A Warrior's Journey (8 page)

In the distance there was a greater darkness
against the moon lit darkness of the night that the whispers of the
men around me said was the ocean, which was likely true because we
could now smell the salt breeze coming off of it.

With the sea off to our right we continued
riding down the coast at a sedate pace that was killing me.
Shouldn’t we be riding faster?

Gradually in the distance lights began to
pop up and increase in number and I realized that I was staring at
one of the Zoarinian’s great seacoast cities. Were we seriously
going to attack such a huge city?

As we rode the city became bigger and
bigger. I heard a rider comment that we were roughly an hour out
from it at our current pace. Soon after the rider’s comment, we
were given orders to halt for a brief rest.

I couldn’t take it any longer and I walked
stiffly in search of my father. I found him standing on a knoll
alone facing the city in the distance.

“Full of questions Zevin?”

How did he know who it was in the dark? He
turned enough to see my nod in the darkness.

“Come along Zevin. I’ve decided that you are
to play a vital role in the upcoming battle for the city.”

He started off the knoll and swallowing down
the apprehension that I felt at his words I stumbled along in the
dark after him. So we were going to attack the monstrous city!

What could he possibly mean by ‘vital role’?
At the base of the knoll a group of castle lords and officers
waited. Talaric was there too.

When we reached the group father didn’t
waste any time, “I know you’ve all been wondering as to the cause
of our mission and I apologize for all the secrecy and the blind
faith that I have required of you and your men. The city before us
is Rauel and we are going to destroy it before this night grows
much longer.”

There was a shocked silence among the group
at the audacity of such an action.

“Roric may I ask why?” Asked a castle
lord.

“Rauel is where this new cult primarily
originated from and its primary temple is going to burn with the
rest of the city tonight.”

There were no more questions as all present
were unerring in their loyalty to my father.

“We have the element of surprise and we are
blessed to still have it. The Zoarinians have long been
overconfident in their belief that they are impervious to invasion.
Their great cities by the sea are not geared for any form of self
defense. There are no walls and guard watches are practically
nonexistent. The only defensive capability comes from the citadel
located centrally in each city. They are usually complemented with
the more undisciplined soldiers, while their more senior soldiers
have quarters within the actual city itself. This is the plan of
our attack, Talaric you will take two hundred of our best men and
slip into the city and make your way into the citadel. You will
gain control of its access points and secure them until you receive
reinforcement. Captain Rostu you will take 10,000 cavalry and
assault the city from the south. Lord Salonis you will take another
10,000 cavalry and assault the city from the north. Captains Ona
and Manak you will each take 5,000 men and attack the city to
either side of my column of 10,000 cavalry as we head for the city
from the landward side. Once we hit the city, Zevin you will break
off from my column with 2,000 cavalry and go to reinforce your
brother’s efforts to hold the citadel. The remaining men of my
group will follow me as I assault the temple grounds, which is the
most heavily guarded area of the city both night and day. We will
put the city to flame starting in the center at the citadel and
then working outward, but only after the citadel has been taken.
Once the city is well under blaze we will withdraw and make for
home as fast as we can. Captains you will need to prepare for a
running battle, when we retreat as they will try to slow us down
and block us off from reaching the Valley Lands. We will not engage
the enemy in our retreat other than to force our way through. Any
questions?”

No one said anything although Talaric looked
like he wanted to. I was reeling from the news that I was to lead a
relief force of 2,000 men to reinforce my brother taking the
citadel.

Captain Ona and Lord Salonis both patted me
on the back encouragingly, as they left to prepare their men and
head out. Everyone had left even Talaric.

Father came over to me and put his hands on
my shoulders and looked into my eyes, “I have every confidence in
you son to do the right thing when the time comes. I wouldn’t put
this responsibility on your shoulders if I didn’t think you could
handle it!”

I nodded but I didn’t really believe
him.

He was crazy to give such a responsibility
to someone as inexperienced as I was. I headed back toward my horse
and the men I was suddenly thrust into headship over. Whether I
could do it or not I was going to give it my best and let the
Creator do the rest. I owed the men I would lead my best despite
what doubts I may have as to the rightness of my command.

In roughly an hour’s time the long unbroken
line of cavalry started forward, as unsheathed swords and lance
points glistened in the moonlight of early morning. The city was
still lit up with lights that no doubt burned all night long.

Slowly the long line of cavalry approached,
as my father’s group and the two flanking captains kept their pace
slow to allow the other groups the time needed to attack the flanks
of the city simultaneously to our own attack.

As if by some silently given off signal the
pace of the long line of cavalry quickened. The city drew closer
and closer. The long line of cavalry broke into a gallop. I clung
to the reins of my stallion full of excitement and yes, fear.

The city grew taller and brighter with every
passing second like some great hideous many eyed monster rising up
before us. Down and up over ditches and fields we plunged the pace
getting faster and faster. I saw the big wide central street of the
city opening up before me just as father had said it would. It
would lead my group straight to the citadel.

I headed the big stallion for it as the men
to either side of me and those knotted up in a shapeless mass
behind me followed my lead. The hooves of our mounts pounded down
on the cobbled stoned streets of the city, as we streamed
uncontested into it.

The wide street was full of the active night
life of the city. Bright lights shone through colored glass, as
sultry musical beats vibrated through the air. The sight and sound
of us charging into their nightly pastimes shattered the scene of a
city at play. People shrieked in fright and ducked into any hiding
place they could find, but many of them in their panicked confusion
where trampled over by our mounts, along with their belongings.

It was a scene of utter chaos and mayhem the
like of which I had never experienced before. I had one saber in my
hand, but I did not use it. There was no time to. We rode so fast
and our objective was not to stop and fight, but to reach the
citadel and relieve Talaric and his men.

The lights of the city streamed by me in a
blur of color as my eyes remained tunnel focused upon the street
before me and the endless stream of shrieking people that I was
mowing over.

My stallion plunged and smashed through the
glittering throng valiantly. He was ready for the battle. He surged
up and over carts and other obstacles, while smashing through
tables and people alike. Onward ever relentless, as if drawn by
some love of the savagery of the moment and not by any act of mine
in urging him on.

It came to me suddenly as to what I would
name the black beast that I rode. I would name him Relentless.

It seemed but seconds since we had entered
the city, but most likely it had been several minutes. My eyes
began to trace the outline of the tall walls of the citadel and its
towers rising up out of the poorly designed city.

Suddenly it seemed to me that I plunged
through this strange world of colored lights alone. I glanced back
over my shoulder hoping to alleviate the fear that it could be
true. My men still plunged through the fray as did I, but they were
a horse length back from me.

In that brief moment my eyes locked with
theirs and I saw the eagerness for the fight shining brightly
within theirs, like a pack of ravening wolves with prey in
sight.

The urge to be a leader worthy of such a
pack drove me over the edge of my mind’s own limitations and I
turned back into the saddle and quit being my savage mounts
passenger and became the masterful rider of the coiled wrath that
glided beneath me, as I matched him in the intensity of the moment
and urged him on even faster.

Relentless answered the call with a
willingness that any warrior would have relished. We were both now
fully committed to the struggle, wherever it may lead. The citadel
suddenly loomed close, and with it came an unwelcome sight. Enemy
soldiers were pouring out of the gate into the city. Where was
Talaric?

Had his men failed to hold the gate? I could
see no sign of him. They had left the main body of the army over
two hours ago. I glanced up to see the gate keepers running madly
along the top of the wall gesturing at us excitedly.

They meant to close the gate and bar the
citadel away from our conquest!

I could not let that happen!

Talaric could be held inside prisoner and
beyond that father had tasked me with its capture and I wasn’t
about to either disappoint him or fail to rescue my brother.

My right hand resheathed the saber it held,
as I dropped the reins altogether and guided the raging mount with
my knees the way that Rolf had taught me. Reaching back I unlatched
the bow from my back and let the arrow quiver free to dip to the
side under my one arm. My right hand swept to the side for an
arrow, as I brought the bow up in my left hand. Fitting the arrow
to the bow I let it fly and somehow from the whirling bucking
platform that I sat upon my arrow sped true and slammed into the
chest of the man nearest the gatehouse.

I let another arrow fly and as I did a hail
of arrows from behind me joined it. In one sweep of whistling death
giving force the wall top was cleared of any who may have closed
the gate for the moment.

Relentless thundered upon the draw bridge
still lowered over the moat of murky water that surrounded the
citadel. Relentless and I plunged through the ranks of packed
soldiers before us into the front drill yard interior of the
citadel.

I drilled arrows to my left and right
clearing the walls of any who might reach the gatehouse and lower
the gate. I had always been a good archer, but the ease and
accuracy by which I was downing the enemy seemed to me as if it was
some new talent that had just been awakened within me.

Wheeling to fire at another section of wall
where the enemy were headed for the gate I barely managed to hold
onto the arrow before I had loosed it.

They weren’t enemy soldiers, but rather
Talaric and his men. I turned away in anger from the sight of my
brother. My men had nearly been sacrificed on the approach to and
locked within a gate that was to have already been held within our
hands!

I heard a clanging noise and looked up to
see the second gate of the citadel further up the citadel grounds
had closed. The second ring wall had stairs leading to its top, but
only one gate, which was now closed barring us from the inner
citadel grounds. In the insanity of the moment of action I plunged
Relentless towards the steep narrow stairs.

I shot off my arrows at any archer that
showed himself, even as I heard arrows whiz past me. Relentless
bucked his way up the narrow steps and at one point it felt like we
were going to fall over backwards and probably would have if I were
heavier and Relentless had been wearing full battle armor. We made
the top of the second wall and I reattached my bow to my back. I
was out of arrows anyway.

The wall top was too cluttered to navigate
mounted so I leaped off Relentless leaving him to find his own way.
My father’s sabers were in my hands and they felt good. I made my
way across the wall top ducking arrows from the inner courtyard and
wild sword swings on the wall.

I was so glad for Rolf’s intensive training
at this moment. True it had often been excruciating and his manner
often seemingly cruel, but it was paying off now. My blade was
quicker and my moves more nimble than any opponent I faced.

The enemy soldiers fell to the side or over
the wall, as I made my way to the gatehouse. I didn’t think about
the lives I was taking, only the objective ahead of me.

Some part of my consciousness knew that to
be so objective and dispassionate about the ending of life heralded
in the fear that I had always had about myself. I was a cold
blooded killer at heart, when I needed to be.

I couldn’t be concerned with the loss of
that innocence right now. The killing before me needed done. I
wasn’t doing what I was for the thrill of killing, but rather to
save lives, my men’s lives.

Introspectively I watched with what skill
and savagery I fought with, skills beyond what I had ever learned
on a practice field. I didn’t like killing, which was why I had
never been an avid hunter. I had left the glory of killing wild
game to others, because I saw no glory in it only the necessity by
which to survive.

I feared what my new status as an abject
killer would bring me in life. Would there ever be a woman out
there who would want me? Girls my age had never seemed to care for
me, which had left me wondering as to the possible reasons why. I
wasn’t bad looking and while I wasn’t the eldest son of my father I
would still have a position of preeminence in life. Maybe they had
sensed this capability for killing heartlessly under my quiet
exterior façade that I had constructed and carefully maintained in
order to keep my emotions invisible from the world. Oh well it was
what it was and there was no changing it.