(Chapter 10: Remember your promise)

"YAAAAHHH!" Percy Isaacs roared as he rode in the frontlines of his charging riders, the combined sounds of the horses grunting and their hooves slamming into the charred ruins of the burnt patch of jungle sounded like thunder rumbling above them. Many English and Belgian infantry were behind the riders as well, charging into battle with their bayonet-attached rifles.

Tarzan and the Congo war party were totally oblivious to what was coming their way, they had just woken up not too long ago. Tublat's forces and Kerchak's forces united into one group of gorillas, an elephant cavalry awaited within the shadows, waiting to charge the unsuspecting enemies if the going got tough, the elephant cavalry was leaded by Tantor. Also following with this large war party was Clayton, Professor Porter, and Jane.

"Tarzan…" Tublat spoke as he marched alongside the ape-man.

"Yes?" He asked with a raised brow.

"I would like to say sorry for all the chaos I've brought our home for the past few months, and for terrorizing you all when you were children. If only I softened my heart sooner, if only I knew that your heart would be in the right place." Tublat spoke softly.

"It is alright, old one. I've learned that your fears are justified, Jacob Dupont was living proof that humanity can bring harm to the wildlife." Tarzan forgave Tublat, gently patting his head.

Terkoz noticed that his father's eyes were starting to water, and not wanting the moment to become too grim, he quickly broke the moment between the two.

"I heard that you used to call my father Zugor Jr." Terkoz joked, Tarzan grinned, and the grin turned into a laugh as he stared back at the yearling ape.

"How do you know about the Zugor?" Tarzan chuckled.

"He was my grandfather." Terkoz replied.

"Man…I remember when he used to scold me for attacking Kerchak and the tribe…if only I listened to my father, we would have had extra numbers." Tublat spoke.

It was then that Kerchak marched up beside of Tublat with a kind-hearted smile.

"Let our victory be in the memory of your father, at least you saw the light before it was too late." Kerchak said.

Meanwhile far behind them was Jane and the other two. She looked confused and nervous as to why everyone up in the front line seemed to be in good spirits.

"We're about to go into war, against enemies that could have a field day with us. Yet they're smiling and laughing like it's all fun and games." Jane complained with worry in her voice.

"It's better to be lively than afraid." Professor Porter replied.

From out of nowhere, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble, and the entire war party came to a halt. Loads of commotion was heard from their East, when the front of the party looked towards the East, a cloud of dust was seen rising in the charred jungle.

"Uhhh, T?" Terk asked as she approached the front, Tarzan walked twenty feet forward while the war party stayed behind. The ape-man's eyes squinted to see if he could get a better visual, and at first there were blurry figures in the cloud, and then their silhouettes became clear. Several men, riding on horseback, Percy Isaacs leading the charge with his golden saber in the air.

Tarzan let out his signature yell and pounded his chest with his fists, the gorillas charged forth towards the enemy lines.

"There they are! Open fire!" Percy commanded, and his frontlines took aim upon the advancing Congo Jungle war party. In an instant, a few gorillas were downed.

Tublat ran behind one gorilla before he would see it collapse, but the enemy lines were in reach. In a single leap, the old gorilla would close the distance and manage to down a horse with a single blow to the head from his mighty fist. Tublat pounded his chest ferociously while roaring in defiance, the rider took aim, but he was dispatched just as swiftly.

Kerchak did much of the same as he would jump up and clothesline a rider off a horse, the horse ran into the jungle now that it was without a rider. The single motion from the ape was enough to take the rider out of the fight.

Several more gorillas were shot down by various riders and the numbers were quickly dwindling, but still the Congo Jungle war party fought with everything they had. Tarzan would see Percy Isaacs in the distance, the old Englishman pointed his golden saber towards him. Terk moved at Tarzan's front, stance at an angle so he could run up her back and leap off.

With his signature yell, Tarzan rushed up Terk's back and jumped off, spear in hand as he eyed Percy down the entire time as he soared through the air. The Englishman gasped and purposefully jumped from his horse to avoid the spear that was thrown towards him, dropping the saber in the process. The spear would end up killing the rider that was behind Percy, and the other horse ran into the jungle.

An infantry soldier charged upon Tarzan with the bayonet ready to stab into the ape-man's gut, but with a fluid motion he would slit the Belgian troop's throat with the golden saber before going into a spin and stabbing another foot soldier that rushed in from behind him. A rider approached from his front, and Tarzan would launch the saber right into his chest, killing the rider and having a third horse speed away into the Congo.

Terkoz spotted Percy Isaacs falling back, and he would charge towards the elderly Englishman at full speed. His eyes locked onto him like a bird of prey spotting its target, when the yearling ape was close to go for a fatal swing, a rider smashed into him from the side and knocked him over, but before the rider could finish Terkoz off, Tublat was there to make the save as he slain the rider and knocked over the horse before pounding the head in with his fists with a brutal roar.

That roar would be cut short when a round from Percy's rifle slammed into his chest…

Tublat fell to the ground with a thud, his groans of pain were weak, and his breathing was labored. Terkoz's eyes immediately begin to tear up.

"Father!" The young ape cried out before looking up to see another rider coming at him, but before the horse could make contact, Kerchak was there to slam against the horse and knock it over.

From the back of the war party, Clayton, Jane, and Professor Porter could see that the many apes were short in number and that Percy's men were decisively winning the battle no matter how hard the Congo Jungle war party fought.

"Bloody hell, the battle is lost!" Clayton screamed before retreating into the jungle much to the dismay of Jane who called out to him, only to be responded by silence.

"Come my daughter, we must retreat and find safety." Professor Porter said as he gently took Jane by the hand and started to lead her away, but she would slap her father's hand and take a step back.

"No, I'm not leaving without my Tarzan!" She said, tears streaming down her face, her lips quivering.

Then came the sound of trumpeting elephants, and the cavalry was on its way in the nick of time. Tantor was leading the charge as several African bull elephants rushed to give aid to Tarzan and the gorillas, the charging herd of pure testosterone would force Jane and her father to jump into the brush and out of harms way as they came smashing into the enemy lines like a wrecking ball through a brick wall.

In just a few minutes, the tide of the battle had been flipped into Tarzan's side. However, great losses were still plaguing them as the elephants were their only lifeline at this point. Percy's riders fell back and fired upon the elephants from a distance, but over time, many of them were killed off due to the elephants being too resistant to their weaponry.

Tarzan had retreated into the jungle while some British troops chased him down, eventually coming to a ridge that overlooked a rapid. The ape-man stopped in his tracks, and when he turned around, he would be face to face with the muzzles of five rifles pointed towards him.

"If you get on your knees and beg, we might spare you…" An English soldier growled, and Tarzan's eyes would scan each gun and he would consider submitting to their superiority. That was until a loud growl was heard from behind the troops. It was Terkoz!

In one foul swoop, all the men were downed by the ape, Tarzan aided in this process by locking his arms around the neck of one of the Englishmen before hurling him off the edge of the ridge. The soldier would fall fifteen feet before smashing into the ground, rolling down a slope, and into a raging rapid that hurried his body away.

"You're lucky I saved you, Tarzan…it allows me to do THIS!" Terkoz growled as he slammed his hands into Tarzan's chest, the impact forced a loud grunt from the ape-man before he stumbled over the edge of the ridge, letting out a scream as his body went falling fifteen feet before smashing into the slope.

"Te-Terkoz!" Tarzan yelled with rage as he couldn't control himself, he reached out for roots that were sticking out of the ground, but his fingers just barely slipped, and he would continue his descent into the raging rapid.

"You forgot your promise!" Terkoz roared. "You promised that we would defeat the humans!"

Back on the battlefield, there were only twenty-five apes left standing. Tantor's small herd was able to kill several of the cavalry of Percy Isaacs, but it still wasn't enough.

Terk would be grazed by a bullet, causing her to growl in pain and grasp the flesh wound, baring her teeth and moving back as she looked towards Kerchak who had killed another Belgian soldier.

"Dangit, big 'K,' I'm not likin' this!" She barked.

"Yeah, I'm not liking it either…" Kerchak began as he started to back away, glancing all around him at the chaos that was unfolding. Human soldiers dying, other apes dying, even an elephant was on its last legs. "Retreat!"

"What about 'T'!?" Terk screamed as she followed Kerchak, but then Terkoz emerged from the brush, following the two of them.

"Tarzan disappeared, the last I saw of him, he was being chased by the humans!" The yearling ape lied.

"They'll take the whole jungle!" Terk complained.

"They won't, we'll rally somewhere else and come up with some sort of strategy. It's either save our home or die trying at this point." Kerchak announced as the rest of the Congo Jungle war party followed behind him, the elephants including Tantor defended them as they made their escape.

(Later that evening)

Clayton was surprised that no animal had come for him during his trek into the heart of the jungle. The silence didn't help him either, or when there wasn't, the only sound he would hear was the rustling of the leaves when an occasional breeze blew through the jungle.

The high humidity of the tropical climate had the hunter put up quite the sweat, and as he chopped down another small tree, he brushed some sweat off his forehead.

"I've got to get back to the bloody camp…" He groaned as he continued forward, making his way down a hill and around a corner would present him a stunning sight.

He had made it to the top of a mountain, he could see from miles ahead, as well as the encampment on the ground far in the distance, including the beautiful sunset. Clayton took a moment to admire the orange and peach colored skies. At the edge of a cliffside would be a bridge that would lead up to another chunk of the mountain, the highest point of it as a matter of fact. The wooden bridge would lead to a treehouse!

"You've got to be kidding me…" He said to himself as he approached the bridge and began to ascend it, the wood was rotting away and some of the wooden boards had since fallen through. The treehouse itself was in a similar condition. There were a couple holes in the wall and one large hole in the roof, vines were choking the ceiling as well. Vegetation was starting to dominate the house as well; all the windows were either broken or cracked. The wood that composed the house was also rotting away and had small holes within it.

"Is there anyone in there!?" Clayton asked aloud, placing his ear next to the door to receive no answer to his question. He gently pushed the door open and entered. Everything about the home's interior was a total wreck. Furniture had been turned over; windows were smashed. Clothing and sheets had been torn to shreds. There was a hole in the wall with another one on the ground, and there were even some splotches of dried-up blood on the floor. Next to the dried-up blood appeared to be a picture frame laying on its front. Curious; Clayton would grab the picture and flip it over to examine who or what was contained in the picture.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sight.

"Keith? V-Vera…?" Clayton asked himself as he looked at the gentleman with the mustache and the beautiful woman holding the baby in her arms. Clayton then looked at the baby, and the image of Tarzan flashed in his mind.

"John…"

Clayton dropped the picture and backed away, hands on his hips as he took in a deep breath.

"Tarzan has my blood in his veins, that bloody ape-man i-is my cousin…"

Clayton began to frantically rummage through all the turned over furniture and tore away all the ruined sheets to try and find some more information on the Greystoke family, but he would only find two skeletons laying next to each other, one of them was holding a gun.

His heart began to pound in his chest as he collapsed to his knees, he could feel tears beginning to build up in his eyes. The hunter bit his tongue, trying to resist the urge to burst into tears. Clayton let out a scream before pounding a fist into the floor.

"I'm going to bring John and Jane home so that they can marry and build a family beyond these wild lands…so help me God…" Clayton wept to the skeletons at his front.

He stood up and faced the open door of the treehouse before taking another deep breath, blinking away the tears that were going to stream down his face.

"Rest well, the two of you. John will be reunited with you one day, but until then, I'll make sure he lives a happy life back home in Norwich…"

(Meanwhile)

Tarzan? A feminine voice asked, it seemed to echo all around him as his eyes started to blink open. The world around him was blurry, and so were everyone that stood around him at the moment.

Tarzan? A loud, deep voice asked. Tarzan could tell it belonged to one of his male friends, the ape-man groaned as his eyes blinked some more.

T? Come on man, you've gotta pull yaself up! Another female voice pleaded, this one was tough and boisterous.

Tarzan, can you hear us? A soft male voice asked, the blurry figures in his vision were becoming clearer. There was an elephant, a young gorilla, a beautiful woman, and an older fellow.

"What happened?" Tarzan groaned as he was helped into a seated position by Jane and Terk, his lover gently rubbed his back while staring into his eyes with a look of concern.

"Oh man, you were out of it. Incase you don't remember, we got into a fight with those human punks. It didn't go so well." Terk explained.

"Is everyone alright? How is Kerchak?" Tarzan groaned as he rubbed the back of his head before trying to get back to his feet.

"We're not doing so good, but we still in one piece. Big K is injured, but still willing to fight. Tublat…he's gone, his boy isn't too happy. Terkoz has been ranting and raving about how you've failed us and you caused the death of his daddy." Terk replied.

"Terkoz…" Tarzan said to himself, and it was then that everything started to come back to him.

You forgot your promise! The voice of Terkoz echoed in his head, followed by the gruesome scenes of many gorillas dropping dead to the ground, the horses with their furious riders on them.

"Where is everyone right now?" Tarzan asked.

"Everyone is at the den; the herd and I sent them rascals packing." Tantor said with pride oozing out of his tone of voice.

"Alright…I've got an idea…" Tarzan began. "Tantor, you take your herd and storm their camp. Stomp them all, show no mercy. I will come in from behind to survey the damage. Tonight…this war ends."

"Sir yes sir!" Tantor trumpeted with a playful salute of his trunk before heading off to alert the herd that it was time to move, a grin appeared on Tarzan's face as he looked upon Terk, Jane, and Professor Porter.

"I've got to remember my promise."