The Other Side

by Alan Hotchkiss

  Riezgar turned his head, cocked an eyebrow and averted his gaze back towards the oncoming Doogard.

  ‘If I wanted your opinion Doogard, I would have asked for it………and I certainly don’t remember asking for it,’ growled Riezgar.

  ‘Maybe not, but last time I checked I’m still head of the Elven army, regardless of whether you think this is your mission or not. So that means you’ll do as I say whether you like it or not.’ Doogard was now standing before Riezgar with his teeth gritted and balling his hands into fists.

  A large grin broke out on Riezgar’s face as he turned his whole body around to face up to Doogard and match his show of aggression.

  Positioning his face only inches from Doogard’s, he growled. ‘Maybe in your eyes you still think you’re in charge, but look around. These Elves fight for me and our King, not you, you have no allies here. Your orders are empty and even you heard Drer saying that I’m in charge of this mission. So what does that say about your position? You’re finished as chief, from now on I’ll be calling the shots and you’ll just need to like it or lump it.’

  Doogard’s face fizzed with anger and he leaned his head in so close to Riezgar that their foreheads now pressed against one another. Al the other Elves had now wandered across the gym hall and began to swarm around the pair, full of excitement with the threat of violence breaking out looking a certainty.

  If Mr Colman hadn’t initially been aware of the danger he was in, he most certainly was now. As he watched the two large men square off against each other and the rest of the crowd gather round baying for blood, he knew he had to try to get out of the gym hall while their attention was elsewhere. He feared he may not get another chance if he didn’t, and so slowly at first, he had begun to edge backwards towards the door he had entered the gym hall through.

  Just as it looked like Doogard and Riezgar were about to start fighting, Riezgar suddenly stepped back with his hands raised in a defusing manner.

  ‘Besides you’re forgetting two important factors here all mighty Doogard,’ said Riezgar in a mocking tone.

  ‘Yeah……and what’s that then?’ Doogard growled in reply.

  ‘Well firstly……..the mission is far from complete and is very much still active.’ Said Riezgar.

  ‘What?’ exclaimed Doogard.

  ‘And Secondly……’ began Riezgar as a wicked smile formed on his face again, ‘I like hurting innocent people.’

  Chapter 32

  Mr Colman the janitor had been making good progress in his bid to escape from the gym hall and the dangerous characters lurking within it. He was only a few yards from the exit and glanced around to make sure he was still being unnoticed. As before, the large group of men were all still gathered around the pair that had been squaring off to one another. ‘Perfect,’ he thought as he turned back towards the exit, covered the last couple of paces to the door then raised his right arm to grab the door handle.

  That was when the piece of shiny silver burst out of chest. His right arm never made it to the door handle, instead it hung in mid-air, short of its target. Mr Colman’s eyes looked down in shock at the sharp metal point that protruded from his chest.

  That was the last thing the old janitor saw before everything went dark and his limp, lifeless body slumped to the ground.

  Chapter 33

  Doogard had been braced and ready for Riezgar attacking him and had therefore not been quick enough to react when he suddenly realised what Riezgar was actually about to do. The two Elves had been squaring off, face to face but then Riezgar had backed off and mentioned how the mission was still active. As Doogard was just putting two and two together, Riezgar had, quick as a flash, pulled a long shiny dagger from within his robes, turned and threw it straight into the old janitor’s back.

  It was a kill shot, deliberate and expertly executed.

  Doogard had feared for the old man once Riezgar had started to play his games with him, but he’d hoped he had taken the heat onto himself and that Riezgar would forget about the janitor, who was one step away from the exit and his escape. Doogard had seen and carried out many killings over the years, but he hated killing for no reason, or the hurting of innocents.

  The anger that had already been rising within him, reached boiling point. As Riezgar turned back towards Doogard with a wry smile on his face, Doogard’s large fist smashed into his face with a loud crunching noise. The force of it knocked Riezgar onto the gym floor. As he sat up rubbing his face, he began to laugh, ‘Not bad for an old man,’ he said mockingly to Doogard who now stood over him fizzing with anger.

  Riezgar casually looked to the rest of the Elves and then his tone changed instantly.

  ‘Take him down,’ he barked out.

  The other Elves, apart from the giant one called Grogar, descended on Doogard in an instant, who just turned in time to deflect the first blow. He was severely outnumbered but this wasn’t just any Elf, this was the head of the whole Elven army—and to get to that rank, required him to be an extremely skilled warrior.

  As soon as Doogard had deflected that first blow he countered with a short sharp blow into the attacking Elf’s throat. A blow that took the Elf by surprise, but as he tried to recoil and get a breath in through his damaged windpipe, Doogard grasped his head and pulled it back towards him in a downward motion. At the same time, he quickly raised his knee until it collided in a violent and sickening collision with the Elf’s face. The noise of the Elf’s nose breaking was heard by all and as Doogard dropped him, he slumped to the ground, now out cold from the blow.

  Three other Elves now cagily moved in on Doogard, as Eric looked on in fear from the background. Doogard sidestepped away from the Elf he had already dropped and eyed up the encircling ones. Grinning he egged them on, ‘Come on then, think you’re up to taking me down?’

  An Elf to his left tried to close in, thinking he could catch Doogard off-guard by coming in from the side, but Doogard’s reactions were fast—extremely fast for someone so large. He ducked down and avoided the blow aimed at his head. As he did, he used the Elf’s momentum and grabbed him with both hands. He then pushed hard off the ground and launched the Elf clean off his feet, throwing him about five yards off to the side.

  Doogard quickly spun to find the next Elf advancing on him, who was met with a stamp to his gut which buckled him over and a vicious elbow into his back which discarded yet another opponent to the ground.

  ‘This is too easy, don’t any of you know how to fight properly?’ said Doogard, further mocking the other Elves. The one who was left standing had been joined by the remaining two who had stood in the background to begin with, however they were now looking rather unsure.

  ‘At least no weapons had been drawn,’ thought Doogard to himself. Elves were taught from an early age that weapons were for enemies and hunting. It was disrespectful to draw a weapon on a fellow Elf. If there was an issue to be resolved between feuding Elves, then hand to hand combat was the preferred option. In theory, feuds could be resolved and pride restored without any needless killing of your own race. That’s not to say it never escalated into weapons, but for the most part tradition was respected.

  So even though the Elves now fighting Doogard could be seen as traitors, Doogard would still respect their tradition as long as they did too.

  The Elves now circling Doogard were suddenly barged out of the way by the giant Elf who had taken Doogard’s mocking to heart and decided the time was right to get involved. As he now stood in front of Doogard, the other Elves backed off, some with a wry smile on their faces, like they knew what was coming next.

  ‘Try me for size,’ said the giant.

  ‘Okay then,’ replied Doogard, then cracked an uppercut right off the giant’s jaw with such speed that Grogar never saw it coming. It was a heck of a punch that would have knocked nearly anyone else clean out, but the giant barely moved his chin, then started to laugh. As did all the other Elves watching.

  Doogard was not someone who could be intimid
ated easily though and he did not hang around in awe of the giant’s strength. Instead he was quick to strike his next blow whilst Grogar was too busy trying to mock Doogard. He attacked as quickly as before only this time with his head. He butted Grogar with every bit of force he had and the collision made a sickening crunch this time as forehead connected with nose cartilage. This time the giant was not laughing.

  Grogar wiped his face and looked at the back of his hand to see blood. Blood that was now streaming down from his large nose. He looked back up with anger in his eyes. Doogard, despite his head hurting like hell, swung another blow aimed at the giant’s head. This time Grogar deflected the blow with his left arm and quicker than Doogard would have expected the giant to be able to move, he launched his right fist at Doogard’s face. It connected with its target with such force, it sent Doogard flying backwards several yards before he found himself sprawled out on the ground.

  He shook his head trying to regain some composure. The giant sure could hit, he thought to himself as he quickly clambered to his feet to prepare for the next assault. Which was just as well as it was now Grogar’s turn to advance and he had ducked his head down and was accelerating towards Doogard, ready to bulldoze right through him.

  Just as Grogar was about to collide with him, Doogard threw himself backward towards the ground again, allowing the giant to almost run right over the top. However, as he did so he managed to grip some of Grogar’s clothing, pulling the giant over with him and at the same time taking his weight with his right foot. He used the momentum of the roll to push the giant off into the air, causing him to flip over and land on his back with the most almighty of crashes, making the building itself shudder and the giant to let out an inhumanly loud moan.

  Doogard rose to his feet once again and turned to see Grogar rising too, seemingly none too worse for wear, despite the noise. As they faced one another he looked extremely angry and ready to engage again. But as Doogard prepared to do the same, a crashing thud to side of his head dropped him to his knees. As he raised his groggy head around to see where the blow had come from, he saw Riezgar standing over him with a large grin and his hand raised aloft. He held his short axe, the sharp end facing away and the butt end towards Doogard.

  That was the last thing Doogard saw, as Riezgar struck him on the head with his weapon, sending the large Elf crashing to the ground, out cold.

  Chapter 34

  Finn stared at Max, looking rather taken aback. ‘Whaaaat?............do you mean?’ the words stumbling out of his mouth. Just as Max was about to reply, a huge roar bellowed out from where Aazer and Flix had been resting. As Finn turned around, he saw the two dragons had both reared up onto their hind legs and were looking up to the sky, whilst roaring and shooting flames from their mouths in the same direction.

  Both dragons then spread their large wings and began flapping them, as they shot off the ground and into the air.

  ‘What’s up with them?’ asked Finn as he watched them soar up into the sky. Max jumped up from the rock he was leaning against and started scanning the sky.

  ‘Somethings spooked them,’ he replied.

  ‘There……..over there,’ he repeated, pointing in the direction he meant. As Finn followed his gaze into the sky, he noticed another dragon. The beast seemed to be circling the sky around them. It looked big too, really big, even from the ground, thought Finn.

  Aazer and Flix seemed to be trailing the larger dragon, as if assessing what kind of threat it was, but even though they were quite a distance from it, they looked to be at least half the size of the new arrival, and probably not much of a match for it should it decide to attack. Tala wandered over to where Max and Finn were standing, she too watching the new dragon closely and looking rather nervous, thought Finn when he glanced at her.

  ‘I’m guessing this isn’t a friendly dragon?’ asked Finn to no one in particular.

  ‘It looks like a wild dragon, which is unusual to see in this part of the land. They usually stay out the way, up in the high mountain lands, and it’s big too, really big. I haven’t seen one that size for a long time and it definitely seems to be interested in us too,’ said Max.

  Finn gulped, suddenly feeling a little anxious, ‘But we’re okay…..right?’ he asked.

  ‘Not sure, but we’re about to find out,’ replied Max. The dragon had suddenly dropped out of its circling route and swooped downwards fast and hard, heading straight for Max, Finn and Tala.

  Chapter 35

  Cold liquid splashed over Doogard’s head, awakening him from his slumber. His head pounded with a dull ache as he blinked his eyes open and shut, trying to regain his focus and take in his surroundings. It didn’t take long, for as soon as he heard Riezgar’s loud voice laughing and saying, ‘Welcome back princess,’ he instantly remembered where he was and the rather unfortunate position he was in. Which as it happened to be, was slumped on his knees with his hands tied behind his back. He was unsure how long he had been out for, but his legs ached already from the uncomfortable position he found himself in. As he glanced to his left he saw Eric kneeling beside him, hands tied as well. His head was bowed down in a defeated manner. The sight of the poor boy struck Doogard with an awful feeling of guilt. Eric had grown on him and he felt responsible for involving him in this whole situation.

  ‘You okay boy?’ he asked.

  Eric looked up and gave a weak smile. ‘Yep I’m great,’ he replied sarcastically.

  ‘Now, as I was saying before we got caught up with that annoying old human,’ began Riezgar. ‘The mission is still, as of yet uncompleted. Would you like to know what it is we still have to do?’ Riezgar continued in a mocking manner.

  ‘I’m pretty sure I have a good idea’ replied Doogard.

  This prompted another round of laughter from Riezgar and the other Elves, who all stood facing Doogard and Eric.

  ‘Yes I’m sure you do but just for fun I’ll explain anyway,’ said Riezgar, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

  ‘You see old Drer may indeed be ageing, but that doesn’t mean to say he’s gone senile. You see he or I, I should say, have for a while now, suspected you were part of the traitorous uprising mob. Had it been up to myself, you would have been dealt with a long time ago, however, Drer took more convincing, unable at first to believe the head of his army had turned against him.’

  ‘Oh and I might add, that is a title no longer bestowed upon you. That overdue honour now belongs to myself. Anyway, after a while Drer soon came round and so it was a bit of a surprise to us when you had returned with the boy here. If you had not of course, the other guards were under orders to take care of you then, but as I say you surprised us and returned with him as instructed. However, it was too late by then of course, as Drer had been convinced of your treachery, so it was only a matter of time. I must say, I’m so glad you did return with the boy as it has enabled me to have the honour of dealing with you once and for all. An honour I will enjoy to the fullest.’

  Once again Riezgar could not stop himself smiling at the thought of what was to come.

  ‘But that’s enough words for now. I just wanted you to know that you fooled no one, and that you will die at my hands, a treacherous traitor to the Elven race,’ said Riezgar. ‘And then I shall dispose of this filthy little weakling too, not because I have to, just because I want too.’ He gave Eric an evil grin.

  Eric had tried his very best to be brave, but now as it looked like his gory death was imminent, he felt many things and none of them good. He felt very afraid, lonely, unlucky and even guilty for poor Mr Colman’s untimely death. But as he glanced at Doogard, the large Elf once again looked like he hadn’t a care in the world as his gaze gave the impression his mind was elsewhere.

  Chapter 36

  ‘Sloppy work.’ Doogard thought. Over confident they had him defeated, when out cold, Riezgar’s guards had tied his wrists together and propped him up on his knees. They had however, forgotten to do a proper search of him for any weapons.


  One of the things that helped Doogard reach the high rank of chief in the first place was that he knew the importance of being prepared for any situation, no matter how unlikely, and that was why he kept hidden from view an array of small weapons. One such weapon was a small dagger that he kept hidden inside his sleeve, and that very weapon had now been shuffled down his sleeve and into his large hand, which had then begun to discreetly shred through the binds that held his wrists together. Time was of the essence though, as right at that moment Riezgar drew his sword out from his hip.

  At any other time, this would probably have looked pretty cool, Eric thought. The sword and its sheath must have been hidden by the concealment spell that had made them all look like normal humans. Well…to an extent. So as Riezgar drew the sword it had looked like it was magically appearing from nowhere. However, when your death is imminent from that very weapon, it tends to ruin the trick.

  Riezgar pointed the sword at Doogard’s neck, pressing the tip of it in hard enough that it broke the skin and drew blood. ‘I’ve waited a long time for this day to come,’ he said looking at Doogard, unable to keep the sadistic smile off his face. A sudden thud to his right however, drew Riezgar’s attention away from Doogard. Instantly he knew the sound was very bad, as it was no ordinary thud, it was the horrible, sickening kind of thud that an arrow makes when it hits someone at great speed and slices its way through skin and bone, lodging itself deep inside. Riezgar gazed upon one of his guards who had dropped onto their knees, hands grasping at the large arrow that now protruded from his chest, his face a picture of shock and despair.

  The momentary distraction was all Doogard needed. Just at that point he had broken through his binds and wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation. In one swift movement as he rose from his knees, he pushed the blade of Riezgar’s sword away from his neck with his left hand. Then he lunged towards him, swinging his right hand armed with the small dagger, towards Riezgar’s jugular.