“Guard!” The councilman called out, “show the king to his new quarters. The breeder will go with him, for now. Have the Midlanders brought up as well.”
With a quick turn, Hayden, led by a guard and followed by kDira and another guard, took the last remaining flights of stairs to the top floor, the king’s quarters.
“Welcome home, my queen,” Hayden sneered. “I would like to consummate our union before I get cleaned up and send you to the basement. Remove her gag, I want to hear every whimper my little breeder makes.”
The guard did as told and removed the gag from her mouth.
kDira stretched her jaw muscles and tried to get some moisture to come back to her mouth. She looked at Hayden, her eyes trying to penetrate his.
“I am going to kill you,” she said in a dry, tired voice.
“Now, now. Let’s not fight on our first night together,” Hayden said, smiling. “Guard, tie her to my bed, I will be in there in just a minute.”
“I’m going to kill you!” kDira screamed on more time as she was dragged into the bed chambers.
Hayden found a bota half full of bryne, sat on a bench and drained the bag in almost no time at all. He was tired, but he had one last duty to perform that day.
cHAPTER 27
Muzi led the group to a pair of double doors near the southeast corner of the lower level. The double doors were shiny metal, though the passage of time had tarnished much of them a bit. There were no handles or knobs to open them, and Agis stood before them confused.
“You have to push them aside,” she said, motioning with her hands to show what she was talking about. “It is difficult, but you should be able to manage it.”
Agis took one door and Threg the other, and pushed in opposite directions. Slowly the doors began to slide apart. Soon there was enough room to allow a person though. Agis looked inside and saw only a shaft going up and down. He could see the bottom of the shaft several levels down, and knew that falling would be instant death.
“What is this?” he asked. “How are we supposed to get to the top in this?”
“We climb,” Muzi said pointing at the two ladders on each side of the shaft.
“How is this easier that taking the stairs?” Agis asked.
“I never said it was easier. I said it was safer. No Karn,” she said as though it were blatantly obvious.
“It will take us to the top floor, just outside the king’s chamber,” Muzi explained. “There will be a few guards, but we should be able to surprise them when we come out from somewhere they would never expect.”
“I think it would be easier to just climb the stairs and take on the guards,” Agis said defiantly.
“They will be ready for you,” Muzi said. “After the last attack, they vowed to not let that happen again. It’s risky enough doing it this way, but at least we will have the element of surprise.”
Agis looked at his fellow Blackhorn, uncertain of what direction to take. He looked at the brave warriors with me. He had twenty-two fine warriors, battle proven, and ready to do what must be done to rescue their leader, waiting on his word. Somehow, he had found himself in the position of being the leader, even though it had never actually been bestowed upon him. The realization hit him hard. He was not sure he was up to the position, let alone worthy of it.
“We climb,” Agis decided. “I will lead one side, Omiroe, you lead the other side. This will take some time so do not hold anyone up. Keep moving steadily.”
He shot one last glance at the tribe, expecting dissention, but none came.
“Let’s go,” he said, and made his way around the edge of the shaft to the ladder, and looked up. In the darkness of the shaft, he could not see more than a few levels up. “And don’t fall,” he added.
Edu escorted the Princess out of the lower level and headed back the way they came into the city. They rounded the corner and headed west. Edu was fully aware of the eyes upon him. He looked down at Jilleane, and he was aware that she sensed the presence of others as well.
“Do not worry, we are safe here,” Edu said.
“It does not feel safe,” Jilleane said timidly.
We will find a place to hide here until the others come back through with kDira,” He assured her.
“kDira is in there?” She asked, suddenly gushing with tears. “We have to go back and save her!” she cried.
“There are a lot of good warriors in there right now,” Edu assured her. “Believe me when I tell you I want to be in there too, as much as you, but I have to see that you are taken care of as well.”
“You don’t understand, kDira is…” Suddenly, Jilleane’s words were cut short, her eyes fixed straight ahead and she stopped walking. Edu, taking his eyes off Jilleane, looked ahead and stopped suddenly as well.
There before him were a group of eight human figures, unlike any he’d seen before. They were dressed in dark robes; their faces appeared to be skulls underneath their heavy hoods that shrouded their heads.
Instinctively he pushed Jilleane behind him and he drew his sword. He started to back up, when he noticed another group of human figures behind them. They had appeared without a sound, and now they blocked any escape.
“We mean you no harm,” a voice came from no one in particular. “Put your weapon away.”
“Spirits,” Edu said.
“What… are spirits?” Jilleane asked.
Blazen, Hrona and Nonham entered the king’s quarters to find Hayden still sitting on his bench drinking bryne. They walked over to Hayden and knelt before him.
“My loyal Midlanders, you have honored me with your fine work,” he said, a little tipsy form the sour fermented juice he’d been drinking. “You will be my personal guards… I don’t trust those Karn to honor their word for long. And that general might try something.”
“Yes, Hayden,” Nonham said.
“Yes, King Hayden,” Sylys corrected.
“Yes, King Hayden,” the three repeated.
“Now, help me into the bed chamber to consummate my union with my Queen,” Hayden said, trying to stand.
Two of the Midlanders helped him to his feet, Blazen opened the door to the outer chamber, and when they passed through, she repeated by opening the door to the bed chamber.
kDira was lying their naked on the bed, hands and feet tied to the four corners of the bed.
“If you touch me, I will kill you!” she yelled. “I’ll kill you!”
“Hush, my queen. The neighbors will hear,” he said, chuckling to himself, as he closed the door behind him. kDira’s muffled objections could be heard through the door. The three Midlanders made their way to the outer chamber and closed the door there as well. Though they did their best to ignore them, they still could hear her screams.
“How many floors is that?” Agis called over to Omiroe.
“Just two more since the last time you asked; ten,” Omiroe replied.
“Not even half way,” Agis said, his arms and legs already protesting the difficulty of the task at hand.
He looked down and could see the opening from which they entered the shaft many floors below and a string of warriors on each side of the shift following close behind. He gave up on thinking about his pain and continued climbing.
“I have to pee,” Fralek said.
“You better hold it in,” Shamaya, directly below him, said sternly. “I highly suggest you hold it, unless you want to find yourself with a sword up your ass.”
It took more than an hour to climb the ladders up to the top floor. There was a sigh of relief when there were no more levels above.
“What now?” Agis asked Muzi, who was directly below him.
“Open the doors, and when a Karn comes to check on it, grab him and throw him down the shaft,” she replied. “Be aware that there might be a second guard, or third, and they might not fall for the same trick. Omiroe, ready your crossbow to take at least one out, Agis may have to take the rest.”
“Good plan,” Agis said. “All th
is while clinging to a ledge that is only a hand wide. I do not see a problem with that plan.”
“Do you have a better plan?” Muzi asked.
There was no answer.
“So, Omiroe, are you ready to pull the doors open,” Agis asked.
“Let us do this and be done with it,” Omiroe answered.
“Ready, go.” Agis ordered, and the two began pulling the doors open. Quickly it was wide enough for a person to pass through, but there was silence on the other side of the door. Omiroe looked over at Agis in confusion. Agis looked at Muzi and she responded by shrugging her shoulders.
Agis stretched over and took a glance into the outer chamber, the area just outside the king’s chamber. He saw four guards standing outside the door, inattentive, and possibly sleeping on their feet.
“What do we do?” Omiroe whispered. “Do we rush them?”
“Hard to rush when we can only get one person through the door at a time,” Agis whispered back. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.”
Then without warning, Muzi took action.
“Hey! You up there!” she yelled. “Get ready, she whispered.”
Agis looked over again at Omiroe as though he’d seen a blackber, and Omiroe returned a similar look.
“Who’s that?” came a Karn voice from above.
They could hear footsteps coming towards them. As quickly as the Karn poked his head through the door, Agis and Omiroe grabbed him by his chest garments and pulled him through the door. He screamed loud enough to alert the entire palace as he fell to his death.
Quickly, Omiroe leaned in and fired his crossbow taking out one more guard with a bolt to the neck; the remaining two guards quickly readied their weapons.
Agis climbed through the door and unsheathed his sword. Muzi pulled herself aside to let the warriors rush past her. Omiroe followed Agis. The Karn guards, taken totally by surprise, finally leaped into action, but the Blackhorn warriors were on them in an instant. With little effort, the Karn guards were silenced by Agis and Omiroe.
Agis walked over to the shaft and called down for them to hurry. Muzi was the last to exit the shaft.
“Hayden will be in there,” Muzi said. “Most likely your breeder is in there as well.”
“Archers, ready your bows,” Agis said. “When we open the door, take out any targets you see, but leave Hayden alive. I want to kill him myself.”
“If I don’t kill him first,” Muzi said.
Agis flung the door open, Ari and four other archers rushed into the room, and before the three occupants could say a word they were met with arrows, landing them on the floor, dead.
Agis ran over to them and realized it was the three traitors that had captured kDira.
“A fitting end,” he said quietly.
Then, without warning, the door next to them opened, and there stood Hayden.
Agis reached out and grabbed Hayden by the neck. Omiroe, Threg and Ari rushed into the bed chamber and found kDira lying naked on the bed crying. Upon seeing her friends, she started going into hysterics.
“Quiet, brave kDira. Let us untie you,” Ari said, trying to calm her leader and friend. “We are here to rescue you.”
kDira, untied, cried as she threw her arms around Ari.
“Come, we must leave now,” Omiroe insisted. There will be time for that later.
Threg found a robe for kDira to wrap herself in and they headed out to the common area. kDira saw Agis holding Hayden against a wall by his neck.
“kDira, I saved a present for you. How do you want to see him die?” Agis asked, happy to see his friend.
kDira walked over to him, grabbed Agis’s dagger from its sheath and was ready to thrust it into Hayden’s abdomen when suddenly the north door burst open, and within seconds the room was filling with Karn from both entrances.
“Step away from Haydennnnn,” a Karn voice demanded. It was General Tutower.
“I said step away, put your weapons on the floor,” the general demanded. “Do it now or you will all die!”
The Blackhorn spread out, weapons at the ready. The Karn began to push inward, and it was certain that there was no winning this battle. There were just too many Karn, and this time they didn’t have more warriors on the way.
Agis released Hayden, kDira still holding the dagger as he passed by her, looking her in the eyes. She returned the gaze, considering the whole time poking as many holes as she could in him before she was cut down.
Hayden made his way over to the general.
“General Tutower, there may be a place for you in my army after all,” Hayden said arrogantly. “You are to be commended for protecting your king, and will be rewarded accordingly.”
“My King, I have returned to you,” Muzi said, appearing from amidst the Blackhorn warriors. “I have brought them here to you to trap them and now they are yours to do with as you please,” she said, casually walking over towards Hayden.
“You brought them here?” Hayden prodded.
“Yes, my King, they knew you would be waiting for them in the Pass, so I diverted them here for you to finish them off.”
As Muzi got closer, the look in Hayden’s eyes turned from approval to suspicion.
“You brought them here to kill me!” He yelled, his anger building. “You stupid mule, I should have killed you before we left Karn Keep!”
Suddenly, Muzi pulled a dagger out of her tunic and slashed it deeply across Hayden’s stomach. The look on his face changed from anger to shock as he saw the blood spilling from his midsection. Muzi pulled back to make another cut, but Hayden caught the grip of the dagger and stopped its advance.
Muzi, trying with all her strength to send the blade home, could not fight against the power of Hayden’s strong arms.
“Stupid mule, now you will pay with your life,” Hayden said. The blade, now starting to point towards Muzi, was slowly being forced into her chest. “Now you die!”
Then Hayden relaxed. The blade fell to the floor. Hayden looked down and realized it was his own dagger, the one he took from the Karn Keep. Muzi must have found it in the chamber. He looked up and saw Muzi also in shock that her life was not ended. She stepped away. Slowly, Hayden fell to the floor, as blood dripped off the general’s sword. Muzi fell to her knees, trying to hold back the sobs of anger and joy that were flooding in on her all at once. Hayden laid on the floor face down, blood draining from his body.
“Now, Blackhorrrnnn,” the general hissed. Hand over the breeder and you may all live. Or we will take her and you will all die here today, the last of your breed.”
kDira stepped forward. Beaten and scarred, she stood tall and proud. But it was Agis that spoke.
“Then we will die here today,” he said. “We are Blackhorn, and we surrender to no one.”
As if on que, the Blackhorn picked up their weapons again and prepared for battle. kDira picked up Agis’s dagger and she too was ready to attack. She looked around and saw the sheer numbers against her and her tribe. Agis looked at her and Smiled and nodded.
“Do not harm the breeder, I want her alive!” the general commanded. “Attack!”
The two sides clashed, the sound of steel against steel filled the chamber, this time it seemed certain to be the last. But before the first drop of blood could be shed, the Karn suddenly moved back, and Agis and the Blackhorn were aware of another presence in the room. Flooding in from both north and south doors were human figures in black cloaks, large hoods covering their skull like faces. The Karn retreated to the center of the room.
“Spirits,” Muzi exclaimed, running over to the Blackhorn for safety.
“I see that,” Agis said, not sure how to feel about it.
“You will let the Blackhorn go now!” a voice came from no one in particular. “Let them go or we will take over this palace and make it our own.”
“But she is our breeder!” the General exclaimed.
“She is the chosen one,” the voice demanded once again, though this time it sou
nded as though it came from somewhere else in the room.”
“Do not question our intentions. They are leaving with us, and you will allow them to leave!” the voice demanded. “Or maybe you would like to join us?”
The Karn took another step backwards, and the General called out to his army, “Let them go in peace.”
“This way, Blackhorn,” the dark figures motioned in unison, indicating they moved to the south door. The Blackhorn, still in shock from the turn of events, did as they were told. Agis put his arm around kDira and helped her to the steps.
“Can you walk,” he said, looking at her cut and swollen feet.
“To get out of here I would run,” she said.
“Nonsense,” Agis said, swooping down to pick her up in his arms. He then made his way down the stairs. He looked at kDira in his arms and a tear started to run down his cheek.
“I’m okay, Agis,” she said. “I’m okay.” She reached up and brushed the tear from his face and smiled at him. “It’s good to see you again. I didn’t think I ever would.”
“I would never let you go. Not until my dying breath.”
“Besides,” Agis continued, “I don’t know how change dirty breeches. Winter would run around with poop in her butt until she was old enough to clean herself without you there.”
They both laughed.
“Who are these people that rescued us?” kDira asked
“I don’t know. Muzi said they are Spirits?” Agis said.
“What are spirits?” asked kDira, confused.
“I think we will find out together,” Agis replied.
They followed the spirits out of the south entrance to the Palace, and then to the back road they had come in on. A short distance down the road to the west they were led into a building and up a short flight of stairs. Through a single door, they found themselves inside a large hall with many comfortable chairs. To their delight, they were reunited with Edu and Princess Jilleane.
The kDira's World Anthology Page 24