Mykal's Second Deadly Journey

by Dave Hazel

  When they reached the two men it was clear they trembled violently. “Untie them,” Towbar shouted referring to their arms being tied to the plank. Towbar pulled the first man’s hood from his head and the sight shocked Mykal into jumping back. The man’s eyes had been gouged from his sockets. Blood stained his face and empty dark tunnels straddled the man’s nose. Part of his scalp had been cut away exposing a small piece of his skull. The bruising and swelling around his face explained the beating that occurred before, during or after the violent removal of his eyes.

  Calson’s hood had been removed to expose a similar sight, but his tongue had been cut off. Blood drooled from the sides of his mouth as he tried to mumble words of gratitude while the plank was being removed from their shoulders.

  “What the friggin hell?” Mykal yelled. He wanted to attack Sosos, but he knew they had Doninka in their possession and he knew they would kill her or torture her as well. He hoped she didn’t endure anything like these men suffered, but he knew she was in the hands of Sosos or their allies. When he realized Doninka was being held by such barbarians he wanted to break down emotionally because he was helpless to do anything for her.

  Towbar sighed and shook his head.

  ‘This is my friggin fault,’ Mykal ranted in his mind and wished he could go on a violent rampage. ‘These two men, the others who died and whatever they are doing to Doninka. It’s all my friggin fault.’ Emotionally and physically he suddenly felt ill. “We gotta do something,” Mykal said angrily. His rapid breathing expressed his anxiousness, but Towbar continued to speak to the two men. Mykal turned and waved for Sergeant Barry’s vehicle to rush to their location. “We’ll get these guys to medical help. Damn it.”

  “Lord Towbar, before you end our lives, I must explain something of great importance.”

  “Mocret, why would I end your lives?” Towbar spoke tenderly to the abused man. “Please sit my friend,” Towbar said while he and others helped the two men to the ground until the vehicle arrived.

  “We could not protect Princess Doninka and now she is in the hands of such a foul enemy,” Mocret answered. “We failed in the tasked you had assigned us to do.”

  “My friend, I know you fought valiantly for her protection, and you have paid with your very flesh. I am honored that I entrusted her care to one as loyal as you.”

  “I am sorry my Lord,” Mocret whimpered. “I did not intend to fail you my Lord,” he moaned.

  “Do not think of that my friend. We will carry you to medical doctors Mykal brought here and they will take care of you.”

  Calson mumbled incoherently and more blood drooled from his mouth. Others tried to calm him but he became more restless.

  “My Lord, Calson is trying to speak of the message we have to pass along to the King,” Mocret said. “It is of great importance. It is the only reason the Sosos allowed us to live and permitted us to leave their clutches.”

  The transport vehicle stopped and the men got out to assist the two injured men inside the vehicle. Sergeant Barry and his team looked sickened by the sight of the brutalized men. “Oh my goodness, do you want us to get them to the doctors Myk?” Barry asked.

  “Please wait until they speak of what is important,” Towbar said and ceased all the activity around them. “Mocret, please tell me the message that is of great importance.”

  “The Soso war leaders demand the King to come here to trade his life for the Princess Doninka or they will deliver her head and little pieces of her body that the King may keep as a reminder of what his cowardice enabled to happen,” Mocret said and started to moan as pain seemed to increase.

  Mykal shook violently at the mental picture of Doninka being beheaded. ‘I should have taken her back with me,’ he thought and his face twisted with the gut wrenching anxiety he experienced listening to the threat of the brutal butchers who would not hesitate to carry out their demands.

  “Lord Towbar, they plan to kill the King,” Mocret said. He couldn’t see the fearfully sad expression Towbar bore.

  Mykal noticed flies buzzing around the little caverns in both of the men’s skulls.

  “How is this trade supposed to occur?” Towbar asked. “When do they expect the King to arrive here? He is not here. The King is in Beramus and that is a eight day travel one way,” Towbar said and seemed to gasp as if the Sosos made an unrealistic demand.

  “From this day, the King has thirty-two days to present himself as a trade for Princess Doninka at the mouth of the Pass,” Mocret said. “Thirty-two days from this day is a high holy day for the Sosos. If the King does not present himself, they will sacrifice Princess Doninka on the altar to their filthy gods and then deliver her head. After the sacrifice they will commit their army, including all the forces Zizmon-Tarl will bring from the other side of the world, to take the Pass once and for all. The force we faced over the past many days is a small taste of what they will have in store for us. They will take the Pass by force if the King does not give himself over to the Sosos. The Sosos are tolerant to the idea of Locod, the King’s son, assuming the throne and then peace will rule between our great lands. Lord Towbar, they intend to kill the King.”

  “That is what I would believe their intentions to be,” Towbar said and seemed to be deep in thought.

  “When they spoke those words to us, Calson became angry and said we will never give up our King. Calson’s words became harsh and they cut out the end of his tongue,” Mocret said while flies entered the openings of his and Calson’s empty eye sockets. “Then one of the Sosos took a red hot blade and burned the inside of his mouth. One of the leaders would not allow them to kill us,” he added as one of Towbar’s soldiers waved his hands in front of their faces to shoo away the flies. “I watched as they burned his mouth and then cut his eyes out for arguing with them. Then they held me down and took my sight from me, my Lord. Lord Towbar, I believe they will sacrifice either Princess Doninka or the King to their filthy god or gods on their evil god’s high holy day.”

  “And if we don’t be careful they may sacrifice both of them on that day,” Mykal said and stared at the burn marks on Calson’s face. Calson’s lips were swelled three times their normal size. “They plan to go to war if we don’t trade, so they may try to pull a fast one and not trade so they could sacrifice both of them and then they would have to go to war when we retaliate. So they would get their desire either way.”

  “Who said that my Lord?” Mocret said and turned to the sound of Mykal’s voice but obviously couldn’t see him.

  “It is my close friend Mykal from another world.”

  “He speaks wisdom my Lord,” Mocret declared. “When Calson resisted the Sosos and they cut out his tongue I heard some of the Sosos speaking in their language that was what they intended to do. They said they would kill both the King and the Princess and they would have a great offering to their gods on their special holy day.”

  “I feared as much,” Towbar said and sighed.”

  “Towbar, let’s get them into the vehicle and take them to medical and we’ll talk on the way.”

  Mykal and Towbar watched as the rest of the men loaded the two injured men into the vehicle. “My people,” Towbar said in a commanding voice that stopped them in their tracks. “Those of you who are standing here, I am binding you to an oath of secrecy of what has been said here. If you repeat the words that have been spoken before I have made the announcement of the Soso offer then it will be your life for the violation of this vow of silence I am swearing you to. Do you understand my words?”

  “Yes Lord Towbar,” the men shouted.

  “I must try to resolve this matter without the King being made aware of what has been put forth for I fear he will lay his life down to rescue the Princess. I will not allow that while I have breath in my lungs and have exhausted every means of trying to rescue Princess Doninka. Are my words understood?” Towbar asked and it sounded like a demand.

  “Yes Lord Towbar,” the men shouted in unison.

  Mykal an
d Towbar joined the injured men in the vehicle and Sergeant Barry sped off toward the rear of the large encampment where the medical personnel were situated. Mykal heard Sergeant Barry call ahead on the radio asking for the ER to be prepped.

  “Lord Towbar, I feel I speak for both myself and Calson,” Mocret said and paused for Calson to listen to his words. “I ask that you strike us down and end our misery.”

  “No my friend,” Towbar replied and gently squeezed both of their shoulders. “Mykal’s people are far advanced in the field of medicine and they will help you to recover quickly.”

  “Can they restore our sight?” Mocret asked and listened while Calson mumbled and pointed to his mouth. “Can they restore his speech? I think we should die so as not to be a burden to others. We were great warriors who have been reduced to useless invalids,” he said and it sounded like self-pity, though who could blame him?

  “I would say give our doctors a chance to see what they can do to help you,” Mykal suggested. “They are great at what they do.”

  “May I say something here Mykal?” One of Barry’s men spoke up from the front seat.

  “Sure, sure, please do,” Mykal replied.

  “Back home in Arkansas, there is a family down the street from where I live,” Army Corporal Nelson said. “One of the kids lost his tongue. I don’t know if it had been from an injury or from a disease or sickness, but he learned to talk fine. Almost perfectly. He had to have speech therapy and he learned to talk as well as we do. I don’t know the extent of his tongue loss, and I don’t know how bad Mister Calson’s injury is, but I believe he would be able to learn to speak after our world class military doctors fix him up,” he said in an attempt to help with the defeated mood that seemed to come from the two men.

  “Thank you Corporal Nelson,” Mykal said and smiled his thanks with a wink. “I appreciate your input, and you are exactly right.”

  “We are brave warriors Lord Towbar. I can not bear to be a burden to those who would have to care for us,” Mocret said and he sounded as if he neared an emotional breakdown.

  “Can I just suggest to you,” Mykal started and paused. He tried to put himself in their shoes. He didn’t think he would want to die, even if he lost his eyesight, but he truly didn’t know. “I would ask you to allow our doctors to do what they can for you, allow the healing process to occur and then if after all is said and done you can ask Towbar to strike you down later. Cuz if you give up now and have Towbar take your life then you let those scumbag pieces of shit win. The Sosos didn’t kill you, but you are planning on finishing the job they started,” Mykal said and his voice rose with his hate filled passion. “Don’t give them low lifes the satisfaction. Stand strong and live a long productive life, though handicapped, and do it out of spite. We will help you in any way we can and I would fight against anything those rotten bastards had planned for you.

  “They didn’t kill you because they had a plan for you to come here and tell their demands,” Mykal continued and he sounded genuinely fired up. “Then because of what strong, brave warriors you men are they knew you would take your own life or have someone else do it for you. Hell with that. I would say they screwed up by not killing you when they had the chance. Now don’t let them have the last laugh, cuz we’re gonna defeat them rotten pieces of filth. We are gonna win this war,” Mykal said boldly and defiantly. “And we’re gonna rescue the Princess and protect the King. They are not gonna win.”

  Mykal’s voice rose getting the Army fire team excited by his motivating speech. Quietly they grunted, “Hooah, hooah!” They pumped their fists in agreement.

  “I promise you, we will destroy them and whatever they think they’re gonna do to us,” he declared angrily. “You don’t have any idea what type of weapons we have to use against them. Survive long enough to outlive those who did this to you so you can symbolically laugh on their graves. They don’t have the right to take your life so don’t give in to them. Agreed? Agreed?” He yelled at the two men.

  “Yes. Yes! Yes Mykal. You are right,” Mocret shouted and Calson stomped his foot on the floor of the transport vehicle.

  Towbar smiled at Mykal and nodded his approval. “Thank you my friend.”

  2.

  “Do you think those guys are gonna be alright?” Roy Jr. asked when Mykal and Towbar explained what happened. The four of them walked through the mass of military bodies that were moving about and setting up a new camp area for the new arrivals. The military size of Mykal’s people would be more than double so accommodations had to be made.

  “I hope so. I hate those friggin Sosos,” Mykal snarled. Inside he was seething over what they could possibly be doing to Doninka. Part of his anger was directed at himself for not taking better care of the girl. He didn’t want to admit it, but deep inside he knew his feelings for Doninka were much stronger than he thought. ‘But I’m not gonna cheat on Pam. What the hell is going on in my head?’ He wondered and looked down at the magic ring on his middle finger. It seemed his emotions had gone hay wire since he found the magic ring.

  “What do you think we could do to get the girl back?” Randy asked.

  “I don’t have a clue,” Mykal sighed dejectedly though he truly meant the pep talk he gave to Mocret and Calson a little while ago. “We don’t know where she could be, but we need to find her before February 7th.”

  “What’s going on February 7th?” Roy Jr. asked.

  “The Sosos told the two guys we brought back that on that day, thirty-two days from today, which is some kind of High Holy Day for their god or gods or something, but they said if the King didn’t turn himself over on that day they would sacrifice Doninka and bring her head to the Pass.”

  “Dang man, that’s messed up,” Randy said and shook his head.

  “But we kinda think if the King does turn himself over they will try to kill both of them,” Mykal explained their concern. “And if he doesn’t turn himself over they are gonna take the Pass by throwing everything they have at the Pass which they said would be far more than what they did during the past week.”

  “My worry is allowing the King to know what they demanded,” Towbar said. “I am fearful he would give up his life to save his daughter. He knows his son Locod would assume the throne, however I truly believe Locod is in league with the leaders of the Soso nations. The King, nevertheless, does not know that. As Mykal said, we must find Doninka. That is if she is still alive,” Towbar added and it looked as if those words pained him. Towbar rarely expressed such emotions.

  “You know, if worse comes to worst and the Sosos do keep her alive to bring her here in order to swap her for the King, then I would say we can just wait it out,” Mykal said. “We would be able to line the mouth of the Pass with all our military, have the expert sharp shooters focus on all those near the supposed swap location, and wipe the hell outta them. But we need to try to find her before we get close to that date. I’m afraid of what they may do to her in the meantime. They may kill her despite what they say and when the King presents himself then they would be able to make an attempt on his life. If they succeed then they would have killed both of them. Yes, we need to get her before that date.”

  “My friend, I must go inform some of my generals what we have learned,” Towbar said. “I will join you shortly so we may put a plan together.”

  “Hurry up and find me when you get done, cuz I’m gonna take up some helicopters and fly over their land. When you get done, meet me over at Major Chick’s tent.”

  “I will do that.”

  “Wow Myk, this really is a tricky situation,” Roy Jr. said. “You just let me know what you want us to do Myk. Me and Randy are with you all the way and we will do anything for you. We came here to kill Sosos and to help you.”

  “Thanks guys. You don’t know how much that means to me. But hey,” Mykal changed direction on the conversation. “How was that Colonel Fisher when you guys drove to the Pass?”

  “He wasn’t that bad Myk,” Randy answered. “Maybe he wa
s nice to us cuz we’re civilians and he knows we know we don’t have to take any crap from him, but he really was a pretty decent guy.”

  “Good.”

  “He seemed like he was kinda a hard ass on the military people,” Roy Jr. said. “He made it clear he ain’t gonna take no stuff from military people, that’s for sure.”

  “Me and him didn’t really hit it off too well. Maybe it was just the timing. I’ll have to give him another chance, but if we don’t see eye to eye it’s gonna be difficult because he is gonna be the ranking officer here.”

  Captain Diaz and Ski approached the three of them. “Hey Myk,” Ski called to him.

  “Hey guys, oh man Captain Diaz, you don’t even look like you were ever injured,” Mykal said with a smile of amazement. Captain Diaz had been walking with a limp during the last battle and now his limp was gone. Diaz still carried a cane that was needed days ago.

  “I told you Myk, God healed me,” Diaz said and lifted his wooden cane. “And this, I don’t even need this but I carry it for show.”

  “Mykal, I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am again that you brought me back here,” Ski said.

  “Well, I really didn’t bring you back, cuz that Percy guy almost stopped it, but thanks to that three star general, General Ackerson, he put Percy in his place. Which I’m glad, cuz I didn’t wanna break my word to you.”

  “Well, I just want to thank you. I know it was God who brought me here, and I want to thank you for your part.”

  “No problem, but since you two are Christians, I would like to ask a serious favor of you. I want you to pray to God about Doninka,” Mykal asked and then relayed everything that unfolded.

  “Oh, is that the girl you spoke of when we first returned?” Ski queried. “I remember as soon as we returned to the real world you said at first you thought the dragons were looking for you. But they weren’t, you concluded you thought they were actually looking for her. Am I correct?” Ski asked.