Heian looked away from the plate and looked around. He noticed how much the room was empty and wondered how it would be cheerful with the children running through it, making a fuss. A slight smile tugged on his lips.
Nino, Sulco’s spy, was back, calm, because no one distrust him. Head down, moving only his eyes, watching carefully the behavior of Heian and Mongho, like a snake ready to strike.
Realizing the exchange of glances between the two, he interpreted this move as a sign. Quickly arranged an excuse to leave the room, hiding in the hallway. Shortly thereafter, Mongho and Heian passed him, not realizing that they were being followed.
Before leaving in the passage, Heian covered his face with the hood of the garment, but that didn’t fool Nino, which continued up the mountain in pursuit of them, blending into the shadows. He had proved an excellent tracker to follow Mongho by the kingdom. It would be even easier to track in this region that he knew so well.
Nino remained crouched in the bushes, watching as Mongho crept alone through the trees to a pile of stones covered with branches. The wizard paused for a moment, surveying the surroundings. After a few seconds, he looked back at the stones, beginning to quickly move his lips and hands. Nino couldn’t understand what he was saying because of the distance. Then he heard a hiss and realized that the sound came from the branches, which swayed just ahead of the wizard. Then the tangle of branches began to move, revealing the entrance to a cave.
Mongho made a sign to Heian, which came out from behind the tree and passed quickly towards him, fading into the darkness. Mongho entered behind him and Nino was about to get up when he noticed the wizard was standing at the entrance, using the darkness as a shield. Nino deduced that he was checking if he hadn’t been followed. After a few minutes, Mongho moved and disappeared.
Nino counted to twenty and only then left the hideout, approaching cautiously. In the entry, he heard voices. This alerted him to the depth of the cave, which shouldn’t be much.
There were voices of the wizard, Heian and also a woman. Nino thought that should be the child’s mother, and this further piqued his curiosity. So, cautiously headed for the voices mingled inside.
As he moved forward making a slight curve to the left, the voices increased. He needed to know if there was anyone else with them. Once he moved closer and examined the shadows that the fire played on the wall, he confirmed that there was no one. Unfortunately, he failed to see the woman, who was sitting with her back to him.
The spy crouched and silent, began to observe the three talk excitedly, trying to memorize the parts of the conversation he thought it was important. The woman stood up and handed Heian the child she was carrying. To take him in his arms, he placed a kiss on the baby forehead. The woman turned to the wizard, who also had his back to Nino, and curved her body. Nino was surprised and his eyes widened as he recognized the woman. It was the same from the frame he carried when Prince Sulco and Cerbus had gone to meet with the witch! When the woman returned to the normal position, bringing in his arms another child, the spy had to put his hand in his mouth, so his laughter didn’t denounced him. For the sharp razor of my sword! Twins. Heian had twins bastards!, he thought.
Thinking it had seen enough, Nino made his way back down the mountain running, eager to tell the prince Sulco what he discovered. He found him in the courtyard with the soldiers in place, listening to the latest instructions for the invasion. When Sulco finished the speech, the morale of the soldiers was high and already celebrating victory. Before Sulco mount his steed, Nino came and reported their latest findings: King Heian had two heirs, a boy and a girl.
Overcome with anger, Sulco took both hands behind his back and unsheathed swords with the intention of, in one stroke, make Nino’s head roll. Nino wasn’t armed, but was attentive, and jumped back, deflecting the blow would be fatal. Gasping, Sulco snorted with rage; Nino, from fear. Still, they kept their eyes steady on each other, with several curious stares on them. Slowly, Sulco sheathed his sword and turned his back, riding his horse as he surveyed his new possibilities.
Nino only thought was how to breathe.
◆◆◆
The dense air of fear and expectation increased panic in the east wing when the servants saw hundreds of soldiers lined up in the courtyard. They knew the fate of the west wing of the soldiers. Many of the servants had families and friends on the other side, but there was nothing they could do to help them.
Meanwhile, not knowing what awaited them in return, Mongho fanned the fire that had diminished. Although dominate the power of fire, preferred to use the conventional method, adding fuel and fanning. Heian carrying the children and full of hopes, made plans for the future.
Then the wind brought the sound. It sounded low and flawed, but nevertheless was unmistakable. Bells. They exchanged startled looks. Heian laid the baby on the bed, asking Nadjra that hide and protect the children. As soon as possible, he would return with news.
Heian and Mongho ran back to the castle as quickly as possible, regardless of being seen. Suddenly, Mongho stopped and Heian did the same, not understanding what was happening. Then he noticed that there was no bells ringing. The expectation was great. None of them moved or seemed to even breathe.
Bummm. Both looked to the side. The deafening drum sound seemed to come from the city background. Severe and harmonic note echoed and vibrated through the trees, resonating in their bones, freezing the marrow.
Bummm. A second drum issued a more serious and mournful note, adding to the first. They ran. They ran like animals stampede and their steps became faster than the beats. They jumped fallen logs, ran among the branches that whipped, strayed from stones, animals fled hurried those strange figures. Nothing, nothing could stop them.
Near the mountain slope where the trees became more widely spaced, they spotted dark banners erected amid loaded notes of war trumpets. The power that sound drove the soldiers to advance. Less than three hundred feet away, they witnessed the exact time when Sulco’s army gave a deafening roar, to then break the village gate, breaking through the defense lines of the west wing. The disorderly noise again reached them when the two armies clashed amid cries, producing a cacophony of steel crashing against steel. The cries of the villagers were drowned out by the hum of volleys of flaming arrows that hit the roof of the houses. Cartloads also burning shared space with pockets of soldiers on both sides. Panicked residents ran wildly.
“Mia filo! Kie these mia filo?!”[71] screamed a young mother wound, at the time Mongho and Heian crossed the ruins of the gate.
“Forprenu kion vi povas ni iru el tie!”[72] shouted a man with a crying child in his lap. He took the woman by the arm and ran toward the woods.
The atmosphere was hot and claustrophobic with the gathering storm. The gods seemed to be unhappy with the scene, creating large overwhelming clouds in the sky. The dust of the streets up, forming a mist, and the late afternoon was black as night. Soon the rain fell in torrents, helping to put out the fire that was spreading through the city.
Mongho and Heian saw the gates of the castle fallen following there. The Heian army sergeant ran past them without recognizing them, shouting and turning his sword.
“Malamikoj estas sturmi it kastelon arieruloj! Sendu iom de niaj soldatoj tie antaux regas nin!”[73]
Seconds later, the sergeant and his soldiers found themselves engaged in an uneven hand combat against violent soldiers. The impact of a sword nailed the sergeant’s helmet, knocking him back, staggering. His vision wavered and ears rang. Stunned, he tried to get up, but the enemy was aware of and prepared for another blow. The steel blade has accurate to Sargent’s neck, leading him to ruin.
Heian, still in shock with so many deaths, abruptly withdrew the common dress, shouted the name of queen Driadh and ran toward the fight, diving into a whirlwind of noise and blurred action. At a glance, Mongho saw Heian severing necks of enemies with fury in powerful sword strokes. They made their way through the street until they reached the first gate
of the castle, where they encountered more desperate scenes.
“What are the news?” Heian breathlessly asked one of his soldiers, who fought furiously at his side.
“Bad, really bad!” he replied with the bloodstained face. “They knocked down the main gate and are taking the castle!”
“Where is the Queen?”
“In the castle!”
“Come on, Mongho! We need to run!” In the middle of the fight, Heian turned to the wizard who, using the powers of fire, immediately pushed his way through the enemies.
In the fervor of battle, Mongho not noticed an approaching enemy behind. Heian shouted to warn him, but the soldier was faster. The man jumped on the wizard and knocked him to the ground, punching his stomach and then his chin. Mongho was stunned, unable to breathe.
Heian returned to help his friend when he saw the hands of the wizard turn into fire gloves. Mongho put them on the soldier’s face, making his flesh sizzle like a steak thrown on the embers. The man screamed and rolled off from Mongho, staggering blindly in the middle of this mess. Heian held Mongho by the arm and helped him get up, and continued to move.
In the main courtyard, allies guards struggled to keep their lives and protect the castle. Both sides fiercely fight, striking and stabbing each other in a fury that bordered on despair, but the forces weren’t equated. The enemy was more powerful and trained, and soon formed a river of blood that surrounded the walls of the castle.
◆◆◆
When finally Mongho and Heian managed to enter the castle, what they saw left them stunned. Piles and piles of innocent bodies were being made along the halls, including Armedis, with a huge gash in his chest. Heian, with the soul full of an icy anger, along with Mongho, shot down the soldiers who tried to prevent them from reaching queen Driadh’s room. What Heian feared most had happened: the door was forced open, fallen, allowing him to see the empty room.
Desperate, Heian went screaming the name of his wife through the halls, asking the few remaining soldiers had seen. But in the middle of that mess, no one knew where she was. Fear took hold of his soul when he saw, in the midst of so much blood spilled, a red trail coming out of the Queen's bedroom. Immediately the two began to follow the morbid trail that led to the crumbling gates of the royal house, where they saw prince Sulco sitting on the throne with the crown and several guards around.
Seeing his beloved wife bloodied on the ground, Heian became desperate and, blinded by rage, broke fiercely toward his brother. Sulco, seeing him running with a sword in hand, stood up in one leap to the throne and acted coldly, in a coup tested thousands of times in his mind. With the sword in his left hand, he held his brother’s fury; with the free right-pierced his stomach with the rondel dagger, causing the blood flow in his shirt as crimson flowers.
Face to face with Sulco, Heian looked shocked for those black eyes, then for that blade protruded from his stomach. His mouth was open, but it didn’t come out a word. The skin was transparent when the pain shot through his body, and in this moment he dropped his sword. Then he smiled at his brother before stagger and cling to him for support.
Mongho recovered from the shock and tried to throw fireballs, but it was too late because Sulco’s guards were faster and arrested him, holding his arms and holding his hands apart.
“A-and then you got your dreamed prize!” Heian whispered as his life force was pumped out of his body. “Was it worth so much bloodshed?” and he fell to his knees.
“The throne was mine!” Sulco shouted, making a grandiloquent gesture around him, like a child whining about losing a favorite toy. He pulled away from Heian and let his body fall to the throne, frantic strumming on the back of the arm.
“Wa-wanting something doesn’t give you the right to have it.”
“And what do you know about it? Have you ever wanted something so much? You were a stone in my shoe for too long. But this ends here.” He ran his hand through his hair, took a lock that covered her eyes and put it behind the ear. “Don’t worry, dear brother, I don’t intend to kill you now. I booked you a slow, dignified death of a former king. I promise you that it will be painful.” Sulco laughed at his own sadistic joke.
“A city can be won with blood, but a man of vision to rule it’s necessary. Your government will bring tyranny and misery to everyone” stammered Heian, spitting blood.
“The people will thank me for still live and serve their new emperor!” proclaimed Sulco, screaming. He got up, walked rhythmic steps to Heian and bent to the ear of his brother, continuing their game of psychological torture.
“But... Tell me, my brother. I knew from reliable sources that you got an heir...” Heian lowered his head.
Sulco awaited an answer, but didn’t get it. Maddened by the brother silence, he shouted:
“Come on, this is your chance to redeem yourself! Tell me where the bastard is!” And he put the blade in his brother’s throat, forcing him to look at him. Heian was nearing the end of his tether, but still looked at him defiantly. “Or will I have to find him myself?”
Heian forced a brief smile.
“You’ll have to do better than that, dear brother! You will never find him!”
“Then, I’ll have to do you think about it.”
Without hesitation, Sulco got the sword away from Heian’s neck and, with a quick spin, cut off his hand. Heian swallowed and didn’t outline any moan. The pain was little, perhaps, for the amount of blood that he had already lost. He kept his gaze steady, though squeezed his arm in a futile attempt to stop the blood gushing.
Sulco stared him. He knew that his brother wasn’t a coward who easily deliver someone, especially a child. And that’s made him even more angry.
“Where is the bastard?” he screamed again. Heian remained silent.
Wrapped in hatred for the firmness of his brother, Sulco looked around, seeing that queen Driadh had regained consciousness. A sickly smile tugged on his face to see that the audience grew. In the corner, Mongho kept struggling and cursing, trying in vain to loosen the soldiers.
Glad to have all eyes focused on him, Sulco turned again to Heian, and a sudden movement with his sword, cut off his other arm. Heian felt the world around them darken more and more as bathed the ground with his blood, hearing in the distance Sulco’s shrill laughter. He needed a formidable force to keep his eyes open. His body shook from side to side before tipping over completely. The hollow thud on the floor awakened by a split second, long enough to Heian open his eyes and see his beloved wife leaning over his dying body.
“Bonvolu, mia amatino, dead baldaŭ!”[74] Driadh whispered in his ear, pulled the knife she carried hidden in garments and nailed Heian’s chest. He smiled gratefully, with a trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth, and didn’t move anymore.
In tears, Queen Driadh glared at him in the pitiless eyes of Sulco, standing at her side.
“What are you waiting for? A confession? That I will say what Heian didn’t? Never!” she removed the knife from Heian’s chest and ran the blade into her own neck, dropping embraced in her husband’s body.
CHAPTER XIX
The room was completely silent. Even the soldiers looked at each other, shocked. Sulco started clapping. At first slowly, then faster, as he turned and walked toward Mongho.
“What a dramatic scene! Don’t you agree, Mongho?”
“Enough! Show a little respect!” Mongho snapped, unable to believe that Heian and Driadh were dead.
“Respect? After everything he did to me? After having ruined my life and of all that city?”
Sulco stared at him, drew the same knife he had used to strike the first blow in the brother and pointed it at Mongho, right in the heart. His blood was boiling, he wanted to kill him right there, but he knew he needed him alive. For now! He was so close to Mongho, he felt his fear through his heavy heart beats. He smiled with pleasure, enjoying the overwhelming horror that his presence caused.
“For you, I have another plan, wizard. Give me th
e crystal skull and I promise to give you a quick death.”
“Yes...” Mongho surrendered, dragging the word in a weak nod, without looking away from the bodies. “It’s in my room.”
Sulco made a gesture of satisfaction.
“Very well! I see that you are a sensible person. Now, take me to it.” Sulco signaled to the soldiers who held him prisoner and they put Mongho forward, propelling him with spears. Curses and insults were launched when the wizard stumbled on the uneven floor or slipped in the blood.
To Mongho, every step seemed to last an eternity. As they walked, he looked Sulco in his back, that smiling petulantly, celebrating the victory with soldiers who greeted him while they play with the beheaded heads. When he passed through the broken door of his room, it was clear that Sulco had been there. Everything was crashed.
“I need you to release my arms so I can take it.” Mongho raised his arms tied at him.
“Just tell me where it is” snapped Sulco.
“Even if I say, you can’t take it. It’s sealed with magic. I need my hands to undo the spell.”
Sulco looked suspicious, evaluating him. If it were true, he had no choice.
“I will release you. But if you try some heroic act, you will make company to my brother in hell! You can drop it!” he ordered the men who held him prisoner.
Mongho took the first step and all the spears and swords of the room turned in unison to him. Sulco made a gesture with his head and the soldiers calmed down, collected the weapons and opened the way to the wizard, now spurn the fallen objects. Sulco was following close behind him. When he stopped, he turned to Sulco, who gave him an angry look at the same time he unsheathed the sword. His men copied his gesture. Mongho shifted his gaze to the ground and made some quick movements with his hands while uttering the spell. The sound of something falling off was heard then. A stone lid rose alone, accompanied by a bluish dust that came from inside the slot. Mongho crouched and moved to the side, stretching out on the hole. Carefully, he removed the two objects stored in the niche: The Book of Mages and the crystal skull, which was emitting a blue light.
The Secret Of The Crystal Skull Page 21