by Dave Hazel
“Yes Sir,” Lemon answered quickly to get his voice in the mix.
“I’m okay with it if you are,” Mykal said to Diaz. “I just wanna make sure our guard duty is super thick. I don’t wanna take any chances that are gonna put any of us at risk.”
“We’ll make sure the men are double or tripled up,” Finley said with a smirk. “Just as long as the men are able to get a decent rest, I’m fine with that.”
“Where are Lanorear and his clan?” Mykal asked.
“They’re out scouting the area Myk,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner answered. “I think they have been doing a great job watching out for us. They have been communicating to the Elves everything they’ve found after they returned.”
“You don’t think they’re jerking us around and setting us up to be attacked, do you?” Mykal asked suspiciously. “I only ask cuz I’ve been at the back of our formation and haven’t seen them all day it seems.”
“Oh no Myk,” Lemon replied. “They seem like straight shooters with us.”
“From everything I’ve learned and seen with them, I trust ‘em Myk,” Ratner said as if giving his endorsement.
“Alright, let’s get to that spot and check it out,” Mykal said. “I wanna make sure we’re covered all around in guard duty. All our lives depend on it,” he said and it was clear he was slightly hesitant. Mykal didn’t want to lose any more men especially in a situation where it could be prevented.
CHAPTER NINE 01/12/1984
1. Thursday, January 12th 1984
0729 hours, Other side of Towbar’s World (5th Day)
“Oh damn,” Mykal gasped and bolted upright. He pulled his shirt off of his face to see that he had been sleeping.
“Are you alright Myk?” Private First Class Anka asked as he and Sergeant Moss, another Marine approached Mykal.
“Whew, damn it,” Mykal sighed and relaxed. “It was just a dream.”
“Are you up now?” Anka asked. “I was told to get you up about this time.”
“Yeah, I’m up. Thanks guys.”
“Is there anything wrong my friend?” Towbar asked just when Mykal moved to a seated position.
“I just had a friggin nightmare,” Mykal said with a sigh and rolled his head over his shoulders to try to alleviate the kink in his neck from sleeping on the sandy ground. “It was about Doninka.”
“I see.”
“That friggin William was threatening to kill her and I couldn’t get to her fast enough.”
“William?” Towbar asked.
“Yeah, I wish I woulda killed that sonovabitch when I had the chance,” Mykal said and then spit the ugly thoughts and foul taste out of his mouth. “Do you think the Goblins could have taken him to Ziggy Stardust?”
“I do not know my friend. I suppose anything is possible.”
“If that rotten bastard is alive, and if I see him, I’m gonna kill that scumbag for what he did to Boris. Plus he was gonna kill me too,” he said though he had told Towbar the same thing close to a hundred times. “I really hate that piece of shit.”
“I understand my friend. Since you are awake, the rest of those who were sleeping are now awake. Captain Diaz would like to continue our journey after you have had your morning meal.”
“Sure, I take it nothing happened during the last few hours? No attacks? No strange creatures?”
“No my friend.”
“Cuz when that army guy freaked out when a crab tried to snuggle beside him, I thought the whole damn area came under attack,” Mykal said and couldn’t help but laugh at the frightened look of Sergeant Overman. “That Green Beret would stand up to any man and isn’t afraid of anyone, but the little crab coming up next to him almost made him shit his pants. That poor guy will never be able to live that down,” he continued to laugh.
Towbar looked mildly amused but he didn’t share the same sense of humor that Mykal and the people of his world shared. “My friend, do you think we are on a mission of futility?”
“What?” Mykal asked and looked at the seriousness in the giant’s face.
“Do you think we could possibly be successful?”
“Yeah, why? Now you look like the one who is down and out.”
“I do not know what I feel my friend. I know I am needed back at the Pass should the Sosos and their allies attack. I desperately want to rescue Doninka, however we do not know where she is and we do not know if she will be there when we get there. Every day I have tried to make contact with her through Mind Talk and have not had any success,” Towbar said and looked sad, almost mournful.
“I understand, but look how long it took you to make contact with me when we were lost on this side of the world. It took a long time.”
“You are correct my friend,” Towbar said with a nod. “I am being hard on myself due to my impatience. I will continue and not give up my friend. Thank you for your words of wisdom.”
“And besides, in the next day or two we’re gonna go back to the Pass and get more supplies and replacements for the soldiers we lost. If you wanna stay back there you can do that, if you think that will help.”
“I do not think I would do that. My emotions are playing tricks on my thinking. I understand that. Yet I ache inside that I am not being responsible with my position of leadership. I rarely allow my emotions to get the best of me my friend.”
“Welcome to my friggin world buddy,” Mykal laughed. “Good thing I’m not down right now or we’d probably commit a double suicide,” he said jokingly and started to laugh.
“I do not understand. I would never commit suicide.”
“I’m joking. Listen, when we go back to the Pass, do what you think is best,” Mykal said and looked around to make sure no one heard them. “I don’t like the idea of traipsing along the country side on this side of the world trying to find where the Big Zee might be holding her. If we can find her and snatch her from him, then great, but if not we still have our last option when he will try to swap her for the King. And then we will have to try then. The only problem is we don’t know how that will play out and that may put both the King and Doninka in danger. I wanna try to avoid that by snatching her from them.”
“I will not abandon you to do this on your own my friend. I doubted the thoughts going through my mind. How dare I leave this to you when it is my King and my Princess who are at risk? It is my country and my people who are in danger if the enemy gets their way. I can not leave this as a task for you to complete without my assistance.”
“I’m not looking at it that way at all. You know I’d do anything for you, so if you wanted to stay at the Pass to manage a possible war that will break out, then I’m okay with trying to find Doninka. Besides, I feel somewhat responsible for her being in this mess right now anyway.”
“My friend, I ask you from the depths of my heart not to blame yourself. You did not create this problem we face. Our enemy did this.”
“Yeah, let’s not go back over this, but you think about it and if you feel you have to stay back at the Pass then do what you gotta do, cuz I’m okay with it.”
“Thank you my friend.”
“Do you mind if we walk with you guys?” Randy asked as he, Roy Jr. and Mathis joined them. “We’re about ready to head out.”
“Sure,” Mykal answered. “So nothing happened with the enemy on the other side of the river?”
“The last thing I heard Myk,” Sergeant Mathis spoke while he adjusted his heavy radio pack on his back. “Was that some men spotted some movement on the other side of the river but nothing took place. The thought is they are trying to regroup so they can attack us when they won’t take so many losses.”
“You thought maybe them boys woulda tried while it was dark out and we were all trying to sleep,” Roy Jr. chortled. “But them boys seem like some dumb asses so they blew their chance.”
“But thankfully they didn’t,” Mykal said and sighed at the thought of the chaos that would have ensued from an attack on the beach in the middle of the night in near com
plete darkness. “They’re moving. Let’s go.”
2.
They continued down the river in silence, not trying to keep hidden from the enemy because the enemy knew they were there if they wanted to find them. They walked in silence because the men were busy keeping a watchful eye all around them and no one wanted to be distracted from potential dangers. Not just the dangers of the enemy who tried to assault them several times, but the dangers of the rough terrain and the creatures living in the rough terrain. The snake that attacked Captain Diaz should have killed him based on what the Elves told them, so there was no telling what other life threatening forces from nature and the natural landscape were there to disrupt their plans.
“Hey Myk, Captain Diaz would like to speak to you,” Mathis said while turning to hand him his radio hand set.
“Myk here,” Mykal said while all the men gathered with him stopped and dropped to one knee. Automatically they turned to look in all directions as a precaution.
“I just wanted to give you a heads up Myk. I don’t know if you can see it yet, but we’re at a fork in the road again,” Diaz said. “The river divides and a smaller river splits to our right side. The gorge walls remain high and the water doesn’t really seem to be as deep though it is still flowing. We could possibly cross and continue down the main river, but Uminair says we should follow this new turn down the waterway. What do you want to do Myk?”
“I’m all on board for whatever you wanna do,” Mykal replied and looked across the river. “Turning will make it hard for those soldiers to attack us again unless they actually cross the river and follow us this way. So, I’m following your lead on this.”
“Great, I agree, we’ll follow the fork in the river.”
“Myk out,” he said and handed the radio handset back to Mathis.
“Hey Mykal, you better check this out,” Roy Jr. said and pointed across the river. “Look over there.”
Mykal looked across the river to where the enemy could be, but there were no soldiers on the beach. There was plenty of movement in the brush and in the trees as if something or someone was there shaking the brush and the tree tops. “Do you think it’s them?” Mykal asked and quickly repositioned his rifle for a better grip.
“I can’t tell for sure Myk,” Roy Jr. said while spying through the telescopic scope on one of his rifles. “Whatever the hell it is, it’s making a big ol’ ruckus.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Mykal ordered and started to walk backward. “You men in the rear, keep your friggin eyes open and let us know if anything odd happens. Cuz whatever is doing that is either a strange wind or it’s a big ass monster of some kind,” he said with a slight laugh though he knew it was not human to stir such a commotion in the tree tops like that.
“Aye aye Myk,” two Marines in the very rear shouted.
“Mathis, get on the radio and tell Diaz what we just saw. It may be nothing that is gonna be a threat to us, but then again, they might try to come after us so we gotta be extra alert.”
“Will do Myk,” Mathis said and quickly got on the radio to relay Mykal’s message.
“So you having fun yet?” Mykal joked since Towbar was being quiet.
Towbar looked confused which caused those around them to start laughing. “I do not know what you mean my friend.”
“I’m just kidding Towbar,” Mykal said. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little.
“I’m having a friggin ball,” Randy replied playfully.
“I’m having more fun than a pervert watching a couple of fat chicks wrestle in a pool of Jell-O,” Roy Jr. laughed.
Mykal laughed, but deep inside it struck a nerve of sadness. Boris and Kurt always preferred ‘the big gals’ as Kurt called them. Boris and Kurt would be the pervert of Roy Jr.’s dig. He missed his friends and he wished they were here with him. He deeply missed Boris since Boris had been with him through more of the bizarre adventures in Towbar’s world than any other. Boris didn’t die in battle like Kurt or many of his friends. Boris was murdered by Captain William Roberts who was supposed to be his friend.
‘If that lousy sonovabitch is alive I’ll kill him if I ever see him,’ Mykal thought hatefully. ‘I shoulda killed that rotten mother--’
“What troubles you my friend?” Towbar asked when he saw the sudden change in Mykal’s face despite the fake smile.
“Nothing buddy. I’ll talk to ya later.”
Mykal continued on in silence filled with thoughts of the recent past. He missed John Carris who had been killed by a couple of Sosos after a car crash before they arrived at the Pass. He also missed Denny, his close friend and former supervisor, who died on the 4th of July. Mykal still tormented himself with guilt for the death of Franklin Perry who also died on the 4th of July like Denny and many others. His rifle jammed when he tried to rescue Franklin, but if he wouldn’t have taken most of Franklin’s ammo away the night before, as punishment for sleeping on guard duty, Franklin might be alive today. He planned to give Franklin’s ammo back to him but when the battle broke out he forgot. Mykal hated himself for that deadly mistake. He watched Franklin die in battle and tormented himself almost daily with guilty accusations.
He missed Rich McDowell who made it back home to the real world the first time only to be killed by one of the Sosos who accidently entered the green fog and returned to the real world with them. He missed his close friends who survived Towbar’s world and made it back home; Jake, Larry and Sam. He would give anything to have them walking beside him only for the comfort of their friendship and brotherhood of war. But they had been through enough and deserved to be back at home with their families. ‘But I deserve to be home with my family too,’ he thought.
Mykal acknowledged the sense of melancholy was starting to swallow him up like the start of a bad cold. He looked down at the magic ring and recognized the magical properties pulled his emotions deeply in any direction. This occurrence seemed to be taking hold again, and he recognized these mental attacks seemed to be happening more frequently. He discerned he must stop the sad thoughts from taking hold or he would spiral out of control into a crippling depression. He also understood it could be any emotions, not just sadness. He accepted the fact that his anger, under the manipulation of the ring, could rage out of control with deadly results that he would enjoy during his fit of wrath. Like a drug addict, he felt he was at the mercy of the beast that consumed him, the magic of the magical ring.
After the next hour and a half Mykal was able to clear his thoughts of the sadness and sense of loss and guilt. ‘I wonder, am I gonna have to deal with this stuff for the rest of my life?’ He asked in thought. ‘Or is this just gonna end up killing me?’
“No,” he answered himself out loud which caught the attention of Towbar. ‘I have my family to get back to. Should I just throw this ring in the river?’ He wondered and looked at the dark green, dark blue water moving slower than previously. ‘No I can’t. I need it in case that friggin Percy and the President try to take me out again.’
“Did you say something my friend?”
“No, I was just clearing my throat,” he lied to keep from exposing his thoughts. ‘This damn ring is starting to make me look nuts,’ he snickered in thought since he had been caught talking to himself on a couple of occasions.
“Man, look at this,” Corporal Adkins said with an excited sigh. “These are beautiful,” he added and pointed to the flowers along the wall of the gorge. “I’ve never seen flowers like this before. I wish I had a camera with me to take some pictures back to the real world.”
Mykal noticed the width of the beach had widened vastly compared to the first leg of their trek along the gorge. Near the water the there was still plenty of loose rocks and rough ground but as the land neared the rock wall of the gorge soil produced more than just trees and wild brush. There were colorful flowers like they had never seen back in the real world. It seemed as if they had stumbled out of a dark and dreary room of a house into a bright, lively vibrant room with
flashing lights and bright colors.
There was a group of flowers bunched together that caught Mykal’s eyes. He found it hard to believe they were a natural plant. The stems stood about three feet high. The petals were about six inches long and about an inch and a half at its widest point. What made them beautiful were the bright colors of the petals that looked like a peacocks feathers. In each petal there were four or five bright colors uniformly spread out. At the base were a bright yellow, then it turned to a deep orange, then red to purple and for the flowers with five colors the ends finished with a bright blue color just like the viper that bit Captain Diaz. The carpel, the center of the flower, was black with several specks of white peppered throughout.
Mykal was amazed at how many different types and colors of flowers and plants there were. He also wished he had a camera to snap some photos to show Pam due to her love of plants and flowers. The scents that filled the air were just as distracting as the vivid colors. It smelled so pretty and so sweet, but he wasn’t sure if his heightened senses were getting the best of him.
“Oh wow,” Mykal gasped with delight. It was the same kind of feeling he experienced when he viewed fractals for the first time. He had never been a fan of art or any type of art work, but the first time he laid eyes on computer generated fractals it took his breath away. These colorful flowers and plants did the same thing for him. “Damn, I don’t know if I would even be able to describe this to anyone.”
“Yes sir,” Mathis said as he made his way to Mykal. “Yes sir, we’re all just as amazed too. Hey Myk, do you want to talk to Captain Diaz?” Mathis asked and shook his head as if to let Mykal know Diaz wanted to speak to him.
“Myk here.”
“I take it you came upon the beautiful…I was going to say greenery,” Captain Diaz said with a happy tone to his voice. “But it’s hardly green. The plant life and scenery is just gorgeous and it doesn’t end right away. The vivid colors and bright plant life just continue on ahead of us for as far as we can see.”