World of Taroo

by Jimmy Eriksson

  Several prisoners that had survived were bundled up and sat within a fenced area. Despite being threatened with death, none of the prisoners seemed to show any fear in their eyes. The lookouts standing on top of the newly repaired tower suddenly yelled that something was happening. The tower could not be made as tall in such a short time but enough to spot that something was about to happen. They spoke about smoke and strange movements around the forest. The air filled with the smell of smoke and soon the forest filled up with it. The brave soldiers that entered the forest after the attacking army had left then came out as the forest was filed by the smoke. They said some of the attacking soldiers had come back wearing masks and poured something on the ground.

  The army brought themselves up again to be ready for an attack after the long break. The smoke cloud that came out from the forest changed from black to white and no longer smelled like a normal smoke. It irritated the eyes and those closest to the forest were forced to back off from the smoke. Not knowing what else, the Darcolian and Redonian forces had planned an uneasy time for Kemi. She was worried about if the advancing army had access to something poisonous. The art of mixology had come far and it was not all impossible they might be in possession of something that could turn the course of this war quickly. The smoke finally got lighter and the men up in the tower said the forest was clearing off smoke.

  When the smoke finally eased off where the attacking army was, the lookouts in the tower could see the army finally. The spotter told of some other machines not yet seen on the battlefield and they looked ready to go to attack once more. Kemi told Hillmer who was next to her that the enemy was persistent and would most likely continue as before. She gave orders to make ready for the attack coming and brought the remaining jars of explosive material up to the front. The arrows canons were fully armed with much reserves and canons were filled with ammunition to keep the defence strong. The forest people had provided much help in construction of the weapons. The mechanical beasts took aim at much of the weapons the allied armies had. Much were still in working order but one of the better working canons had been ordered back at the castle in case a retreat might be necessary.

  Kemi opposed this request from her advisors but could not deny that the possibility existed. While the army stood ready for another attack, a smell suddenly came out from inside the forest and it was very foul. The smell became very strong and then spread over the land like a blanket. Everyone needed to cover up their mouth with anything they could find. Kemi might have been further back but she had to cover up as well. She again wondered if this was poisonous but no one seemed to have any bigger trouble with the smell other than it being foul.

  An archer high up in the tower shouted down that something strange was happening over the forest. He said activity had seized from people and everyone seemed to have retreated back again. Kemi wondered what was going on but found out the answer soon enough. Some of the soldiers that had heard that the forest was seemingly empty, moved up close with shields to have a look for themselves. It was true, they saw no one and only silence was present in the forest. Before anyone could realise what was going on, the forest lit up and turned into a ball of fire. The blast of the fire was strong enough to make several rows of guards retreat back from the shear heat that was produced. The sheer force of the blast of fire was too strong to hold back and the heat intensified by the second. The forest was engulfed in flames that reached high in the sky and Kemi felt the hair on her neck stand up in the surprise fire.

  Hun, the forest people’s leader, said to her with much stress in his voice that a forest fire should normally had been easy to put out and make the trees continue to grow. But with this furnace in front of them, it was impossible to keep up for the earth stone. Gon saw the fire light up the sky and told his students to get ready for whatever the future held. Suddenly, the forest made a lot of noises and the soldiers could not see beyond the flames. The men below depended on those in the tower to tell them what was happening but they had to take cover inside it from the heat. The soldiers all saw the tower suddenly got taken down in a blast coming from the fire to completely destroy it with many dead in it as a result.

  The fire stopped as fast as it had started and the army then looked upon a large-scale force where the forest once was. Those soldiers that were standing at the edge of the forest before the fire began, all lay dead and smoke was coming from their bodies. There was a heavy machine being sighted and it was built like the size of a house and with a large canon pointing out from it. More beasts were sighted as well as the massive army but no birds. The officers made sure to pull the soldiers into line and aimed their weapons towards the enemy. With no forest stopping them, the advancing army could form thick lines of soldiers to be ready for attack. With a noise from a horn, the soldiers from the Darcolian and Redonian kingdom ran towards the Grasoll land. The soldiers standing ready to defend themselves waited for orders.

  Kemi saw immediately how big and strong the army was that was coming and told everybody to attack. She made the horn blowers signal for a full attack and soon after, several horns sounded. Both Hillmer and Jay, as well as everyone else, knew that was the signal for full assault towards the attackers. The armies went head to head and the big machine fired its first load towards the soldiers that caused many of them to die or be injured. It got surrounded by soldiers fast that defended and attacked it.

  Jay immediately concentrated on attacking the big machine with a few of his men in hopes that they might bring it down. It proved to be of much danger as it shot down one of the big towers full of archers. It fired several shots towards any weapon or construction Kemi had put out on the battlefield. Many boulders were fired at the machine but it was still coming. With the speed of the big machine, Kemi feared it might cause too much damage. The arrow canons went warm when it was constantly loaded with fresh arrows but with the mixture of soldiers that were now, they risked hitting their own. They moved them so they shot against the burnt down forest where soldiers were still coming out. Many rows of archers filled the edge of the forest and continuously fired their arrows.

  Hillmer drew his soldiers on the side and tried to charge from another direction. The battlefield was vast and attackers could go further in to bring down the machines that shot logs. The mechanical beast had the best success with bringing them down and many moved towards Kemi’s new weapons. However, some of the weapons were proving too much for the advancing soldiers. The swords infused with magic worked great against the attackers and took only a couple of hits until the enemy’s sword got brought down by the burning black fire blades. Closer to the frontline, Jay was brought down when his horse got hit by a larger mechanical beast. It was trying to defend the great machine and he was forced to continue on foot. He saw his friend, Kane, fight and told him to come to him.

  Jay needed his help and Kane understood what he was asked for. They rushed to the mechanical beast and Jay jumped up on it with help from Kane distracting it. On top of it, he could see people inside running it and brought his sword through the opening of the machine where those inside looked out from. He killed the man sitting there causing the beast to fall on the side when the driver no longer could hold it up. He believed the machine might get up again if any of the Redonian soldiers got to the control so he wasted no time. With the walking weapon on its side, he could enter into it and kill the soldier still alive in it. He then cut the ropes and injured the steam machine that ran it to render it useless. He continued to the big machine that kept firing heavy loads towards the soldiers. He took a horse from an attacker that he pushed off when he leapt from the mechanical beast. He galloped towards the men with the exploding jars and took one with him.

  Hillmer fought with the men on the ground feeling he was right where he belonged on the battlefield. His long experience with combat served him well as he could use his sword like it was part of his arm. He fought like a true warrior but was surprised when he saw a few women fighting with Darcolian armour on. He was
well-aware of the dangerous women in the Darcolian army and gave them no exceptions. He himself brought one of them to their death after one of them attacked him head on. Several of the soldiers under him got taken down by another Darcolian soldier and Hillmer then turned to him. He could see the soldier was one of the bigger men from the attacking army and had a bigger sword. The Darcolian soldier saw him coming and brought his sword up to meet him. They made the swords hit and Hillmer could see the Darcolian sword was being broken down by his dark blade and believed he soon would be victorious.

  As soon as the sword broke, he went in for a stab to the heart but everything suddenly turned cold and quiet. He looked upon the man that was smiling meanly to him and then grabbed Hillmer’s dark sword off him to continue to fight. He felt the blood coming down the face and then when he felt where the blood was coming from, he could sense the arrow that was sticking out from his head. The thoughts went in and out but then only about his family back in the castle. His vision became blurry and then heard his own breath stop. He died and his men dragged him away from the fight towards the back. Jay rode towards the big machine but got his horse cornered by some of the attacking soldiers and decided to abandon the horse to run on foot. He had help from some of the other riders that held the attacking army occupied while he continued.

  Jay jumped to the side and just barely avoided a blast from the canon that hit behind him but killed a couple of soldiers following him. Being worried that the jar he had might go off, leaving nothing left of him made him hurry up. He ran close to the big machine and threw the jar to one of the sides where the wheels were. The blast was great enough to cause some serious damage. When Jay looked up after he hit the ground, he saw the machine stuck and not able to move forward. The canon was, however, still pointed right at him. He ran closer and was able to hide next to it to avoid its projectile. He saw a soldier from one of the estates lending a hand in this war running towards him and the soldier shouted to Jay to catch.

  Another jar filled with the explosive content was headed towards Jay. The man never realised he was about to die and got hit by a beast just after throwing it. Jay caught the jar and climbed up the machine avoiding some arrows being shot at him. He saw the canon shoot one more time and hit one of the boxes that had archers inside. He could see it fall backwards in his side view and knew many lives were taken with that hit. But with no time to wait, he had to continue up. He noticed the hatch that led to the inside of the machine that was on the top. He opened it then threw the jar inside and closed the lid fast after. He had no time to escape and the explosion that came right after made him fall off. He landed on the shoulder with a fast speed but the whole time, looking at the machine. It was taken out and gave a blow to the attackers that suddenly had one less advantage.

  Jay tried to stand up but his arm was loose and he felt the pain went through the shoulder like lightning. He realised his shoulder was dislocated and would need help to get it back again. A sword was lying on the ground that he took up and used it to pull himself up. As soon as he stood, he got attacked by one of the soldiers from Redonia. He did his best to defend but the pain in his arm was great and his attempts to fight back were limited. The soldier had a chance to take down Jay and when he was able to strike the sword out of Jay’s hand, he waited not long to aim for the body. Jay could see part of his life flash by but it was interrupted by a metal sound that made him wake up from the vision. He looked at Kane who told some of the soldiers that had come to help him back.

  The Redonian soldier fell to the side dead. Jay thanked him and Kane told him he had then repaid the debt he owed with a smile on his face. Jay nodded and got help from a soldier to climb on a horse that rode back to the lines where the healers were. He came in to the make shift tent medical facility where the healer closest to him saw immediately what the problem was. He grabbed a hold of Jay and with one move, put the arm back in the socket. Jay yelled out in pain and blood could be seen coming down his arm which also the healer told him about, but he had no time to check how bad it was.

  Instead he went back to the horse and rode again up the battlefield where the fight was at full boiling point. ‘You have to be careful with the arm,’ one of the healers had said before he left. As he rode, he saw another beast that also caused another explosion on the battlefield. Back at the base of operation, Kemi had just seen Hillmer who had been dragged back and wished him luck in the afterlife. She then noticed Jay rushing back and told the archers that tried to fire arrows at individual targets to clear the way for him. Jay saw a few soldiers coming towards him fall and knew Kemi had his back.

  The Grasoll lands army was holding the enemy at the edge but got a realisation of the power of the kingdom of Redonia when three more big machines with canons were rolling over the hill. More beasts also appeared and then Jay saw the biggest threat to the kingdom. On the hill just where the forest ended, stood the leaders of the attacking army. The man he knew for a fact to be Amaya, then lifted something to the sky that shone brightly. Several rows of heavily armed soldiers stood before him. But for those seeing what else he held, the fear was not for the soldiers. Anyone close enough could see another Alumrylite stone he was holding.

  As soon as it started to shine, the clouds quickly showed up and soon the wind picked up. Kemi could also see what was happening and did not wait for another show of power. She ordered the soldiers to focus all their efforts on taking down Amaya quickly. Every weapon currently in working order moved in position to fire against the true heir to the Redonian throne. With the knowledge of what damage a magical stone, like the one he held, would do, she would not give any chance for him to use it against her people.

  Jay who was now on the front line, told the soldiers to advance forward towards the Alumrylite stone before it gained too much power. The soldiers pushed on but were not able to get far with so many Redonian and Darcolian soldiers then defending their king. Those soldiers not protecting the king continued the attack with the same intensity. The large rolling machines with canons on them were shooting towards anyone coming close from the sides where none of their own soldiers were in the way. Amaya, who was holding the magical stone, was having company with an old man on one side and a chain mail knight on the other side. The knight was big and had left his horse to head down to the other soldiers to defend.

  When a soldier from Domoro managed to get through, the knight killed him in one blow of his sword. He took down a few more trying to reach the king with just one hit each. The arrows shot by the few arrow machines still working, were missing their target due to the wind that was rapidly increasing. The arrows were, however, causing some unwanted damage when several of the allied soldiers got hit. No more arrows were shot in fear of them hitting the wrong target as several of the arrows also struck one of the small towers where soldiers had to take cover. The clouds above descended from the sky in an amazing array.

  A vision of power was displayed in front of the army as a tornado suddenly hit the ground in front of them. Many in the allied army began to back off and defended more than attacked. The tornado seemed to just stand still but when the Redonian leader moved his hand, they could see it was completely under his control. The tornado then moved towards the soldiers and another horn was heard from behind the whirlwind. The Darcolia’s and Redonia’s soldiers, retreated back towards their leader or headed to the side of the battlefield to continue the fight. The allied soldiers then faced the tornado that moved very fast against them. Anyone being in the way of the tornado was lifted up and thrown away far. Many died or got injured when Amaya guided the wind towards them.

  Kemi tried to change her strategy and told the soldiers to scatter to minimise the impact of the tornado. A canon shooting a log was fired in an attempt to hit on the side where some soldiers were. But the strong winds altered its course and instead hit its own troops. No more flying weapons were used as they had the possibility to harm their own soldiers and instead, the soldiers used the sides of the battlefield to attac
k. With the wind in the way and the difficulty of reaching Amaya, there were some that had decided to retreat. The attacking army pushed hard down and held many Grasoll and Domoro soldiers in the way of the tornado. The situation got harder as another Alumrylite stone was brought up by Amaya.

  Kemi felt the fear hit her and had no idea the Redonian kingdom possessed any Alumrylite stones. She had only heard the rumours about Redonia having amazing weapons but no one ever confirmed it to her. And no one ever said anything about them having two magic stones. With much distress in her voice she asked why Amaya was able to wield such power to her wise men. They were still unable to use the shadow stone to perform anything that would change the course to their favour again. She looked over the battlefield that then got pushed closer to her with another tower falling down. The second magic stone brought out by Amaya shone as the first one. And when it was directed to the whirlwind, the most terrifying sight was shown to those then feeling the power of Redonia.

  The tornado changed colour and with a blowout, started to burn with fire. Anyone caught in the way of the blazing wind was burned to death instantly. The burning tornado hit one of the towers where soldiers had to jump from high up to escape a certain death. The tower still burned with many soldiers inside and it was a terrible sight to see. Jay knew the outcome right away and told his troops to retreat back. Several horns were blown and the allied forces did not need much persuasion to abandon the fight. With the soldiers retreating, the advancing army then slowly walked behind and followed the tornado as it pushed back Kemi’s soldiers. From the martial arts school, they could see what was going on and Gon told everybody to get ready for the mountain cave again.