Trail of Bones: A Young Adult Fantasy Novel (18 page)

The sentry was about to climb down the tower’s ladder and march into the trees from where the sounds emanated. He’d pull the boy back by his hair if he had to as this was no joke. Then he heard a different sound, a deep grunt that sent a cold chill down his spine.

The barbarian reached over and grabbed his spear. Whirling, the weapon lowered and ready to strike, he heard another noise. Something heavy, something big. Another grunt followed. He put one of his hands to his brow to shade his eyes from the brilliant sun.

Oh no!
he thought as alarm gripped him. He lunged for the horn and ripped it from its leather strap nailed to the side of the tower. The barbarian put his lips to the small opening of the horn and took a deep breath, but it was too late.

A giant boulder sailed through the air and smashed through the tower. Wooden shrapnel exploded in all directions as the massive projectile completely destroyed the structure, along with its only occupant, leaving only shattered stumps of the base.

CHAPTER 14

“Wipe them out! Kill them all!” ordered Gork, the leader of the Ghast Gorilla war party.

Gork was as ugly as he was ferocious. His nose was flat and broad, and his nostrils were like two caverns in the middle of his face. One of his fangs was sheared in half, broken during one of his many fights to establish supremacy among the gorilla troops. While most of the apes’ fur was white with black running down their backs’, Gork’s was a dirty gray, with intermittent spots of black. Scars riddled his face, arms and chest, all mementos of victories over every type of foe.

The Ghast attack of the barbarian village of Thornmount was not the result of a tactical decision, but rather dumb luck and uncontrolled rage. Gork was one of the first to find the fallen gorilla on the northern bank of the River of Ash. The surviving ape told him of the attack by the wolves, and the rampage was on.

The gorillas’ sense of smell was not nearly as well developed or proficient as the Shade Wolves’, but it was adequate. They had quickly found the deceased body of Asher and picked up Dain’s trail from there. As they marched, they detected another scent, more wolves and something else… a barbarian.

“The barbarians. They help wolves,” concluded Gork, and then he shouted to the troop, “Barbarians must pay. They enemy.”

Truthfully, Gork would have attacked about anything at that moment. He was out for blood one way or another. All he needed was a creature, any creature that wasn’t Ghast.

As they pursued the scent, they headed straight for the wolves’ lair at Thornmount. But soon the troop discovered a new scent, all human, leading to and from the barbarian village. The search parties looking for the missing Adolphus had unknowingly crossed the same ground as Magnus and Dain, and by accident, turned the gorillas to their homes in Thornmount Village instead of their intended target – the Shade Wolves lair.

There was total silence. The insects, the birds, and all creeping and crawling creatures had either retreated or left the area. It was as if the forest held its breath and waited… waited for Hossef, the God of Death, to appear in mortal form and usher souls to the afterlife.

No blasts from the horn alerted or warned the villagers. No drums or rallying calls prepped the warriors. After the first watchtower fell and the boulder rolled to a stop, the cries of women and children sent the first warning of the attack.

Thayne Draghone could hear the screaming long before he entered his village. Just as silence sometimes proceeds death’s coming; the loss of life seemed to amplify sounds that they carried far beyond the fortress walls.

No!
he screamed inside his head.
Not now!

The attack by the Ghast was a tactical nightmare for the chief. Half the men, some of the village’s strongest warriors, were among the search parties scattered outside the village. The remaining members of village’s army manned distant posts so no area was neglected, ensuring that someone would help spot Adolphus should he return. There was no organized concentration of force inside or outside of the village.

Meanwhile, Gork swung his arms, bashing and crushing anything in sight. He tore down another watchtower as a lone barbarian sunk two arrows into the beast’s bicep. He roared, not in pain, but in rage as he ripped the wooden structure to the ground. When the sentry tumbled to the ground, he picked up the man and snapped his enemy’s back with one hard jerk. He tossed the lifeless body aside and moved deeper into the center of the village, tearing the arrows from his arm like irritating thorns.

Another Ghast charged through one of the cooking fires, sending a full pot of roasting meat and burning coals spraying through one of the huts. The wooden building caught fire, and in a few short moments was ablaze.

More than a dozen Ghast Gorillas tore a path of destruction through the Village of Thornmount with little to no resistance. It looked as if a series of tornados had touched down in the middle of the community, and the incredible force randomly struck huts, storage shacks, and trading establishments.

Thayne entered the village with about ten men, and they attacked the first Ghast they came across. Without hesitation the chief leapt up onto the gorilla’s back and drove his sword deep into the creature’s neck. It gasped as the weapon severed major arteries. It fell into a burning cooking fire. It would be the Ghast’s first casualty of this battle, but the rest would not fall so easily.

“Draw them out, away from the children!” shouted Thayne as he threw his spear into the stomach of another Ghast.

The barbarians were starting to gather into small groups of eight to ten men. With their spears and swords drawn, each squad engaged a Ghast. Archers scaled buildings and fences to gain better vantage points, hoping to rain down an attack from above.

The huge apes operated like fur-covered tanks, capable of sustaining incredible damage before falling. As formidable as the barbarians were, each man close to three paces tall, the strength and power of the white gorillas was difficult to match, even with a dozen men.

One squad of barbarians overwhelmed a Ghast and plunged home their swords, scimitars, and spears. They continued pounding and slicing until the ground was soaked with crimson, and the attacker’s life source was on its way to the next life.

As one group of barbarians found success, several others were crushed in defeat. Gork had seen the rallying barbarians and barked commands to his own troops. “Fight!” he yelled. “Fight as one!” and the gorillas obeyed. Instead of attacking random targets, the apes refocused on the barbarian warriors.

Thayne’s tactic of drawing the Ghast away from the women and children had worked, but now his unorganized bands of soldiers and fighters suffered the consequences.

“Stand together!” the chief shouted as he slashed away with his broadsword. “Push the beasts back! Send them to the afterlife in pieces!”

Just as it appeared that the tide of the battle was turning in the barbarians’ favor, more Ghast Gorillas swung down from the trees above.

One ape landed and with one powerful swipe of his arm, he sent several warriors flying. The bodies of the wounded men slammed into Thayne as he lifted his weapon to land another strike.

“Mardin, give me strength. Guide my hand that I may protect my people,” whispered the chief as he picked himself off the ground. He held his sword high. “Fight, my brothers! Keep fighting!”

A Ghast, running on all fours raced towards the chief and jumped, his arms extended to seize his prey. But Thayne held his ground. He wound up and unleashed a powerful attack of his own.

As the beast sailed over his head, it crashed headlong into the wooden fence behind them. With one bold stroke, the leader of the barbarians severed off the ape’s arm, and the detached limb twitched at Thayne’s feet.

Encouraged by their fearless leader, the villagers cheered and the battle cries echoed throughout the village. But the cheers dissipated as more Ghast entered the compound, and deafening gorilla roars signaled that the bloodshed would continue.

Thayne’s shoulders slumped.
There are too many! None of us will see another sunrise. This is the end of us all,
he thought. But he couldn’t let his people see what he felt … that defeat was certain.
If I leave this world, then I will do it as I have lived it. I will fight until every breath has left me!

His arms ached from swinging his heavy sword. His side hurt from the collision with the bodies of his dying warriors. His lungs and throat burned from heavy breathing to keep oxygen flowing. But his mind was clear, and his heart still beat.

At that moment, Chief Draghone spotted the Ghast leader Gork, leading the assault on the far side of the village. The hideous ape was no longer at the front of the charge, but behind the ranks, directing the gorillas to coordinate their attacks.

I have only one hope. If the leader falls, the others may lose the stomach for battle.
he thought as he raced through the village. Several Ghast tried to engage him, but he kept going, dodging their blows and avoiding their assaults. He had to get to the leader – everything depended upon it.

Thayne picked up half of a broken spear and took aim at the back of the leader. He slung the weapon and it whistled through the air until it hit its target with a gross thud. The spearhead sank deep into the shoulder blade of the beast, below the base of its muscular neck.

Gork howled in pain as he whirled to confront the unseen attacker. He contorted and twisted his torso until he could reach the projectile still stuck in his back. Once he had a firm grip, he ripped the spear loose and flung at it Thayne.

The gorilla leader pounded his chest as he blustered and boomed threats at the barbarian. Spit seeped from his mouth as the ape growled his threat. “I am Gork. Ghast follow me. Fear me, barbarian, I am your doom!”

The barbarian leader readied his sword, but the Ghast had no intention of moving close to the blade.

Instead the Ghast hoisted up one of his fallen companions over his head and heaved it at Thayne.

The chief sprang to the left, jumping out of the way, but his foot slipped on the blood-soaked soil, and the corpse barreled over the top of him.

The pain felt like one of the thickest forest trees had toppled over and landed on him. First he felt his arm left arm leave the socket of his shoulder, followed by the air being pressed out of his lungs.

Thayne looked to his hand. He had done the unthinkable and had dropped his sword. It was on the ground and beyond his reach. The heft of the dead gorilla pinned his legs, trapping and preventing him from moving at all. He was defenseless.

As the barbarian gasped for breath, he watched Gork advance towards him, the saliva still spilling from the Ghast’s open mouth.
Until my breath is gone,
he thought.
He looked up at Gork as the ape stood over him. The chief did not flinch, close his eyes, or turn away. He stared right back at the Ghast.

Gork raised both fists but halted his attack. He jerked his head from side to side, and his eyes darted back and forth.

Then Thayne heard it, a chorus of barks and howls from the Shade Wolves.

Dain and his group were the first to arrive, racing in to engage as many Ghast as they could. The wolves moved so quickly it was like seeing streaks of black, gray and white, blazing through the village like bolts of lightning.

One Ghast Gorilla was instantly swarmed by half a dozen Shade Wolves. They jumped up on the creature’s back, chest, and head, biting and tearing away at its flesh like sharks feeding off the carcass of a dead whale. The ape spun and thrashed its arms in panic, but dropped to its knees as the sharp fangs and claws of the wolves butchered their enemy.

In one quick moment, the Ghast’s attention shifted from the barbarian to his ancient and hated enemy. Gork stepped over Thayne as if the barbarian was invisible. His large foot missed the chief’s head by less than the span of a hand. Hundreds of years of the ape’s instinctive hatred for the wolves took over and now the real battle had begun.

The mighty Mardin has answered my prayer
, Thayne thought as he looked to the heavens.

He used what strength he had to crawl out from under the gorilla corpse. His left leg was useless; the bones were shattered and the muscles already swelling from the blow. So, too, was his dislocated left arm that hung like a tattered piece of cloth. Any normal man would have been incapacitated by such debilitating wounds, but this was his home, his village, and his family. Dealing with the pain would wait. This, he could bear. This, he could overcome. Losing his family and his village was a pain he could not accept, even if he never walked again after today.

Finally, the wounded barbarian struggled to his feet, placing most of his weight on his good leg. He hobbled to over retrieve his sword. He watched as Dain and the other Shade Wolves kept the Ghast on the defense.