Mykal's Deadly Perambulation

by Dave Hazel

  “Yes, yes,” he mumbled through the cloth gag.

  Mykal helped pull the terrified Soso to his knees beside the one he shot twice in the head. Mykal knew the Soso couldn’t see him so he whispered into his ears. “I have been sent by Zizmon-Tarl,” he hissed. “He is angry with you,” he lied. “Look at your friends.” Mykal took his sword and sliced open the head of the one shot in the side of the head. The two halves fell open leaving a bloody, gory sight. Mykal grabbed the Soso by the hair on the back of his head and drove the Soso’s face into the gory mess. The Soso fought and squirmed and mumbled hysterically.

  Mykal yanked his head back violently. “I told you to shut your mouth,” he whispered between clenched teeth. “Zizmon-Tarl sent me here. Do you want to die in the dark like your two friends?”

  “No, no, no, no,” the Soso mumbled through the gag. The Soso looked all around the tent but couldn’t see anyone.

  “One noise out of you and I will split your entire body open,” he threatened and could smell a scent of raw meat on the Soso’s face. “Do you understand me?”

  The Soso nodded quickly.

  “Zizmon-Tarl wants to talk to you directly,” he whispered. “Do you understand me?”

  He nodded again.

  “Do not make one noise or you will join your friends in limbo for eternity. Do you understand what I just said?” Mykal asked and wanted to drive a dagger into the Soso’s hands. He wanted to chop off his knee caps and slit the sides of his mouth open. So many horrible thoughts flooded Mykal’s mind of what he wanted to do to the Soso for torturing those animals and putting him in a position where he had to kill the dog to put it out of its misery. He took another length of rope and tied his arms tighter around his body near his biceps. Now the Soso was tied at the wrists and around his biceps. Mykal took a third length of rope and tied it to the rope around the Soso’s wrists so he could pull the Soso along like he was on a leash.

  “We are going to leave so you can speak to Zizmon-Tarl, do you understand what I just said?” Mykal asked and watched the terrified eyes while his head nodded wildly. “Do you know what I will do if you make any noise?” He nodded wildly and whimpered through the gag.

  Mykal made himself visible and placed his finger to his lips and then turned invisible and walked to the other side of the Soso. He made himself appear again. He placed his finger to his lips and whispered again. “Do you understand what I will do to you if you make any noise?”

  *******

  The Soso closed his eyes and opened them as if he couldn’t believe what he saw. The multicolored face of the violent man terrified him. He had seen dark green Goblins, but never saw green, brown, black and beige faced people before. He nodded wildly.

  *******

  With his Glock 17 in his left hand, he grabbed the Soso prisoner’s shoulder with his right hand and dragged him along. If the Soso tried to make any noise Mykal was going to shoot him in the head and be done with him. He quietly made his way back to the others who were still silently leaving a trail of dead for the Sosos to find in the morning. Some of the men looked at Mykal with a confused look and didn’t know why he took a prisoner. Mykal pointed to himself and nodded as if to say the prisoner was his responsibility.

  Mykal caught sight of Lieutenant Finley and pointed to his watch as if to ask how much longer he wanted to continue to attack the sleeping Sosos. Finley sliced his hand across his throat as if to say he was ready to wrap things up. Finley rushed to those nearby and passed the message on that it was time to back out of the camp. The men took as much care and thought with every step backing away as they took going into and through the camp. They didn’t want there to be any mishaps.

  “So Myk, what’s up with the prisoner?” Larry asked when he and Towbar caught up to him on the way back to the helicopters.

  “I caught this scumbag and two others torturing animals,” Mykal said. “It broke my heart to hear that poor friggin dog whimpering and crying and these three bastards just laughing it up. I killed the other two and I’m gonna kill this piece of shit,” Mykal said and looked at the blood covered bearded face. He didn’t seem to know or understand what Mykal said. “He’s going to have a talk with Ziggy Stardust,” he said and winked. “That’s why he’s not making any noise. Plus he doesn’t want me to do to him what I did to his two worthless scumbag friends. He doesn’t wanna die in the dark cuz his soul will wander aimlessly in limbo for eternity.”

  Once all the teams made it back to the helicopters the Squad Leaders ensured everyone returned and double checked to make sure they weren’t leaving anyone behind. No injuries were suffered on their side but by estimates they killed several hundred Sosos silently. In the morning the Sosos who weren’t killed were going to have one hell of a find. The men were talking about the next mission and wanted to be a part of the next raid. All were eager to do it again the following night. Mykal was okay with that. It gave the men something to think about while Christmas was just around the corner.

  Most of the men talked about what they did to the Soso bodies so the other Sosos would have a horrific find the next day. Mykal was clear to make sure none of them talked about it around the media. Mykal wanted to instill fear into the ranks of the Sosos and make them afraid of the night. The media wouldn’t understand because the media didn’t fully comprehend what and who the Sosos really were. Mykal wasn’t ashamed of or afraid of the media finding out. He just didn’t want to deal with the negative questioning he knew he would get. Mykal watched his prisoner and he knew the Soso felt comfortable because he didn’t get killed and it caused Mykal’s blood to boil. ‘Who knows what this piece of shit has done all his life?’ Mykal wondered. ‘I know what I saw of those poor little innocent animals. I hate this friggin piece of filth.’

  *******

  The prisoner nodded and bowed his head at those covered in green, black, brown and beige face paint. He knew he escaped the sting of death and in the dark no less. He was going to talk to Zizmon-Tarl and maybe Zizmon-Tarl would promote him. Why else would the One, the Emperor Supreme, Ruler of all lands, want to speak with him? ‘I will be a loyal follower to the death,’ he thought and dreamed of having an army of his own to command.

  *******

  Mykal sat his prisoner on the floor of the helicopter so his feet hung over the outside of the helicopter. He didn’t want the Soso inside the chopper just in case he panicked and accidently pushed someone outside, or if he made a deliberate attempt to push someone outside of the chopper. Mykal told him to sit and he nodded his head. Mykal held onto the leash and started to chuckle when he realized the Soso would probably freak out when the helicopter lifted off the ground.

  The engines started and Mykal, Larry and several others started to laugh at the terrified expression on the Soso’s face. “Hey guys,” Mykal spoke into the headset. “I wanna go over the Soso land and let me know when we’re about one hundred feet up. Tell all the men on the other choppers that we’re gonna hover of the center of Soso land and I want them all to drop about two or three hand grenades each,” he laughed.

  “But Myk, we won’t be able to see what we’re hitting,” the co-pilot called back to him.

  “I know, but I’m sure some will get killed and injured in the dark and they won’t have a clue where we’re at. They won’t be able to see us. It’ll surely give them something to talk about for the next few days.”

  “Right on Myk,” Larry laughed. “We have tons of grenades back at camp.”

  “Everyone, get two or three grenades ready,” Mykal yelled to the men on his helicopter. “We’re gonna hover over their camp and we’re gonna drop some grenades. “Have the other pilots spread out a little bit,” Mykal called into his head set. “This way the grenades are not all concentrated in one spot. And let me know when we’re where you think there could be heavily populated areas from your flying earlier.”

  “Will do Myk,” The pilot replied.

  Mykal had to slap his prisoner on the shoulder and yelled at him to hol
d still or he would fall.

  “Mykal, we’re about ninety to one hundred feet up and we’re all spread out. We’re assuming we’re over densely populated ground,” the pilot announced.

  “Great, tell all others to drop their grenades.” Mykal turned to his men and yelled. “Drop your grenades.”

  All personnel dropped between two and three hand grenades. From above it looked like a miniature version of carpet bombing from World War II. A couple hundred explosions lit up the area beneath them and those they couldn’t see the chaos that erupted below they knew it created a storm of terror because there was no enemy to cause such death and destruction around them. The men were all hooting and hollering and laughing.

  Mykal knelt down beside his prisoner and took off his gag so he could talk. Mykal yelled into his ear. “Do you see all that light? That is your people dying. They are dying a fool’s death at night time. And since you like to hurt defenseless animals you’re gonna die too,” Mykal yelled and pushed him off the floor out of the helicopter. Mykal heard the Soso’s yells as he started downward. Mykal knew the brute couldn’t survive a hundred foot drop with his hands bound behind his back. He suddenly regretted killing him so quickly. He wanted to torture him for torturing animals.

  “Where’s your prisoner?” one of the Marines yelled.

  “He went for a swim,” Mykal answered which caused Larry and a couple of others to laugh.

  “You know if he survived that, he’s gonna be hurtin’ for certain,” Larry chuckled.

  “Yeah, if he survived that fall we’ll know it when they attack the Pass,” a Marine Lance Corporal chuckled. “He’ll be the one running to the Pass about half the normal size, squished down for a more compact Soso.”

  “Or he’ll be the one hobbling all twisted and deformed like a twitching gimp,” another Marine Private laughed.

  Larry laughed and joined in and took turns high fiving the others. “If he survived he’ll be like some of those rednecks who claimed to have been abducted by aliens. Only he didn’t get probed, he got pushed.”

  Mykal felt good that the others were laughing about it. Towbar’s world really had changed him. He knew the ring on his finger was changing his mind in a big way and it wasn’t necessarily good. But he couldn’t do without the ring. He needed this ring. ‘But at what cost?’ He wondered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 12/28/1983

  1. Wednesday, December 28th 1983

  0928 hours, Camp behind the Pit, In the Pass

  Eight days had passed since Mykal launched the first day and night time attacks on the Sosos. Several more attacks were carried out during the day and night. The purpose was to instill fear and confusion, kill the enemy to chip away at the unprecedented numbers they amassed, to have men get a taste of combat, and to look for people who might still be missing. Those listed as “possibly missing” was being brought up less frequently as time went by.

  The men killed many Sosos and the only casualties sustained were minor. One man strained his knee when he hyper-extended his leg while getting off the helicopter back at camp. A second man twisted his ankle while jumping back into the helicopter after an attack in Soso occupied territory. The only other injury sustained from the enemy was the Green Beret who had been stabbed in the arm when they took prisoners from the first raid.

  No attacks were carried out Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Ski and Captain Diaz along with other proclaiming Christians were very vocal in explaining the holiday to the people of Towbar’s world and the importance to the people from Mykal’s world. The morale seemed to dip slightly as the holiday arrived. Mykal’s people were worlds away from home and unable to share the day with loved ones. The day after Christmas the mood of the outpost changed. All were back to being the happy excited group doing a “Christopher Columbus” in discovering and exploring a new world. The exploring was put on hold. They waited and watched for the Sosos to attack.

  Mykal was glad Christmas had passed. As much as he wanted to go home and be with his family he knew the others wanted to go as much as he did. He feared that would destroy the force they had built. Now he could start making plans to go back and get the needed weapons and supplies that would be helpful in defeating the monstrous foe they stared down every day. He would also be able to send home the rescued people and his close friends who had been trapped here for over six months.

  Mykal sat in his tent wondering why he hurt so badly over friends who had been killed. Was it because he missed his family and being lonely at the holiday season was making him melancholy? He wasn’t sure. Was he just a sentimental emotional person who had so much dumped on him in a short period of time? He wasn’t sure. Thoughts of Kurt, Denny, Rich and especially Boris made him ache deeply. Even some of the people he wasn’t fond of affected his thinking. People like Franklin Perry, who died because of him, and some of the others that he didn’t care for, he missed them and felt sadness for them also. Mykal recognized he had been thinking about dead friends repeatedly. When he looked down at the ring and he knew it played a part and helped change his emotions.

  ‘You can join your friends if you want?’ Mykal clearly heard the voice in his head and it startled him. He knew the voice was suggesting suicide. ‘No!’ His thoughts nearly screamed in shock. ‘I’d never think of suicide! Is it this friggin ring?’ He gasped in thought and knew this was a new level in his torment after his involvement with magic. Mykal stood and paced around his tent. “No! No! No!” He told himself and was glad no one else was in the tent with him. Mykal really became scared. He had never seriously contemplated suicide before. ‘Am I losing my mind over this damn thing?’ He wondered while he looked at the plain gold ring that didn’t look any different than his gold wedding band.

  He felt he had to hide his tender heart and sadness or the men might perceive him as weak. He knew his men would be more understanding, but he feared men from Towbar’s world could not relate. Towbar’s world was a brutal manly environment and not the place to be weak emotionally. One would not survive long in Towbar’s world if weak emotionally, mentally or physically.

  “Are you feeling better my friend?” Towbar asked as he bent over to enter the tent.

  “Yes I am,” Mykal replied and gave a smile at the giant’s thoughtfulness. “For most of the people of my world, Christmas is a special time to be with family. And for people like us when we’re stuck away from our families it’s hard because it’s sad. Does that make any sense?”

  “Yes, my friend,” Towbar responded. Towbar didn’t look to be telling the truth. “Men of my world are rarely sad. Sadness is real when close friends or family members die or when killed in battle,” he added but looked like he was sad.

  “What’s wrong Towbar? Now you look like the one who has a problem. It’s written all over your face,” Mykal said with a smirk though he was not going to accuse the giant of being sad.

  “I fear the final days are at hand and I am fearful of what the outcome will be,” Towbar admitted with a somber expression. “I do not fear dying my friend,” he paused. “I have taken many lives and lived through many battles. When it is my time to go beyond the wall of sleep I will not be troubled by that. However, I am fearful of what will happen to my people.”

  “We will do all that we can to help.”

  “I understand and I am forever indebted and completely grateful my friend. However, I am angered,” Towbar hissed. His face softened. “It is not you that I am angry with my friend,” he added at Mykal’s surprised expression. “More soldiers should have arrived from the south. They have not. The King is weak and I fear his evil son may have manipulated him or harmed him despite my warnings to him. The enemy continues to build and we stand stagnant in our numbers. Thankfully the Dwarven peoples have joined us from the mountains and more importantly that you have brought your mighty force here. I owe you my life, my brother.”

  “Now that Christmas has passed I’m gonna go back to my world and get more firepower. I’m going to get more soldiers,” Mykal offe
red with a concerned smile. “I didn’t want to go before Christmas because I didn’t want men to think I was just going back for myself and I didn’t want them to complain about not being able to return with me. I guess that was foolish thinking on my part because these men are professional soldiers. As long as it is in my power I will do what I can to help you defeat the Sosos and all the filthy allies they have.”

  “My friend, I can not thank you enough.” Towbar said and humbly lowered his head. “You are my brother.”

  “Well I’ll tell ya what, if it turns out that the rotten bastard son took over as King, and killed his father, then we’ll go back there and kill that prick and make you King.”

  “I appreciate what you suggest my friend, and I understand where your heart is,” Towbar said and couldn’t keep from smiling at Mykal’s raw proposition. “My desire is not to be King. However, should the evil son do as you suggested, I would support the removal of him from the throne. I will stay loyal to the throne provided the King has the people’s best interest at heart. I am satisfied with my position as military leader. ”

  “That’s why it should be you as King. I know how your heart is for the people. You’d be a great king.”

  “Stop,” Towbar said forcefully and held his massive hand up to end the conversation. “I will not be King. I appreciate what you are trying to say on my behalf, my friend. However, I am not a king. I am a warrior.”

  “Alright, alright, but if the rotten son did take him out we’ll assassinate him and make it look like one of his closest people did it,” Mykal said and pointed to the ring on his middle finger.

  “You are a good friend. We can discuss these matters at a later time. There is much to do here in preparation for the invasion that waits.”