by Dave Hazel
They crawled, knelt, stopped and listened and picked up conversations that dealt mostly with home and family issues. Some spoke of training and difficulties related to military life and cautiously would the men speak of their leaders. All the discussions were mundane and amounted to no more than chit chat on any military maneuvers when the men were on break or rest status.
Mykal had an urge and whispered into Towbar’s ear. “I’m gonna turn myself invisible and walk into the camp to see if I can find out anything worth picking up on.”
“Do you think that is wise my friend?”
“They won’t see me. I just don’t want our guys to freak out. So if they want to leave, let them go and you go with them and I will catch up.”
“Be careful my friend. Please, be very careful.”
“I will, but you don’t know how bad I wanna go on a rampage while they can’t see me,” he whispered and chuckled because he was somewhat joking.
“That is why I am asking you to be very careful my friend,” the giant whispered as if he worried how the ring affected Mykal’s violent urges.
“I will. Thanks buddy,” Mykal whispered and gave Towbar thumbs up. He thought himself invisible, he disappeared and stood. Mykal casually walked among the sleeping army without the possibility of any soldiers seeing him.
He walked into the center of the camp where there seemed to be more activity and life. The fires were more plentiful and there were several large tents. All the horses and cattle used to pull along supplies were tied down near the tents. ‘These are definitely where the leaders are. Let’s see if I can find out anything,’ he thought as he moved closer.
Mykal passed by a couple of smaller tents and either no one was inside them or they were already sleeping. One of the next tents had the small light of a fire flickering from within. He stopped to listen and was glad the soldiers were speaking in the common tongue.
“…you have to be careful when you say that Allowan. If you were to be heard, you could be punished for disagreeing with those appointed over us. They would say you have no right to correct those in leadership.”
“I understand. I still do not believe it is fair my brother. I have been a soldier for a very long time. I have done these expeditions many, many times. I only feel it is right to have the younger soldiers go on one of these expeditions and spend two years in a land where they are hated and learn to live like we have. We should be the soldiers who get to travel to the new lands and experience the new trials and joys of a strange far away land. The new soldiers should have to come to these lands and fight against the Elves. I have faced off with the Elves on many occasions. It is only fair that we should travel to the new lands of the far reaches of the other side of the world,” he complained quietly. “We are elite warriors. We are the best of the best and we are being tasked with confronting Elves. Younger warriors should be doing this task of invading Elvin territory.”
“Yes, I agree to a point. What if the travel to the new land, and the adventures in the new land, is far more dangerous than what we have faced all these years?”
“All the more reason to send seasoned and experienced soldiers on the bold new adventure around the world to the strange lands. Would you not agree?”
“You know where my heart is, yet I will not speak my heart. My words had been spoken for me.”
“Would you not like to experience the strange new way of travel the Supreme Ruler says he will use when he sends his armies around the other side of the world?”
“There is nothing we can do about that,” he answered and sounded concerned they were still discussing their grievance.
Mykal walked away from the tent and wondered what that meant. ‘Did it have to do with Zizmon-Tarl sending his armies to help the Sosos? What else could he have meant by strange new way of travel? And to the other side of the world?’ He wondered as he walked through the leadership area.
He heard more discussions of mundane and routine things. Some spoke in their native language so he had no idea what they were saying. It angered him that he couldn’t understand the words they spoke. His rage flared up and he wanted to walk into the tent and yell at them for speaking a foreign language and then shoot them in the head. He looked down at the ring on his finger and new it was getting harder to fight the urges and emotions the magic created in him.
Mykal came upon the largest tent. This had to be where the commander of this army was sleeping. The light that came from within was from a small fire. He heard some laughter and talking that he couldn’t understand. It sounded like they were joking but as he focused on their talk a little more it was clear it was drunken laughter. He stuck his head inside the tent that was large enough to house six to eight men. There were two men who were sitting near one corner with supplies and they were drinking from skins and laughing quietly while two others slept.
Mykal couldn’t tell who the commander was but all four appeared to be the top leaders. Mykal was hit with a wild idea that made him want to laugh out loud. He was going to cause some mayhem and madness for them. He took his sword from its sheath and rushed to the two men drinking. He stopped and wondered if he should follow through with the crazy little idea that came to him.
‘Screw it, I’m gonna take a chance. It’ll be a great laugh,’ he thought while he took his Glock 17 out. He made sure the silencer was in place and quietly cocked the hammer while the two laughed so they wouldn’t hear it. With four quick, quiet, shots the two slumped over dead with two .40 caliber rounds pumped into their chests near the heart area. Thankfully they didn’t make a sound. Mykal looked over at the other two. One stirred slightly while the other snored deeper. Mykal crept to the one who stirred and shot him twice in the heart area. The man never stirred again.
He walked over to the deep sleeping snorer and removed his sword from the side of his cot that he slept upon. Mykal tucked his Glock back into his waistband and with his magic sword he sliced down on the two dead men where he shot them so it would look like wounds from a sword was what killed them. He then took the live man’s sword and dipped it into the open wounds so blood would appear on the sword.
He did the same thing to the third man he shot who had been sleeping. He chopped and stabbed the sleeping body with his magic sword for the ease of use and penetration. Then he dipped the lone survivor’s sword into the dead man’s wounds to get this man’s blood all over the sword as well. When he rushed to the side of the sleeping man he raised the sword over the man’s right hand and allowed a couple of blood droplets to fall on the area between his thumb and forefinger. Mykal fought hard not to laugh when he placed the bloody weapon beside the snoring leader.
He wished he could be there when the man woke up in the morning. The lone survivor, the deep sleeping snorer would clearly think he killed the three fellow leaders. Whether he was the commander or second or third or fourth in command, he was going to have to answer for killing the top leadership group. His weapon was covered in their blood and there were blood drops on his hand.
‘Crap, I hope he’s right handed,’ he thought and mentally laughed harder at the idea of the sleeping killer being a left handed swordsman. He gently put the sword where he retrieved it from and wondered what the sleeping man’s first thoughts would be.
Mykal stood in the opening of the tent and looked back inside. He really wished he could be there when the leader woke up and discovered the mess ‘he’ made during the night. Mykal would love to have a video tape of the surprise awakening so he could show his friends and they could all have a big laugh about it. He actually tempted himself into going back to get one of the cameramen’s video cameras to record the commander’s rude awakening. Mykal looked down at the gold band he couldn’t see and then realized the magic of the ring was getting to him. He had to get out of the camp so he could return to being visible as soon as possible.
While making his way back through the quiet, snoozing, camp Mykal desperately wanted to unleash his rage on the sleeping army and rain down a ter
ror, the likes of which they would have never known before. The army, these soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl, was the ones who normally brought terror upon unsuspecting villages and reined their horrific control over weak and helpless villagers. He wondered if he would be able to single handedly wipe out the entire army while being invisible and creeping through the campgrounds during the dark.
Mykal stopped and looked all around the camp and wondered if he would be able to carry off such a momentous undertaking. ‘What would that do to my mind?’ He wondered while he thought over the tempting challenge. ‘I really wanna kill all these scumbags, these ruthless warriors of Ziggy Stardust,’ he pondered and recognized he was a little tired from the events of the day. ‘I better wait cuz we’re gonna get our chance to wipe them out in the morning’.
He literally had to fight the urges within himself so he wouldn’t ruin the big laugh, ‘the big prank,’ he had set up, for the leader’s gruesome discovery when the leader woke from his peaceful rest. Mykal snickered at the idea of the leader’s breakfast being hampered first thing in the morning. ‘I’d love to see the friggin look on his face when he gets up,’ he chuckled quietly.
‘This can’t really be good for me,’ he thought as he couldn’t believe how hard it was to fight the urges to kill these soldiers. ‘Sure killing these brutal warriors of Zizmon-Tarl would be a good deed for the innocent people of Towbar’s world, but what the hell is happening to me?’ If this continued would innocent people become at risk? The mental battles were getting too hard, but he knew he couldn’t part with the powerful ring. Not at this time, but at what cost to hold onto it? He wondered if he should really bring it up to Captain Diaz or Ski. ‘I’ll just have to deal with this later,’ he thought as a way of postponing confronting his problem.
When he reached the outskirts of the camp he heard the concerned whispers of his friends that he left behind. They didn’t know what happened to him. He turned himself visible and walked up behind them.
“Where did you go my friend?” Nordad whispered and looked as shocked as he sounded.
“I snuck around the camp and I didn’t realize I went that far behind you guys,” he lied to protect his ability to turn invisible
They slipped away and when they were far enough away from the camp he explain all that he felt he learned.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 01/22/1984
1. Sunday, January 22nd 1984
0455 hours, Open Flatlands on the Other Side of World (15th Day)
“Hey Mykal, Captain Diaz told me to get you up,” Mathis said while he gently kicked the bottom of Mykal’s foot. “I know it’s early but if we’re going to hit them while they’re just getting up, we gotta get the jump on them.”
“Yeah, I hear ya,” Mykal grumbled and rolled over. It seemed as if he had only gotten a short little nap. He felt exhausted.
“Come on Myk, you know it’s the early bird that gets the worm,” Mathis said. “You look like the little birdie kind of guy.”
“I’ll friggin bird ya,” Mykal threatened playfully with a raised fist while he forced himself to a seated position.
“Speaking of birds,” Mathis said and looked in all directions to ensure his secrecy. “I don’t know what the hell the Hawkmen brought back in to camp but damn, munch munch on something. Or someone. I heard them feasting the hell outta something and I didn’t even want to go look.”
Mykal couldn’t wipe the smile from his face or the laughter that started to build up. There was something about Mathis that reminded him so much of the closeness of Boris, Kurt, Larry, Denny, Rich and Sam. Some of the friends he had lost in Towbar’s world. He still ached for Boris, Denny and Kurt. He really wished they were here. He would love to tell them about the prank he set up last night. They would have loved it and got a kick out of it.
He wondered if the ache would ever diminish or would the magic of the ring forever bring him down? Then he realized they had only been dead for a few months, not years. He heard there was a process of ‘grief and mourning’ that took time to heal. He didn’t really understand all that, but he just knew that it hurt. And at times, ‘it hurt hard.’
“So are you up?”
“Yeah, I’m up,” Mykal said. “Go tell Diaz I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Mykal suddenly felt troubled. He had a dream that startled him and he felt it was a premonition of some kind. He feared someone close to him was going to die. ‘Was it payback for what I did last night?’ He wondered. ‘Is God trying to get back at me cuz I used magic and killed those three guys last night? Can’t be, cuz we’re planning on killing all of them this morning,’ he argued with himself. ‘I mean these soldiers are the real bad guys, sure I laughed about what I did and I thought it would be funny when the snoring guy wakes up and sees his three dead friends and his sword covered in blood,’ he thought and had to fight the urge to laugh again.
“Damn it. I need to ask Diaz if God would punish me by killing off one of my friends to get back at me,” he whispered as he poured some water from his canteen onto his hands to rub on his face. Though the water was lukewarm it felt cold so early in the morning.
“I wonder if I’m really gonna lose one of my friends?” He asked himself aloud as he started toward the center of camp where Captain Diaz was. His stomach felt tied in knots with anxiety over this fear. He looked around at all the people who meant something to him. ‘Would it be Mathis? Damn I hope not. Oh man, what if it’s one of the Dosch brothers? Oh no, they already lost Baby Ray. Oh crap, what if it’s Towbar? Damn, I can’t bear to lose him. He’s the closest friend I have. What if it’s Diaz or Finley or Ratner? I like all those guys,’ he wondered while he walked through their little camp and looked at all the men he came across and measured how much they all meant to him. He looked at Nordad the wizard, Norg the Dwarf, the three Elves; Starling, Leeno and Blair. He felt he grew pretty close to Vick Daring the Australian reporter and many of the military personnel like Anka, Winfield, Freeman and all of them for that matter. ‘If they were all willing to put their lives on the line to help me find and rescue Doninka, I’ve grown fond of all of them,’ he pondered. ‘Oh shit, what if it’s Doninka who is gonna die,’ he gulped fearfully.
“Hey Towbar, come here for a second,” Mykal called to the giant who stood speaking with his soldiers and the six Elves. “I just need to ask you a quick question.”
“Yes my friend?” The giant said with a slight smile that was so distant from the way Mykal felt.
“Have you tried to Mind Talk with Doninka today?”
“Not yet my friend.”
“Could you do that as soon as possible? Especially before we depart?”
“Yes. Sure my friend. Is there a particular reason? You look troubled,” Towbar said.
“Yeah, I know it’s just me, but I’m worried about her,” he answered and didn’t want to tell Towbar that he just had one of his ‘gut feelings that always come true’ based on a dream he had. He didn’t want to tell Towbar that he believed someone close to him was going to die. “I’m hoping you make contact with her through your Mind Talk, then we find her real quick and then get the hell outta here,” he said with a forced laugh, but it didn’t mask the fear etched into his face.
Towbar stared into his eyes and appeared he was going to probe deeper but stopped. “Yes my friend, I will get away from all the men here in just a few minutes and try again.”
“Good, good. I gotta go talk to Diaz for a few minutes,” he said with a sigh of relief. “So I will talk to you after I talk to him. I really hope you make contact with her,” he added because he feared she might me the person close to him that God might kill to get even with him.
“I will make an attempt right now,” the giant replied compassionately in response to Mykal’s look of dread. The giant turned and walked away.
‘Damn, I hope it’s not Doninka or Towbar,’ he thought while he turned and moved toward Diaz’s area. ‘Diaz should know if God would punish me by taking someone away who is close to me,’ he tho
ught and almost moaned out loud.
“You look pretty tired Myk,” Lieutenant Finley said when Mykal approached their little group. Finley stood with Diaz, Ratner and Lemon, the top four leaders of his military group.
“Yeah I am,” he said and yawned. He knew he brought it on himself.
“See, those late nights out partying,” Finley teased.
“Well, it wasn’t actually partying,” Mykal replied and knew what he meant. “I was on a mission.”
“Yeah, a mission where you set up a prank,” Finley laughed. “But I too wish I could be there when he wakes up. I wonder what’s going to happen when he finds the three dead bodies. Will he think he killed them and turn himself in? Will he deny it and think someone set him up? Or will he think he did it and they deserved it?”
“Either way Sir, if we hit them right,” Ratner inserted himself into the conversation. “They won’t have to worry about it for long.”
“Captain Diaz, can I speak to you for a minute? Alone please?” Mykal said and the three men didn’t have to be asked again.
“We’ll go get the men ready to depart,” Finley said.
“Thanks,” Mykal said and winked to Finley.
“What’s wrong Myk?” Captain Diaz asked and stared hard into Mykal’s face.
“I’m afraid,” he admitted. “I had a strange dream and I woke up afraid that I’m gonna lose someone close to me. I had this gut feeling that I’m gonna lose someone close to me and whenever I get one of these gut feelings I’m hardly ever wrong. So it scared me. I’m really afraid about this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know for sure but I’m really afraid I’m gonna lose someone I feel is close to me. Whether it’s Towbar, Roy Jr., Randy, Mathis, you or Finley or anyone I’ve grown close to. Or maybe even Doninka might die at the hands of those monsters under Ziggy Stardust.”