“Agis, Threg, take some warriors and search these huts,” kDira ordered. They both jumped into action, taking several krebs, both male and female with them.
It didn’t take long and the warriors began pulling people from the huts, sometimes one at a time, sometimes two or three at once. kDira and the others could see that these were older people. There were no youth or warrior aged members among them.
kDira walked over to a small group of them as they were gathered up. She looked them over, taking note that only a small handful was female, most were elder males, and most looking too frail to be a threat.
“I am kDira, leader of the Blackhorn. Who is your leader?” she asked one of the oldest males presented to her.
“kDira, great leader of the Blackhorn, we have no leader. We are but wanderers. We found ourselves here, and here we wait to die,” the elder said.
The elder was an aged, frail looking male with full gray beard that wrapped from ear to ear. He was taller than most of the others, but had much less body mass. He had a glossy, twinkle in his eyes, but they were filled with sadness as well.
“What tribe are you from?” kDira asked.
“We are what is left of the First Hill Tribe,” the elder said sadly.
“Years ago, we lost our mother to the Karn,” he continued. “We have tried to carry on, but we have now given up. We are all too old to continue. May I ask, brave leader of the Blackhorn is it? What brings you to this forsaken place?”
“The Karn have taken our Princess Mothers as well,” kDira replied. “We are to make our way into the city and get them back.”
“You will need a bigger army, kDira of the Blackhorn.”
“What is your name, old one?” kDira asked the elder.
“My name is Guller,” he said in his old, shaky voice.
“Guller, let us sit and talk,” she requested. “Agis, Threg, let these people go about their business. Let us take a break here and rest.”
All those from the tribe found places to sit and began to break out bits of dried meat and opened the bryne. Several of the elders asked if they could have a little food and bryne, and most were granted a small portion.
“Come with me, kDira of the Blackhorn,” Guller said, motioning for her to follow. Agis took it upon himself to tag along as a guard.
Guller led them into his hut, where he had numerous tomes and scrolls, much like Elick, their Interpreter once had in his hut.
“Are you and Interpreter, elder Guller?” kDira asked.
“Somewhat,” he said with a shrug. “I used to be much more-so than I am now, but I have had little need to maintain my craft. I am afraid my skills lacking today.”
“But I wanted to show you this,” he continued, pulling out a large scroll longer than kDira’s arm, or even that of Agis. He laid it on a table and began rolling it out.
“This is Karn City,” he said, his shaky hand pointed to the map now exposed on the table. “And I believe your treasure will be found there,” he said pointing at one spot on the map. “This is their leader’s palace.”
kDira pulled out the map that Elick had given her and compared to the one Guller was now showing her.
“Our Interpreter gave us this map before we left,” she said, trying to align her map up with the other. Guller took it from her hands, turned it around, and placed it over the top of his own map. The destination that Elick had marked lined up perfectly with the spot he had pinpointed. He smiled as he watched kDira’s eyes get bigger.
“You are certain this is where they will be?” she asked, trying not to get to over-excited.
“I know it is,” he said.
“And how do you know this?” kDira asked.
“I have been there. We did not go in, of course, but I am certain that this is where their most important leaders are staying. It has to be the place.”
“You’ve all been there?” she said, trying to understand.
“We haven’t always been old,” Guller said looking a bit bolder than he had. “We were brave warriors once. When their wolfpacks took our Mothers, we did everything we could to get them back, but we just ran out of warriors and energy. What you see now is the last of us, barely fifty left, all aging away. We have all but given up.”
“Tell me about this palace,” kDira said, trying to get the discussion back on task.
cHAPTER 10
The Karn Palace was a massive place, with three large towering structures many times higher than the canyon walls of Ocheebee Pass. Two of the towers that stood on one side of the center plaza had toppled centuries ago and only the remaining rubble told the story of how great they once were.
The third tower standing by itself on the other side of the plaza remained standing, and was the most likely target of their assault. Taller than thirty huts in height, and wider than an entire village, the Palace would not be brought down as easily as the Karn Keep. It had survived the end of times, it had survived the Great Cloud, it would not fall to a small band of Blackhorn.
Guller explained all this to kDira and Agis, who listened with eager ears. Guller believed the Karn king would be at the very top of the Palace, and getting there would be foolhardy.
“At each end of the structure are stairs,” Guller explained. “Endless stairs, they seem to go up forever. The stairs start in one direction, and then turn the other way and rise some more. Each time they double back there is a door to a new level. Each would most likely be full of Karn warriors.”
“Tens of hundreds of rooms,” he continued. “The highest any of our warriors got to was 20 levels before they had to turn back in order to not be discovered.”
“Twenty levels?” kDira said in disbelief. “Twenty levels, straight up?”
“Straight up,” confirmed Guller.
kDira looked at Agis, her mouth fell open in disbelief.
“There are always guards at the base,” Guller added. “One or two might be able to sneak past, but once inside you will need an army. You will need to take out the guards first, and then worry about the Palace tower.”
“As I said before, you will need a bigger army,” Guller said.
“We will have to make do with what we have, Interpreter,” kDira said.
“But if you could have a bigger army, would that be better?” Guller asked with a smile.
“I don’t know of any armies for hire, elder Guller,” she said. “I do not mean to offend you, but we don’t have time to round up another army. We must act soon, or we fear the worst for our Princess Mothers.”
“Come with me, brave kDira,” Guller said, getting up and motioning her to follow him out of the hut. “I will find you an army.”
“May I have everyone’s attention?” he called out to his people. “Fellow First Hill Tribe, we came here to breathe our last breath. But I ask you, how many of you would rather breathe that last breath getting vengeance against the Karn? How many of you would join forces with the Blackhorn and fight to defeat them, when death is a certainty either way?”
It didn’t take long before a rumble of cheers and war whoops rose from the floor of the Valley of Death.
“Guller, you are but old folk waiting to die. The trek alone would kill half of you,” kDira said trying to talk sense into the old man.
“Then you would have twenty-five more when you reach Karn City then you do right now, am I right?” Guller said.
“But even so, we do not have weapons to arm you all, you would be no help at all.”
Guller digested those words a moment, looked out at the tribe of the First Hill, and nodded. Upon doing so, each of his tribemates presented their own sword, bow, axe or spear. Some had more than one weapon. They looked ready to fight, and some even fit enough.
“Old one, we have nothing to offer you in exchanged for your services to the Blackhorn, but you would be welcome to join us until the end of days if we succeed,” kDira said, a little touched by the show of strength by the elders.
“My brave kDira of the Blackhorn, you
do have something to offer,” Guller said. “You offer us the chance to die with dignity.”
“Then we will allow you that much,” kDira relented. “We will talk about the future when this is over.”
“Make preparations to leave,” kDira said standing. “We are wasting daylight.”
“If I may suggest, kDira,” Guller interrupted, “if we leave in the morning, we will be at the edge of Karn City by sundown, and that would be the best time to make our way into the city, and into the palace.”
“Very good. Let us camp here and plan our strategy. I will see that our rations are shared if you have none.”
For the rest of the daylight hours, kDira and her friends, as well as Threg and Ari sat with Guller and a couple other First Hill tribemates, discussed a plan of attack. To be conservative, they planned everything using only thirty First Hill. If there were more than that by the time they got there, all-the-better.
They would first have to knock out the guards at the base of the Palace tower. They would divide into two groups. Each group would go to a side of the tower and take out the guards and gain access to each side’s stairs, taking out any Karn they encounter as they climb the tower. At each level, they would jam the door if possible so that anyone inside could not gain access to the stairs.
One or two First Hill warriors would stay behind at intervals to alarm the people above that Karn were coming. If an alarm were sent, all above would relay the alarm all the way to the party making its way to the top level.
Once they get to the top they would enter the level and begin a search for the Princess Mothers, and take out any Karn they could find. Should they not find the Mothers, they would go down one level and start over, and continue until they found them.
In addition to finding the Princess Mothers, they would also look for the king and assassinate him. Without their king, the Karn would have no direction and would be much less effective from this day forward, until another worthy king stepped forward.
Killing the King would also send a message that kDira so dearly wanted to send. You don’t mess with the Blackhorn.
The planning went on late into the night.
Morning seemed to come early, and everyone was eager to be on their way. kDira gathered her things and made herself ready for the day long trek to the end of the Valley of Death. She took a moment to pass a sharpening stone over the blade of her long knife and a few of her arrow tips that had seen more use than the others recently.
As everyone seemed to fall into formation, kDira could see just how large her army had grown. With over eighty warriors, even though some were well past their prime, they would be much more formidable than they would have with just thirty. Everyone stood in their place, as though waiting for the command to march onward.
“Blackhorn, and the Tribe of the First Hill,” kDira said, glancing at the crowd, and then stopping to look Guller in the eyes, “Today we march towards our future. We face our foes with fierce determination and from our hearts, and our guts, we spill their blood and take back what is ours. We take back our very souls. We fight for what is right, we fight for those that need our help, and we fight because we have been left with no other choice but to either rot into the ground among the weeds, or to brandish our swords and go down in history as the small tribes that conquered the Karn.”
The entire camp erupted in cheers and war whoops that they hoped could be heard all the way to Karn City.
“We’re coming for you,” kDira said to herself, mentally hoping that the Princess Mothers could somehow hear her thoughts.
“Let’s move out,” kDira announced, “to Karn City!”
“To Karn City! Hail, kDira!” everyone chanted. The energy in the mixed tribe was great, and kDira could feel the strength in every one of them. She walked between the ranks to make her way to the path again that led to the city. Threg, Ari, and Agis were close behind, as were Omiroe, Edu, Isiath, and Guller. Everyone made room for them to pass.
As they made their way onto the path leading to the city the army began to spread out. The slower, older First Hill warriors trailed towards the back. Some of the Blackhorn stayed back to tend to any needs, but most stayed to the front with the main group. The path was rugged, and with every obstacle more and more of the First Hill Tribe became further and further behind. Guller managed to stay towards the front with kDira, but he too was struggling. His old legs and frame was no longer suited to this kind of travel, and after all, he was not a warrior, he was an Interpreter. kDira praised him for his determination and stamina.
Occasionally, one or more First Hill tribe members would have to stop and sit, and would insist that the main group continue onward. Most times the others assumed they would never see them again, as the Valley of Death was no place to be alone. Most of the First Hill had no food or drink with them. A Blackhorn would offer them a hearty drink of Bryne before going on, but that was all. The only thing left for them to do would be wait for the end.
When they finally made it to the edge of the city, the sun was starting to go down. kDira asked Edu to do a count of all remaining.
The results showed that they had lost twenty-four of their army, but what was surprising was the fact that four of them were Blackhorn. One of those was Isiath.
“Certainly, they stayed behind to help the elders,” kDira said to Guller.
“Our plan will still work with the numbers we have,” Guller replied, hoping to build some confidence in the Blackhorn leader. “We lost far fewer than we feared.”
“You are right, there, Guller,” she agreed. “The sun is going down; we must not waste time finding the entrance to the tunnel that will lead us to the Karn Palace.”
“Agreed,” Guller said. “According to my map, it is a short distance this way,” he said point off to the southwest.
With that, they set out to the southeast in search of the entrance to the tunnel. The City was littered with more of the rusted metal carts and broken buildings. Everyone was on alert in case anyone was hiding in the shadows. There were numerous furry creatures running in between crevices of rock and boulders, most looking like they hadn’t eaten in many days.
“You don’t want to camp out here,” Guller said, “the little creatures will pick your bones clean before you could wake up and stop them from doing it.”
“That’s a pleasant thought,” kDira said.
“There it is,” Guller said, pointing to a metal circle on the ground.
“What is it?” kDira asked, confused.
“Come! You there,” Guller said, pointing at Agis and another Blackhorn warrior. “Come pull this from the ground.”
The two found small holes in the large metal circle and pulled upward. Reluctantly, it gave way, and they were able to lift it upward and set if off to the side of the hole that was now visible where it once sat.
“We have to go down there?” kDira asked.
“That is the plan, if you recall,” Guller said.
“Not at all what I expected,” she said, catching her first whiff of the pungent odor rising from the hole. “Not at all.”
One by one they made their way down through the hole into the damp, dark tunnel below. Torches were lit, bringing into view many more of the short legged furry animals scurrying about. kDira cringed at the site of the dirty, smelly creatures as she waited for the last of the tribe to enter the catacombs.
With Guller minding the map, they moved onward towards their goal. Keeping near the walls as to stay out of the stagnant, slow moving stream of filthy water that flowed down the middle of the tunnel, they moved forward, sometimes kicking creatures out of the way to keep from stepping on them. They scurried out of the way with a ‘squeak’ that did nothing to make them more appealing.
With warriors and elders hugging walls on both sides of the tunnel, kDira was amazed at the energy that the elders were showing next to the younger Blackhorn. She hoped when it came time to battle, they had the same drive and energy they had shown getting to this point.<
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When the tunnel branched off occasionally, they would have to wade ankle deep in the muck to get to the other side. Once across they could once again walk on the dry stone like walkway along the walls. The stench was almost overwhelming, and occasionally kDira could hear the sound of warriors or elders retching into the muck. Often, when you heard one, more were sure to follow. The wretchedness of the catacombs would certainly be a useful defense for the faint of heart. Surely, one would rather take their chances up in the open than to submit to the nastiness below. Hopefully, this reasoning could lead to the downfall for the Karn.
“We will turn south-hand at the next opportunity,” Guller said, pointing just up ahead. “That will lead us to the area just outside of the Palace.”
They took the south-hand corner as instructed, and trudged onward through more repugnant creatures, more retching, and more stench. The stench, kDira noticed, got worse the closer to the Palace they got.
“I smell Karn,” she said under her breath.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Agis holding his nose. “I hope we get out of here soon, this is getting unbearable.”
“Not much farther,” Guller said. “We must pass one more passage intersecting this one, and then just a short distance more and we will see a way up. I hope…”
True to his prediction, just past the intersection they found a ladder upward.
kDira mounted her torch on the wall next to the ladder, and told one of the warriors to go up and open the hatch. As he moved to get onto the ladder, Agis stepped forward and climbed onto the first rung.
“I will do this,” he said, looking at kDira. With that he climbed the six steps that put him in reach of the hatch. Agis struggled with the weight of the hatch.
“It seems to be blocked. I can move it slightly, but it seems to be held down with something,” he said.
“Push harder, kreb!” kDira shouted up to him.
Agis gave it everything he had, and managed to push the cover out of the way, small rocks the pebbles and dirt fell down the hole. Once out of the way they could see the starry sky above, but little other light.
The kDira's World Anthology Page 10