by Saxon Andrew
• • •
The Leader of the Destroyers at the front of their advance started to call a halt when he heard the high pitched screams of women running. He could see their heads above the shoulder high grass in the clearing and he ordered his troops to give chase. The front of the Destroyer advance moved quickly into the clearing and the warriors following them arrived, heard the women and joined them.
In ten minutes, the entire eastern edge of the clearing had Destroyers running into the grass. Maxius saw the last of the enemy run into the clearing and could see the front Destroyer troops were less than two hundred yards from the western edge; he launched a whistler arrow. He turned to the north and fired another whistler. Four archers placed between Maxius and the north edge of the clearing relayed arrows toward the Archers waiting with Andy. Andy heard the whistler come squealing over the trees and he turned and fired a whistler up the corridor cut into the forest. Archers scattered along the corridor launched their whistlers until the last archer at the end of the corridor turned and launched an arrow over the archers at the notched trees. The archers pulled their cutters and cut the final notch into the tree they were assigned.
The archers assigned to a notched tree who were closest to the beach didn’t hear the whistler but they did hear the trees crashing down to the west. They cut the final notch and every tree between the corridor and the beach fell. The hard wind blowing at ground level now had a path to blow through and it came roaring through at fifty miles an hour. It reached the corridor and turned as it blew hard toward the clearing.
• • •
Andy heard the loud crash of trees in the distance and he pulled a tar arrow and used his cutter to ignite it. He pulled it back and fired it into two large pouches hanging from a pole at the edge of the clearing. The two pouches exploded sending flames out into the dried grass. A thousand archers launched a tar arrow and two thousand poles lining the northern edge of the clearing with tar pouches suspended below them exploded just as the fifty mile an hour wind arrived and blew the flames into the clearing with a vengeance. The wild fire roared toward the south and the archers split into two groups and followed it along the eastern and western edge of the clearing as it blew south.
• • •
Fats and Tamara had already climbed into a tree and heard the whistler arrive. They had their tar arrows ready in an instant and fired into the pouches on the west side of the clearing. The thousand archers along the western edge saw the pouches explode and fired at the other pouches lined up along the western edge of the clearing. The flames exploded into the field and the approaching Destroyer Warriors saw a wall of flame moving slowly toward them. They turned and ran back the way they had come and ran into the thousands of warriors that followed them into the clearing. The warriors began knocking each other down as they scrambled ahead of the advancing flames; then…they heard a loud roar and looked north and saw the wall of fire blowing toward them out of the north. The flames were moving at an incredible speed and warriors began dropping their rifles, back packs and anything else they were carrying and sprinted toward the southeastern edge of the clearing. The ones closest to the eastern edge came running toward the tree line and were greeted with a cloud of arrows. The ones behind those that fell, who still had a rifle, started firing at random into the trees in front of them as they sprinted toward the forest and safety from the advancing flames but they fell with the others. The flames swept down the clearing and the screams of the warriors were heard over the roar of the flames. As the flames passed their positions, the archers would come down from the trees and follow it south. Destroyers on fire would come running out of the clearing and the archers would end their suffering. Andy walked along the clearing and felt his heart start to beat again as the Destroyers fell. This was for Harmony. He smiled and knew the wind would lie down as soon as this was over. It was Harmony’s wind.
• • •
More than eight thousand Destroyer Warriors entered that clearing. Less than three thousand managed to make it to the edge. Only six hundred of them made it to the tree line, where they ran into archers standing in the trees with red blasters. None of them survived.
Andy finally arrived at the center of the clearing and the smell of burned flesh filled the air. He looked at Mark and Maxius and smiled. Maxius said, “How do you feel?”
Andy nodded slightly, “I’m ok. I really am.”
“What now?”
“There is still an Admiral and warriors on the beach. Move into the trees and move out to either side of them. When you’re in position, here’s what I want you to do.”
Mark listened and smiled, “Do you think they’ll listen?”
“If they don’t, we’ll do it again, closer.”
Mark tilted his head and nodded.
• • •
The Admiral and Warrior Commander waited on the beach with their personal body guards totaling a hundred Warriors. They heard shots being fired in the distance and then they heard thousands of shots being fired simultaneously. The shots continued for thirty minutes and then tapered off. They had no way of knowing that the shots came from the thousands of rounds that were cooked off by the wild fire as they burned the bodies of the dead Destroyers. The Admiral looked at the Commander and shook his head, “They must have encountered a large force.”
The Commander’s brow was furrowed and he started to respond but heard, “You will drop your weapons or we will kill every one of you where you stand.” The Warriors lifted their rifles and fired into the trees. Suddenly they saw a huge shadow come out of the trees toward them and hit into the ground around them. The Warriors looked and there were thousands of arrows sticking up out of the sand. The closest were six inches from their ranks and the ground was covered more than ten feet out from where they were standing. The arrows formed a perfect U around them. The voice from the trees said, “Last warning, drop your weapons or the next barrage will end this.”
A Warrior looked at the thousands of arrows surrounding them and said, “Frip this.” He dropped his rifle and the other warriors hesitated a moment but then followed his lead.
The Bodyguard’s Commander yelled, “You will pick up your weapons, NOW!” He raised his rifle toward the warriors and an arrow hit him in the middle of his forehead. He fell faster than a rock from space. The voice in the trees yelled, “Archers…show yourselves.”
Suddenly, the Destroyers saw hundreds of heads start appearing to the sides of their formation. They could tell that the ones around them had a bow pulled back by the way the heads appeared to be sighting at them. The voice said, “Drop to your knees and put your hands behind your heads.” The warriors fell to their knees and they saw their rifles being taken off the ground and carried away. Then, they felt their backpacks being removed as they were thoroughly searched.
Andy walked up behind the Admiral and Commander and said, “That includes the two of you.” The Admiral turned around and saw the head of a young man standing behind them and he and the Commander fell to their knees. Andy pulled the top of his camouflage uniform down and then removed it. The Admiral saw he was wearing a form-fitting blue uniform under it and he was holding some kind of hand gun on them. The archers around the warriors began pulling down their suits so the warriors could see them and then took a seat on the sand. The warriors looked out at the trees and saw thousands of the strange men walking toward them. Their fear was obvious.
• • •
Andy walked around and sat down on the sand in front of the two Destroyer leaders. He stared at them as two others came and sat down beside him. The Admiral looked out at his ships and wondered when the cannons would start firing. They had to see what was happening on shore. Andy saw him look and shook his head, “We control your ships. My warriors have removed your troops.” The Admiral’s expression turned sick.
The Commander looked at Andy, “What happens now?”
Andy stared at them and after a moment said, “I’m thinking about that.”
&n
bsp; He continued to stare at them and the Commander saw the two men sitting beside him start to look at him. They obviously didn’t know what was going to happen either. He endured Andy’s stare for twenty minutes and said, “Please go ahead and kill me now. This pressure is too much to bear.”
Andy smiled and looked at Maxius, “You can stop me if you want.” He turned to Mark and nodded, “You may as well.”
Maxius’ eyes narrowed, “Stop you from what?”
Andy looked at the Commander and said, “I’m going to give you one of your ships and allow you to go back to your home.”
Mark stood up, “Why would you do that!?!”
Andy kept his eyes on the two Destroyer leaders, “I want them to deliver a message to their Commandant.”
Mark stared at Andy and then sat back down. The Commander said, “What message do you want delivered?”
“I want you to tell him that I am coming for him. My warriors have killed all of the troops you sent into the trees and every one you left on board your ships. I really doubt that you have killed any of us. He looked at Mark who said, “Ten were injured by stray bullets.”
“Were any killed?”
“I’m not sure, but no one has been found dead…yet.”
A voice from an archer to the left of the group said, “One of us was killed when a tree fell on him.”
Andy looked at the archer, “Any others?”
“No, all of us except for Chang are fine.”
Andy looked back at the Commander, “Tell your Commandant that I am personally going to end his life.”
Maxius looked at Andy, “Is this worth doing?”
Andy shrugged, “I’ve thought about this for the last hour and I’ve asked myself two questions.”
“Which are?”
“Would killing them accomplish anything more than what we’ve done?”
“And?”
“Is there anything I could use them for? I want that Commandant to know what we did.”
“You’ll only be warning him.”
Andy looked at Maxius, “It’s worth the fear it would cause him.”
Mark looked at Maxius, “It would probably cause him to gather his forces to defend him.”
Maxius nodded and after a moment said, “Which would probably slow down his attacks on other humans.” Maxius looked at Andy, “Is that what you’re thinking?”
Andy’s mouth turned into a sneer, “No, I just want to get his attention. Those are other benefits to doing it but they aren’t what makes me want to do this.”
“How do you know they’ll go back?”
Andy smiled, “We will remove every weapon from the ship we give them. If they can go ashore without weapons and survive the predators, more power to them. They’ll go home because they know I mean it.”
The Commander looked into Andy’s eyes and saw something that frightened him to his core. His people were in great danger. Andy saw the realization in the Commander’s eyes and smiled, “You’re right.”
The Admiral saw the danger as well but he handled it another way. His eyes glazed over and he started mumbling, “We’re all doomed. We’re all doomed.” He continued the litany all the way back to the ship and the crew finally threw him overboard a week later.
Suddenly, the wind stopped blowing and everyone looked around. Andy now knew he was making the right decision. Six of the Destroyer Warriors stood up in their ranks and the one who dropped his rifle first said, “Is it possible that we could stay with you? We will be your slaves if you won’t send us back to that nation of beasts.”
Andy looked at the warrior and saw something in his eyes. He waited in silence for others to join them…but none did. He looked at the warrior and smiled, “You are welcome to join us. We don’t take slaves. There is only one exception we made to that rule.” He looked at the Commander, “The ship Commander of that scout ship is the only slave we’re ever taken. I’ll give him your regards.”
The Commander now knew the depth of the danger facing his people. When he sailed a ship away having no idea how the man had managed to take the entire fleet without anyone on shore seeing what happened; that lack of knowledge would haunt him all the way home.
Andy stood and looked at Mark, “Send someone out to the ships and send a boat to pick up the ones moving up the beach. They can return home on the ship.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I think the two of you can handle everything from here. I’m headed back home.”
Mark and Maxius looked at Andy as he walked off the beach to the cheers of thousands of archers. The Commander watched him go and would have asked to stay with those six warriors…but his family was not safe if he did. He looked at the thousands of warriors surrounding him and they stared disappearing. He had no idea how many still remained around him but knew he wasn’t going to do something stupid to find out. He knew he heard thousands of cheers in the trees of warriors that had not revealed themselves.
• • •
Mitchell saw the ships to the south and saw a glider leave one of them. He held up his hand and the small group stopped. He sat down and waited as the others sat down with him. Melody looked at him, “Why are we stopping?”
“A flier is coming toward us from the ship.”
“A what?”
“Put your head covering on and you can see it.”
Melody pulled the head cover out of her front pocket and put it over her head. She gasped as she saw the glider moving over the water toward them, “YOU CAN FLY?”
Mitchell nodded. Jonathan arrived ten minutes later and landed on the beach. Mitchell stood and looked at him with a serious expression. Jonathan smiled, “The battle is over. We’ve taken all the ships and all of their forces onshore have been eliminated.”
Melody was stunned by the statement. She removed her head cover and Jonathan was struck speechless. She looked at him and said, “What?”
John looked at Mitchell
l, “Has Andy seen her?”
Mitchell sighed, “He has.”
John started shaking his head, “I know it had to hit him hard.”
“It did.”
Melody remained silent and John turned to her, “I am sending a boat here to take you to my ship. We’ll take you back to our home on board.’
“I think I’ve seen enough of ships.”
“Well, until you can learn how to fly, you’ll have to go with us.’
“Do you mean I can learn how to do this?”
John smiled, “Yes. However, I need to get you on board so we can leave.” John turned to Mitchell, “Andy left ahead of everyone else.”
Mitchell sighed, “I imagine he needs some time alone.”
John nodded, “I imagine you’re right.”
Melody knew they were saying that he needed time away from her. She looked out at the ships and saw a small boat moving toward them. She thought about the one called Andy and wondered if she was going to be welcome if she caused him so much pain. She would wait and see. She wanted to hear about her sister and the voyage would give her time to find out what had happened.
• • •
Andy flew north and rode the thermals inland and the wind blowing over the cliffs without thinking about it. Flying was second nature and the effort was relaxing. He looked down at the land below and saw an abundance of large and small dinosaurs. The Pteranodons flying around him were focused on the ground below for a meal. Andy turned the glider and followed one inland for several miles and saw the remains of a Triceratops. The T-Rex that killed it was lying down in the edge of the forest sixty yards away and other predators would not challenge it for the meal. The Pteranodons were different. They were swooping in low along the ground using the tall body of the dead herbivore to hide their approach. They were pulling chunks of meat from the carcass. Two of them screamed at each other and spoiled the meal for the rest. The T-Rex jumped to its feet and charged over. The Dons scrambled away and took to the air. The T-Rex roared its fury and t
ook several more large bites out of the carcass.
Andy was amazed that the Pteranodon he followed had smelled the dead Triceratops from so far away. He turned back north and watched the life and death struggle of the creatures that inhabited the planet taking place below him. It never stopped. He thought about Harmony and missed her so much his chest cramped. He wept for her loss and when there were no more tears he slept while flying. It wasn’t real sleep. He occupied the realm that exists between consciousness and sleep. He would feel the glider change course and he would wake just enough to keep it over the cliff and moving north. His brain somehow knew true sleep was dangerous and it served up what he needed to get by.
He passed the curve in the river where he and Dinah had crossed on his exile and he smiled at the skills of his Cursor. He had not taken her out in a long time. He decided to do just that when he arrived home. Dinah deserved the attention. The wind was not howling like when Dottie had brought Harmony home or when the Destroyers were killed, so it took him eight days to make the journey back. The archers didn’t arrive for another twelve days. They stopped and landed on the cliff each night and slept. Maxius and Mark knew that Andy was a long way ahead of them and they worried about his mental state; they hoped he could let Harmony go. By the time they arrived home, he was gone.
• • •
Andy landed inside the walls of the community and Harvey came running out to greet him. “How did it go!?!”
Andy was folding up the glider and packing it up. He looked up at Harvey, “We captured every ship and killed every warrior they sent on shore.”
“And our losses?”
“One of our warriors was killed by a falling tree. Several more were injured.”
Harvey stared at Andy for a moment and then said, “Are you being honest with me?”
Andy stood up and nodded, “I am. It went off much better than I thought it would.”
“What about Harmony’s sister?”