The Serpent and the Crown

by Sam Puma

  Jankaro pulled the ladder up and threw it over his shoulder.

  From the corner of his eye he saw Cruxai on the wall, engaging the Galdeans in hand to hand combat. “Almost time to call the retreat,” said Janesa. Fear came over Jankaro when he realized he might never see the sun rise again.

  Gondaro’s grunts and roars raged on until he dragged Agustin down to the earth, shaking the ground and prompting Jorobai to lift his head out of the dirt. “Jorobai, you did it.”

  Kayo put his hand to Jorobai’s arm and helped him to his feet. Jorobai was surprised that Kayo survived the battle as he looked up to see Gondaro wiggling his head from side to side, pulling out Agustin’s entrails. Agustin gurgled his last breath and his head dropped.

  Jorobai’s ribs ached, but he felt the rush of victory through the pain. He leaned on Kayo, who led him to Gondaro. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Wouldn’t have been a bad way to go. I might have lived forever in a song.”

  Kayo turned and smiled. “I dragged my dagger all the way down the back of his leg and to the ground. I don’t think he felt it through that thick skin. I thought you were dead too, but I got clear of him, looked back, and saw something was wrong with his eye. I always knew you had it in you Jorobai. Oh no…”

  “What?”

  “He’s eating him.” Kayo picked up the pace. “We can’t let him do that.”

  “That’s how he got so huge. He was the size of a normal Ashtari before he ate Jugon Drogon.”

  “Jugon Drogon? You must tell me that tale on our way back to Olaya. But right now we must say goodbye to your friend.” Kayo pulled a finely crafted steel sword from its sheath by his side.

  Jorobai was drawn to the weapon. He knew it must have been made by the same civilization as the knife that he carried. As Kayo strode forward with the weapon, Jorobai stopped him. “What are you doing? You can’t kill him! He saved us from that monster. We can ride him back and kill all those other monsters that are attacking Jankaro and his people.”

  “Soon after he eats that flesh, he will become ten times the monster. You wouldn’t recognize him any more. He would kill you and eat you without a thought.”

  The wind carried a waft of the foul stench of Agustin’s entrails. Kayo and Jorobai’s argument was interrupted by involuntary fits of coughing and gagging. Kayo handed Jorobai a cloth to cover his mouth and nose after he covered his own. “He will eat that flesh, and he will grow to twice his size or more. He will ravage the earth, devouring all life. We must kill him now while we have the chance.”

  “But he ate Jugon Drogon and he didn’t…” Jorobai felt the power fading from his argument as he looked into the cold resolve in Kayo’s eyes. He remembered the innocence of the little cub chasing crabs on the beach, but deep down he knew what needed to be done. He had seen the changes after Gondaro ate Jugon Drogon. He had a thirst for violence and death, and Jorobai knew he just happened to be along for the ride because of their bond. He didn’t want to be the father of the beast that destroyed the world.

  “I’ll do it.” He corralled his emotions, solidified his resolve, and extended his open palms to receive the sword.

  Kayo nodded. “Do it quickly.” He passed him the sword and gently placed his hands on Jorobai’s skull. “Here,” he said, pushing his thumbs into a dimple on top of Jorobai’s head. “Put the sword here, with all of your strength.”

  Jorobai nodded his understanding. Kayo secured the cloth tight around the back of Jorobai’s head. He pulled a small vial from his belt, dabbed a drop on his finger, and touched the tip of Jorobai’s nose through the cloth, leaving a trace of scented oil. Jorobai inhaled a strong, pleasant, mint smell that masked the stench of Agustin’s entrails. “Go.” Kayo backed away, leaving Jorobai to the task.

  Gondaro jerked his head up when Jorobai started to climb up. “It’s just me, your old friend Jorobai.”

  Gondaro grunted a response, then lowered his mouth back down into Agustin’s gut. Jorobai crept slowly to the top of his head. The stench pierced through the cloth and he gagged. He nearly vomited but held it back. His head was dizzy, and he nearly fell forward into the muck.

  “Sagaya, help me.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he held the sword high. He imagined reuniting with his son. He imagined them on a canoe, on the river by the village. He stood tall, lifted the sword high, and with all the force he could summon, he plunged it through Gondaro’s skull in the exact spot that Kayo indicated.

  He jumped off and broke his fall with his knees and hands as Gondaro bellowed in pain and sprang to his feet. He staggered, confused, bellowing with pain. Kayo ran over and pulled Jorobai to his feet. “Come on, get out of the way!” He took Jorobai by the arm and they ran away.

  Gondaro reared up, spun, and clawed at the earth. A painful, growling cry struck the sky like thunder, but Jorobai heard the pain of a child whose life had only lasted a few months. “Gondaro!” He cried back. “May your spirit rest in the arms of Sagaya.”

  Gondaro staggered and collapsed on his side, shaking the earth.

  “May his spirit rest. My father will guide his spirit safely to the other side.”

  “Ishikaya?”

  “Ishikaya.”

  Jorobai marveled at the power of the shaman, and hoped to never need it again, as Kayo led him away from the rotting flesh of the fallen gargantuans.

  The Cruxai took control of the outermost sections of the wall and squeezed the Galdeans in the middle. They set up larger ladders for the Jurugas to climb. Many of them climbed down the other side and took fire from the last remaining Galdean reserves, posted inside the castle and on top of the arena, barracks, and other buildings of upper Calixo. The Galdean civilians on the wall fell or retreated. Some of the soldiers decided it was the best place to make their final stand. “It’s time for me to go,” said Janesa as she shouldered her bow.

  Jankaro was confused. Oranos hadn’t called for a retreat yet. “I will fall back to the castle and cover you as you make your way to Ixtlayo,” she said as she lowered herself down the rope. Jankaro kept slicing through the Cruxai coming up the ladder as she disappeared behind him. “Count to thirty and I will be in position.”

  Jankaro started counting as he hacked through the Cruxai coming up the ladder. “Curse you, filth!” Orion roared, off to his right. Oranos made quick work of any Cruxai within his reach, but he could only cover a tiny fraction of the wall that extended across the bottom tip of the peninsula. All across the wall, the Galdeans were falling back. The Cruxai squeezed the last of them in around Oranos.

  “Fall back!” The king cried out. He covered the retreat of his people as he sliced angrily through the Cruxai that challenged him, taking an occasional arrow in the process. He didn’t seem to feel any pain from the wounds, but the pain of losing his people fueled the battle fury that kept him going through the fight. Jankaro lowered himself down a rope and headed for the arena. Orion and the others made their way toward the castle or the barracks. Oranos howled with rage as he held his place on the wall. The Jurugas stepped through their own ranks to engage him. Janesa fired on the Cruxai who got close to Jankaro as he fought his way to the arena, occasionally firing on the wall to aid Oranos in his final stand.

  Many of the Cruxai didn’t know what to do. There were no more walls to climb. They made it to the back of the city and claimed the docks, then turned back around to look for someone to fight. A few thousand of the Galdean militia remained, but their numbers were dropping rapidly as they fled to the castle and rooftops to make their final stand.

  About fifty soldiers remained. Most of them stuck with Orion and carved their way back to the castle. They fought off the advancing Cruxai as the militia ran inside. A few of them stayed close to Oranos as he surrendered the wall. Another wave of cheers and battle cries erupted among the Cruxai. The horde had lost a third of its ranks but still seemed infinite compared to the battere
d Galdeans trying to catch their breath and make a final stand.

  Maximus caught up with Jankaro as he reached the entrance to the arena. Janesa shot the nearby Cruxai as the two of them pushed the heavy wooden doors shut. “This won’t hold for long,” said Maximus as they barred the door. “But they might just ignore us as they concentrate on the castle. I don’t think they know that Ixtlayo is here.”

  Jankaro’s face crinkled with pain as he trotted over to Ixtlayo. He found the Ashtari lying down in the middle of the arena, breathing but unconscious. “Where’s Franco?” He looked around, but Franco was nowhere to be found. “Curse him. He said he would look after Ixtlayo.”

  “He must be needed elsewhere,” said Maximus as he joined Jankaro by Ixtlayo’s side.

  Jankaro reached out and caressed Ixtlayo’s face. “He can’t fight any more. Are there any arrows here?” Jankaro pointed to the top of the arena. “We should get up there and fire down on them.”

  “We have a few barrels up there,” said Maximus. He exchanged a knowing look with Jankaro. A look that conveyed that they were about to make their final stand and death awaited. As they took their first steps toward the stairs, the door shook. “They’re trying to get in here! I will take the wall and cover you. Use the juzi stick and squeeze the last ounce of fight out of Ixtlayo! Only other choice is to fight them alone until they kill us all. We must use him!”

  “I know!” Jankaro shouted. He hated how they saw Ixtlayo as a weapon to be used, but he couldn’t ignore that the situation called for it.

  “They’re coming!” Maximus shouted over the banging on the door and ran for the stairs and up the wall. Jankaro readied the juzi stick next to Ixtlayo’s face as he noticed a pile of arrows next to Ixtlayo. Next to the arrows were two spears. Jankaro surveyed Ixtlayo’s body and saw that all the arrows had been removed and all his wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, including a heavy wrap around his front paw where it had been coming apart. Franco had done his work quickly and left to rejoin the fight. Maximus reached the top of the wall and fired down on the Cruxai that battered the arena door. Jankaro knocked an arrow and held his breath as the door collapsed.

  After they crested a hill and put the carnage behind them, Kayo stopped. “We are a long way from Calixo, and you are in no condition to run.” Kayo pulled an item from a pouch on his belt. It was the size of a fist, spherical with a rough surface. He rubbed it between his hands, releasing a strong herbal scent. Jorobai groaned as the nausea came on. He was tempted to protest, having grown weary of exposure to shamanic concoctions, but he was in too deep, and knew he needed to trust Kayo to help him reunite with Jankaro before the horde of mongrels destroyed him.

  “Starfoot!” Kayo cried out as he hurled the clump into the air as high as he could. Jorobai turned away from the scent and coughed. After a moment of silence, they heard hoofbeats in the distance. “Here he comes.”

  The horse arrived and Kayo mounted. He lent his hand to help the battle-weary Jorobai into the saddle behind him. He held tight to Kayo’s waist as he spurred the horse forward.

  After an hour passed, Jorobai observed bright spots in the distance become clearer as they came closer. “Who…?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Kayo. “They’re with me.” Jorobai noticed the figures of five hundred men and one hundred horses. The horses were tethered to large carts carrying barrels full of arrows.

  Kayo greeted the men. “The giant is dead! Move out!” The men responded with war cries and climbed onto the carts. Kayo led the way as they rolled along at a much slower pace.

  “We had to wait on our ambush until you killed Agustin. If he lived, he would have returned to Calixo and killed us all. But now that he is dead, this militia that I recruited from the jungle can join in the fight, and surprise the Cruxai from behind!”

  Jorobai surveyed the men in the carts. It was difficult to make out their features with his newly acquired night vision.

  “There are a few men from Olaya among them,” said Kayo as Jorobai turned and squinted back at them, trying in vain to identify his tribesmen. “The rest of them are from different tribes of the jungle. A few of them are Galdean soldiers who escaped the slaughter at Caladon a few days ago.”

  “How do you…”

  “I recruited all of them personally over the past few days, with my father’s help. He communicated with other shamans in the spirit realm. When I arrived in their villages, they knew I was coming and had their warriors ready to join me. They understood that the jungle would be the next place the Cruxai horde would reap destruction. They understood the opportunity to ambush them tonight.

  “It was difficult to convince anyone in Olaya. Your village does not have a shaman. A few of them believed out of hope that they could get their revenge. Their women, who came from other tribes, saw their brothers among the warriors that I had gathered, and validated the quest.”

  “Which ones are from Olaya?” Jorobai squinted into the glowing shapes behind him but couldn’t make out their faces.

  “Ronaldo, Felix and Coracho.”

  “Those men are hunters, but we are not a warring tribe.”

  “They professed great proficiency with their bows.”

  “It’s true. I have hunted with all of them.”

  “And you? How is your aim?”

  “My aim is true. Tonight we kill all the Cruxai.”

  Some of the Galdeans took to the rooftops of the barracks and other structures, but most fled to the castle. The soldiers fought off the Cruxai as the militia poured in. Under the cover of arrow fire from above, the soldiers entered the castle with Oranos bringing up the rear. He took an awkward fall as he tried to fight and back through the door, tripping on one of his own soldiers and falling on him.

  A Juruga thrust his sword into Oranos’ calf and pushed his way into the castle. Ten soldiers, including Orion, attacked the Juruga as it swung down on Oranos. Oranos groaned and tumbled out of the way. He limped to the throne at the back of the great hall while his soldiers overwhelmed the Juruga. As they made their killing blows, other Cruxai raced through the entrance and slipped around to engage them from behind.

  “Get upstairs!” Oranos cried out.

  “But you can’t…” Orion grunted his resistance to the command as he battled the incoming Cruxai.

  “Damnit! Obey me now!” Oranos roared as he sliced a charging Cruxai in half. “Get up the stairs and attack them from above. Let them come to me!”

  The king was too large to make it through the hall that led up to the higher levels of the castle. The time had come for Oranos to make his final stand. “Orion, we talked about this!”

  “Up!” Orion growled to the remaining soldiers. In spite of their desire to die by their king’s side, they knew they could destroy more Cruxai and have a slightly better chance at victory if they went along with his plan. They fought their way out of the stream of Cruxai coming through the door and made their way up the stairs. Some of the Cruxai followed them, but most charged Oranos, hungry for the chance to destroy the Galdean king.

  Janesa fired down from the balcony that encircled the main hall. She kept her pace in spite of the screaming pain in her elbows and wrists. Her heart ached as she saw her king’s end draw near. Without losing a beat of her assault, she kicked a small packet of juzi stick attached to her bow, releasing the powder up into her face. To her, it was a refined dose of a substance she had grown accustomed to. It erased her pain and she growled curses at the Cruxai as she picked up the pace of her assault, firing arrows through the eyes of Jurugas whenever the opportunity presented itself. Every shot served the purpose of protecting the king and enabling him to destroy as many as he could before he fell.

  The other soldiers joined Janesa on the balcony, picking up bows and using buckets of arrows that were waiting for them. The floor of the hall quickly turned into a pile of dead Cruxai, but they kept coming, climbing ov
er their fallen kin to get to the king.

  The Jurugas called out commands, and soon the common Cruxai were racing up the stairs en masse while the Jurugas and hairies charged Oranos. “Protect the king!” Orion hurled a heavy spear into the face of a hairy that tried to flank Oranos. Many of the other soldiers took Janesa’s lead by cracking Juzi sticks stashed around the balcony. The Cruxai coming up the stairs forced many of them to turn away from protecting Oranos to protect themselves.

  Janesa noticed Oranos’ energy sagging as Jurugas filled the main hall. She took an arrow with a pouch of juzi instead of an arrowhead and fired it into Oranos’s shoulder. The pouch exploded near his face and the king immediately perked up and his next attack shattered the shield of the Juruga in front of him.

  In spite of the burst of energy from the Galdeans, the Cruxai showed no signs of relenting. Jurugas and hairies converged around Oranos as his cover fire dwindled. A lump formed in Janesa’s throat when she noticed that the king wasn’t landing any killing blows. He was spending all his energy defending himself from attacks from all sides. A close call from a fierce swing by a Juruga’s sword sent the crown flying from the king’s head. Janesa sank three arrows into the offender’s face, but still the king could only parry.

  A soldier in heavy armor ran into the chamber from a back door behind Oranos. A chill ran down Janesa’s spine when she identified his armor and the ram’s horns on his helm. “Titus,” she gasped, losing a shot as she momentarily lost her concentration. He screamed a war cry and charged a Juruga from the rear, thrusting his sword through its back and out the front of its belly. As he pulled his blade free, the Juruga spun around, only to be met by the same sword sweeping up high and cutting his throat.

  “My son!” The king bellowed as Titus dodged the falling Juruga and stood at his father’s side. The Cruxai paused for a moment, confused to see Titus again.

  “Titus!” Battle cries erupted from around the balcony. Five soldiers popped an extra pouch of juzi stick and leapt off the balcony. Their falls were broken by piles of dead Cruxai, and the pain in their fractured ankles was masked by the burst of energy from the juzi stick.