Rescue Or Recovery

by Dave Hazel

  2.

  Later in the day when the vehicles stopped to give the men an opportunity to stretch their legs and to take their lunch time meal break, Mykal and Towbar pulled away from the group to try the three way Mind Talk. On July 2nd Towbar performed Mind Talk with Mykal so he could communicate with Pam back in his world. All he wanted to do was to let her know that he was alive after he and 84 people disappeared from the world without a trace on June 23rd. His main concern was that he had almost died from a Soso death arrow. Had he died his wife would have never known what happened to him and he just wanted her to know that he was alive and well since he survived a death arrow.

  By using magic Towbar was able to push Mykal’s thoughts into Pamela’s mind so he could communicate with her through Mind Talk. When Mykal made contact with Pam he was able to think his thoughts and Pam heard his thoughts as if he spoke out loud. The next door neighbor thought Pam had temporarily lost her mind, but Mykal and Pam didn’t care. They had a few precious moments for Mykal to communicate his love for her and the boys and to more importantly let her know he was alive since they disappeared.

  Mykal hoped Towbar would be able to push Mykal’s thoughts into Doninka’s mind so he would be able to communicate with the girl because of her love for him. If they were able to communicate then they would be able to find her location and use the green fog to transport their force to her and do whatever was needed to free her and escape. Once they free her then they will be able to use the green fog to return back to the Pass. Mykal believed that her infatuation with him would help her to accept his thoughts being pushed into her mind via Towbar’s magic. Mykal truly loved the girl but he would never allow his friendship to develop into a relationship that would hurt his marriage.

  “We don’t have much time Towbar,” Mykal said when they pulled away to a secluded spot not more than a hundred yards from the convoy. Mykal didn’t like it that they were inside the Black Forest, the Forest of Death, but they needed to get away from everyone for Towbar to perform his Mind Talk Magic. “I told Diaz you were trying to communicate with Doninka so he was going to hold the lunch break a little longer. When he asked me how, I told him it was magic and he didn’t take it well. He believes all magic is evil. He believes all magic is satanic and demonic and of the devil and all that kinda stuff that he has to hold up a cross to guard himself against,” Mykal joked as if he was talking of warding off vampires.

  Towbar gave him a confused look. “I do not understand my friend,” Towbar said while he unscrewed the hilt to his sword to pull out some of the crystalline powder that rested inside the handle of his six foot sword.

  “I’m just kiddin’, but he does believe all magic is evil whether it’s black magic or so called white magic. He said his Bible warns about staying away from magic,” Mykal answered and seemed to look skyward as if trying to think through Diaz’s rebuke. “When we have some time I would like to talk with him cuz I know the magic you do is only for good. And the magic I use has only been for good,” Mykal said and paused. He realized the mental torment he had been struggling with, and his emotions seemed to be on a wild ride of a roller coaster which wouldn’t be the result of something caused by ‘good magic’. Mykal also had to admit he used magic to kill his enemies, and sometimes he did that in barbaric and brutal ways. “Yeah, I need to talk to him later about this stuff. Cuz I think this is what we would call ‘white’ magic.”

  “Put this in your mouth my friend,” Towbar said as he held a pinch of the crystalline powder to Mykal’s lips.

  Mykal remembered the horrible taste the powder had when he placed it in his mouth the last time. But if it would help find Doninka he would eat the horrible tasting acrid powder all day long. He allowed the giant to sprinkle the powder into his mouth and he truly wanted to gag. The taste was eye squinting horrible. Even after he swallowed it he couldn’t shake the terrible taste from his mouth.

  “I know you do not know her location my friend, however I need you to concentrate on where you believe she may be,” Towbar said and his instructions seemed to trail off.

  Mykal tried to think of Doninka and where she could possibly be held as a prisoner. ‘Would it be a cozy little room or a dirty damp dungeon?’ A sudden thought struck him that he was doing this for selfish reasons because he loved Doninka. It made him realize he couldn’t jeopardize his marriage on account of this beautiful girl, who happened to be a princess and who happened to be in love with him based on her words. His sudden fear almost made him sabotage their plan. ‘What the hell am I thinking,’ he thought. ‘This is about saving Towbar’s people and about saving the girl who had saved my life a couple of times. I gotta stop being a friggin moron,’ he thought and scolded himself. ‘We gotta save her.’

  “Concentrate my friend. Try to locate her thoughts with your thoughts.”

  Mykal cleared his head and tried to focus on the girl Doninka and not her location because he knew he had no idea where in Towbar’s world she would be. ‘I love the girl as a friend so I have to find her. So far my success rate is one hundred percent cuz Towbar tried once with me and Pam and I made contact so I know we’re gonna have success this time,’ he thought confidently, not as a braggart but as one who believed they could find her location and rescue her quickly to get her out of the prison she was being held in.

  ‘Doninka,’ he called out in thought. ‘Doninka, I’m trying to find you. You don’t know how much I miss you. You don’t know how much I love you and need you in my life,’ he thought in the hopes she would pick up on his emotional thinking. His thoughts felt weighed down as if he had been drinking or drugged. It was a struggle but he fought through it. ‘Doninka, I need you and I’m trying to find you. Please answer me,’ he begged in thought.

  ‘Mykal? Mykal?’ Doninka’s thoughts seemed to cry out in his mind. ‘Is that you my Mykal?’

  “Yes it’s me. Where are you at?’ Mykal said aloud and couldn’t tell if Towbar noticed he made contact. ‘This must have been what it was like for Towbar when he made contact with me when the Lost Patrol was stuck under a mountain in a room surrounded by Goblins,’ he thought as an extreme sense of joy suddenly flooded his emotions.

  “I do not know. Please come and take me from this place,” she cried out.

  Her fear and her tears struck Mykal’s heart. He could feel tears well up in his eyes. Was it her fear and crying or was it his extreme joy that he located her, which in turn caused the moisture in his eyes? It didn’t matter. He found her. “Where are you at? I need to know where you are so I can come and take you away my darling,” he said and suddenly regretted saying it that way with those words.

  “Please come and take me away Mykal,” she begged and her tears continued to flow. “Are you really there? Am I going insane? Is it really you?”

  “Yes, we’re trying to find you.”

  “Focus on her location my friend,” Towbar said but he sounded so far away.”

  “Where are you being held?”

  “I am being well taken care of,” she answered.

  “But where are you so I can come and take you away from there.”

  “I am in the home of the Supreme Ruler. He plans to make me his bride.”

  “What?” Mykal gasped and jealousy exploded inside him. He knew he couldn’t have her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. “Whadda ya mean he plans to make you his bride?”

  “To enable him to take my father’s kingdom from him,” she declared straightforwardly with an emotional concern in her tone.

  “Has he touched you?” Mykal asked like a jealous lover. He was more concerned about his emotions than her fear of her father’s kingdom.

  “No, however William plans to rape me. He promised to harm me to get back at you.”

  “Are you frickin kiddin me?” Mykal gasped and yelled.

  “Please help me Mykal. Please, I need you to help me,” she said and continued to sob. She wept as if she had been abused already. “He has promised me that he will do you
much harm before he kills you.”

  “What’s going on? Has anything happened to you?” Mykal yelled and was filled with blinding jealous rage.

  “Oh no,” Doninka cried out as if suddenly something changed. “No please. Please Mykal help me,” she screamed as if something bad was happening. “Please don’t hurt me. Please, I have been good,” Doninka cried out to someone else in the room.

  “Doninka, what’s happening? What’s wrong?” Mykal called out desperately. He couldn’t see her, but he sensed her presence. He felt her trembling terror. “Where are you so I can come to you?”

  Unexpectedly a man’s face appeared in his mind. It was the balding head of a man that he recognized from the past. It was Captain William Roberts whom he left behind for the Goblins to torture. He hoped they would have killed him when they were finished making him suffer for all the dead Goblins they left in their path. Obviously they didn’t kill him, but rather they took him to Zizmon-Tarl. Mykal clearly saw William and two soldiers, of Zizmon-Tarl, who had Doninka by her arms to keep her from escaping.

  “Now it is time for me to get my revenge on you Mykal,” William said and started to laugh with a sinister evil laugh that came across as over dramatic to make his point.

  “What are you doing?” Mykal yelled and felt so helpless because he was so far away.

  “This is for what you did to me you rotten bastard,” William said with a snarl. Abruptly the two men forced Doninka down to her knees and stretched her arms out behind her. Before Mykal could respond William raised a long sword and sliced down viciously toward the back of Doninka. Mykal heard the swish of the sword, a slight moan and the chopping thunk of the sword striking the back of Doninka’s neck. There was a minor thud of Doninka’s pretty head hitting the floor.

  “Nooooo,” Mykal yelled with dreadful impotence as if his hands were tied. His body tightened with ghastly anguish. If he could have squeezed his fists any tighter his knuckles would have broken through his flesh. “Why, why why why?” He cried out. “She didn’t do anything to you. I did it,” he admitted and started to cry with hate filled hurt. “Why couldn’t you just come after me?” He groaned as the life and energy of his person seemed to deflate from his entire being. He hoped it was just a prop and not Doninka.

  “I will come after you. Wait till I get my hands on Pam and your two boys,” William taunted hatefully. “I will have fun with your pretty little wife before I kill her,” William threatened and gave an evil taunting laugh. “I will butcher your children slowly so you can dwell on that for as long as it takes me to kill you.”

  “No! Noooooo,” Mykal cried out and wanted to collapse. Not only did William kill Doninka but now he threatened his family. “Take me instead.”

  “As you would say to me, screw you Mykal, I’m going to kill your family next. It’s payback time,” William threatened again and continued to cackle his evil taunting laugh.

  “Nooooo,” Mykal cried out. “Please don’t touch my family. Take me instead,” he begged and started to cry. Suddenly he could see the room. There was William, two soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl and the body of a headless woman in a dress lying face down surrounded by a growing pool of blood.

  “My friend, I can not see what has happened,” Towbar yelled. “Where is Doninka?”

  “She’s dead. Towbar, she’s dead,” Mykal cried out. “William killed her. He cut her friggin head off,” he gasped horrifically. “She’s dead Towbar, she’s dead. I couldn’t stop it.”

  3.

  “Mykal. Mykal, wake up,” Mathis said and shook him hard.

  “Noooo, please don’t hurt my--” Mykal suddenly stopped and bolted upright. He gasped when he woke up and realized he was only sleeping. From his upright position he let out a long sigh and was grateful to find it had been another nightmare. Mykal took a couple of deep breaths and looked around to ensure he was in fact inside the vehicle, thus he had just been woken by Mathis and let out another long releasing sigh.

  “Was it a bad dream?” Mathis asked.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Mykal answered and shook his head. The image of a headless woman on the floor wouldn’t leave his mind. “Damn it, I’m tired of all these friggin nightmares,” he declared and glanced down at the ring on his right hand and wondered if the magic ring was playing a part in his sleeping terrors. Mykal knew the nightmares started after he had been exposed to the horrors and experienced the dangers of being in Towbar’s world. He also knew the nightmares increased in intensity and frequency after he discovered the magic items in his possession, primarily the ring of invisibility.

  “Are you alright now?” Mathis asked and his expression looked as if Mykal’s bad dream had startled him.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said and vigorously rubbed his face. “Where is everyone?”

  “We had stopped a few minutes ago to take a break and have a quick lunch. I just came in to see if you wanted to get up to eat. I know you spent most of the night helping to watch for the two missing Green Berets.”

  “Yeah, I’ll get out. Is Towbar out there?” He asked and wondered if Towbar walked off by himself to attempt Mind Talk to make contact with Doninka.

  “Yes, he’s eating with everyone. I’ll meet you out there,” Mathis said and left the vehicle.

  Mykal took a deep breath and let out a slow sigh once again. He was attempting to calm himself because he was still shook up by the image of Doninka being beheaded. He couldn’t get the vision out of his mind of the woman lying on the floor with her head missing. “Damn, that seemed so friggin real,” he whispered to himself. He debated whether he should ask Towbar again about doing a three way Mind Talk. The nightmare took away his desire for fear of something similar actually taking place.

  Mykal joined the Dosch brothers and Towbar and a few others gathered around his vehicle to eat their meal. Staff Sergeant Barry and his team were eating their meal with them. They were all laughing, but Mykal was still disturbed by his latest nightmare.

  “…and when we drove away, not only could you feel the bodies under our tires but you could hear the crunching of bones being crushed,” Sergeant Simmons said and they all laughed in reference to driving over all the dead bodies when they departed their overnight camp.

  Mykal looked at all the men he was laughing with as he joined them. He knew they all thought of it as being gross and disgusting, but they had to laugh it off. It was a part of the mindset they were stuck in. They couldn’t allow it to affect their mental faculties or they would all break down. ‘Laughing about it is easier and better than cryin’ about it,’ he thought. ‘Besides, they were already dead.’

  “Even though we know they were all dead that was still kind of gross,” Corporal Nelson said though he was laughing with the rest of the men.

  Everyone stopped when Mykal joined the small group. “Does anyone know how Lieutenant Finley is doing since we left? Has anyone talked to him?”

  “No,” Mathis answered quickly. “He seems like he’s pissed off, but he’s really just kept to himself. “He knows we had to leave but he’s angry that we don’t know what happened to two of his Green Berets. I was there when he was speaking to Captain Diaz just before we departed and his big issue is the unknown. They will forever be listed as lost, thus they will be listed as Missing In Action.”

  “I don’t really think he’s angry with any of us,” Mykal said to defend Finley’s anger. “I think he’s more hurt than anything and since there was nothing that we could do to find them, he’s just having a rough time with it.”

  “It’s got to be tough,” Sergeant Barry agreed and shook his head. “Not only do we live together, and fight together and work together in such close quarters, but then you get to be close friends and when you’re responsible for the people under you it just makes it that much harder to take when you can’t verify what’s happened to--”

  “But everybody knows them two Green Berets can’t be alive,” Roy Jr. said and cut off Barry’s words.

  “
I understand that and agree with you Roy. I agree with you whole heartedly,” Sergeant Barry replied. “But the Army is particular about this sort of thing. Since we don’t have confirmation of their deaths they will be forever listed as M I A. We both know there is no chance of them being alive, but we’re dealing with the United States Army,” he added and his three men snickered with him not because of the missing men, but because they were dealing with the Army.

  “The thing that surprised me,” Randy said and finished his last bite. “Is that the Hawkmen weren’t able to find any more information about them after they flew over that entire area. That’s really kinda strange,” he said and shook his head. “They didn’t find any clues to what happened to them or where their bodies could be and so on.”

  “The moral of the story people,” Anka said to be humorous. “Is don’t get separated. Don’t get lost. That was one of the very first things Mykal said when we first came to this side of the world.”

  “That’s why you don’t see me going off to relieve myself,” Roy Jr. said and started to laugh. “I don’t care who or how many of you dudes watch me go to the bathroom. I ain’t gonna put my booty in a spot where I’m gonna get my ass left behind.”

  “He’s kinda joking,” Mykal said. “But you better listen to what he says.”

  Suddenly there was wild squawking filling the air. The five Hawkmen flew into their minicamp flapping their wings wildly and shouting loudly. Some of them continued to squawk as if to get attention, while Lanorear shouted a warning of some kind.

  “Get in the vehicles and get ready to fight,” Mykal yelled and quickly turned to run to where Lanorear landed with Captain Diaz, Gunnery Sergeant Ratner, Sergeant First Class Lemon and the six Elves. Mykal looked over his shoulder to see Towbar ran behind him with his massive sword in hand.

  There was a small chaotic scene taking place as men ran to the vehicles. Two of each four man transportation team quickly popped up into each turret to ready themselves with the bigger weapons. A third from each four man team quickly got behind the driver’s steering wheel in case they had to make a hasty departure. The men split up in all directions to ensure they were facing all 360 degrees so no one, or nothing, would be able to surprise them. Weapons were being cocked and ready to be fired. Though it seemed like chaos it was an orderly maneuver that all the men took part in did their share to protect the overall team.