Take the body and give me the rest

by Julius Schenk

  ‘Who’s the women with him’ Grimm said.

  ‘That Grimm would be his lady wife, I’m quite eager to meet her actually’

  They passed a stoat rope around the battlements and with most of his armour left behind Seth lowered himself over the edge and went hand over hand down the wall, kicking off the rough stones as he did. At the bottom he heard Grimm yell out ‘now what with a laugh’. Seth jumped boldly into the black water of the moat and swam across. On the other side he climbed out, with no grace or dignity at all, well at least the gate was still blocked.

  The boy was speechless with a near open mouth as Seth took the reins of the second horse and without waiting for him, kicked the animal lightly and started to ride up the field towards the man who stood there waiting for him. As the horse thundered towards him, Seth had to fight the urge to try finish this now, once and for all, but now he was in their arrow range.

  The man and women both stood next to their horses chatting casually as Seth pulled up his horse, dismounted it and walked over to them. Over the ridge and within running distance stood the man’s army, a bristling shield wall with spear points and groups of archers kneeling and standing, all with arrows knocked, pointed at him.

  Seth turned from them and looked at the man. He was tall, handsome, with short black hair. He looked the eternal age of all of these people, and he smiled warmly at Seth. She was incredible. Long blonde hair, sharp features and full lips, she had an animal gleam to her eyes and looked every inch a killer.

  ‘Hello Seth’ The man said ‘ My name is Luthor, Duke of Twin Plains and this is my lady wife Deirdra the Duchess’ Seth was surprised they were being so formal given the battlefield setting but played along. He shook the man’s hand and kissed her on both of her offered cheeks, he half expected her to bite his neck.

  She must have noticed his reaction and actually laughed ‘oh don’t worry Sir Seth, I’ve feed recently your quite safe’

  To his eyes she looked like a very normal woman and he could clearly see now he’d met them both that she was in charge, the duke was just the battlefield commander.

  ‘Feed recently? Those few hundred tribes people not enough for you’ he said sweetly.

  ‘Oh no, they only lasted a few weeks and now it’s daily, it’s all so much work, isn’t it dear’ She said turning to her husband.

  ‘It really is Seth and that’s why we are here. Do you know what we want?’ the Duke asked

  ‘Of course,’ said Seth. ‘You want me to tell me why I should betray Elizebetha, give you the coin and join the Guild that’s been trying to kill me this many months’

  The man laughed. ‘I will tell you and you’ll agree with it. The reason I didn’t want to talk to you the very moment I arrived was I wanted to see what kind of a man you are. First you fire those machines short so we grow confident and come close, then you douse the men with oil and fire into them while they sleep and eat, burning and dying.’ He was laughing as he spoke. ‘It was some fine work, I will tell you, very good indeed. I’m sure weak old Elizebetha was very upset with you for it.

  ‘Now I’ll tell you something, Seth: I knew about your trick.’ He quickly opened his palm, flashing the other half of the silver coin. ‘I just wanted to see if you really had the stomach to fire into those sleeping men, and you sure did.’

  ‘You let your men die just to test me out?’ Seth asked.

  The lady laughed at Seth’s words as the Duke continued.

  ‘Am I a bloody fool, Seth? Let you kill my own men? That wouldn’t make any sense even if I do outnumber you three to one. All you saw was campfires, some shields and banners. The townspeople you evicted were more than happy to help themselves to the fire and food I offered.’

  Seth felt sick. He’d killed those innocent people and laughed about it.

  The lady put her hand on his and spoke in her soft lilting voice ‘You’re a killer, Seth, just like us. So here is what we’ll offer to you: everything. Once we have the other side of this coin, no one will be able to stop us. I’ll be called back properly; you can call back anyone you want, maybe that Pellosina you were so fond of? Be nice to see her again, wouldn’t it?

  Then we’ll take this land one city at a time. Soldiers who die we’ll bring back the next day, and you know what else we can call. Do you think armies will want to fight us when we can call up the very legions of Wolvern against them?’ she said with deadly passion.

  The man spoke again ‘You can rule the North for me, Seth. You can be the king of them all. Or if it’s too cold and you like it here, be the king of Pelloss; it will be our realm; the whole thing will fall under us. You can be the second brother.’

  ‘Why me?’ Seth said.

  ‘We need that coin so that I can come back properly and stop all this bloody madness.’ She said

  ‘What madness? Killing people every day so you can live’ Seth said

  She laughed ‘oh the killing is fine, it’s finding two people every day, buying slaves, it’s all very, very expensive and time consuming. I’ve got better things to do with my day.’

  Seth was shocked, this was all so they could enjoy more leisure time.

  The Duke spoke again ‘You’re outnumbered three to one. My men are ready for a protracted siege and slowly but surely we’ll kill every single one of your men. We’ll send people over your wall at night; you’ll volley us with arrows. We’ll attack; you’ll repulse. We’ll build rock throwers and throw flaming stones over the walls; we’ll get your moat filled and then it’ll really start. After a few weeks of tired hell and fire getting thrown into your town, all you friends will be dead. I’ll come over the wall, I’ll kill Elizebetha, I’ll take her memories and the coin, and I’ll kill you for making it all such very hard work.’

  Seth looked at the man and he knew with every single part of him that he spoke the truth. This is exactly as it would pass. Right now more lives than he could fathom were in his hands. If he stayed and fought on, Grimm, Goldie, Flint, Stone, Elizebetha, Dagosh and so many more would die by his side, fighting for something they didn’t even understand.

  Not only that, these soldiers were far from normal men. A few hundred of them at least were takers and would be far stronger and crueller than a normal solider. He himself would only grow worse and worse if he fought on. Already he was a killer. He laughed at the thought of ending people’s lives and this man would turn his actions to failure at every pass.

  ‘Do you need Elizebetha’s life or just the coin?’ Seth said.

  The man’s smile changed to one of victory. ‘I only need the coin; she can keep her life and her blessed little Keep,’ he said.

  ‘I know you speak the truth. You both want this thing and if we try keep it from you, we’ll grind all of these people into bloody dust doing it. It’s not worth all the slaughter and horror, but I don’t want to join you. I’ll steal the coin, I’ll bring it here today and then I’ll take my four Northern friends and we’ll make our way back home. I’ve come so far from what I was. I don’t want to rule people, fight battles with a smile every time I kill someone. It’s not who I want to be,’ Seth said.

  The woman smiled at him and her teeth held a hint of the dead sharpness ‘Good. We would have just killed you sooner or later anyway; I already have a partner. Go back to the North, with all of your stolen gold and forget all this. We’ll see you soon.’

  Chapter 35

  Elizebetha joined Seth by the fire as he warmed cold hands above the flames. She looked so sad and grieved lately, and he hadn’t even told her about the townspeople. He didn’t think he would; that could just be another thing he felt like a monster for. He handed her a goblet of mulled wine and sipped on his own as he sat looking into the flames.

  ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said as she sat down on the cushion chair next to him.

  ‘They tell me you met them and that she waved when you left,’ she said, sipping at the drink.

  Seth snorted in laugher. ‘They are very strange but very dangerous, both of
them, but I have a feeling she’s the boss and he’s the weapon’ Seth said.

  ‘So she wants you to join with them,’ Elizebetha said.

  ‘Of course. She thinks I’m a killer, a monster; she says we are very similar. I’ve come so very far from where I started and I know it. I can’t blame this on all those inside of me. Time and time again I had to fight to live, but other times I sought out enemies, I took everyone I could. I started to love the blood, the power, the kill,’ he said.

  ‘It happens, Seth. But at least you see it now and you can stop it,’ she said.

  ‘Listen. If we don’t give them this coin, everyone in this place will die. Every single person out there will die. His troops are not normal men either, they will destroy this place and all who stand against them and feed them to their black dogs’ he said.

  ‘That’s why I’m heartbroken, Seth. We need to become monsters to defeat a bigger monster. If they get the coin, it won’t be hundreds of people dead, will it? Every city, every country, and every soul. Kings will stand against him and fall, armies of nations will drown in blood,’ she said.

  ‘You say we need to become monsters but it’s not you; it’s me, isn’t it. It’s not you who will command the army of people you love to go out and fight; it’s not you’ll who’ll see Grimm, Goldie, Flint and Stone die fighting for you. It’s not you who will have dreams of the people you’ve killed, your Wolvern has ripped to pieces while you laughed. I’m the one becoming a monster and it stops today,’ Seth said.

  Elizebetha’s eyes were starting to close. She looked at him with a moment of realisation as the wine goblet slipped from her drugged hand and crashed to the floor.

  Thanks for that one Yend, he thought. Quickly, Seth took the silver coin from where it sat in her hand and walked out of the room.

  Chapter 36

  ‘Start clearing that gate!’ Seth shouted. The men with Goldie didn’t question why, they just started loading large rocks into a wagon and clearing the blocked gate and reattaching ropes and counter weights. Seth had called his army together in the courtyard, and they stood looking back at him. He remembered, just a few days ago, how jubilant they had been in ousting Lord Renton and taking this place. Still, they looked fierce and happy, but as he looked he could see that soon they would be tired from putting out fires, dropping from the arrow fire from above. And within a few weeks, not a single one of them would be alive.

  They stood in rows, the pikemen with their shinning shields and flat spears in the air, organised and bristling; the wild hair tribesmen, again not on horses but ready with their curved blades; and the archers of Stellos to the side, leather tunic and vambraces—his favourite, the red head girl with a small smile for him.

  ‘Army of the Cold Death, Black Rock defenders, I want to talk to you. As you know, I have spoken with the Duke of Twin Waters. He has decided to let this siege lift.’

  They cheered and couldn’t believe it. Some, he could tell, wanted more of a fight.

  ‘I will go now and talk final terms with him, but his army will then be departing.’

  ‘Did we scare them too much?’ shouted someone, and they all laughed.

  Seth laughed as well. ‘You bet we did. They decided it wasn’t worth the trouble for the ghost of Lord Renton. Now get about your duties.’ The troops slowly filled out of the square, and Seth watched them all leaving. A good many seemed disappointed they wouldn’t get to fight, at least he was glad they wouldn’t have to die for him.

  He stood by the gate as the last few rocks were being cleared away and, calling in his Captains, spoke. ‘After this, I’m leaving. Dagosh, you can have command of your army back on the proviso that you stay here and help the lady defend Black Rock for the term of our engagement.’

  Dagosh just nodded.

  ‘Boys,’ he said to Goldie, Grimm, Flint and Stone, ‘this has been a lot bloodier than I expected, and now it’s time to get ourselves free of it all. We’ll take this gold from Rosen and build ourselves something new out there.’

  ‘Sounds good to me, Seth,’ said Goldie. ‘Let’s buy his yellow tavern.’

  They all laughed.

  ‘Now, if something happens and I don’t come back, stick to the plan. Dagosh, Keep is yours, and boys, the loot is yours.’

  ‘Boss, why is he giving up? We didn’t give them much of a hiding at all,’ said Grimm.

  ‘Don’t worry about it, Grimm; everyone south of us is too weak for life. I’ll see you soon.’

  The miners had the gate cleared. Taking a hold of the large wooden wheel and turning it, they slowly started to open the gate, until it stretched across the dark water of the moat and to the other side.

  ‘Someone bring my horse as well!’ he shouted.

  Seth stepped up onto his white horse and, waving to the boys and Captains, spurred it across the bridge and into the bloody and burned field. He felt the coin in his hand and could feel the power of it pulsing through his body. As he rode on toward the Dukes army, he saw the bodies left and right of the townspeople he had forced out of their homes. Shields and banners were placed near their fires and their bodies were burnt or filled with the long wooded shafts from the siege weapons. Seth felt the power of the coin running through him, and he could see them all as they had been in life, the life he’d helped take.

  He couldn’t just sit by and let all those brave people in the Keep go the same way.

  He was sorry for Elizebetha, but she would have to forgive him; she would understand why he’d had to take the coin.

  The hooves of his white charger turned up the grass, and he felt the wind whipping past him as the muscles of the horse moved in a smooth, powerful motions. He saw the duke alone riding his horse out from his army, saw the smile on his face, and felt the almost tangible sense of victory coming off him.

  Seth held the coin up in his hand so the duke could see it as their horses started to come together. Elizebetha would forgive him and surely the boys would as well, but would anyone else even understand? It wasn’t enough to save these people today; it wasn’t enough to run with the coin and hide it away. The Duke and he were too dangerous for the world; these coins were too dangerous for the world. They were a threat to everyone living, and a problem like this only had one answer: give them to someone else, too bad the woman wasn’t here as well.

  Seth started the chant in his mind. He drew in more power than he ever had before, and he focused hard and started to open the rift. He didn’t know what was on the other side, but he knew there was no coming back. It was a door that only opened one way and once he and the Duke were in there, everyone would be much safer. Spurring the horse on faster, and shouting out, ‘Bloodcrest!’ he hit the barrier and passed though.

  On the battlement, the whole of the Black Rock and the Cold Death watched. They saw as their General, Seth, rode up the field towards the duke. They saw a giant silver rip appear right across the middle of the entire field. From one end to the other, a giant cut or tear that shone with light, but showed the dark night behind it. Seth was riding hard toward one side and the duke the other. Closer to the duke in distance, he hit the rift first, trying to pull his horse up. It reared and he disappeared into the shining night. Seth, only moments away, let out a mighty shout of triumph that they could barely hear, and, hitting the glowing wall, he passed through it and disappeared. The rift closed up behind them, leaving the field empty except for the shocked cries of both armies.