Oaths and Brotherhood (Bonus Content)

This is a short piece I wrote a little while back that has since sparked an idea for a longer project. Hopefully I can turn it into a novel-length project sometime soon. For now enjoy this portion and see where your imagination takes you!

Blood. It’s pooling in the dirt at my feet. It’s spraying in fractal patterns through the air around me.

Screams. They echo through the humid air. They blot out any sense of peace and fill my mind with chaos.

Fire. It flies in magical streams through the air. It devours the tall, dry grasses wherever it lands, singing the landscape.

Exhaustion. It spreads through my thoughts and muscles. It threatens to drag me into the bloody, fiery ground to finally end it all.

I blink and return from my momentary haze into the reality of battle. I raise my shield, screaming in defiance, just in time to deflect a heavy mace aimed at my torso. The haze clears further and I hear my squadmates fighting beside and behind me. There’s no time to check on them. I have my own enemy to contend with. He looks as exhausted as I feel, but I can’t show it. His armor is dented, gashed, and torn, leaving him exposed. Muscle memory from hours of training takes over and I thrust forward with my sword and pierce his chest. I know he won’t be getting up. It’s not hubris, just a fact. With how exhausted everyone is this far into a battle, even a minor chest injury is fatal.

My squadmates finish off their own attackers swiftly. All except Jonas, that is. He goes down surprisingly quietly as blood gushes from his neck. I always thought death was louder before I joined up. Before I can step in to avenge Jonas, Darren splits the enemy’s heart with a spear and Jairus cleanly removes his head with the overly-long sword he wields. I make eye contact with everyone, one by one. Everyone is breathing heavily and wincing in pain from minor scratches and soreness.

“Everyone all right?” Welker asks, spitting blood. Of course, he has to ask. He’s the squad leader. Everyone nods, not trusting their voices to reply evenly. Well, everyone but Jonas. “Jonas was a good man. We’ll come back to get him after it’s all done.”

Everyone’s faces take on an even more grim look than before, if that’s possible.

“What if we can’t, sir?” I ask. Everyone’s thinking it. I’m just the one actually saying it.

“We trust someone else will take care of him with honor.” Welker answers. I can tell he’s not convinced, but there’s no point in pressing the point. Either way it will only erode the squad’s morale more.

“Welker!” a voice screams in our direction. “Get your squad to the King’s side. His position is overrun!”

“Understood!” Welker calls back. “Allright, lads, let’s get back in there. The King needs us. What are you smiling about, Kellen? If you have the energy to smile, you can lead the charge.”

Before I can dwell on anything, we’re moving again. Training is the only thing keeping me going at this point. Kellen leads us over a small rise and into a ravine. Staying on my feet as I go down is pointless. The blood on the ground and dripping off me makes it slippery enough, so I slide down the steep slope.

As soon as we all reach the bottom, lightning falls out of the clear, darkening sky. I think of it as falling, not striking, because I can see it arch, like it was thrown from a distance. It’s not supposed to do that, but magic is so far outside my understanding, I don’t even question it anymore. All I can do is hope to dodge and maybe stab the wizard who threw it at me. Again, training kicks in and I roll to the right. I pop up on one knee with my shield held out in front of me in the direction the lightning came from.

I don't hear a scream of pain or grunt of death, or smell the scent of charred flesh, so I hope the squad’s okay. There’s no time to look around and check. Other lightning bolts, streams of fire, or other magical missiles could be aimed at our position right now. The only chance I have is to see them coming. No squad tactics are helpful against magic. It’s every man for himself until the wizard is dead.

Three more lightning bolts fall nearby. They don’t seem well aimed. Maybe they’re just random shots. I have to dodge the second one, and my mistimed roll leaves me on my back against the steep slope of the ravine wall. Kellen is breathing hard on my left. His smile is gone.

“You good, Cormac?” Kellen gasps.

“Yeah.” I answer in the same way. This is not a good time for conversation.

“What are you gonna do when this is over?” he asks.

“Sleep.” I say. It really is not a great time for this. “You?”

“I don’t know.” He grins. “I guess I’ll do whatever comes my way.”

“That’s no answer.” I grin back. I always did like Kellen.

“I know.” He grunts, pushes himself to a squat, and points at Welker who is motioning us both forward. “I guess we keep moving.”

I grunt as Kellen gives me a hand up and we both start sprinting in the direction of the King’s tent. The magical bombardment hasn’t stopped, but we can’t waste any more time lying in the dirt. The King is in danger and we were ordered to help. I’m not sure how much our small squad can do, but orders are orders.

The King’s command tent is surrounded by a small wall of mounded dirt, mostly to keep it out of sight from enemy forces. I gasp as my crouching body impacts the wall and my shoulders remember digging for hours to help build it. A good soldier is never idle. My father told me that once.

“Alright, lads.” Welker hisses, presumably trying to keep the element of surprise. “On three we go over the wall and into the fray. Saving the King is the first priority. If the wizards get him, nothing we’ve done today matters.”

I see the others swallow and nod. I hadn’t noticed how prominent Jairus’ Adam’s apple was until now. It really is way out of proportion with the rest of his neck.

“One.” Welker’s voice breaks my observation.

Kellen is shaking next to me. It’s probably either nerves or exhaustion, but it really doesn’t matter. Adrenaline will kick in on three in any case.

“Two.”

I take a deep breath. The mound is only about five feet tall, but that’s more than enough to be difficult after all the fighting we’ve been doing today. I meet Darren’s eyes and he nods. He’s supposed to marry your little sister after this war. He’ll be a great brother-in-law.

“Three.”

Raw throated screams escape from my throat and echo in my ears as the squad leaps the embankment. Getting over it is easier than I expected after letting it grow in my imagination. There’s no time to really take in the full situation. All I can do is identify an enemy and attack.

I lock eyes with a skinny, robed figure and spit blood in his face as I swing my sword in his direction. I recognize the fear in his eyes as real, but I know I can’t let it sway me. Compassion in battle only gets you killed. I’m not missing that wedding.

My sharp blade hardly registers slicing through anything. I only feel a slight tug as the tip catches a rib or the sternum. It doesn’t matter. The man’s eyes have already gone blank with a death stare before he even begins to drop. Time to move on.

Another robed figure two steps away catches my eye. He’s raising his hands and his mouth is moving quickly, though I can’t hear any words. That’s not good at all. Before I can begin to think that I may not be at the wedding after all, a bloodstained speartip bursts through his neck. The hands drop and the mouth drops open as all control leaves his body. Darren nods at me and spins to find another opponent.

No enemy is left to engage. Seven robed figures lie dead in a rough semi-circle. Kellen’s dual scimitars are dripping red and gray goo. Jairus is using the edge of one of the black robes to wipe the blood off his sword. Welker stands up from a crouch next to another body and looks around.

“My liege!” Welker calls out and runs into the tent the robed men were surrounding.

I follow. That was the mission, after all. The green tent fabric flutters as I push my way in after Welker and Darren. Kellen is behind me and Jairus takes up a post outside.

“Thank you for the assist.” General Palogos says to Welker. “We had no idea they had gotten this far.”

“But, sir,” Welker answers. “We were ordered to fall back to your position.”

“No one here gave that order, son.” the General responds. “Did you confirm it with the appropriate codes?”

“I never thought to do that, sir.” Welker sputters. “I’m a fool.”

“Yeah, you are.” Kellen says, stepping past me.

I know he’s going to try something, but I’m frozen in place. It’s not indecision. That hasn’t plagued me all day. I’m literally unable to move my body. Darren grunts and I can tell he’s in the same situation. Kellen’s hands catch my attention: they are literally on fire.

Oh, spirits, saints, and devils. Kellen’s a wizard.

“Sorry, boys, but I can’t have you ruining the fun now, can I?” Kellen’s voice drips sarcasm. “Now scram.”

Arms still pinned to my sides, I feel myself thrown out the front of the tent. No one touches me, but it has to be Kellen. Magic, apparently, is capable of anything. I hit the ground and the force holding me in place is gone. I roll a few times, struggling to make sure my sword doesn’t cut me to ribbons. Darren is a few feet away, getting to his feet. I can see Jairus already moving into the tent.

“Saints! Come on, we’ve got to…” Jairus can’t finish the thought as the tent explodes in fire and lightning.

I throw my shield up to cover my face and hope Darren has enough sense to drop to the ground. The last thing I feel is a searing pain in my legs and my shield impacting my face. I never thought it was possible to knock yourself out, but it seems I was wrong. Darkness and blessed sleep take over in an instant.

---

I wake up to the scent of clean sheets and quiet murmuring. That’s a very nice change of pace. The battle must have been a bad dream. Except the pain in my legs and head tell me otherwise. A groan involuntarily slips from my throat.

“Cormac!” I hear Darren exclaim. “You’re awake!”

“Yeah,” I say, wincing from his excited volume. “But can you keep it down a bit? My head’s pounding.”

“Sorry.”

The memory of the battle floods back in an instant. My eyes fly open and I try to sit up. The pain from the sudden movement and bright light almost knocks me unconscious again.

“Easy there, Mac. Easy.” Darren soothes.

“What happened?” I spit. “How’d we get here? What happened to the King? The squad?” Welker? Jairus?”

“It’s not good.” Darren sighs. “You sure you want it now?”

I hesitate for a second and take a look around. We’re in a medical tent of some kind. There’s no way of telling where the tent is located, but it must be safe enough. Darren is sitting up in the bed next to mine. A line of beds with hundreds of other beds full of injured soldiers spreads out behind him. The groans and whimpers of pain assault my ears as I finally recognize them for what they are. I look at Darren more carefully as he sits with the white sheet drawn up to his waist. Something’s wrong, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“None of them made it, Mac.” Darren sighs. “The explosion destroyed the entire command center and took out Welker and Jairus too. We were just outside of the blast radius enough to survive. You got knocked out right away. I wasn’t so lucky. I got to see that traitor Kellen walk out stark naked and giggling to himself. ‘Something to remember me by,’ he said and knocked me out. When I woke up, I noticed what he did while I was out. Do you think Lila will still marry me like this?”

Darren pulls back the sheet and points at his left leg which now ends just below the knee. So that’s what was off. Anger flares up bright in me, but it only exacerbates my headache.

“I’m going to kill him.” I whisper. “I’ll kill Kellen if it’s the last thing I do.”

“I’ll help.” Darren’s voice takes on a tone darker than I’ve ever heard before. “I’ll never be a cripple.”

“I’ll never see you as one,” I say sincerely. “You’ll always be wholly my brother, but Kellen will pay. He’ll pay for your leg. He’ll pay for the King. And he’ll pay for Welker and Jairus’ lives. I swear this on all that is holy.”

“So I do swear.” Darren recites the old religious response and reaches out a hand toward me.

Our hands meet in a firm clasp that echoes farther than the heavy fabric of the tent would allow. We both look at each other, surprise temporarily blunting the rage.

“So be it, Champions.” a strange, smooth voice thrums in my mind. “I accept your oath of vengeance and will aid in its execution. I have spoken.”

I see Darren’s eyes widen, seeming to match my fear at first, but we both begin to smile at the same time. He must have heard the same thing I did. We’ve got help now. Kellen has no chance.