The Wrath

by D Glenn Casey

  Hilde ran to her and hugged her face to hers.

  “You’re still hurt.”

  “I’ll be fine m’lady. I will just need some time to rest.”

  Garlan walked past her and headed toward Agoroth, who was glowering at the handful of enemy troops that had been captured. As he got closer, Keelee flew from the branches of a bush nearby and landed on his shoulder.

  “You leave me.”

  “It was really quite boring, Keelee.”

  Keelee just sulked a little as they stepped up next to Agoroth.

  “Getting any useful information out of them?” asked Garlan.

  “No, they not talk.”

  “Well, I’d love letting you take the time to get them to talk, but Keeleth and Morgath both suffered injuries in the battle and they could use your help. They are at the base camp below.”

  Agoroth snorted an angry growl into the faces of the troops and then turned and headed toward the path that would take him to the base camp.

  A couple of the Wyndweirian troops looked like they would love nothing better than to take their swords to these enemy troops, but they maintained their calm. Mostly because the bowmaidens wouldn’t let the swordsmen have their way with them.

  Garlan looked them over and noticed these were all very hard looking men. There was not a soft looking one in the bunch that would be easy to get some information from.

  Captain Taynor walked up and asked, “So, did you kill him this time?”

  Garlan looked at him and then at Hilde, who was standing next to Venia and taking care of her.

  “No, captain. The king of cockroaches got away again. But, not without a little memento from our favorite, redheaded warrior.”

  “Did she put another arrow in him?”

  “Into his left hand this time.”

  “We’re going to run out of arrows if she keeps allowing him to take them home as souvenirs.”

  Garlan laughed as he turned back to the task at hand; that of figuring out how to extract some information out of these enemy troops. They all looked at him with nothing, but hate in their eyes.

  He looked at Taynor, “Any ideas as to how to convince these soldiers to talk?”

  Taynor pointed across the camp, toward Captain Jong and said, “We could let him take care of the interrogation. I heard he has a way with them.”

  Garlan half-nodded and said, “That is true, but his way tends to end in a bloody mess.”

  “At least a dragon or two wouldn’t be hungry.”

  They made sure their words were loud enough for the enemy troops to hear.

  “I know,” asked Garlan, “but have you ever seen a dragon rip a man to pieces and eat him?”

  “No, I can’t say I have. It would be interesting, though.”

  Garlan nodded, “It would be interesting. Let’s give it a shot.”

  Keelee twittered at Garlan, “Let me pick.”

  He looked at her as she peered around from his shoulder.

  “You? Just what do you know about getting information out of prisoners?”

  “Good time to learn.”

  Garlan chuckled as he and Taynor stepped in front of the group of captives.

  He looked at the soldiers and pointed at one that wore the rank of lieutenant and appeared to be the highest ranking soldier in the group.

  “Him,” said Garlan. “Bring him along.”

  That Garlan hadn’t even asked her opinion caused Keelee to sulk a little more and he could feel it in his head.

  “Just be patient, little one,” he said to her.

  He turned and started walking toward Golrath, who was still laying on his belly at the edge of the cliff. Taynor grabbed the man by the back of his tunic and hauled him to his feet and pushed him along, following Garlan to the cliff’s edge.

  A couple of the bowmaidens were watching this take place and were about to intervene, but Taynor looked at them and winked, so they backed off.

  They stepped up in front of Golrath, who looked at the soldier and growled. Garlan thought his growl was every bit as nasty as Mirroth’s. He figured it must run in the family. He remembered that Lyrroth had a growl just as deep and menacing and so does Morgath.

  Garlan reached out and put his hand on the shoulder of the soldier and said, “This is my friend, Golrath, nephew of the King of the Dragons. He’s very hungry.”

  The soldier sneered at him and said, “You don’t do things like that, wizard. You are soft and it will be your downfall.”

  “Soft, huh?”

  Garlan seized him by the back of the collar and walked him to the edge of the cliff. As he did, Golrath stood up and turned around, never taking his green eyes off the soldier. The soldier could feel the dragon’s hot breath washing over him as they stood at the edge of the cliff. He looked down to see the drop was at least five hundred feet and ended on some jagged rocks below.

  “The thing is,” said Garlan, “my friend likes to catch his meals on the fly.”

  Keelee was bouncing up and down on Garlan’s shoulder as if she knew exactly what was coming next.

  The soldier looked at him again and said, “Soft.”

  “Let’s find out.”

  With that, he shoved the soldier, who toppled over the edge of the cliff and began his fall to the rocks below. He did it with quite a lot of screaming and panic.

  Garlan looked at Golrath and shrugged his shoulders and the dragon dove off the cliff and chased the falling soldier.

  Garlan and Taynor watched from the top of the cliff, to see if Golrath would catch him in time. Garlan had no doubt about that, but Taynor wasn’t so sure.

  In the last few seconds, before the soldier was about to be dashed on the rocks, Golrath grabbed him and flew him about a hundred yards away from the base of the mountain. He dropped the soldier on the ground and flew a quick circle and then landed right over him.

  The soldier screamed in terror as the dragon lowered his head and opened his mouth, letting his captive see the fire burning at the back of his throat. The soldier screamed even louder.

  Garlan and Taynor stood at the edge of the cliff, watching the whole thing.

  “Oh!” yelled Taynor. “That is not a pretty sight!”

  Garlan clapped him on the shoulder and said, “I told you, it would be a bloody mess.”

  “He good flier. I better though,” said Keelee.

  “Who? The soldier?” asked Garlan.

  “Soldier?” twittered Keelee in exasperation. “Soldier fly like rock.”

  Then he turned and called out to Sophia, sitting on a peak a little ways off. She leaped into the air and flew to him, landing in the edge of the cliff.

  “Wait here, Sophia. It’s your turn.”

  She nodded as the two walked back to the group of enemy soldiers. She looked down at the scene below, being unable to see much, because Golrath had his wings spread and was clearly enjoying his meal.

  Garlan and Taynor walked up to the group of soldiers and looked them over.

  “We can do this all day,” said Garlan. “We have plenty of hungry dragons.”

  He could see some fear in the eyes of a couple of them, but the rest were still looking like they had no intention of talking. They couldn’t believe this wizard was just killing them without any mercy.

  “Which one, Keelee?”

  The robin perked up and started looking at each of the men in front of her. When one of the tougher looking soldiers started laughing at the thought of asking a bird her opinion, she zeroed in on him.

  “Him. Look like good meal for dragon.”

  “Okay, let’s serve him up.”

  Garlan turned and walked back to Sophia and talked to her while Taynor hauled the soldier to his feet and walked him to the edge of the cliff. Keelee had turned around on Garlan’s shoulder and was watching the soldier as he followed them.

  “He not laugh anymore.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  The bowmaidens weren’t quite sure they should let this contin
ue, but they weren’t in any position to stop it.

  As they walked to the edge of the cliff, Taynor held the back of the man’s collar and let him look down. All he could see at the base of the mountain was the back of a large, red dragon that looked like it was eating something.

  Garlan spoke up and asked, “Care to tell us what you were up to today?”

  “Go to hell, wizard!”

  Taynor growled, “You first.”

  Then he shoved the man backward and he fell off the cliff, screaming like a little girl, all the way down. Sophia jumped off the cliff and, like Golrath, caught the man just before he slammed into the rocks and dropped him right next to Golrath and then settled down over him to enjoy her meal.

  “Oh, that has got to hurt,” said Taynor.

  “I’m sure it wasn’t the highlight of his day.”

  Garlan couldn’t keep from smiling as Keelee bounced up and down on his shoulder.

  They looked back at the remaining soldiers and could see fear in all their eyes now. Clearly this wizard was not the nice guy they had been led to believe.

  “Now a little different tactic,” said Garlan to Taynor, as he started walking back to the group.

  He looked them over and none of them wanted to meet his eyes, afraid they would be the next one to be picked.

  Then Garlan looked over toward Venia and Hilde. He could see in Hilde’s eyes that she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to know him right now. She wanted to win this war, but there had to be some lines that even they wouldn’t cross.

  “Venia! Are you hungry?” called out Garlan.

  Hilde tried to hold her back, but Venia, being as large as a house, just pulled away and rumbled across the camp to where the group sat.

  Garlan reached up and ran his hand over her snout. Next he reached into her mind and talked to her, in a way that no one could hear.

  She opened her mouth and looked at the soldiers. A growl came from way down deep inside her and the hot breath from her gullet hit the men full in the face.

  Garlan watched and finally saw what he wanted. One of the soldiers, probably the youngest of the group that was left, shuddered in fear and tried to look away from the dragon. He wanted to be anywhere but right there, being looked at like he was nothing more than a cow to be eaten by a dragon.

  “You,” said Garlan.

  “Yeah, he scared.”

  The man’s eyes snapped to Garlan and he tried pushing himself away, but Garlan grabbed him by the tunic and hauled him to his feet.

  Venia backed away a couple of steps and lowered her head until she was looking him right in the eyes. She bared her massive teeth and the soldier could see the drool that was about to drip off her lower lip. The same growl reverberated from the dragon’s mouth and the soldier’s knees almost buckled.

  “You only get one chance,” said Garlan. “What was your goal here today?”

  The man looked at him and closed his mouth, but he didn’t have the look of defiance he had before.

  “No answer? Okay.”

  Garlan shoved him and he fell to his knees right in front of Venia. The dragon’s mouth moved closer and closer to him and she opened it even wider. He could see the flames that he was about to become part of and screamed.

  Then, he broke.

  “We’re nothing more than a distraction!”

  The other soldiers yelled at him to shut up, but Venia brought her face to within a couple of inches of the man’s face.

  The heat in her breath almost scorched his face as she asked, “What kind of distraction?”

  “I don’t know everything, only that the dark wizard wanted you watching us and not the camp.”

  “What’s happening in the camp?” asked Taynor.

  “I don’t know. I swear! I only heard rumors as we left the camp yesterday. The dark wizard had other plans. None of us know the reason why we’re here, other than to draw your attention.”

  Garlan stepped up and looked at the man’s face.

  “What do you think, Venia?”

  “I think he is much too small to satisfy my hunger. I think I’ll fly over the mountains and see if I can find a couple of fat deer in the woods.”

  “Good hunting, my friend,” he said as he patted her on the neck.

  She turned away and walked over and dove off the cliff, then rose and flew over the mountain.

  Hilde walked up and said, “I should have gone with her.”

  “She’s still a little weak and probably would be better off without you on her back. Besides, I think I’m going to need you with me.”

  “Do you?”

  “You’re my bodyguard, aren’t you?”

  “Yes I am.”

  Keelee twittered and Garlan looked at her.

  “You can be my bodyguard, too.”

  Garlan turned and motioned for Taynor to put the man back in the group, as he and Hilde walked to the edge of the cliff. They looked down and the two dragons were still doing their thing about five hundred feet below.

  Garlan said, “Call them back up.”

  Hilde let out an ear-piercing whistle and the two dragons looked up at her. She waved them back to the mountain top and then watched as they picked up the two men and began flying back to the camp.

  When they reached the camp, they dropped the two soldiers near their companions and then went and took up their lookout posts again. Both men were a bit scratched up and their clothes ripped to pieces. But, they were both still very much alive.

  As they laid on the ground, trying to catch their breath, Taynor looked down at them and asked, “Did you have a good time? I certainly did.”

  They started screeching at him with every foul word they could think of and Garlan reached out and snatched their voices away.

  “There are ladies present here!” he said. “Keep a civil tongue.”

  Keelee was looking at the one that had laughed at her and twittered a string of her own strong language. The soldier looked up at her and then at Garlan.

  “She says, you’re not laughing now, are you?”

  If the look of hate could kill, the soldier’s gaze would have cut the little robin right in half.

  “So, what do you need me to do with you?” asked Hilde.

  “I need you to get Gwen and Emmilyn ready to go. We are going to take a look at the camp across the valley.”

  Taynor spoke and asked, “Do you think that’s wise?”

  Garlan turned and started walking back to the edge of the cliff. They followed him and he pointed toward the camp.

  “Do you see anything amiss?”

  Taynor looked across the dark landscape, toward the fires that were burning like they did every night.

  “No, not really. Wait. Why do they have their fires still burning this late into the morning?”

  “Precisely,” said Garlan. “If my suspicions are correct, we’re going to find a whole lot of nothing over there.”

  “Oh, that’s not good,” said Hilde.

  Then she turned and ran across the camp to find the other two riders and get them ready to go.

  “We’ll go take a look,” said Garlan to Taynor, “but I think it would be prudent to get our troops ready to move. I’m guessing if that army is missing, it’s not coming here.”

  “To repeat what Lady Hilde just said, this is not good.”

  “No, it’s not. Let’s get going.”

  Chapter 25 ~ An Enemy Vanished

  Looking down on the camp, it was quite evident it was virtually empty. There were only a handful of troops visible and it appeared their sole function was to keep the fires burning throughout the camp. There wasn’t even a camp left. There were no tents or other facilities that an army would need. Just the fires scattered around the open plain at the base of Mount Thunder.

  By any stretch of the imagination, this was nothing more than a ploy to draw attention away from the fact that the armies of Kerrick were somewhere else and not in the Eastern Desert.

  “I don’t like this,
Garlan,” said Hilde from her seat in front of him.

  “Well, Hilde, there is nothing here to like. We’ve been suckered and now we have to figure out how bad the damage is.”

  He turned and called out to Emmilyn and Gwen and ordered them to head straight back to the mountain top and get Taynor and all the troops off there and down to the base camp. Then to fly to the base camp and tell them that they should probably start heading back toward Rosemoor.

  After they had left, Garlan guided Golrath to land just outside what was the enemy camp.

  “What are you doing?” asked Hilde.

  “We need to know where this army went. Do you know of a better way than to ask these that have been left behind?”

  As they dismounted Golrath, they started walking toward the nearest set of fires and an arrow came flying out of the smoke. Garlan easily brushed it aside and then reached out with his right hand and crushed the heart of the soldier that fired it.

  Hilde gasped and looked at him.

  “That you could do that so easily, I’m not sure if it scares me or not.”

  “I need to put the fear of the wizards into the hearts of these men and do it quickly. Until they fear me, they will never give us the answers we need.”

  "You don't think they have come to fear wizards, being ruled over by Kerrick?"

  Garlan shrugged his shoulders as Hilde moved to the front and pulled her shield off her back and raised it to just under her chin. If another arrow came flying at them, she intended to be the first one it hit. Her shield was custom made so that she could wear it on her left forearm and still keep her left hand free. This allowed her to carry her bow in her left hand and enabled her to fire an arrow without setting the shield down.

  “Personally,” said Garlan, “I’d appreciate it if you would get behind me. I can do a better job of protecting you if I’m in front.”

  “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I stayed behind you.”

  Just then another arrow flew from the smoke and embedded itself into the shield with a loud thunk. Hilde pulled an arrow immediately and fired directly back at the spot where the arrow had come from. They heard a scream of pain as it found its target.