The Chronicles of Gan: The Thorn (33 page)

The Brothers fought like a lioness
protecting her cubs, while the warriors of Ramathaim ignited a
scene of terror for the minions of the emperor as they fell upon
them with swift vengeance. Working together to press the enemy,
Amon’s thousands surged toward the Uzzahites on the eastern flank
in an attempt to hem the Gideonites in on three sides. When they
finally met, they cheered for each other as the two armies merged
to become one. Now vastly outnumbered, Rezon’s soldiers began to
surrender in masses.

Seeing weapons dropping to the ground like
hail, Amon ordered an immediate halt to the bloodshed. The
Uzzahites of Ramathaim and the Army of The Brothers both fell back,
allowing the nearly surrounded Gideonites to retreat to the base of
Bald Mountain that rose out of the west slope of the plain. The
united front then pushed forward with weapons brandishing, trapping
Rezon and his faithful against the mountain backdrop. Hundreds of
others surrendered. These were quickly separated from the enemy and
deprived of all weapons.

Amon surveyed the carnage, sorrow filling
his breast. The dead and wounded lay all around him, the smell of
blood overpowering. With so many cries for help assaulting his
ears, he called for Ezra’s company to assist with their care. To
the other captains he yelled, “Tighten the line, and keep Rezon
where he is!”

Watching their progress for only a moment,
Amon then called his advisors to his side. Accompanied by Jonathan
and Eli, they gathered and pressed forward to join him. Like a boat
parting water before its bow, their horses cut through the ranks
until they found a place on the edge of the semi-circle of soldiers
surrounding Rezon’s men. Every man among The Brothers saluted them
as they advanced. Once at the edge, they all dismounted and stood
in a group to face Rezon and Jael, both near the front of the
captured Gideonites. The hatred in their faces seemed to be
chiseled into their features.

Amon grunted. He could not
keep himself from imagining the difficulty that a man as arrogant
as Rezon would be having at a time like this. The irony of it all
struck him as being humorous. Rezon had been captured by an army
comprised of his enemies
and
his onetime friends.

With the shouting of orders and the sound of
battle now drifting away in the breeze, only the moans of the dying
and the discomfort of the wounded reached Amon’s ears. Some of the
women from Ezra’s company and many Uzzahites from the city hovered
over the fallen wounded, tending to their needs, protected as they
went by soldiers from every tribe. He looked around at the ranks of
an army standing in silence, who waited for him to speak to the
conquered. Fierce determination shone on their faces. He turned
back to Rezon, intent on declaring an end to the war, but Rezon
took a few steps forward, away from the protection of his men. He
spoke first.

“Captain Amon, I should be pleased to see
you,” Rezon nearly shouted, his voice stinging Amon like a wasp.
“But I am not. You have sold yourself to the enemy.”

Amon did not flinch. He watched as Rezon
stroked the clean blade of his sword as if he were testing the
sharpness of the edge.

“Sold myself? I have no idea what you mean.
I received no money for what I have done.”

Rezon’s eyes closed to mere slits, and he
spat upon the ground. “Surely you are not accusing me of something,
my brother?”

Amon’s thoughts shifted to
the demise of Manasseh. Powerful memories of the incredible
experience caused him to speak with boldness. “I
was,
at one time, part
of those who would have accused the innocent. That much I do admit.
But I never have taken money in exchange for the life of
another.”

Amon paused, then clarified his statement
with burning vitriol in his voice, “You are filth, Rezon. I have
learned of your treachery. Jasher of Bezek now lies in his grave
because of your lust for power.”

Rezon winced. Amon felt sure it was
feigned.

“What of Jasher’s lust for power? Did he not
murder the emperor? And what of yourself, Amon of Gilad? Is that
not why you are here, to take control of the whole Host of Gideon
yourself?”

Amon watched Jael, who twisted his long
sword in his hands, clearly agitated.

These two disgust
me
, Amon thought. Looking to his right and
to his left, he witnessed many of those same feelings written in
plain language all over the faces of his captains and friends. This
filled him with hope. An eager desire welled up in him to shout out
the tale of Manasseh’s death as far as he could spread the news.
But Amon felt this particular telling was not for him to do. The
opportunity belonged to the other men who had been present on that
occasion.
The men of Gideon need to hear
it from the two Brothers who have united us all.

“Rezon, this is Eli of Uzzah, and this is
Pekah of Gideon. They are here to correct any lies you have been
telling your men about what happened to the emperor. You were not
there, but I was—along with Jasher and these two men. Let the truth
be told by those who saw it with their own eyes.”

Rezon’s teeth clenched. The fire burning in
his eyes gave the man the appearance of red-hot metal doused in
cold water. But he did not argue, and neither did any of the nearly
four hundred faithful men who stood behind him, although they still
appeared to be ready to carry out any command the Gideonite general
might wish to demand of them.

Amon took a half-step back when Rezon’s
countenance suddenly softened. He wondered if Rezon was actually
ready to hear what he had to say.

“Eli,” Amon asked kindly, “Would you please
tell this misguided Gideonite the true story of the fate of
Manasseh?”

Eli looked like a famished brown bear that
had been thrown a salmon for dinner. The priest of Uzzah took a
step forward, cleared his throat, and then told the entire story of
the War of Gideon from his own point of view, including Pekah’s
decision to join the cause of peace, and details of their harrowing
journey to Ain.

This drew many derogatory comments from the
captured men of Rezon and his captains, but Rezon still did not
react. Amon wondered why his face remained expressionless, almost
as if he did not hear what had been said, or he simply did not
care. Rezon did make eye contact with Jonathan at that
point—however, the exchange carried no emotion. Amon could see that
Jonathan’s face held nothing but pity for the Gideonite
general.

Eli continued and explained that The Thorn
had been freely given to Pekah by Jonathan. With a great flourish,
he told of the scene of light and power he witnessed and insisted
that Manasseh’s death was punishment from God. This caused a great
stir among the ranks. Those of Gideon who had previously
surrendered gaped at each other in awe. They craned their necks to
get a glimpse of the man called Pekah, who stood next to General
Amon.

To Amon, Rezon remained
completely unreadable. Not a soul moved. Amon spoke. “Now that you
know I did not participate in the death of the Gideonite called
Manasseh . . .
your
emperor,
” Amon intentionally stressed, “I
wish to inform you that I have joined with Uzzah and Daniel. I have
committed to their peoples, and to my own, that I will end this
war. I now offer you safe passage back to the land of Gideon if you
will fully renounce your intentions of continued warfare and
covenant with me that you never again will wage war with Daniel and
Uzzah. What do you desire? Life or death? The choice is
clearly
yours.”

Amon waited. Searching glances bounced back
and forth between many of the hesitant Gideonites, but then many of
the soldiers who had once sworn themselves to Rezon formed into
lines. They threw their weapons into a pile. Rezon seemed
completely accepting of their surrender. In the end, even Jael took
a step to toss his own sword a few paces short of the heap of steel
and wood.

Rezon was the last man to move toward the
pile. He still gripped his sword tightly as he strolled forward.
Once he was next to Jael’s sword, he dropped his own in the same
place. The two Gideonite leaders stood together.

“If my men are willing to make such a
covenant,” said Rezon, “Then so must I. How can I fight against so
great an army?”

Still suspicious of Rezon, Amon motioned
toward them. Two Uzzahite archers stepped out of the crowd and
pulled their bowstrings back until they creaked, both arrows
directed at Rezon’s heart.

“Why are you aiming
at
me
?” Rezon
protested as if deeply hurt by the distrust.

Amon did not answer, but he again signaled
to the archers. Their bowstrings went slack, although both men held
their missiles firmly to the nock point. He took a deep breath.

I need to make a strong
statement
, he thought. It would give him
great pleasure to personally receive a covenant from Rezon, but in
light of recent events, and the incredible tale Eli had just
related to the soldiers, he felt a greater, lasting impression
would be made upon those present if the man ultimately responsible
for the miracles at Ain would do the honors.

“Pekah, would you and Eli retrieve the
general’s weapon and receive his oath of honor?”

Pekah readily accepted the assignment.
Looking to his large Uzzahite friend, he approached General Rezon
and Captain Jael. They stopped a few paces short, warily watching
the two Gideonites.

Rezon showed his hands, plainly empty, and
then clasped them behind his back in a show of submission. Jael did
the same. Pekah and Eli stepped around the pile of weapons,
stopping over the two swords lying together in the grass.

Eli held his sword in his right hand and his
long walking stick in his left, both in a defensive manner. He
motioned for Pekah to place the two men under covenant. Pekah
hesitated only briefly, but then with visible courage, he extended
his right hand out as the recipient of the covenant, with his palm
upward. Looking on, Amon was annoyed by Rezon’s expression of total
indifference.

General Rezon sighed,
almost pathetically. He then spoke loudly to the crowd. “I hereby
covenant that I will not wage war with Daniel or Uzzah again.” Then
with great show, he pulled his empty right hand from behind his
back and placed it over Pekah’s. “Instead,” Rezon said with a long
pause,
“I will murder them!”

In a flash, the left-handed Gideonite
viciously stabbed forward and drove his dagger deep into Pekah’s
chest. The blade pierced him right at the spot in his breastplate
where the Gideonite arrow had weakened the hardened leather.
Pekah’s eyes glazed over, and he fell forward with a thud. In the
distance, two distinct and recognizable screams hurtled into the
air. Ezra’s men quickly rushed to protect the women.

Jael slammed into Eli, knocking him off
balance and away from Rezon. As if planned all along, a hundred
Gideonites scrambled past the general to gain access to the pile of
weapons before them. The Uzzahite archers, whom Amon had called up,
let their arrows fly. One struck Jael in the shoulder and the other
ricocheted off Rezon’s breastplate as he bent to retrieve his
sword. As the Gideonites swooped in to grab weapons, The Brothers
were upon them in force.

One soldier next to Rezon retrieved Jael’s
sword, and with Rezon nearly dragging the wounded captain, the
three ran back into their own ranks. They made for the base of the
mount and began to climb. Loyal soldiers used their own bodies as
human shields, receiving the onslaught of arrows intended for the
general. Man after man fell with arrows in their backs but the
defense never faltered, other men immediately taking their place.
Other Gideonites stayed behind and rushed the main group of
horsemen. Most were trampled in the fighting, but enough of Rezon’s
men were armed that they held up the riders, preventing them from
chasing the escaping Gideonites. Rezon’s small group disappeared
over the top of the small mount.

In the intense battle that raged, Amon,
Jonathan, Eli, and Tavor fought side by side, each dealing death
with almost every blow. After many minutes of fighting, those who
had enabled the escape of Rezon had been annihilated. The dead lay
all around The Brothers like piled logs.

Amon braced himself, his hands on his knees,
his chest heaving. When he caught his breath, he looked up to see
Tavor at Eli’s side, tending to the burly red-headed man. Eli
glanced down at the blood streaming from a gash in his arm. He
stumbled, but Tavor caught him and set him down on the ground. Next
to Eli, Jonathan reached down to touch a superficial slice on the
back of his leg. He winced. Of the small group of friends, only
Tavor was unharmed.

The general searched for something to
staunch Eli’s bleeding. An Uzzahite tending the wounded handed him
a few strips of clean cloth. He rushed to Tavor and assisted in
treating Eli’s wound. He held the cloth tight while Tavor wrapped
and then tied the ends.

Distracted by Jonathan, he watched as the
Danielite hobbled toward a still form on the turf. It was
Pekah.

Amon left Tavor with the remaining cloth and
followed him. When Jonathan reached Pekah’s lifeless body and
collapsed in a heap, Amon stopped. He swallowed hard.

Clearly anguished, tears streamed down
Jonathan’s cheeks as he pulled Pekah close and sobbed.

His head low, Amon turned away.

Chapter 31

Hope

J
onathan stood next to Eli in the dim glow-stone lantern light
of the tent, both with tears dripping into their beards. The door
flaps of the medical tent had been lowered to give them privacy,
closed well enough that very little of the evening light filtered
through. Outside, Azure and Aqua were just about to dip behind the
eastern peaks of the Hara Range.