Rescue Or Recovery

by Dave Hazel

  “What if the three women put up a fuss and try to stop me?”

  “Then I will kill them and I will kill you,” Mykal declared and sounded heartless. “Be sure to tell Doninka that Mykal and Towbar are saying it’s alright to come out. She will come. Tell the two women Commander Fronpar is coming and if they stay seated until he gets here he will have Baby with him. Do you think you can do that? Cuz I can kill with this thing from very far distances and I can kill through walls. If you think I’m bluffing then try me. I don’t want to kill the women but if I have to I will. Now let’s hurry up.”

  “Yes my Lord,” Mootmass said and moved quickly to the door. “I will do all that you ask.”

  Mykal turned invisible and followed the large warrior inside the door. “Don’t try anything cuz I’m right behind you,” Mykal whispered which caused the gray haired man to look over his shoulder.

  Mootmass walked up to the table, the older woman was still crying. “Which of you women is called Doninka?”

  “I am called Doninka,” she answered and looked concerned.

  “I have been sent here by Mykal, Towbar and Commander Fronpar to have you leave with me at this moment,” he suggested and sounded like he was unsure of what he was to say.

  “She is with us,” Mullday protested. “We are to remain together.”

  “I am sorry miss. I have orders from Mykal, Towbar and Commander Fronpar to bring her with me,” he explained.

  “I do not know who Mykal and Towbar are,” Mullday declared. “However, Commander Fronpar is my father.”

  While Mullday argued with Mootmass Mykal walked up to Doninka and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there and he was behind the soldier’s actions.

  “I will go with him,” Doninka said as if to ease tensions.

  “I have a message for you two women as well,” Mootmass said and paused as he tried to remember what Mykal told him. “You are to remain right here at this table. Commander Fronpar is a short distance behind me. He has the baby with him and you must wait right here,” he added and tapped the table with his finger. He didn’t realize Mykal was talking about a dog named Baby, he thought Mykal meant a small child.

  “He has Baby with him?” Larna asked and her face brightened. She brought both her hands to her mouth and found it difficult to contain her joy. “Have you seen Baby?”

  “No I have not seen the baby. I was given my orders and I rushed here to accomplish my task,” Mootmass answered. “Commander Fronpar was very clear in my assignment. You two must remain here at this table and he will bring the baby here shortly, and this one,” he turned to Doninka, “must leave with me to join Mykal and Towbar and Commander Fronpar.”

  “Who are Mykal and Towbar?” Mullday asked again. “Are they commanders? Are they officers? Are they soldiers? If she is to join this Mykal and Towbar and Commander Fronpar, why should she depart? You just said that my father was coming here with Baby. She should just wait until he arrives here,” she argued boldly because of her father’s position.

  “Miss, I was told not to vary from my task,” Mootmass replied and sounded slightly annoyed. There was a hint of fear in his annoyance. He didn’t want the young girl to cause a stir and get all three of them killed. “My orders were to take Doninka to Mykal and Towbar. After Commander Fronpar brings the baby here, he will then join us farther down the road. I do not make the orders. I only obey the orders that are given to me. Please understand my fair lady; I have to answer for orders that are not carried out. I wish not to answer for orders that are not carried out,” he added and sounded truly fearful.

  “Mullday, it will be fine. Your father is bringing Baby here. All is well,” Larna said and nearly laughed out loud and caught herself. She looked at the ‘sleeping’ soldier at the other table. She didn’t want to wake him and definitely didn’t want to wake the sleeping inn keeper. “We can wait. Doninka, I hope we will see you again,” she said with a great big smile as Doninka stood there ready to leave. “Thank you for your kind words when I thought all was lost concerning Baby. You have given me great comfort in my trying time,” the older woman said and rose to give Doninka a hug

  “It was my pleasure Larna,” Doninka replied and hugged her back. “You have been very kind to me.”

  “I will do as you say mother,” Mullday said and looked at Mootmass suspiciously. She remained seated and didn’t rise to hug Doninka. It was clear Mullday felt something was amiss.

  “Thank you. Let us go,” Mootmass said and used his hand to guide Doninka in front of him. As they walked away Mootmass couldn’t help but stare at the soldier with his head on the table. He appeared to be sleeping, but there was blood all over the table top, so Mykal’s words had to be true that he and the other soldier were dead. Mootmass looked all around the room for Mykal.

  Mykal wasn’t sure if the older soldier would try to make a break for it and run. “I wouldn’t do it,” Mykal whispered. “I’m right here. I will keep my word if you obey me.”

  “Yes my Lord,” Mootmass whispered and humbly lowered his head while he continued out the door.

  After the three of them were outside Mykal turned visible. “You did a very good job Mootmass. Mootmass, this is Doninka. Doninka, this is Mootmass and these were his friends,” he chuckled cruelly and pointed to the three dead soldiers. “I promised Mootmass I will allow him to live if he does what I tell him. So far he’s done a great job.”

  “Mykal is a man of his word,” Doninka said to help support Mykal’s claims and cement Mootmass’s help for them. “If you keep your word, he will in turn keep his word,” she explained with a twisted expression when she eyed the three dead men. They walked past the three twisted bodies on the wooden walk way.

  “Yes my lady. I will not stray from his commands,” Mootmass said and nodded to his three friends who died quicker than any three he had witness killed by one warrior. “May I ask you, how did you kill so quickly and so viciously my Lord?”

  “First of all, you ain’t gotta call me Lord. I’m just a regular dude. Okay?”

  “Yes, my Dude,” Mootmass replied as if ‘Dude’ was an equivalent term or title to ‘Lord’.

  Mykal started to laugh. “You’re a funny guy Mooty. You don’t mind if I call you Mooty, do you?”

  “You may call me anything you wish, my Dude,” Mootmass replied with genuine respect.

  Mykal continued to laugh. “I really oughta call him Mathis,” he joked quietly to himself as they made their way to the horses. “Cuz Mathis is a funny guy.”

  “What did you say Mykal?” Doninka asked.

  “Nothing, I’m just joking,” Mykal chuckled while he looked around the darkened street to ensure no one was watching them. It would look odd with three of them going for the horses while three soldiers lay dead on the ground. “We better hurry. If they get up and move away from the table they’re gonna find the two soldiers are dead. Mooty, is there anything special we need to know about riding these horses?”

  “Excuse me, my Dude. I do not know what you are asking me.”

  “It’s a good thing I didn’t tell him I’m a regular shit-kicker from down the street,” he chuckled to Doninka who looked just as confused. “Cuz then he’d be calling me, my Shit-kicker instead of my Dude. What I mean is, since these are mounts for you soldiers do yous have any special way of treating them or commanding them that a non-soldier wouldn’t know about?”

  “No. There is nothing I am aware of that we would do differently my Dude,” Mootmass said and looked upward as if he was really searching his mind. He didn’t want to anger Mykal if there was something he would have forgotten to share with him. “These are regular beasts, my Dude.”

  “Good, I wouldn’t wanna get thrown for not knowing how to get the thing started,” he joked.

  “Mykal, may I please interrupt?” Doninka said. “I have a question that I would like to ask.”

  “Sure, whatta ya wanna know?”

  “Did Commander Fronpar find Baby or di
d his sons bring Baby back to their home?”

  “I hate to say it Doninka, but Larna is gonna be so disappointed,” Mykal replied and was truly saddened by what he was going to say. “But Baby is dead.”

  “Oh no,” she gasped in shocked sadness.

  “It was those two bastard sons of hers. They literally tortured that poor animal to where it had to be put down to be put outta its misery. I watched what they did to that poor thing, but they got what was coming to them. Remind me later and I’ll tell you about it. It really was horrible.”

  “This is terribly sad news. Larna is going to be heart broken,” Doninka said with a sad sigh.

  “Okay, let’s get outta here and we’re gonna follow after that carriage. After we get to them, and once I’m sure I’ll be able to make contact with your prisoner, I’ll let you go. This way you will not be blamed for helping us.”

  “Thank you. Thank you my Dude,” Mootmass humbly bowed his head. “You must understand the soldiers who are tasked with guarding and transporting the prisoner are specialized soldiers. They are fierce warriors on the battlefield and there are many of them. When we rushed here there were more than sixty of us. I believe there were almost eighty of us who rode here.”

  “Are you saying there are more than those who rode with you?” Mykal asked.

  “Yes my Dude,” Mootmass said as they rode along. “In our camp there we are more than four hundred strong. All are mounted soldiers. That means they are specialized warriors who have had much training. Very hard training. Many have tried to become mounted soldiers, yet few complete the training.”

  “So they’re like elite soldiers?” Mykal asked and thought of his specialized elite forces from all over his world that he brought into Towbar’s world.

  “Yes, elite soldiers would be a good name to call them. The enemy needs ten soldiers for every one mounted soldier we produce,” Mootmass said with pride though it sounded like an exaggeration.

  “Well I don’t care about causing harm to your soldiers, but I have a beef with that prisoner. I have a score to settle with him,” Mykal said and had to snicker at the totally confused expression on Mooty’s face. “I need to get him.”

  “Understand my Dude, I wish no trouble with you. However, our men have been tasked with guarding him and then we were also tasked with capturing the woman I believe to be Miss Doninka here,” he added and nodded to Doninka. “After we had both of them we were to take them back to the castle of the Supreme Ruler,” he added with a whisper. “We do not mention his name. So please, if you know his name, please do not speak his name.”

  “I call him Ziggy Stardust.”

  “That will be a good name to use.”

  “Are you sure Doninka is the woman you were to capture?” Mykal asked.

  “We do not know. That is why the Prisoner was brought here with us,” Mootmass explained. “We do not know his name. He is called the Prisoner. Our commander said the Prisoner would be able to identify the woman at first glance. That was the sole reason why he was brought in a carriage to the town with us. He was to identify her for us,” he repeated.

  “Right now I wanna know more about William, the Prisoner. So Mooty, do you know the story of how he became a prisoner? Do you know anything about where he came from?” Mykal asked.

  Mykal was somewhat relieved as he listened to the limited and mostly second hand information Mootmass had about William, the Prisoner. He believed William was going to lead Mykal directly to Zizmon-Tarl so he could have a one on one show down with the ultimate bad guy who some believed wasn’t a real person, but a demi-god walking the earth or some super powerful, super special magician. He was grateful that he was able to track William down away from the mysterious Zizmon-Tarl so he wouldn’t have to fight him or face him on his own.

  The idea of having a physical confrontation with the world’s ‘baddest’ bad guy, without Towbar by his side, actually frightened him. Mykal didn’t know if his magic ring would work in front of ‘Mister Evil’, or maybe Zizmon-Tarl had stronger magic that would render Mykal’s magic useless. Mykal’s hope was to catch up to the carriage, turn invisible, approach the carriage and shoot William in the head without William ever seeing it coming and then be on his way back to the Pass with Doninka ‘to live happily ever after,’ he joked in thought.

  “Hell no,” Mykal said out loud which caused both Doninka and Mootmass to look at him. “I’m sorry, I’m just thinking,” he said to wave them away. ‘No, I want that piece of shit to see it’s me shooting him in the head,’ he thought hatefully. ‘He killed Boris and he planned to kill me. I want that low life to know for a second or two that it’s me,’ he snarled his hatred as he thought about it.

  6.

  The sun rose and daylight was all around them. They were clearly visible from greater distances as three riders on horses. Part of Mykal was panicking the longer they rode. He knew he could easily take Doninka and leave right now with no complications. The big fear would be to leave William to come after him as he had in many of his dreams. But bigger fear for Mykal was the idea of Zizmon-Tarl using William to gain access to the rear of the Pass to cause severe destruction to Mykal’s forces. And the biggest fear was that Zizmon-Tarl would use William to travel back to the real world where William would introduce Zizmon-Tarl to Percy and John J Edmonds, the President of the United States of America. He feared they would make an alliance that would give his government all they wanted from Towbar’s world while at the same time giving Zizmon-Tarl all he wanted to defeat Towbar and his forces in return.

  ‘Damn it,’ he huffed in thought for the umpteenth time. ‘I gotta kill William. I can’t take the chance of anything happening with William and Zizmon-Tarl. This sucks!’

  In the near distance they could see the trail end of the group they were chasing. “Mootmass, how much farther away is their base camp where they will meet up with the rest of your mounted soldiers?” Mykal asked the older soldier.

  Mootmass looked around at the trees and the rocky hills in the not too distant left. “At the pace they are traveling, I would think they should reach them in less than a half a day. If they pick up the pace it would only be hours away. Yet, you can see they are traveling at a slow walk.”

  “Why do you think they came all the way back without picking up the girl they were sent there to retrieve?”

  “We were told that soldiers under the command of Commander Fronpar had taken the girl to a safe place with his wife and daughter. Commander Fronpar said he didn’t know where the soldiers had taken them and they were to bring her out of hiding during the day after the fires were put out and they were sure there would be no more attacks. I think he was concerned for the safety of his wife and daughter,” Mootmass explained. “Commander Fronpar advised us to return tonight or tomorrow and he would ensure the criminal, Doninka, would be turned over to us. Thus our force traveled back to our main camp.”

  “He probably knows how some soldiers can be and that’s why he wanted to hide them away until he was there,” Mykal said and chuckled at the thought of Feelcom wanting to find some ‘wenches to play with’.

  “That is understandable, however, the Supreme Ruler sent us to retrieve the criminal,” Mootmass declared. “I would not want to be the one to tell the Supreme Ruler that he must wait until it is convenient for some other to follow through with an order,” he added and shook his head in disbelief.

  “Okay Mooty, look,” Mykal slowed his horse to a stop. “That is the carriage up there, right?”

  “Yes it is my Dude,” he replied and sounded fearful as if maybe Mykal would go back on his word. He looked fearful and thought the stranger in strange clothing was going to kill him.

  “Good. You did well. And you didn’t try to pull a fast one on me,” Mykal said while holding his Glock 17 toward the older soldier. “So I’m gonna let you take off. Go back the way we came so that you’re not blamed for what I’m about to do. You can tell everyone your three friends got killed and you stayed back there to
try and figure out what happened to them or whatever you think will work. But I’m gonna let you go. I’m sure if we woulda had more time together we coulda probably gotten along pretty well. You seem like a good soldier. But go and spend the rest of your days enjoying your grandchildren and the rest of your family.”

  “Thank you Mykal my Dude,” Mootmass said and humbly bowed his head.

  “If you come back this way before I’m done with what I gotta do, I’m gonna take that as a threat and think you’re gonna come after me and I’ll kill you to protect me and the girl.”

  “I understand what you speak. However, I will not do any such thing Mykal,” Mootmass said and raised his hands. “I desire no trouble with you oh mighty warrior. I have never seen anyone who is able to kill as you have killed. I will not go back on my word to you. However, may I be so bold as to ask you a question?”

  “What is that?”

  “The way you kill with such speed, power and ferocity, is it magic that you use?” He asked in almost a whisper and unconsciously looked around to ensure no one could hear them.

  Mykal couldn’t help but laugh at the expression the older man bore. “No it’s not magic. I promise you, it’s not magic. Where I come from, this is a normal weapon. This is as normal to me and my people as your sword and dagger are to you any your people,” he answered.

  Mootmass looked like he wanted to pursue the questioning further, but he knew Mykal was in a hurry. “Thank you my Dude. I give you my word I will not be a burden to you.”

  “Good. Go ahead and go. And just so you know, not that it matters a hill of beans to you, but Doninka is not a criminal. She is a daughter of a very important person from the other side of the world who had been kidnapped and was being held against her will,” he said and didn’t think it would be wise to reveal that she was a princess, the daughter of a king from a foreign land. “I’m here to rescue her. You’re the only one of your whole army who knows that.”