain was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got up and followed.

  Slowly the army crept up on the Xi. The once great river wandered over the rocks and gravel during this season easily waded through now. The air was very calm and the amassed army was now standing along the shallow bank. Waiting for something. There was glowing light across the stream. It was steady like no flame could be. It had to be a magical staff and he looked across the river there was a strange company that stood there. Indeed.

  A young girl with a willow stick and a small sword that looked to be no more than a large knife, an old man gray, and haggard from many years, held the glowing staff. A young boy obviously from another land with a strange creature wrapped around his neck, strangest of all a dog, standing on two feet. A glowing sword held in his strangely human paws, wearing scabbard and armor. They stood there at the ready even as the captain advanced across the small stream the great dogs howling and barking pulling at their handlers to let them loose. The little group stood their ground.

  “Go back,” the strange dog said in a loud voice. “We have no quarrel with you! Let us go and we might let some of you live.”

  The men all around gasped in surprise and shock at this talking dog.

  “You will surrender or die!” the captain yelled back

  The oncoming force was massive it looked like hundreds of men to Billy. He clutched at his small weapons till his knuckles were white. A lump in his throat and he felt like vomiting. What was he doing here? Why were these people out to kill him? He was just a kid for god’s sake! It looked like the whole amassed army of China was there, but why? Why had Brother Dog crossed all the way from, another time, another world, to drag him into this mess?

  “What is going on?” He whispered.

  The hounds were brought to the front of the line first. They were bigger than any dog Billy had ever seen. Even from this distance, they looked huge, all slathering jowls and bare teeth.

  Lightning and fire flashed as Zhoulin and Uncle began to use their magic. Billy was surprised at the feeling of power in the air. Uncle’s long staff with the orb on the end was sparkling like one of those balls in the museum that made your hair stand on end.

  Zhoulin had what looked nothing more than a willow branch in one hand and an old sword in the other hand, but fire was flowing between them. Billy was shaking so bad he could hardly hold onto the old sword he had salvaged from the last battle. He was tired. They were all tired. It had been a long run through the night. The previous battle had been intense.

  The men across the little stream were huge as well. The only Chinese people he had ever seen, prior to coming here had been on T.V. and they always looked so tiny comparatively speaking.

  The men now crossing the river were huge men with rippling muscles. They wore armor that would have been the envy of any warrior anywhere.

  “What shall we do?” Uncle said. “Surrender? We have no chance.”

  “I cannot.” Brother Dog said. “What would happen to me, an upright, speaking dog, alien to this world? They would surely experiment on me and then what would happen in your histories? Legends and rumors are one thing, but an actual alien on this planet would change it forever. And Billy at the very least would be used as an amusement for the court and would never return to his own time and land. You and Zhoulin will surely die, you know this is true, they will pick you apart like vultures.”

  Billy couldn’t help but put in, “It will change the future, whether we fight or not.”

  “Yes, there is that, but if we are captured….” He trailed off, trying to think of how to make
it clear. “Yes, it will change your world. All you know will be lost. You might not even exist. But worst of all these people don't realize what is at stake. “

  “And then there's the whole torture and killing us part,” Billy said sarcastically.

  “So we must fight!” Zhoulin said. A note of determination in her voice.

  “This is too weird!” Billy muttered, then giggled. It was all so ridiculous. “I can’t die here.” The little creature on his shoulder chittered.

  They all watched in awe as two huge cages were brought forward. Gold shone from the decorations in the new sunlight and there was something moving around inside.

  “What the hell?” Billy said quietly. Then he saw it as a strange creature threw itself at the bars of the cage snarling and roaring. “Jesus!” Billy exclaimed in shock and surprise. “Are those dragons? Holy crapolee! Dragons! No way! Dragons aren't even real!” He turned to his companions. They were equally surprised.

  Of course, he had seen paintings and sculptures of dragons since he arrived here. It had never occurred to him that there could possibly be, real living dragons. He was terrified.

  “Oh, I don’t want to be eaten by a Dragon neither.” Billy said to himself “that just isn’t right.”

  The leader called out again “Surrender yourselves there is no chance for you. You will be treated well if you give yourselves up now.”

  “We cannot.” Brother Dog replied “If you must come for us, then come. We will not surrender, but be warned we are not without ability. Go back and leave us to our journey. We want no trouble.”

  “How is it then you have killed our guards and the wizard Lijiang if you want no trouble? The Emperor merely wants to speak with the foreigner and the dog. The girl and wizard can go free. Is that not an equal bargain considering it is a request from the emperor to no more than a bunch of brigands?”

  No one responded this time.

  “So be it then!” the voice rang out. A fog was lifting over the little field and the sun was now rising, it was chilly in the morning light.

  “Ahokahey!” Billy murmured to himself. Brother Dog looked at him curiously as the enemy began to advance.

  “What did you say?” Brother Dog said, “Ahoka… what?”

  Billy spoke without taking his eyes of the advancing enemy. “I saw it in a movie once some Indian, I think it was Geronimo a great Indian chief. He said it as he went into a battle that he knew he was going to die.”

  “Geronimo? Movie? What are you talking about now?” Uncle said.

  “Yeah in the movie, The Indian war-chief Geronimo said it means. It's a good day to die,” Billy said, not bothering, to explain movies.

  “Aye!” Brother Dog and Uncle responded almost as one.

  “I don't understand,” Zhoulin said. “How can there be a good day to die?”

  “A Hoka hey, my young friend,” Brother Dog said, smiling one of his rare smiles. “A good day to die. Ha! You never cease to surprise me.”

  It was an odd thing to say at a strange time in a faraway country Billy realized. But it somehow made him feel better

  “Could of just said Geronimo, I suppose! Would of been simpler,” he muttered to himself...

  Water splashed into the air as the amassed army charged toward them. It was like a scene out of some crazy movie. Men yelling, water, flying, and then, they were on them, so quickly Billy was taken by surprise. For a moment he didn’t know what to do, then his little creature jumped from his shoulder into the face of an oncoming attacker. Brother Dog swung his sword like an old expert at war and Lightning flashed across the sky. And the fight was on!

  He barely dodged a well-aimed blade and managed to parry another. There was no more time for fear, he was surrounded. They were coming at him so fast he could barely parry their strikes. He stumbled and fell as he dodged a whirling blade. He managed to stick his sword in the man’s eye, more by chance than design. He stumbled backward again, a spear glanced off his arm. It pierced his shirt and pinned him to the ground. Brother Dog killed the spearman as Billy struggled to free himself.

  “You must fight better than this!” Brother Dog said as he pulled Billy to his feet while warding off attackers. Just then Billy’s little creature jumped on his shoulder for just a second and looked deeply into his eyes. He was shocked as the black eyes seemed to melt into his mind and soul, then he felt a burst of power like he had never felt before. Energy seemed to burst into his arms as he swung his sword in a madness he couldn’t seem to control. He jumped from victim to victim, killing easily! It was so easy to kill. He thought.

  The men around him were much bigger than he, but they were so very slow, he dodged their thrusts easily. He laughed as he dodged a particularly large warrior and stuck his blade through the giant’s eye. Deep inside Billy knew he was going to have nightmares over this, but for now, saving his own life was most important.

  The giant dogs came in the first wave. They were huge and slathering chomping at the air. Their handler released them shouting KILL, Kill. They came straight for Billy. He swung his sword at one, but it easily dodged him as the other came on his face. He dropped and rolled under them and jumped up on the other side, swinging his sword to no avail. They came at him again snapping and growling. He hit one in the muzzle with his sword handle and it yelped and backed away, the other came at his leg. His symbiont appeared out of the battle and jumped on a dog's face clawing at its eyes. Billy swung and cut the first dog's neck, blood spurted out everywhere. It fell to the ground whimpering. It was easy to decapitate the one the little creature was clawing. Try as it might, it couldn't dislodge the little creature. Billy chopped off its head. For all their fearful appearance, they died quickly. It heartened them somewhat that that conflict was so easy. But the soldiers kept coming and coming.

  They fought on for what seemed like hours the tight group standing back to back now. Billy’s arms were burning from swinging the sword, he had lost the small ax in someone's head and it wouldn’t come out so he grabbed the mans dagger and continued on, sword and dagger. The little creature stayed near him, but the power was waning, he could feel it. One more stroke just one more stroke he kept telling himself. Then just as he thought he would faint from exhaustion another attacker would appear.

  It happened so quickly he almost fell over. The soldiers were called back. He stood there amongst the dead bodies leaning on the sword panting. Looking around at his friends, they were all exhausted. They stood there among the bodies of the fallen soldiers, panting like dogs.

  “We cannot continue on like this,” Brother Dog whispered.

  No-one argued.

  “I have nothing left,” Zhoulin said.

  “As I!” Uncle agreed. “We are surely dead. He sat down on the ground holding onto his staff. It has been wonderful knowing you all.”

  "Why are we still alive?" Zhoulin said.

  "Look around you." Brother Dog said, "we have done very well if you can count killing in such a way.”

  They all looked up and realized the extent of their battle the bodies were all around including the hounds.

  “But this was just the first wave I suspect.” He said, motioning across the little river. “A test only.”

  On the other side, there were men gathering as far as the eye could see.

  “Oh my god,” Billy said. “Why? What the hell can be so important about us, as to bring out the whole freaking’ army?”

  “We did kill a few people, and destroyed a royal magical artifact,” Zhoulin said.

  “I am sure there is some pride involved.” Uncle Xu said “it will be embarrassing the emperor no end that we have so far escaped his clutches. For that alone, he must be furious. I think we will not survive the next onslaught.”

  They all watched as the dragon cages were brought forward. Six men were at each door as they loosed the animals. The men held chains as they lead the monstrous beasts to the water’s edge. They roared and Billy almost fell over.

  “Holy Crap!” He sa
id.

  “Indeed!” Brother Dog said. “Holy crap.”

  Just then there was a big commotion at the far end of the camp. They could see the amassed men separating like Moses on the Dead Sea. A strange golden chariot came through the crowd of men. On it a man dressed in golden clothes that shown in the new sunlight. He had some kind of crown with long feathers going straight up from it and trailing off maybe a meter long. Billy had never seen anything like it in his entire life. The whole army went down on one knee before this regal character.

  “The Emperor,” Zhoulin whispered.

  “Yeah, I figured,” Billy said.

  The emperor was talking to the troops, but they couldn't make out what he was saying.

  “I hope it's a long speech,” Billy said.

  They all have him an odd look.

  "Well, if I could run away, I would." Billy said "But I am too dog tired and this little guy is nothing but loose skin now." he said looking at the creature draped over his shoulder.

  Brother Dog pulled an old rag from his pocket and poured some water over it soaking it and then stuck it back in the pouch and dabbed it around a bit as if he was trying to coat it with something

  . “What are you doing?”

  Brother Dog pulled the rag out again “In this bag, I had Bark Root. It has healing properties. This is the rag I used to wipe you down when you were poisoned. I am going to ask you all to drink of it”

  “What?” Zhoulin said. “It is filthy! I am not drinking of that rag, from Billy’s wound! Yuk!”

  “We have no choice and no time!” Brother Dog said as he squeezed the rag over his own mouth.

  It has healing properties you need the strength if we are to survive.”

  “Hah!” Billy said. “Survive? Look over there, they are really planning to kill us. They got those Dragons ready, we have no chance, so the last thing I get to drink is that!? Great!”

  Brother Dog nonetheless held the rag to him and in the end, they all drank a little. I didn't smell good, and it tasted worse, but they all felt some strength coming back.