The Destiny of Amalah (96 page)

The major and the rest of the guard continued to watch as the Azari and their soldiers continued to march from south to north until they were all parallel with the guard. The soldiers came to a standstill and turned right on command so that they were facing their enemy. Both sides faced each other and both sides remained still and standing tall.

The Azari broke the formation and made their way to the front of their soldiers and stood facing the guard. They were spread out across the formation and they wore their hoods down and the major and the captains’ recognised Rakan, Waldon, Rufus and Kenaz and looked at his captains grimly.

‘Garrick’s son,’ he told them flatly.

‘I see Major,’ one replied.

‘Will Garrick have to lose another child this night?’ one captain asked.

‘I hope not,’ the major replied. ‘But we cannot assure anyone’s life on this night – not even our own.’

‘I feel for Garrick,’ said one.

‘As do I,’ said the major. ‘It is a cruel fate to lose one son, but to lose another is more than any man or parents should have to bear.’ The major thought for a few seconds before he spoke again: ‘If you can capture Rakan then do so, but if not, do not risk the life and limb of yourselves or the guard in trying to keep him alive. Do what you can, but ultimately – do what you have to do.’

‘Yes major,’ they replied.

‘How many do you think there are?’ one captain asked looking over at the army.

‘Give or take a few hundred, I would say that now they are ten thousand strong,’ the major said guessing accurately.

‘But we are only two thousand strong,’ one of the captains said, with fear in his voice.

‘Yes, we are,’ Replied the major solemnly. ‘But understand this captain: sheer numbers does not ensure victory. We shall fight this to the very end and hold Parades for as long as we can. Once this battle begins we must draw them into the forests or either side of us. Out here we will be surrounded and not stand a chance. This is what we have spent many years training to do – remember that and remember your training,’ the major told him and all of the captains around him. The captains and major then took up their positions.

The Azari and the dark army remained in their positions for what seemed like the longest time to the guard. At first, they stood in silence but then came the low menacing din followed by the stamping of their feet and then came the war cries that carried through the air, and was almost deafening.

They continued the noise for a while and then Waldon raised his arm into the air, which was the signal for them to begin. The Azari glided forwards but the soldiers ran right past them, as they headed towards the guard with their battle-axes and swords in hand. The guard stood firm and when the soldiers drew closer, the major gave the front line soldiers a signal. They were archers and they made ready their bows and arrows and on the major’s command, they fired their arrows into the air and as they fired, they stepped back two paces and the second line of archers stepped two paces forward with their bow and arrows at the ready.

The first line of archers was eighty percent accurate but the soldiers’ armour served them well. Most of the arrows that hit their body only damaged their armour, or dropped to the ground on impact. Some of the soldiers were unlucky enough to be hit in the neck or their limbs and they fell to the ground dead or writhing in agony – their blood spilling into the pure white snow, tainting it and staining it red.

The soldiers continued running, undeterred by the arrows that were flying their way; they only had one objective and that was to defeat the guard. The sorcerers came to their aid and with their magic; they turned dozens of the arrows into harmless pieces of wood or dust that fell from the sky and onto the ground. The guard had to look twice as the sorcerers turned their weapons into nothing and it threw them slightly. As the soldiers drew closer, the swordsmen and fighters stepped to the front and they drew their weapons of choice out and had them at the ready.

The soldiers grew nearer and nearer and then, seconds later, the swords and axes were clashing with those of the guard. The battle had begun and once again – it was bloody. As swords, battle axes and fists were traded, blood spilt and the blanket of white snow soon became a blanket of red blood as bodies fell onto it and lay still and motionless as they were taken out of the fight.

The guard fought bravely and skilfully and they drew the soldiers into the forests as quickly as they could. They had not accounted for the sorcerers working in league with the soldiers and together, they were inflicting heavy losses onto the guard. In the forests the guard adopted the tactic of fight and hide, and it was proving effective. To the guard, the fight was proving hard but they were holding their own and that gave them hope, and so they continued to fight through the night and into the next morning.

The fighting continued and as it went on, the guard wondered why those in the cloaks had not joined their soldiers and fought, and when they were nowhere to be seen; they wondered where they had gone to.

The Azari had no plans to engage the guard at that time; they had other plans to attend to and they travelled eastwards past their own soldiers and past the guard. They travelled through the night until they arrived in a village that was in the northeast of Parades and had – as yet –remained untouched by the wars that had inflicted itself upon the nation. When they finally arrived at the edge of town, they stopped still and Luxor let out a broad smile.

‘Home at last,’ he said happily. ‘Shall we?’ he asked his five brothers.

‘Of course,’ said Rakan. ‘Why else would we be here?’

The six men made their way into the town and as they arrived, Waldon and Kenaz let out war cries that brought the people out into the streets to see what the ungodly noise was and who or what was making it.

The six men stood at the edge of the main village street, their black cloaks reaching the ground and their hoods over their heads covering their faces. As the villagers came out, they saw the six Azari and stopped dead in their tracks. They had heard of them, they were infamous by now and their name alone instilled fear into all; but to see them standing there, in their village full of evil and power only brought more fear into the hearts and minds of the people and so they froze on the spot, worried that running away would only incur their wrath.

The villagers came out in ones and twos and groups and after a while, the whole village was stood out on the main village street facing and staring at the six Azari who simply stared back in silence. The silence scared the villagers even more, for it was an eerie silence and it filled many with deep foreboding.

The villagers wondered who the people were under the cloaks and they were curious as to what they looked like. The Azari soon put them out of their misery and removed their hoods one by one. First Rakan, then Waldon, and then Kenaz; followed by, Bryce and then Rufus. The villagers looked at each and every one of them and no one knew them, or recognised them from anywhere, but then Luxor removed his hood to reveal his face and the villagers gasped in shock and horror and then they were truly afraid.

Luxor – the one who they had driven out of town on threat of death, or being bound forever had returned as he had promised and they knew each and everyone of them, that he had returned for payback. They looked at the cloaked figures standing before them; they looked powerful and immense and Luxor, he was part of that power and they knew it and they also knew that their power was malevolent. Luxor stepped forward and smiled at the people of the village.

‘I told you I would return,’ he said calmly and coolly.

Luxor stared at those villagers who stood before him and he remembered what they had said and done to him and who had thrown what at him. To him, it mattered not, for they were all going to pay and as he was staring at the villagers, he noticed movement among them and he observed the village elders as they came to the front and faced him.

‘We warned you Luxor that if you returned like this, that we would bind your powers forever,’ said a male elder.

‘Yes, you did,’ Luxor said, in a mockingly thoughtful tone. ‘And as I remember, if I use magic in the village or on any of you or harm you in any way I would be bound forever – yes.’

‘Yes.’

‘But – if you all die the spell is lifted – because the power maintaining it dies with you,’ Luxor said, using the same mocking tones.

‘Leave now Luxor – or we will bind you now, regardless of whether or not you use your magic or harm us,’ an elder woman said.

‘Now!’ Luxor said, facetiously. ‘No – not now – only when I am ready and when I decide, not you,’ he told them.

Luxor looked at Rakan and Rufus and nodded and then he looked at the elders who were all present and stood before him and smiled. The elders looked at Luxor unafraid of confrontation and one was about to speak when Rakan and Rufus threw four fireballs, which hit four of the elders and turned them into a fireball before they turned into dust. The remaining two elders tried to attack Luxor with their powers but he leaped into the air avoiding whatever it was that was meant for him. The magic travelled to Rufus and Rakan and they deflected it easily, before they both sent a fireball to an elder killing them instantly.

The villagers screamed while some groaned and cried; most of them remained rooted to the spot but a few ran as soon as they saw the elders fate, as they knew the elders were their only hope against Luxor’s magic. They knew they were doomed and the only thing left for them to do was fight or run. Luxor was once again standing in front of the village people and he eyed them all before he spoke.

‘Where are my siblings?’ he asked the people.

The villagers shifted uncomfortably and made murmurs and whispers and coughs but not one of them was forthcoming with an answer.

‘Well,’ he said raising his voice.

‘They perished,’ A woman said softly.

‘Then so will you all,’ Luxor said as he drew his sword and launched into the crowd, not waiting to hear anymore about the fate of his siblings.

Luxor used his sword and his magic to despatch of the villagers and any that tried to flee, were cut down by the swords of Waldon, Kenaz or by the dark magic of Rakan, Rufus and Bryce. Less than an hour later, the village was silent and the six Azari men moved onto the next one and they too suffered the same fate.

When they were done they headed back to the battle scene where they had left their soldiers fighting the guard. It was night time again and the battle was still raging; both sides were suffering heavy losses, but with the arrival of: Rakan, Rufus, Waldon, Kenaz, Luxor and Bryce – the balance once again tipped in favour of the Azari and the dark army.

The guard fought hard, even though they had feelings of fear but when the Azari joined the dark army again and fought, those feelings of fear turned into absolute terror. Rakan, Rufus and Luxor reigned fire down upon them and struck them with energy balls that killed most; whenever the guard were able to attack them, the cloaks made them impervious to harm and any one who got close to them, died trying to stop them.

Waldon and Kenaz fought among the soldiers taking on five to ten guards at a time; and to the guard, they seemed invincible. Their sheer strength and skill were already legendary and now, they were seeing first hand just how strong and able the two men were. To make matters worse, they wore their cloaks behind which made attacking them from there impossible. The dark army had managed to inflict losses on the guard only after sustaining losses of their own but now Rakan and the others had arrived, the losses were all on the side of the guard.

In the forest, the guard had managed to communicate through runners; they would have liked to have used the sounds that they had used for so long but Rakan, Waldon and Kenaz knew them too and so they were of no use to them anymore.

The major saw what was happening and he knew that his guard would be defeated; now he had to make hard choices in those last few hours and it pained him to do so. He had to choose who would stay and ultimately die and who would retreat to Amalah and live another day. He gave orders to his runners to tell which groups could go and which would stay and when they had fulfilled their duties, he told them to return to Amalah. He gave one runner a hand written message and told him to return to Amalah and hand the note to Garrick the guard commander.

‘Are you coming with us sir?’ the teenage boy asked.

‘No, I am not young man. I shall remain here and try to hold the army from descending on Amalah,’ he said, with a mixture of resolve and sadness.

The young boy looked at the major with uncertainty and fear and he did not want to leave the major just yet, for he knew what it meant for the major and his men and women, to be staying.

‘Go!’ the Major told him. ‘Fight another day; you will certainly be needed, of that you can be sure,’ the Major said to him. He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gripped it firmly. ‘GO NOW – ensure that the Guard Commanders get that letter and when you turn around run from here, do not look back until you reach Amalah.’ The young teenager stood still on the spot and simply stared at the Major – he did not want to move and his feet would not turn on their heel either. ‘Go!’ the major ordered him and with that, the young boy turned on his heels and fled.

He ran as fast as he could and he did not look back as the major had ordered. The major watched the young runner flee and he watched until he was out of sight and returned to the battle.