The Last Heroes Before Judgement (5 page)

“Look boy, they’re waiting for us.”

By that time, it hurt my chest to speak to the dog while keeping pace. The little devil had no problem running circles around me and trying to trip me by swiping at my heels. Senjay and Lazarus were running behind the caravan with Major Bloodaxe, and, when they stopped, he made them do pushups. I had hoped that they were waiting for me, but, from the tone of his shouting, it sounded more like someone had made a mistake. When he called back to us they were still a mile or more ahead. The smooth rock wall beside us carried his voice.

“Tommy? Can you believe he already forgot my name?”

The hunting dog shot through my legs from behind and I fell hard enough to learn the shells were good at sliding- especially off of cliffs.

“Hey! I almost fell off the cliff you mutt. Wait! I didn’t mean it. Come back.”

Of course, the dog’s name was Tommy. When his master called, he made sure to trip me one last time. They did not stop for us. Still, the dog had no problem catching up and making it clear that he had been ordered to accompany the straggler.

“Well don’t let me slow you down. I’ve been subsisting on fish guts in gruel for three months but I have all the energy in the world. You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up in no time.”

Talking to my self was even less fun than speaking with the dog. However, without Tommy there to trip me, I was able to hold a faster pace. Before the second hour had passed, I made it close enough to Major Bloodaxe that he ordered another dog to come and take me out.

“You’re in the Commandoes now boy-o, keep up or catch up. Timmy, take the rear.”

“Timmy? Oh no.”

The second hunting dog was grey as well but much younger and slimmer. He sat and waited for me to run up to him- as if tired- but it turned out to be a trick. When I passed he lunged out and pushed me into the cliff face. Worse than swatting at my heels he would allow me to gain a lead then fill the gap at speed and jump off my back shell.

“Hey, you’re not giving me a boost boy. This is not helping, stop it!”

I counted his gallops and managed to step to the side in time for him to jump and miss. Timmy left me with no choice but to zig and zag across the road until I had passed Major Bloodaxe. Then the rocks came at me from all sides in a flurry.

“We’re training to block arrows. Use your shells brother, ah! Damn dogs.”

“Careful with that one, he swipes at your ankles!”

When I was finally part of the caravan, the older hunting dog lunged out and dropped Senjay. I extended my hand to pull him up but Major Bloodaxe clipped my fingers with a stone. He kicked Senjay’s shell, making him spin on his back out of control, then went back to bouncing stones off the shells on our backs. Major Swiftblade was sitting in the rear cart whittling one of the extra black diver shells. He made sure to wait until our focus was elsewhere to bounce a stone off the cliff face, so that it would ricochet out sideways. The lady Major took turns lobbing one stone high and slow to distract from the fast ones she launched at our chests. She focused her attention on her charge- Senjay- to prevent him from getting any closer.

“Matthius, we have to cover him.”

Lazarus and I moved to the middle of the road to block the stones from passing. The Majors immediately made us suffer for it. The Swiftblade did not look up but began throwing rocks sideways with both hands. Stones came at us from everywhere, and we had to jump to deflect some on a curved trajectory. The dogs had to stay near the rear cart to keep from being hit because we were blocking nearly every stone and some were even finding their way back. Senjay sprinted in and we opened up to spread the line of fire. We started celebrating our skills just in time to distract ourselves from what the dogs were doing. They tripped us into a pile of knocking shells and moaning boys, and continued to jump on our bellies, while the caravan slowed to a stop.

“Well that was fun. Sorry I’m so late boys. Uh, did I miss breakfast?”

“No you did not!”

“Did somebody say breakfast? I’m sorry, are you hungry sweetness?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

“C’mon Matthius.”

“Alright, breakfast it is. You know what I’m in the mood for boy-o? How’s about we have us some turtle soup?”

Senjay and Lazarus groaned and started doing pushups.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Yea, neither did I.”

“What’s all that noise? Hurry up with breakfast and make sure it’s extra salty.”

The Bloodaxe and his dogs walked to the front cart. When they were out of sight Senjay stopped to breathe.

“Push harder girl!”

“Yes sir, Major Talon sir.”

“She thinks he’s too pretty to be a soldier. Watch this.”

Lazarus pulled at Senjay’s elbow and Major Talon started up screaming insults in old Slorrick. We tried to laugh but Major Bloodaxe returned and growled like one of his dogs. He had left his shirt and cloak in his cart and one of his dogs stayed to guard the front of the caravan. Despite lightening his load, he kept his axe laden gauntlets on his tree trunk arms.

“Well then, is my soup ready yet?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

He bent down and wiped the sweat off our foreheads, just to be sure we were exercising hard enough. Then he began stretching out his overlarge muscles while he waited for us to drink water from a jug in the rear cart.

“Sir, what are you making?”

Major Swiftblade did not stop carving at his shell, so I continued to question him and Senjay joined along with his pirate voice.

“Oh sire, a gift you say?”

“Oh sire, you shouldn’t have. Your company is treasure enough.”

He looked up at us with his brows raised as high as they could go before scoffing at us.

“I know what will wipe the smile off your faces.”

He nodded back to the Bloodaxe but he was just gathering stones into the small sling he used to carry them. I turned back confused and followed his stare to the sky.

“No! No, not today. I can’t do this today.”

“Excuse me, what will an eclipse do to us?”

“You aren’t going to die on me, are you boy?”

“Sir, no sir.”

When Lazarus looked up, we all stood there in silence for a moment to watch the sun die. The nearly full moon transformed into a dead black disk and slowly slid into place. I turned to let my hilt absorb the last rays and Major Swiftblade laughed at the fear written on my face. My head followed the receding light across the ice. The shadow chased it down the valley, followed immediately by the red light of death. Major Talon popped the cork on a swirling ram’s horn of berry wine and started fighting her own internal demons. The hilt held my skull together, but the shadow reintroduced me to the vision blurring, blood tainted, red shadow of pain. I dropped to my knees and vomited stomach acid and water under the cart. Unlike the others, at every solar eclipse, Mother Moon punished me for being the son of Gojinus. For all of the moon children he killed, I was made to suffer. Just as the people forced the sons that the Swillians left behind to wear a goat pelt, the gods forced me to drown in blood.

“Ugh, how’d the shell get heavier? Matthius?”

“Sir, I…food…I can’t…where is the…”

“That’s it boy-o, embrace the pain. Let it make a man out of you. Forward, trot!”

The caravan pulled off one cart at a time. All I could do was crawl towards the noise of hooves hitting the road. The old dog, Tommy, was tugging on my shell. Still, I could not stand up.

“You want it so bad? Take it!”

I ran out of breath taking off the shell but he was not satisfied. He bit down on my goat vest so I let him have that too. Then he ran a few paces ahead and sat down to bark. I was panting and gritting my teeth just to kneel when suddenly the dog came into focus. I saw that- beyond him- Major Bloodaxe had exposed as much skin as he could. Tommy was only trying to help.

“Thanks boy. I understand now.”

“Rough!”

Tommy only waited until I tried to stand before sprinting back to the others. I could only just barely drag the back shell anyway, so I threw the rest of my armor in it, and followed as quickly as I could. Even the smallest stone tripped me so I stayed close to the inside wall. Occasionally, my mind would flash back to the mine and to Ulfbar, as though I were soon taking the final journey to the underworld. Shaking my head hurt and made me dizzy, but, it forced my eyes to see the road again. The air grew cold and eerily still. There were no more birds chirping but, at the very least, there were no more gusts of wind to blow me off the cliff. All I could do was keep marching, no matter how slowly, and no matter how much it hurt.

The eclipse covered everything west down the road and north on the faces of every raised glacial plateau. This breed of red shadow stole all of my strength and filled me with a nauseating fear. Only one creature dared to move. The Scarlet Phoenix joyously hunted everything and blended into the red sky as if swimming in blood. Their screeches blew over me more than once but they could not dive at full speed on such an elevated target. Because of the increased threat of being eaten, Major Bloodaxe kept his dogs all safely hidden in the front cart. That’s how I turned a sharp bend in the road and suddenly came upon the stopped caravan. Major Swiftblade was waiting and pressed a finger to his lips to order my silence. I nodded and he mounted his steed without a word. Their smaller carts had only a front seat and under it all the cargo was already strapped in place.

“Sir, may I drink water?”

“Gear on, get in, stay low.”

The shells were so heavy that it was harder to put them on than it had been to take them off. I fell in the cart bed. My face took most of the force, thus keeping the noise down. I was finally drinking water when I saw why they had stopped. The dogs were up on the next tier of the cliff face- which was Lokah territory. I was about to tell Major Swiftblade about the border but the dogs jumped down into Lazarus’s arms and hid under a heavy leather cover.

“Sir, why did we stop?”

The Major turned back with his face twisted into the smile of evil pleasures.

“Ambush.”

The shell he had been whittling at earlier was fully carved into a face shield with funneled horizontal slits for eye holes. He pulled it down over his face and looked demonic in the red shadow. The caravan began to move and I hurried to screw the jug’s cap on tight. The steeds found a steady pace, and then, Major Bloodaxe ordered them into a full charge. The valley filled with the thunder of hooves and made it impossible to cautiously avoid any attacker. We had no choice but to rush in and shock them, but I had no weapon. I stretched my legs and shoulders and grunted blood into my muscles, preparing to help in any way I could. I did not hear the plan, but, if Senjay dismounted, I could run to him and at least block some arrows.

We slowed to round another bend and headed uphill, allowing me to see clear up the line. Senjay had no weapon either and there was a mass of iron spears blocking the road. The forward steed sped towards the road block without pause. Major Bloodaxe stood in his stirrups and destroyed every children’s story of dragons that I had ever heard. He spun the swiveling axes of both gauntlets, and built up a charge of trapped lightning. The ornately carved Drakkah proved to be a small cannon from which each launched a ball of blue lightning into the crest of the hilltop. Upon impact, the trapped fire broke free of its prison. The cheap iron road block boiled from beneath and exploded into bits that went everywhere but in our way. Bits of lightning arced between them, and the sound of thunder shook the songbirds from their trees.

Major Bloodaxe was not finished displaying his power. He picked up Lazarus and threw him onto the next tier of the cliff before diving into a hidden hole in the cliff face. Senjay stayed hid from a burst of fire as he sped past but I could see into the small archway. Some poor fools had taken up refuge in the office of an archaic abandoned mining entrance. The roof had rotted away but it was the Bloodaxe that destroyed the brick chimney and painted the walls with blood.

“Whoa! Eso, whoa!”

The caravan slowed just in time to hear the final screams of our would-be attackers.

“Lazarus! Where are you?”

I nearly leapt from the cart to run back when he stumbled out of the smoke, which was billowing from the hole where the front door once was. He vomited over the cliff side, then stood and raised his fist in victory. Major Bloodaxe joined him, carrying a chest the dead men had likely filled with their stolen loot. I was so focused on the smile Lazarus had on his face that I forgot to cheer alongside the others. When they passed on their way to the front cart, Major Bloodaxe looked down at my hanging jaw and laughed.

“Seven boy-o, there were seven of them.”

“But, who were they sir?”

“Don’t rightly know. Don’t rightly care.”

“And you’re still smiling Lazarus. What would your sister say?”

Lazarus took a long and deep breath and turned away. Then he slapped me in the face with a dead fish, and threw it in the cart.

“You’re welcome!”

The Majors laughed deeply while Lazarus strutted to the front cart. Major Talon took the chest in her cart and made Senjay strap it in place. My thoughts swam all about, but I could focus only on the stolen fish. The dead men had poached Beaked Pink Pointers from the Lokah’s glacial lakes and I could not let it go to waste. I emptied the guts over the cliff and checked for worms as quick as I could with my shaking hands. The salty meat was so fresh I did not even notice the caravan had begun to move again. We kept a pace the steeds did not mind for long enough to drift to sleep on a full belly. When my eyes opened I threw myself about the bed of the cart in fear of the dragon that filled the sky with blood.

“Nightmare’s almost over boy. Just rinse the filth off of yourself for now, you can clean your gear tonight.”

“Yes sir. Just a nightmare.”

My vision did not stay blurred for long, thought I was clearly recovering from several head injuries all at once. My whole life had been completely changed in a single morning. The hilt would give us the strength to recover from anything- even hold an army at the borders. And with the power of the drakkah in their hands, the Majors truly could kill any man they pleased.

“Let’s go my little turtles! Nap time is over, let’s get back to it!”

Major Bloodaxe called across the caravan while drawing it to a stop. I flopped out of the cart and began stretching and sighing in preparation for another lonely march. Senjay put his hand in my chest and I choked from the suddenness of being confronted with his glowing golden eyes.

“Matthius, your eyes are glowing.”

“So are yours brother. Lazarus?”

“Duh, look.”

His eyes were glowing as well and he pointed us to the sky. The moon was finally moving out from in front of the sun and it was the most glorious thing that I had ever seen. All of our backs straightened as the shells grew lighter. There was a flash of scarlet, a line of dead blackness, and then the sun returned to full brightness.

“Oh, magnificent allFather, blessed are we who speak thy name!”

“Yea, and just like your real father, never there when you need him.”

I turned to scream at Lazarus but his eyes went from glowing golden circles to the blood shot eyes of someone who had just finished crying themselves to sleep. I pulled him into a hug long enough for him to slap my back a few times, and wipe off his face in secret.

“Thank you for the food brother. I was literally starving.”

“Good, no more crying for breakfast then.”

“Did someone say ‘breakfast’? Good, how’s about some turtle soup? Extra salty.”

Major Bloodaxe dropped down and did pushups with us. His dogs dismounted as well, splitting into a rear and forward guard. We ran behind the caravan and trained to block arrows as if the morning had never been interrupted. However, the pace was severely slowed, and the dogs did not make any further attempts to trip our feet. Major Swiftblade stared at us from behind his shell mask and Major Talon separated the stolen loot into several purses. The mood of Major Bloodaxe had greatly improved from the pleasure of killing and he even sang warring rhymes while he ran. His voice carried out into the valley as the beasts began to resurface in the light of day. Every phoenix had already snatched up a meal to feed its babies so they were no longer dominating the skies. Song birds and gliding squirrels darted between the snow topped trees, and even the beavers came out to slap the water with their giant tails. They would not have approved of Major Bloodaxe’s beaver tail cloak, but he was too massive to be covered with any smaller or lighter materials. He sang a song about going on a beaver hunt, and, he even made it a funny tale with a surprise ending.