The Blighted Fortress

by David E Dresner

  “I’ve got two apples left,” observed Traveler.

  “Likewise. We better save one for this evening.”

  For the first time that day they relaxed. They ate their small meal then discovered they were drowsy. “It’s nap time for this girl. I see a nice secure nesting area above us, feel free to join.”

  Traveler followed her up and saw that Glenda had indeed spotted a solid resting place in their tree. Surrounding limbs intertwined to offer an inviting nest. She’s boy scout material, no question. I’ve taught her well.

  Midday naps can be foolers. Usually an hour does the job for kindergartners or adults. In this case the combination of exertion, stress, and heat required a longer recovery. They were both in a deep sleep when they were awakened by the sound of dogs, horses, and cursing men.

  “Stealth,” whispered Glenda.

  Coming down the road was a bedraggled band of searchers and tired hounds. They were strung out in a staggered line and moved slowly. Throbb was in the lead while Karl, the master of hounds, brought up the rear.

  Karl played rear guard to be sure that no dog decided to collapse in the weeds beside the road. He was responsible for every hound, they were each a valuable asset of the duke. Beyond being assets, they were Karl’s friends. Each hound was an individual to him, he knew their strengths and weaknesses having raised them from birth.

  As he rode slowly along looking down at the hounds, he planned how he would feed and comfort them when they were back. They deserved rewards for the difficulties endured. He was not at all concerned about Throbb or the soldiers; they could take care of themselves.

  Karl’s head suddenly jerked out of its daydream. There was great shouting at the front. He heard a man scream and a horse’s shrill call of fear. His own horse was suddenly agitated and twisting away from the front. He regained control and stood up in the stirrups. His hounds were now a war pack making their deep, challenging growls.

  In an instant Karl saw the conflict ahead. While standing in the stirrups he saw a massive brown mountain in motion. The mountain had swept two soldiers off their horses and was smashing the fallen riders and mounts. His hounds ran forward like courageous soldiers to the rescue. Karl knew this charge would lead to the early death of his hounds. This brown mountain would destroy every arriving dog with ease.

  He saw an enormous tooth-filled mouth open and close on a soldier’s arm holding a sword. When the brown head lifted the arm was gone, so was the man.

  Traveler and Glenda stared at the battle below. The bear had received multiple wounds but appeared unfazed. Froth flowed from the bear’s jaws and its claws dripped with blood and shreds of horse flesh.

  Two soldiers lay unmoving while Throbb and the remained three mounted soldiers fought to control their horses. Each man knew if he was tossed from his horse his fate would be sealed. The bear was a killing machine and the odds were in its favor.

  Karl took all this in at a glance. He had seen wild bear and boar attacks and he knew they were formidable, deadly opponents. The best way to hunt them was with archers and spearmen. This unit had neither. The hound master had to make a quick decision, save the men or his pack.

  While standing he gave the long whistle that told each hound to focus immediately on him. Their training overcame their instincts and they turned to look at their master. He signaled the two largest and oldest hounds to sit. They sat but were quivering, eager to move back into the fray.

  Still holding the pack’s attention, the master gave the younger hounds a circling motion with his raised arm and grunted a loud command. The pack understood, and several of the young hounds leapt upward snapping at the bear. This attack briefly caused the bear to abandon its own attack on the horsemen.

  The remaining pack circled the bear and with a signal from the master two hounds leaped onto the bear’s back. The two clinging hounds proceeded to chew and claw at the bear’s back. The thick fur made their chewing annoying but it could not do serious damage.

  The back-clinging hounds suddenly found themselves hanging on like rodeo riders on a bucking bull. Similar to a bull’s twisting motion the bear made several sharp reversing body-turns. The two hounds hit the ground hard.

  Before either could jump away, the bear was upon one as quick as a cat. The hound was bitten in half. While the bear bent down to kill the second fallen hound, two more hounds were on its back. This new attack distracted the bear enough that the second felled hound was up and limped away, it lived to fight another day.

  One zealous young hound leaped directly onto the bear’s stomach and sank teeth into the softer belly. The bear instantly wrapped arms around the invader and squeezed. The hound was lifeless in a moment.

  Throbb had regained his years of soldier discipline. His fighting blood raged. His fallen soldiers were more than simply men in his command, they were comrades of many shared battle campaigns. They had defended each other in battle at risk to their own lives.

  Throbb jumped off his horse and approached the brown mountain of fury. Throbb was filled with the fearless battle lust that Vikings called “going berserk”. While the bear was furious, Throbb was berserk.

  Without hesitation Throbb came at the bear from the side and drove his long sword up and into the beast’s neck. The blade emerged on the other side. He motioned to a soldier for another blade. The man leaped off his horse and handed the blade to Throbb. At this moment Karl released the remaining two hounds. These were the largest and most experienced. They were instantly attached to the bear’s belly.

  The bear had its paws on the sword buried in its neck. The neck pain was so great the beast was not aware of the razor teeth tearing into its belly. When it finally dropped a massive paw to crush the two hounds, Throbb brought the heavy battle sword down from above his head.

  Throbb had a lifetime of fighting. All of the power of his body was behind the blow. The sword tore into the bear’s descending arm and sliced it off at the elbow.

  The bear reeled, then collapsed to bleed out on the road. The hounds continued to maul at the now open belly flesh and Karl permitted them their time of victory.

  Glenda and Traveler sat stunned at the battle. They had seen a lot of action movies but this was beyond a filmmaker’s capability. The sounds and the smells had stunned their senses. The bravery of man, beast, and hound was forever etched into their memories.

  “I wonder what the books will think of this.” said Traveler in a whisper to Glenda. She could only shake her head. The experience was still holding her in its powerful grasp.

  They watched the scene below as the ritual of taking victory trophies took place. Each soldier was permitted a foot or paw as their proof of valor. The beast was subsequently dressed out with Throbb receiving the intact skin with the massive head. The hound master received the remaining paw.

  The dressing took several hours and the soldiers were quiet as they reflected on the battle and their fallen comrades. It was time to return home and the two killed soldiers were put across a remaining mount. The felled hounds were placed across the back of Karl’s horse.

  Chapter 54

  Deep Thoughts

  The sun was descending and promised a few more hours before darkness. Traveler and Glenda watched the depleted unit of horsemen and hounds as it proceeded forward. “When do we start to follow?” asked Traveler.

  “Call me superstitious,” Glenda answered, “but I would wait until tomorrow. This is a strange day and I think we need to let it finish itself. Nothing has ever come close to watching that battle in real life, not movies or video games. My senses were overwhelmed with the sight, sound, and smell of the battle. This confirms what M said, we need real experiences to bring reality to our book studies.”

  “I agree one hundred percent. As a guy with a lot of gaming experience in virtual reality, this is far more intense than those computer-generated adrenaline rushes.”

  Glenda was leaning back as she said, “Another night in the forest, I hope it’s the last one. While I l
ove Mother Nature, I need so many things right now like a bath, food, and rest. I’ve had all the ‘real’ experiences I can take. I’d like to be sleeping in a real bed, shopping tomorrow with Virginia, then dining at her French restaurant. I miss pulling Theo’s ears and hearing him making his vibration sounds.”

  Traveler nodded, “Let’s end this day right now and hope Morpheus gives us pleasant dreams.”

  They decided to stay in their tree. It had proven to offer acceptable sleeping space and offered good views of the road in both directions. They ate their final apples right down to the core. Each of them got ready to pitch the core then thought better and ate them. “Seeds are good roughage,” reflected Glenda.

  “Yeah, I bet bark is too, but I draw the line with seeds.”

  As they were relaxing and preparing to sleep Traveler asked, “Before we pass out, I’ve got a question, well a couple. What did you find when you went into Mr Bear’s mind?”

  “Strange you should ask. I’ve been thinking about that now. What I found was that the bear’s mind was more complex than the hounds. The hounds run hard on all five senses as did the bear but the bear had an added sense, call it thinking.”

  Traveler was listening carefully, “Go on.”

  “The hounds are smart, but they have little ability to use guile or subtlety. As trackers they announce their presence with their constant braying. The bear is a planner and uses his own form of stealth. The bear gets surprise on his side. He wants to win with one quick attack before his foe can form an action plan. He likes an ambush.

  “We only escaped his charge because we had food in our hands that we instinctively threw at him. In many other ways he outfoxed us.”

  “I agree. When I first entered the bear’s mind it was like one of those Russian Matryoshka dolls. I sensed wheels within wheels. It was a more challenging place for me to navigate than with the hounds. I knew what I wanted to do, but had to shift through more layers of its mind to find the connections necessary to change its thinking.”

  Glenda nodded adding, “The good news is that we are upgrading our new mind-altering skill through experience. Our books have implanted the ability but we needed to actually apply it to make it real. Each new experience forces us to deal with greater brain system complexity.”

  “I can compare it to my video gaming. Managing an animal mind in real-time is an over-the-top challenge. Playing DOTA is simple compared to what we just did. Fail at DOTA and you restart. Fail here and it’s really ‘end of player’.”

  Glenda was listening then said, “When the bear came at us, we were fortunate to have food handy. I’m not sure how we would have fared if we had to face an attack without the benefit of some distraction.”

  “Agreed,” said Traveler. “We should always be secure before using our evolving mind skills. I also think there is something more going on with this mind-control business. When I was inside the bear’s mind, I felt another presence; it had to be you. My thoughts seemed powered up by your presence. I was still me with my own identity, but with enhanced powers, rather like having a supercharger put on my racing car.”

  Nodding Glenda said, “I felt the same thing. I think somehow our minds come together once we are inside another mind. We became a single more powerful mind yet remained ourselves.”

  “The math guy in me says that our combined power is following an exponential curve. The more we exercise our combined minds the greater the power becomes.” Traveler grinned adding, “Want me to draw you an exponential curve?”

  “You can do that drawing in the dirt whenever you want. Feel free to go down right now and I’ll look at your work tomorrow. As for me, sleep is where I’m heading.” She gave Traveler a wink and a quiet, “Good night Mr Math.” They slept like babies.

  Chapter 55

  Meeting the Locals

  The sun woke them up earlier than when they were in the dense forest. A streak of light worked its way up the road from the east. It hit both of them in the face and announced a new day was starting. “Rise and shine, I guess. Well at least we can rise, shining takes too much effort.” Glenda nodded her acceptance of Traveler’s truism.

  They drifted down to the ground, confirmed their sacks were totally empty of food and headed west down the road. After a while Traveler said, “Was it just a coincidence that the bear was close to us the second time? Was he continuing to stalk us?”

  “I’ve thought about that and, ‘No’. I think the crafty beast just picked up the smell of our sacks. Maybe it didn’t remember smelling us personally, but our packs would be a dinner bell calling out to him. He happened upon Throbb and the hounds by accident while following our food-scent trail.”

  “I think you’re right. That’s one dinner bell he should not have listened to.”

  As they walked along Traveler noted the road was gradually widening. “I think we’re approaching civilization by the looks of our road. There are fewer potholes and it’s now wide enough for two wagons to pass. Should we stay on it or start the parallel walk in the woods?”

  “It’s a new day and I believe it will be a positive day. Let’s stay the course right now. Besides, I don’t think there will be any ‘wanted’ posters out on us yet. Throbb won’t have had time yet to tell his tale. He’s probably working hard on how best to present his demon story.”

  They continued walking for a while then Traveler said, “You know, I’m reluctant to say it, but looking back now, Throbb showed me a side of himself that I never would have guessed existed. He was really brave and put himself on the line for his men. Few ever do that and those that do are called ‘heroes’.

  “Generals create great battle strategies, but when the battle horns blow the individual soldiers needs to think and act under great pressure and Throbb did that. He out-thought the bear by getting to its blind side then making the neck blow. It took bravery for sure, but also required thinking under great stress. None of the other soldiers could get their minds out of the horror of the bear, but Throbb did.”

  “Well I’ll grant his self-sacrificing courage but he’s never going to get on my dance card. Enough of Throbb, I think I hear people noises in the distance.”

  “You’re right; now that I’ve stopped talking, I hear them. Let’s detour back to river.”

  Glenda nodded and they moved off the road into the forest. Once they were off the road, they quickly noticed the forest was thinned out. They saw stumps from cut trees bordering the road and wagon tracks.

  Glenda noted, “Looks like civilization is making its mark so there’s got to be food. I bet the local farm kids are sent here for berries, nuts, and roots and maybe some fishing.”

  “Let’s move a little further toward the river for cover, I think people are likely a big pain in this neck of the woods.” Glenda grimaced at Traveler’s bad pun and he grinned back. “You want killer humor you go to a New York or LA comedy club.”

  They only had to move a short distance to once again find a dense forest surrounded them. Their forward progress slowed as they again had to weave through and around the dense foliage.

  After a while they heard the sound of the river again and Glenda reflected, “Settlements were always placed close to water sources and we are likely approaching hamlets. We need to approach with caution.”

  Moving slowly forward, Glenda suddenly held up a hand and pointed, “Do you see that? There is a major berry patch to our left that’s hidden inside a thorny thicket. It’ll be a pain to get to but we can fill our sacks. With luck maybe we can barter the berries for real food when we hit a village.”

  “Good eyesight, princess, permit me to blaze a way into the berry patch.”

  Smiling back Glenda said, “Blaze away Stanley, and Livingston will follow.”

  Using his heavy walking stick Traveler proceeded to smash a path through the thicket’s brambles. When they reached the patch, they found it was even larger than it had appeared from a distance. The berries were red, ripe and not yet discovered by birds, animals, or hu
mans. Glenda took a small bite of a large berry, smiled and declared, “We’ve hit the mother lode of berries.”

  Traveler immediately joined her, “Delicious! A cross between a raspberry and a strawberry, I’ve never had a berry like this. This is a hybrid Mother Nature formed all on her own, I wonder what happened to it.”

  “People and civilization,” said Glenda. “We have destroyed a lot of nature as we expanded our fields for crops. Farmers always assume there is an endless supply of natural foods as they clear the land. Once cleared, they too often discover they have destroyed a lot of nature’s best offerings.”

  They stopped talking and began serious picking. They moved their carry sacks around to rest against their stomachs and began filling the empty bags. The filling ritual started with three berries for their bag and one for their stomach. As they ate more of the sweet berries they began to put more into their sacks. After an hour of picking they had filled both sacks and bellies.

  Traveler announced, “I’m really thirsty from those berries and I’ve got a little sugar buzz. Love them, but I need fresh water. Let’s get drinks then follow the river to the town.”

  “I’m right behind you Stanley, lead the way.”

  Following a clear game trail, they were quickly at the river and located a small pool of clear water set back from the flowing river. At their first drink they realized how thirsty they were and began slow, steady drinking. Finally Glenda said, “My stomach overfloweth with berry soup.”

  Traveler agreed, “My sugar buzz has calmed down so I’m good to go.”

  Moving back to the river’s bank they found it offered easy passage. In half an hour of brisk walking they heard the various noises of people at work and play.