Khalid’s spear lashed out, catching the mighty beast behind the jaw. His arms never trembled in battle before, but now they were shaking like leaves caught in an autumn breeze. He fought to hold onto the weapon as the monster whipped its head around in a fury.
“Oh, shit!”
Why was the ground rushing toward his face?
Khalid managed to twist at the last second and take the fall on his side. His hand still gripped the shaft of his spear so at least he hadn’t lost the weapon. There was no way to know if he got hit with the tail or if the massive beast had merely shaken him free. It didn’t matter. He had to get back up.
“Goddess grant me the strength to banish this monster back to the depths.” Khalid glanced to the heavens before flipping back to his feet. There was no way he’d make it back to the crocodile before it killed the hunters, so he squared his stance, cocked his arm, and lined up his shot.
Something hit him from behind, and Khalid hit the ground hard, again. The air flew out of his lungs as he struggled to figure out what happened. It must have been the monster’s tail. This time he rolled back to his feet, controlling how his body moved, so when he was finally standing, he could throw the spear in one fluid motion.
With nothing left to lose, he let Sekhet fly.
The gods must have been smiling upon him today since the spear flew with a falcon’s grace. At the last possible second, the tip dipped a fraction, and instead of skimming the top of the monster, it plunged deep into its side.
The river dragon roared in rage and snapped at the nearest thing to him. One of the torch bearers disappeared in a gout of blood. The crocodile shook his head so violently that one of the man’s legs flew off and landed on the cavern floor twenty feet away. The creature spat out the rest of the man’s body and turned to focus on the source of his torment.
“This isn’t going to be fun!” Khalid clutched the sword on his hip.
Maybe the gods didn’t favor him nearly as much as he thought.
That was the thing with the gods. Their love could be as fickle as a springtime rain. Khalid smiled as death approached him on four legs and a tail. The monster was faster than a chariot pulled by a team of Jabari’s finest horses, and it seemed the fates would determine the outcome of this battle in moments.
If the gods ordained his death, then Khalid would meet it with honor.
The only way to ensure his place in the heavens was to make sure that the creature came with him. Arrows filling the river dragon's side reminded Khalid that he wasn’t in this alone. A grin spread across his lips as he looked over the shafts. Then his eyes settled on the rent caused by his spear. The battle was almost over, but would the gods see him through it to the end?
Jaws the size of his first house opened, ready to crush him like a pesky mare would crush an apple. Khalid threw his body to the side not caring about anything except getting away. He hit the ground hard but was happy to be sore and not missing a limb. He couldn’t sense the monster anywhere, but he knew it must be coming for him so he whipped the sword around in a wild slash as he leapt to his feet..
The blade bit deeply into the crocodile’s tail with a meaty thunk. The tail, not what I was expecting. The attack seemed like a good idea when Khalid thought the jaws of death were closing in on him, but now that the thick hide of the crocodile's tail trapped his blade, his plan seemed to have some minor flaws.
The first of which became apparent as the river dragon started to move.
Holding onto his sword seemed like a feat of Herculean strength. Every step the crocodile took threatened to rip the blade from his hands. The muscles in his shoulders burned, and ever so slowly Khalid’s fingers started to slip. Rather than risking his grip faltering before he could secure the blade, he simply let the sword go.
He stood there in the darkness feeling the weight of his destiny crushing down upon him. Fear tried to creep into his heart, but Khalid shoved it away. Being hard-headed as a mule also seemed to have blessed him with a short memory. He would not go whimpering off into the night like a scared child on his first hunt. He would show the monster what it meant to be a true warrior of the light.
“Eternia!” Khalid screamed as he rushed forward with his dagger in hand.
Although the weapon was only as big as one of the river dragon’s teeth, Khalid would do what he must. The monster ignored his screams and reckless charge. His feet thumped against the cavern floor with growing intensity, and he lifted the dagger above his head. Seeming to sense him at the last second, the crocodile started to turn in his direction.
This was it, his chance to end it.
Khalid’s dagger buried itself deep into the river dragon's eye, and for the first time since the fight started, he felt as if victory was assured. But the gods were a fickle bunch, always giving with one hand and burning with the other.
The strike to the crocodile’s eye was a killing blow, but it wasn’t instantly fatal as it would have been if he used his sword. Which probably meant he was in for a world of hurt. The beast whipped its head frantically back and forth as the blade turned the crocodile’s eye into a pile of jelly, trying to dislodge whatever had plunged into it.
The massive snout slammed into Khalid’s ribs and sent him flying through the air. He had enough time to appreciate the sensation of being a falcon on the hunt before his left side and back collided with the cavern wall.
His left arm cracked as he tried to slow his impact. It must have worked a little because he wasn’t dead, only sore enough to wish he was. Every inch of him screamed in pain as he rose unsteadily to his feet. Cradling his broken arm against his chest, Khalid watched the river dragon’s death throes as a grin spread across his lips.
A broken arm was usually nothing to smile about, but after this fight, it seemed like a blessing. The monster was dead, and now it was time to see if they could find the two women. The elation he felt over the battle quickly faded as he remembered the sound of snapping bones.
If even one of them is alive, this was worth it.
Turning away from the greatest kill of his life, Khalid pointed at the remaining torchbearer. “You, bring one of the torches to me.”
Seeing that the servant was moving to carry out his order, Khalid turned his attention back to the two hunters. “Go and get the porters. The people of the valley will sing about this battle for ages.”
The torchbearer handed Khalid one of the torches and started to back away. He stopped the man with a stare. “Can you collect my dagger?”
Looking at the blade sticking out of the giant crocodile’s eye the man simply replied, “Sir?”
Not wanting to waste more time than he needed to, Khalid thrust his torch back at the man and strode toward the dead river dragon. It took him three tries to wrench the blade free with only one arm, but it slid out with a wet pop.
After wiping the worst of the gunk off the weapon, he slapped the dagger home in its sheath and looked around the cavern floor for his sword. Khalid motioned for the torchbearer to follow him but realized the man was still staring at the monster they had slain and not paying any attention to him at all.
Khalid cleared his throat. He was about to rip him a new one but knew that it wouldn’t do any good. Even dead, the monster was a good deal scarier than it had any right to be. So instead of chewing the man out, he simply instructed, “Follow me and keep the torches held high.”
A few moments later, Khalid found his sword. He picked up the blade and swooshed the weapon through the air a few times. After deciding on the best way to use the blade without exposing his left side and useless arm to a potential foe, he spoke to the torchbearer trailing behind him. “I’ll handle security. You keep me bathed in light.”
“Yes, sir.”
He really should have learned the man’s name, but the servants they used changed so frequently it was damn near impossible. Although this man had shown some stones by not running after the croc ripped the other torchbearer to pieces. It took real courage to continu
e doing your job when people were dying around you.
If they had found the women already, this would have been a massive celebration, but Khalid was starting to worry that they might not have made it to the cavern in time. A song worthy of a hero’s epic battle wouldn’t have a fitting end unless they saved the damsels. No one wanted to sing songs about the hero that almost saved the princess, even if they did kill a big-ass monster first.
Was that someone crying?
Khalid followed the sounds deeper into the cavern. It could have been a trap, but he doubted anyone was ballsy enough to do that behind the crocodile. Slowly he followed the winding cavern until he found a small recessed alcove. Inside the space were one very traumatized teen and five or six hard maple crates with heavy iron lids. The trunks were big enough they couldn’t have been carried here by men alone. It would have taken a team of oxen and an army of porters to move the chests way out here.
The only reason someone would go through all that trouble was if the contents were worth a fortune. His eyes sparkled at the thought of potential riches, but the look quickly faded as they settled on the teen.
“It’s okay to come out. The monster is dead.” Khalid held out his hand for the girl.
As she climbed out of the space, he realized he knew her. It was Neema. She was about the same age his daughter would have been if she was still alive. If he remembered correctly, a long time ago the two girls might have been friends.
The girl clutched a wound on her leg as she limped out of the alcove. “My mother?”
All Khalid could do was shake his head. There was nothing he could have done to save the girl’s mother so he shoved the guilt he felt to the side and focused on the tasks at hand. While Neema’s mother couldn’t be honored in the traditional way, surely her spirit would still find the afterlife and be waiting for Neema with open arms upon her death.
Khalid laid an arm over the girl’s shoulders and spoke. His voice was rich with empathy and held the promise of better days to come. “I will go to the temple with you myself, and we will ask the gods to look after her.”
“I will sacrifice one of our sheep to see her safely into the next life.” The girl looked up into his eyes. “Thank you, Khalid.”
This was a girl on the very edge of womanhood. In her, he saw the strength he would have been proud to see in his daughter. “Know that if you ever need anything at all, if it is in my power to give it to you, it will be yours.”
“I want to get the hell out of here. I keep waiting for that thing to wake up and try and eat us.” Neema looked past Khalid and the torchbearer into the darkness beyond.
The entire cavern filled with bright orange light as they made their way back toward the dead river dragon. The hunters had returned with the porters and were harnessing the crocodile to a large wooden travois. The men ignored Khalid and continued with their business as he limped past them.
At the cave’s entrance, Khalid stopped and focused on Neema for a moment. “You can leave the cavern but do not go too far. I will join you when it’s time to leave.”
Before they left, he had to find out if what was in the crates was worth taking with them. It was dumb of him not to have checked while he was there, but getting Neema out of the caverns seemed more critical at the time. He motioned for someone to watch the girl and for a few other men to follow him back into the cave.
The lid on the crate was too heavy for him to move aside on his own so he had two of the men do it for him. He was surprised to see that treasure filled the crate to the top. The next one was equally full.
“Load these up, and not a word to anyone.” Khalid looked over each of the men. “I don’t have to tell you what Jabari is willing to do to keep a secret.”
With his business taken care of, he started back toward his men, intending to find someone to take care of his arm and maybe something he could chew on to take the edge off. There was still something about this that didn’t make any sense. What kind of man would hide his treasure out here?
The dangerous kind.
Still, there wasn’t a scarier son of a bitch out there than Jabari, unless of course, a person had the displeasure of meeting the Pharaoh himself. Khalid almost laughed at the thought. The man rarely left the palace. He'd never store anything this important out in the middle of nowhere. They had probably taken some warlord’s recent spoils. Sucked for whoever lost it, but everything was coming up for Khalid today.
May the gods be praised.
Chapter Five
Jabari’s palace courtyard was illuminated like it was a feasting day.
Instead of the happy faces of the villagers, the grim and determined faces of his soldiers greeted Khalid. Instantly, he knew there would be trouble. At this time of night, shadows should have bathed the courtyard with one or two men patrolling the perimeter. With this many men present it could only mean that Jabari was coming to address them.
Khalid had trained most of these men himself, if not all of them. How was it that he couldn’t find a single friendly face among the bunch? Had he not earned enough respect among them to get a simple smile upon his glorious return?
It didn’t seem like warm and fuzzies were on the menu tonight.
Maybe going after the women was the wrong choice after all?
No, doing the right thing was never the wrong choice. He had done as he must, as the goddess would have commanded. That didn’t mean he wasn’t standing hip-deep in a pile of shit right now. The only way out of this now was to beg for forgiveness and hope that his position as head of the guards bought him some leeway.
Khalid felt the walls closing in. He was always listening to his heart instead of his head, and not for the last time it was going to cost him. It was one thing to be lax in the enforcement of certain decrees and another to openly defy his master. The choice had seemed simple at the time. The river dragon had been a menace, and its attacks on the village would have only gotten worse as time went on.
Standing in the courtyard surrounded by soldiers, the decision didn’t feel so simple anymore.
If killing the river dragon wouldn’t make Jabari happy, then maybe the six chests full of golden coins would? Hadn’t he seen several of the nobles bargain their way into favorable contracts by offering large sums of gold in return? The treasure might not be enough to let him keep his position, but it might be enough to spare his life.
Khalid motioned for the porters to drop their loads and leave.
Most of the men looked relieved to be allowed to flee. All the laughter they shared during their return trip vanished with the soldiers’ appearance. No one wanted to end up being the next person Jabari threw from the top of the palace. The man had only taken a bite of bread before their leader. Yes, tradition was important and needed to be honored, but punishment for a crime should be delivered with prudence.
Every situation shouldn’t be met with the final door.
Still, Jabari was their noble and had to be respected. The man sat on the throne of Naroosh, seated there by the Pharaoh himself, and therefore his actions were above reproach. Unless one of the gods or the Pharaoh himself ordered otherwise, Jabari’s word was law. If his master wanted something done, all he should have to do is ask Khalid to do it. In that regard, Khalid had utterly failed in his duties.
The courtyard emptied faster than he would have liked, and his men still wouldn’t look him in the eye. He knelt, knowing it wouldn’t be long until Jabari made his appearance. When his master didn’t appear, he looked around to see Neema standing next to him.
The girl squawked as he pulled her to the ground. “Stay down, and keep your mouth shut.”
Jabari appeared flanked by four of his finest warriors. As a noble, he never went anywhere without protection. He moved toward the crocodile’s corpse and laid one hand on the beast’s massive head. “Impressive.”
“He saved me from the river dragon,” Neema shouted. “Eternia be praised. Without her intervention, I fear the creature would have eaten me.”
>
Khalid glared at the girl and hissed, “Be quiet.”
If Jabari heard either of them, he gave no indication. “Is this the very river dragon I asked you not to hunt and kill?”
Having been addressed directly, Khalid felt comfortable speaking. “It is.”
His mind was screaming at him to justify his actions, but he already knew Jabari wouldn’t be impressed. The noble had given an order, and in going after Neema and her mother, he had broken his word. Since the new Pharaoh had ascended there was only one suitable punishment to administer for defying a noble's will.
Death.
Khalid thought maybe his hand in raising Jabari would have made the choice to spare his life a simple one. It was the choice the boy’s father would have made, but this younger generation was of a different sect. They wanted to return to the old ways, whereas the people who had lived through those times never wished to see them return.
There was a time when working for a noble was an honorable profession. Now he spent as much time investigating crimes committed by his men as the ones committed by the general populace. A few black eyes he could overlook, but a few scraps with the locals was nothing compared to what he found.
Thefts.
Beatings.
Rapes and murders.
All committed by the men and women who were supposed to protect the people. Khalid’s general philosophy on policing the city was to find the truth of the matter and act on it. He expected the men under his command to treat each encounter with the commoners as respectfully as possible and for their actions to be above reproach.
Until now, that policy had served him well.
Jabari was of the mind that rules should be enforced to the letter of the law despite the circumstances. Of course, if you could afford to make a large enough donation, he’d overlook certain misunderstandings, and no one was dumb enough to accuse the soldiers of anything in their leader’s presence. It was as though a petulant child ruled them. Khalid could almost feel the gods laughing as they watched the people of this land struggle in futility.
Deserts Of Naroosh Page 5