by J W Murison
‘A little, why?’
‘Ask her what she thinks of this.’
It took a moment and Alan’s eyes swam strangely out of focus, when they cleared he listened to her, ‘it’s a spell in a jar, or maybe some kind of potion that produces a gas of some kind.’
Graun shook his head, ‘what the hell is a gas?’
Alan hesitated and then laughed, ‘like a fart, a fart is a gas.’
Graun and Billy shook their heads in wonder, ‘well I've never heard it called a gas before, ok so what can it do?’
‘Some will put you to sleep; others can kill you in a few heartbeats.’
‘No shitting,’ Graun put the jar down very carefully. The men went back to tapping the ground with their sticks. By nightfall they had collected a great number of the small clay jars, they had also unearthed a great number of bobby traps.
Graun had called Scout down to see what he made of it all. He was sweating when he reached the inner compound, his eyes wide with terror at the things he had seen. Billy slapped him hard across the face and Scouts eyes cleared.
‘Ouch! You cunt.’
Billy grinned, ‘I'm not that useful, listen we are out of our depth here, you know more about this shit than all of us put together.’
Billy quickly gave Scout a tour of what they had found, it didn't take him long to deduce the purpose behind everything. ‘Whatever is in these pots is meant to drive anyone who attacks insane or worse. Once they have been cracked the attacker is supposed to run around setting off all these bobby traps. That area over there is where those wagons come in every day. They sit there, water and feed the horses then go back out again; they don’t wander about at all.’
‘What’s the point?’ Graun asked.
‘There has to be a half dozen men in each cart, soldiers, they must be to mop up any survivors.’
‘Shit, six men to a cart, a hundred carts that's six hundred men.’
Billy spat with disgust, ‘and here’s us with a fucking hundred, typical.’
Graun agreed, ‘Well I'm not fighting six hundred with a hundred, not if they have spells cast over them. I remember the last lot we fought like that, it was a hard fight and our numbers were even.’
Malcolm and Stan were hovering close, ‘we’re no running back to an Ogilvie for more men brother.’
Graun eyed Malcolm warily, ‘no a nice thing to say in front of his brother, even if he is your son now.’
Malcolm grinned, ‘exactly, we have our own Ogilvie.’ He thumped Stan on the shoulder, ‘come on lad think of something to give us an advantage.’
‘What, why me? I'm no Gareth.’
‘No yet your no, but I’d lay a bet you can find a solution to this wee problem for us.’
Stan looked shocked but in truth his mind had already been poking at possibilities. He scratched his chin not really sure if he should actually say something. Graun at least had a sympathetic look on his face, Billy was grinning at his discomfort. It was Scout whose eyes were clear and ready for the questions that must be asked of him.
It was he who Stan addressed first, ‘do you mind if I ask you a few questions Mr Scout?’
Scout liked Stan immediately; he was young but was respectful of his elders, ‘crack on lad.’
‘Is there any sign of those six hundred men wandering about anywhere else in the camp?’
Scout shook his head, ‘no, just that area there.’
Graun growled, and Stan froze, ’go on Stan, never mind me, I think I know where you are going with this.’
Stan nodded, ‘ok over there, there is shit loads of bobby traps and over this side lots of clay pots but not much in the middle, they could have wondered over this way couldn’t they.’
Scout scratched his chin, ‘I suppose so.’
Stan shrugged, ‘why not? there’s plenty room for them to swan about.’
Malcolm gave him a shove, ‘stop gibbering boy and out with it.’
‘Stop calling me fucking boy will ye.’
‘Get on with it,’ Malcolm grinned.
Stan sighed, ‘if they are that frightened of these pots they stay well clear of the place, then what’s in them must be able to affect them to. So why don’t we just move them over there, rebury them.’
‘See, told you,’ Malcolm was as proud as punch.
‘Isn’t as easy as that,’ Graun put the dampeners on the idea, ‘we would need them all here at the same time, they come in piecemeal all through the day.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Scout butted in, ‘they have the big bad wizard with them. If someone trips one of these pots, and there is a spell in it, he will feel it.’
Graun nodded, ‘so he might call them all back at once.’
‘I believe so. We can watch from up above and if they don’t fall for it then we can just fuck off. There's nothing here worth dying for anyway.’
‘That's true,’ Graun agreed, ‘there are two colours of pots a green and a black, do you think one might have a spell and the other a gas.’
Scout nodded, ‘that's as good a guess as any.’
‘Ok then lets rebury the pots and I will break two open after you all leave.’
So they reburied the pots where the wagons would run over them then as they entered the compound; Graun hefted the last two.
‘Throw them as far away from yourself as you can,’ Scout shouted as he took to his heels.
He waited until everyone was well clear and took careful aim. The green pot smashed against a water trough and a green mist began to form and spread rapidly. He threw the other one and it smashed beside the first but there was no sign of anything coming from it. Graun shrugged and trotted away into the night.
The following morning they were awakened by the sound of a hundred wagons racing towards the abandoned breeding centre. They all watched carefully from above. The first wagon stopped and an old man got down. He waved a long stick in front of the gates for a few minutes then climbed up onto the wagon again. They raced inside.
The Highlanders charged down off the hill as soon as the last one was inside. Graun stopped them at a long bow shot from the compound. It took about an hour for the screaming to die down and then a solitary figure staggered from the compound, young Alan got to is knee and let off an arrow. The old wizard sensed something and looked up. His mind barely had time to perceive he was in danger when the arrow took him in the heart; he dropped dead on the spot. The Beast moved forward and took the man’s head. Graun moved close and lit a torch; he threw it on to the palisade. It took a little time but the dry timbers eventually began to burn. By midday they had to retreat the heat was so fierce.
Graun sat on the hillside watching the blaze, ‘and that's how you win a battle without losing a single man,’ he was quite pleased with himself.
Malcolm spat with disgust, ‘fucking boring way to win a battle if you ask me.’
CHAPTER 5
It took a couple of days before the compound was cool enough to approach. Billy went first then Scout. The hall of horrors was gone yet Scout still felt the effects as he passed through the boundary. No sooner had he stepped inside than he fell screaming to the ground. Billy never hesitated; he grabbed Scout and ran from the compound. He thrashed around trying to get free from Billy’s grip but Billy held tight and actually threw him the last few feet. Scout rolled about frothing at the mouth for a few minutes while his friends attended him. He sat up and shook his head; then his eyes cleared.
‘Oh what the fuck was that,’ he was shivering violently.
‘I don’t know,’ Billy admitted.
Scout looked round, ‘I'm not going back in there.’
‘Damn right your no,’ Billy slapped him on the shoulder and looked up, ‘Steven, you’re with me.’
The young McLennan beamed with pride as he took the place at Billy’s side. They moved back into the compound, Billy pointed, ‘check that side and uncover any of the pots they might have missed and lay them on the surface.’
‘Ok, on it.’
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The ground was littered with charred corpses and stank to high heaven. They lay in grotesque piles or strewn about individually. Some lay spitted by the bobby traps they had lain themselves. In the end he only uncovered one green pot unbroken. Steven laid it to the side and Billy found a metal bucket and placed it over the top. Young Alan came over to see him, ‘I can’t hear my wife here, it’s like she’s gone.’
‘Aye great in it,’ The Beast grinned.
Alan laughed, ‘definitely something in that.’
‘I’m so happy for the pair of ye,’ Graun growled at them. They took off. He shook his head at them and addressed Billy, ‘we need to find the source of the power here.’
‘Another one of those gold rings?’
‘Could be, although I can’t see them leaving that much gold lying around.’
‘Unless they were planning on coming back for it.’
Graun nodded, ‘could be.’
After hours of searching they still couldn’t find the source of power. Graun called them all back to the gates, ‘ok were getting nowhere, has anyone any suggestions?’
It was young Steven who provided the answer, ‘I wiz at the last place, and if I remember right it was a big fat ring of gold wasn’t it.’
‘Aye that's right, I chopped it in half,’ The Beast agreed.
Steven scratched his head, ‘would they no need that ring to control all the Eagles. What if they just used a wee one or maybe a wee bit at each corner?’
Graun thought it over, ‘the gold holds a spell and the only one they really need is to create an illusion at the gates. I suppose they wouldn’t need the big ring for that, plus it’s expensive and these bastards are greedy. You could be right wee man they would probably use as little of the stuff as they could get away with and it wouldn’t do any harm to check out the corners of the place. I suppose that's the most obvious place to look. Let’s get to it.’
They all trotted off to the different corners of the compound, it didn't take them long to find what they were looking for. Freshly broken ground gave the game away. Half an hour later they had half a dozen decent sized rings gathered by the gates. The Beast did the honours with his axe, he didn't mind this time.
No sooner had they left the compound than Alan turned to The Beast, ‘ah well it was nice while it lasted.’
The Beast grunted then his head came up, ‘you know it’s a pity that place isna closer to home, it would be a fine spot to build a tavern.’
Alan winched, ‘man you really need to learn to mask your thoughts.’
‘Be a man; put her over your knee.’
‘Aye and then she turns into this bloody big Eagle and tears me in half, great idea Beast keep them coming.’
A grinning Steven moved up beside them and showed them his finger, ‘know how you feel, I canna keep anything from my wife yet.’
The two friends passed a look wondering whether to take the stranger on or not, Alan took pity on him, ‘it takes a while and you got to practice it, concentrate on closing that part of your mind. Beast canna de it, he’s too thick.’
Steven looked up at The Beast in shock; The Beast just scowled back daring the young man to say anything. Steven swallowed hard knowing anything he said now could cause him more than a little pain, ‘maybe some of us just canna, I've been trying.’
‘What you trying to hide?’ The Beast asked.
‘Nothing really, it would just be nice to have a thought pop into my head that I wasn’t taken to task for,’ they were really making him feel awkward now.
‘Shouldn’t have married an Eagle then,’ The Beast was totally unsympathetic.
Alan burst out laughing, ‘don’t worry about it, it get easier, your band is still black. By the time it turns gold you’ll be getting the hang of it.’
‘Maybe I should just stop thinking.’
Alan stuck a thumb up at The Beast, ‘dinna listen to him, he hasna learned how to think yet.’
The Beast scowled down at him, ‘I think it’s about time I gave you a good thumping squirt.’
‘Oh now you’re really frightening me.’ As the two friends began to bicker Steven let himself fall back a little. He took a deep breath.
Billy came up alongside him, he was grinning, ‘don’t let that pair skull fuck you son, you did a great job today.’
Steven smiled, ‘thanks, it’s a wee bit awkward no being one of the originals. That's what they’re calling those of you that went down with Gareth Ogilvie. Your all legends now, I'm only really here because I married an Eagle, I'm no hero like you all are.’
Billy shook his head, ‘there are none of us hero’s son, we’re just men. It just so happened we were in the right place at the right time.’
Steven shook his head, ‘no you were all handpicked by your Clans, the bravest of the brave.’
‘Well I will admit we were all handpicked, but the bravest of the brave, there are some who would argue that point. There were more than a few who had become too much of a pain in the arse for their Clan to bear. Look at young Alan there, he should never have been picked, he was too young. There is no doubting the lad has courage and he was quickly gaining a reputation as a man with a blade, but that was the problem, to many men were coming hunting him. Bad men, nasty bastards with bad reputations and they were causing trouble for the Clan, they didn't care who they killed. So his chieftain saw an opportunity to get rid of the problem and sent him with Gareth. There are many of us who have similar stories, so don’t go around hero worshiping anyone, ok.’
‘Aye ok.’
Two Eagles soared high. Graun shouted to Alan, ‘Alan, get your wives to see if they can find where they went at night. Look for a camp, more soldiers anything at all.’
Alan raised a hand and they soared upwards, with a flick of their tails they headed out in the direction the wagons had taken. Five miles away the sisters swooped down and came to land in the middle of a campsite. There was no one about but plenty stores.
‘No sign of any sentry’s Natina.’
‘That's strange isn’t it, there’s food and fodder here for a month at least.’
Solana lifted a tent flap, ‘not a soul to be seen, you don’t think they are using an invisibility cloak do you?’
Natina took a deep breath, ‘I can’t smell anyone.’
The two naked women strolled round the camp lifting every tent flap. The largest tent they inspected last. It was full of the things wizards used. It even had a large spell book and a small library of other books. Natina opened one.
‘Look at this: it seems to be some form of journal.’
‘The mighty Graun will want to see that, will we take it back to him?’
Natina shook her head, ‘no they are all Highlanders, let them come to us, Scout has his horse.’ She let Alan know where they were and what they had found. It was just getting dark by the time they got there. The two women had bathed and dressed before they arrived. The men explored the camp and expressed joy at finding bunks to sleep on. Fires were lit and the stores looted for food.
They also found beer that the men found very palatable but Graun warned them about getting drunk, they were still in hostile country. No one dared defy Graun. Scout fed Lady from some of the fodder and gave her a good rub down; she was content. Strange noises were coming from the fire and Scout went to investigate. Some of the men had found musical instruments and were giving them a bash with hilarious results. Scout demonstrated with one or two before the confused Highlanders got the hang of them.
Young Alan returned grinning with two bone drums, ‘look what I found Beast almost the same as home,’ he gave Beast the larger one. The two men wiped a damp rag round the inside of the drums and tapped them until they were happy with the sound. Speaking stopped as young Alan began to beat out a fast rhythm on his and a few seconds later The Beast joined in with a slightly different beat and tempo.
Alan began to sing a fighting song his voice bright and clear. The Beast added the base to the singing and soon
everyone was caught up in the sound. The two finished the first song with a loud hah and were given a rapturous applause. It encouraged them to go on and do another. The two women sat listening the blood pounding in their veins to the beat of the drums.
‘Raw isn’t it Solana?’
‘Sexy,’ replied her sister. Natina smiled but stopped short of sending her husband dirty thoughts she was enjoying the music too much and didn't want to break his concentration.
Graun was sitting alone in the wizard’s tent until Scout found him. Graun looked up from his reading, ‘you not enjoying the music Scout?’
‘I'm actually surprised by how good they are; I've never heard bone drums played like that before. Billy asked me to tell you that sentry’s have been posted.’
‘Thank you Scout, you can go back to the fire if you want.’
‘Actually I'm curious to what you have found.’
Graun shook his head, ‘this journal seems to be dedicated to a loved one who recently passed away and describes in great detail the perversions they partook off. It is not easy to read; however I am gleaming small snippets of information. This Eagle breeding centre was broken up months ago and scattered across the land under the sons of a man named Miguel. He is the owner of the breeding centre. It was the wizard who suggested this little trap.’
‘What happened to the town?’
‘Believe it or not they dismantled it and took it with them.’
‘A whole town!’
‘I don’t know, the town was about five miles to the south, he didn't like people building near his business centre.’
‘No wonder we haven’t seen it then. Look I'm sorry about today, I was useless.’
Graun closed the book, ‘Scout, I never want to hear you apologise for that again.’
‘I feel like I let you down.’
‘No, since I met you, you've never let me down, or any of us. It is me who should apologise to you for putting you in such danger. I was foolish and thought the magic would have dissipated, I was wrong, it was a bad call on my part, ignorance if you will no doubt caused by my lack of understanding.’