“What is it we are building, Interpreter, if I may ask?” questioned Agis.
“It is my own creation, but it is much like a cat-pult of the Olden Days. Except, cat-pults threw rocks. This one just breaks walls. You’ll see.”
Agis looked confused. “But how will we get this huge cat-thing all the way to the keep?”
“I didn’t say it was going to be easy, but we will manage,” he said. “We will make a cart for it. Just too bad all of you will have to be the beasts that pull it. Karn killed all of our beasts.”
kDira and Esenice returned with sacks full of kegs and flasks and laid them near where the males were working on the cat-pult contraption.
“Oh good. This is part two. We now need to gather all the oils and fats we can find and fill the flasks,” the Interpreter instructed. “When you get them all full, I will show you what to do next.
As the cat-pult took shape, the males were instructed how to wind the ropes and twines around all the places the beams would come together, and the pivot of the arm that would do the damage.
“A counterweight,” the Interpreter explained, “will drop and cause the arm to swing upward and impact the keep walls, and hopefully knocking it down.”
“What is a counterweight?” Agis asked.
“In this case,” said the Interpreter, “is a big basket, or cradle of rocks.”
“How are we going to lift a big basket of rocks?” a confused Agis asked.
“One stone at a time, my warrior friend. One stone at a time.”
The crew laughed and Agis, realizing the simplicity of the answer laughed an embarrassed laugh as well.
The crew worked on most of the day building the cat-pult, the females filling kegs with oils. As the machine took shape, Isiath found some wheels from an old cart and the Interpreter instructed how to fashion an axle and attach them to the cat-pult.
When the cat-pult was finished, the Interpreter instructed everyone on how to use it. The end of the pivot arm had a large rock for a battering ram, the other end held a large, sturdy cradle. The battering ram end was tied down to the frame of the cat-pult and when the cradle was filled with rocks the line tightened and strained under the weight.
“The more rocks you can put in the cradle, the more force the ram will have on the wall,” said the Interpreter.
They tested it with a full cradle and when they cut the tie-down, the ram head swung wildly upward and over, the entire rig shaking wildly with the force. They could imagine a mighty impact on the wall. Everyone cheered at the hint of success.
“Interpreter?” kDira asked as the excitement died down.
“Yes, my dear?” the Interpreter replied.
“What are the kegs of oil for?”
“Those, my brave warrior,” he explained, “are for what they called in the Olden Days, molten cat-tails.”
“Molten cat-tails? They must not have liked cats back then?” she laughed as did the others.
“What we are going to do,” he continued, “is put oil-soaked cloth in the holes in the tops, light them, and throw them at the Karn. The flasks will break, and burning oil will go everywhere,” he said with a smile.
Everyone “ooo’d” and “aaah’d” at the thought of burning Karn.
“We will need to take torches with us then,” suggested kDira.
“Agreed,” said Agis.
“But Interpreter,” said kDira, “the larger kegs, they are too large to throw.”
“Don’t you worry, I have a plan for those too. Come now, we must eat and discuss what our plan is for tomorrow. I think we have a good chance if we do this correctly.”
“But first,” the Interpreter continued, “There is something that I think we must do. As a tribute to whom we are and where we came from, we must mark ourselves in honor of those we burned here. Come, Agis, bring your sharpest knife,” he said, motioning the others to follow him towards the smoldering funeral pyre.
“In the Olden Days,” the Interpreter said when they arrived at the now smoking pile of ash and bone, “people would mark their bodies with dyes and pigments to proclaim their loyalty to their tribes or other things. Or they might do it for decoration. Before the pigments and dyes, they used other things, like ash to mark their skin. Today, I decree that we make the mark of the Blackhorn upon our bodies so that we will always be reminded of our sacrifices and our values.”
He held up a piece of parchment and showed the others.
“This is the symbol of the Blackhorn,” he said, showing the parchment to everyone.
“How do we make the marks, Interpreter?” kDira asked.
“I will show you how to make this mark on our arms and it will never come off. We will always be branded as Blackhorn.”
“I will do one first to show you, and then someone must do my arm,” said the Interpreter. “Agis, may I have your knife, please?”
Agis handed him his knife.
“Now let me have your arm,” the Interpreter said to Agis. Slowly and carefully, the Interpreter began making a series of light slits in the upper arm of Agis. Blood started to trickle out and as it did the Interpreter rubbed the ash from the burned bodies into the wounds. He continued, Agis flinching with every cut, until he had the entire symbol completed and filled with ash on Agis’s arm.
He then handed the knife to Agis and told him to return the act by marking his arm. Agis, uncertain of his ability to do such detailed work, handed the knife to Esenice.
“You are better suited for this than I,” he said, and Esenice accepted the knife and set about the task of cutting the slits into the flinching and crying Interpreter, rubbing ash into each fresh cut.
When she finished, everyone had their turn at getting the marking. Everyone accepted the pain and the ash as a tribute in pain to the fallen.
“We are ready,” the Interpreter confirmed.
“Agreed,” said Agis.
cHAPTER 5
The next morning, the interpreter laid out what he felt was the best plan of attack. With his instructions strong in their minds, kDira and Esenice, armed with a small cart full of large kegs of oil filled molten cat-tails, several long strands of rope, and their personal weapons and provisions to last them a couple days, set out for the Keep’s rear entrance. kDira carried her bow and long knife, and Esenice her short bow and short sword.
Agis and the other males, including the Interpreter, began pushing the massive cat-pult wagon down the road. As per the plan, they had two days and a sunrise to reach the Karn Keep. At that time the plan would be put into action. kDira and Esenice were to be ready at that time as well, though they had a much shorter trip.
The males strained both up hills and down. Not only did they have to muscle the cat-pult up the hills, but they had to hold it back on the way back down to keep it from running away and crashing into the trees lining the trail. The biggest challenge would be the hill that marked the end of the Urec Plains leading to the Ocheebee pass. To make matters worse, not only did they have to struggle with the cat-pult, but they were also hauling a fair number of the molten cat-tails themselves.
kDira and Esenice had it no easier. Though their load was lighter and smaller, the path they took to get to the back door of the Karn Keep was far less traveled, and often they had to make their own path in the underbrush of the Kaiba Forest. Together the pair pulled and tugged the wagon. They struggled until there was no more light, at which time they decided that they would pull off the trail and make camp for the evening. They didn’t make a fire that evening, but they did sit on a log and share bread and dried animal together. They laid their bedrolls closely together, doubled up their blankets, and slept closely together as krebs do.
At first light both the males on the cat-pult and females with their little cart once again began their separate journeys. All were sore and tired but knew that necessity of making time. There was little talk, and absolutely no humor. The Interpreter did his best to help, but the kreb warriors refused to let him over do himself. He
was too valuable to risk injury. They stopped from time to time to rest, but only for a short while, and only long enough to take a drink of bryne or snack on some dried meat, hardly long enough to truly rest. There would be time to rest after they conquered the Karn.
kDira was doing her best to ease the load for Esenice. Esenice, being somewhat smaller, didn’t have the strength that kDira had. Her strength was her incredible stamina. It took most of the day, but they finally reached the edge of the Kaiba Forest.
“Somewhere around here is the opening. It’s hidden well, so we’ll need to look hard,” kDira told Esenice, who was glad to not be pushing the wagon anymore.
“Let’s leave the wagon here at the edge hidden by the brush and we’ll go looking. Watch out for Karn, who knows if they come out from time to time,” kDira warned.
“Got it,” Esenice confirmed.
They searched first North, then South when they finally came across the hidden opening. They were glad to see it wasn’t too far from the cart. Though they were not going to initiate their portion of the plan until nightfall, they still had preparations to make. They gathered fallen logs, larger rocks, and as much brush as they could find. They strategically dragged whatever they could near the Keep entrance. In the dark of night, they were to begin putting their portion of the plan in motion. They only hoped that the team on the cat-pult was in place when they needed to be.
The male krebs were indeed making progress, but they knew that they were behind schedule. Having stopped the previous evening for a few hours’ rest, they were up before first sun to get an early start. They were now at the edge of the Kaiba Forest looking out over the Urec Plains. The road from this point onward would be easier, but the fact that it was all uphill, and the grade would be getting steeper and steeper as they reached the crest did not make them happy.
“How far is it,” asked Omiroe.
“If we weren’t pulling the cat-thing,” Agis said, “I’d say another day.”
“We don’t have another day,” the Interpreter interjected, matter-of-factly.
“Of course, we do not,” said Agis, “but I can’t change the fact that we still have a long way to go.”
“Then we can’t stand here talking, can we?” Edu pointed out abruptly.
“Let’s go, lazy krebs,” Agis said. “What are we standing around for?”
With that, they all pitched in and began pushing as though their futures depended upon it. With the purpose of saving what was left of the Blackhorn, the cart seemed lighter. The Interpreter helped push and no one objected this time. By the last light of the evening they had made it to the crest of the rise at the end of the Urec Plains. Looking down, all but Agis was looking at the mouth of the Ocheebee Pass for the first time.
“I’d heard about it,” The Interpreter said as other nodded. “I heard it was dangerous. I guess I heard correctly. We’re losing light. We will have to hurry if we are to get into the canyon before nightfall.”
Together they began push the cart down the hill, but more than anything they were holding the cart back to keep it from running away from them. Agis assured them that once they get into the Pass it will be flat and smooth.
As they entered the canyon the last bit of light from the sun disappeared from the night sky and they were left with the stars and a hint of moonlight shining down from over the canyon walls. They moved forward slowly making sure they did not hit the walls of the Pass, or any rocks that might be in the way. In order to be in position and ready for attack by just before daybreak, they were going to have to push hard one more time.
As night fell on kDira and Esenice, they set to work preparing their surprise for the unsuspecting Karn. Carefully they opened the door to the dark stairwell into the musty Keep below. They could see the faint light of the first torch on the wall, but could hear no sounds below. They started down, each of them carrying a long coil of rope over their shoulders and a large molten cat-tail. As silently as they could, they descended the steps until they got to the first torch, which coincided with a short landing in the steps. They continued downward to the second and final torch and another small landing.
At the second torch, they set the rope and kegs of oil down. The pair then dashed back up the stairs to get more kegs. They repeated this until they had all the kegs located onto the lower landing before the final descent to the door to the Keep.
kDira then took a rope and followed the stairs down to the door, where she tied the rope onto the large wooden handle. From there she stretched the rope back up the stairs, to the first landing and Esenice used it to tie together three of the large jugs. kDira tied the end of the other large rope to the three Esenice had tied to, and began hauling the rope up to the next landing. There she tied the rope to the remaining jugs.
As kDira was finishing her task, her partner took the torch off the wall and placed it on the stairs just below the first landing, and then made her way back up to the second landing with kDira.
Esenice took the second torch and placed on a step about half way between landings. The trap was set, and the pair went back up to the surface.
It was when they reached the top that they took the brush and stones they had gathered earlier and began blocking the exit shut. If they got that far, kDira didn’t want them getting out. Not before they burned to death or choked on the smoke from their own burning flesh.
Meanwhile, the team on the cat-pult had passed the cave where kDira and Agis has slept their first night in the Pass. Agis had mentioned to the Interpreter that there were drawings in the cave that, should he live through this, he should come back to and study them.
As they made their way through the Pass they could hear sounds coming from ahead. It was quiet at first, but as they got closer to the Keep it grew louder. The crew stopped, and they agreed that Agis and Isiath would go on ahead as stealthily possible.
The pair quickly ran up ahead, and as they did so, they rounded the bend that revealed the Keep. Isiath let out a gasp.
“Amazing,” he whispered.
“It is a wonder, is it not?” Agis whispered back.
The two warriors could see torch lights in the windows, unlike before when it was quiet and dark. There were Karn walking past the windows having what appeared to be a celebration. Agis and Isiath could see many consuming liquids and some were being very loud and playful. Some were tossing flasks and kegs out the windows on the first and second floor of the span across the canyon. There appeared to be no one below.
“Let’s get back,” said Agis.
They met back up with the rest of the cat-pult team and informed them that they could proceed up to the last bend before the Keep. Agis told them of the celebration that seemed to be going on.
“Knowing the Karn, they’ve probably been celebrating ever since their victory over our tribe,” Edu said. “Maybe they will lose energy and give us an opportunity to prepare.”
“Let’s hope,” the Interpreter said.
“Agreed,” said Agis.
In the dead of night, kDira and Esenice, having finished their task of blocking the exit of the Karn Keep, began running east. Without the encumbrance of the cart that carried the molten cat-tails and carrying only their weapons and one last length of rope, they made good time crossing the Urec Plain to the canyon’s edge. It was fortunate that they had enough moonlight to see the canyon’s edge. The consequences of one too many steps would be fatal. Looking down they could barely make out the floor of the Pass, and kDira was not certain where the span of the Keep was located.
Her best guess was that it was a short distance south of their position, so they headed in that direction in hopes of seeing the span that she had only seen from below many days before. As they carefully made their way along the edge of the Pass, the span came into view. It was down within the canyon a bit, but not so far that they couldn’t scale the walls of the Pass and reach the top of the span if they wanted to. They could hear voices and sounds coming from within, and light from the windows.<
br />
From this vantage point they sat in wait of the cat-pult crew. By early light she knew they would be able to see them in position if they had made it on time. If not, the plan would have to change, and kDira wasn’t ready to plan that far ahead.
Agis and the others waited until all sounds died down from the Keep. There were still some faint lights, but it was clear that the party had ended and the Karn were now deep in bryne-assisted slumber.
The male Blackhorn slowly moved the cat-pult into position under the span of the Karn Keep. They removed all the molten cat-tails, and with the ram tied down, they began filling the cradle with all the rocks they could find, and there were many. With the cradle filled, it was time to begin the first part of the attack.
Agis, because he knew the inside of the Keep better than any of the other males, would lead two others into the Keep to take out as many as possible on their way in, and hopefully stay as silent as possible.
kDira and Esenice would remove any guards from the top of the span, then repel on rope down to the top floor and remove anyone that might be there. Then both teams would search for the Princess Mothers. The molten cat-tails that the males carried were the final step to finish off the last of the Karn.
Agis, Isiath and Omiroe gathered their gear and entered the Keep from the canyon floor where kDira and Agis had entered before. When they got to the top of the stairs they placed most of the molten cat-tails on the floor and started down the first passage that crossed the Pass. There were half a dozen Karn passed out either flat on the floor or sitting along the walls of the passage, their heads hanging low on their chest, several with bryne and stomach fluids dripping from their mouths.
The three quickly and silently slit their throats without any remorse. These are the people that killed almost every Blackhorn. There would be no tears shed for them by the remaining Blackhorn. Reaching the end of the passage, they looked both north and south. There were more Karn and they quickly set about dispatching them as they had done the others, even before there could be a whimper or call for help. The dying Karn had a smell of unwashed dogs, reeking of wet hair and filth. Agis almost felt as though he was putting them out of their misery.
The kDira's World Anthology Page 5