Salvation

by James Wymore

  "Although you have all accepted me, and even named me Elwood of Winigh, I remained apart from you so long as I was the only Selene soldier. Now, my friends, I am no longer alone. We are one. And we will combine our might, our hearts, and our magic to be a force greater than those barbaric animals can imagine!"

  Everybody cheered. Elwood drew his sword and pointed the S-curve tip toward the sky. "Sel!" he cried. "Sel! Sel! Sel!"

  Weapons rose to the sky as they joined him. "Sel! Sel!"

  Jewel chanted along, smiling wide at him.

  He raised the volume until they were in a frenzy. "Sel! Sel! Sel!"

  He turned his sword and pointed it at the enemy transport on the ocean far below. As one, they turned toward the enemy ship and screamed their challenge, "SEL!"

  Chapter Twenty

  Somebody had to work the three pumps constantly now. Each pump had a braid of eight small goat intestines, which went up the side of the rocks east of the home base. They had wagons taking people back and forth to rotate shifts on the pumps. With several people on guard duty and everybody sleeping in turns, Elwood found he didn't have as much to do these days. He continued drilling everybody on fighting tactics and inventing new traps along the path of the streams below. Jewel, on the other hand, pushed herself harder and harder to keep everyone fed. Jewel had a large fire and brick oven built at the back of the meadow where she kept a cauldron of stew constantly hot, and bread baked round the clock. Despite having only a small contingent of very old women and very young girls, Jewel smiled and made the work into games.

  By magic alone, the Selenes of Winigh held back the spring nearly three weeks. Eventually, the heat of the sun, moving inexorably higher in its path, could not be kept from melting the snow. Elwood told Jewel there was nothing more they could do to prepare.

  It was still early in the morning as the two sat in their tent. The sun made the sky blue. Yet, in the shadow of the steep mountain, they would not see the hot orb for hours. In the false dark of the cloth structure, they heard goats bleating, axes chopping wood, hammers pinging against chisels to break rocks free for the catapults, and muffled voices. There was never a time when those sounds were not constantly around them.

  Now a new sound underlay the rest. This quietest, most persistent sound filled them all with dread—melting and running water. Hot wind from the south caressed the snowcap, and slowly turned the flakes of ice into tiny drops. Some were absorbed by the soft parts of the ground. The rest ran down the rock in tiny lines. The curved face directed all the runoff in this area to the spring. That spring now ran past their camp in a stream. The rest of the mountain's water collected in streams they could not divert. It was forming into a river, making a road for the amphibious Hyzoi.

  "How long do you think it will be?" Jewel asked. She resisted the tug of her mind to get back to work on the food. Every moment together might be their last, so they jealously clung to each other.

  "If they are coming against us, it will be in the next day or two," he said. He touched her belly again. She insisted it was too early to notice the bulge, but he wanted to check for himself.

  "We are ready," she said. "I never thought you would get these people so well trained and prepared."

  "They have not seen battle yet," Elwood said. "They haven't seen the horrors which will haunt their dreams for the rest of their lives. They haven't tasted the bitter loss of loved ones or felt the burning guilt for living when so many you know died for a cause you can't even remember. And those will be the lucky ones."

  He'd never expressed these dark fears before. Jewel let a tear fall. She turned and hugged him. It wasn't for his comfort, he realized. It was for hers. "It's the ugly part of war," she eventually said. "The part we don't let ourselves think about."

  "I don't mean to burden you before the dark hour," he said.

  "You're the only one who knows this," she observed. "You've been preparing all of us to fight, but only you know it is also preparing us to die. It's like a trick. All of Winigh trains and prepares for success, not realizing the terrible losses which will also come."

  "They fear it deep down," he said. "But we cannot give voice to those fears, or nobody will still be standing on that wall when hell is unleashed against us. The first few minutes will tell the strength of Winigh's hearts. When they see how many fall in the first few minutes, we will find out."

  Jewel cried freely now. Elwood hated himself for telling her this, but of all the people in Winigh, he needed her to still love him at the end. He didn't want or expect absolution. He knew she would never be as happy again. Still, at the end of it all, he could not bear to break her heart completely. He had to prepare her, in the hopes she would be able to transcend the horror. And if he was honest, he needed to tell somebody. It had been eating at him for months now.

  Jewel said, "Try to have no thoughts."

  "What?"

  "I want to do something for you, but I can't work against the solid wall of magic in your mind." Elwood cleared his mind. He couldn't think of nothing, so he only thought of the clear white field of snow, which used to cover this meadow. The clearing had been a pristine blanket when they entered it after their wedding.

  Suddenly, he felt warmth in his heart. It wasn't natural, but it felt so good. When he thought about it, he knew Jewel's magic was responsible. The moment the realization intruded, the warmth faded.

  "That was great," he said. He felt stronger and less worried. She, on the other hand, looked tired. "Thank you."

  She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes for a moment. Her smile wasn't as bright. "Do not fear for Winigh's hearts," she said softly.

  A new sound split all the others, which constantly surrounded their tent. Three blasts on a horn. By the third, Elwood's heart started racing.

  Jewel moved to get up, but he pulled her back and held her tight. He let the seconds drag on.

  "We have to go," she said.

  "They will be hours in coming," he whispered as they heard feet running in every direction around them and people yelling orders. He looked in her face and smiled. "If I call the retreat, you be the first one running toward the homestead," he said. "I can't live through this war if you are not there at the end. Promise me you won't stay back and help anyone if the wall is breached."

  Jewel thought long about this strange request. Here was their hero, their savior, asking her to be weak. She realized he needed her to be weak for both of them. Somehow, he needed to place his fears in her hands, so he wouldn't have to carry them. "I have to protect the baby," she said. "I will not stay and fight. But you must promise me something in return."

  "Anything," he said.

  "If you call the retreat, you will not stay behind to fight and protect the others who are running away."

  Now it was his turn to pause. He couldn't imagine running in front of the others while they died behind him. She saw his conflict and said, "You are the leader," she said. "If you stay behind, they will stay behind no matter what you say. If you run, they will follow you."

  He nodded. "I promise."

  They kissed as their tears mingled on their cheeks. He held her so tightly he thought it might be hurting her. She kissed him as if she could swallow his being and keep it inside her with the other one.

  All the soldiers lined the hills as they watched a tiny line, smaller than ants, begin to wade up the glacial river near the beach far south of them. The line of black dots came from the ocean, where the water looked darker in a great blob. The tiny dots splashed water as they went, creating miniscule white crests in front of each one. The Hyzoi marched single file, even though the river afforded enough space for them to go three abreast.

  Elwood let everybody take their time watching their doom organize and advance.

  "These are not people," he said. "Feel no more mercy for them than you would for a chicken you planned to eat." He tried to sound aloof, but a passion of anger burned in him. He felt the urge to rush down and meet them. These monsters had s
tolen his memories, and now threatened the best life he could imagine. He wanted not just to kill them, but to inflict long-lasting pain on them.

  "Remember, they are cold blooded," he said. "When the sun is out, it is to their advantage, but the cold of night will serve us better. The fire of being right burns in our souls and warms our bodies. They can only steal heat. They will be slower in the cold."

  A few nimble young men began tying ropes around their waists so they could take up positions along the cliffs. "Too soon," Elwood said. "They will be marching most of the day. When they come over that fall," he pointed to the last south bend, which included a short cascade over a rocky vale, "we will take our places and still be bored by the time they arrive."

  Everybody looked back and forth. After training for so long, and running drills where they were expected at their post in minutes, it felt strange to just wait for hours and hours.

  "Should we at least practice?" Drake asked.

  "I would not risk accidental injury now," Elwood said. "You all have a few hours. Talk with friends. Eat big meals. Tell stories. Hold your children. Save up your energy. Do not fret and let adrenaline sap your courage. They must march up to us. Let them spend their strength marching. When they come, they will find us ready and rested. Take half a day off. You've all earned a break. I will be here watching, so you don't need to keep guard."

  Everybody nodded and began talking. Jewel showed up with a tray of hot raisin bread and everybody began breaking the loaves and handing it around.

  "That's them?" she said when her tray was empty.

  Elwood nodded.

  "It seems you have all been worried for nothing," she laughed. "They look slow and small to me."

  People laughed with her. Elwood smiled at her as she led several of the fighters back for stew. People began peeling off their armor and coats. They found rocks to sit on. Elwood just kept smiling. He knew they suspected him of false pretenses. Still, he hoped to help them endure the madness of waiting for battle with whatever optimism they still nurtured.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The town watched as the Hyzoi reached the nearest south bend of the river. The enemy was close enough now to see their bodies. Crouched like hunchbacks, the muscled troglodytes' heads stuck forward instead of up. Their walking movement involved a great deal of bouncing up and down as they went over the top of wide, frog-like legs.

  Still looking small from this distance, a group of the first ones to arrive collected at the rocky vale. A few squatted in the pool beneath the falls. Others would climb up on their backs and began jumping to clear the rocks. The first few fell back down and a kind of chaos ensued.

  "Spikes," Elwood nodded at Drake. "Those first two will have torn their hands already."

  "First blood!" Drake hollered. Several people cheered behind him.

  The Hyzoi began standing on each other, making their bodies into tight, rock-like balls. The water cascaded over their backs. When a sufficient number had turned themselves into living stairs, the others climbed easily on their companions and jumped over the spikes at the top. They formed the line again in the higher pool and kept moving up the river.

  "Now we need climbers," Elwood said.

  Several young men tethered themselves together and went over the side of the hill. Moving toward the south and the north, they took up positions behind large rock structures and waited. Following directions, the south watch held off until more than fifty Hyzoi had marched past their position. Then they began pounding the pre-set chisels with a fury until huge boulders broke loose and thundered down the side of the cliff. The first rock crushed three enemies, sending water over the side of the river's track and large waves splashing in both directions. A second, smaller rock fell soon after, crushing another monster. By this time, they had cleared the area. The young men began climbing up and over the top to escape. The Hyzoi easily moved around the new barrier in the river's track, resuming their march once the threat ended. As they came out of the water, it was clear they were holding many strange devices, most of which took several to lift and carry. None of them looked important: boards, rope, bundles. However, Elwood feared what these things would be once assembled.

  The fighters of Winigh secreted themselves behind the rocks and trees overhanging the cliff, save for Elwood, who stayed in the small cut-out between the hills. The river was wide and flat beneath them, trickling neatly over a bed of round river rocks. The Hyzoi, having seen the people watching them before, knew better than to march unprotected in front of their position. Several groups near the front lifted heavy wooden boards above their heads for protection. A dozen of them lifted the soaked wood from the water and held them like shields to protect the others who marched by.

  Elwood had piles of stones ready to drop on them, but he didn't call the soldiers up yet. He waited. When the first Hyzoi to pass the heavy shields marched just north of the cliff-top hills, they began growling and jumping away. Another moment of chaos broke their lines as several of the monsters sat back, examining cut feet. Another field of spikes had ripped gashes into the webbed feet of three more Hyzoi. With the water too shallow to swim above the spikes, the creatures moved up onto the land west of the stream. The water was thinning this high up and they were doing a lot of splashing to keep their crusty skin hydrated.

  The moment they were out of the water and no longer behind the cover of the large shielding, Elwood signaled. Every soldier in Winigh jumped over the top of the hill and began hurling rocks with all their strength down on the Hyzoi. Over the small stretch of river, half a dozen Hyzoi fell. Most of the rocks bounced off. Whenever multiple rocks landed together, it brought one of the foes down. The reptilians rapidly retreated over land, away from the barrage. A few, however, began assembling parts. A long round tube, held by several of the vile web-handed creatures, was attached to some kind of slimy bauble at the end. Suddenly, a huge jet of water began shooting out the other end of the tube.

  In that instant, Elwood knew what the strange markings in the frozen mud at the failed reservoir battle site meant. He also knew how they Hyzoi had extended their reach on land. They had some kind of pump.

  The lead Hyzoi turned the stream of water up on the town's people. A thirty foot arc lifted above the rock cliffs and began soaking them with freezing water.

  "Back!" Elwood called.

  They all retreated as the overspill began melting patches of snow and splashing the mud everywhere. The water continued to spray up over the edge long after the people were far out of range. Elwood's instincts told him this water would collect in the original stream bed and fall back down the rocks to the stream below. As long as those pumps continued, this section would remain under water.

  "Get a fire going," Vince ordered. "You people move back to the tents until you are warm and dry." He had only been in the mist of water, but he knew it was still too cold for people to stay out in soaked clothes. Elwood smiled and nodded at Vince, happy to have help in the common sense parts of leading.

  "Archers," Elwood hollered as the crowd began to break into small mobs. "We need to cover the first track."

  A dozen large fighters rushed to their position just north of the water deluge. Elwood joined them, not taking up a bow of his own. They lit the pitch on specially prepared arrows. When a decent number of Hyzoi marched on the strip of land west of the spiked riverbed, Elwood dropped his hand. At the signal, flaming arrows arched over the cliff.

  Arrows hitting the Hyzoi bounced off without effect. Several hit the ground, which had been soaked in alcohol. The very soil lit up, burning more giant frog feet. Small bulbs of prepared chemicals exploded, further damaging the enemy feet and scattering the creatures. Some leaped into the water, and impaled on the spikes. Others rushed forward or back.

  The water jet turned forward, rapidly dousing the fire, before it resumed covering the cliffs. As the Hyzoi reformed, Elwood pulled everybody back before they could be soaked in the freezing glacial run-off.

  Twice more,
climbers broke rocks loose. The first one managed to catch an enemy leg beneath the crushing weight. By the last, the Hyzoi could not be surprised by the falling stones. With fast leaps and strong legs, they quickly evaded the crushing trap. A new jet of water rose up from the stream and soaked the young men tied to trees at the top of the cliff. As the water blasted away the wet soil, the roots of the plant pulled loose and tore the trunk from the earth. One of the men scrambled over the top of a wet boulder. The other, tether tangled in the limbs, was pulled over. The one on the bottom cut the rope as he fell. A cloud of red spread out and floated down the stream as the Hyzoi literally tore him to pieces.

  The few people with a view of the scene stood, horrified. "They killed him," one woman called out. "They killed Arlin."

  An older man and woman rushed forward, but Drake stopped them and held them back. "He is the first hero," Drake said as the elderly woman burst into tears.

  "Sound the horn," Elwood commanded. A few seconds later three long blasts from the trumpet horn called snapped everybody to attention. Everybody rushed to the wall and took up positions behind catapults. It was sooner than he hoped, but Elwood couldn't afford for them all to lose courage now.

  A scout high above them on the cliff called down, "They are near the north meadow."

  Elwood nodded. "Drop the poison!" The scout blew a smaller horn.

  The last man outside the wall stood on the cliffs above the stream running down from the north meadow. He tipped a barrel of black sludge and began to run back toward the wall. The barrel cracked as it went over the short falls, and began leaking brackish gunk into the water. As the thick chemicals spread out in the stream water, it turned brown and began filtering down past the enemy army.

  Dozens of Hyzoi began moaning as the brown water splashed up on their eyes and burned their fingers and toes. They began moving out of the contaminated stream, calling back warnings to their comrades. The warning did not spread as fast as the pollution. By the time it reached the south bend, the stream diluted the caustic mess to a mere irritant.