by Dave Hazel
“What about you Myk? Are you going to eat?” Randy asked and changed the subject. “Captain Diaz and the Elves want to get an early start.”
“Yeah, I’ll get something here shortly,” he answered and noticed Mathis with Vick Daring approach them.
“Hey Mykal, I wanted to get the okay with you before I did anything,” Vick Daring said as if he had prepared his question all night. “But would you mind if I talk to the men while we’re going along? You know, to like interview them and get a feel for what all the men are like and get some background on each and every one.”
Mykal thought the question was strange. “For what? Not that I have a problem with you talking to the men, cuz they’re gonna tell you what they want you to know anyway?”
“Partly for reporting the story once we return, but I would also like to put some ideas down for a book or a screenplay,” Vick replied and looked like he feared a negative response. “I don’t have any firm ideas yet, but I can feel the germ starting, and to be honest I may never do anything other than just report what we’re doing here. But as I told you before I have a great admiration for men of the military and if I could do something to show the positive side of military life--”
“What the hell did you do with the reporter?” Mykal snapped and pointed a threatening finger at Vick. It startled Vick but the others all knew he was joking. “I’m kidding,” Mykal said when Vick couldn’t tell Mykal’s playful mood. Vick’s startled expression looked scared. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear something like that from a reporter. But yeah, sure. If you wanna do something to show the men in a positive light, I don’t have a problem with that.”
“Whew,” Vick blew a deep sigh. “I thought I stepped on yer toes or something. Mykal, I want you to know that I really meant it when I told you, when I’m embedded with the troops, I’m one of the troops. I’m one of them first until our mission is complete. I know these men are protecting me so, I want to do what I can to help make them look good.”
“You sure you ain’t gonna get your ass beat by that motley crew of reporters back at the base?” Roy Jr. laughed.
“I don’t care what others think,” Vick declared. “I’m going to do what’s right and what’s best for the men who are watching my back.”
“As long as you’re not setting my guys up to be blind-sided, I don’t have a problem with gathering info,” Mykal said.
“Good, good. Thank you Mykal. I promise you, I would never try to be sneaky or underhanded,” Vick promised while Benny the cameraman nodded enthusiastically. “And just to make it clear, for you and those with you,” he nodded and looked to the others. “I never tried to join the military, but I do have a love for the military and for those who are willing to put their lives on the line for their fellow man, for their country and for all that men and women join the military for. I don’t know if I would have ever been a good soldier or not, but this is my way to serve those who serve for us.”
“Mykal, he really means it,” Benny declared. “We’ve talked many times. We’ve talked many a long night and this kid’s heart is true in what he says. He’s a good kid and he means what he says.”
“Alright good, so is everyone over there about ready to leave?” Mykal asked.
“Yes,” Vick answered. “Captain Diaz wanted to leave about an hour ago, but the Elves said we had to wait on Lanorear and his Hawkmen. They wanted to eat before they ventured into the caverns of the mountain.”
“Munch munch,” Mathis said in reference to the big birds eating a large cat a few days ago.
Suddenly Mykal started to laugh. The others didn’t understand why he laughed, but it became an inside joke between Mykal and Mathis. The others gave a quizzical look at them.
“Just don’t get too close when they’re eating,” Mathis added, but it didn’t help the perplexed expressions.
“He’s joking,” Mykal said and continued to laugh.
“From what I understand Mykal,” Mathis said in a serious tone. “It sounded like Lanorear and a couple of the Hawkmen will accompany us in the mountain while the others will be flying around outside and will meet us on the other side.
“Alright let’s head up to the front so we can get this party started,” Mykal joked.
2.
“Do you think there is any danger?” Lieutenant Finley asked Starling, Leeno and Blair.
“We have never been inside this mountain,” Starling answered. “So we can not answer that with certainty.”
“There will always be risks,” Blair said. “Be it inside the mountain or through the gorge or up on the flats.”
“I do not expect it to be as dangerous as the mountain we traveled in previously,” Leeno added. “Lanorear said they, as the Hawkmen, never traveled under this mountain, however half of them will accompany us. The other half will meet us on the other side.”
“And you think this will be worth the risk?” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner asked.
“If you are in need of saving time, the answer would be yes,” Starling answered.
“We will take six or seven travel days off our trip by going under this mountain rather than going around this mountain range,” Leeno added to back up his statement.
“And how long do you think it will take us to get through the mountain?” Captain Diaz asked.
“A day and a half to two days,” Starling answered.
“And if we don’t go this way it could end up taking us nine days to get around the mountains?” Roy Jr. asked.
“Yes, give or take a day or two,” Blair answered.
“What do you think, my pointy eared friends?” Nordad asked. The older magician tugged on his beard to tie the end with a small string to keep it from blowing freely in the wind.
“We will travel in whatever direction you feel is more convenient and beneficial for you, my friends,” Leeno said and looked directly at Mykal and Towbar. He then looked to all the men gathered around.
“If I wasn’t worried about the river, the gorge or the mountain I would go back and get the helicopters and fly us over the mountain,” Mykal said, but he knew there would be too much risk. “Well, we might as well keep our formation as it is,” Mykal said and turned to Diaz and Finley. “Unless you want me to lead the way?”
“No, this is fine,” Diaz replied.
“We’ll just have our formation tighter than what it has been going along the gorge. What are we going to do about light?” Mykal asked for the men. He knew his eye sight would be fine in the dark, like Towbar, the Elves and the Dwarves.
“I will use my staff,” Nordad said and lifted his staff to show them. “It will provide light just as I provided light the last time we were under a mountain.
“All the men should have flashlights,” Finley said. “We will just have the men use them sparingly.
Mykal watched four of the Hawkmen fly upward and give out a screeching call.
“It is time to depart,” Starling announced when the four Hawkmen entered into the large open cavern. “Lanorear and three of his Hawkmen will accompany us and the two remaining Hawkmen will circle the area and meet us on the other side of the mountain.”
“Let us hurry,” Leeno urged the men. “I agreed we would lead the way with Lanorear and those you call…tips?”
“Points,” Blair said to correct Leeno.
“Point men,” Finley quickly corrected both of them. “We call them point men. He’s thinking points. From what I understand both Winfield and Freeman are going to stay on point with them for now.”
The men all rushed behind the four large Hawkmen who disappeared into the large darkened cavern opening. Towbar and Mykal stayed back toward the rear to give support to those who followed behind. They kept the marching order pretty much like they had it going down the length of the gorge. Mathis and the Dosch brothers stayed with Mykal. Vick Daring and Ben Milnar traveled up and down the line talking to the men and interviewing them for brief moments at a time. Vick was good at making the men feel comfortable with him
. He gave the impression that he sincerely cared for military men and would support them even in a combative crisis.
When Mykal entered the darkened cavern he was surprised that it wasn’t like the previous mountain they entered last month. The former mountain had a structured tunnel built from stone blocks, this was more an open cavern that had been naturally created, worn out over time, or crudely created by a less intelligent group, in comparison to the group, that created the other underground mountain tunnel he had been in.
The watery scent seemed fairly strong. Probably because they were so close to the flowing river, but the farther into the mountain they traveled he could see little pools of standing water. He wasn’t sure if they were just pockets of ground that held water or if they were little openings in the floor that revealed the water that flowed underneath.
In the quiet of marching along, Mykal’s mind started to race with wild thoughts that sprung from old horror movies. ‘So many things could happen cuz of all those old movies I used to watch,’ he thought and had to laugh at the fear that roused inside him. Unconsciously he stepped closer to Towbar the giant, his big protector.
It was obvious the path they traveled had been used by countless others over countless years before them. The path they walked over was an actual path that had been paved by much use. But the main question most of the men had was, ‘were they going to encounter any of those countless others who traveled the very same path?’
After some thirty minutes of traveling in silence the group halted. “Yes Sir,” Mathis spoke quietly into his radio handset. “He’s right here. Hey Mykal, Captain Diaz would like to speak to you.”
“What’s up?” Mykal asked and looked over to Towbar to see if he would look upward.
“I’d like you and Towbar to come up here for a moment and take a look at what Lanorear found.”
“What did Lanorear find?” Mykal whispered. The only sounds Mykal heard were the occasional shuffling of the men, the clanking of equipment and water dripping in the background.
“It looks like the remains of something killed and then eaten. Something else is definitely in here.”
“The remains of something killed and eaten?” Mykal asked and tried to picture what they could be walking into.
“Munch munch,” Mathis said when he heard Lanorear’s name mentioned with ‘killed and eaten’.
“We’ll be right there,” Mykal replied and suddenly started to laugh. He handed the radio back to Mathis. “All you guys sit tight for a few minutes. Me and Towbar are gonna go see what they found and then we’ll come back here. But keep your eyes open cuz they’re obviously others in this underground mountain cavern place,” he said and wasn’t sure if he should call it a complex.
“Do you want us to come with you Mykal?” Randy asked.
“Sure if you want to. We’re gonna come right back as soon as I see what they want.”
The four of them walked past the men who had dropped to one knee and continued to look in all directions in preparation for sneak attacks. As they passed all the Marines and Army personnel, Mykal was proud to be with such a bunch of fine military personnel. ‘They all volunteered for this,’ he thought with a wide smile. ‘Same with all these guys,’ he added when they came upon Towbar’s soldiers and the Dwarven warriors who stood their ground and watched outward like the Visitors from Mykal’s world.
Towbar’s soldiers gave a slight salute of thumping their fist to their own chest as the giant passed by. Norg was the only Dwarf who didn’t stand or sit still. He stood in an open area and swung his battle axe as if to loosen his arm. He alternated the heavy battle axe to both hands to loosen both arms.
At the front there were a group gathered near the opening of a side alcove. Diaz, Finley and Ratner stood with Starling, Leeno and Blair. Winfield and Freeman had walked off with the other three Elves and the four Hawkmen.
Mykal looked to the open area to the left and wasn’t sure if it was actually a den where something lived or if it was just a resting place for the thing or things to eat. On the floor near the back wall were the remains of several animals. Dried blood could be seen on the rock and walls.
Bones and fur were kept in one particular area leading them to believe the victor to be somewhat intelligent since the remains were placed in one specific area rather than being scattered all around the cavern. Upon closer inspection the head of an animal could be seen under the debris. The head and face looked like that of a brown bear, but the creature was smaller. Mykal moved closer in hopes of gaining clues to know what they were dealing with should they encounter such a creature.
He didn’t see any bear claws, so he wasn’t sure if it really was a bear. While they eyed the ground closer to the pile of remains, it all appeared to be animal fur and animal remains until Towbar pointed out a human leg. It was a complete intact leg from above the knee covered with all the bloody remains. It was a right foot and showed no injuries save the amputation above the knee. Now they were not sure if they were dealing with a man eating animal or cannibals.
“This is kinda strange,” Mykal said. “The mess here is kinda like a neat mess, meaning it’s all in one area,” he motioned to the section of the little grotto. “But I don’t see any weapons or any signs of who or what could have done this. So we don’t even know if a human did this or,” he paused.
“Or an animal?” Towbar supplied to finish his thought.
“Yeah,” Mykal chuckled. “But I was gonna say a monster.”
“Sir, Sir,” Corporal Winfield called out quietly just as he rushed back from where he led the way with Freeman, three Elves and the four Hawkmen. “We found something.”
“What is it Winnie?” Captain Diaz asked quietly. Suddenly it was as if forced silence had been imposed for all forms of communication. The truth was there was no way to be sure who or what could hear them.
“There’s this little storage area not far from here and it has what looks like food stuffs and some weapons and tons of torches,” Winnie explained and didn’t hide his excitement.
“Tons of torches?” Finley asked. He looked as if he couldn’t understand what the black Marine meant.
“A lot of torches,” Winfield said with a laugh.
“Let’s go,” Diaz said. “Have the men follow us,” he directed Gunnery Sergeant Ratner.
“Yes Sir. What about this stuff?” Ratner asked and pointed to the remains.
“Well, we’re not going to take that stuff with us,” Diaz said as if Ratner asked a silly question and turned to follow Winfield.
Ratner looked like he wanted to respond but he knew he walked into that comical rebuke. “Yes Sir.”
About seventy-five feet away down a winding trail they came to the hollow inside the wall. It looked like a storage room for people who would regularly venture through the mountain. Stacked neatly were primitive weapons of Towbar’s world; swords, axes, war hammers, spiked clubs, spears, bows and arrows. All the weapons and shields were set aside in an orderly fashion. Beside the weapons were cloth sacks, sets of leather armor, building materials, shelves of dried foods and barrels of what appeared to be water. Empty animal skins were beside the barrels, probably for the water. There were hundreds of torches.
“Do you think these belong to the armies of Ziggy Stardust?” Mykal asked and he was thinking of the army they had battled a few days ago.
“I would assume that is who these are for,” Starling answered.
“I say we take all the torches for two reasons. One, to help us and two, so if they come in here they will have to go back and get some more so that will give us a bigger head start on them.”
“What of the food?” Towbar asked.
“I would say we take what we want and destroy the rest,” Mykal said and laughed.
The three Elves looked at Mykal as if he had committed an unwritten sin. “Do you think that would be wise?” Blair asked.
“Do you wanna help those who wanna lob your head off?” Mykal laughed. “Or would you wann
a make it more difficult for them to get to you to lob your head off?”
“When you ask it like that, your words make more sense,” Leeno said for the three Elves.
“Do you expect any of your Elf people to come through here?”
“No. Our kind does not live near this area,” Blair answered and gave a rare confused expression.
“See, that’s why we should destroy whatever stuff we don’t take. We only expect bad guys to come this way. Not the good guys, so let’s not leave anything behind for anyone who may be a threat to us.”
They went through the foods and took dried meats that could be used later. After the water had been sampled they bottled much of it with the empty skins. When they were satisfied with what the men wanted as far as weapons and arrows they destroyed everything left behind so no potential enemy could use those items against them. They were still unsure who or what used the cavern last so they didn’t know what ate the remains that lay there.
All the men carried a few torches each, whereas Towbar’s men and the Dwarves carried more. They were pack mules of the group. The military personnel like the idea of using torches when need be so that would allow them to leave their flashlights off to conserve batteries. While they traveled farther, Mykal believed the watery scent increased. He wasn’t sure if the smells grew or if it was just his increased ability passed on to him from Towbar when Towbar save his life during the first visit to Towbar’s world.
With his increased hearing he heard the sound of flowing water that seemed to grow as well. It wouldn’t surprise him if a river flowed under the mountain since they left a river just outside the mountain entryway. They had walked past several small standing pools of water which could be connected to an underground source of water.
Mykal was surprised the walls of this mountain were not confining like the last mountain they had been under in December. The ceiling was very high and the paths were wide. They seemed to be traveling through cavern after cavern without any firm form structure or pattern. Mykal felt the grade started downward. He tried to pay close attention to anything and everything. He didn’t know if or how important any information would become at a later time.