Zachania (55 page)

“I believe so
Heikan.”

“By the gods,
what was that place… I could feel the breath of death upon me”
replied Heikan still clearly shaken as he tried to regain his
breath.

Talon sat down
and breathed deeply, all around him soldiers were gathering and
sitting down panting.

“We should not
have camped there Heikan, thank the gods we still live” he sighed
breathlessly.

After a short
moment of silence Kinlan who had gone off to speak with his
captains returned.

“My Lord, so
far there are twenty two deaths reported.” he said which made
Heikan curse with anger at his stupidity from not listening to
Talon’s request.

“Be thankful
that it wasn’t ten times that number.” sighed Talon who then
quickly rose to his feet and pulled Kinlan to one side, Talon
looked back to see if Heikan was looking and when he saw that the
Lord was not he struck Kinlan across the face with the back of his
knuckles.

“Do not ever
take what I say for granted again!” Talon mouthed coldly to
Kinlan.

“I deserved
that Talon … I was wrong and good men died” Kinlan replied as he
raised a hand to wipe away some blood from his lip.

Talon then took
Kinlan by the arm and looked into his eyes.

“You lied to me
and Lord Heikan, if Heikan knew this he would be outraged.”

“I will tell
him immediately Lord Talon.”

“No you will
not, keep this between us but I want your word that you will never
lie to him again.” replied Talon in a tone of voice so resolute it
sent shivers down Kinlan’s spine.

Kinlan then
wiped away some blood from his mouth and held out his hand for
Talon to shake it.

“On my blood I
swear it.” he answered with conviction.

When morning
broke Talon was woken by the sound of Lord Heikan ordering some of
his captains, Talon noticed that there was something different
about the Lord, last night when they went to sleep Heikan was
anxious and confused but as a new day dawned he could now see a
completely different person before him.

Heikan was
dressed and looked wide awake, he could see him joking with the
soldiers and for all to see there was a radiance of enthusiasm
coming from him.

“Talon you are
awake, are you ready for today’s march my friend.” Heikan said as
he smiled, Talon nodded back but felt slightly confused until it
dawned on him what Heikan was doing.

What happened
last night was an embarrassment for the Lord Heikan, for him it was
over and he would not speak of the matter again, his soldiers were
given no explanations, and they would just have to deal with it by
themselves, Heikan had lost lives without facing the Empire, that
to him was an act of shame so Heikan just shut out what happened
last night, forget it and move on was Heikan’s way.

“We have two
days of marching Talon, then we commence battle.” he added looking
proud.

Talon once
again smiled and thought to himself,

“A battle that
cannot come soon enough, Heikan may have rid the thoughts from his
head but I doubt his soldiers will forget what has passed so
easily, to some what happened last night will haunt them for the
rest of their lives.”

After two days
of marching south, the Zachanian’s reached the outskirts of the
huge trading town of Vilsillius. As the army marched through the
dwellings that lined the route to the towns centre they came across
hundreds of residents who ran away fearful as this unfamiliar and
powerful army advanced.

“Are we close
Talon?” asked Heikan noticing the build-up of dwellings.

“Not long,
maybe a hour.” replied Talon looking around at the hundreds of
people who were looking on bewildered.

“Our arrival
will not be a surprise.” added Heikan commenting on all of the
people.

Kinlan who had
earlier led a scouting party into the city then returned and pulled
his horse beside Talon’s.

“We have
spotted the Empires barracks my Lord.”

“Good, where is
it?” asked Heikan.

“In that
direction my Lord, just beyond that hill.” replied Kinlan
pointing.

Lord Heikan
then raised his arm and the legions behind him came to a halt.

“We will waste
no time then, we confront them now.” he said turning back to face
Kinlan, Heikan then kicked his heels into his horse and headed in
the direction of the barracks along with Talon, Kinlan, his son
Kraal and forty of his personnel guard until they reached a hill.
They dismounted their horses and walked over to get a better look
hidden by the trees of the hill that overlooked the barracks.

“At a guess I
would say they number between five to seven thousand.” Talon said
to Heikan.

“At least.”
added Kinlan.

Lord Heikan
nodded and then looked around at the surrounding land.

“I say we
attack them there and over there.” he said as pointed to the
spots.

Talon looked at
where the Lord had pointed and agreed with him.

“Agreed, I
would also place archers behind that hill over there, they would be
out of sight but their arrows will reach the compound.” added
Talon.

Heikan looked
at the place that Talon had mentioned and smiled as an intense
feeling of excitement came over him and he grew in confidence that
a swift victory could be won.

“Kinlan did you
hear Lord Talon?”

“Yes sir, I
will place five hundred archers behind that hill.”

“Good make it a
thousand.” added Heikan.

“Understood my
Lord.” replied Kinlan before walking off with Kraal to rendezvous
with the advancing army.

“Victory here
will not take long my friend, whoever placed this barracks here did
not give thought of an attack.” Talon said turning to Heikan.

“You will be
impressed by my warriors Talon.” replied Heikan proudly only for
Talon to turn to him with a look of reassurance.

“I was
impressed with your army at Korvak’s castle, they are a tribute to
you Heikan” replied Talon just as heard the sound of the army
manoeuvring into positions behind him. Talon then ran over to
Kinlan who was busy ordering the archers into their positions.

“Kinlan tell
your archers to light their arrows, I want to set the barracks on
fire” he shouted before he ran over to Heikan who was still on the
overlooking hill.

Moments later
one of Heikan’s captains walked over and reported to Heikan

“All the men
are in positions sir.”

Moments later
Talon heard the swishing noise as hundreds of arrows were unleashed
towards the barracks, as the arrows hit the wooden roofs they
quickly began to smoulder. Then smoke rose and the barracks began
to burst into flames, Talon could see the Imperial soldiers rushing
around as they tried frantically to extinguish the fires while
others were trying to find shelter from the savage onslaught that
rained down upon them, they were shouting and trying to organise
themselves but with the relentless barrage of arrows they were
dropping in their dozens.

Lord Heikan
licked his lips as he gazed down at the carnage that his Zachanian
archers were causing, Talon was also keenly viewing the massacre
seeing the Imperial soldiers trying to escape from the arrows and
fires.

“Now Heikan,
they are leaving the barracks, now order the attack.” he
shouted.

Lord Heikan
turned towards his captains and drew his sword into the air.

“ATTACK!” he
shouted pointing his sword at the barracks.

Then
immediately as the scream was heard, ten thousand Zachanian
warriors rushed towards the compound.

“LONG LIVE LORD
HEIKAN!” they screamed as they charged towards the Imperial
soldiers who now desperately were trying to form ranks to withstand
the oncoming onslaught.

“Go my
beauties.” Heikan said proudly as he watched the attack and then
pulled Talon by the arm.

“Witness this
Talon” Heikan added as he knew what was about to happen and Talon
looked on keenly as he saw the first two thousand warriors suddenly
draw to a halt about fifty paces from the Imperial soldiers who
were still confused at the speed and the savagery of the attack
that had just happened to them. Talon then saw Heikan’s warriors
reach for their belts and take out the Klafboz, the ancient
throwing weapon into their hands, the Zachanian’s then took turns
in throwing them at the soldiers, the sight of hundreds of
Klafboz’s whizzing through the air made Heikan burst with
pride.

“Just one
scratch from the Klafboz and their dead!” Heikan shouted.

Within moments
Talon saw with his own eyes just how true Heikan’s words really
were as the Imperial soldiers fell in their hundreds, this
continued in a relentless fashion until the Zachanian’s parted to
make way for a legion of archers, once again the Imperial soldiers
were fired upon. Hundreds of poison tipped arrows were unleashed
upon them. Talon gave a slight sigh of relief as he could see the
battle was almost over, the Empires soldiers had been massacred in
their thousands from Heikan’s brutal, cunning and ruthless
warriors.

As Talon gazed
down at the massacre he found himself wondering if this battle had
been too cruel. He looked across at Heikan who was licking his lips
at the bloodthirsty display before him, Talon noticed that what was
left of the Imperial soldiers were now holding their hands and
begging for mercy.

“Heikan, the
battle is won, give those men the option to surrender.” Talon
snapped grabbing the Lords arm.

Heikan turned
to face Talon and then ordered for Kinlan to relay the order to
cease firing, Kinlan then rode down the hill and through the
archers who were standing primed with their arrows pointed at the
soldiers, Kinlan stopped about twenty paces from the few dozen
soldiers who had survived.

“Lord Heikan
from the House of Heikan of the royal realm of Zachania salutes the
bravery you have shown today. From this admiration he offers you
brave few the chance to surrender, you will be spared death and
become prisoners of Zachania, I will give you a few moments to give
me your answer.” he shouted before returning back to the archers
who were still aiming their bows at them.

Kinlan waited a
few moments before gazing up at Heikan who nodded for him to
continue, Kinlan rode back towards the soldiers and looked at them
for a sign at what they wanted to do. Kinlan raised his eyebrows at
the soldiers but was met with only sneers, he once again looked up
to hill at Talon and Heikan, Heikan looked across at Talon who
remained silent so Heikan pointed his sword at Kinlan and then at
the soldiers to signal that there time was up.

“The time has
come for you to give me your answer” Kinlan then shouted at the
soldiers before he turned to the archers and ordered them to take
aim and then once again turned to face the Imperial soldiers who
were now embracing each other and saying their goodbyes.

Kinlan’s head
dropped in disappointment and anger over these foolish soldiers
courage, he hesitated for one more moment hoping to hear the words
or surrender, then still with his head bowed he raised his arm, the
archers pulled hard on their bows, then Kinlan swallowed and
dropped his arm, over five hundred arrows were fired at the
soldiers, moments later amongst a few screams they were all
dead.

As the screams
subsided, a strange silence fell over the battlefield, Lord Heikan
had achieved his victory, a victory with not a single Zachanian
life lost yet the battle had left a bitter taste for him,

“They were
given a choice Talon.” Heikan suddenly said breaking the silence
and trying to justify what he had just witnessed.

“They were
brave men Heikan ….. They chose death rather than live as our
prisoners”

Replied Talon
also with remorse in his voice

Talon then bit
his lip and patted Heikan on the back.

“Come!
Vilsillius awaits us.” he said before walking down the hill into
the Zachanian warriors who were now collecting their Klafboz’s
which littered the ground. Talon then sent a party to search the
barracks for any survivors and loot any Imperial documents, before
long Heikan’s mighty army were back on the path towards the centre
of the town.

Talon, Heikan,
Kinlan and Kraal were once again at the front of the army, word had
quickly spread about the Zachanian victory and townsfolk were
running away from them now. Heikan’s army had tasted blood and they
were all eager to bring this day to a close with total control over
Vilsillius.

“We did not
lose one life my Lord! The King will be pleased, we have won a
monumental victory today” Kinlan said to Heikan.

“The men were
magnificent Kinlan” replied Heikan.

Talon then
asked Heikan a question about the Klafboz which he saw Heikan’s
army use earlier to such devastating effect.

“Heikan, today
I saw the men use the Klafboz with my own eyes and you are correct,
it is a deadly tool of combat but what happens if the Klafboz is
picked up by the enemy and thrown back at us.”

“Yes what you
say is truthful; there is a degree of danger if it is thrown back
at us.”

“A degree of
danger, I have just seen with my own eyes what the poison can do
and I do not like the thought of it being picked up and their
poisonous tips flying towards us” Talon said emphasising the word
us.

Heikan gave a
slight smile before he answered.

“The poison
will not work on us Talon ….. Our wizard Zumal invented the poison
and he also invented a tonic that makes us immune to it.”

Talon then
stiffened as he listened to Heikan.

“I hope you
have some of this tonic left for me.” added Talon smiling with wit
in his voice.

Lord Heikan
smiled back at him and apologised before sending his son Kraal to
fetch Talon one of the vials of tonic, Talon drank the tonic and
then turned back to Heikan.