Stepping up to the wall beside him I asked, “Will it work?”
“I think so,” Thanuel said. Then laughing again he said, “For your sake I can only hope so!” He slapped me on the back good-naturedly and went to help Mayrin.
In this moment I wished that I possessed his confidence in me. My palms were sweaty, as I ran through my head once again what needed to be done.
A snuffled snort behind me alerted me to the fact that Mayrin had arrived with her horse. I helped her to lead her horse over the rope and to my side of the javelin launcher. The breadth of the wall stretched out before us.
Pointing I said to Mayrin, “Go tell the warriors gathered along the wall to move back to the valley side edge and to stay down.”
She looked at me strangely, but quickly complied. The warriors moved back at her bidding as Jarken and I worked on securing his short length of rope, which was noosed over the main rope, to Mayrin’s saddle.
I glanced over the wall, and saw that Sar’ran was ready and on his horse, prepared to ride. He gave a big grin and waved up to me. I waved back, as I felt a smile come out on my own face. I was crazy to do this, but increasingly the thought of pulling this off was a challenge I desired to accomplish.
All was in readiness and Mayrin was back.
“Just what are we doing?” she asked nervously.
I patted her shoulder, “You’ll see. Now mount up.”
I helped her up and then gazing up at her I said, “When Thanuel gives the word, you ride as fast as this horse can go out along the length of the wall. Understand?”
Wiping sweat off her brow she nodded shakily.
“You’ll do just fine.”
I turned from her and went to the wall. Thanuel handed me a short length of chain, which I accepted.
Jarken was already manning the javelin launcher. He lifted it to point it down over the wall and for a man typically of many words he spoke only a few. “The big one?” he asked, as he sighted down the peep sights of the launcher.
“Yep. Put it in the sand right in front of him,” I said.
Yesathurim warriors all over were shaking their heads in disbelief and beginning to voice objections to what was going on.
“Do it!” I said.
The taunt strings of the launcher snapped forward and the javelin shot out at high-speed over the wall. I watched as it streaked out toward the giant that was whipping up a frenzy among the enemy forces.
Standing about 11 feet tall he wasn’t the most imposing of giants that I’d ever seen, but he did possess the fighting attributes of a superior fighter along with some leadership ability. It didn’t matter. I was going to kill him.
I leapt up onto the wall top at the same moment the javelin buried itself deeply into the sandy loam not 10 feet from the giant’s feet. I jumped out into space as Thanuel and Jarken pulled taut the rope attached to the javelin.
I whipped the chain out and overtop the rope and caught the other end with my free hand. My wild ride began in earnest then.
The chain, now burdened with my weight, skipped down the rope at high speed. The ground was fast approaching and at the last moment I let go of the chain and tumbled head over heels into the sand and up to my feet.
My tumble had brought me dangerously close to the giant who had turned from the crowd before him at the outburst of excitement when the javelin bolt was shot from the wall. In surprised alarm at the appearance of me, the giant swung his large broadsword down in an attempt to separate me into two pieces.
I sidestepped away from the blade and as his sword bit into the ground I drew my own blade, stepped close and swung upward with all my power. Blood spurted as the giant’s head went rolling, even as his body remained motionless still grasping the sword buried in the ground.
Dodging forward, I picked the head up by the hair and then, spinning in a half circle, I heaved the head, that had the weight of a boulder, out into the stunned crowd of onlookers.
That done, I wiped my blade off on the back of the giant’s body that had meanwhile fallen forward. Then I stepped backward with an overly dramatic bow as if receiving praise for a well done performance.
An insane howl erupted from a nearby creature of darkness and as one the enemy line heaved forward toward me. I grabbed hold of the rope still attached to the javelin and with one short swipe of my sword I severed the rope from the javelin. In the next moment I re-sheathed my sword.
I heard Thanuel’s booming voice call out to Sar’ran to ride hard and the rope in my hands jerked me forward toward the wall so abruptly that I almost lost my grip on it. I held on with a death grip though, because that would be what I was if I let go. As it was I could barely keep my feet under me as I was pulled along at high speed.
The wall was very close now. Very close!
I couldn’t help but think this had been a bad idea. As if from a long way off I heard Thanuel’s voice ring out, yelling at Mayrin.
All of a sudden I was jerked off my feet and into the air towards my left. With gritted teeth I prepared to push off from the wall before I smacked into it. If I didn’t keep my feet under me I’d be dragged up the rough side of the stone wall and be nothing more than bloody pulp by the time I reached topside.
My legs connected with enough force that it felt like my knees were blown apart, but the image of my bloody misshapen form reaching the wall top was strong motivation to keep my legs going. On and on I ran sideways up the wall getting closer and closer to the top of the wall as Mayrin’s horse pulled the rope upward.
Suddenly the wall top was there and all I had time to see was the wide-eyed stares of the warriors gathered there. Perhaps this had been poorly thought out after all.
If I overshot the wall top I’d plummet to my death on the Valley side of the wall. That thought had me letting go of the rope. There was a quiet moment then, when blessedly no further exertion was required of me.
I landed on the outstretched hands of the warriors on this part of the wall, who narrowly saved me from going over the other side. I was out of air and energy and ill-prepared for the jubilant shouting tumult that had erupted on the wall all around me.
They pounded on me and screamed excitedly in my face, but all I craved was silence and a place to recover my shattered nerves.
“Backup! Give him some room!” came Thanuel’s voice and then, like two guardian Malachim, he and Jarken swooped in beside me and gave me some space to breathe.
Blinking, I looked up into Thanuel’s concerned eyes and he asked, “Okay boss?”
“I think so,” I huffed out.
He helped me to my feet and half supported me as my legs about gave out on me. I leaned forward on the wall for support and as I did so I noticed something profound. The enemy beyond the wall was utterly silent where before they had filled our ears for hours with the roars of their desire to kill us.
Reversely, it now seemed that the whole valley echoed with the vibration of the elation on the part of the Yesathurim reacting to what had been done.
“I think I’m going to take the rest of the day off.”
“Yes, that would be good I think,” Thanuel said at about the same moment I felt myself pass out.
*****
I awoke to a groan of pain, followed by realized actual pain. I’d been dreaming of Susori and that she’d been taken from me. I’d been reaching for her when I woke up. Now all I felt was the pain of my ordeal earlier in the day.
Blinking I looked around. It was dark. I’d apparently slept the day away. Some part of me wished that I’d slept the night away as well, but responsibility drove me to my feet.
Groaning, I began to walk, the soreness of my limbs easing up a bit with increased movement. I walked in the general direction of the wall in the need to know what was going on. I certainly hoped that a night assault wasn’t imminent as I was not ready for it by any means.
Everyone I came across bowed and made way before me. It was a bit awkward.
Reaching the steps I stopped and
winced at the prospect of going up them. The stairs were full of warriors poised to repel an assault if one was attempted.
The warrior nearest me extended a hand and I took it. He heaved me upward a step and in like manner the action was repeated until I reached the top of the wall. In gratitude I turned back to the stairs and the warriors gathered there. “Thank you,” I said in their native tongue, which Kuri had taught me years before.
As one the warriors saluted. Their action was echoed by all those on the wall as they noticed my appearance. It would appear that I had won the heart of the army.
Ayaya came to me smiling broadly. I smiled as well. It was an encouraging sign of a possible change in her people’s heart.
A tribal leader was nearby and I made my way to him, “What’s going on below?” I asked, as I looked over the wall for myself.
“Nothing, thanks to you.”
It seemed he was right as I saw no suspicious activity going on in the enemy camp below.
The tribal leader spoke again, “Tomorrow…….”
I nodded encouragingly and he continued as his voice strengthened, “I and my tribe will be going with you. I believe. I have been blind for so long and now it is as if I am seeing for the first time.”
I saw the sincerity of his statement reflected in his eyes and I reached toward him and hugged him to me like a brother. Falteringly at first, his arms closed around me, and then strengthened to match mine.
Encouraged beyond words I drew back from him and hoped that he was but the first of many to move beyond the past and accept the promise of the future that had been so freely given by El Elyon to all mankind.
“Sir?” A warrior nearby called out with concern and I turned back to the wall and looked over it. Dark cloaked individuals, though few in number, had advanced to stand widely spaced out before the wall.
I had a hunch which was confirmed a moment later by my friend Philuke when he sent an arrow speeding off toward the nearest cloaked individual. The arrow passed clear through the hooded figure as if he wasn’t there.
“They’re of the fallen Malachim.”
“What will happen now?” The tribal leader breathed out.
I shook my head, “Who knows, but I will say that whatever it is, it will cause this wall to fall in two days’ time.”
The cloaked henchmen of darkness began to hum loudly in a way that no human could make or much less sustain indefinitely as they were. They seemed to achieve a desired resonance between them and when they did I felt the wall beneath me begin to vibrate.
“The wall is actually shaking!” My new friend said in a tone that sounded just as shaken.
Nodding I turned away from the enemy.
“What do we do?” The tribal leader asked me desperately.
I shrugged, as I manifested a spirit of calmness and said, “Well, for starters I’m going to go get something to eat and then I’m going to get some more rest.”
He stared at me in disbelief and I continued, “Then, after I’m rested, I intend to leave with my force of warriors and all who wish to enter the Kingdom of Shamayim tomorrow morning.
I turned to take in all the listening warriors and I said broadly to all of them, “All of you are welcome to come, but it involves making a choice grounded in faith. It does you no good to come if you do not believe in the new covenant as I do. That new covenant is to be found in Kuri, the man you rejected as leader over you. It is not too late to join him, but the hour has grown late and soon there will be hardship as never before. I pray that you choose to believe now in the source of the redemption of all mankind instead of waiting to believe at a later date. Tomorrow I leave to join my men and women waiting for the King of Shamayim who is coming soon. Very soon.”
With that said I started down the wall that vibrated underfoot. Calling out behind me I added, “I very much doubt that any assault will be made on the wall now and I believe it would be advisable for as many of you as possible to get off of it.” A crack split through a rock in the wall beside my head as if to prove the efficacy of my words.
With newfound strength I made my way down the stairs, confident that many were now ready to come along with me on the journey tomorrow.
A tall, dark shadow of a man stood up ahead of me and as I drew closer I recognized in astonishment the form of Bruton. I had not known that he was a man of Yesathurim lineage, but his residence here echoed loudly of that fact.
I came to a stop, uncertain as to what this man would do. Slowly I watched as he held a massive hand out to me. I took it wondering if it was a trap and that my hand would soon be smashed beyond repair within his grip, but he squeezed only lightly.
In his deep voice he spoke, “You once gave me life and now I have new life beyond any that you extended to me. Where once I was damned, now I am free to live. I will be with you on the journey tomorrow for I believe even as you.”
Feeling a bit overcome I said, “I’m glad to have you Bruton. The King’s glad too.”
For the first time I saw the somber features of this man split wide in a smile that warmed the night as he said, “I know.”
Chapter Twenty
The Final Order
I sat on my horse in dejection as I stared at the three tribal leaders who yet refused to go with me.
Looking to the wall that now shook and was visibly crumbling the one leader said, “Of a truth we do not doubt what you say in that this wall will fall on the morrow, but what you ask us to believe is too much. We cannot go with you as we do not believe as you do that the old prophecies have already been fulfilled and that a Savior has already come from long ago and whose spirit is even at work in the world today. We cannot accept this and thus we cannot embrace the future that you seem so positive is to be found waiting for us in the Wastelands.”
I leaned forward toward the speaker and said, “The day will come when you shall have no choice but to believe, but I wish for your sakes that you did not have to go through the trials that your unbelief is going to take you.”
The three remained silent as well as the people behind them. There was no changing their minds.
Looking off into the valley beyond the newly constructed city I said, “Since you will not come with us and if you stay here before your wall you will die, I suggest you flee further into the valley. There are caves all throughout these mountains where many of the high order animals survived while the fallen order kinds dominated the valley below. Perhaps you will be able to hide from and survive the onslaught that is beyond that wall, eager to be unleashed upon you. Either way it at least gives some of you the best chance of survival.”
“We’ll take that under advisement, but we have not yet given up hope that our Savior will come for us and yet win this battle.”
In disgust I wheeled Phalon away from them, but I heard what Ayaya said. “He has already come and when he did we rejected his kingship. I should know for I was to be his bride, instead I wounded him and was party to his death, but now he is alive again! The truth of my witness is before you and yet you are deaf to it! I am one that lived in and saw those days and since then my years have been expanded so that I might see this day of reconciliation take place, only to behold that those first invited to my wedding are few in number and that the guest roles have been likewise filled by those deemed as foreigners to the truth first given to us! You choose death when life is but a step away! May El Elyon have mercy on you for the world will have none!”
I continued urging Phalon away. All that could have been said had been. Though a witness had been raised from the grave to bear witness to the truths of the past, still the people would not believe, for they rejected the path laid down in the Holy Scrolls and substituted it for the doctrines of man. There was nothing more to be done as even the Holy Scrolls had predicted this.
I led the people behind me across the valley. Almost a third of the Yesathurim had come and I was grateful for every one of them. It would have been a sad tale to come so far, to risk so much, only to retu
rn with nothing, but as I had come to learn over and over in my life, the words of El Elyon never failed to deliver what they promised. Even so there was, as prophesied, a remnant behind me of those who believed.
Thankfully, we were soon distanced from the internal groaning of rock against rock and the infernal humming of the dark ones' song of destruction. The knowledge of how soon the wall was likely to collapse drove us all on at a fast clip. I only held back from a cantering trot because of the slow oxcarts filled with children and those too old to run along.
The valley’s environment became more lush in its vegetation as we went deeper into it. Soon I saw the small lake that lay in the valley’s center and around it was gathered a large herd of Tricans.
My mind drifted back to the big female I had ridden into battle and idly I called out to her in my mind. The herd moved away from the water then and began moving towards our destination point in the opposing mountain slope.
My brow furrowed in perplexity of the strange reaction and then it occurred to me that these high order beasts had been gifted with an exceptionally keen intelligence. Their fate as a giant's or a Gargon's meal was sealed once the valley was overrun.
They were escaping the Valley too, but they had been held in readiness against doing so by a higher power so they did not give away the valley's only other exit. El Elyon was always so thoughtful of even the most minor of details, I mused to myself.
The Tricans acted as if they were nothing more than big tame cattle as they trotted into the cavern located in the rocky side of the mountain slope ahead of us. Their passage would help clear the way of obstructions for the oxcarts as any loose stones would be crushed to gravel beneath their great weight.
“El Elyon is good!” I said out loud.
“All the time,” Ayaya echoed.
The darkness of the cave closed around us as the sound of rock being pulverized echoed back to us from the herd ahead.
*****
The dawning of the third day occurred just as we came clear of the tunnel and stepped into the Wastelands. The Tricans had not stopped and neither would we. There would be no stopping until we reached the encampment at the forest.
The day moved on with no sign of the enemy and it passed with no sign of the enemy. Our progress was good and I allowed a brief rest of about four hours during the darkest part of the night. Before the sun was up though we were back on the move.