Vahn and the Bold Extraction, The

by Mason, Shane A.

  They followed a small animal track winding its way up to a small pass over some of the hills. At the top Melaleuca could see many more hills in the distance and a valley off to the left, eastward toward the sea.

  Pausing they each surveyed the scene in the Ninja costume, drinking in the faraway-ness of their position. They could all sense it, though Ari could sense it more; hills after hills after hills, mountains and valleys after valleys, all too countless to number, filling their souls with a long-ago, long since passed, lost grandeur that had once dwelt in this land.

  They carried on trailing along several hilltops connected by a line of ridges that made moving easier. Short of being called mountains they now traversed large hills. They traveled the entire night until, by morning, they arrived at a steep slope.

  Below them lay a small flat plain with three valleys off it. In the middle of it sat a matted thicket of thorny plants growing over the out-spill of three small rivers. Each river headed down one of the valleys. Melaleuca’s hairs stood up on the back of her neck.

  ‘Down there,’ she said, consulting the map, and handing it to Ari to confirm.

  ‘Looks right,’ Ari said. ‘And look! There’s our eagle.’

  The Kockoroc sat guard-like beside the thorny bushes ignoring them.

  ‘Approach quietly,’ Melaleuca said. ‘Everyone be on guard. Quixote be ready with your speed boots. In fact I want you to race to the mansion and back to check they are working.’

  He saluted and vanished. This time he did not reappear for over a minute.

  ‘All fine,’ Quixote said. ‘But it is further.’

  ‘It will do.’ Melaleuca said.

  They nudged the horses forward, picking their way down the slope until they reached the bottom. Hoof marks led to the barbed thicket, and they passed amongst the bodies of scattered dead children.

  ‘Ignore them,’ Melaleuca said looking ahead. ‘We will feel for them after we have Lexington.’

  They dismounted before the giant wall of barbed vines, and the Kockoroc flicked its eyes at them, scratched in the dirt and then backed away.

  ‘Hello boy,’ Quixote said approaching it. ‘Where’ve you been?’ He reached up and stroked its neck feathers.

  ‘According to the map we are here.’ Melaleuca said.

  ‘Look where it scratched,’ Quixote said jabbing his finger at the ground.

  Horse tracks led right up to the bramble wall, disappearing into it.

  ‘There must be a secret way in,’ Ari said.

  Melaleuca started to disrobe.

  ‘Fighting clothes on only.’

  Kitted in the Roman soldier costumes, they tip-toed toward the edge of the massive brambly wall. Vines as thick as their bodies blocked their way, and the barbs on the vines stood out several inches. Everywhere they looked, hundreds of them pointed outwards like shark’s teeth.

  Ari pushed his arm into the mass, searching for a way forward, though winced in pain as the sharp barbs cut into him. He pulled his arm back, lacerating his skin deeply, and then dropped to his knees holding his bloody forearm, pain and surprise writhing about in his face.

  Melaleuca yanked the doctor’s clothes on.

  Got to stop it before he loses too much blood.

  In no time, she had mended and stitched his injuries, rapidly healing and repairing the damage.

  ‘Let’s be careful Ari.’

  Ari stood and flexed his arm. It felt as if it had never been hurt. ‘Let me try something else.’

  He drew his sword, instructing Quixote to do the same. Together they hacked at it several times though left few marks.

  ‘It is no use,’ Ari said. ‘The swords need to be heavier to get through this.’

  ‘Ah ha!’ Quixote cried. ‘I know just the thing.’

  He disappeared and appeared a minute later dressed as a lumberjack wielding an axe with a massive head.

  ‘Stand back. I’m a going in.’

  He strode into it, swinging the axe with a deft blow. It sunk through the vine as if it was butter. Quixote chopped and chopped, hacking out large chunks of vines, creating a slight dent.

  Quixote stepped into the gap, readying to continue chopping. The vines shook and grew back, closing up around his feet and the axe, entangling them in the thorny vines. In a matter of seconds it was as if nothing had been chopped out.

  ‘Argghhh!’ Quixote yelped grabbing at his leg, as thorns and barbs sliced into it.

  ‘Pull him out,’ Melaleuca shouted.

  With one great wrench they yanked him free, tearing up his lower leg.

  Screwing his eyes up in pain, Quixote tried to suppress his tears, though blood drained from his face as shock started to set in.

  Melaleuca set to work on him with great pace. Within seconds she had stopped the bleeding and within a minute she had healed the skin with minimal blood loss. She ran her hands over his leg, healing it, colour returning to his face.

  Melaleuca shook her head.

  ‘I don’t get it. I could make blood in Quixote and even in you, Ari, but not Dunk.’

  ‘That’s something for Lexington to work out,’ Ari said.

  ‘Or,’ Quixote said, getting back on his feet. ‘The bracelets protected us and meant we could be healed quicker.’

  Ari stared at the enigmatic wall before them. ‘Sure, but what now?’ he asked looking toward Quixote. Perhaps he could come up with one of his wayward ideas.

  ‘Quixote,’ Melaleuca said. ‘Go back and feed this information to Argus and Uncle Bear-Nard. Tell them of this and ask how to get through.’

  The Kockoroc stood motionless as if still on guard waiting. Waiting for what, the cousins did not know.

  ***

  Quixote shot off at speed. He raced back like mad along the same route they had taken, everything a blur. He moved so fast that he did not see Captain HeGood and about 200 hundred of his finest mounted Inquisat troops descending down to the Forbidden Place.

  Quixote stopped inside the barn where an agitated and worried Argus sat.

  ‘You call this sending back regular reports!’

  ‘Later,’ Quixote said, and then rushed through an explanation of the bush, finishing by asking for ideas.

  Argus’s face worried itself even more.

  ‘Where is Uncle? He must know,’ Quixote asked.

  ‘He left hours ago. He did not say where he was going.’

  ‘Think about the bush,’ Quixote said. ‘I will check the house for him and then be back.’

  While Quixote roared off, Argus tried to imagine what costume, trick or strategy could help the cousins. He thought about the battles he had been in and the times when he had come up against insurmountable obstacles.

  Quixote reappeared. ‘He’s not on the grounds, and I don’t think we have time to track him. Any ideas??’

  ‘Two. If this is the Forbidden Place, then check to see if Lexington and the others are there.’

  ‘They are. Their tracks lead right into the bush.’

  ‘Okay. Go back and tell the others. When meeting an obstacle the choices are, go around it, through it, over it or under it. Failing that, retreat and draw the enemy out.’

  The last option excited Quixote.

  ‘Yeah. We could firebomb them and starve them out, just like laying siege to a castle.’

  ‘Yes, but we do not want Lexington to get hurt do we.’

  ‘She has the bracelet. Nothing can hurt her.’

  Quixote was gone in a flash, leaving Argus frustrated so far from the action.

  ***

  The horses Melaleuca, Ari and Quixote had ridden snorted and started fretting. Spooked, they jolted and ran off. Surprised Melaleuca and Ari looked around to see what unnerved them, but could see nothing.

  Then they heard a far off thunder of many horse hooves pounding the ground, and saw the Inquisat spill over the top of the hill picking their way down. Weaving slowly along the single file track, the Inquisat tried to move faster but the narrow path abated their speed
.

  ‘You go left,’ Melaleuca said, ‘I go right. We divide their attack. Wait until they actually attack, then try and get up the hill above them, that way we will have the advantage.’

  ‘It is a great warrior that can defeat a hundred men in battle, but an even greater warrior that can defeat a hundred men without battle,’ Ari replied.

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘We don’t tire, but these men and horses do. We could run in separate directions and then turn about and get them charging into each other. Do it time and time again until they are worn out.’

  ‘Done,’ Melaleuca said. ‘If it doesn’t work, head for the high ground.’

  Melaleuca threw her Roman soldier costume on again, and pushed the rest of the costumes and the ruck-sac under a bush.

  Elite and emotionless, the Inquisat formed up in two lines as they rode one by one off the hillside. Clad in thick leather, shields on their backs; swords, knives, bows and cross-bows dangling from their saddles - they looked hell-bent on war.

  At Captain HeGood’s command the double row broke into a single line forming a half circle, while four riders cantered off to take up corner positions. Captain HeGood galloped forward holding up a white flag, slowing his approach as he neared Ari and Lexington. He stopped several feet shy of them settling his horse, whose flanks frothed with sweat and mouth foamed.

  ‘Lay down your arms and leave New Wakefield as you did last time.’

  ‘Now!’ Melaleuca yelled.

  Ari sprinted left toward the river away from the thicket of thorns, and Melaleuca sprinted right toward the hills. Captain HeGood wheeled his horse about and thundered back to the lines, screaming, ‘ATTACK CLOSING FORMATION!!!! DEMI BREAK HALF WAY.’

  Two hundred Inquisat spurred their horses forward. Like precision clockwork after a hundred metres they broke into two half circles, and rode hard toward the fleeing Marauders, heading left and right chasing Ari and Lexington.

  Half way across the small flat Ari yelled out, ‘NOW!’

  They wheeled about and ran, aiming to meet in the middle of the flat.

  Captain HeGood rode to high ground, waving his arms at the flag men. They shook their flags backwards and forwards. The Inquisat wheeled about, bringing their half circles around to become two lines facing toward Ari and Melaleuca. Spurred on, the horses pounded the earth, heading at high speed toward each other.

  Ari and Melaleuca stopped in the middle of the flat, the horses seconds away from them. Lightening adrenalin and excitement flooded their body.

  ‘Evade,’ Ari shouted. ‘Get them to mix up their lines of attack.’

  Hooves flew toward them, and as they passed by Ari instinctively reached up and toppled two of the Inquisat though the rest passed neatly through each other’s lines. With another signal from Captain HeGood they spun about in a tight turn, readying for another charge.

  Melaleuca could see their horse-riding battle skills would make them a formidable match.

  ‘Head for the hills,’ she shouted.

  ‘Go!’ Ari shouted back.

  They dashed, bobbed and weaved amongst the dirt and dust being kicked up by the horses hoofing past. Their swords and shields in hand, they deflected blow after blow, parried and thrust their swords at their attackers. Spurred on by the danger - the bracelets and the costumes took over and despite the intensity of the attack they fought back mightily. In blurred action, Melaleuca and Ari used the Inquisat’s spears and swords to battle their way through the horses, their advantage being that only five horses and their Inquisat riders could attack them at any one time.

  As they neared the base of the hill Ari spied Captain HeGood trotting over to where they had left their costumes, pull them from the bush and inspect them.

  ***

  Inside, Lexington listened as the battle raged on. Gagged and without a bracelet, she struggled, powerless to do anything other than watch Daquan and Quesob erect a medieval gallows with hooks, barbs and ropes dangling from it. Ropes studded with small hooks hung from some of the struts, and on the side of the upright posts, spring loaded blades sat.

  Doctor Thurgood sat muttering to himself jotting notes down in a notebook, cackling away; every now and then turning to Daquan and yelling out another unintelligible idea, boasting of his success.

  The fighting outside raged on and on, and battle cries, orders to form this way, that way, and then another way filtered through the dense plant matter.

  ‘That fool HeGood is not doing what I told you to tell him to do,’ Daquan said growing annoyed.

  ‘Master, I only gave him the message to meet us here.’

  Daquan’s backhand struck Quesob knocking him off his feet. ‘IDIOT!’.

  He glared at Quesob, shaking his head. ‘I expected more from you.’ He rummaged in one of the saddlebags, handing a small case to Quesob. ‘Take the light swallowing bracelet and go out there and put a halt to all this.’

  Quesob pulled himself up off the ground. ‘Please don’t hurt the girl. Let me talk to them.’

  ‘THE TIME FOR TALKING IS OVER! GET OUT THERE YOU TRAITOR.’

  ***

  A great, bellowing animal sound boomed across the small valley causing the Inquisat and the cousins to look up. Charging down the hill, 12 feet tall, amour shining in the sun, fire snorting out of the visor, Quixote clad as a vicious knight, ran toward them.

  The horses of the Inquisat whinnied and neighed, balking against their training. As the riders tried to settle their steeds, archers rained arrows down upon Quixote to no affect. Quixote crashed into the middle of the battlefield smashing the Inquisat troops and laughing. His amour deflected their blows, and their sword strikes and spear thrusts.

  Melaleuca and Ari dashed through an opening created by Quixote’s entrance and scrambled uphill. From there they used their combined strength to roll rocks and boulders down.

  The Inquisat ran left and right scrambling to avoid them. Horses and men fell as rocks and boulders rumbled forth like spinning missiles of death, smashing and crushing them.

  ***

  Quesob sprinkled water from the icy pool on the thick mass of vines. Shriveling, a small exit opened, and he strode outside. Many of Captain HeGood’s men lay battered on the ground with as many horses thrashing around in pain.

  The Kockoroc swooped around and came screaming toward Quesob, knocking him back in through the entrance. He tumbled backwards, grabbing for his sword, expecting the Kockoroc to attack. It stood in the doorway eyeballing him, daring him to try and leave again.

  He dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out the bracelet. Holding it up, he ran at the Kockoroc.

  Pitch-black darkness fell over the small plain and the hillsides; silence following. Even the Kockoroc whimpered a few low-key unsure clucks and clicks.

  ‘I am Quesob, Master of Arms and Master of Horses for his high lordship the Overlord of Ramathor. He bids the Marauders to stop fighting.’

  Captain HeGood yelled back. ‘And I am the captain of the guard. These Marauders are to be my prisoners. NIGHT MANOEVURES!!!’

  The Inquisat took up the command, chanting low sounds to locate each other. In little time they had formed up despite the pitch-blackness. Commanded by pre-arranged leaders the Inquisat trod to the last spot where they had last seen the Marauders.

  ‘STOP! MY MASTER COMMANDS IT!’ Quesob cried out.

  With no light, Quixote could not aim his attack. He swung with no aim but found himself knocked back and forth from every side, realising the Inquisat knew how to fight in the darkness. He yelled to Ari and Melaleuca.

  In the blackness they picked their way down onto the battlefield, creeping toward the fighting. Thinking they had not heard him, Quixote unleashed everything, swinging as wildly as possible, thrashing anyone he contacted. Another great Quixote-idea struck him; a way to bring light to the darkness. He shut his eyes, imagined himself running toward the costume room and started running. The speed boots carried him at lightning speed back to the costume room despite no
t being able to see. Light returned somewhere over the second pass though it appeared as a blur. In the costume room he threw off the knight’s amour and pulled on the static electricity costume and roared back, a scintillating ball of sparks and lightening.

  Failing to find Quixote in the darkness, Ari and Melaleuca tried to sneak past the Inquisat. They brushed past one of them who felt their clothes to be different and started the low humming chanting that bought the rest of the surviving Inquisat closing in on them.

  ‘Oh poo,’ Ari whispered to Melaleuca, as they listened to the heavy breathing of the Inquisat nearly upon them.

  Within seconds Quixote appeared over the low pass, and like a star falling to earth, descended down the slope. Lightening zapped off him, and light shafts flared up and died down, as did a constant stream of thousands of sparks shooting off him. He ran around using the speed boots trying to create light, though the light-swallowing bracelet proved too powerful; he could only illuminate a few feet around him.

  Quesob held his ground unsure what to do. Beside him a rustle of leaves sounded, and footsteps as if someone walking on dry leaves, approached.

  The Kockoroc clicked a happy sound.

  ‘Hush,’ came a squelchy voice, and then it said right in Quesob’s ear, ‘I’ll take that.’

  Something grabbed the bracelet out of Quesob’s hand, and light rushed back with a blinding flash, making everyone grab for their eyes.

  Bodies and horses lay dead everywhere, but the cousins dressed as Marauders still stood, much to the frustration of Captain HeGood.

  Iam stood in front of Quesob, his leaf-covered body looking like a man-shaped bush. Beside him the Kockoroc stood waiting for instructions from Iam.

  Iam shoo-ed the Kockoroc away.

  ‘Stay out of the way. Just make sure Daquan does not leave until I say so.’