by Dave Hazel
“If they weren’t so hostile,” Mykal said with a smile. “And if we wouldn’t have killed so many of them. I would like to see if we could talk to them. I wonder if they are in league with Ziggy Stardust,” he said and they all knew he meant Zizmon-Tarl.
Mykal heard a one word command, though it was faint due to the distance. He was sure Towbar and the Elves with their advanced hearing heard it also. He realized it was a command to open fire on them. Instantly eight arrows the size of long spears rained down on them with about thirty very large rocks weighing fifty to one hundred pounds each. Before the men realized they had come under attack three men were killed.
Sergeant Montana of the 82nd Airborne was talking with two others while he pointed to the castle. An arrow with the shaft of four inches in diameter slammed into his chest punching a hole at least four inches in diameter. The force of the strike lifted him off the ground and drove him into the dirt since the large arrows were fired on a downward angle from the corner guard towers. The nine foot spear like arrow pinned Montana to the ground. Montana had been killed instantly. Three other spears hit the same area suggesting all four giant arrows were fired from the same weapon.
Four more spear-like arrows drove into the ground near the rear of their formation revealing they were fired from the guard tower built into the hill. The second volley of four spear-like arrows came close to hitting Marines Corporal Renner and Private First Class Jenkins. The eight arrows didn’t have large fancy arrowheads but had twelve inch metal heads that formed into a fine point.
The two others who had been killed were killed by flying boulders, a crude mortar fire, fired from behind the castle walls. The two men were Marine Private First Class Whorton whose head was ripped off by the flying rock, and the Dwarf named Grimace. Half of Grimace’s body was crushed by the largest boulder flung from the catapult. Those near him saw only the lower portion of his body protruding from under the massive boulder. They knew he was dead but his right leg kicked wildly.
Private First Class Flesch who survived the Lost Patrol, and Private First Class Anka were talking with Whorton when a large rock whistled between them and took Whorton’s head off his shoulders. They had to look down at his decapitated body to make sure he was gone. They thought he fell down while in the middle of their conversation.
The aerial onslaught took the men by surprise. They expected a ground attack but the missile assault caught them off guard though Diaz and Finley warned them to watch for the catapult attack. Flesch was the first to respond with his M-60 machine gun. He pointed at the top of the guard tower and followed the puffs of smoke and broken debris and adjusted his fire until he struck the opening where the large crossbow like machine was being loaded with 4 more large spears. Others followed his example and opened fire on the guard towers.
Several of the men who qualified expert with the M-203 grenade launchers lobbed a number of rounds into the guard towers. The explosions terrified the enemy who hadn’t been killed or injured by the noisy death. They were able to stop the giant four groove ballista like crossbows from being fired again, but they all watched the volley of large boulders fly upward and start down toward them. They were all able to avoid being crushed. The men weren’t really sure where the catapult or catapults were firing from so they lobbed a few H.E. rounds over the battlement wall.
“We have to leave them,” Diaz shouted to the men who gathered around Whorton and Montana as if they wanted to retrieve their bodies. “We’re going to have to pick up the pace and -- oh no,” he shouted and pointed to the arches that covered the bridges across the moats. “They’re coming on foot,” he yelled in desperation.
It seemed like hundreds filed out of the castle and charged as a group to the two bridges over the moats. What the attackers didn’t know was they made it much easier for their new enemy to counter attack. The riflemen had an easy field of fire as did the M-60 machine gunners and the grenade launchers. As quickly as they appeared in the opening of the archways the savages were cut down. They charged out of the opening with intentions to attack and kill, but the appearance of their actions made it look as if they all performed wild dance and gymnastic moves, each to outdo the other in showmanship and performance as if to win the audition.
*******
Bodies piled up quickly which created a standstill. A wall of flesh quickly formed oozing and seeping blood as well dropping internal organs from within. The pile of flesh, bone and blood formed a barricade of hesitation. Those stuck behind the wall of bloodied and broken bodies shouted their confusion, fear and anger to each other. They had never seen death in such a ‘strange way’ where there was no enemy standing before them to inflict such severe injuries. From their understanding only Zizmon-Tarl was capable of slaying in such a massive, horrific and powerful way.
Starting within the entryway of the keep, from the main castle itself, charged nine giants. All the giants were around twenty feet tall and their size was proportionally distributed. They shouted curses and threats with low, deep, intimidating voices while swinging their various weapons of enormous size. The normal sized hill people parted to keep from slowing down the Anarts. The nine bore the revenge they sought on their faces as they advanced on the strange enemy that wrought such destruction.
*******
The giants stepped over the pile of bodies. They all raised their weapons and shouted loud war cries and threatening curses. They looked like something out of Hollywood, but clearly this wasn’t a large expensive movie production. Mykal raised his rifle and eyed the ugly creature through his scope and began shooting at one of the nine. The giant flinched which showed that the small caliber bullet hurt but it wasn’t doing serious damage to the monster.
Mykal slung his rifle and pulled one of his four hand grenades. As the first giant stomped over the bridge of the first moat and climbed over all the bodies of the hillbillies Mykal threw the grenade and he timed it perfect. Just as the hand grenade was about to strike the monster’s face it exploded. When the smoke cleared Mykal saw the blast ripped away half of the giant’s face including his cheek bone and left eye. There was a bloody hole where the eye socket had been and where the side of the face no longer existed. The giant reached up to feel the excruciating pain. When his own fingers went inside his face and head he howled a deafening cry. The large creature doubled over and continued to shout his pain and fear of being partially blind.
A couple of the giants stomped to the injured giant’s side and pulled him up to inspect the injury. Machine gunners trained their weapons on the heads of the giants. Grenadiers lobbed 40mm high explosive rounds. Six were killed with the rapid fire machine gun 7.62mm rounds to the head including the two who stood with the giant Mykal injured.
Two other giants ran toward the moat to avoid the wall of dead bodies. One of the giants jumped into the stagnant dirty water and allowed his entire body to go under the greenish brown stink of standing water. The second changed direction and ran toward the wall of death and jumped over the dead and wounded blocking the bridge way. When he jumped over the wall of dead and wounded bodies he swung his heavy spike club before him as if he was swatting away flies. Some of the rifle fire must have been annoying and he tried to swat it away.
Several men stood at the start of the bridge to the moat; a couple of the Elves shot their bow and arrows, two of Towbar’s men, two of the Dwarves who fired their crossbows, and four military men Corporal Brock of the 82nd Airborne as the M-60 gunner, Staff Sergeant Garcia of the Rangers acting as his assistant and two more Rangers Sergeant Kinn armed with an M-16 rifle and M-203 as well as Sergeant Sherman armed with an M-16 and M-203 attached to the rifle.
Sergeant Kinn had reached down to get another 40mm round from the ammunition can when the giant swung his tree like spiked club which hit Kinn in the head and chest. The giant followed through like a pro baseball player. The impact of the twelve to eighteen inch spikes into Kinn’s head and chest killed him instantly and buried so deep into his body that Kinn stuck to
the massive weapon. The Ranger dropped his rifle but he clung to the club like a sock to a t-shirt after a heavy drying.
The giant snarled and yelled as he slammed his club to the ground to knock the dead meat off his weapon. The giant stomped on Kinn’s lifeless form and yanked his weapon away. He pulled Kinn from the spikes and lifted his club only to get twenty to thirty rounds of 7.62mm ammo to his face and head. When the giant dropped to the ground he also received many 5.56mm rifle shots, six arrows and four crossbow bolts. The men kept shooting the giant since they saw his stomach was rising and falling with each breath despite the fact the giant was not getting off the ground. The massive wounds to its head were fatal.
When a majority of men moved to the giant to ensure he was dead, the other giant pulled himself up out of the moat. He was cover with a foul stench that came from the stagnant water. His flesh seemed to be covered in a brown and greenish brown muddy slime. With giant sword in hand he charged at those who killed his comrade. His yell was terrifying, his wide open mouth allowed the filthy water and mud into his mouth, with his wide eyes he looked demon possessed. He stood with his massive sword raised above his head, but all the little men jumped back to escape the reach of his weapon.
Towbar charged at the mud covered titan with his glowing blue sword in hand. The giant stood almost three times taller than Towbar, but Towbar swung his mighty blade which easily cut through the giant’s left thigh, severing the leg completely. The giant yelped and cried out when he collapsed to the ground reaching for the sudden devastating pain in his limb. In the process he dropped his weapon. The giant tried to rise and grab the flow of blood from the severed limb which enabled Towbar to continue his attack on the monster. The glowing blue blade chopped the giant into pieces before the Anart really understood what happened to him. Towbar’s final strike lobbed the giant’s head from his shoulders where he rushed to pick up the massive head by the hair and ran to the side of the giant lying on the ground who continued to breathe deeply. Towbar sliced his sword down and severed another Anart’s head from his huge body. He then turned and raised both heads in each hand to show his victory to those watching from the arches and from the castle walls.
“Leave us alone,” Towbar yelled above the moaning and yells from the enemy who refused to continue their assault. “Or we will destroy all of you,” Towbar said and then threw the bloodied, bullet ridden head across the moat to those standing under the arches. “Do you understand my words?” He yelled and threw the second head, the cleaner skull, to those under the arches. The second head struck a wounded hillbilly in the face and knocked him over which caused some of Mykal’s men to laugh out loud.
“Great shot Towbar,” Mathis yelled. He thought Towbar aimed the head to strike the wounded man.
There was no response from the defeated and beat down hillbillies. Mykal’s men, the Elves and all the others were stunned by what they just witnessed.
“That’s my buddy,” Mykal laughed proudly and gave a thumbs up.
“Let’s get moving men,” Finley shouted. “Gather what weapons and supplies you can from our dead, but our dead will have to be left behind. We can’t take them with us.”
“If you can, please retrieve their dog tags,” Diaz shouted while he watched the enemy. “But I don’t want anyone to be put at risk. We must hurry. We don’t want them to get their courage or confidence back. Let’s make haste.”
Within a few minutes, after gathering what supplies and ammunition they could take from the dead they headed out at a faster pace. “I want our rear guard to be super watchful in case they try to come after us,” Finley yelled.
Suddenly they heard the loud wail of a cry which had to be the giant Mykal hit in the face with a hand grenade.
“We don’t know how bad they are gonna want revenge,” Mykal shouted. “So let’s be ready for them at every step we take, but I wanna make sure we put some good distance between us and them.”
5.
They traveled for a couple of hours before they stopped to eat. They continually watched all around them for any signs that the hill people would follow to exact revenge. They took cover under the trees of the forest while they ate. They talked quietly in hushed tones, but Mykal heard how upbeat and excited the men were that they came on this journey. Despite the fact they just lost five men battling the hill people and the giants, the men sounded as if they lived for this kind of adventure. Mykal knew they would have to go back to the Pass at some point to resupply and to fill the empty spots with more men. He wanted to wait unto they had to go back.
“Where are your thoughts my friend?” Towbar asked after joining him.
“I’m just thinking about the men who are with us. I’m so glad that they’re all in a good mood and not bummed out and distraught over what happened a little while ago.”
“I agree with you,” Towbar said and sat beside him. “The men are all in good spirits.”
“Yeah, I was afraid they’d all wanna split and go home after running into those two different armies and then those friggin giants for crying out loud,” Mykal said with a laugh and shook his head. “I’ll tell ya Towbar, you have one strange world.”
“It is not my world my friend,” he replied and actually gave a slight chuckle, a rarity. “And yes I would have to agree with you,” the giant continued with a wry smile. “Though I have never been to this part of my world before, I will agree there is very much strangeness here. We do not know what the next hour will bring our way. However I am greatly thankful that I am with you and the army you possess under you my friend.”
“I appreciate that, but from what you’ve shown me you can handle yourself no matter where you are and who or what you’re up against,” Mykal snickered as he thought of how easily and quickly Towbar destroyed the giant that was two to three times bigger than he was.
“I must say the same thing for you as well my friend. You can always handle whatever situation is presented to you,” Towbar said with a smile. “So I must add, I believe we will do well when we find the palace of Zizmon--”
“Stop!” Mykal stopped Towbar from saying Zizmon-Tarl. “Don’t say his name.”
“Thank you my friend. What is the name you have chosen to use for him?”
“I call him Ziggy Stardust. I know you don’t know what that means but it’s a song from the 1970s,” Mykal laughed because Towbar would have no idea what he was talking about. “I feel terrible that Doninka is gone,” Mykal said out of the blue. “I feel so guilty and I know I shouldn’t,” he said and waved his hand to stop Towbar from correcting him. “I just want to get her and take her back to the Pass.”
“I know you do my friend. I can see it in your face and I can hear it in your words. You are a good man my friend.”
Mykal wanted to argue because he knew deep inside he wasn’t a good man. Besides that, Ski had always told him ‘there is no one who is good only God. There is no one righteous only God’.
“Hey Mykal,” Diaz called to him to ensure he wasn’t interrupting anything. He and Finley made their way from the main body of men. “It’s going to be getting dark soon. Do you want to keep traveling or do you want to set up camp for the night since we’re stopped here?”
“I’m okay with staying here if everyone else is. I’m kinda beat after all we been through today,” Mykal answered.
“Great,” Finley acknowledged his response. “I’ll let the men know and we’ll set up a guard duty roster for the night.”
“Since we’re not very far away from those hillbilly hill people and their giant buddies I want double duty on guard duty cuz I don’t know if they’re gonna come after us or not.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth Myk,” Captain Diaz said with a smile. “I wouldn’t allow the men to be lax after the stuff we endured today. Great minds think alike.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. Yeah,” Mykal said and nodded while looking at the forested area they entered. “Let’s go ahead and set up camp here and we’ll get
an early start in the morning. Who knows what tomorrow is gonna bring our way.”
Mykal watched as Captain Diaz and Lieutenant Finley turned away and relayed the news to the rest of the men. He kept his thoughts to himself but he wondered if he was going to have any more strange dreams during the night. He was still bothered by the dream he had of himself being an old man. In that dream no one around him had any idea who he had been and what he had been through in his life. His dream made him feel like he had grown old to become a forgotten old loser who didn’t amount to anything. Over the months he had suffered through countless nightmares and terrifying dreams, but that one stuck with him. That dream of him being an old forgotten man bothered him more than all the other nightmares and dreams combined.
He didn’t want that vision of his elder self to visit him again tonight.
CHAPTER SEVEN 01/10/1984
1. Tuesday, January 10th 1984
0628 hours, Other side of Towbar’s World (3rd Day)
“Hey Mykal, you left word that you wanted up at oh six thirty hours,” Sergeant Mathis said. “Are you up?”
“Yeah, I’m up,” Mykal said and rolled over.
“You’re the last one up,” Mathis told him. “Captain Diaz said to make sure you get up so you could get something to eat before we head out.”
“Alright thanks,” Mykal said and rubbed his hands over his face. Mathis was his radioman and driver for the last two days he was in Towbar’s world before he returned to the real world. “So, do you have any regrets that I selected you to come along?”
“No Sir. No regrets,” Mathis said and chuckled. “I volunteered to go on this trip. I told you before you left on New Year’s Eve that I would be your radioman and driver any time.”