by Dave Hazel
“Were they even armed?” Randy asked. “I don’t think I saw any weapons.”
“The man had at least a sword with him,” Mykal replied. “I saw it at his side. Okay everyone, make sure we are covered so as not to be seen. Look,” Mykal pointed down the beach on the other side of the river. “A number of them are walking down the beach looking for them. We don’t want them to see us. Mathis, make sure those ahead of us understand that.”
“Will do Myk,” Mathis said and then turned away to quickly talk into his radio handset.
“Yeah, we wanna be careful,” Roy Jr. said after Towbar pointed something out. “Them dudes gots bow and arrows and many of them are carrying spears and all kinds of other weapons.”
“Hey Myk, Captain Diaz wants us to move a few feet deeper into the trees so we can move out and not be spotted by that army,” Mathis said and held up his radio handset to show Diaz gave instructions through the radio.
“Alright, let’s go. There’s nothing we can do for those three people right now,” Mykal said and felt terribly sad to leave the three people on their own. But he realized he didn’t know anything about the three. They could be great people who were just victims of their circumstance, but then again they could be vicious people who eat the flesh of others. The truth was he didn’t like the idea of what he thought were Zizmon-Tarl’s soldiers chasing down what he thought to be innocent people. “Let’s make sure we are staying out of their line of sight,” he whispered as he crawled deeper into the forest until he knew he could stand up without the risk of the soldiers being able to see them.
They traveled in silence down the river toward the falls. The roar of the falls increased but it wasn’t the same roar Mykal grew up with in Niagara Falls. It was loud, meaning it was a considerably large water fall, but he knew it wasn’t larger than the world famous Niagara Falls. Mykal felt a little more moisture in the air and wondered if they were going to be able to take in the beauty of the falls or would the army prevent them from a little sightseeing on their journey.
Mykal neared the edge of the forest to look at the water of the river. The army seemed to make little progress. They were farther back, almost right where they started. He didn’t know if they were waiting upon leadership to give them the green light to move or if they were waiting for their prey to come into their trap. Either way it allowed them to put more distance between them and the potential enemy who didn’t know they existed yet.
Mykal was shocked when he saw the three fugitives appear out of the tree line farther ahead of them. The man with the gold, red and purple crown or headdress with the two women neared the water a second time in an attempt to find a place to cross the river. “No, don’t do it,” Mykal whispered. He knew from his experience with Niagara Falls, the closer they would be toward the edge of the water fall, the water would be extremely dangerous. The flow would be moving faster and the current under the surface would be much stronger than it would appear. Mykal didn’t know what the drop would be like but the sound was of water crashing violently onto rocks below, very far below.
The man looked both ways down the beach and then looked across the river almost to where Mykal and Towbar were standing though he couldn’t see them behind the trees. As much as Mykal would like to help the trio he was sure they wouldn’t be able to swim across the river. If they did manage to swim through the dangerous crossing, then they would be putting Mykal’s group at risk if they would be seen by the soldiers who were looking for the three ‘fugitives’.
Mykal was impressed with their determination to get away from the army that pursued them. He really wanted to sit down and talk with them to find out why they were running and where they planned to go. Curiosity sucked him in to know what they had lost while fleeing for their lives. Mykal didn’t know why he was drawn to the three, but he wanted to help and find out about them. Nevertheless, the one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet width of rushing water that separated them might as well have been the worlds that separated them. Mykal hoped things would work out so they would be able to meet up with them later so Mykal’s curiosity could be satisfied.
One of the two women grabbed the crown wearing man’s arm. The three looked back and forth up and down the river and then ducked back into the trees. The two women looked scared, but Mykal realized he probably deduced that rather than actually seen that on their faces. He couldn’t see their faces clearly. When they disappeared into the trees for the second time he really wanted to help them. He wished they had one of their helicopters here. He couldn’t understand why he desired to rescue them so badly.
“What is it my friend?” Towbar asked when he saw Mykal stared continually into the trees across the river. “They are no longer there.”
“I know,” he sighed. “I really wish we coulda done something to help them. I don’t know if it’s cuz they’re the underdog against such a large army or cuz they’re probably being chased by Ziggy Startdust’s band of merry men,” he scoffed sarcastically. “But I feel so helpless, cuz if we do help them, then we’re putting all of us at risk.”
“Do not let that trouble you my friend. It is beyond our control,” Towbar said and placed one of his humongous hands on Mykal’s shoulder. “You have a good heart my friend.”
“Thanks, but I--” Mykal stopped when he realized he was going to deny his friend’s compliment. He knew it was selfishness that drew him in to the desire to help the people and not from a sense of having a ‘good heart’. “Hopefully they’ll get away from the bad guys and we’ll meet up with them down the road. There has to be a reason they came across our path.”
“A reason?” Towbar asked when Mathis and the Dosch brothers approached them.
He was going to say that maybe God brought them across their path, but knew that would be something he would rather discuss with someone like Captain Diaz or Ski because of their strong Christian faith. “Oh I don’t know,” he sighed. “Maybe there is a reason they came across our path so we can rescue them and take them from the clutches of the bad guys.”
“We may have an opportunity to rescue them in the future,” the giant agreed.
“Hey Myk,” Mathis spoke up when their conversation ceased. “Captain Diaz and Lieutenant Finley want to see what you think about camping for the night. Darkness is creeping upon us and he said up near the front they have a great spot for us to stop.”
“That’s fine, but tell him I want guard duty to be doubled due to all the bad guys in the area even though they are on the other side of the river. Let’s go join them.”
CHAPTER EIGHT 01/11/1984
1. Wednesday, January 11th 1984
0659 hours, Other side of Towbar’s World (4th Day)
“Hey Myk. Myk, are you up?” Mathis asked while he gently tapped the bottom of Mykal’s foot to stir him. “Hey Myk, Captain Diaz said you wanted up at oh seven hundred hours.”
“I’m up. Thanks,” Mykal said and groggily rolled over. “Oh, I feel like crap. Anything happen?” He asked. He stretched and yawned which caused his eyes to blur in the early morning light.
“No, nothing really it sounds like there was some activity near the camp during the last couple of hours while you were sleeping, but Lanorear and the rest of his birdman clan took care of whatever possible threat there was.”
“Do you know what it was?” Mykal suddenly jolted awake. “How come nobody came and got me?”
“From what I understand they handled it and Captain Diaz said the Elves said it was under control so they didn’t want to wake you.”
“We don’t know what it was?”
“No,” Mathis answered and looked both ways and then whispered. “They probably ate whatever the problem was,” he sniggered sarcastically which caused Mykal to laugh. “It kinda makes you afraid to go to sleep around them,” he added in a whisper though Mathis sounded genuinely frightened.
Mykal couldn’t understand why Mathis brought humor out of him, but there was something about Mathis that reminded him of the friend
s he missed. “Just make sure you sleep with one eye open,” Mykal played along with him. “But nothing happened and no one got hurt?”
“No, nothing that I’ve been told. The Elves said they took care of it,” Mathis reiterated with air quotes. “Munch munch,” he added implying they ate whatever enemy was out there. Mathis saw he could make Mykal laugh and took advantage of that.
“That’s pretty funny,” Mykal said and laughed. He couldn’t understand why he found it so humorous. Was it the fact that the former Elves who had been turned into giant birds of prey ate most of what they killed and Mathis seemed somewhat fearful of the odd creatures? Or was it just something about Mathis’s personality filled a spot in his aching heart over lost friends and Mykal desperately missed the humor he once had with those lost friends? Mykal didn’t know, but he was glad he brought Mathis along on this trip. “So do you have any regrets for coming along?”
Mathis held out both hands. “I still have all my fingers and toes, so I guess I’m good,” he giggled when he saw it made Mykal laugh with him. “No, I’m glad I came along. I joined the military to see the world and have an adventure. I just didn’t know my adventure would be running from giants and dragons and whatever else crazy stuff we’ve come across so far. I just keep having these reoccurring nightmares that I end up as bird droppings on black and white newspaper on the bottom of a big bird cage,” he joked which caused Mykal to laugh again.
“Well good,” Mykal chuckled at the reference to Mathis’s fear of the Hawkmen. Mykal stretched when he got to his feet. “In the next couple of days or so we’re probably gonna go back to the Pass and get more supplies to continue on. If you feel you wanna stay behind at the Pass that’s no problem. I brought you along cuz you remind me of some people,” he said and knew he told Mathis the very same thing the day before. “I don’t want you to feel like you got dragged into this,” he added but hoped Mathis would decide to stay along.
“No, no problem Myk. I told you after those last couple of days on New Year’s Eve that I would be your radio man and driver any time. I volunteered because I really wanted to come along,” Mathis declared. “I don’t wanna go back to stay. I just didn’t know that I’d be fighting giants and dealing with birds that eat cats. I can’t wait to see what else this crazy side of the world is going to throw our way.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Mykal joked while they made their way to the main body of men who sat around eating their morning meal in preparation to move out. “So anything special going on?” Mykal asked Captain Diaz who was speaking to Towbar, Finley, Ratner and Lemon. Starling, Leeno and Blair stood with them.
“We’re just making plans to move out,” Diaz answered.
“We had a little excitement a few hours ago,” Finley said. “The men on guard duty heard some noises which could have been some form of intruder, but then Lanorear and his clan of Hawkmen took care of the situation before it became a problem.”
“Munch munch,” Mathis said quietly for Mykal to hear.
Mykal burst out with laughter and they looked at him oddly. They didn’t know why he responded with doubled over laughter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s an inside joke,” he said and glanced at Mathis.
“Is there something we need to be concerned with?” Captain Diaz asked and looked back and forth to Mykal and Mathis.
“No honestly,” Mykal said while his laughter died down. “It was something we were talking about earlier.” Mykal changed the subject when Roy Jr. and Randy joined them. They looked as if they had just been woken also. “Did everyone eat?”
“No, we were waiting on the last of you to get up and get moving,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner said.
“Well, let’s hurry up and eat and get this show on the road. Have we heard any more about that army that was across the river?” Mykal asked.
“Lanorear said there is a very large army directly across the river,” Leeno replied. “He also informed us that their forces are all through the forest.”
“To clarify,” Blair continued where Leeno stopped. “The army is spread throughout the forest on that side of the river.”
“He explained there was a village not very far from here,” Starling said. “The forces of the Evil One decimated that village. The army left no survivors,” Starling added. “The army we saw was searching for those who escaped the attack on the village.”
“So those three we saw were people who escaped from the village?” Mykal asked.
“We believe so,” Blair answered. “Their only hope would have been to go as far down the river as swiftly as they could. They may have been able to get away from the army only because the forest would have hampered the armies ability to track them quickly.”
“Do we know anything about those three?” Mykal asked. “The man looked like he had a strange hat or crown on his head. Could he have been the village leader?”
“That is possible,” Starling replied. “However, I do not know much of humans living in this area of the forest. As for the two females that accompanied him they could have been his wives, concubines, daughters, relatives or friends. They could have been servants or just two others who happened to escape the attack that had been unleashed on the village.”
“Hmmm,” Mykal pondered what Starling said. “Well if we get the chance to help them, without endangering us, then I wanna try to help them.”
“I agree with you Myk. Let’s wrap it up here with the meal and we’ll be on our way,” Diaz suggested and they knew it was an order.
2.
They stayed in the trees and followed along the river until they came to the actual falls. Mykal was impressed by the noise as they neared it. The scent of water floated around them. A faint mist could be felt in the air. When they reached the waterfall, all the men had to stop and take in the beauty. It was amazing to look at and listen to. It didn’t compare to the mighty Niagara Falls of his home town as far as size and power, but it was amazing nonetheless. Mykal wished this place was available to visit at a later time. He would love to bring Pam and his boys here to check out this beautifully amazing sight.
The warmth and familiar comfort was pulled out from under him. He looked across the river at the bottom of the falls and was shocked by what he saw. Lying on the rocks away from the water was the body of a man. Blood was all around the upper area of his body on the rock, but near the head was a crown or a headdress of gold, red and purple. The man was sprawled out and his limbs twisted in an odd contortion. He didn’t appear to have any stab wounds or arrows protruding from him. His sword remained at his side still in its sheath, his only possession, his crown, lay near his head and his body was all alone. Mykal concluded the man fell to his death from what looked like about seventy to eighty feet and landed on the unforgiving boulder of a rock. ‘Where were the two women?’
Mykal was truly saddened. He wanted to help the trio who had been on the run for their lives. He wanted to talk to the man, but now there was no chance of that ever happening. Mykal didn’t know why that bothered him so much, but emotionally he was crushed. It was clear he was the fugitive he saw the day before trying to cross the river. The crown near his head seemed to be one of a kind. The bright gold, red and purple headdress with horns at the top couldn’t be mistaken. Mykal truly regretted not trying to help them the day before, but he knew he would have put all his people at risk.
“What is it my friend?” Towbar asked when he saw the devastation in Mykal’s face. Just as the words left his mouth the giant saw what Mykal’s eyes were fixed on. “Ah, I see.”
“I really feel bad about it and I don’t know why,” Mykal said as others started to point to the broken body of the man they thought they saw the day before. “I wanted to help them cuz they were in danger and badly outnumbered. They had no idea we were there, right across the river and we could have helped them. But my selfishness in wanting to help them would have put all my people in danger so I’m glad we didn’t expose ourselves. It just bothers me that they were so des
perate to get away and because of their desperation he probably got careless and had an accident that caused him his life. I wonder who the women were. I wonder how bad that affected them when he fell and I wonder where they are now. It sucks cuz we coulda saved them,” he said and gave a slight laugh because he knew that figure of speech didn’t make any sense to Towbar. “I don’t know,” Mykal sighed. “I don’t know why I’m so damned emotional. I didn’t even know them, so why should I even care?” He stopped when he realized Towbar stared at him while he rambled on.
“It is sad, but you are correct my friend. The risk to your people if you had attempted to rescue them would not have been worth it.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re right,” he sighed and looked down at the ring that he was sure played with his emotions.
“You do not know what kind of man he was. He could have been a good man who could have done much good for those around him. However, he could have been a ruthless dictator who had caused the suffering of many good people. I am not trying to talk you out of your feelings my friend, yet being on this side of my world where the ‘Zee-Meister’ resides is a tricky--”
“What?” Mykal laughed out loud and shook his head that he was brought to laughter amid the sad scene before him. He couldn’t believe Towbar referred to Zizmon-Tarl as ‘Zee-Meister’. “Where the hell did you come up with that?” Mykal continued to laugh.
“The one called Mathis said to call the Evil One the ‘Zee-Meister’,” Towbar said and began to chuckle at Mykal’s laughter. “Did I say it wrong? Did I use the term improperly?”
“No. You said it right,” Mykal continued to laugh and could picture Mathis telling Towbar to use the nickname for Zizmon-Tarl. “I just never thought I woulda heard that come outta your mouth,” he continued to laugh and suddenly his mood had changed. “That Mathis is a funny character.”
“Roy Jr. also said that by calling the Evil One the Zee-Meister would make him a ‘good old boy?’ And then they laughed,” the giant said and continued to chuckle with Mykal’s laughter. “I do not know what is humorous about such a name, nevertheless I agreed to use that term instead of saying the real name of the Dark Lord so as not to have my words picked up by the Evil One.”