by Dave Hazel
“My 60 is ready to tear up some ass,” Corporal Hall yelled out. “Come on you chicken shit cowards.”
“Ooh-rah,” another Marine shouted in agreement.
Just as Mykal started to call out to the men, they came under attack again. It surprised him. He thought the attackers would be Goblins but they weren’t Goblins. They looked more like the Elves only they were darker than the Elves who journeyed with them. The invaders were darker though they were still light skinned. The attacker’s hair was long dirty blonde, brown and some even black, whereas Starling, Blair and Leeno had hair that looked almost white.
These Elves seemed much different than the three he had befriended. They acted primitive in their attack. They rushed into the room yelling and swinging their swords of varying lengths. They were opposite of the clean Elves in many ways.
When they rushed into the cavern Mykal saw how they filled the area with so many darts at once. Those armed with crossbows had a weapon that could hold and fire eight darts at the same time. The wider barrel had eight separate grooves to accommodate the multiple missiles. It overwhelmed any victim in the sights of the shooter.
“Kill them,” Finley yelled while shooting his GAU.
Mykal aimed his rifle at the heads of those with the crossbows. As quickly as he squeezed the trigger he dropped the dirty elves. Mykal shot and watched as his three Elvin friends engaged the dirty elves in sword to sword combat. Starling, Blair and Leeno seemed to be better trained and easily defeated any of the darker cousins that came before them.
Towbar swept the attackers away with his glowing blade. The darker elves were surprised by the power of the weapons they faced, but they looked even more surprised by the colossal size of Towbar. The sight of the giant created an atmosphere of hesitation which cost many of the evil Elves their lives.
The darker Elves saw their lighter skinned distant cousins but didn’t hold back. They wanted to kill all the intruders. Starling tried to communicate but the darker Elves would have none of it. They rushed the three light Elves as if they wore the same uniform as the members of Towbar One.
Mykal nearly yelled in fright when he felt a dart whiz by his left eye. He knew he could have easily been blinded and the thought of being blind in Towbar’s world terrified him.
“Oh no,” Diaz yelled out. He was struck with another dart in his left thigh and more frightfully a second in the same area where he had one protruding from his midsection. “Oh LORD,” he called out between shots. “My body belongs to You. If it’s Your will that I perish,” he paused to shoot more rounds. “So be it. I only ask LORD, that You protect,” he shot four more rounds, “these brave young men,” he said and squeezed off the last couple of rounds in the magazine. “That they may have,” he yelled while reloading, “a chance to come to know You. I want them to know You LORD, as I do,” he yelled and began shooting at the darker Elves. “Please spare these men,” he spoke out loudly. “Take my pain LORD God, but not as I will. Thy will be done.”
Despite all the chaos that raged around them, Mykal couldn’t help but watch and be drawn to Diaz’s cry to his God. He genuinely sounded more concerned for his men than for his own safety. Diaz had four long darts sticking from his body. Two appeared to be painful though not life threatening; one in his shoulder and one in his left thigh. But the two in his midsection didn’t look good for Diaz. The blood oozing from his belly seemed to be darker than the blood from his other wounds.
Gunshots, rapid machinegun fire and explosions polluted the air with extreme noise. The darker Elves began to retreat and most covered their ears to the terrible noise. When they retreated several of the men chased them to the opening of the burrows to shoot them while they withdrew. One tunnel caved in partially and trapped a few of the darker Elves under the rubble. They fought to free themselves.
At the point of his sword, Starling motioned for the four partially buried Elves to cease trying to free themselves. One disobeyed and continued to struggle. Leeno thrust his gleaming blade through his throat. The other three ceased immediately. Leeno tried to communicate with the half buried prisoners.
“Check on the men,” Mykal yelled to Finley. “Guard those friggin openings so they don’t surprise us again.”
“Myk, I musta had twenty of them damn little arrows zip right by me,” Jake said and shook his head in disbelief at how lucky he was during the attack.
Mykal looked at Diaz. It surprised him that the captain looked to be praying. Diaz had four darts protruding from his body but he took time to pray. Mykal heard the names of many of the men being whispered by Diaz in his talk with God. Mykal was affected by what he saw. Diaz sat injured, and could possibly be dying but he didn’t tend to his wounds. He prayed for the men who were under him.
‘I don’t know if You would listen to thinking prayers,’ Mykal spoke to God in his mind. ‘But this is me asking You to save Diaz. He’s a good man, and he’s more concerned about his men and not himself. I don’t know how to pray, but if You’re up there, and if You’re real like Diaz says, he deserves for You to help him.’
“Whatta ya doing Myk?” Jake asked when Mykal seemed to be staring at the roof of the cavern.
“Ah, nothing, just trying to think of something. Diaz, are you okay?” Mykal called out to the injured man.
Diaz stopped praying. “I’ve had better days,” he chuckled with a groan. “These little arrows really hurt,” he added and looked at the blood seeping from his belly. “Are the men okay?”
“I have Finley checking. How bad are you hurt?”
“The two in my stomach have me concerned. I’m bleeding badly from them. Other than that, I think I’m doing fine. Besides, God told me I will get out of this. I believe in what God says rather than on what this situation seems to present here.”
“Is that what you call faith?” Mykal asked shyly and looked at the rapid blood loss from Diaz’s midsection.
“Yes,” Diaz said and adjusted himself before continuing. “In the Bible in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 it says, ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’ Looking at this from human eyes, I’m probably going to die because I’m bleeding pretty bad right here.” He pointed to the two slender arrows causing most of his pain. “But,” he raised his voice and pointed his bloody index finger upward with an excitement that surprised Mykal and Jake. “I know God spoke to me and He told me that I will go home alive. I’m not going to die here,” he declared fervently. “So I am sure of what I’m hoping for, getting out of here and I am certain of what we do not see, and that is what the end of all this is going to be.” He started to laugh. “Not because there is anything special in me, but because God is in control. I know you’re looking at me like I’m crazy Myk, but believe me, I know my God. If I die here, then I didn’t hear from Him. I am a child of God bought and paid for with the precious blood of Christ and I am His to do as He sees fit. He said I will live. I believe it,” he raised his voice as if he was preaching a sermon at a fired up Pentecostal church.
Mykal sensed a fired up excitement that felt contagious in a positive way. “Cool, cool, alright, alright,” Mykal said and paused because he wasn’t sure how to respond to a ‘holy roller Jesus freak’ who sounded strong in his conviction. Mykal wasn’t sure if he should relay his feelings about the man. “I hope you’re right cuz I think you’re a pretty good guy. I’ll even say a prayer for you, Sir.”
“I appreciate that Myk. That means a lot to me,” Diaz said with a happy smile like a teacher who had a pupil try to teach him something new. Diaz was proud of the fact that some of the things he said produced a response from the others, especially Mykal.
“Sit tight, I’m going to check on the men. Jake, come with me. We gotta get outta here.”
“I agree with you. Once we--”
“Look out,” Corporal Hall yelled just as one dark Elf stumbled to his feet. Hall didn’t shoot his M-60 right away for fear of hitting the others.
The da
rk Elf looked dazed and confused. He probably just started to recover from the concussion of the grenade explosions. The mountain Elf wobbled unsteady on his feet, but he was armed with one of the strange crossbows. There were only two slender arrows in the table of eight grooves. The evil Elf raised his weapon to point at the intruders.
Hall set aside his fear of hitting others and opened fire with his M-60 machinegun. He squeezed off two quick bursts of three and two rounds. Corporal Hall struck the dark Elf in the chest and neck which nearly severed his head from his shoulders. The Elf fell to the ground and his head twisted away from his body. Two men were nearly struck by ricocheting 7.62mm rounds that bounced off the rock walls.
“Men, keep alert!” Finley yelled. “Good job Hall. Don’t let your guard down.”
“I want some men posted at these openings,” Ratner yelled out, reiterating Finley’s command. A rush of bodies moved in all directions creating a green blur.
“Ah damn it,” Mykal groaned with sadness. Gorman and Cotton were being carried away from the center of the cavern. Both were dead. Gorman had been stuck by eight slender darts to the front of his body, all in the chest and neck. Cotton was hit with ten slender arrows. Eight were in his upper and lower back and two were in the back of his left thigh. “Two of the injured guys.”
“Yeah, it looks like they were caught by surprise,” Jake sighed with sadness. “Are we ever gonna get outta here Myk?”
“Hold on Jake,” Mykal said and held his hand up. He could see three of the darker Elves being pulled from the debris of the cave in. Starling spoke to one and held the point of his sword near the dark Elf’s throat. “Maybe something will happen here. Let’s go check it out.”
“A couple of you guys go help Captain Diaz,” Jake said to Fuller who helped cover up the open wound in Corporal Winfield’s forearm. “He’s bleeding and needs patched up.”
Winfield had instinctively raised his arm to block his face when one of the darker elves shot him with a crossbow. The dart hit his arm and deflected upward. He suffered a minor injury compared to what would have happened if the arrow drilled into his face. Winnie happily accepted the injury he received versus what would have been the alternative.
“We put a hurt on them Myk,” Sergeant Azarski said as Mykal and Jake walked by. Azarski pointed to at least thirty bodies of dark Elves sprawled out on the floor. More bodies were in the tunnels but they weren’t going to risk being hurt or killed to count them. “But if we’re being honest, they put a hurt on us too.” He said while he pulled a dart from the fleshy muscle over his right shoulder. “A little more this way and it woulda stuck me in the neck. The little pointy eared bastards,” he said with anger as he tossed the dart to the floor.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” Jake asked.
“Hell no, flyboy. I’m a Marine! Ooh-rah!” He laughed when Jake stared at him. “Nah, I’m lying. It hurts like a bitch.”
Most of the wounded had minor wounds. It surprised Mykal that more men didn’t get killed or injured with the number of quarrels lying all over the floor of the cavern. Hundreds were scattered in every direction.
“Are you getting anything from them?” Mykal asked Blair who watched and listened to Starling interrogate the three dark Elves that were pulled from the rubble of the cave in.
“Nothing as of yet. They refuse to speak to us.”
“Do you understand each other?” Mykal asked when he heard Starling use a softer, more musical sounding Elvin language.
“Yes, they clearly understand,” Leeno replied.
“Oh no, we’re losing him. We’re losing him,” Staff Sergeant Moreno yelled. “Help me guys.”
Mykal turned to see Moreno holding Staff Sergeant Stewart in his arms. Stewart’s head fell back. His face was white and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was unconscious and three darts were drilled into his chest just under his neck. There were two other slender arrows in the area of his heart.
Mykal watched Moreno and a couple others fight to save the Marine’s life. Moreno laid him down and gave mouth to mouth while others were trying to stop the bleeding. Mykal knew by looking at Stewart’s colorless, lifeless, face they weren’t going to save him.
“Are they talking yet?” Mykal yelled at the three Elves and he could feel the rage surge out of control inside his being.
“No. They refuse to speak,” Leeno said with a gentle shake of his head.
Mykal got into the face of one of the three darker Elves and began to yell. He knew the Elf didn’t understand him but the Elf obviously picked up on his rage. “Tell these bastards I’m giving ‘em one last chance to talk.” He yelled at Starling who quickly relayed the message in the Elvin language.
The three darker Elves looked at Mykal with a defiant pose. In a split second Mykal’s .357 magnum was up in the face of the closest and he fired three shots into his head. The top of the dark Elf’s head blew off and he sailed to the ground dead. In a fit of rage Mykal holstered his pistol and reached down into the dead Elf’s skull and grabbed a fist full of bloody brain. Using his knife he cut a large piece out.
“Tell them I said to start talking or I’ll do this to both of them,” Mykal hollered as he squished the brain matter onto the face of the next darker Elf. Mykal saw the terror he instilled into their faces. “You killed my men,” he screeched in their faces and continued to smear the bloody brain piece on the Elf’s face. “Don’t friggin screw with me,” he yelled with a hateful rage he never sensed before. Mykal knew something was wrong with his emotions, be it uncontrollable rage or the other extreme of crippling sadness and sorrow.
The two Elves hands flailed wildly and they rattled off strange sounds of their language. Mykal backed off to give Starling an opportunity to communicate with them. Mykal felt the eyes of everyone on him. “What? I’m friggin pissed off. Anyone got a problem with that?” He yelled with clinched teeth to those eyeing him. He knew he over reacted but he didn’t care.
“Mykal why don’t you come over here,” Finley called to him. “They can get the info we need.”
Mykal looked at Finley’s frightened expression and believed Finley called him away so he wouldn’t shoot the prisoners. When he looked over to the giant he was surprised to see Towbar’s chest bleeding. “Towbar, are you alright?”
“I am fine my friend. It was just one of the little arrows cut across my chest. It looks worse than it actually is. It is nothing more than a scratch.”
Mykal opened and closed his bloody hand. The stickiness of the dead Elf’s blood in his hand made him realize he murdered the humanoid creature in cold blood. He let out a deep emotional sigh as he mentally admitted something wasn’t right. His emotions seemed to be on a wild roller coaster. From the overwhelming sadness just hours ago, to the fiery red rage that just exploded through him. He looked at the gold band on his finger and wondered if it was the magic. Abruptly he wanted to escape from the scene of his terrible crime. He felt the need to exit the mountain immediately.
“Towbar, I think we oughta just take a chance and use the powder. Let’s go,” Mykal suggested with a hint of desperation to his words.
“If you are willing to take the chance and risk your life, I will do it. I agree that our situation inside this mountain is not a good situation.”
“Are you going to do this or do you want me to?” Mykal asked.
“You can do it my friend. Just remember to concentrate on the rear of the Pass. You do not want to send our people to some unknown place.”
“We might as well appear right in the middle of the Soso camp so we’ll send them to ‘who the hell knows where?’. But then we’d still be in the middle of the Soso camp so that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
Mykal looked at his blood covered hands and wondered what had become of him. He suddenly regretted killing the dark Elf in the manner he did. He killed the Elf out of raging anger. The blood on his hand was real, but it was also symbolic of all the people who died because of him. He feared he was about to have a mental
break down.
“Myk, are you okay?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, I think I’m just tired. Let’s go see if Starling and the others got anything from those two prisoners.” When Mykal approached them the prisoners jerked and displayed a physical demonstration of fear. Their eyes widened and they took a step back. “Did they say anything yet?”
“Not much that could be useful for our present situation,” Starling answered. “I explained that we were here by chance and we desire to depart. They informed me that we are viewed as invaders and we will not be allowed to leave. Since we have shed blood they will fight to the death. They are protecting home and family and way of life. I explained we mean no harm and we were acting in self-defense. They say we started a war.”
“Tell them we will do them no more harm, and tell these two we’re going to let them go,” Mykal explained. “Once we let them go tell them not to come in here for about twenty minutes or so. Tell them we’re going to leave by the use of magic.”
“We are going to leave?” Nordad asked.
“Yeah, we’re getting pretty banged up and I don’t think we’ll make it trying to fight two wars in this mountain. We can either go this way and fight Elves or we can go back that way and fight Goblins. We’re going to have to risk trying to leave with the green fog.”
A roar of cheers rang out among the men.
“Is everyone ready to give it a try?” Mykal shouted.
“Yes,” a resounding loud reply filled the room.
“I want you to know that we may die doing this. What about you guys?” Mykal looked to the three Elves and then to Nordad and his men.
“We can not stay here,” Nordad answered quickly.
“Nor we,” Blair replied. “Despite the fact that we are of the same race they will kill us.”
“Alright, everyone grab hold of a wounded man and make sure we are all engulfed in the green fog,” Mykal said and couldn’t help but smile at the joy and enthusiasm the men expressed.