Tranquil Fury

by P. G. Thomas

  [Emergency Override.] Ryan looked at the six, stepped forward, color coming back to his face. He rolled his head from left to right, cracked his neck, and closed his open jaw. His movements were mechanical, controlled, calculated, and extremely precise. He kicked the large heavy table to his left, and the force was so great, that it easily glided across the floor, crushing two of the black-clad men between the table and stone wall. Before the eight in the doorway could turn, Ryan kicked the other large table, blocking the path of two more. As Panry reacted to the threat, and moved to engage the rear attack, Ryan picked up a chair, and threw it to the ground, where it smashed into the stone floor that was at the back of the room. The trajectories calculated, and the force specific, the impact of stone on wood caused the chair to erupt into a swarm of splinters, the flight path of each major wooden projectile predetermined. Black-clad men reacted as anticipated, moved into the projectiles path, a mistake realized too late. Sharpened spikes raced through the air to a predetermined empty location, while black-clad men dropped their swords to cover their faces from the splinter-filled air, and jumped into the empty sanctuaries of safety. Wooden chair legs converted into sharpened spears, traveled with the necessary force, and precise projection to greet the black-clad men. Then silenced them as the improvised projectiles pierced soft neck flesh, grazed major arteries, and smashed into neck bones. Panry was on top of the table that had the last two trapped, it only took a second, and the room was quiet again.

  Alron came over to Ryan and looked at the dead, “Friend, thou hath impressed me. How does thou accomplish that which mine eyes does naught believe.”

  [Disengage.] Ryan shook his head from side to side, as if he was trying to shake something back into place. He blinked, wiped the sweat off his forehead, “I don’t know. I guess I just got lucky.” Ryan turned and headed to the cask of dwarven ale, unsure of what had happened.

  Alron and Panry searched the bodies of the black-clad men, as Aaro and Bor stood guard, one at the front of the inn, one at the back. After examining the first four, finding nothing, they went to the two trapped behind the table. With all of their might, they tried to push the table, but it would not move. That was when Alron noticed that it had not only crushed the two black-clad men, but it had actually knocked loose several stone blocks, and was embedded in the wall. Alron pointed it out to Panry, but both said nothing.

  When Lauren wanted, she could sequence and coordinate her thoughts and words, to get anybody to give up secrets they had sworn to keep. This was not one of those times, “What the hell just happened?”

  Chapter 18

  Alron was scratching his right deer ear, “Which part does thou inquire about? Mirtza’s magic bat does warn of intruders. When we does go to investigate, thou brother does light up threat filled street. Aaro and Bor does dispatch threat quickly, then thou friend Ryan does discover rear threat. How, I does naught know, but friend Ryan does act, where he does kill intruders four.” Just as Alron was about to continue, a wolf’s howl pierced the night, “Yes, lest I does forget, a four legged threat does seem keen on thou as well. What does happen? Naught does I know. It was Earth Daughter who does suggest trip. When to Ironhouse we does return, thou can explain to Earth Mother what does happen.” Alron needed more time to figure out what was happening, “Mirtza, thine bats, if naught be, please send forth to warn again of dangers. Panry, first watch shalt be mine, second wilt be thine. Aaro, first watch, back of inn does belong to thou. Bor second shalt be thine. Everyone else, sleep does call thou, tomorrow a long day shalt be.” Alron turned his back on the group and headed to the front step of the inn, looking at the still burning street lamps. What does be happening?

  Inside, Aaro went to the back of the inn. Panry and Bor quickly found a place to bed down, hoping their watch shift would arrive later than earlier. Mirtza quickly grabbed a bedroll, and took it close to the fireplace, and Lauren grabbed John by the shoulder, still looking for answers.

  “It can wait till morning.” John also needed time to figure out what was happening. Sleep, if you could call it that, did not greet all, and was more like restful tossing. Every creaking floorboard or windblown sign would cause them all to open their eyes. And the wolf every few hours, also kept everyone alert.

  Panry did not have to announce the new day, as all were awake before the first sun pushed back the night. The cold rations set out the night before, untouched, were quickly picked over. As saddles and mounts were reunited, John and Lauren wandered into the settlement. Alron protested, but John advised that the answers could not wait. Tired and confused from the previous night, Alron just wanted to get the group back to the Ironhouse Mine, so he put Mirtza in charge of the travel preparations, and left Bor and Aaro to guard the rest. Panry, still exhausted, followed John and Lauren, while Alron kept an eye at the main intersection.

  The six slain black-clad bodies still lay motionless in the street, but there was nothing odd or unusual about them. John and Lauren searched several buildings to find that most contained all their original possessions intact. John examined a few of the houses as they walked out of the town, where the doors looked like someone had kicked them in, hoping to find a house where evidence still existed; blood splatter, a forgotten corpse, some sort of dying message scratched into a wall. He did find some bodies, but they were fresh, throats ripped out by a beast, and all were clad in black.

  “John, what do we tell the Earth Mother?”

  “That we were attacked. I think those clad in black are invading this land. They must have used the plague as some sort of hoax to keep the people from finding out the truth. They probably move in, surround a town and take everybody prisoner. This is such a large land, minimal infrastructure. It wouldn’t be possible to ensure that they got everybody, so they put up those plague posters to scare everybody else away. That way, if somebody came back to a town like this, found everybody gone, they would most likely believe the plague threat. When they returned to their town, they would tell everybody else. Some may have left, others might have stayed behind, not thinking that they were in danger, until their settlement was surrounded.”

  Lauren looked at John, “Why would somebody do this? Is it their fate? Are they just the weaker people, destined to be taken over by the stronger tribes?”

  “Was somebody paying attention in history class?”

  “I am being serious. Look at what happened to the Indians and South American tribes. You could probably list off even more. I know it wasn’t right, but is it nature, survival of the fittest. Is that what is happening here?”

  John sat down on the porch of the deserted house, “I am not certain of anything here, what or why it is happening. Every race or tribe that you learned about, they all tried to put up a fight. Yes, they battled against superior technology: guns or steel, and in some cases lost because of their own ignorance. But they all fought back. Maybe that’s what the sword and armor are for, to give these people an advantage. I don’t know. What I saw at that grave, those poor souls, they never had a chance to defend themselves. Maybe the same will happen here, we simply do not know, but they do deserve a chance to fight. If it is their fate, if these invaders are superior, well, maybe they will still lose. But they should know about the invasion, and that there is no plague. They should at least know the truth, and be given the ability to react against the real threat. Not hide like frightened children from untrue phantoms and bogeymen.”

  “Last night, Alron said Logan lit up the streets. What did he mean by that?”

  “Logan probably found some sort of light switch, turned it on. Wanted to spook Alron.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He is your brother, you know him better.”

  “What about Ryan?”

  John shook his head, “Adrenaline most likely, and a bit of luck?”

  Lauren was still uncertain, “So then, what are we supposed to do? What do I tell the Earth Mother? She is going to ask me what we should do. What am I going to tell her?”r />
  “Lauren, calm down. Worrying is like an eroding river bank too close to a house. Rain and melting snow make the levels rise and fall, eating into the earth. If all you do is shore it up with gravel, the water will continue to eat into the bank, until it finally consumes the house. What you want to do is place large stone blocks, something to shield the bank from the worry. You need to battle it with something of worth, something that has substance, something that can stand up, and deflect the worry away. We have that now. This information is like placing large stone blocks into that bank. It has value, worth, substance, so we don’t have to consider the unknown. Now we have to plan, act on what we do know. And Lauren, there is one more thing. You already know it. It would probably be best if you spoke it, instead of you hearing it from somebody else.”

  “There is war coming, isn’t there John? That sword, the armor, what happened last night. It is all just beginning.”

  “I think it began a while ago, and right now, we are in the middle of it. But yes, the short answer is war.”

  “Is that why they were waiting for us, waiting for me? They want me to fight their battle for them? Or Eric?”

  John could see the confusion and worry written on Lauren’s face, “Right now, that may or may not be true. Let’s finish looking at this deserted settlement, and then we’ll head back to the mine. Maybe the Earth Mother can help us figure this out. Just don’t worry.”

  Lauren nodded in agreement, but her body language did not sell the message with the same conviction. They spent another hour checking out the empty houses and shops, but there was no evidence as conclusive as the mass grave. It was still early in the morning when much to Alron’s satisfaction, John and Lauren finally got on their ponies. There was no need to go to the last settlement, as John felt sure that the same people who filled the mass grave, would have eliminated any evidence there as well. Alron was pleased to hear John advise that the investigation was over, but they still had two days of hard travel before he would be able to report to the Earth Mother, and he hoped that they would be uneventful.

  The countryside was becoming more uneven, and gullies carved by distant mountain streams were common. Sporadic forests now inhabited the grasslands, increasing the threat of hidden attacks. Alron slowed the main group, sent Panry ahead as front guard, and advised Aaro and Bor to take up the rear guard. They may not have been as cautious as an elf, but it would take a lot to get by them. Alron kept them riding hard for most of the day, even after the first sun had set. He had advised Panry to start looking for a night camp after the second sun set, not wanting to risk camping in the open.

  As commanded, Panry had found a forest that was not too big or small, which could afford them the cover and protection that they sought. Once he was sure it was safe, he headed back down the road, left signs for Alron, and then returned to the forest to rest his stag. It was two hours later when the third sun was low in the sky, that Panry greeted the eight. He had cleared the spot of small trees, to keep the group close together, and from large rocks, he had built a fireplace. The hard ride would deplete the travellers of their strength, but the warmth of a warm fire would help replace it. As everybody prepared their bedding for the night, all were complaining of sores or cramped muscles, and the sight of cold field rations did little to improve morale. Even Alron’s announcement, that Gor would welcome them the next night with a feast, did little to make them smile, and overcome by exhaustion, few ate. Most took to their bedrolls, just wishing that the ground beneath them would stop galloping.

  *******

  Quietly the next morning, Alron woke Panry and the Ironhouse brothers, had them saddle the mounts and pack up the camp. He hoped an extra hour of sleep would make the weary travellers think they were more refreshed than they were, allowing him to push them harder. Alron gently coaxed them from their dreams, got them on their feet, but they were so tired, they did not realize that the cold field rations were not set out. Alron and Panry had them all on their ponies before they realized they were awake, heading back to Ironhouse. Panry quickly took the front guard, Alron advised Bor and Aaro to ride with the group today. With the ever-changing landscape, Alron thought it would be more likely they would ride into a trap, than be overtaken from behind.

  It was about noon when they rode out of a small valley, into a large expanse of grassland, where they found Panry waiting for them. A front guard did little in this flat land, threats easily seen for miles. It looked to be at least a three-hour ride to the nearest forest, and with the group complaining of sores and hunger, Alron turned them all back into the valley for a rest. The cold field rations managed to stop them from complaining aloud, but only until they had swallowed the impediment that both fueled and stifled their complaints.

  They were over half way to the distant forest, surrounded by open grassland, when the powerful elf eyesight saw the first head crest the next ravine, black-clad soldiers heading south, straight for them. Alron quickly turned the party south, smacked the ponies, scaring them into a gallop. All glanced over their shoulders and could see the dust cloud building as the opposing forces sounded their alarms. They may have been an hour apart, but the hard ride on the ponies and stags was beginning to show. The little valley in which they had taken their lunch was too far away, as they would not make it in time, and even if they did, there were no defensible positions. Alron and Panry scanned the grasslands, and Panry pointed to a small hill in the close distance, that might provide enough cover. Alron shouted to Aaro and Bor, who were now at the front of the pack, pointed to the hill on the right. They cut their mounts into the field of long grass, dug their heels into the beasts, and forced them to pick up the pace. The other ponies instinctively followed the lead ones, the riders holding on for dear life, no longer in charge.

  As they burst into the peaceful field, startled birds erupted from the long grass, squawking as they sounded their own warnings. More birds took to the sky, attempting to flee the sudden invasion, and soon the entire grassland was an explosion of feathers—birds by the thousands, then hundreds of thousands, filled the sky, their calls drowning out the commands from Alron. The long grass was even more devastating to their progress than he had anticipated, and with his vision obscured by birds, he could not determine how close the threat was. It does not end like this Mother. He pushed his stag forward, Must protect Earth Daughter.

  The birds soared higher and began to swarm, flying left to right, then right to left. Their patterns became tighter, like an aerial ballet in the sky, and if not for the imposing threat chasing them, one might have enjoyed the display. With the field clear of birds, Alron looked for the black-clad men, and discovered that they had pushed their mounts even harder than Alron had pushed theirs. The leaping of his stag made it hard to focus on the horde that chased them, but he caught glimpses of white sweat on the black horses, and realized they would be on them in twenty minutes, thirty at the most. As Alron’s stag leaped through the tall grass, an uneasy feeling flooded his elf senses, and he looked over his other shoulder, saw Logan standing in the middle of the field, his pony hobbling on three good legs. Alron screamed to Panry while pointing at Logan. Panry turned, a death sentence to rescue outlander, too close they does be. Still, he turned hard and reached for his bow, as he saw Logan raise one arm to the sky, and when completely extended, Logan closed his open hand, brought it down, throwing the contents at the black-clad men racing towards him. But Panry did not see anything leave Logan’s hand, figured it was a sign of defiance. Gripping his stag tightly with his knees, Panry had his bow off his shoulder, reached for an arrow from his back. He knew he would never hit a target, just hoped it would slow them down, and buy him time to save Logan.

  Before Panry could focus on a target, the sky went black. Birds so thick formed a swirling cloud which consumed both the blue sky, and the black-clad force. Vision obscured, horses stumbled, tripped, tossed their black-clad riders, and then trampled them under their hooves. A swirling vortex of small black birds completely sh
rouded the horde that had been chasing them, and Panry slowed his stag, watched in amazement. Black-clad men swung their swords at the small birds, struck their own, and even killed their own horses. As the birds continued, Alron and the rest circled back to Panry, listened to the horrified screams that were barely audible over the squawking birds. For twenty minutes, the black cloud of feathers engulfed the riders as more and more riders fell to the ground. Occasionally, a horse would break free from the black cloud, and bolt down the road, dragging a screaming rider.

  After another ten minutes, Logan brought his left arm up in front of him, and motioned as if he was pushing something away. Slowly the swirling whirlwind of black birds began to take to the sky as they fled in all directions, and the group looked at where the birds once tormented the riders. On the ground, surrounded by thousands of dead birds, lay the black-clad men that had chased them with such confidence. That confidence, much like their breath, now gone, they waited silently for more black birds, the vultures.

  Alron looked to Lauren, “Earth Daughter, does this be thou?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lauren replied.

  Logan walked over to the group, rubbing his forearms, the tattoo feathers now gone, “I think I need a ride. Can somebody give me a lift?”

  “Thou does this,” asked Alron?

  Logan shrugged his shoulders, “The pony tripped and threw me. When I got up, I saw the birds attack. Maybe they were upset?”

  Mirtza rode his eight-legged horse over to Logan, and helped him up. Silently, the group trotted up to the massacre scene, three dozen riders and horses, lifeless on the crimson ground, black feathers still twisting in the breeze, floating on small scarlet colored puddles of blood.

  The silence continued as they rode for the remainder of the day, with Alron pushing them hard, the sight of the snow-capped mountains had come into view that afternoon. As they grew in size, each thought that they could smell Gor’s cooking, and could feel the comfort of their large warm beds calling to them. With those thoughts, they pushed their mounts harder, pushed all of the odd visions to the back of their minds, and even Ryan looked forward to sleeping in a cave. The third sun was low behind the mountains as Alron smacked the stable door, and after a short time, Hakk opened it, and let the tired group enter.