by Sam Sea
Mikka was already upstairs, not caring of the fire that was creeping through the floor.
"Silent!" She screamed as she busted through the room to find it all empty.
"Somebody died there..." Mikka said to herself, standing next to the pool of dried blood right by the doorway. She looked around and saw all Silent's clothes there, and dreadful thoughts started to burn her mind.
“Why, why did I leave you? Should never have done that?" Mikka cursed herself in tears as she kneeled next to the blood circle, touching it ever so lightly, indifferent to the raising flames around her.
"We need to leave... They are not here..." she heard Ronnich voice, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her away.
"Listen, that blood is dry... It's not recent. That was days ago. And there is too much of it to belong to a young girl." His words made sense, and interrupted her grieving.
Mikka nodded in understating that he was right. "Your wife...?"
"I went to our room and nobody is there... all the clothes and our things are there, but seems nobody was up there. Nothing seems out of place. My boy would have been there in bed. Where could they be?"
"Look..." Mikka pointed to the door and scratched marking of a giant triangle on it.
"This was done by a sword, sharp one, on purpose.
"What does that mean?"
"I think Silent did this... It's a massage...They left us a sign where they went... We run to the pyramid temple then. They may still be alive and safe."
"We are too late, priest, they seem to have already poisoned the well." Les called out from the well. “It even smells bad in there… rotten like death.”
"It had already started..."
"Maybe not so... The tavern takes the water from the well here. It seems they had poisoned it as they passed next to it. It could not had been more than two days ago. That poison seems to be working really fast. Riker, take four of your guards and race toward the spring. You may not be too late. I will go straight to the castle and try to help those in there."
"Derran, I am just going to ask once..." the fire that came from Mikka's eyes got all of his attention. "Did you instruct your priests to take Silent anywhere?"
"No, I did not... But I did tell one of them to watch over her and your wife and child. And if anything bad was to happen to give them a full protection."
"You better had been honest with me... And I better find her, unharmed! Or else I will not be so careless next time I go for you, and I’ll needle you until you forget your own name. And that will be only a start." Mikka spat accusations toward Derran.
But he would have none of it. “Control your anger… Let your brain do the thinking, so calm down. Or else, we will again be telling each other how sorry we all are…”
Ronnich paid little attention to Mikka's threats and iterations she had with Derran, and showed reins of her horse to her hand. "Let's get to that temple fast. It may not be too late."
"I will go with you." Les said.
"No, keep the prince safe." Mikka yelped at him, nudging her horse to run after Ronnich. On the way out, she bend forward and with extended sword, cut off the head of an half-orc who was unwise to get in her way.
The gate to the temple were locked and it took Ronnich and Mikka a long minute of knocking and screaming until one of the young priests decided to come forward and see what they wanted.
But then as they opened the gate for them, none of the waiting mattered any more. Out of the first door, both Silent and Sol raced out and ran toward them.
"I thought I lost you!" Mikka rushed to meet her and then hugged her so hard that Silent fought to breath, and didn't let go of her for a while now.
"I will never let you go again," she promised her.
“We are fine, Mikka,” Silent told her and explained how the priest took them in and kept them safe. She felt a wave of gratitude toward Derran.
“What exactly is going on?” Silent asked her.
“They had poisoned the water with some kind of a biological weapon that turns ordinary men into blood thirsty cannibals. They are trying to assassinate the kings and turn this land upside down.
"Then, you need to go and help those people.”
Silent looked at Mikka and how quiet she got.
"You need to leave right away then, don’t you?"
"Yes..."
"Will it be dangerous...?"
"Yes... And I do not know if I can make it... There will be a river of them, and we are but a few. And the best weapon I have is this sword here. Imagine that."
Silent dared to smile. "You will be fine. I know it.”
“Good, good to hear that. You are never wrong about such things.” Mikka told her.
“People here... you know, they are very nice... her mom tried to save my life, risked everything. And I hardly even know her. They are really worth saving.”
"I know. There are good people here. I will do my best."
“You remember brother Gorin? He is the one that brought us here…” Silent said pointing to the priest who came out to meet them.
Mikka acknowledged him with the nod of her head and then asked him. “How many of you are here? How many can fight?”
“There are about fifty of priests and guards, but I am afraid only half know how to use weapons.”
“That should be plenty…” Silent said as she saw concerned look on Mikka’s face.
The gate behind them opened again and the carriage rode in with four guards and Les riding on top.
“We have no time to waste…” Mikka said as she looked at Ronnich. “Are you going to stay here by your family or you’re coming with me to the castle?”
“If my family is safe here, I will come with you..”
Les came down from the carriage and joined them. "I want to go and fight with you. You have my sword you know that."
"You are too weak..." Mikka dismissed him.
“I am fine... You’ve already said that your blood is running through my veins... I am faster..."
"You've been eaten by the snakes... Your bones had probably been crushed... and they cannot heal this fast. Even if you feel no pain... Understand that! Besides, I want you to take care of my Silent here for me. That maters to me than my own life.”
Les looked at her not knowing what to say.
"You are my angel..." he said, not knowing what else he could say to change her mind.
"Then take care of her."
"I want to come…”
“No…” Mikka was firm.
Behind the prince came out of the carriage and joined them as well. "I heard you are going to the Castle. I want to come with you.”
"Barricade yourself in here..." Mikka ignored his pleas.
"Silent, I have a weapon for you... Under her robe, she took out a staff similar to one Derran had. "You know how to use it. If anything comes out through that door that's not us, you know what to do and priests cannot stop him, you know how to us it."
"But you may need it yourself."
"I will be fine..."
"I love you..." Silent didn’t know what else to say. "Thank you, thank you for coming back for me..."
"I love you too, kiddo... There is an old man who will get himself killed if I do not go fast to help him.."
"Go then, and save them. You can do it. You can save them all."
"If I never see you again..."
"Don't say that! I know I will see you soon." Silent was certain.
"If I don't... and if the old man survives... I want him to take care of you... Regardless of anything else, he was still a good father to me. Understand?"
Silent nodded her head.
But the conversation seemed to be not over for the little prince. "I want to go to the castle," he insisted.
"No, you will not go there now." Mikka was
"I am the future king, and I order you to take me to the castle.”
Everybody stood still for a second, priests stood in the outmost indecision, looking at each oth
er, not fully knowing what to do. Mikka walked between them all, and took little prince by the hand. She could see a problem. In an instant, she could see it all happening. The prince, incapable to adhere to any rules and orders, was going to sneak out and run away to the castle. Les and others would go and try to find him, abandoning his post and weakening their defenses, monsters breaching through to Silent and others, eating them alive. It all instantly flashed in front of her eyes. She knew she didn't have time to deal with this problem, but what could she do?
"You will stay here and defend this temple and everyone in it. Do you understand?"
"No, I will not! You do not command me!" Mikka slapped him hard enough over his cheek that he was knocked on his behind.
"Does that hurt?" She asked him sternly, not backing down an inch. The little prince did not know what happened to him. Nobody ever did that to him or spoke to him in such a fashion. He did not answer, so she walked over to him and jerked him up by his hand. "Listen, I do not have time to play with you. So, you better listen. As hard as I slapped you right now, there are men out there that eat you with pleasure. Do you understand?"
The boy would not understand.
"If you do not answer me, I will slap you even harder... Do you understand that?"
"You cannot talk to me..." This time Mikka slapped him equally on the other cheek. But this time did not bother pulling him by his hand. She lifted him by the caller of his shirt with her left hand.
"Do you understand!?"
The little prince nodded his head.
"I want to hear it!"
"Yes, I understand."
Mikka loosened her grip and he pulled away running toward the horse. But Mikka was there to stand in front of him, and slap him again, even harder that time, knocking few of his teeth out of his mouth. "Are you a spoiled little brat? Are you??” She screamed at him.
"No.." the boy said.
"Then, don't behave like one! If you try to leave and put anyone else life in danger, I will skin your back, put some salt on you and sew your skin back on! And ask grown men around you to see if I will not do exactly that! Do you know how much that will hurt?"
The little prince did not dare to respond..
"You will listen to that man there..." Mikka said pointing to Les, "...and you," Mikka looked straight into Les's eyes "...if he starts to behave like a spoiled little brat who cannot follow orders, you will smack him around until he does. Your days of being prince had officially ended. Do you understand?"
"I will take care of him, my goddess, I will do as you command." Les said obediently as he obviously learned in his life lessons that the little prince could not have had.
"Now, we have already lost too much of our time… Let’s go. Two priests that know the way to serve as guides will come with us. We ride now.” Mikka made it to the gate and then turned around “You will stay here thinking of how you will apologize to me for not listening well when you see me next time, especially if I end up by some miracle saving your parents. Do you understand?"
The prince nodded.
“Now go, all of you, and lock yourself in." Mikka already saw few of the locals who turned monsters going down the road to the monastery.
She looked at Silent for the last time. "You know what to do... If it gets tough, and you get scared, just get mean. really mean, an kill every mother-fucken last of them."
Silent answered with the burning flames in her eyes.
Mikka looked inside her heart and did not find fear. She knew they were going to be fine and that she will see them all again. Les and Silent would know what to do.
Mikka knew that if the crowd of orcs-in-making have surrounded Derran it would have probably meant his end. She thought that he might have figured that out by himself as well, and would have not stopped at every house trying to help those that are being butchered by the monsters. He would have raced down the widest street, straight to the castle. But that presented a problem.
"Can we get to the Castle without going through the town?" she asked priests riding next to her.
"Yes, we can go to the spring, and then take a tunnel. That should take us straight there.”
"I hate tunnels..."
"We could risk it going through the city..."
"No, we need to go through the tunnels. That is the best way to go. We can also check what happened there then."
As they made the hill taking them to the higher ground, Mikka stooped to look for the last time at the temple, but the scene she saw made her stare it for a long moment.
Hundred half-orcs, where they came from she could not even guess, had already circled it all, targeting its gate. It was not like a sporadic one or two monsters arriving unorganized at the temple’s gate which should have not presented a problem to Les or priests. It was a mob, almost a whole army, some already climbing walls to get in its court.
“Oh, what have I done?” she asked herself. "They will all die... I was wrong. We need to go back. We cannot leave them there."
But Ronnich did not hear those words. He had already turned his horse backward and pushed it toward the pyramid.
Everyone followed him. Mikka could see arrows being shot from the temple, not as many as she would hope found its target. Two priests behind her had their bows as well and in seconds, arrows started to fly above her head, shooting at those that grouped in front of the main gate.
Hearing Mikka's crazed shriek and the thunder of the coming horses, the wildmen stopped and stood frozen, maybe not understanding why was there someone who was not scared of them and not trying to run away. How could there be someone running at them with all that force? Many lost their heads to Mikka's sword before they could figure any of it out, her warrior yell leaving her mouth again as she buried her horse into the wall of twenty of them. But she was not alone. Ronnich was right there next to her, his voice yelping a war-cry of his own as he waved his sword at his enemies hands, throats, chests, and everything that would not move out of its deadly reach..
Les came out of the door on his foot and with a long spear, nailing two cannibals before pulling out short swords.
"Priests!" Mikka called on the priests who were still firing their arrows at the entrance to the compound. "Go inside!" she yelled at them as twenty and more wildmen were running toward them down the road. She knew if they do not get in cover, their spears will find them fast.
"Go to the house, and provide the cover for us!"
"This was just a small mob . More will come. We cannot stay here." Les told her.
"No... That’s why we came. We run together." Mikka said.
Silent came out. "Get everyone going. We live at once,” she yelled at them.
"We ride to the spring, and stick together and watch over each other's back,” she told the priests who still did not stop shooting at the coming half-orcs.
But they had only ten horses. So, Ronnich took his kid in his hands and his wife behind him.
Mikka pulled the little prince up. "You go with me," she put him upfront, and Silent was in her back.
The other's doubled, and they made for the spring. Luckily the road ahead seemed much safer than the road in the back. Mikka knew she made a right decision for going back. As they made the last corner, she turned around and saw the temple overrun in flames and bewildered beasts..
It seems many had already realized that the hell was coming their way. They hid in their homes, basements, fields, or had already run away to other places they considered safe. Few of those they found on the road they warned of the coming wildmen, of not drinking the water that smells bad, and hurried them away.
"Leave your treasures where they are..." The priests screamed at the man who was still loading a car with his furniture and house artifacts. "If you are not gone, those that come behind us will eat you alive."
"Let him be, carrying all that stuff behind, he will not get far anyway...."
The man look at his cart, and with the hands holding his head understood what a foul he was.
>
"Please stop, please stop!” he called on to them “Can you please take my daughter with you..." In a second, he pulled a little girl, not older than five out of the cart, under the rug he placed to hide her.
Two of the priests closest took the girl on the horse they shared, and raced to join the others.
"Leave your things behind, and run to the castle, If you get there, you may yet save yourself. Tell the others you run into... Carry only what can serve as a weapon..." they yelled back at him.
Just like Mikka predicted, Derran was torn between stopping at each house and warning people to run and between making to the castle as fast as he could.
As he got deeper in the city, closer to the city, he could see that people were wondering around as if nothing wrong was going on. Some even set lea surly inside their doorways, enjoying the last of the autumns sun and looking at him galloping by. Closer and closer he got to the castle he noticed that the life seemed as ordinary as on any other day.
He stopped at the public fountain but a stone throw away from the castle. "Have you not received my message... Have you not been warned not to drink the water, that it has been poisoned?" He yelled at those few gathered around one of the fountains he ran next to.
People around stopped to watch him as he yelled again at them "Do not drink this water!!! It will kill you!! Tell everyone to stay away from the water!!”
But they just looked at him with their blank stares as if he spoke in the tong they could not understand.
"The water has been poisoned! It will turn them into monsters." Women around the fountain were just dumbfounded and knew not of what to do. “Just drop that water and run to safety. Monsters are coming!”
They still did not respond, so Derran took his staff and smashed their ceramic battles, and then dig a small red glass out of his pocket and threw it inside the fountain. The water instantly turned red inside. "You will not be drinking from here! Run for your lives!" He was still yelling as he pinch his horse toward the opened castle’s gate.
