by C. W Tickner
The laughter stopped and the grip weakened. Instead of scrabbling down into the hole, Harl rolled over and saw blood dripping from One’s mouth as he started to topple onto him. Harl rolled again as the body crashed to the floor. A spear was jutting up from his back and Half was stood trembling behind him. The little boy was sobbing as he stared down at the body. Harl stood and tugged the spear out then shoved the body down the black hole, feeling the pain flare up in his wounds.
‘Thank you,’ Harl said, making Half look up from where the body had lain. Harl pressed the spear into his hand and the boy tightened his grip on the small weapon.
‘You heard?’
Half bobbed his head and stared down at the vent.
‘We have to get back,’ Harl said, feeling his limbs numb as blood dripped to the floor. He took a few steps down the passage in hopes that Half would follow.
The boy joined him as he reached the door and pushed it open. No one saw them step out. Most of the silver army were busy staring down the hillside as the gold forces retreated, the rest marched up to join their comrades.
Harl staggered along the ranks, Half by his side. He wobbled and almost fell into the boy as he finally caught sight of the silver general talking to Damen.
Troy and Dana were nearby and spotted him first.
‘Harl?’ Troy called but before they could reach him Harl’s vision darkened and he stumbled into a group of men.
‘Hey, watch it.’
‘Clear the way!’ Silver’s voice boomed as Harl caught a glimpse of Troy bent over him.
‘Champion dual… tomorrow… Kane hostage.’ It was all Harl could say before the blackness swallowed him.
Chapter 40
I have given myself the title of Doctor. Dr M Haynes, has a nice ring to it. No I have no certificates but I have read every decent scientific manual in the library and there’s little I can’t accomplish now if I put my mind to…. The cryo bed!
Cheers woke Harl and he sat up to find Troy’s legs blocking his view.
‘Troy?’
Troy looked down and moved aside. They were in a white tent and Harl was resting on a straw stuffed mattress with half a dozen other wounded men around him. He sat bolt upright. ‘Kane?’
‘Hoping you’d tell us where he is.’ Troy said. ‘How you feeling?’
‘The fight?’
‘You woke up just in time to witness it. You lost a couple of tankards of blood I reckon.’
Harl rubbed his head, trying to clear the fuzziness and inspected the thick bandage around his arm. ‘Who’s fighting?’
‘Damen’s just on his way down.’
‘He’s the champion?’
‘Ones been missing since you arrived,’ Troy said, raising an eyebrow. ‘What happened?’
Harl quickly outlined how Three had switched places with One and convinced Silver he was the same and how Kane was being held hostage.
‘Sneaky bugger,’ Troy said.
‘So if I don’t take the tools to him then he’ll be killed and there’ll be no chance of an alliance.’
The cheers intensified and Troy stuck out a hand to Harl as Dana poked her head inside. She nodded at Harl as he took the hand. He wobbled unsteady on the leg until he felt he could place more weight on it.
Outside, the men were lined along the hilltop and Harl headed straight for where the general was mounted, staring down at the distant back of Damen.
He gave them a glance as they approached and held a hand up for silence, turning back as Two lumbered down the opposite hillside.
‘One,’ Silver said. ‘That treacherous slime. Wonder what his asking price was.’
Troy looked at Harl and Harl shook his head gently. It would do no harm to let him think it was the same man. Unless Damen lost.
Both men had a javelin strapped across their back. Two held a sword and shield while Damen had what looked like an oversized woodcutters axe in one hand.
Silver clicked his tongue and the bullock trotted down the hillside and waited at the halfway point as Gold did the same on the far side, both men hoping for a better view. Harl skidded his way down to get a closer look as the two champions broke into a run. The cheering fell to near silence as they sprinted at each other.
Harl could imagine the hatred in Damen, seeing the opponent as if he was the cruel Four.
Together they unstrapped their spears and Two was the first to throw. It soared straight at Damen too fast for the eye to follow. Damen dropped and rolled letting the javelin pass over him. It quivered as it stuck upright in the mud. The crowd murmured at the move. Both men roared as they churned the soil underfoot in their mad dash to murder each other.
Damen had the spear ready, and as the two reached ten metres apart, he threw. Two smiled and dodged the spear but not before Damen threw his axe. It tumbled over once in the air and struck with a sickening thunk into Two’s chests. The force of the impact threw Two backwards and he lay still on the ground, his hands wrapped around the haft in a final attempt to pull it free.
Stunned silence spread across the field as both armies tried to take in the fact that Damen had won without a clash of weapons. Charges were exchanged by Aylen above over the outcome and Harl guessed bets had been placed. How had they known what was going to happen?
Silver let out a singular cry of triumph as he rode towards Damen and the watchers above left once the action was over. Harl followed, feeling the stitches in his leg twinge and saw Gold coming down the opposite side of the field. Gold acknowledged Damen with a nod and Silver dismounted to slap him on the back.
‘Well done my champion,’ Silver said. He glanced at Gold as the general reigned in. ‘Satisfied?’
Gold frowned and looked up at where the watchers had disappeared, then nodded.
‘The alliance?’ Harl prompted.
‘Nothing until this is off,’ Gold said, tugging at his collar.
‘I haven’t got the tools yet,’ Harl said remembering his half of the deal.
‘Luckily I have,’ Gold said. He raised one hand in the air and Kane was escorted down the slope, his stolen silver clothes coated in mud. He was holding a new set of tools, sweat pouring down his pale forehead. He wiped the mist from his glasses and trudged across to Harl. Gold and Silver shuffled their mounts back as Dana joined the five men.
Damen grunted and stepped forward.
‘Did they treat you alright?’ he asked.
Kane nodded.
Damen’s courage must have reminded the leaders of their part and both came closer. It was strange, Harl thought. All of them daring death together as Kane walked towards him and began to chip away at Harl’s collar.
Even with the sweat beading on his forehead, Kane seemed more confident, and this time there was no shaky hands. He was intently focused until he slipped. A clinking noise and the faces of Gold, Silver, Dana and Damen changed to wide eyed stares. Troy was already standing ten paces away, a shield held at chest height.
‘Is it red?’ Harl asked. He wondered why they were still standing so close, did they want to die? He tried to think of some final last words but all he could think of was Sonora and Elo.
When Kane stepped back the metal collar was in his hand. The light was off.
Relief flooded Harl and he took a deep breath.
‘Now me,’ Gold said. ‘We had a deal.’ He sounded desperate and stepped forward holding his chin up, eager for Kane to start work.
Kane looked to Harl for final approval but even when Harl nodded, Kane shook his head at the two generals. Both Silver and Gold frowned at him.
‘Make the alliance,’ Kane said.
Damen laughed at Kane’s audacity.
Harl waited as the generals eyed one another.
Silver looked down at Two’s dead body, ‘When I first met these men,’ he caught Dana’s expression, ‘and women. I believed in what they wanted but didn’t believe it could be done, until now.’ he stepped up to Gold and put a hand on his gold plated shoulder. Gold stared at the han
d as the armies stared on in amazement. ‘For so long I have looked up at the faces that decide our future and our death. I thought they gifted us power through combat but I have begun to see that we mean nothing to them.’
‘There are many more,’ Harl said, ‘who do not see us as rodents and they’ll help us once we’re out.’
Gold put his hand on Silver’s arm. ‘Tonight we celebrate, together. We’ll feast in the split room and have our men work out their differences. But how do we stop them rioting?’
Damen spoke up for the first time since killing Two. ‘If they don’t agree then they continue to be walking bombs.’
‘Good plan,’ Kane said. He began to tinker with Damen’s collar before freeing either of the two generals and Harl saw it as a mark of friendship between the two.
When Gold and Silver had theirs removed they just stood rubbing their necks for a minute as if unable to believe it.
Kane jingled the collars in his hands. ‘I’ll keep hold of these and make sure they are not found by the janitors.’
‘They could be a problem,’ Gold said. ‘Do we take them out?’
Kane shook his head, ‘they are better equipped at the moment. At least until all of us have our collars off. They also have the ear of the watchers.’
‘I know we have a problem with most of the janitors,’ Silver said, ‘but I know a few who are trustworthy.’
Kane shook his head. ‘It’s a sham. They work for the others and change the information you give them to suit their purpose.’
‘What do you mean?’ Harl said.
‘They live good,’ Kane said, reddening. ‘Food is diverted to them, luxuries never make it past their living quarters. Yes they have to carry dead bodies and clean up the blood but in return they take from those who fought to please the Aylen. I can’t go back now, they’ll kill me.’
‘This must be kept secret,’ Harl said. ‘Kane, stay hidden until we can all move about freely.’
‘They have access to hidden doors,’ Kane said.
‘Then we guard them,’ Damen said.
‘And if they alert the watchers?’ Gold said.
‘We have to move fast,’ Harl said. ‘We can’t risk them knowing about a joint feast. Instead over the next day we can bring every man to Kane and have them swear loyalty to both gold and silver before their collars are removed.’
‘A new army?’ Gold asked.
‘Bronze?’ Damen suggested.
The generals frowned together.
‘We know all about it,’ Harl said, referring to the uprising of a third army, led by their old friend Drew.
‘It will be ironic,’ Kane said, ‘If we use it the men will realise we’re against the watchers in the same way. We’ll start with the Silver army tonight. Have them come to me one at a time during the feast.’
‘It’ll take all night,’ Silver said.
Kane shrugged, ‘I would teach others but it would be foolish. I can’t wave a sword around but I can free men.’
Chapter 41
I can do it. I have cleaned up the cryopod and unlike before, it will be easy enough to set up. I just needed to understand embedded electronics and basic cryo heat exchange.
The feast was the biggest Harl had ever seen. Meats and bread piled from platters in the centre of the long tables as the silver general gave his speech. The fires were roaring and the smoke drifted up the chimneys where Harl noticed the silver banners had been removed, leaving just bare brickwork above.
‘As you can see,’ he said, taking a fortifying swig of drink, ‘my collar is gone.’ Men who had not noticed began to murmur. ‘We have found a way to free ourselves. It has come at a cost though and at the same time a blessing. We are no longer at war with the golds.’ The murmur grew into a chorus of questions.
‘Who we gunna fight then?’ a man said as he stood up and swayed from the drink.
‘The Watchers, Jarl,’ Silver said. Jarl almost toppled backwards from the words. His companions tugged him down into his seat again.
‘We’ve fought this battle too long,’ Silver said. ‘How many friends have you watched die at the hands of Gold?’
‘Too many!’ another said. ‘Too many to be at peace with them.’ Men muttered agreement around the tables.
Silver shook his head, ‘No,’ he said. ‘They too have watched just as many die under our blades and for what? It is not the doing of the golds that we have been fighting. It is because the watchers tell us to kill each other. It is for their benefit that we kill our fellow men. I will let you judge for yourselves whether or not to blame the giant faces that stole us away and put us here, or to blame others who have been put in exactly the same situation as you have. I will let those who have come here to help us free ourselves, tell you what this is all leading up to.’
He took a seat and Harl swallowed as he stood. Damen rose with him on one side as did Dana. Their support for him was like a warm fire in a chilly sea of undecided faces.
‘Yesterday I visited the golds to make a pact,’ Harl said. A few men gasped among a bubble of rising chatter. Harl put hand out and waved them to quiet. ‘And later tonight their general will be giving his men the same talk. It’s not a rousing speech to make you blood thirsty for battle. Instead it is just a simple message. That we’re all equal and we all deserve a way out of this bloodshed. There is a life waiting for you beyond these collars and this table of death. We have a human city where you can start a new life. I ask only that you are prepared to fight one last time. Starting from the front I would like men to come forward to be sworn to both generals and pledge to fight the watchers until we gain our freedom.’
Before the crowd could react to his words the double doors at the end of the hall were thrown open and men jumped up from their benches as Troy and Dana escorted a collarless Gold between the central row of tables. Soldiers muttered under their breath and a few openly shouted in outrage. Most held their tongue as Silver bellowed for silence and stood. He waited for Gold to step up on the platform then stepped forward and clasped hands with enemy general.
The first man to approach them was Damen. He offered his allegiance to both generals and to a newly formed bronze army, but halfway through his declaration he stopped.
‘I demand one thing in return,’ he said. Neither gold nor Silver said anything. ‘I want to be the one to kill Grakka.’
‘Unless you need help.’ Silver said with a smile.
Damen chuckled. ‘We’ll see.’
Men queued up afterwards, forming a line that doubled back from the far end of the room. They pledged themselves to the bronze army, embracing both generals and swearing to fight the watchers.
Kane had stunned them all when the first man had sealed the deal with Gold and Silver then turned to have Kane remove the collar.
Kane had thrust a hand out and clasped the man’s wrist, waiting for him to do the same. The man looked around as he was held by the thin pale arm. Damen laughed. Even Silver and Gold looked put out at Kane’s boldness. It was Kane’s genius at work. Men were unwittingly pledging to the scientist as though he was a general. The man nodded acceptance. Harl let him have his moment and watched the pile of green lit collars grow at his feet. He looked exhausted by the end of a few hundred and his hands were red raw before he disappeared to sleep for a few hours.
When Kane woke from the short nap he led them through quiet tunnels until they reached gold territory. Gold pushed his way to the front of them, clearly proud of his collarless status. Men stared in astonishment as they made their way to the barracks.
One of his captains had drawn his sword, seeing the men in silver around him. Others were snatching up weapons and rushing to join him.
Gold waved him down. ‘Put them away!’ he roared. ‘These are friends.’ He turned on the captain. ‘Coiffure, arrange a meeting, now, in the feast hall.’
‘Aye, sir.’
The same speeches were given and once more Kane silently demand each man pledge to him as well as the two gene
rals and to being part of the bronze army.
When the soldiers had finished pledging themselves They headed for bed with orders to be ready for tomorrow. It was time for a plan to take on the Aylen and Grakka.
‘I need every blacksmith and scrap weapon you can find,’ Kane said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He suddenly looked invigorated as if given a second wind. Men had called out to him as he passed them on the way to the long glass partitioned training room that separated one level of the table into Silver and Gold territories.
The walls were plastered with chipped wooden slats. The once smooth edges now had slices and chunks missing from the bites of a hundred sharp weapons. Battered training dummies were packed along both sides of the wall and bled straw from weapon slices.
The glass partition in the middle of the room was where the two armies had been able to mock each other pre-battle whilst training for forthcoming fights. A short clear sided tunnel connected the two halves and only the janitors had been able to enter the glass airlock. Any silver or gold entering would see their collar first turning yellow then red.
‘Anything else?’ Gold asked, using a rag to wipe his bald head. ‘Perhaps the world on a plate or a squadron of naked harlots?’
‘We’ll take em,’ Troy said, then ducked as Dana swiped a gloved hand through the air where his head had been.
‘You should aim for his neck,’ Damen said, ‘and it’ll be his fault for dropping his head in the way.’
‘Dana grinned, clearly taking the hint on board.
‘Thanks,’ Troy said throwing Damen a dirty look.
‘What do you need them for?’ Harl asked.
‘To make a self retracting grapple gun,’ Kane said. They all looked blankly at him. ‘Well you did ask. If our plan is to work then I need them.’
‘I understand the need for scrap weapons,’ Silver said, ‘but-’
