The Destiny of Amalah (93 page)

‘I hope you return soon Luxor and I hope you return a wise and mature young man.’

‘I will return,’ Luxor said emphatically. ‘I do not know when, but I know I will return here one day, of that you can be sure.’

Luxor looked at his father long and hard and his father looked at him back before he took hold of his son and embraced him; Luxor patted his father a few times before he extricated himself from the embrace. He stepped back and took his own sword out of its holster and put the sword his father had given him into it. He held his old sword in his hand for a few seconds and then secured it to his horse.

‘Two swords?’ his father said questioningly.

‘Beyond this village I do not know what lies ahead of me,’ Luxor replied.

Luxor turned to his two siblings who had been standing close to him all morning and hugged them once again, saying goodbye as he held them. He released his now tearful siblings and climbed onto his horse; where he waved to his siblings and father and they waved back and the two children shouted their tearful goodbyes as Luxor began to ride away.

As Luxor left the house and made his way out of the village, the people had turned out to see him leave and as they filled onto the street, they booed and jeered at him; some threw bread and old food at him, while others cursed at him for the wrongs he had committed against them.

He was tempted to dismount his horse and fight them but there were far too many; he was also tempted to use his powers but he did not want to be bound forever by the elders and so he rode through the village, amidst the boos, jeers and tossed food and he simply smiled at the people who had turned out to see him off in this way and sometimes, he tossed the food back – never missing his target.

‘I will return,’ he vowed to himself. ‘And when I return, each and each and everyone in this village will be sorry,’ he promised himself.

‘Yes, I will return and very soon,’ Luxor in the present said to himself as he thought back to those last moments in Parades. “I shall return to reap vengeance on you all but let us get Equer out of the way first,” he thought, smiling to himself.

Luxor had almost come full circle; he had left Parades to go to Lansten and from there, he had travelled clockwise, meeting Rakan and the others in Basimine and now he was in Equer, there was only Parades and Amalah left to take. Luxor smiled knowingly to himself and he looked at the five men he had befriended.

“No one would take away his power now,” he thought to himself, satisfied it was here to stay and that his new friends would ensure that.

‘Are you ready?’ Rakan asked Luxor.

‘Yes, I am,’ Luxor replied slowly and happily.

The six men returned to their caves and they prepared to leave. They put on their full battle dress and armed themselves and then packed the bare essentials that they would need, before they donned the black cloaks that Maddox had given to them. They stamped out the small fires that had been keeping their caves warm and alight and then took one last look around the place that they had inhabited, for what seemed like an eon.

They left their caves and came into the dark night, where they stood on top of the mountain and next to each other, each one of them ready to do battle. Rakan stood tall, wearing black boots, black trousers and black upper clothing. He wore black body armour that covered his chest and back and his cloak was open and flowed behind him. He was armed with the sword and dagger that Garrick and the others had given him before he had set out on his travels all those years ago. He also carried a barbarian dagger that was placed on the other side of his waist.

Standing tall next to Rakan, was Waldon and next to him, stood Kenaz. The two men both wore black boots that were knee length; they wore black battle skirts and body armour that had metal splint greaves all the way though. They wore protective bands around their wrists and elbows and they were each armed with a sword and dagger and a battle-axe; they too wore their cloaks hanging behind them.

Luxor stood next to Kenaz and he, like Rakan, dressed in all black; which was a stark contrast to his long blonde hair that shone, even at night. Luxor carried his mighty sword that he had received in Parades, as well as a dagger and crossbow and he wore his cloak like the others.

Rufus stood next to Luxor and he wore dark civilian clothing, he wore his cloak closed and it covered him from the neck down. Last but by no means least stood Bryce; he wore much of the battle armour that those in Santeb wore. His body armour was silver and black but the shoulders protruded out quite far; he was armed with a sword, dagger and mace and he wore his cloak open and behind him.

Rakan had given word to the captains to be in attendance and the six Azari men waited on the mountain top for them to arrive. A short while passed and the captains began to arrive. They acknowledged all six men and waited patiently but anxiously for their orders. When all of the captains were stood before Rakan, Rakan stepped forward and addressed them.

‘Captains’, tonight we take Equer. Have the men ready and we shall meet again in the golden field,’ Rakan told them.

The captains looked at Rakan and replied uniformly: ‘Yes sir.’

The captains left the six men and descended down the mountain to carry out their orders. The captains went in search of their Lieutenants and sergeants and gave them their orders before they went and prepared themselves.

Within the hour, both mountains that housed the soldiers were empty and every single soldier and sorcerer was stood in the snow-covered field as Rakan had ordered. The soldiers were in formation and stood to attention in silence as they waited for their leaders to appear and the sorcerers stood behind them and they were equally as silent.

Every single soldier was now ready and dressed for battle; they all wore: black sabatons, kneepads and arm pads that had metal splint greaves running through them. Like Waldon and Kenaz they wore battle skirts and body armour and were armed to the teeth. Every single soldier carried a sword and dagger and in addition, they carried either a battle-axe, or a mace or a bow and arrow.

The six Azari looked down from above and when they saw that all of the soldiers and sorcerers were present, ready and waiting for them, they descended from the mountain and reached the soldiers and sorcerers who were still standing in silence waiting for them in minutes.

The six Azari stood directly opposite the soldiers and sorcerers, and Rakan stepped forwards from the others; breaking rank as he left them. He began talking in a raised and powerful voice that carried through the air and every single person present could hear him.

‘Soldiers, sorcerers, men and women, tonight we take Equer,.’ he told them. ‘And two nights from now, this nation will fall.’

He was about to go on but the soldiers’ let out loud roars and cheers and stamped their feet. Rakan smiled and turned to his friends and smiled at them before he turned back to face those who were before him. He raised his hands and lowered them repeatedly, signifying that he wanted silence once again. The soldiers complied and the night fell silent once again before Rakan continued.

‘When Equer has fallen, we will go onto Parades and meet our brothers and sisters there; Parades will fall quickly and Lansten will fall at the same time – then – we take Amalah and the world will be ours,’ Rakan said, as he raised his voice even more at the end.

Once again the soldiers cheered loudly and Rakan nodded his head and smiled in approval before he stepped back and fell into line with the other five. Waldon and Kenaz then stepped forward and Kenaz spoke first; he too had a powerful voice and each and every soldier and sorcerer listened to what he had to say.

‘We will be victorious,’ he said forcefully. ‘We will take Equer, Parades and Lansten,’ he told them with same force and conviction. ‘It will not be easy – the opposite in fact. It will be long and bloody and hard. Some of us will die and some of us will not see this through to the end but we shall be victorious. You have shown what you can do and you make us proud, continue to do so and before long we will be celebrating in Amalah and like Rakan says – the world will be ours,’ Kenaz said, finishing off his speech.

He stayed where he was and those in front of him cheered loudly and stamped their feet once again in approval. Kenaz looked at Waldon and Waldon then took his turn to speak.

‘For you, this is the final battle, between now and Amalah, this is the last time we will fight; so fight hard and to the death if necessary. Leave no one standing if they do not join us. Show no mercy and show no fear,’ he told them vehemently. ‘Now – are you ready to fight?’ he asked them.

’Yes,’ they replied.

‘ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT?’ Waldon asked again, this time bellowing the question.

‘YES,’ they roared in response and began cheering and stamping their feet once again.

The noise could be heard from many of the mountains but the people were not alarmed for they had heard that noise before and they assumed that like last time the soldiers would be on the move and leave Equer – how wrong they were.

And so they began, the six Azari simultaneously brought their hands up and put them behind their heads, they reached for the hoods on their cloaks and when they took hold of them they brought the hoods forward and over their heads and when they were in place, the soldiers watched as the six faces of their leaders disappeared from their sight. Their eyes widened but they remained standing in the same place and said nothing.

Rakan lifted a cloaked arm and gave a hand signal to the captain who was stood at the front of the soldiers. The captain then began to give the orders; he ordered them to turn to the right and turned in one simultaneous move. He then gave the order to begin marching and every single soldier stepped forward with their left foot and began marching. The soldiers marched in step and the sorcerers marched alongside them. The captains’ led their men and they were positioned at the front, back and sides of their soldiers.

Rakan, Luxor and the other Azari glided forward and glided to the front of the marching soldiers so that they could lead them onwards. What a terrifying sight they were, the six cloaked Azari gliding along the ground with their dark army following behind them. What fierce and frightening power they possessed: Equer never saw them coming and many of the people never stood a chance.

***

Joaquin of the Sioux people had lived in Equer for the longest time now; he had grown up in Basimine but the mountains and wildlife had brought him to Equer and held him there. They were his first love and he treasured the life he lived in the mountains. He lived five mountains south of Maddox and he knew the old man well.

That night while in his cave, Joaquin had felt uneasy, what had started as a small niggling feeling at the back of his mind had now turned into a deep feeling of foreboding in just a few hours and now, he was extremely worried. He felt darkness and he felt danger and those feelings intensified as each minute passed.

Joaquin had often seen things before they had happened, but this time, no images came to mind and so he tortured himself and wracked his brains as to what could possible be happening in Equer that made him feel the way he did. As the minutes went by, Joaquin’s feelings continued to intensify and then he got a flash of what was to come and then he saw a flash of Maddox. When he saw Maddox, he knew that he was in trouble and he wasted no time in acting. He gathered his weapons and threw on more clothes and headed north to Maddox’s cave to see how the old man was.

***

The Azari, the soldiers and sorcerers reached the first set of mountains in a short time and when they reached their destination, they came to a halt. They turned to face the mountain and when they were in position, the Captain who had marched them to the mountain, ordered them to fall out to which they complied. They turned to the left and broke their formation and stood around waiting for the signal to begin.

Some already had their sword or battle axe in their hands, while others preferred to wait until they were fighting before they took out their weapons. Rakan took down his hood and gave the order to begin and when the battle commenced, the soldiers and sorcerers ran forward and began their assault on the mountains.

The soldiers ran forward at speed and rushed the two mountains that were to be targeted first; they attacked and raided the caves from the bottom and worked their way upwards, few could defend themselves against the sudden and surprising onslaught that was launched against them and in that attack – nearly everyone perished.

All that could be heard from the people were shouts and blood curdling screams, as their lives were being extinguished in their homes. The people from the next mountain could hear the screams and noise of the soldiers and as they realised that something was terribly wrong, the cave lights began to go on, as people woke from their sleep and rose to find out what was happening.

Those who lived at the top of the mountain that was being attacked also awoke and scrambled to their feet in fear and shock. They did not put on the candle lights of their caves for fear of meeting the same fate that those below them had met. They dressed quickly and quietly and grabbed any weapon they could find.

Those with young children and elderly parents, who were lucky enough to be close to the underground network that the Azari did not know about, ensured their escape and then returned to the edge of their cave. They looked down and could see their families and friends being murdered before their very eyes and they watched in horror as the soldiers ascended towards them with alarming speed. Some chose to stay and fight and some fled, following their loved ones.