A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind) (14 page)

Hearing the murmur of voices coming from behind me I turned as best as I could within the tight confines of my sus
pended prison, still not comprehending the situation well. A cold liquid sensation engulfed me from my head down as I saw a figure off to my right throw something at me. Coming to a full realization I looked around me, as water dripped off my face.

A large group of angry people were gathered along a nar
row bench in the lee side of the hill that overlooked the Kurt’s family farm in the valley below. Near the edge of the gorge surrounded by Zoarinian guards stood the Kurt family. Gripping the bars of my cage with white knuckled fingers I tried to call out to them, but was stopped by a voice off to my right.

“It won’t do you any good to cry out to them Roric. Besides haven’t you caused them enough trouble already?”

I turned my attention to the voice’s owner and saw the robed figure from the citadel, who had tortured Treorna. Every fiber in my being united in that instant in an over
whelming desire to see this man, if you could call him that, utterly destroyed.

Meeting my stare and seemingly taking great amusement from what he saw there he leaned forward and tauntingly said, “Yes, I know you hate me. How helpless you must feel, almost as helpless as poor dear Treorna was. She begged for me to kill her in the end, crushed by the fact that her God did not come to her rescue. I of course had to heed her request. So I cut out her heart, while she recanted of her
treasonous betrayal of the sacred trust bestowed on her as a high priestess.”

I lunged for him a guttural roar passing through my lips. My fingers narrowly missed the fabric of his clothes, as I reached for him through the bars. He stepped back from my cage laughing uproariously at my attempt to grab him.

His cold lifeless eyes flickering their disdain for me re
minded me of a snake. He spoke again, “Don’t worry Roric, the headache you’ve caused us will soon be over, but first what do you say to a little entertainment? Oh by the way the name’s Marfoul, the author of your demise and all you hold dear.” He said, as he did a mock bow in front of me.

Marfoul rose from his bow cockily and then pranced away from me towards the crowd gathered on the cliff top overlooking the canyon. “Good people of the Zoarinian Up
lands, loyal friends of the cities of the Plain, hear my words.”

The crowd ceased their muttering as they turned all their attention to the devilishly commanding figure in front of them. “These citizens that stand before you are spies of our hated nemesis, the Valley Landers.”

Boos erupted from the crowd.

“Yes, yes I know it’s hard for me to believe too, that peo
ple such as these could make their home in our midst under the pretense of being loyal citizens, while all the while they were plotting our demise behind our backs.”

Roars of anger erupted from the crowd, who pushed against the guards holding them back from the Kurt family, who were arrayed along the cliff’s edge.

“Should we offer them forgiveness for their trespasses and let them go?” Marfoul asked.

Shouts of ‘No kill them!’ erupted from the crowd.

Marfoul shrugged his shoulders and glanced at me his eyes sparkling with mischief, “What can I say, the people have spoken. Who am I to say otherwise?”

Shaking the bars of my cage I screamed, “Let them go! They’ve done nothing wrong! If
it’s
blood you want then kill me, but let them go they’re innocent!”

Marfoul laughed as he advanced toward Samantha, “Afraid I can’t do that Roric. They are after all traitors for harboring and abetting
you,
and what’s worse than that is that they are Creator-worshipers.”

He seemed to spit out the last word with utter hatred. Turning to the crowd he announced jubilantly, “I think it’s time to get the festivities you came to see underway, don’t you?”

The crowd roared its approval not knowing what was going to happen, but expecting to see a good show, especially whenever one of the Temple Brotherhood
was involved.

Marfoul reached an arm around Samantha’s shoulder, who tried her best to pull back from him, but he wouldn’t let her. She was at the end of the line. Her three boys and Dorie stood between her and Eliak. All of them were connected to
a single length of rope, with their hands bound in front of them to the rope.

Suddenly, Marfoul bent and kissed Samantha forcefully on the mouth for a long moment, even as she resisted bitter
ly. Eliak roared like an enraged bull and started forward for Samantha and Marfoul, but was brought up short by several spears leveled out against him.

Marfoul drew his head back sharply, blood staining his lip from where Samantha had managed to bite him. He struck her sharply across the face, with the back of his hand.

Marfoul seeing that Eliak was about ready to walk through spear points to get to his wife’s side sneered and said, “Well if you want her that much big boy go and get her!” And with that taunt said Marfoul shoved Samantha over the cliff’s edge.

Samantha’s face was white with terror as she fell, but she mouthed three words to her family before she disappeared over the edge.

“Samantha!” Eliak roared out, as he ran towards the edge of the cliff.

The slack quickly disappeared from the line between Sa
mantha and her eldest son, and as the line drew taught it jerked him off his feet along with his two brothers and Dorie. He slid off the side of the cliff following after his mother before he had a chance to catch a grip on the cliff top. He was soon followed by his brothers and sister. They tried desperately to hold onto something to halt their free fall, but failed to do so as they were dragged toward the edge
screaming hysterically in terror. As Dorie disappeared over the edge she screamed out, “Daddy!”

It could have all been over then but for one thing. One man’s love for his family and the will to do whatever it took to protect them. Uttering a cry that rocked the hills Eliak bellowed, “Creator
give
me strength!”

The rope went taut and the crowd sucked in a collective gasp. Eliak remained standing, how I do not know. He was poised on the very edge of the gorge with the rope gripped in his bloody hands. Eliak giving one great heave jerked up on the rope and managed to get it over his shoulder as blood ran freely from his bound hands, where the rope had sawed into his wrists. He turned away from the cliff’s edge.

It looked like he would be pulled over backwards for one moment when he turned, but he managed to stabilize himself and then he began to walk. Short step by step the rope inched up over the cliff’s edge. Dust rose from each heavy laden step forward, and all that could be heard in the stillness was the heavy breathing of Eliak.

The crowd remained breathless, as they witnessed the super human struggle taking place before them. Suddenly, Dorie was at the cliff top pulled along by her father, as she made every effort to stand and help ease her father’s burden. The youngest boy made it over the cliff’s edge slowly fol
lowed by the second oldest boy. Both boys fought to get to their feet.

Gaining their feet they began to trudge after their father with all their heart. The untested muscles of two boys performing more than many a grown man’s ever will. Elim, the oldest boy made it over the edge and got to his feet and add
ed his strength to the line.

Eliak fell heavily to his knees, the life spent out of him, but he still continued to crawl forward, even as droplets of blood sprayed the dust in front of him from lungs that were shattered from the strain of the pull.

Finally Samantha made it to the cliff top, as her lips moved fervently in what I knew were prayers to her Creator. Samantha and her children rushed to their father’s side just as he collapsed into the dust of the cliff top. They gathered around him touching him, with their bound and bloody hands praying fervently for his life like only a praying fami
ly can.

Tears streamed down my face as I gripped the bars of my cage impotently. I turned my head to glance at Marfoul. All smiles and false joviality were gone and were now replaced openly with a naked hatred that radiated out from every part of his being.

Marfoul lifted his arm and broke the stillness of the mo
ment, “Kill them! Kill them now!”

As dazed guards clumsily rushed forward to do his bid
ding a miraculous thing happened. I felt as if I must be dreaming, even though I knew I wasn’t, because of what I saw. A strong wind blew into the cliff top knocking the hats off several of the onlookers in the crowd.

A void of air formed immediately following in its wake, which seemed to suck all the breathable air from off the cliff
top. Breathless I watched as flashing thunderclouds that blocked out the sun materialized all around us.

I had spent many nights locked up in rusty metal cages in my days in the arena, when thunderclouds like these would storm in. Those nights had been a living horror for us, who had been locked up in those cages.

Continuous air to ground lightning strikes would occur all around us, as we sat huddled in the middle of our cages soaked and shivering in fear from the storm and the damp
ness of the rain. I had learned early on to stay away from the bars and standing pools of water after having witnessed one man blown apart from a lightning strike to his cage, which he had been leaning against. It had left a lasting impression on me and a respect for the power of lightning. This storm had no lightning, but it had the electric feel of it all the same.

The crowd and guards drew back in fear from it. Marfoul, seemingly coming unhinged by the fast approaching storm screamed at the guards, “Kill them now you carri
on swine!”

The guards coming out of their daze moved back towards the Kurt family, who hadn’t moved the whole time or ceased from praying. The guards now more afraid of Marfoul then the approaching storm rushed to do their assigned task, with swords lifted high. The storm hit the cliff top and out of it materialized beings clothed in flame. They strode purposefully from the storm towards the cliff top. Each fiery indi
vidual being intercepted one of the guards headed for the Kurt family.

Their appearance was fierce and terrible, and as they approached they lifted one hand and withdrew swords that seemed to be made of light itself from behind their backs, and in one fluid overhand downward motion ended the lives of the stunned guards. As the guards hit the ground the warriors of the storm turned towards the crowd and advanced purposefully towards them. At their approach the crowd broke and fled trampling over each other in their haste to get away from the flaming swords of the avenging warriors be
hind them. After the crowd had fled I looked around for Marfoul, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Then I saw two of the warriors headed my way, while the others gathered around the Kurt family, who seemed to be in a world all of their own as they prayed. I watched the warri
ors of fire approach and knew that I too was going to die soon. As they drew near I tried to maintain eye contact, but could not and looked down awaiting the killing stroke that would end it all. Instead I was greeted with silence and a long pause, which caused me to look up tentatively.

They stood there and seemed to be waiting for me to acknowledge them in some way. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked.

They smiled, which caused a feeling of peace to well up inside of me despite the fury of their presence and appear
ance. One spoke, “No, it has been appointed for you to see what is going to take place here and to be strengthened and encouraged by it. Come and see what the Lord will do.”

“But I……” No sooner as I had begun to say that I couldn’t because of the cage I was in that I found myself on my feet walking towards where they had gestured to.

I stopped as they did to either side of me. There on the cliff’s edge seemingly unaffected by all that had transpired around them kneeled the Kurt family still deep in prayer. I felt like I was in a trance as one of the storm warriors that had freed me left my side and approached the Kurt family and knelt down by Eliak’s side. He leaned forward and touched Eliak, with a pierced hand. Nothing happened for a moment and then I saw Eliak move and get to his feet fol
lowed by his family.

The ropes fell off their hands as they did so and piled up at their feet. Incredulous I turned to the warrior directly to my left, “How is that possible?”

“As it is written ‘The prayer of a righteous man availeth much’.” Said the warrior angel.

“Watch.” The angel said gesturing with one hand towards the Kurt family.

The figure, who had touched Eliak, was saying something to them that I could not make out, but the whole family seemed to be hanging on every word that was spoken to them. The man who spoke held his hand out and over the cliff’s edge, and immediately a doorway wreathed in light formed in the darkness of the storm cloud. Without hesita
tion, Eliak holding Samantha’s hand moved toward the door walking through thin air to get to it. He paused at the door
and let Samantha pass through ahead of him and then the rest of his family one by one.

The light was indescribably beautiful as it shimmered from the doorway in waves of color too numerous to count and in brilliance to describe with words. The shimmering light obscured what lay beyond the doorway. “Where are they going?” I asked, completely awestruck by what I was seeing.

My fellow observer said in a tone that expressed wonder at what he too was watching said, “To a place prepared for those who believe in the Son of the Creator and obey His Father’s statutes, a people that willingly forgo the sinful pleasures of this world. A peculiar people, who seek the heavenly Father’s desire for their lives first, as they lay all other cares aside. It is for these people, who have no place here in this world and for
whom
this world is not worthy of that such a resting place has been prepared, until scripture is fulfilled and the end has come and all things are made brand new.”