Out of ear shot of the Sandjars the two Drogs Jumo and Dalgar sat up and turned their large heads in the direction of the blast that only their keen ears could detect, they growled and showed their massive teeth but when no other sound was heard they turned their attention back to their masters and the morning meal that they hoped would be coming soon.
Anais and Kela had offered up prayers to Isarie for their lives for the storm had ravaged the Tribe of Many and countless Nomads had been killed but when their devotions had been done they turned their attention to the matters at hand namely taking stock of what had been left by the storm and what they had lost.
“The Karrack is intact with only a few broken boards on the left side” Anais said, for although he could not see he had run his sensitive hands over the outside of their wagon and knew what had to be replaced.
Kela was busy seeing if there was enough food and water to fill their needs, their seemed to be a goodly stash of dried Rimar but the large jug containing their fresh water had been smashed, there was still a small cast of Well-aged Po but that was not enough to sustain them for long and the Book of Isaire had a passage that was followed by all sober Nomads.
Do not drink of only the brew from wheat and vine
For those that do will forget all my teaching and follow a path
That leads to nothing.
“We will need water” Kela called out to her mate, she knew that the closest supply was at a deep well at the Eye of Isarie but she could see that the ancient structure had been destroyed by the storm, “we will have to go south to find what we need”.
“Agreed” her mate called out as he picked up some pots and pans he had found with the end of his foot, “there is always clean water at the Twin Rivers”.
The Twin Rivers were two ribbons of water that ran from Still Water Lake, a large rain filled basin that lay near the passage into the lands of Del-Godar the forbidden place, but they would still be far away from that haunted city and all the terrors that it held.
Captain Romar the refugee from the sky that they had rescued was nowhere to be seen, he had huddled near the wagon as the storm raged and when it subsided he rose up dusted off his uniform and even whipped his boots for it was his manner to be a soilder no matter what surrounds he found himself in. He then walked away from the small camp site but the Nomads knew that he would return very soon for there was nowhere for him to go.
And the Outlanders were proven correct for the outcast soldier was only a short walk away from them sitting on an outcropping of Eul, on the outside he looked calm but on the inside a storm had been raging just as hard as the one he had survived.
My enemy the Nomads have shared their food and treated my wounds he thought, by our rules of war I should have been killed or held as ransom but they see me as a friend, his father Ivar had always told him that an enemy was to kill and nothing more, that was his way and the way that he wanted his son to follow and in the past he had done as his father wished and condemned those who failed in their orders, sending many to be tortured and killed without so much as a thought otherwise but lately he had questioned those beliefs and that made war within him. He looked down to see a large black beetle near his foot, in the past he would have crushed the insect and smiled at the sound it would made as its body was ground to a gooey mass, but now he let it crawl away into the rocks, is this what I have become, a weakling, a coward unfit for duty? He watched another large insect move towards him but this time he lifted up his foot and brought it down hard on the large bug I will not be weak he thought, then he rose up and headed back to his new-found friends for after all where else was there to go?
Kalgar-Rune had no intentions of going either north, south or any other direction, he had power now and lost no time in using it, he ordered that the Nomads and Akuna who refused to accept his rule be confined in one of the great domes under close watch of the Thungodra, they were given food and water but little else and anyone who showed the slightest sign of rebellion was removed and put into a confining cell that the Leader of the Holy Warriors had ordered constructed, here Kuno sat for he had tried to escape and broke the arm of one of his keepers and blooded several others before he was taken down by sheer numbers, when asked why he would do such a thing he replied that he was thirsty for Po and nothing else. So they placed a heavy chain around his neck and made it fast to a thick lock on the stone wall and told him that if he tried to escape again he would be killed in a most unpleasant way, now he sat unmoving as Kalgar stood looking into his small chamber.
“The King will not return” the Thungodra leader said, “The Gods know that he was a weak leader and sent him and all those with him to the bottom of the sea”.
Kuno said nothing and refused to look at the man.
“You have sinned greatly in the eyes of Isarie but if you repent you will find a place in the Golden Hall” Kalgar continued, “You are a strong warrior and have the respect of the tribe and I would have you at my side as we cleanse this world of all who do not believe”.
Kuno lifted his head and looked into the face of the man who had spoken treason to him, “The Gods know my faults and I will be judged accordingly when my time comes but I would surly find myself in the Pit of Marloon should I betray my King and stand with a traitor like you!”.
Kalgar knew that any further discussion would be useless so he turned and walked away leaving Kuno alone in his cell where after a time the guards brought him a plate of dry Kasha bread and a cup of rather stale water, it was a meal that he ate reluctantly but he knew that he must keep his strength for the battle ahead and his King and friend would return and take back what was rightfully his and after he was done eating he laid down on the stone floor and fell asleep and in that sleep he dreamt of shapely women who served him platefuls of succulent Rimar, sweet cakes and a never ending supply of Well-aged Po, it was a dream that started when his father had told him of a mystic land filled with plenty that dwelled in the distant south. But that dream soon ended and he found himself in a barren wasteland filled with the dead and dying, he looked down to see his body covered in blood and holding a strange looking weapon in his hands, then a voice called out to him.
“Kill your enemy, kill them all!”
And forgetting all that he once was he lifted the weapon and smiled, “Yes” he said, “Kill them all!”
The great war ships of the Alliance had circled the planet with the galactic file number 11976UPO of the Gornogal section commonly known as Gorn awaiting instructions from their commander but communications had been sporadic and none dared take it upon themselves to do anything without the explicate orders of Ivar the terrible as he was called behind closed doors. They had watched as the huge storm engulfed the land and seas below and their instruments fluctuated wildly as to the exact cause of the disruptions, they were also aware of the strange alterations that the planets moons were undergoing, their orbits had moved out of sink and electromagnetic waves raising up from the planet seemed to be the cause of it but no one could be sure in spite of well-trained technicians using their best scanners.
The soldiers that made up the Mac-Mar Alliance were growing weary of the delay, they wanted to face the enemy and wreak havoc has they had done some many times on other worlds and being confined inside their carrier ships made them quarrelsome and many fights had broken out between Bolec’s, Hidraga and Uparians and even the executions of the trouble makers did little to stem the rising tide of discontent.
Then as the storm cleared a message was received from the primary landing site and the order was given for all legions to begin transport to their designated sections and obeying the captains loaded the landing craft and the warships emptied their holding bays and sent the eager warriors to the planet below.
Ivar-Anoon was wary of the information that the creature who called himself Servant had given him but his words had proven to be true and the electromagnetic pulses that devastated the previous landings had subsided and now the General watched as dozens
of landing ships gently touched down on the rocky land surrounding the broken city, opened their cargo hatches and expelled wave after wave of battle tested soldiers , the smell of engine exhaust and the hum of earth roamers filled his heart with excitement, with each company of hardened troopers his tired body was filled with energy, and as he looked up he could see more and more transports penetrating the clouds like giant birds of prey.
Now the war can begin he thought, there would be no more hesitations, no more half measures, no mercy, now he would show this world just what war meant, he stood at attention dressed in a fresh uniform and looking every inch the bold commander he was, surrounding him were several captains’ eager to begin the conquest and only waiting for their final orders, they did not have to wait long.
“Victory” the General said in a loud clear voice “Victory will be ours, we have never been defeated and this world holds no force as strong as we are” he paused for a moment to let his words sink in, “I want total and complete annihilation of all who oppose us, those that choose to join us will be welcomed but all others will die is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” they called out in a single voice.
“Good, now I want a perimeter in place by this time tomorrow, I want squads of men and equipment ready to move out at my command, but most of all I want surveillance flyers made ready to fan out and report on any movements of the enemy”. The captains knew that if the electromagnetic pulses returned those air craft would fall from the sky like so many target birds but none dared bring up that question in fear of the reply from their leader and so they stood silent until they heard the words.
“Dismissed!”
Ivar understood the chances he was taking but war always brings a challenge for after all what is a victory if that triumph comes too easily?
Nomads The Risen God Page 36