Layann’s group reached the trees and melted silently into them. Pulg went next with his group. They would have to angle around to the left side of the camp. Two of his team carried the calimph seed cylinders as did two of mine. When Pulg’s team was halfway across the ground one of the sentries came walking over toward them. Everyone held their breath. I heard the Grey spit. Then he urinated and broke wind. He lingered a moment. My hands drifted slowly to the weapons I carried. Then there was another spit and he returned to the camp.
I slowly exhaled. The tension was really mounting in me. Once again I reminded myself that this was not something that I was accustomed to. I had experienced many nerve-wracking situations in the prison, some of them even life threatening, but this was Navy Seal stuff. I was in good shape but we were really flying by the seat of our pants here. I had to admit the pressure was taking a toll on me.
Once again, Tinker came to my rescue. She read my emotional state and flooded me with calming feelings and confidence. She was like my own living, breathing Xanax.
Pulg and his team finally reached the treed area and disappeared. Now it was just Me, Temms and our small group left. We were to cover the right side of the Grey’s camp with the archers covering the middle. We made it across more quickly than the other teams owing to our smaller numbers. The cover of the trees was comforting. I snuck over and found Layann and whispered for her to give us ten minutes to position ourselves. Then her team would select as many targets as possible in the limited light and loose their arrows. As my team crept into position I saw that there were now three sentries standing in the light of the fire.
Some of the wisest military professionals say no plan survives the first thirty seconds after contact with the enemy. In this we must have been lucky because immediately after I reached what I took to be a favorable location a volley of arrows streaked out into the Grey’s camp. The three guards that had been standing by the fire were pin-cushioned. One did a little half-spin and crashed into the fire. The other two dropped silently, dead before they hit the ground. I motioned my men forward. We ran as quickly and quietly as possible. Halfway to our objective another volley of arrows streaked in. One of these took out another sentry that had come to investigate the noise made by his brother falling into the fire. The others struck some of the Grey’s that were sleeping near the fire. That’s when all hell broke loose. Cries of pain rose from those that were struck but not killed. Grey beasts sprang up all over the camp, yelling, cursing and arming themselves.
Pulg’s group reached the camp a moment before mine did. The noise of battle on that side served to draw the enemy’s attention over there. That suited me fine because it presented me and my team with the backs of our adversaries. We took full advantage.
The fighting was furious. There were more of the beasts than I had thought. Taken by surprise, the Greys fought ferociously. They had us outmanned but Layann and her archers were steadily reducing their numbers from the tree line. We were able to catch a few of the beasts still in their sleeping pallets. We showed no mercy. This enemy was here to kill us and were not going to let that happen. Temms, Crain, Waan and I visited maximum mayhem upon every Grey we encountered. Some of the enemy finally noticed that they were being assaulted from both sides of the camp and turned to meet us. We used our momentum to crash into them and deliver killing blows before they could mount an effective defense.
The sound of battle on Pulg’s side of the camp was growing. Most of the enemy must have been concentrated there. My team fought toward them. I led the way swinging my war mace with both hands, smashing anything that moved. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Waan dropped by a spear thrust. Temms gutted the Grey that did it. One of the monsters loomed before me with a huge two-headed axe held high above his head. I raised my forearm guard and braced myself for the strike but it didn’t happen. An arrow struck him in his exposed ribs. The axe fell backwards over his head and I finished him off with a strike to the top of his head. Temms was shoulder to shoulder with me now, Crain, the only other remaining member of my team fell behind us. Greys were now darting every which way around us and the flickers of the campfire gave the scene a strobe-like effect. Some of the beasts were attacking, others were trying to find a path to escape. One climbed halfway up one of the wagons before taking an arrow to the back and dropping.
A spear struck me along the side of my thigh. It didn’t pierce the muscles in my leg but it dug a deep furrow across it. Temms was knocked down by a thrown rock. I quickly helped him back to his feet. Behind me Crain was covering our rear and was stabbed in the back. The sword blade went all the way through his body and exited his chest. Blood flew everywhere. He screamed and looked at me as the light died in his eyes. He fell forward. The need for retribution surged through me. I raced forward and caught the bastard that stabbed him and hammered him like a tent peg.
Then it was just Temms and I. We could see Pulg and his men closer now, fighting savagely for their lives. The remaining Greys were now caught between us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Layann had moved her archers up closer to the battle. They continued to rain death down upon the invaders from a much closer range. Pulg had blood running into his eyes from a cut on his forehead. In the firelight he looked as wild as the Greys did. Bloodlust was upon him. He ripped through the brutes with a sword in one hand and a war club in the other. The sheer strength of the man was awe inspiring. He was taking down the enemy fighters with either hand.
I took another wound from a thrown battle axe. The blade of the weapon caught my vest just under the clavicle. The metal stars on the vest deflected most of the damage but I felt the blood flow.
I was thankful that most of the Greys were still facing the direction from which Pulg had attacked. It allowed us to drop many of the beasts from behind before they even knew we were there. I had blood on me everywhere, some of it mine, most of it from the enemy. Temms looked as if he had bathed in it.
Pulg, had lost most of his team, I couldn’t tell how many. We continued to fight our way toward each other keeping the Greys in a two-edged attack. The value of the archers was clearly evident. Several times I was saved from an attack from the rear by their well-aimed missiles. Their relentless and deadly attack steadily reduced the enemy’s numbers.
I felt something grab my leg. Looking down I saw a Grey that had been struck in the back and dropped by an arrow. He had grabbed me and was attempting to use his oversize canine teeth to savage my lower leg. Luckily my I had my shin guards in place. I stomped his helmet several times until he stopped moving. Beside me Temms deflected a spear thrust that was meant for Pulg. He followed up with a head butt to the nose of his enemy and an upward stab with his sword. He then put his foot on the chest of his mortally wounded opponent and freed his blade.
Then it was just the three of us, Pulg, Temms and myself. We were in a circle, defending each other and dealing death and destruction upon any grey-skinned monster that still displayed any willingness to fight. The ones that did were now mostly failing to reach us before being skewered by the rain of arrows and our surviving warriors were fighting their way over to help us.
Then suddenly the few remaining Greys broke, fleeing the carnage that we had brought down upon them. I could see only five of them left alive and they were running away from the light of the fires. Two of them staggered and fell when arrows buried themselves in their backs. I hoped Layann remembered that we wanted some to escape. She must have because the other three disappeared unharmed into the darkness.
Our warriors shouted a victory cry but I quieted them quickly and directed them to the wagons. With two men on the ground the team members carrying the calimph seed cylinders were boosted up to the tops of the wagon barrels. There they quickly uncapped the big containers and plopped the cylinders inside. Two minutes later all of the wagons had been treated with the poison. I gathered up some burning branches from the fire and tossed them onto two of the wagons to make it look like our true intentions had been to burn them before
being chased off. The wood was so wet from the dripping water that I knew the flames would not catch.
I gathered our remaining people. Three besides myself were injured. Five of our number were dead. My people wanted to carry them out. I refused.
“We can’t help them now. We are still on a mission. Quickly, check every Grey and make sure they’re dead. We don’t want survivors telling their friends about us working on the wagons. Then meet back by the path Pulg took to get here. Quickly now!”
We went through the camp completing our grisly task. I didn’t take the time to assess the condition of the fallen beasts, I just rushed through the fires swinging my spiked weapon at the heads of any of the fallen enemy that I passed. On the other side of the ambushed camp we hit the path and raced as fast as we could back toward the city. Two of our injured had to be carried which slowed our escape considerably. Layann and her archers stayed back, covering us from the rear. In the distance we heard the first sounds of pursuit.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Pride
In the war room far above the city, Dwan, Ruguer and Zander stood by the large window array which was used to give the commanders a view of any fighting that took place in the valley below. It was long past midnight and there nothing but darkness visible beyond the panes. Dwan had been summoned by the king, along with the families of the other raiders that had followed me outside of the safety of the city walls.
Dwan had taken a spot on the far edge of the windows. She had appreciated the gesture made by Ruguer and the King. Bringing them all together did have the effect of making her feel less alone. But nothing could remove the dread that they felt. It was never given voice but the truth of the matter was that this raid was one that had very little promise of survival. She was aware of this as was every other family member present.
Dwan felt two strong emotions pulling at her from opposite sides.
One was the overpowering fear of losing the man she loved. She had gone through a mostly solitary life, placing importance only on her work. She had always assumed that love, if it came at all, would find its way to her door with little effort on her part. And she had been happy with her life. Now that life had been radically changed. Love had come to her from the most unimaginable source and she had not been prepared for the strength of the emotion or the hold that it placed on her every thought. And now she was gathered here with others who nursed the same fears that she was experiencing, desperately waiting out the hours for word of the return of their loved ones.
The other emotion she felt was one of overpowering pride. It was a pride known only to those whose loved ones calmly and willingly placed themselves in the path of a horrible danger and refused to step aside. They did not do it for glory. They did not do it for gain. They did it because the people they love are on the other side.
She looked over at Ruguer and Zander. They were staring grimly at the windows as if their eyes could, by sheer force of will, penetrate the darkness. There was no pretense in them, their concern was genuine. Dwan wondered how many times they had stood at that window and searched the darkness for a glimpse of people returning from desperate and dangerous assignments. She imagined that each time would have had an effect on them, constantly scratching a bigger and deeper hole into their souls. Theirs was a job that was best left to people who did not deeply feel. These two men were not that type. Only their incredible strength protected them from insanity.
Behind her Dwan heard a woman crying quietly. She turned to see a girl who was very young, no more than seventeen summers. A beautiful infant slept soundly in her lap, blissfully unaware of the torment her mother was experiencing. Dwan left the window and went over to the divan on which the girl sat. She put her arms around her and held her as she cried.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Loss
By my reckoning we were still two miles from the waterfall. I could feel the burning wounds in my thigh and side dripping blood. Still, I was better off than some in our party. I jogged up to where a man and woman were carrying a limp and sagging wounded man between them. I snatched him from the two of them and hoisted him into a baby-carry position in my arms. Between his light frame and this world’s gravity he weighed no more to me than a child. I headed off behind Pulg. He had the other wounded warrior, this one female, slung over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
The act of leaving Waan, Crain and the others from our team was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I told myself that the Greys respected fallen fighters but, with the huge numbers of fighters they had to feed, I doubted they would be that discriminating. I kept telling myself that the living in Olvion needed us more than the dead behind us did. It didn’t help much. But we couldn’t run the risk of any of us being captured and tortured for information. Whatever else happened those wagons had to be waiting tomorrow morning to deliver their deadly offering to the Grey’s troops. I just hoped they bought the whole scenario and didn’t order the wagons dumped and refilled. Not at the price we had paid.
After a half mile of carrying my wounded teammate my arms began to ache. Up ahead Pulg had already handed off the wounded woman to two others. They put her arms around their shoulders and let her feet drag between them. The noise grew behind us.
A mile from the waterfall I was forced to hand my wounded warrior off to two other team members. The sounds of pursuit seemed to be gaining. With no wounded to care for, the brutes were steadily gaining on us. The night was still dark around us. The clouds had darkened and we heard the first peals of thunder in the distance. I jogged on letting the blood flow back into my arms and hands.
At about one half mile from the waterfall I could tell we were not going to make it. Our pursuers were too close and gaining too fast. Even if we beat them to the entrance to our hidden tunnel they would be close enough to us to see us duck behind the waterfall. If that were to happen then the tunnel would have to be collapsed and one of our major advantages would be lost. An advantage that Dwan and her friends might need to escape when the main body of Greys arrived. I made a decision. I caught up with Pulg.
“Keep going no matter what you hear.” The big man started to object. “I am your Sub-Commander and I am giving you direction. Now do it, Warrior!”
Pulg gave me a dark but accepting look. Then he nodded and waved the others forward. When Layann and her five archers caught up to me I put out a hand to stop them.
Rain finally broke loose from the heavens and covered us all with refreshing coolness while lightening streaked overhead. The archers were breathing heavily, bent over with their hands on their knees as they tried to recover from the exhausting run.
“Take up positions alongside the path,” I shouted to be heard over the pounding rain. “We must give the others time to make it back and report to the king. Surrender is not an option. If it should come to it we will fight to the death. Do not let them take you alive.”
My heart almost burst from my chest with pride. There were no arguments or hesitation. The archers, male and female, quickly sought out positions of ambush in the surrounding fauna. They were heroically placing themselves in between the brutish Grey cannibals and their fellow warriors, willing to lay down their lives for them. If I had time I would have gone up to each of them and told them how proud I was. But there was no time. Another peal of thunder exploded overhead as the rain pounded down upon us more heavily.
Images flowed into my mind. I saw the path behind us, washed by the rain. I saw streaks of lightning snake out into several different directions in the sky. Then I saw the beasts approaching on the path. There were ten of them. That was not as bad as I thought but more might be behind them. This could be a quick reaction force designed to catch up and delay us until a larger force could arrive. Tinker’s images faded.
I turned to Layann and her people and flashed ten digits. Some nodded. Others were busy sticking arrows into the ground in front of them, making them more easily accessible than the quiver. I took a quick look and decided I would be bes
t used by keeping the Greys from reaching my archers. I strode over to put myself directly in the middle of them and a little forward. I hoped my presence and size would give them courage. I turned around for one last look at what remained of our rear guard. Three men, three women including Layann. They were young, handsome people. They should be out here in the dark looking for solitude or a place to be young together, not preparing to risk their lives. But this was war and such was not to be the case.
All at once the Greys were there, jogging around a bend in the foot path, splashing in the mud. Their legs were muddy up to the knees. I hoped the slippery surface of the path would give us at least a little advantage. Layann waited until the lead beast spotted one of her archers. Then she put a shaft deep into his chest. He went down screaming in agony until another struck him in the throat. Behind him two more Greys caught arrows and fell or slipped in the mud. Not a bad start.
The archer group paused in their assault to reload more arrows. One of the brutes charged into the foliage swinging a sword and knife. I crouched behind a dense bush until the last minute then sprang up to smash down at him with my club. He saw the move at the last moment and swiveled, taking the blow on the shoulder instead of the head. It did him no good. My mace was made of iron, bearing devastating spikes and was so heavy that only the largest of the Olvionis could even lift it. The weapon shattered his shoulder and drove him to the ground. I hopped up and came down directly on his chest, feeling bones give way. He would never get up again.
But by this time our surprise was gone. The remaining six Greys swarmed into our ambush positions in the bushes.
I had bought Layann’s people enough time to get another arrow nocked. Six more deadly missiles streaked out into the attacking horde. The three in the front dropped with mortal wounds. The other three kept coming. I body-slammed into two of them, knocking them off of their feet but the last one got by me. I heard screaming and yells behind me. I tried to remember if I had made sure that my archers were armed with blades for such an encounter but I could not recall. Damn it, I should have checked.
The Olvion Reality (The Chronicles of Olvion Book 1) Page 23