The Prince, the Princess, and the Other Wizard
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Castle is magic, but I have no magic. Or Castle. Rating: K+ for language Time: A few months after The Princess and the Wizard.
"Okay, as near as I can tell from this map, we should be getting near to Skull Mountain." Rick said.
"Let's hope you're right."
Naturally, there were problems.
"A fucking drawbridge and it's up?"
"Yes, sir." Warrant Officer Peters said while his helicopter hovered over the column. "And the bridge is on the other side. The bridge crosses a really nasty looking swamp. I'm sure our vehicles would sink like stones."
"Okay, look for a way around the bridge."
Two pairs of choppers headed off to see if there was a way around the swamp. There wasn't.
"We flew for thirty miles, Lieutenant." Peters, now back on the ground, said. "It's all swamp to the east, and mostly swamp to the west, but Wayne reports that after twenty miles there's something like triple canopy jungle, but with trees that make redwoods look like matchsticks. There's no way to get vehicles between the trees and they go on as far as the eye can see."
"How in the hell are we supposed to get across the damned river?" Rick yelled.
Surprisingly, there was an answer.
"I thought you'd never get around to asking."
They all turned towards the bridge and saw a skeleton standing there.
"Are you in charge of the bridge?" Castle asked.
"That I am."
"Will you please lower the drawbridge then?"
"I'm very much afraid you'll have to prove yourself worthy of crossing."
"How do we do that?"
"You must go through the Deadly Maze atop Mount Doom and bring back the Crown of Terror that lies in the center of the maze. Once you bring that back, I can lower the drawbridge for you."
"Sure. Deadly Maze. Mount Doom. Crown of terror. Let me ask a question. Is there anyplace on this planet that has a Maze of Fun on top of Mount Pleasant with the Crown of Laughs in the middle of it?"
"Not that I'm aware of, sir." Replied the skeleton.
"Okay, Peters, take another bird and check out the mountain and the maze. We should be able to just crash through the maze with our tracks or drop in the middle of it from above."
Peters found the first wasn't possible.
"Sorry, sir. You'd never get a tracked vehicle of any sort up that mountain. I don't think a mule could get up there and walking or climbing would take days. But it looks like I can hover right over the center of the maze, drop a few people in and recover them."
"Okay. I'll go." Said Bravin.
"We'll go." Ann added.
"My LRRP team'll go as well. I think two birds out to do it. One to make the grab and one to provide any cover needed."
Bravin, Ann, Sergeant Ryan, and Sergeant Willmoes dropped down into the center of the maze. There before them was the Crown of Terror, a rather battered looking steel crown lacking in precious metals or jewels, sitting on a large square rock.
Bravin grabbed it, but couldn't lift it. In fact, all four couldn't move it.
"Take a look at this." Willmoes said, pointing to a large parchment pasted to the rock.
Bravin read it.
"Dear flying people. You have to go through the Deadly Maze to secure the Crown of Terror. If you don't our magical, mechanical device won't allow the crown to be moved."
"I thought that evil magic didn't work against us?" Bravin said.
Ann shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe magic to keep the crown in place isn't evil in and of itself. Or maybe the magical part didn't work, but the mechanical part did. Anyway, we'll have to go through the maze."
They were picked up and taken back to the column where Bravin reported to Rick.
"Okay, I'll lead a team tomorrow morning. What can you tell me about the maze." Rick said.
"No way, sir." Bravin replied. "Meaning no disrespect, but my men are used to fighting on foot. Your people mainly fight while mounted. I should go."
"Along with my LRRPs." Ryan added.
"I'm in command here…"
"And you should know who's best to lead the mission and what troops should go." Kate interrupted. "After all, we're going to rescue my mother. That's the important thing."
Rick looked like he was going to argue, but didn't.
"Not everyone in the armored cav platoon fights mounted." Sergeant Wiggins, the leader of Castle's infantry squad said. "My squad has plenty of experience on the ground."
"As do my Kit Carson scouts." Added Sergeant Tranh.
"Okay. You go tomorrow, Bravin."
The five Huey helicopters landed Bravin and his troops just after dawn the next day. The helicopters would stay there to lead them through the maze and provide whatever fire support they could, or lift them out if things went badly.
Bravin looked at the entrance to the maze.
"Okay, I'd say we can advance about four abreast. Let's make that three machine gunners and a grenadier in front and the same in the rear. Everyone else in between. The command group, me, Sergeant Johnstone and Gregory will be right behind the point. Sergeant Ryan, I'd like you to take the rearguard. Okay, let's go."
"Wait one." Mr. Peters called out from above them. "We think we have the maze figured out. Give us a second."
"Take your time."
Five minutes later, Peters told them that they know how to get the platoon through the maze.
They headed into the maze.
"Okay, Ell Tee. Make the first right turn and the turn right again." Peters radioed.
They did so and as soon as the point team had turned a dozen skeletons, armed with spears and swords appeared out of the bushes ahead of them and attacked. The machine gunners found they had to completely demolish the skeletons to get them to stop attacking. One skeleton had both bony arms shot off, but proceeded to kick at the soldiers. Another, losing his legs, tired to ram his skull into them at waist height.
"Okay, where to now?" Bravin asked.
"Go ahead past a right turn and take a left turn. Then straight ahead for a bit."
When they turned into the straightaway, two things happened. First a spear was jabbed through the hedge to the side and caught one of Sergeant Tranh's people in the shoulder. At least four people fired into the hedge.
"No problem." Yelled the Vietnamese man. "Not hurt bad."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth when at least two dozen skeletons, massed shoulder to shoulder attacked from straight ahead, all holding long spears.
Being packed so closely together caused problems. The first wave of spearmen, (spear-skeletons?) went down in bursts of machine gun fire. The next wave got tangled up in their fallen brethren and were shot to pieces as well. The same happened to the next waves until there were no more. The soldiers carefully shot all of the skeletons that were still moving.
"What now?" Bravin called to the circling chopper.
"Go past the skeletons and then turn right, go a bit and make the first left turn."
"Everyone in the middle, watch your flanks. If you see anything moving in the hedge beside you, start shooting. Hell, start shooting even if you don't see anything."
They managed to make three more turns before they ran into more problems. Three truly gigantic skeletons crashed through the hedge ahead of them. Machine gun fire, grenades and rifle fire damaged the heavy bones of the monstrous skeletons, but it took many rounds to shatter their bones.
The first skeleton to reach them swung a two handed sword over his head and swung down. Just as the sword reached its highest point, a grenadier fired a round full of steel ball bearings into the skull of the skeleton. The skeleton pitched backwards and then forwards, and the point of the sword hit a stone between Bravin and Ann. The sword bounced upwards and sliced into Ann's ankle.
"Are you okay?" Bravin yelled.
Ann replied by firing a burst into the spine of the huge skeleton, causing it to fall in two pieces. Others finished him off. The other two didn't last much longer.
"You're bleeding and so is Specialist Nguyen. We'll halt here for long enough to treat the wounded." Then he called peters on the radio and explained them were stopping.
Between Doc Park's work and Ann's magical first aid, they were on their way in minutes.
"You're getting close, sir." Peters called from above. "Three turns will do it."
At the first turn they were met by three more skeletons. This time the skeletons were in full plate armor. At the same time, a dozen skeletons in chain mail attacked from the back. The chain mail was shredded by the machine gun fire, but the plate armor was another story. Bullets bounced off the heaviest plate, usually over the chest or the helmet, but did penetrate arm and leg armor. However, a bullet that penetrated the arm or leg armor didn't necessarily shatter a bone beneath.
The lead grenadier fired an armor piercing grenade into the nearest skeleton. The explosion blew up the skeleton, but the blast injured some troops when pieces of armor and bone hit them.
Bravin grabbed a machine gun from a wounded soldier and yelled for grenadiers to come forward. The other two armored skeletons were destroyed, but the explosions of the grenades wounded more troops.
"Two more turns." Bravin yelled. "Then we'll get the crown and tend to our wounded."
As they made the last turn, they found a lone skeleton ahead of them. However, he only bowed and backed into hedge and was gone.
Bravin walked over and easily lifted the Crown of Terror off of its base.
"Can you pick us up from here?" Bravin asked Peters.
"If you can stand on the stone the crown was on, I can hover and pick you up. Can your wounded manage that?"
"Give us five to treat them. I'm sure we can."
The wounds turned out to be minor and Bravin and his troops were soon on their way off of Mount Doom.
Bravin handed the crown to Castle who turned and yelled to the skeleton in charge of the bridge.
"I've got your damned crown. Will you lower the bridge now?"
No sooner said than done. The drawbridge came down and the column passed over the swamp. Castle handed the crown over to the skeleton.
"Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do with the crown now that you have it?"
"The next group that wants to use the bridge will have to put it back where you found it, sir."
They traveled only five miles from the bridge when Castle called a halt.
"I want the wounded to rest and the rest of us could use a day off. We'll stay here for a day tomorrow. Is that okay with you, Kate?"
She nodded.
"I want to get to my mother as soon as possible, but everyone is tired and some are hurt. We should stop."
It was just after lunch the next day when someone called out. "We have company."
Everyone got ready, but the newcomers didn't appear to be looking for trouble. They appeared to be tall, grey-furred, anthropomorphic rabbits. However, they wore clothing, a tunic that went to below their knees and carried spears and swords.
One approached them, stopping some twenty yards away. First, he drove the butt of his spear into the ground then dropped his sword belt and sword. A dozen of his fellows stayed behind, being careful not to look threatening.
"May I approach you?" He asked.
"Come ahead." Castle said. He remembered seeing members of this race soon after arriving on this world.
"Are you the great wizard who rides in iron wagons and has the most delicious food in the world?"
"I'm in command here and we do have rations. I assume you're asking about ham and lima beans C rations?"
The fellow got a dreamy expression on his face.
"Yes. We have only heard of this wonderful food. Might we perhaps trade for some? I am called Obart."
TBC