Pain.
Intolerable pain.
Xalo’s ears were ringing from the sound of the explosion. He could feel the warm blood flowing from the cut in his chest.
Sound of metals clashing. Shouts and screams.
The army! They were still some alive!
He had to get up.
He still had to fight.
His muscles ached; the shockwave had been stronger than he had anticipated. Had Almecho and those soldiers of his managed to escape the blast radius?
First, he had to seal the bleeding wound. He was losing too much blood. At this rate, he’d be–
The silhouette of a large figure against the dust shuffled to him, growling and limping. An orc. It held a large falchion in his hand.
He had to get away.
The orc lifted its hand, the metal of the weapon gleaming orange from the fire behind it.
Xalo raised his own hand in a feeble attempt to defend himself. But he was too exhausted to produce even a spark of fire.
A different figure, more humanoid, tackled the orc from the side. Xalo watched as the two wrestled on the ground, struggling for their lives. Another figure emerged from the dust and brought its sword down on the orc’s head. The vile beast’s body spasmed and then lay still.
“He’s here!” shouted the figure who had tackled the orc.
That voice … It was Nayez of the Twelve.
“Gauld! We need a horse!” came a shout. Almecho. He was alive.
The dust cleared, revealing the bloodied faces of Nayez and Enash, who had stabbed the orc.
Almecho’s equally bloodied face appeared above him.
“We thought you were dead,” he said.
“I will be … if you don’t stop the bleeding,” Xalo gasped. Talking caused the pain in his chest to flare. Hell, breathing caused his chest to burn. Was the wound deep enough to have reached his lungs?
Almecho and Nayez lifted him and placed him face up on a horse.
“Get him to Amelia immediately,” Almecho said.
“Yes sir.” Shioul was alive too.
The horse lurched forward.
The pain flared once more and Xalo lost consciousness.
***
Gauld had nearly been thrown off his horse when the explosion rocked the entire village. Ahead, he saw giant balls of flame and great plumes of smoke rise from Ilalka’s home.
What had just happened?
He kicked his horse and it galloped forward hesitantly, reluctant to go to the source of the explosion which had frightened it. The others followed. A few distance ahead, they met a small group of wounded archers. With them was Yalhim and a heavily wounded Mullakh.
“Gauld!” Yalhim gasped.
“What happened? Where’s Almecho?” Gauld asked. “What was that giant explosion?”
“Is Arlene still at the gate?” Yalhim asked, ignoring Gauld’s question.
Gauld immediately gave orders to some of the guards to take Mullakh and the other wounded to Arlene, understanding Yalhim’s question.
“We need to go back,” Yalhim said. “The army might all not be dead from the explosion. The Chief, if he’s still alive, may need our help.”
That was all Gauld needed to hear. Yalhim boarded a horse that a guard had vacated and they went off in the direction of the explosion.
Yalhim gave Gauld a brief report on what had happened. How Xalo had appeared out of nowhere and had helped Almecho and his soldiers prepare a defence against Rachhas’ army. His summary didn’t have much details but it enough for Gauld to understand how they’d fought, that they had placed traps for the army, and that the explosion was a part of it.
“Some of the enemy troops may have survived the explosion; especially those who were still outside the house,” Yalhim said.
“Why don’t you take the men and go take care of those who survived?” Gauld asked.
Yalhim nodded. He broke away from the group and Gauld ordered his men to follow him except for a few who kept following him.
“Almecho!” Gauld shouted as his now small group approached the site of explosion. A giant plume of dust and smoke covered the area; an intimidating red glow could be seen in the heart of the .
***
The explosion had thrown Almecho off of his feet. He landed hard on the ground, scraping the skin of his knees and palms. He felt as if the heat of the explosion had melted away the skin on his back. The ten members of the Twelve lay on the ground around him, all of them tossed by the shockwave.
Xalo had told them what it would be like.
Almecho had never expected it to be this strong.
He stood up with a groan, a hand feeling his back to check for burns. Dust floated around everywhere. He could only see a few yards in any direction. He wiped the blood that had started coagulating around his eyes; he must have cut himself somewhere on the head. His clothes were still intact and warm while the skin inside prickled when he touched it. Otherwise, he seemed to have escaped the explosion unscathed.
“Chief, are you alright?” asked Baruq. He was a lean member of the Twelve, strong despite his appearance.
“I should be asking you that,” Almecho said, helping the man get up. Baruq was bleeding from his
“It is our duty to – watch out!”
Almecho jumped to the side, narrowly dodging a large falchion. The force of the swing caused it to embed itself on the ground. As the hesh who tried to pull it free, Almecho and Baruq immediately attacked it. Almecho aimed for the creature’s eye with his cuff blade while Baruq stabbed it in its stomach.
Nayez, who had just gotten up, sprinted forward and stabbed the hesh’ neck. The big beast fell backwards, dead.
“They’re still alive,” Almecho said, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Of course some must have survived the explosion. “Where’s Xalo?”
“He was running some distance behind us when the entire house went up in flames,” Nayez said.
By this time, everyone had gotten up and were inspecting themselves for wounds. Nayez, who hadn’t participated in the earlier battle, was the fittest of them all with only bruises from the explosion. Rest of them had cuts and scratches in all of their appendages. Renor had been tossed at an angle and had broken his left arm.
“Renor, go join Yalhim and the others,” Almecho ordered. “The rest of you, come with me. We need to find Xalo.”
Xalo had told Almecho earlier that he was immune to fire because of his abilities. That meant that even if he was caught in the explosion, the fire wouldn’t cause him any harm. Unless the shockwave killed or left him severely crippled and defenceless like Renor to be killed by the enemy.
They had run only a few paces when they heard a rhythm of hoofbeats. It was coming from the direction of the north-gate and growing louder.
Almecho’s heart sank. Had some of the army branched off and breached the village through the north-gate? Then what about Amelia?
He steeled himself for the attack, ready with his cuff blades when he heard a shout. A familiar shout.
“Almecho!”
Was that Gauld’s voice? What was the old man doing back here?
There was a loud growl from the direction of the house. Almecho turned around and saw several silhouettes of hesh running in their direction, the outline of weapons clearly visible in their hands.
Horses galloped past Almecho and the rest, heading straight for the hesh. The riders were human and wore Raganad’s clothing. They attacked the hesh; wounded from the shrapnel and the fire they went down quickly.
“You’re alive!” one of the riders exclaimed. Almecho had to squint against the dust to see the man’s face. It was Gauld.
“Gauld! You came back?!” Almecho said, surprised and relieved.
“Of course I did!” Gauld said, pulling Almecho in to a tight embrace. He gave a yelp as Gauld’s arm accidentally dug into a bruise on his back. “You’re all badly hurt,” Gauld said, eyeing everyone who stood with Almecho.
“We’ll live,” Almecho replied. “How many of you are there?”
“Over a hundred,” Gauld answered. “Yalhim told us what happened while we weren’t here. They are currently sweeping the surrounding for any enemy survivors. Some of us rushed here to look for you.”
“Three of you stay; the others go and help Gauld’s men,” Almecho ordered. “The hesh and the iteys can still prove dangerous. As for us, we need to look for someone.”
Renor ordered Nayez, Enash, and Shioul to stay and the other five to support Gauld’s reinforcements. He himself started walking towards the north-gate to be treated for his fractured arm by Amelia.
“Do you mean the knight who saved you?” Gauld asked.
Almecho jogged towards the burning ruin that used to be his home. “Yes. A red haired man. He claims to be from the Eastern lands. We’re alive right now because of him.” He turned to the three who had stayed and ordered them to search around the rubble.
“Almecho, we saw fires being thrown around from the swamp – before this explosion happened. Was it the assassin?” Gauld asked.
“No, those fires you saw were the Xalo’s work.” Almecho observed the apprehension on Gauld’s face. “Don’t worry, he is not an enemy. If he was, we would all be dead by now.”
The men started searching around, occasionally stopping to drive their blades through wounded enemies lying on the ground in pain. None of the iteys in the surrounding area had survived; almost all the humans had died in the explosion while the hesh proved to be difficult. Still, they were heavily wounded and now Gauld’s men could engage and kill them with some effort.
“He’s here!” came a shout from Almecho’s right.
“Gauld! We need a horse!” shouted Almecho and started running off to the direction Nayez had shouted from.
Xalo lay on the ground, bleeding from his chest. A few paces away lay a hesh that Nayez and Enash had just killed. Almecho kneeled and looked at Xalo’s face. The knight slowly opened his eyes to stare back at Almecho, giving a feeble smile.
“We thought you were dead,” Almecho said.
“I will be … if you don’t stop the bleeding,” Xalo gasped.
Almecho looked at the gaping wound on the knight’s chest. Was that white between his flesh bones or fat? Either way, the cut was deep. The shockwave from the explosion must have further ripped apart his skin and muscles when Xalo was hit by it.
Shioul came riding a horse form behind. He disembarked and helped his Chief and Nayez load Xalo onto the horse.
“Get him to Amelia immediately,” Almecho said.
“Yes sir,” Shioul said and pulled the horse towards the north-gate. Almecho watched them go. Xalo’s chest wound had seemed life-threatening to him. He hoped Amelia could stitch it up before further blood loss claimed the knight’s life.
Almecho turned to Nayez and Enash.
“Come on, we have stragglers to kill.”
***
Voices.
They sounded distant.
“What happened to him?”
“I don’t know.”
The voices mingled with voices from his past.
‘What happened to this boy?’
‘I don’t know, I just found him lying unconscious near the lava.’
‘Near the lava?’
‘Shouldn’t he be dead?’
“He’ll be dead if we don’t stitch up this giant cut on his chest. Yalhim, can you unwind the cloth you’re wearing and produce me a long piece of string?”
“Yes ma’am.”
There was sound of cloth ripping.
“Was he caught in the explosion?”
“I believe so ma’am.”
“But he has no burns anywhere.”
‘He has no burn anywhere on his body. Are you sure you found him near lava?’
‘I swear it’s true.’
“Maybe he managed to run out the house and hide behind a wall before everything exploded?”
“He was surrounded by fire Yalhim. He should have been burnt here or there. Maybe it’s because of his powers …”
‘He has cuts on his arms and some deep bruises. But otherwise, he’ll live.’
‘What should we do with him?’
‘I’ll take him to my home.’
‘Sir? Your home?’
‘Yes. Do you have any problem with that?’
‘He just said something! He’s conscious!’
‘What’d he say?’
“Alaiza? Isn’t that the name of the assassin? Do you think he knows her?”
“Maybe he just knows her name.”
‘It’s probably someone he knows.’
‘Do you think he’s from Lorner?’
‘We should send someone there to find out. Also, ask about this Alaiza, whoever she is.’
‘Sir! He’s convulsing!’
“Hold him down Yalhim! He’ll injure himself further!”
“He’s too strong ma’am!”
The voices suddenly faded away. Xalo found himself in an open field. It was barren; the ground was dry and cracked and the sky above was red. He could see small random patched of black clouds hovering aimlessly on it.
“Xalo?”
He turned around.
Twenty foot away from him stood Alaiza.
“Alaiza?”
“You’re … dead.”
He took a step forward.
“No Alaiza I–”
“You’re dead!” she screamed. “I killed you!”
She wasn’t real. This place wasn’t real.
He was having a vision. He had had it before once. A long time ago. She was with him then. On that mountain.
She wasn’t real.
The ground shook as something heavy landed on it. The thing that had taken Alaiza’s form turned to look at what it was that had suddenly arrived. Xalo followed her gaze.
A great white beast loomed over them both, as large as a giant hill. It wings spread far beyond what his eyes could see. And then, in a deep voice that echoed throughout the empty land, it said:
‘Ammaj arag andip urah.’
There was a blur of black; something had attacked the white beast, whatever it – they were. They wrestled together, slamming each other against the hard ground and clawing at each other.
Xalo didn’t know what to do. He looked over to where Alaiza stood; she was watching the two creatures passively, her gaze transfixed on them.
Suddenly, the black one broke free from the grasp of the white. It turned to them both and shouted:
‘Andip ial ammaj aragan.’
Before it could say anything further, the white beast slammed into it. There was a loud scream.
Xalo woke up.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
