by CJ East
“Her skills? What do you mean? Every man on this field wants to pierce my body with metal. I was trained to kill, I was born to kill. These are my skills.”
“Perhaps. You must keep your combat training, but did your grandfather teach you anger, vengeance and fury? Lamia’s skills are dark and deadly. She will amplify your wrath until you lose your way. Remember your combat training, but also remember goodness, temperance, peace and love.”
Lucius had heard this from Amica many times, it was part of the Holy Fruit from the Tree of Righteousness. The Lord had said to love those who tried to kill you. Lucius could never understand it, though Amica embraced The Way.
Kinch stood alone on the field. He watched as the Damned formed the ranks of a company and said, “Amica, thank you, but I’m not coming back, this is how I chose to die. Do not bring my curse upon your house. I brought Lucius to you. I am indebted no longer.”
Kinch strode towards the Damned, through the wreckage of bodies and tools of war from the ruined company. Lucius heard the music intensify. He felt Kinch concentrating on the music and searching through memorized writings. Lucius understood what he was doing, crowding his mind so Lamia could not break through.
Lucius gripped the edge of the city wall. He felt Amica’s hand land on his with urgency and a desperate strength, “Remain and pray for him Lucius. Protect him from his own consuming fire.”
Lucius focused on his link to Kinch. He could hear the chorus of voices chanting of the coming wrath of God, a righteous sword cutting down sinners with an absence of mercy. It chilled him with the image of a hard, judging God condemning His children with fire and eternal torment. It was an alien and harsh God.
Kinch sprinted towards a group of three soldiers assembling to block him from the company. Lucius felt the cold blunt force of the Damned press against Kinch as he leapt into the air, his staffing pulling behind him. Kinch swung the staff across sending shields, helmets and swords flying into the air amid crumbling bodies. He landed and banked left, flanking to the back of the pivoting company of Damned.
A force as heavy as a rock fell upon Lucius as he saw Kinch buckle under the weight of Lamia’s attack. It was passionate and burned with heat, much like the energy coming from Kinch. Lucius felt Kinch searching for strength. Lucius concentrated on the walk to the market where they had laughed. He skipped to the joy felt when Kinch had told him his vows were fulfilled.
Kinch staggered forward under waves of Lamia’s onslaught. He dug his bar into the ground and leaned on it to support his weight. Lucius felt him clawing through memories for a shield or strength from her attack. Lucius then felt Kinch’s words pulse through his body like an explosive ring:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Lucius heard Amica, both her inner and outer voice, rise in triumphant prayer. Kinch jolted upright as if broken from bonds. He cut diagonally to the left, leaping around the Damned and looping to the back line - the location of the Dux. The symphony in Kinch’s boomed with layers of complexity.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
Lucius felt a spike of passion as Kinch located the Dux. He watched as his loop closed and he headed straight for the back line. He swung his staff low, smashing the legs of four soldiers. He spun, twisting his shoulders in front of the bar, then stroking it through for a second loop into the midsections of the second line.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Lucius was washed away in a current more powerful than he had ever felt. It was more powerful than Pythia or even Amica. The competing combination of the battle - Kinch, the Damned, Lamia and Amica. All were creating a whirlwind of spirit energy unseen, swirling and churning to the manic symphony of drums and voices. He was tossed like a buoy on the ocean.
Lucius gripped Amica’s hand in terror as he felt his mind lift into the air and be sucked into a swirling vortex around Kinch. His brother was now the eye of the storm.
His inner vision swirled around the battle. Kinch's iron bar smashing down hard onto a soldier’s neck, knocking him broken to the ground. Kinch flipped and brought down his staff to crush another solider, revealing the glaring Dux.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Lucius began to feel sick as he started a dizzying swirl around Kinch and the Dux. He tried to focus but was powerless as a leaf in a storm. He saw the Dux strike at Kinch, his sword missing its mark. Kinch lunged and rolled to the ground. The soldiers ran around him in a ring and looking to run their swords through his back. Kinch hopped to his feet and swung hard at the Dux. The commander sprung back avoiding the arc of death. A wall of hot anger pulsed from Kinch.
The strange music and words disoriented Lucius, the force of Kinch’s furor was like riding a landslide. He felt himself spinning high into the chanting vortex of his storm. Lucius had lost all orientation now, he could only catch glimpses of events. He felt the battle fury of Kinch crashing his way through walls of soldiers protecting the retreating Dux.
He heard the repeating prayers of Amica, “Goodness, temperance, peace and love. Goodness, temperance, peace and love.” He heard Lamia laughing as she sent waves of hatred and rage into the building vortex. Latin voices of an alien choir in Kinch’s mind sang out warnings. They described the Day of Judgment for sinners before a wrathful God’s throne and the burning of the world to ash.
The Dux tripped over a dead soldier and fell. The bloody visage of Kinch hacked his way through the last line of Damned. Lucius saw Kinch give a final swing of the staff around his head, clearing a circle containing the unprotected Dux. Lucius felt the nausea of vertigo clench his throat. Kinch bounced forward and stood over the Dux, murder in his eyes.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.
Lucius fell to his knees and felt a sudden pain in his face. Kinch crushed the staff into the Dux’s head. It exploded with a sickening pop causing shrieks of insane terror from the Damned.
Lucius vomited as the mental bridge ripped from his mind. He felt his real body being pulled up. His mind was separated, still in the storm, he couldn’t join his body. A stinging pain smacked his face. He focused on opening his eyes. He saw a golden warrior, Taurean.
“Boy, you hit the wall hard. Are you OK?” Taurean asked.
Lucius rocked forward. Disoriented. He looked back at Amica still gripping his hand and reciting the words in desperation, “Goodness, temperance, peace and love.” Lucius turned back to Taurean. He searched his face and whispered, “He needs your help. He has lost his way.”
Taurean looked to the field where Kinch was chasing after a scattering group of Damned. He muttered as unbelieving, “No.”
He turned to his men who were staring at him, evaluating his movements. He stole a glance at Lamia, her arms now raised as she chanted with closed eyes and smiling, wicked lips. He let go of Lucius and turned to the men, hundreds of them studying him.
Taurean shouted to his men, “The badger cub has set the Damned on their heels. We send them back to Bastarnae! Give me first four attack companies - gate formation, two right, two left! Will you let a boy steal your battle glory, you life-loving old maids?”
A roar of ten thousand voices rang from the walls. The Golden Soldiers of Arx sprinted down the wall stairs and assembled into formation. Lucius rocked against the rampart and pushed himself up. He heard Amica’s gentle plea, “Lucius, stay.”
He broke Amica’s grip and stumbled to the stairs regaining his senses. He met Argus on the bottom stairs and turned to the opening gates. He sprinted past the guards and ran out to the center of the field calling Kinch’s name.
Kinch paused and drove his iron rod into the soil placing a blood-soaked hand on his knee as he bent to catch his breath. Lucius s
aw him raise his head from a distance, Kinch’s face stained red, a large gash in his leg. Lucius called again as he ran, “Wait, stop! They are coming!”
Kinch studied him. He connected with Lucius in a sudden mental bridge that was like the rushing of a great wind, “Go back, Lucius. Your duty is with the family.” Kinch severed the link and looked back to the Damned. They were forming together in the third and fourth companies. They were marching around his flanks and surrounding him in a huge open-ended box. Kinch’s face hardened like a fist. Lucius ran faster and yelled out again, “No! Run to us! Wait for us!”
Kinch vaulted forward and attacked the thickest section of the company where the Dux was commanding. The company contracted the box and Kinch was swallowed in a sea of Damned.
Lucius screamed, “No! Argus, attack!”
Argus bolted away from Lucius and rammed into the battle, disappearing after Kinch. Lucius looked back to the wall as he ran. Soldiers where double-timing in formation out of the gate and assembling into companies. He turned back to the Damned, lowered his head and leaned into the battle.
PART SEVEN
Homage
Amica closed her eyes exploring the rage pulsing from the battlefield below. She could sense the first Duobus, he was close, just inside the Wilds. She understood his concern - his fear. He knew Kinch had nothing to lose and was dangerous.
The second Duobus was advancing to combine the Damned forces. He would form a single fist to punch through the Small Gate. The Damned would use Kinch to draw out the soldiers of Arx. The Damned were not retreating. They were advancing.
She blinked her eyes open and focused on the battlefield. Kinch stood alone in the center of the huge ring of Damned soldiers. He moved with a fluidity of rushing water. Hundreds of Damned lay crushed behind him. She could not communicate with him, only sense his rage. His defenses were so complete he was completely isolated from even her telepathy. He was the one.
Amica reached out to Justinius the Magistrate and formed a psychic bridge. “Justinius, you will want to witness this. It is as I told you, the prophecies are fulfilled. The day has come upon us, and our time of choosing is at hand.”
“Does the boy understand?” Justinius asked.
“No, but he fights like the Right Hand himself. The unfolding has begun. Will you not bring the Elders?”
Justinius held a thoughtful pause. “Does she know?”
Amica peeked at Lamia ten feet away. Lamia caught her gaze and returned a wicked smile. Lamia was combining her energy with the strength of the two Duobus.
“Yes, she knows. She will not let him live.”
“Then time is against us. We will make all the haste our aged legs will allow.” Justinius broke the connection.
Amica grasped the ledge of the rampart before her. Time is indeed our enemy.
She pictured Taurean’s face. A familiar face she had not made a connection with in 16 years. The link was easy to reconnect.
“Taurean, you must slow down the battle.”
“We strike soon. The badger cub has them on their heels.”
“It is a trap, their forces consolidate to the Small Gate. They draw you out. You must trust me, please.”
Taurean softened, “You will owe me a small favor. You will call upon you?”
There was a long pause as Amica wrestled with old memories and a complicated future.
The four Auri companies snapped into formation outside the Small Gate. Taurean strode down the middle column with purpose and military bearing. He performed an about face to inspect the troops. Taurean stole a slow, valiant stare up to Amica.
Her tone was terse. “You will slow down the battle because you are a Man of The Way.” There was another long pause. “And it will be as you ask.”
Taurean gave an almost imperceptible nod and flashed to his troops. “Do you wish to live forever?” His voice roared through them and echoed against the High Walls of Arx. “Your actions this day will be remembered for generations! Fight this day as you should have lived your whole life - with boldness and courage! To battle!”
He ripped his sword from its scabbard and held it high with a yell. The men echoed him with a menacing roar. He spun with a ferocious intensity. The Golden Army dashed toward the Damned.
Lucius heard the war cry of the Auri as his first swing came down upon the back of a Damned. The sword bit through the man’s shoulder cleaving down to his abdomen. Lucius tore his sword from the soldier’s back. He thrust it into the back of another. They were trying to get to Kinch.
Lucius killed in clean, well-placed strokes. Rows of soldiers stood between he and Kinch. It would be impossible for Lucius to break through. The Auri clashed past Lucius and through the lines. They passed through the Damned, two - now three rows deep. The Damned reacted with panic to discover they were under attack.
The reversing tide of combat pushed a confused wave of Damned back. They ran for the safety of the Wilds. The Auri soldiers pursued, hacking them down as they retreated.
Kinch felt the pressure of his fighting circle puncture behind him. He spun and struck down the four soldiers sprinting at him with one harsh blow of his iron rod. Behind the fallen soldiers more soldiers charged wildly into his boundary. He swung back the opposite way striking down those Damned as well.
The Damned rushed upon him still. Yet their swords were not held high, there was no blazing in their eyes. Only fear. They were fleeing past him.
He swung heavy, crushing blows like a bear standing in the midst of migrating salmon. The Damned were mindful only of the danger behind them. They climbed the pile of their own dead without regard of what caused the pile to be made.
When the first Golden Warriors streaked past him in pursuit, Kinch understood. He had to pull a stroke to spare the head of one enthusiastic Auri. The order to “hold position” relayed loud through the line.
Kinch plunged his bevel-tipped bar deep into the Martian soil. One voice boomed over all others. Taurean prowled the front line, pacing and barking orders. “Form ranks. Transport the dead and dying”.
Taurean turned his attention with a dauntless ease expected in a man who sent men to their peril. His full, black eyes twinkling a fearless amusement. He surmised Kinch with an expert eye. “You are losing much blood from the thigh wound, boy.”
Kinch followed his gaze to the long tear in his jumpsuit. It was stained red from his thigh to his bare foot. Kinch felt light-headed. He turned to the Damned, the last stragglers being brought down by Argus as they sprinted for the Wilds. The music in his head faded away and an unnatural emptiness surrounded him.
Kinch looked hard upon him. He was angry toward the soldiers. “This is my battlefield. To join it you give homage.”
Taurean eyed the blood soaked boy with an understanding approval. “And well you have earned this field. I see more than 200 dead. Yet thousands more amass behind you as we speak. Tens of thousands more travel to join them.”
Kinch was unmoved by these facts. Taurean turned to his troops forming four wide companies in the red glen of Arx behind him. His men could not hear his words.
“I have promised on my honor to delay this battle. Amica wishes you to live until dusk, whereat you may re-enter the gates. This can be done if we fight inside the tree line of the Wilds and own the area from the Small Gate to the cavern wall. The Damned can only attack from the front and right.”
Kinch felt a rhythm of thought pulsing from the Damned. Their preparations were almost ready. He pressed hard on his temple and spoke in a soft cadence. “I will not have the lives of four hundred men put at risk for a defensive position. We attack. Follow me with three companies, pitch and fire to burn the siege machines hidden inside the Wilds.”
Kinch looked to the catapults on the high walls. “Send word to Arx. Burn a strip of the Wilds with your catapults from this line to the depth of the Wilds. Leave a company behind to stand in the gap between the burning Wilds and the wall. Order all archers to this end of the wall to support your c
ompany. The fire, your company, and the archers will cut off reinforcements. I will kill the Duobus. Then your men may find the victory worth risking their lives.”
Taurean’s face could not hide his amazement. The boy had planned the battle as if it was already won - and it could be! The commander gazed down the long walls of Arx. He spun on his heels calling for his second in command.
Kinch closed his eyes again as Taurean relayed the instructions. A gray outline of the tree line came into focus. Were the images coming through his closed eyelids? Was this some kind of second-sight? Shades of dark gray moved deep in the Wilds as soldiers readied themselves for attack. Pulses of energy generated from dark forms moving through the shades. He could see their dark thoughts.
Taurean finished with his officer and watched the boy with curiosity. He appeared to be in a trance. Had the Duobus taken him?
Kinch spoke to the commander with a muddled excitement. “I can see them, I can see their thoughts.”
“The soldiers?”
“All of them. I require twenty of your best fighters to break through their line. I can find and kill the Duobus.”
Taurean’s eyes widened. “Surely I have not met a boy of your abilities. Is Amica correct? Are you are the One foretold?”
Anger swept over Kinch. “Commander, you may wait for someone to deliver you from this army or you may deliver yourself. I harbor no love for your people, but the Duobus I hate. He entered my mind and broke my will. This day will be his last.”
Lucius appeared behind Taurean. “The boy who stands before you is the One who will refresh our dry land with blood. I have seen his power grow in this one day to match even Amica.”
Kinch gripped his staff in anger. “Lucius, I paid for your passage inside the gates and you refuse?”
“I see now our place is here.” He motioned to the aloof Argus standing in the column between the Auri.
Kinch thrust the iron bar into the ground and twisted it. “So be it. You stay near me.” A dark threat pressed upon his mind. “Archers crouch at the tree line. We need your shields to charge the line”