Mykal's Second Deadly Journey

by Dave Hazel

  “What?” Ingledoss asked and everyone looked confused.

  “Like I just said, it’s my pet name for Zizmon-Tarl and he approves of it. There are only four of us who may use that name. Myself, Diaz, Towbar and Finley,” he said and pointed to them when he mention their names.

  The soldiers from the top, Commander Ingledoss to the lowest foot soldier, all looked confused. “The Elves may not pass.”

  “They are no longer Elves. They have given up their lives to become Hawkmen,” Mykal countered.

  “They have not become Hawkmen yet. With that said, I would like to kill the Hawkmen also, however I will let them live for I know they provide a good service to the Supreme Ruler.”

  “Well then you should allow the Elves to pass,” Mykal countered. “It had taken Lanorear and his clan a very long time to find volunteers to willingly give up their lives so that they may become part of Lanorear’s Hawkmen clan. That would be a grave disappointment to Ziggy Stardust.”

  “Why do you continue to call the Supreme Ruler that name?” Ingledoss asked and twirled the end of one side of his long mustache.

  “I told you,” Mykal replied as if offended by the question. “I have a personal relationship with the Supreme Ruler and that is a special name between us. We are from the other side of the world where he has been pushing the Soso nations,” he said in hopes that Commander Ingledoss would have heard of the Sosos at some point. “We are bringing gifts, and we are bringing great news of the battles on that side of the world.”

  “You may go. However,” Ingledoss said and deliberately paused to have all the attention turn to him. “The Elves may not depart our presence.”

  “I brought the Elves here as a gift to give the Supreme Ruler to help grow his Hawkmen clan,” Mykal said and just as suddenly realized he contradicted himself. Just moments ago he said it took Lanorear a long time to find Elf volunteers.

  “Your party may leave. The Elves may not,” Commander Ingledoss said and the playfulness left the air.

  “That’s not going to work.”

  “You are in no position to make demands,” Ingledoss snapped. Several men shuddered including Hidtotim due to Ingledoss’s known fiery temper.

  “Yeah, but that’s still not gonna work,” Mykal replied as if they were hashing out details on a minor agreement. Mykal frantically tried to think of a way to avoid a physical confrontation.

  “I can not, and I will not, allow Elves to travel any further.”

  “Yes you can,” Mykal argued. “You are the commanding leader here and you can easily say ‘we will let these Elves pass’. It’s that simple. The Elves may pass,” he added to demonstrate how easy it was and some of his men snickered at Mykal’s boldness. “Go ahead and try it, ‘The Elves may pass.’ It’s really easy,” he added in a playful tone.

  “You are pressing my patience. I know not who any of you are,” Ingledoss said with a growl in his words. His humor now seemed to be a thing of the past. “The longer this continues the more my anger will grow. Not long from now your entire party will not be able to pass. So I must ask, in the end is it worth all this trouble for these six Elves?” Ingledoss questioned while nervously twirling and twisting his long mustache.

  “Why don’t you accompany us back to the Supreme Ruler’s presence and see for yourself if the choice you want to make is a good choice or a bad choice?” Mykal asked and his voiced stiffened with his resistance.

  “I will ask you again, in the end, is it worth all the trouble you will face to protect these six Elves?”

  “Wait a minute,” Mykal snapped and his rage started to burn out of control. “Do you think we just picked people up as we walked along and this is what we ended up with? Every single person is here for a reason and every single person will be continuing on with us, except for the fifteen soldiers we helped inside the mountain.”

  “How important could these foul little Elves be to whatever your secret mission is?” Ingledoss snarled and his horse started to fidget under his anger. He almost oozed with a lust to kill the Elves.

  “They are important to this mission and the Supreme Ruler will be more than angry if you screw this up,” Mykal flashed his anger but the term ‘screw this up’ looked to have confused Ingledoss and his leaders. “Besides all that, they are important to me,” Mykal said calmly. “And they will be leaving with me. Believe me, you want to let this go. You want to stop before you regret these harsh words you have been speaking against my Elvin friends, who have volunteered to give up their lives to become Hawkmen in order to help Ziggy Stardust. Excuse me, I meant the Supreme Ruler.”

  The crowd sensed the heightened tensions and they were not sure what to make of it. Obviously Ingledoss was confused. He clearly had the small group badly outnumbered, but the strangers talked as if they had the upper hand. Ingledoss looked to his three close friends and spoke quietly.

  “Commander Ingledoss, let’s say just for the sake of argument that you had walked a much farther distance over in that direction,” Mykal said and pointed to the west. “And we had walked a much farther distance over in that direction,” he added and pointed to the east. “We would have never crossed paths and you would be happily on your way and we would be happily on our way and nothing would have happened.”

  “However, that did not happen,” Ingledoss declared. “And here we are. We have crossed paths.”

  “Right, but let’s pretend that we didn’t cross paths. You go that way and we’ll go this way. And I will not say anything negative to the Supreme Ruler about you and the way you treat his special allies.”

  “Leave the Elves here and you may go. You may even take the bird Elves with you, though they are still doh-nah,” he said and by his tone it was clear he meant it to come across as a derogatory term.

  “That’s not gonna happen. I will not allow them to be harmed.”

  “They are only six,” one of Ingledoss’s comrades shouted.

  “That’s right. They are only six. Are you willing to die for six Elves?” Mykal asked.

  “What do you mean are we willing to die?” One of the others on horseback scoffed.

  “I promise you, you four will be the first four dead,” Mykal said calmly.

  “How can you be so blatant and talk such foolishness?” Ingledoss snarled and raised his voice while he sat higher on his saddle as if prepared to respond. “Are your eyes playing tricks on you? Do you not see the numbers? Do you not realize who you are speaking to in such a foolish manner?” His response generated a rowdy reaction from his soldiers.

  “Stop,” Mykal yelled and raised his hand. “True, I don’t know you, but more importantly, you don’t know me,” Mykal hissed with true hatred. He was ready to unleash the monster inside him to wage war on this beast, the Butcher of Bordoan, the murderer of women and children. “You need to listen to me. You know that place back there is called the Tree of Strange Happenings? Right?” He asked and turned to point back to the area where the lone tree stood. “You know what I’m talking about, right?” Mykal continued when nothing was said. “And you know that back that way that ground is called the Battle of Strange Warriors? Right? You know what I’m talking about, right?”

  There was a sudden rush of noise and confusion.

  “Finley, get your ass up here to me,” Mykal shouted amid the confusion that arose. “I may need your help on facts of your Sandringhams. The rest of you watch for my lead,” Mykal shouted and heard many rounds being chambered and M-60s being cocked. “Towbar walk up here with me. Diaz watch your men,” he yelled.

  “What do you mean by the Tree of Strange Happenings?” Ingledoss said and walked his horse back and forth in front of his three friends on horseback.

  “There was something that happened here many years ago,” Mykal yelled and looked to Finley.

  “It was sixty-eight and a half years ago,” Finley shouted as if on cue. He guessed right what Mykal wanted.

  “Men from my world with my strange powers were brought here by mist
ake. There is talk that it could have been several hundred and that they killed thousands of soldiers who attacked them all those years ago. The truth is there were only two hundred and sixty-six soldiers who were brought here by mistake. They were attacked by your people all those years ago and they defended themselves after they were attacked. Had they been on the offensive they would have killed many more than they did,” Mykal said and he made it up as he went along based on the little information Hidtotim and Finley shared from the soldiers who in the real world disappeared from the battle of Gallipoli on August 12th, 1915.

  “I believe most of them were killed and some had been taken prisoner all those years ago. That is not the point. My point is less than three hundred of them killed many thousands that day when they were attacked by twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand soldiers. My other point is, we are not caught off guard and our weapons are far better and far superior than what they carried here that day more than sixty-eight years ago. So my question to you Commander Ingledoss, is it worth the risk to lose all these men, including your friends and yourself for six Elves?”

  Scoffs and shocked amazement broke above forced silence. Mykal wanted to turn himself invisible and run to Ingledoss to take the long dagger from his belt and rush back to where he stood with Finley but he didn’t think he could take the dagger without being noticed. His point was to challenge Ingledoss and show him that he could take the dagger without his knowledge and declare he could have easily have taken his life. He didn’t think the hate filled commander would be easily swayed. While he stood there he realized if things got out of hand they would have to go on the offensive and let the chips fall where they may. His agitated anger grew beyond what he was able to contain.

  “Commander Ingledoof, I know you know what things I’m talking about,” Mykal said and deliberately mocked his name while referring to the story Hidtotim shared with him. Mykal knew some of his men looked at him as if they couldn’t believe he called him a ‘doofus’ to his face, but the man had no idea what the term meant. He waited to see if the man would respond. “I want you to understand that we are much stronger and much more powerful than that group who was caught off guard sixty-eight years ago.”

  Ingledoss ignored him. His horse stepped back and forth while he contemplated the situation. “All this for six disgusting Elves?” He asked his leaders on horseback with him.

  The three leaders on horseback who stood with Commander Ingledoss all muttered the offensive term used against the Elves. “Doh-nah. Doh-nah, doh-nah,” they hissed it while looking at the pale white skin of their hated enemy.

  Mykal was sure there was going to be no give on Commander Ingledoss’s position so he made a snap decision to take matters into his own hands. “Here, let me show you something,” Mykal said while he walked forward. “This is one of the many special gifts we are bringing to the Supreme Leader.”

  “Mykal,” Finley called out to him in order to stop him.

  Mykal knew Lieutenant Finley feared they would harm him if he got too close. “Look at this,” Mykal said while he pulled out his Glock 17 .40 caliber pistol. He pulled the slide back and let it fall forward to put a round in the chamber and cock the weapon for ready. He was glad he left the silencer on the end of the barrel and started to snicker. The four leaders steadied their horses to see what he was about to show them. Since he didn’t brandish his sword as he approached them he obviously wasn’t a threat to the top four leaders for the group of over twenty-seven hundred strong.

  Suddenly Mykal turned invisible before all those who saw him approach the leaders. Mykal was about fifteen feet from the nearest of the four when he disappeared and charged at them. He was just a couple of feet away when he fired two shots into each of their unsuspecting heads while they looked at the empty ground where he had stood just a moment ago. Towbar and the Elves were probably the only people to hear the sound of the quiet death exploding from the barrel of the ‘little weapon’.

  Mykal wanted to make a point for Ingledoss to see he meant what he said, but all four were dead within four seconds. He killed them in the order of closeness to him. One of Ingledoss’s leaders was first, then the second was dead. Ingledoss was third and the shocked look on his face when the two .40 caliber round slammed into his forehead was ‘priceless’, Mykal thought and smirked when he knocked the fourth off his horse just as quickly.

  Everything happened so fast that no one knew what to expect. The silence was deafening. It didn’t make sense that all four top leaders fell off their horses one right after the other and didn’t get up. Those closest to the leaders saw the dead expressions on their faces that looked up. Two of the leaders fell with their faces into the grass, but the blood flow from all four was unmistakable.

  Mykal thought himself visible and back stepped to his original position. He tucked the handgun in his waistband and took his rifle from his shoulder. He chambered a round and moved the safety switch to semi. “Who is the next in command?” He yelled and looked to other groups and their leaders on horseback.

  A sudden rush of confused speak filled the air while the army tried to grasp what just happened. There was Commander Ingledoss lying dead on the ground with his three close friends and top leaders. But no one could account for what happened to them and it happened to them at the same time. There was no visible attack and there was no sound of threats. There was nothing to prove something had gone wrong other than the four leaders all fell from their horses and remained motionless on the green grass.

  “I said, who is the next in command?” Mykal yelled and the rage bubbled up inside of him. He wanted a reason, rather he felt he needed a reason to turn himself invisible and start a war. There were so many reasons why he wanted to unleash his wrath on them. One, their brutality toward the civilians they rule over. Two, they are soldiers of his enemy Zizmon-Tarl. Three, other soldiers from the same army tried to kill them down along the gorge not too long ago. Four, these were the same soldiers, the same army that was probably holding Doninka captive. Five, he just wanted to feel the joy of destroying these people who wanted to kill his Elf friends. He knew reason five was more of the ring talking.

  One of the other leaders on horseback rode over to see why the four wouldn’t get up off the ground. The leader was clearly stunned and shocked to see the blood from their heads and the lifeless bodies. “How were they attacked?” He asked the soldiers who were in the front of the formation and who had the best vantage point to see what could have happened.

  “We saw nothing,” one of the soldiers said while those with him nodded their agreement. “They fell one after the other and have not moved since they fell to the ground.”

  “None of the strangers were ever near to strike them,” another declared.

  “One started toward them,” the first explained in reference to Mykal approaching the four leaders on horseback. “Then he was no longer there. We do not know what happened or how it could have happened. We saw the one return to his people over there,” he pointed to the strangers. “Yet we saw no one strike them my leader.”

  “Check them,” the new leader on horseback ordered and nodded to the four lifeless bodies. “What happened to Commander Ingledoss?” He asked his men but also looked at Mykal while several of his men left their position to check on the four bodies.

  “I think he had an illness,” Mykal said to be funny while he stepped closer to the new leader. After a brief pause Mykal answered him. “They’re dead. Now, do you have a problem with the six Elves? Maybe you will suddenly contract the same illness,” he said with an evil smirk.

  The leader on horseback turned to face Mykal. He sat there and stared at Mykal. Clearly he was trying to size up the strange looking warrior from another time and place. He looked at all his twenty-seven hundred soldiers in comparison to the group of less than one hundred, but he heard what Mykal explained about the Battle of Strange Warriors.

  “Commander, may I speak?” Hidtotim called out to the new leader on horseback.


  “Are you siding with the enemy?” He shouted at Hidtotim and pulled his sword.

  “They are not the enemy, my commander,” Hidtotim shouted. “They are on a special assignment for the Supreme Ruler.”

  “Get ready,” Mykal shouted and raised his rifle. He was sure the leader on horseback was going to attack Hidtotim or give the signal for his soldiers to attack. Mykal aimed at the new leader’s forehead and didn’t wait. He squeezed the trigger resulting in a loud explosion compared to the silenced shooting of his Glock 17. He didn’t give a chance for Hidtotim and the new commander to talk out their conversation.

  The leader’s head snapped back violently and he fell from his horse. His foot got caught in the stirrup which startled the horse. The horse bolted and dragged the lifeless body of the newly installed, though briefly reigning commander through the wide open green flat lands.

  “Open fire,” Finley shouted before his men were to be put in danger.

  Suddenly the air erupted with rapid fire machine guns, multiple rifle shots and explosions from grenades, both hand grenades and 40mm high explosives fire from the M-203 grenade launchers. The death and injury was rapid and massive but the soldiers suddenly went on the offensive to counter attack. The soldiers fired off several arrows and many others charged the group that was nearly encircled.

  Mykal used his rifle and fired off rounds as quickly as he put a soldier in his sights. Towbar charged into the mass of soldiers swinging his glowing blue blade with wild precision taking heads and limbs with every swing. Some soldiers tried to shoot the giant with their bow and arrows only to find that the arrows struck his glowing blue sword and exploded on impact where they fell harmlessly to the ground. It was an amazing sight to see several arrows zero in toward Towbar only to be diverted and change course like heat seeking missiles and slam into his mighty, glowing, blue blade where they exploded on impact and fell harmlessly to the ground.

  Some of the soldiers made it past the rifle fire and machine gun fire to engage the Elves, Dwarves and Towbar’s soldiers in what they would call normal combat. Hidtotim and three others dropped to the ground so as to not choose sides and not be involved in the melee. The other eleven turned on their new friends and joined the soldiers to attack the strange warriors from another world. All eleven died quickly. Eight of them died when one M-60 reacted as they turned on their new friends. The eight were all killed in less than three seconds. The other three were shot before they had a chance to strike anyone. They would have been better off if they would have dropped to the ground and remain neutral. If they wouldn’t have gotten involved they would still be alive just like Hidtotim and his three comrades.