Part 7 "General Incursion"
Kon marched through the encampment, several of the P'Orhks stood and saluted. They called out on either side of him as he passed by. "General sir. "
Cass walked along side him. "You're popular. Words of your exploits have spread. The P'Orhks like your brutality."
One of the soldiers before Kon bowed. "The men were wondering why you or your legion never remove your face helms and let us see what you look like."
Kon brought a mace down hard onto the head of the bowed soldier.
The hapless P'Orhk slumped forward dead.
Kon looked up at the shocked P'Orhks before him. "That's why I never remove my helm. Any of you that I see without a helm will receive the same treatment."
The soldiers quickly strapped on their helms and armor. One of them stepped forward in full armor and weapons. "We are always prepared for battle. General sir."
Kon turned and walked away from them. Several of the soldiers saluted and repeated. "General sir."
Slobo and Anita followed a path along the barren surface of the salted plane. Slobo marched ahead looking frail and distracted.
Anita called to him. "Slobo we better stop here. It's getting dark."
Slobo slumped forward onto the ground, his were rimmed red and deadened.
He stared out over the vast empty salt plane.
He heard a rumbling on the horizon. Grayness approached.
The barbarian galloped toward him. The force of the horse's hooves cracked the salt beneath them. "Slobo."
Slobo turned ready to fight.
Slobo pulled back his fist. Hatred burned his eyes.
Anita stared down at him. "Slobo."
Slobo blinked at the figure before him. "Oh babe I'm sorry I didn't, mean it. I just been drinking too much…"
Anita shook her head at him. "Slobo, you haven't been drinking."
"I forgot I haven't been drinking. I must have really drunk a lot."
"You've been dreaming."
Slobo stared out at the backed night sky and the small campfire Anita had made from what was available to burn.
Anita grabbed Slobo firmly by the shoulders and stared him in the eyes. "Slobo please tell me what is it. What's going on? What happening with you?"
Slobo pulled away from her.
Slobo slammed the salt plain with his fist so hard it shattered sending a huge spider web of cracks out through the salt. "I think I'm cracking up."
"Slobo." Anita went over to him.
"Nevermind, forget it, just leave me alone ok." Slobo grabbed his blanket and lay down again on the salt plain, on the opposite side of the beaten salty path they were following. He turned his back from the fire.
Anita took one of the twigs from the campfire and used it as a torch. She held it over where Slobo had curled up away from the fire.
Slobo peaked out from the darkened shadow under his blanket. "Ain't no use in turning on your light babe, I'm on the dark side of the road."
El Evan sat along the ridge of rocks high above the P'Orhk encampment. The barren rocky area was well lit from the moon high overhead.
He heard a noise from behind him. He quickly drew his sword.
Echo emerged from the darkness. "Oh it's you. I was wondering what a P'Orhk was doing sitting alone in the dark."
"Yes I suppose." He stared at her. "Why are you here alone in the dark? After all these of years of silence, I'd have though you'd want to socialize. Be with people."
She paced gracefully under the moonlight. "Yes it's funny. That's what I thought I wanted. Now part of me just wants to be left alone."
"Yes I can relate. Since I was a child, importance, responsibility and people have been trust upon me. As king I was obligated and always will be obligated to treat them after a certain fashion. Sometimes I wish it would all go away and that they would all leave me alone."
El Evan paused suddenly aware of himself. "But if you want to be alone then perhaps I should be leaving I mean we can't be alone together can we? Uh.. I mean I'm merely pointing out that we can't be alone if were together not that I'm asking if I could be alone together with you. Not that I mind that you're here with me now alone together. What I mean to say is… if you want me to I'll leave."
Echo sat beside him. "How about we both be alone. Together."
El Evan gestured to the barren high mountain ground. "My homeland is green and lush. This land is very different, rugged and hard."
"This land is old. It is the hard stone and dust from which all that is lush and green and living comes from."
Echo stared out over the moonlit rocky hills. "Is not what you see before you truly beautiful?"
El Evan turned to face her. "Yes," he muttered.
She turned to face him. He continued. "What I see before me right now is truly beautiful."
Slobo and Anita hobbled over the barren salt plane. Slobo pointed to a shape on the horizon. "Is that his castle on the horizon? It's huge."
They approached closer. They saw that it was not a castle but a large colossal statue carved of salt of a very plain woman. "Gee not only is this guy a psycho but he has lousy taste. Heck she's not even nude what's up with that?"
They past by the giant woman colossus. Beyond her in the distance they saw a castle. It splintered up from the salt bed, hard jagged knives of salt spiking upwards.
Slobo gasped. "There it is. Now all we got to do is march in there and shove this through his heart." He held up the back stone.
"Slobo." Anita called to him.
Slobo griped the stone tightly. His lips drew back in a snarl. "I'll rip him into him with my bare hands."
"Slobo."
He clenched his teeth together. Foam poured from his mouth. "Tear out his intestines, with my teeth."
"Slobo! For gods sake! What the hell is the matter with you?"
He turned to face her absent-mindedly whipping the foam from his lips.
He blinked, and then turned away from her.
Anita leaped into the air and landed in front of him facing him.
Slobo stared at her angrily. "What the hell ya wanna hear babe. That I wanna tear to shreds any living thing I see. That everything that walks, crawls or swims I wanna see dead. That every time I see your face I want to bash your teeth in. Huh, is that what you wanted to hear?"
He shoved her out of the way and walked by her angrily.
The purple clad P'Orhks marched evenly through the swath of P'Orhks headed to the front. Cassie gasped as she saw an extremely large group of P'Orhks below her on the embankment to what had learned was the Lake Ed Naedee. Various camps were set up and large covered wagons were being carted into the encampment.
She looked up to see a sheer cliff wall facing them across the lake. She stared at it puzzled. "What happened to the city?"
El Evan looked up at the cliff edge. He saw, with his keen vision, El Fvis firing from the cliff into the P'Orhks gathered near the shore utilizing various catapults and siege weapons. "The city is gone. Yet our people hold out still."
They marched confidently down into the encampment.
Cassie pointed to large tents in the distance. "Everybody ready? Let's go see who's in charge here."
Inside a large canvas tent a group of taller human like P'Orhks were gathered around a table examining diagrams.
Cassie folded back the tent flap. "Generals. I'd like you to meet the general."
Kon stepped into the tent. "Generals," he nodded slightly.
"The general will generally inspect all general operations so that things do not go as disastrously as before."
One of the P'Orhkish generals spoke up. "On whose authority do you do this?"
"The general is commander of the P'Toree Ann legions, the personal and trusted guard to the great lord."
Kon stepped forward pointing to the diagrams. "What are these you are looking at?"
One of the P'Orhks stepped aside so that Kon could examine it. "These are the latest attack plans general. Come and take a look."
Cassie smiled broadly beneath her P'Orhkish face helm.
Cissie sat with Gud Luk by a mountainous stream.
Cissie nudged herself over to sit beside him. "Gud Luk, do you like me?"
Gud Luk stared at her perplexed. "Of course I like you. You're a wonderful girl."
"Well it's just that we've been dating for a while now and you really haven't made one move on me."
Gud Luk's eyes widened. "We've been dating?
"Of course we have, romantic walks through orchards."
"We've been dating?"
Cissie stared at him confused. "We haven't been dating?"
"Cissie I like you. You're a really nice girl."
She peered at him wounded. "A nice girl?"
"And I'm flattered that you'd be interested in me that way, but we can't date because of our dates. Our birth dates that is. I am 197 years old."
Cissie's mouth fell open. "You're what?"
"If I were younger perhaps…"
"You're like an old geezer and you didn't tell me?" She scuttled away from him. "What are you? Some kind of sleazy old man?"
"Cissie." Gud Luk called to her as she ran away from him into the forest.
"General sir, general sir." Cassie came running up to Kon.
"Colonel, what is it?"
"Our inspector's sir, they found some dangerously faulty materials." She held up a length of round metal pipe. She brought it slamming down on her armor-plated thigh bending the pipe easily.
Cass threw down the section of bent pipe. "We suspect sabotage sir."
Kon yelled out. "Whose in charge here?"
A P'Orhk came up to him and bowed subserviently. "I'm the foreman. I'm in charge."
Kon yelled. "You! What do you think you are doing sabotaging the project?"
The P'Orhk looked up confused. "I sabotaged the project?"
"At least you are man enough to admit it. For that I give you a quick death." Kon drew his sword and sliced the foreman's head cleanly off.
He pointed his sword at the headless corpse and turned to the P'Orhks surrounding him. "This traitor would have led to our defeat."
Kon pointed his sword at the bent piping. "I want those materials replaced immediately. See to it colonel."
"Yes general." Cassie headed toward the shore with the mirror she had been given in her hands.
Admired mutterings of, "general sir," came from the P'Orhks on either side of him as Kon walked away.
Robin stared out over the embankment on the other side. A large floating scaffolding had been partly constructed overnight. Even under the pressure from the El Fvis archers the P'Orhks continued to build on it. Robin frowned. "Damn. Well that answers the question of how they're going to scale the cliff walls."
"They'll be able to come at us quicker than ever before." Robin hung his head. "I don't know that we can win this battle. I don't know if it's possible. Secret you have power. Can you do anything?"
Secret looked down. "I can do no more."
Robin slammed his fist into his palm. "Damn it. Dammit! I can't think of a way out."
Secret calmly said. "Don't worry Robin there will be light."
"Light? I told you I can't think of anything. I haven't even had a flash of insight."
Suddenly Robin had a bright light flashed in front of his eyes. He looked down over the cliff to see far below on the other side in the P'Orhk army on the other side of the river where the flash was coming from. It stabbed his eyes in a series of dots and dashes. "Morse code." he smiled. He took out a pencil and began jotting it down.
Sunlight began to spread over the horizon. A crude horn trumpeted.
The twilight-draped encampment of P'Orhks began to stir.
One of the P'Orhkish generals awoke suddenly. A steady chant of "General! General!" began to grow outside his tent. He opened the tent flap and came out from his tent. "What is happening?"
"It is the general, general. He and his legions stand on the field ready to charge."
"What? The attack does not begin until tonight."
He ran out to see the purple clad warriors assembled near the scaffolding that had been assembled. It was now being pushed to the other bank against the wall.
Kon had his sword raised into the air. The chants of "General! General!" grew ever louder.
"General what are you doing?" the P'Orhkish general pushed through the group of assembled P'Orhks.
"I, and my legions will defeat them. We will sweep over the cliff walls and crush them."
"Defeat them by yourselves? That's impossible."
"Why is that impossible? The last army that thought that it was impossible failed here."
The P'Orhkish general backed away from Kon.
Kon faced the P'Orhks assembled around him. "Brothers, what we do in life echoes an eternity."
"I what?" Echo asked.
"Never mind." Cassie whispered.
She approached Kon. "Hey lay off the rhetoric. We're not supposed to be boosting these guys moral."
Kon thrust his sword forward and began to run. "Attack." They charged into the line of boats and stormed up the scaffolding.
A group of P'Orhks peered from below. "Look it's amazing not one of them has been slain yet by arrow fire."
Kon and the legion approached the top of the scaffolding.
"By the great lord the general is doing it."
"He's breached them. He's taken the cliff."
The P'Orhks looked to the Cliffside where the general had broken through anxiously. Thunderous cheering shouts of "General! General!" emanated from the P'Orhks beneath.
Then a bunch of figures dressed in purple armor were thrown from the cliff into the water below them. They clanked off the scaffolding as they fell. Finally a figure bearing the armor of the general was thrown over the cliff.
The thunderous shouts of "General! General!" ceased.
"They've slain the general." The P'Orhks stared dumfounded.
One of the P'Orhks ran forward with his sword drawn attacking. "For the general!" He shouted.
The P'Orhks behind him raised their swords in response. "For the general!" They charged through the line of boats up the scaffolding.
"Wait!" The other general shouted. "We do not begin the attack until tonight."
The P'Orhkish soldiers rushed past him paying no heed to his commands. They swarmed up the scaffolding like ants.
Slobo and Anita crept toward the castle.
"It looks deserted. Lifeless."
"Good." Slobo said coolly.
Anita grabbed Slobo by the shoulder. "Slobo wait. Whatever happens in there, you better let me handle it."
Slobo ignored her and stormed past her into the castle.
Anita called after him. "Slobo."
Slobo stood outside the sharp shard salt walls of the castle. "Ain't no way in." He drew back his fist and slammed the salt wall with a tremendous blow. Chunks of salt shattered outwards.
Only a small indent was made in the salt wall. Anita approached behind Slobo drawing her sword. "Move." She commanded.
She slashed downward with her blade into the salt wall. She drew back her sword and slashed at it again. "Looks like you can't hack it honey, maybe we better slash it."
She kicked at the section of wall with her foot. A square cleanly cut section of salt was pushed inwards. Anita crawled inside the entrance.
Robin looked at the mounds of P'Orhks scaling the scaffolding toward them. "All right everybody. This is it. We have got to hold this line. You can't withdraw from this cliff face for any reason. If they break through this line we're dead."
Cassie talked to a group just behind the cliff. "All right guys, your job is simple. If you see any gap in the line or if you see a spot where you're needed then you jump in. Don't do so until that time. We don't want it too cluttered. The last thing we need is for you to slay one of our own people accidentally."
Cissie was loosing arrow after arrow at the P'Orhks. " Geez, there are so many I couldn't miss if I wanted to."
"Here they come." Robin shouted.
One of the P'Orhks managed to reach Kon. It reached back to throw its spear. "For the general!" it shouted.
Kon brought his sword down on his head cleaving it in two. "Ya know I almost feel bad killing em after they say something like that. I guess I can console myself that they died fighting for a good cause. Me."
Slobo and Anita wandered through the empty castle.
Slobo peaked around a corner. "This place is a maze. Where the hell is this guy?"
"In through here." A voice called from an opened doorway beyond.
Slobo and Anita peered inside. The room was enormous, the ceiling stretched high above them like a cathedral. Inside sitting on a thrown of salt sat a figure completely enveloped in a gray haze, the same type of haze Slobo had encountered inside the El Fvis forest. The man was middle aged. He looked surprising modern. He wore a white lab coat, which underneath he wore a collared shirt and tie.
Slobo stepped brazenly into the room. "So you're the big evil batstich that's been makin' life hell for everybody. You're nothing but a big geek. Figures."
The man simply stared impassively at Slobo.
Anta stepped in front of Slobo hurriedly. "We have the stone."
The man's eyes furled. "The stone? You have the stone?"
"That's right, we have your precious stone. And you can have it back and have a fun time here all by yourself in this wonderful depressing home you have. Everything can be like it was before. All you have to do is call off your armies."
"You have the stone?"
"That's right but you gotta stop this war before we give it back to you."
The man leaped from his thrown. His face drew back into a snarl. "Give me the stone. Give me the white stone of Eden."
"White stone? Uh you sure you don't want a nice shiny back stone."
"It's not shiny. Nothing about it is shiny." Slobo pulled the triangular black stone from around his neck.
The wizard stared at it bewildered. The leaned back his head and laughed. "Ha, ha. You think that to be the black stone of death." He reached under his shirt and pulled out a stone on a small chain. It was black like Slobo's stone was however unlike Slobo's pyramid shaped one, this one was perfectly square in shape, all save for one corner with was hacked off and missing. "This is the black stone. That is merely a piece from it that I thought I had lost long, long ago."
End of Part 7
"The Lord of the Stones" m