Chapter Seventeen of Battles of Mullera: Legacy of the Ginza Stone

Chapter Seventeen of my book. Most of the people that have read my book say this is one of their favorite chapters.

 

Chapter Seventeen

            Night had long since set in by the time the four riders approached the heart of the abandoned lands of Ookazi. Although all of the Primals were said to have departed from these lands for Yama, they were still on guard for any kind of stragglers that may be lingering about. A cool wind whipped through the sands of Ookazi making travel rough for them. The gust of sand felt coarse as it brushed across their flesh. They approached an old wilted tree that’s bark had turned gray and was leaning to one side. Only three branches remained on the tree. Squall halted the others by raising his fist. "There is a fowl stench on the air that seems to be growing the deeper we travel into these lands," Squall said.

          "Only death and suffering fester in this Elder forsaken land," Orgrom grunted. "Why do we not press on?"

          "We’re being followed," Squall replied. He looked behind him at Auron who was glancing around from underneath his wide brimmed, pointy hat. "We will make our stand here," Squall said as he rested his right hand on the handle of his sword while he grasped the reigns with the other hand. The horses began to neigh fearfully and had to be steadied. Orgrom reached back with both hands, ready to draw his large sword in an instant. Auron held his staff at his side and attempted to remain vigilant though the sandy winds made this difficult. Nikalous held his bow and reigns of his horse in one hand and reached back with his other hand to pluck an arrow from the quiver over his shoulder. Nikalous closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around them. The tension was building. Nikalous’ ears began to twitch as he picked up a sound in the distance. It sounded like a small army marching quickly towards them. He opened his eyes wide and shouted, "THEY’RE HERE!"

 

          Nikalous pointed to the horizon. There, flooding over the hillside like a giant wave was a pack of Smeagers. They were charging towards the four with their weapons raised and howling like vicious scavengers that had just found their next meal. Nikalous took aim and shot rapidly taking out as many as he could. Picking them off one or two at a time wasn’t doing much good. Their numbers were too large for a single archer to do much damage. Realizing this, Squall rode at the charging beast with his blade pulled from its sheath and ready to strike while Nikalous continued his long-range assault. Squall swung his sword from one side of his horse to the other cutting down several Smeagers as they attempted to storm past him. Auron watched as Squall seemed to be surrounded in a sea of those Primals. It seemed overwhelming to Auron.

 

          Orgrom, on the other hand, jumped off his horse and let out a fearless roar as he drew his mighty blade waiting for those Smeagers that had managed to dodge Nikalous’ arrows and Squall’s sword. He spun his sword which made a deep swoosh sound as he did and slicing several Smeagers in half with just one blow.  ’For as large as that weapon is, you would think his swings would be slower or it would be harder to control, but Orgrom seems to have no trouble with this whatsoever,’ Auron thought to himself watching Orgrom fight.

         

Nikalous dropped his bow and arrows and pulled out his two sickles that were attached by a long chain from his back. He turned his horse away from the wave of Smeagers. He rode around the backside of the tree, around Auron, and chucked one end of his sickles into the wilted tree. Nikalous held the other end in his left hand, keeping the chain loose at his side. As four Smeagers ran in between him and the tree at Auron, Nikalous pulled the chain tight clothes lining the four beasts to the ground knocking them out cold.

         

          With one quick snap of his wrist, the hatchet-like weapon released its hold on the tree and rather than pull the other end back to him, Nikalous allowed it to drag on the ground for a moment before twirling it around his head like a lasso. Nikalous continued his path around the tree approaching the spots where Orgrom and Auron were. Seven Smeagers charged at Auron, but he was too panic-stricken to think of a spell. Nikalous rode behind the seven and roped them together with the end of his sickle and chain that he had been spinning around his head. Auron stared into the eyes of these beasts that were snarling and snapping trying to get at him. "I claim his hat," growled one of the Smeagers. Auron took a step back. Suddenly, Orgrom charged in from the left and with one swipe of his blade decapitated all seven of them. Nikalous continued his circle around them, leaning off his horse slightly to snatch his sickle, unlocking its hold causing the headless creatures to crumble to the ground. Auron watched as two heads rolled past his feet and Nikalous turned his horse around and rode toward Squall who was still fighting off Smeagers at the top of the sandy hill.

 

          In all the commotion, no one noticed that a Smeager archer climbed up into the wilted tree and began to take aim at Nikalous who was halfway to joining Squall. Auron looked over at Orgrom who was fighting off several Smeagers and almost enjoying it. Something told Auron to look up and when he did, he saw the archer in the tree. Auron pointed his staff up at the Primal with no hesitation. All of the color had faded in Auron’s eyes. They were an empty gloss white as the abrupt sounds of thunder echoed in the distance. The Smeager wasn’t paying attention to what was happening below him, but stayed concentrated on his mark. Auron yelled out with a voice that didn’t seem like his own and his staff began to glow yellow and in a flash, a bolt of lightning exploded out of the end of the staff electrocuting the Smeager to death. Auron drew his sword and pointed his staff at a charging Smeager, but instead of conjuring a spell, he used his staff to block the wolf-like Primals’ rusty blade and ran his own sword through the belly of the beast.

 

          Orgrom caught what Auron had done out of the corner of his eye. Orgrom smiled to himself realizing he would not have to keep a watchful eye on Auron. Orgrom turned his head to see a slightly larger Smeager spinning a mace wildly. The Primal went to strike, but Orgrom blocked with his sword causing the chain to wrap around the blade of his sword. With one swift yank, he pulled the Smeager, stumbling closer and as he did, Orgrom used his shoulder to knock the beast to the ground and with one quick downward thrust Orgrom had pushed his sword through the chest cavity of the Primal.

 

          Auron removed his sword just in time to notice another Smeager coming toward him and at the same time, another from the opposite side of him. Auron plunged his sword into the ground and allowed his staff to rest against his shoulder. He raised his arms outward, palms facing at each creature, and he closed his eyes and began to focus hard. The Primals grew closer, but Auron did not budge. They were practically on top of him when Auron suddenly opened his eyes and yelled, "Ahhh…" Auron fired two large Ryku energy blasts completely destroying them. This caused everyone to pause and look in his direction. Squall was shocked to see these two large waves of light.

 

          "I’ll be damned the spell-caster used it in battle. I didn’t think he would," Squall said to himself. The pause in the action allowed the Smeager to realize their numbers had greatly dwindled. There were several howls as they retreated back over the sandy hillside and back from wherever it was they came. The four were very pleased, and very tired. Their confrontation was over. As they regrouped, any bodies they passed on the ground were stabbed to make double sure that they were dead.

 

          "We’ll have no surprises from this filthy lot," Orgrom said once everyone else was close enough to hear him. "This really slowed us down now," he grumbled as he stuck his blade into a Smeager’s lifeless body.

 

          "Is everyone alright?" Squall asked.

 

          "Yeah," Auron replied slightly out of breath. He was unaware that the portion of the Ginza stone he had been hiding underneath his robe had fallen out during the battle for everyone to see. Nikalous was the first to notice this. He pointed to Auron’s chest.

 

          "That is part of the Ginza stone you wear around your neck. You’ve had it this whole time and said nothing. Explain yourself spell-caster at once!"

 

          "It was not his doing Nikalous," Squall intervened. "I have known of this information since I first brought Auron to Argaleon."

 

          "Then what in the name of the Elders is going on here Squall," Orgrom barked. The anger in his voice demonstrated his Orc side. "Are we escorting the ancient power to the enemy?"

 

          "The goal is, and has always been, to heal the stone and bring peace back to Mullera. The main battle is a diversion so that we may vanquish this evil from within and make the stone whole again. We must accomplish this at all cost," Squall said. "Auron…"

 

          "At all cost? From my experiences Squall, at all cost is what happens to somebody else. Many of our kin are going to die for your cause Elf. I don’t like this and I don’t like secrets." Orgrom was clearly not pleased by this attempt at an explanation. There was a deep harshness in his tone. Orgrom was giving in fully to his Orc nature and was not being shy about it.

 

          "Don’t you think I know that?! I am tired of bloodshed Orgrom. For too long have I seen it and been placed in that ’at all cost’ category," Squall snapped back. This was the first time any of them had seen him lose control of his emotions. Squall gathered himself and softly replied, "But I have hope. And I also have faith in the skills of all of those who have joined to fight the cause and stand with us. I also have faith in the abilities of my comrades that fight by me now. And it is in that blind trust that we shall not fail." There was a moment of silence among them. "This is neither the time nor the place for this my friends. I suggest that we continue this elsewhere, preferably outside these desert lands." Squall’s recommendation seemed most logical to the group, so Orgrom jumped up on his horse and held his tongue.

 

          Auron mounted his horse and tucked the piece of the stone back underneath his robe. The four rode off northward through the darkness hoping they would not be detained any longer. They knew they needed to get beyond the land of Ookazi before they could rest and rest briefly they would. For their next path lead them through the BlackPhantomForest.

Reviews

[Damon Ross Cottrell]

Good action sequence! I like the characters.