The New World (The Last Delar) (32 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Akelou stands in Theopa's hall marveling at the hieroglyphs painted on the walls. . . stories of battles and acts of heroism in Pokwa history recorded by the elders.  His mind drifts as he stares at the shadows that dance on the stone and begin to take shape.  Trees sprout into a forest, and among the trees, a hut reveals itself.  He sees the outline of his mother sitting on a stump and husking corn collected from the fields.  Akelou stares at a shadow of himself sitting by her side; he is listening to her sing.  His shadow turns and runs, followed by his old wolf, Carn.  He runs to his father who is kneeling, waiting for Akelou to run into his arms.  Akelou jumps into his father's embrace, and Dirty Hands tosses him into the air squeezing him with love.  He tilts his head and walks up to the wall and tenderly touches the shadow of his mother.

"You will always be with me mother," he whispers running his fingers down the wall.  The deep sounds of Pokwa horns wake him from his dream.

"Akelou, it is time.  You must come with me," says Theopa.  "Ush-Ka is at our door and calls us to battle.  My warriors are in position and await our signal.  The Pokwa are ready, to defend our home till the last of us stand.  I ask you, my friend, kin of the Delar, are you ready to die by my side defending what is not yours?"

Akelou takes a large breath, blinking at the wall before he turns to the king.  "By the axe of your forefathers...forged by mine...it is victory or death, my king."

Akelou stands tall and locks arms with Theopa.  "TILL DEATH," they say to each other.

Tib, wearing a nut helmet and gripping two stone blades, stands proudly beside Akelou.  He looks up at Akelou with his bulbous eye and points toward the horns with his blades. They walk through the door, and Theopa grabs Akelou's shoulder as they emerge onto the terrace.  They look down from the terrace and see the legions of Nossa warriors standing behind General Ush-Ka at the edge of the swamp.  The Pokwa warriors blow into their bone horns and raise their weapons at the sight of their king.

The two armies face each other, separated by a short stretch of open swamp.  The Pokwa warriors brandish their weapons, stomp their feet, and croak loudly. Leotie stands beside Oboe and Akelou catches a glimpse of her waving her blades.  She looks up at Akelou, and their eyes meet.  He wishes she would have agreed to stand by his side, but she would not leave the warriors.  She is a proud and stubborn woman.  His heart pounds with fear and with love for her.

The warriors ready themselves for the king's words.  Leotie stares at the Nossa across the battlefield and takes a deep breath.  She examines their greater numbers and superior weapons.  Their spears are tall, their armor thick, and their iron-clad shields stout and solid.  She knows the Pokwa are mighty warriors, but their armor is made from bark, the shells of giant turtles and their weapons from wood and hand-cut stone.

Oboe places his hand on her back.  "Do not be afraid.  The Pokwa have faced mightier armies before.  If we are all to die today...then we die together and with honor." Leotie looks up at his face, and courage enters her heart.

"GENERAL USH-KA, INVADER OF LANDS AND SLAYER OF THE INNOCENT, I COMMAND YOU, LEAVE OUR BORDERS, OR THE BLOOD OF YOUR MEN WILL STAIN OUR SWAMP RED.  I GIVE YOU THIS LAST CHANCE, TO TURN YOUR ARMY AROUND AND FLEE, OR I WILL UNLEASH THE STRENGTH OF THE POKWA AND CRUSH YOU!" Theopa yells down from his muddy terrace.

The Pokwa roar and splash water at the words of their king.  They grow quiet, and all eyes look at Ush-Ka and his men.  Ush-Ka bellows out in his cracked, wicked laughter.  "You dare threaten me, soft-back, your empty threats are wasted and unheard.  I give you no means of retreat or terms of surrender.  I will destroy your cursed city before the sun sets...and the Pokwa will be forgotten like the ancient kings of men." Ush-Ka lifts his stone mace into the air.  The Nossa warriors standing in tight formations begin to part, clearing a path.

The Pokwa move back and gasp as men appear holding chains attached to grey crocodiles.  The crocodiles snap at everything around them and thrash their thick armor-covered tails with excitement at the sight of the Pokwa.  Leotie looks at the water's surface and watches it begin to bubble and ripple.

"ATTACK!" roars Ush-Ka, signaling his men to charge.  His warriors break out in a run, splashing through the swamp.

"HOLD!" Oboe yells to his men as he extends a large stone rod.  The Pokwa are jumpy at the sight of the crocodiles and nervously grab their weapons, ready for a fight.  "HOLD!"

"NOW!" yells the king and Oboe slams his stone staff against a rock under the water.  From beneath the water's surface half of the Pokwa army splashes up with their dart blowers, firing poison darts.  A wave of darts descends on the Nossa as they charge.  The warriors fall into the water, shaking in pain and drowning as the poison paralyzes their bodies.  The Pokwa continue to fire their darts.  Many of the crocodiles are freed from their masters and dive under the water, racing toward their prey.

"FIRE!" yells Ush-Ka, and from the cover of trees a wave of arrows flies toward the Pokwa.  The dart blowers dive back into the water, crawling into underground shafts to avoid the attack.  The rest of the Pokwa army leaps into the air, curling into tight balls protected by their armor.  The Pokwa land on the Nossa, spearing, crushing, and bludgeoning all they can.  Oboe leads his warriors into battle with unmatched fury and courage.  He lands on a crocodiles back, driving his spear between the beast's shoulders and through its body.

Leotie charges, breathing deeply as arrows soar past her in all directions.  Beside her, Pokwa are being swept under the water by submerged crocodiles.  The crocodiles' death spins tear flesh from bone and the screams of the Pokwa echo in her mind.  The adrenaline and the brutality of the battle overwhelm her, and the only thing she can feel is the pounding of her racing heart.  She breaks the battle line and stops the long sword of a Nossa warrior with her crossed blades.  Through his screams Leotie pushes his blade to the side and slices him across his neck.  She looks over her shoulder and sees a bladed staff coming down on her.  She side steps to safety and waits for his staff to break the waters surface.  Seizing the moment she runs up the wooden staff, leaping over the warrior, spreading her legs and reversing her body, cutting his back as she comes back to the swamps floor.  A flash of steel knocks Leotie to her back.  She hears the crunch of her nose breaking and splashing water blinds her to her attacker.  Through her blurred vision she sees a Pokwa take up the battle with the Nossa that struck her.  The Nossa drives a blade into the Pokwa's chest.  Leotie cries out, her nose gushes blood, and she charges the Nossa driving her blade into his back.  She pushes him screaming, spitting blood on his armor.  The warrior falls, and she tries to catch her breath. Her teeth slam shut and a blinding pain races up her back.  Her legs go numb, and she falls under the water's surface.  She looks up and sees a shadow through the water.  A massive hand lifts her up out of the swamp.  Through blood and water she looks down and sees the top of Ush-Ka's head.

"This battle will soon be over for your friends, and you will watch them die helpless and broken in my arms," Ush-Ka roars, lifting Leotie over his head for everyone to see.

Akelou looks down, and there is Leotie in the grip of Ush-Ka. "Leotie!" he yells, then turns and begins to run into the hall.  He takes one step when his necklace explodes with light, and the world around him disappears.

---

A new world materializes around Akelou.  He can neither smell nor sense anything, but through the darkness he recognizes the Black Forest.  A voice startles him, and Akelou crouches in a defensive position.

"My end is near, take what life still beats in my heart and use it to save that which is dearest to it," echoes a woman's voice.

A light begins to shine through Akelou's chest.  He stares at it in wonder. He sees a woman kneeling in a rising stream, and in her hands a light illuminates the forest.  Akelou walks into the stream, feeling nothing as his legs dissolve into the water.  He approaches the kneeling woman and looks into her eyes.  Something familiar stares back at him.

"Who are you? What has happened to me? Answer me!"

The lone woman looks at him, and Akelou at her.  Her luminous silver eyes pierce his soul, and he falls to his knees.  He cannot feel the water or the wind, but in his heart he knows who she is.  Akelou reaches out his hand to touch her, but his fingers pass through her like a soft breeze.  He looks down and sees his infant self, sleeping peacefully with a thumb in his mouth.  He looks at the face of his twin brother for the first time since that very night.

"I have a brother? You are my mother? What is your name? Tell me, where can I find you? Why are you here?"

In a burst of light the satchel holding him and his twin brother is gone, and his mother is alone.  He follows her as she climbs the bank of the stream and stands next to a tree whose roots strangle the muddy shore.  She takes a sword from under her robes and touches it to her face.  Akelou watches her drop her necklace to the ground.  He stares at the dead amulet and grips his own necklace.

She turns and swings her sword, and a flash of azure light slices Akelou across the chest.  He stumbles back, holding his chest in shock. He turns to see a warrior fall to the ground besides him.  He watches helplessly as his mother is attacked by The King’s men.  Akelou stands in awe as she defends herself, gracefully wielding her sword against her enemies.  Never in his life has he seen such swordsmanship.  There is no fear in her eyes, and she does not hesitate to strike down her foes.  His mother slays a finely armored warrior and tries to lift her sword from his body.  Akelou looks back when he hears a rustling in the forest.  He approaches it, and comes face to face with Ush-Ka.  He jumps in front of his mother, trying to block the quills that strike her in the back.

"YOU!" he yells.  "You again? You have haunted me my entire life.  It is you, beast, who has taken everyone that I have loved."

Akelou tries to attack Ush-Ka, but his fists fade through the beast.  He watches Ush-Ka lifts his mother against a tree, and in the beast's other arm he sees his father's dead face.  Akelou screams.  He hears something new approaching his mother and Ush-Ka.  A figure covered in robes emerges.  He kneels down and Loeau grabs his head with his hands.  For the second time Akelou feels the world around him fade and a new foreign world materializes around him.  He is standing on large sea vessel, it is dark, early morning and there are two men standing looking out into the open ocean.  One of the men is a  shadow of the man who emerged from the forest with Ush-Ka.  He begins to speak to a short man dressed in long dark robes.  At first Akelou cannot understand their language but his necklace glows and the words begin to take shape in his mind. 

"I am getting tired of your excuses Father and am wondering why I trusted a priest with a map written in pagan symbols.  I did not risk my reputation and financial future, lying to the Crown of Castile speaking of trade routes to sponsor this voyage, only to be made a fool because of your faith in blasphemous artifacts."

Father Juan stares out into the ocean thumbing his rosary beads.  "Patients Captain, the Lord guides us so have faith."

"LAND HO!" shouts Rodrigo De Triana.

New memories flash forward and Akelou watches their journey through the forests where they plunder small villages leaving a trail of devastation to the Whispering Canyons. Then he sees them come to the tower of Ogda.  They enter the tower and ascend to the lower depths. In the darkness they come to a door carved with symbols of dark Gods and tortured men.  Juan reads from his map and the door opens. The memories begin to move faster becoming blurry and a loud howling, like a strong northern wind drowns out all other sound. Akelou follows the Captain and the priest as they cross a wooden bridge that leads into the darkness of the tower.  The vision is beginning to break apart and Akelou watches the priest mark his forehead with the symbol of the Delar.  The wind is growing louder and Akelou can barley see the Captain. The Captain grabs the black knife. The moment he touches the blade of Kaah the howling stops and the memories become focused.

"Christopher! No! You do not know what you are doing you will release him." The priest shouts.

The Captain lunges the blade into Juans' belly, grabbing him by his shoulder and pulling him to his chest.  Juan's face convulses, and his veins contract with the darkness that sucks the life out of him. The marking on Juan's forehead ignites in flames and a bright light explodes around Akelou. 

Akelou is back in the Black Forest staring at his mother and the murdering invader.  He watches his mother stare up at the moon and listens to her soft dying voice as she speaks in the language of the Delar, and understands her words.

"Tonight, I die.  You have murdered my love, and I have abandoned my children to the wild, ancient beast and coward of a different land.  But I have fooled you.  Both my children will survive, and they will grow into men of the Delar.  I have foreseen your doom.  Each of you will be slain by a blade wielded by my sons.  My body of flesh may soon turn to dust, but the seeds of my fathers live.  I curse you both, and you both will be cursed.  My love and I will watch you suffer, and together, standing beyond this world from the shores of death, we will rejoice in your destruction."

Tears streak down Akelou's face. He watches the robbed man strip his mother's soul from its human shell.  He watches his parents bodies cast to the ground and abandoned on the bank of a small stream.  Akelou crawls to his murdered parents and kneels by their side.  The world around him fades, and soon there is only darkness.  He looks out into the void and sees a figure in tethered robes staring down at him with two glowing eyes.  Akelou can sense its power and tries to move toward it.  His body is almost gone, but his necklace shines, rising from his chest.  The robed figure's necklace, like his, is rising toward him.  Each necklace is shaking with energy, and then a blinding flash turns everything to white.