by Dave Hazel
“Hey Mykal,” Lieutenant Finley called out to him as he and Diaz approached them. The Dosch brothers and Mathis followed behind them. “One of the Elves, the one named Uminair who knows a little more of this area than the others said we are going to follow along the river for about the next day or so. He said we have a choice, we could follow along from up here or we can take this trail over there where they’re standing and take it downward so we can walk along the water’s edge.”
“Lanorear and his clan of Hawkmen say either option will work fine,” Diaz said while changing his line of sight to where the men were pointing. “Oh no. Is that…?” He paused because they never had a name for the man with the colorful headdress from across the river.
“I’m almost definite it is him,” Mykal answered. “And no, there’s no sign of where the other two are,” he added before he was asked. “But as far as going down by the water or staying up here, is there any more danger, one way over the other? Cuz I wanna take the safest route,” he declared and those who knew him knew it wasn’t his safety he was concerned with. They all knew Mykal to be a risk taker but they also knew he didn’t want to put his men in harm’s way.
“No, they will be equally as safe or as dangerous,” Finley replied.
“Well, it doesn’t matter to me then,” Mykal said and shrugged. “Whatever you guys would like to do.”
“I say we should go down by the water,” Finley suggested.
“Any particular reason?”
“No Myk, but I think there would be less chance of the bad guys spotting us down here if they happened to cross the water to this side,” Finley answered and looked behind them. “Besides, I think the view would be great down there,” he added and couldn’t hide the laughter which showed his true motive.
“If it’s equally safe for the men, I’ll go either way. Whatta you think Towbar?”
“This is just as new to me as it is to you my friend. I will travel which way you think is best.”
“Alright, we’ll go down there.”
“Cool. Thanks Myk. I’ll have the men start following the Elves down the path,” Finley said while walking backward.
“Sometimes he gets excited over the little things like a kid,” Diaz said before he turned to follow Finley. “And I say that as a compliment because we sometimes need the young at heart to keep us motivated and fired up.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Mykal said and smiled to be polite.
“Since we have decided to descend and travel along the edge of the water,” Diaz said while taking in the sights. “I am going to have the men release the horses and let them go free. I don’t think we should take them down into the gorge.”
“I agree,” Mykal said when Diaz turned away. “So do you guys have any regrets coming along?” Mykal asked the Dosch brothers.
“Not in the least Myk,” Roy Jr. said and smirked. “You’re like family and I gotta make sure you don’t go gettin’ yourself into trouble.”
“Or maybe you came along cuz you know I’ll keep you outta trouble,” Mykal laughed as he turned his statement back on Roy Jr.
“It’s more like that,” Randy laughed with them.
They followed the men down the long descending path lined with trees nearing ever so closer to the moving water. Mykal saw where the water fell, it crashed against rocks making a cloud of mist and pooled in an area where it swirled and collected somewhat calmly after the majority of the water rushed away over rocks. For some odd reason Mykal wondered if the water was cold. It still bothered him that the man with the funny crown died when he fell to the rocks. He wanted to help the trio and really wanted to talk to the man. He wondered why it played out the way it did and why he was allowed to see that the man had died. Was there a reason for that or was it just one of those things in life that just happened? If God was real like Diaz and Ski always say, then He would know all the details and understand what really took place. ‘But why did it end like this?’ He wondered.
They moved down river away from the falls and went a considerable distance before they stopped to take a break for a meal. For the most part the meal was eaten in silence. Mykal sat with Towbar, Mathis and the Dosch brothers. They ate their MREs in silence. Mykal was ready to have the men finish so they could be on their way. He wanted to continue on and make his way closer to Zizmon-Tarl’s palace where he could hopefully rescue Doninka and have a story book ending. He knew that the chances of that happening were slim to none.
While in his own contemplations Mykal thought he heard the sound of something slicing through the air. Deep in his own mind it was hard to focus on the sound that was uninvited. Suddenly a grunt and a yell shouted out and his mild pondering trance had been broken. He knew they came under attack.
“Archers!” Towbar shouted and rolled out of the way.
Mykal wasn’t sure if he saw it or felt it, but he knew an arrow whizzed by Randy’s head. He heard the sound of arrows striking the ground and sticking into trees. Mykal knew at least one person had been struck. Suddenly several more shouts cried out. Mykal wasn’t sure how many had been hit but it didn’t sound good. Men scrambled back behind trees.
“Return fire,” Ratner shouted and pointed across the river.
Just as the words left Ratner’s mouth the deafening sound of many weapons ripped the air. The enemy didn’t know what they were up against. The enemy on the opposite side of the river dropped like dominoes. Mykal heard the sound of several explosions from M-203 grenade launchers.
“Towbar no,” Lieutenant Finley shouted when the giant stood on the bank of the river and began to swing his mighty glowing sword in a figure eight. Finley feared Towbar put himself at risk for no reason since he couldn’t possibly strike the enemy from such a distance. Finley didn’t know Towbar’s sword was a magic weapon that would pull in attacking weapons like a giant magnet and destroy them upon contact.
Mykal knew what Towbar was doing and it didn’t concern him. He knew from experience and from explanation of Towbar himself that when the enemy targeted the giant with their arrows, or any thrown weapons, those weapons would be magnetically – magically – diverted toward the glowing blue blade rather than Towbar’s body. Once the arrow heads, or hurled weapons, struck the whirring blade they would explode on impact and drop to the ground harmlessly. This gave Mykal and his men more opportunity to shoot down the enemy as they focused on the giant.
Mykal aimed his rifle at a soldier who clearly aimed at his giant friend, and even though Mykal knew the enemy wasn’t going to be successful it angered him that the man thought he could take his friend down. With the scope on his rifle he aimed his shot into the men’s forehead and killed him instantly before he had the chance to let loose his arrow. There were hundreds of the soldiers and their numbers seemed to grow larger. Mykal didn’t know if they were the same people who were searching for the trio or if they were another part of the same force that happened to follow along the river. He didn’t care because they were dropping as fast as they were exposing themselves. The ‘bad guys’ didn’t know what kind of enemy they faced but they must have believed they could eliminate the strangers with their superior number in archers.
To Mykal’s right he saw 82nd Airborne Corporal Davidson firing an M-60 from his hip into the soldiers across the river. Mykal remembered Davidson from the last battle in the Pass. He had walked by Davidson who boldly asked for help and encouragement when he feared he would be a coward in the upcoming battle since he hadn’t faced combat before. He remembered the two officers encouraging him with words of wisdom and Davidson proved himself to be a hero to fellow soldiers during that battle. That was why Mykal selected Davidson when he volunteered to come along. He knew Davidson was the assistant gunner for the machine gun so Mykal assumed the machine gunner got hurt or killed and Davidson took it upon himself to take the M-60 and beat down the enemy. ‘I like that kid,’ Mykal thought while he watched Davidson calmly mow down multiple groups of the enemy.
A leader emerge
d from the trees shouting angry orders while swinging a sword over his head. He appeared to be angry that his men were dropping like flies but didn’t seem to be inflicting a great deal of damage to those on the opposite bank. The men must have thought he was a leader also as about twenty rounds ripped into the man at the same time from several different angles. As soon as the leader had been ripped apart by rifle fire, those standing their ground quickly ducked back behind trees but they continued to shoot arrows across the water.
Mykal looked up and was glad to see that Lanorear and his clan were trying to help them. Two of the Hawkmen carried a large dead tree and dropped it on the enemy. It looked like it took out about five or six soldiers. If they hadn’t been killed they were injured by the force of the heavy tree dropping from above. The other four Hawkmen dropped very large rocks and after they dropped all their natural ‘bombs’ from the sky, they used their bow and arrows and fired arrows while flying. They were very good at flying and shooting arrows. They struck their targets with almost one hundred percent accuracy. They had years and years of practice and experience in shooting their bows and arrows from the sky.
The enemy on the ground turned their bows to the flying Hawkmen. One of the Hawkmen had been struck in the leg and though the giant bird, Elf creature tumbled slightly in the air, he regained his composure and continued to fly and shoot from the sky. Mykal could easily see the arrow that was protruding through both sides of the Hawkman’s leg. Mykal hoped his medical personnel would be able to treat him so he could show Lanorear and his clan that he wanted their help and would assist them in every way possible.
Suddenly several horns blasted and the soldiers stopped fighting and returned into the trees. Mykal saw more than a hundred dead and wounded on the beach stretched over a greater distance than what his men were spread out.
“Watch for a second counter attack,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner yelled. “Be prepared for any trickery. We do not know this enemy.”
“They are departing my friend,” Towbar shouted and pointed to the masses that started to run down the beach in the same direction they were traveling. “Can you see them?”
“Yeah,” Mykal yelled out and watched the hundreds make their way away from the battle area. The wounded were left stranded where they lay. Some tried to rise and hobble away and some tried to crawl away in their direction to follow the main body. “How bad were we hit?” Mykal shouted. “And do we know what they’re doing or where they’re going?”
“Mykal, from my understanding so far, the only loss we suffered was Corporal Bekker,” Sergeant Lemon said after he and Ratner conferred on the casualties. Bekker was an 82nd Airborne M-60 man. “It looks like he took an arrow in the throat and then he took another in the back when he stumbled around. But it is confirmed that he is K I A,” Lemon said before Mykal asked to make sure. “Corporal Davidson, his assistant will be taking over the 60.”
When Mykal saw Davidson on the machine gun that was what he feared had happened. “Are you sure? When we came under attack I heard a lot of yelling and it sounded like we took an ass beating in losses.”
“The only other real injury Myk is Sergeant Latif, an Army Ranger who took an arrow through his left forearm,” Ratner explained. “He’s being fixed up as we speak.”
“Is he gonna be alright or are we gonna have to take him back?”
“No. He’ll be fine,” Lemon answered. “I asked him. He says he can still use his hand, but it hurts like hell.”
“What was with all the yelling and screaming I heard?” Mykal asked as Mathis and the Dosch brothers joined him.
“I think some of the men were just spooked,” Ratner whispered. “It was more fear than injuries. I know one person got hit in the head with a rock. I guess one of the arrows hit the rock and knocked it into his head and he thought he took an arrow to the head so he freaked out. That was Lance Corporal Cremona one of my radiomen,” Ratner said with an unsympathetic laugh. “I gave him a hard time and told him the next time he wants to act the fool to make sure he’s really dying.”
“Well good. I’m so glad to hear we didn’t get hit as bad as I thought. Tell the men to take what they can from Bekker and we’re gonna have to leave him behind.”
“Myk, Myk, Myk, Myk,” Mathis desperately called to him while listening to his radio handset. “We gotta go, we gotta go,” Mathis yelled. “Captain Diaz said the Hawkmen are saying there is a bridge down the river and the bad guys are running to get to the bridge so they can cross over to our side. We gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go,” Mathis yelled while wildly waving his arm for all those in the back end of the formation.
“Damn it,” Mykal yelled with a snarl. “We’re sitting here jerking around and they’re gaining ground on us. Let’s go,” Mykal shouted with Ratner and Lemon. “Help get all the 60s up to the front,” Mykal shouted and looked down at the magic ring and wondered if he would have an opportunity to turn himself invisible. “Mathis, call them up front and find out what kind of bridge it is. See if it’s gonna be something we can blow up or find out what we need to be watching for. See if they know how far away it is.”
The men all ran as fast as they could. The men who carried the M-60 machine guns and the ammo cans ran slower because of the extra weight. Everyone helped as much as they could. The river wound to their right which made it hard to see very far. They didn’t know what they were running into and the enemy kept themselves hidden behind the trees and vegetation. They didn’t know how big the army was but their advanced weaponry was the great equalizer no matter how large their numbers were.
“Myk,” Mathis gasped while running. “They are not sure about the distance because we don’t know their lengths and they don’t know our lengths. Captain Diaz is guessing the bridge to be between two and three miles away. But that is only a guess,” he gasped and took a deep breath.
“Do you need help with that big radio?”
“No Myk, I normally run like a beached whale.”
Mykal couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t know what it was in Mathis that triggered real humor in Mykal, but he appreciated having the kid around. “I need some guys to help this beached whale,” Mykal yelled out and a number of the men thought Mykal verbally attacked Mathis. Mathis and the Dosch brothers knew he was joking. Suddenly Mykal feared getting too friendly with Mathis. All his close friends were dead. Mykal’s fear was that if he got too close to Mathis, Mathis would get killed like the others.
A bend in the river prevented them from seeing down the river, but suddenly Mykal heard the sound of machine gun fire, rifle fire and the explosions of the M-203s. Those in the front obviously made contact with the enemy. As they got closer Mykal heard more weapons joined the fight as they came into position. Overhead Mykal saw the Hawkmen flying around like a vulture circling a dead carcass. He was impressed to see them dive down and shoot their arrows on the enemy below. As the enemy came into view he watched as they would turn their arrows skyward, but miss their targets. Either the Hawkmen were too fast in dodging the missile retaliations, or the enemy had never been properly trained on leading a flying target.
Mykal saw a rickety old bridge that crossed what had to have been the narrowest area of the river. The men who ran across the wooden planks supported by rope guard rails and an occasional support boards caused the bridge to sway and rock under their hard movement. It held their weight despite the number of men crossing at the same time. Some of Mykal’s men were shooting those getting off the bridge onto the beach, never allowing the enemy to get very close. Some of Mykal’s men shot the soldiers while the enemy was in the middle of the bridge to cause a pile up, but most of those who had been shot fell off the bridge into the murky quick moving water. Several hundred yards beyond the bridge crossing Mykal saw many soldiers on the beach getting into wooden boats that could hold ten to fourteen men. They fought to row the small crafts across the river upstream to move closer to the bridge to assist their comrades who seemed to be rushing into certain death created by noi
se.
As Mykal’s men neared those grouped on the beach, they took it upon themselves to open fire on the soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl who tried to cross the river to wage their assault. The enemy seemed to have an endless supply of soldiers to throw away, but fortunately for Mykal and his men they could only assault them in small numbers due to the size of the rickety old bridge. Those assisting by boats were not much more help. Their struggle to near the bridge with small numbers didn’t benefit the enemy.
Across the river Mykal saw there were a great many soldiers waiting to come from within the trees to take their chance at crossing the bridge. Mykal couldn’t understand how they could be so eager to rush to their deaths. They clearly saw their comrades gained no ground and died pointlessly. He watched Captain Diaz direct the men with the M-203s to create explosions on the bridge in an attempt to make the bridge collapse. It impressed Mykal how several well placed explosions destroyed the bridge. They didn’t take down the entire crossing, but took out enough to break the connection so the soldiers could no longer use the link to the other side until they had time to repair the bridge. The grenadiers all fired on the same location which caused a large chunk of the bridge to collapse. A section about twenty-five to thirty feet long crumbled into the flowing water.
The grenadiers try to outdo each other by lobbing the 40mm explosive rounds into the boats coming from the other side of the river. A couple of the rounds landed harmlessly into the water, but seven landed inside five different boats. Two of the boats were hit by two high explosive rounds. All five boats were destroyed and all the men were thrown into the water. Mykal was sure all the soldiers in the five boats would die if they didn’t make it to land quickly. The remaining boats quickly turned and paddled away from unprecedented destruction. They didn’t even try to go to the land they departed from. They allowed the current of the waterway to take them down the river to get away from such a deadly foe.