Zahara's Gift

by A. J. Walker

  Picking a moment when no soldiers could see him, he ran out from his hiding spot. Rushing over to the bodies, he began searching for his family. Despite the darkness, Anders could make out enough to tell that none of the bodies were his uncle or cousins. He felt some relief and hoped that they were still alive. His thoughts went to Maija and the brief moments they had together. He hoped she’d made it to a safe place before the soldiers made landfall.

  Anders turned to run back to his hiding place behind the cart, but to his surprise three soldiers now stood between him and the cart.

  They stared at each other for a split second before one of the soldiers pointed a crimson hand at him and shouted, “There’s one, get him!”

  Anders knew he was out-numbered and had no weapon. The soldiers rushed at him as he quickly searched the ground around him for something to defend himself with. The best he could do was a wooden table leg lying at his feet. He quickly picked it up. As soon as he gripped the sculpted piece of wood, the first soldier swung his sword at him. Anders blocked it, reacting out of instinct. Spotting a spear thrust from the second attacker, he spun to the right dodging it. As the soldier leaned forward following through with his stab, Anders smashed him with a backhanded swing of his table leg and he fell unmoving onto the ground. Unprepared to defend himself and lacking the reaction time to block the third soldier’s sword descending rapidly toward his exposed neck, Anders feared his life would soon end.

  Out of seemingly nowhere, Max tackled the soldier and disarmed the man. Together the two brought him to a swift end. The first soldier to attack Anders regained his poise, rushing toward him for a second assault. His sword in hand, the man raised it high above his head. Anders crouched, bringing the wooden table leg skyward to defend them. The Rollo warrior came from behind and grabbed the soldier by the arm, stopping him from bringing his blade down on Max and Anders. Turning around to see his attacker, the soldier was at the mercy of the large warrior. Still holding him by the sword arm, the warrior pulled a knife from his belt and thrust it deep into the soldier’s chest letting his body fall lifeless to the ground.

  Anders couldn’t believe what had just happened. He was glad to be alive, while simultaneously horrified by the violence it took to do so. He walked up to the dark-haired island warrior who’d just saved his life, “I am in your debt. What’s your name so I may thank you properly?” he asked.

  In a thick Rolloan accent, the man said, “Red, clan leader and son of Chief Jorgen.”

  “Thank you, Red. You are a good man to have in a situation like this,” Anders said as he extended his arm and shook the warrior’s hand.

  “That was down-right brutal,” Max said, looking down at the destruction they had just caused.

  “I’m in your debt as well, Max,” Anders said thanking him. “But first, I must find my family, then I’ll be able to repay the debt I owe to you both.”

  Together they quickly gathered the weapons from the deceased soldiers. Max grabbed a sword and dagger, while Red picked up an axe he found on the ground. Anders grabbed a short-sword and a knife from one of the soldier’s belts. Brandishing the found weapons, they could now properly defend themselves against the attackers. Though Anders was exhausted from the competition, the adrenaline coursing through his veins made him feel more alive than he’d felt all day.

  “We should make a plan before more soldiers spot us,” Red said, crouching behind a battered vendor’s cart. He motioned for the others to get low and out of sight.

  “If my family made it out of here before the fighting got too thick, they would have tried to make it back to the farm, just north of town. I’m sure they would have gone there first before fleeing,” Anders said, joining the Rollo warrior with his back against the cart.

  “Our ships are docked near the north shores of Grandwood. I’ll help you to that point, but then I must leave you to search for my clan,” Red said.

  “I’d rather stay with you two than go it alone. I’ll help you look for your family if you help me search for my brother,” Max said, agreeing with their plan and Anders nodded.

  “Anders, you lead the way since you know it better than we do,” Red said speaking with the authority of an army commander.

  “Right then,” Anders said, and quickly gathered his courage before leading them into the chaos of Grandwood.

  The three unlikely comrades struck out into the city sticking mostly to side streets to avoid the soldiers flooding all of the main roads. Anders led them through the shadows, staying close to walls and hiding in doorways of back alley shops as they progressed deeper into the heart of the city. They were roughly two-thirds of the way across town when they next encountered soldiers.

  Anders could hear the footsteps as they came running down the side street where the three of them stood, trapped with nowhere to hide. The soldiers rounded the corner and, upon seeing the three of them, charged. Not knowing exactly what to do, Anders stood his ground and braced himself for the fight. He felt a rush of air swish by his side as Red sprinted past him headlong at the advancing soldiers. Anders and Max followed suit. Swords clashed; steel banging against steel echoed through the narrow alley. The three of them were locked in a heated fight to the death.

  Anders swiftly dispatched two of the soldiers by delivering lethal strikes with his short-sword. Max took on another soldier while Red rampaged wildly with his axe, killing three of the four remaining soldiers. The last of the soldiers turned and tried to run, but Anders was quick to react. Drawing his knife, he took aim and threw it. Hitting his target, the blade sank deep into the back of the fleeing soldier, who fell motionless in the alley.

  The fight was over almost as quickly as it started. Together they continued sneaking through the alleys to get across Grandwood. They had several more encounters with smaller groups of soldiers. With each fight they gained confidence they would make it to their destination.

  Finally, they reached the north end of the city. Here they found more people armed and defending themselves from the enemy soldiers. With each group of friendlies they encountered, Anders asked if anyone had seen his uncle or two cousins while Red inquired about his clan’s location and Max called out for his brother. Within several minutes of searching, Red learned his people were gathering near their ships.

  “The Island warriors are planning to launch a counterattack,” one of the townspeople said to them.

  After hearing this news, Red wished them luck and left Max and Anders to continue searching on their own. Anders saw someone he recognized from living in Grandwood and asked if he’d seen his family recently.

  “I saw your uncle not far from here,” the young man said. “He was climbing up to a rooftop on one of the taller buildings down the street.” The boy pointed them in the direction he’d last seen Theodor and they began looking for him on the tops of buildings. It didn’t take long before they spotted Theodor’s distinctive silver hair sticking up from atop a roof as he fired arrow after arrow at the soldiers below.

  They rushed to the base of the building. Anders entered, followed quickly by his companion. Through the doorway, they found a spiral staircase leading to the rooftop. Theodor crouched behind a cistern of water. He had his bow in hand and a pile of arrows at his side. Theodor was surprised to see Anders as he moved across the rooftop quickly, trying to avoid being seen by the enemies below. When he reached his uncle, Anders threw his arms around Theodor in a tight embrace, glad to see him alive and well.

  Theodor, relieved to see Anders as well, said, “I am so glad to see you! I feared the worst after the attack began. During the chaos, Thomas and Kirsten got separated from me for a while. I found them again fleeing across the city.”

  “Are they okay?” Anders asked, concerned for their safety.

  “That was the last I saw of them. It wasn’t safe to stay here so I told them to go back to the house, gather up some supplies, and hide in the woods until I returned,” Theodor said.

  Relieved t
o know that his family was okay, Anders brought his uncle up to speed on what had happened to him following the start of the mountain race. After briefly summing up his experience, Anders introduced Max. Shaking his hand, Theodor warmly thanked him for helping to keep Anders alive. When Theodor let go of Max’s hand, the three of them simultaneously ducked and covered their heads in response to a loud explosion. After realizing they were unharmed, Anders uncovered his head to see that a cannonball had destroyed the building across the street. They looked over the roof’s edge of to see the extent of the damage. Enemy soldiers emerged from the plume of dust that clouded the street below.

  “Time to go,” Theodor said sharply.

  Anders led their retreat across the roof and back to the staircase that wound down to the ground level. Theodor strung his bow and released several well-aimed shots at the emerging soldiers in the street. In his final moments before turning to follow Max and Anders, he nocked another arrow while searching for his last target.

  What he witnessed in that moment was a terrible sight that shook him to his core. From amidst the rubble in the street below, an enormous figure with grotesque features emerged. The beastly creature was covered in thick hair, dark as night, and sat atop a gigantic hound with red eyes and long sharp fangs dripping with crimson blood.

  “Thargon,” Theodor muttered under his breath.

  He took aim, hoping to catch the beast off guard and let loose a shot. Just as the arrow was about to hit its mark, it came to a complete stop in mid-air and fell to the ground. Theodor didn’t wait to see what the beast did next. He ran to join his nephew, only allowing Thargon to see the back of his head before disappearing into the building.

  “Run!” Theodor exclaimed frantically as he flew down the stairs. They fled into the streets without hesitation and ran to the edge of town where they found several horses still tied to a hitching post. Together the three of them galloped up the road to their house in hopes of escaping the madness occurring in Grandwood.

  When they arrived at the farm, Anders burst through the door shouting for Thomas and Kirsten. They were not in the house. Shortly after Theodor and Max joined him, Kirsten and Thomas came running from the forest behind the house.

  “Anders! Father!” they exclaimed as they came in through the back door. They ran over and hugged them tightly.

  “I thought I might never see you again,” Kirsten said as she wiped tears of joy and relief from her cheeks.

  “It’ll take a lot more than a few angry soldiers to keep me from getting back to you,” Anders replied.

  “We were so worried about you and father,” Kirsten said attempting to hold back her tears.

  “Who is this?” Thomas asked, pointing to Anders’ slender friend who stood in the doorway.

  Anders introduced the two to Max and explained briefly the events that had occurred after the attack had begun. When he was finished, Theodor urged them to all go and take shelter in the woods near their house. He was worried the enemy would soon be at their doorstep.

  “Stay hidden in the trees and don’t come out for any reason,” Theodor told them sternly.

  “Aren’t you coming with us?” Anders asked.

  “Please don’t leave us again,” Kirsten pleaded with her father.

  Theodor said calmly, “Go to the woods, stay hidden and wait for me to come find you. There is something I must to do before I can join you.

  Anders and the others did as he asked and hid in the trees off to the side of the dirt road leading to their home. While they waited in the darkness, Anders heard the thundering footsteps of soldiers. They were coming up the dirt road toward them. He hoped Theodor had finished doing whatever it was he needed to do and was well out of the way of the approaching soldiers. Slowly and carefully, he crept to a place where he could see the road clearly. To his surprise, Anders could see Theodor standing alone in the middle of the road. The grunts and shouts of the soldiers advancing up the road grew louder.

  What the hell is he doing? He’s going to be killed, Anders thought to himself.

  Theodor stood unmoving in the center of the road as if he was unaware of the danger approaching.

  I need to get him out of there, Anders thought and took a step toward the road. As he did so, the soldiers came around the corner. Too late; the mass of soldiers was upon them. He stopped dead in his tracks, unable to safely get his uncle out of the way.

  The soldiers rounded the corner and came to a halt when they saw Theodor standing alone in the road. They seemed surprised to see the old man standing there unarmed. From amidst the group Thargon rode up on his giant hound. The beast atop his ugly steed stopped several yards from Theodor.

  “You are a fool if you think you can stop me, Theodor,” the beast of a man said in a powerful tone. The beast’s thick accent was foreign to Anders; he’d never heard anything like it.

  “You will not find what you’re looking for, Thargon,” Theodor said firmly.

  Anders, both astonished and confused about what was happening, had a host of questions pulsing through his mind. All he could do, however, was wait to see how the events would unfold.

  “I know he is here, I can smell his blood,” Thargon shouted, sniffing the air with his black disfigured nose. “You will bring him to me or die!” Thargon ordered Theodor.

  “He is far away from here,” Theodor said. “Somewhere where you will never find him.”

  “You lie!” Thargon bellowed. “I know he is near. If you don’t bring him to me, believe me when I say, I will kill you.”

  Theodor stood silent in the road.

  “Die, you fool!” Thargon bellowed as he kicked his hound forward, leaping toward Theodor.

  Theodor drew an arrow from his quiver and let an arrow fly at the giant beast. For the second time the arrow stopped right before hitting its target and fell to the ground. Anders couldn’t just stand idly by and watch his uncle be attacked by the beast, so he ran out of the woods in an attempt to help Theodor. But as he did so, the giant hound was already mere feet from his uncle. Anders watched horrified as the hound came down hard on Theodor and sank its sharp teeth into his chest.

  Bursting forth from the darkness, a man wearing all black came rushing from behind where Theodor had been standing. The man shot a brightly colored sphere from his palm. The small circle of light flew through the air and exploded just before hitting Thargon in the chest. The explosion sent a bright-radiating flash of energy out in every direction. Anders attempted to shield himself from the explosion, but the shockwave hit him, knocking him backward. Everything went dark.

  Chapter Four

  |||||

  Pursuit

  ANDERS AWOKE; AS HE opened his eyes, he found he was peering straight up at the clear blue sky. Daylight. The bright light warmed his cheeks as he attempted to remember what had happened. Confused and disoriented, Anders thought the sky was rocking back and forth. Thinking his mind was playing a trick on him, he tried to make it stop, but the rocking wouldn’t go away. His body hurt, and his corded muscles stiffened like steel when he attempted to move.

  Remembering the Grandwood Games, everything afterward came rushing back to him. The games, the attack, and, “Theodor!” Anders yelled, bolting upright and looking around. To his surprise, he wasn’t on the forest floor where he had fallen the night before. He wasn’t even on land. In fact, he was on a cot at the aft of a ship. He began to panic.

  How did I get here? he wondered. Was I captured? Where are Theodor, Thomas and Kirsten?

  All of the memories of what had happened swirled in a collective jumble as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

  I must have been captured, he thought, coming to the only conclusion that seemed possible. Yet he thought it odd that he was the only prisoner that he could see. He double-checked to see if he was restrained or bound in any way. He was not.

  Crouching low as he rose from the cot, he crept along the ship’s stern. Peeking over the railing, he
looked down on the main deck. Nearly two-dozen people worked below him. Their dark skin and tribal tattoos gave their identity away instantly.

  This is a Rollo Islanders’ ship, he realized.

  Using the railing to lift himself to his feet he could take in the entirety of the ship. He took a deep breath in and exhaled with the relief of knowing he wasn’t a prisoner. Anders examined the faces of those onboard and recognized the large, dark-haired man as Red. Max stood near Red, as did the strange man who he had seen arguing with Theodor in the woods a couple of days earlier. Anders searched through the rest of the faces on deck, but Thomas, Kirsten, and Theodor were not among them.

  Max was the first to notice Anders standing at the railing looking down at them.

  “I’d better go tell him what happened,” Max said to Red and the man in black, at the same time nodding toward Anders. The two followed Max’s gaze and saw Anders had awoken.

  Catching him by the shoulder, the man in black stopped Max, who was on his way across the deck to fill Anders in on what had happened. “I’ll tell him,” he said. “I know the most about why this happened and what it means for him.” Max nodded in agreement and let the man proceed.

  Already on his way to confront him, Anders walked squarely up to the man in black and violently shoved at his chest. “Where’s my family and who the hell are you?” he demanded angrily.

  The man in black put his hands up to show he meant no harm and said soberly, “Calm down, Anders, I am not your enemy. I helped prevent the soldiers from capturing you.”

  Anders was about to attack the man again, not believing his claim, when Max rushed in and wedged himself between them. “Whoa. Anders, settle down.”

  Anders’ eyes darted from Max, to the man, and back to Max again. Max saw Anders’ shoulders relax and said in calming tones, “Listen to what he has to say.”