The night turned cold in the Carnakanes when the sun retreated for the night. A blue shade covered the landscape, yet before their eyes could adjust it was a blanket of pure darkness. Sounds of feet scuffling though the sand passed through the night, and if you listened closely the dreadful sounds of hungry Night Creatures filled the silent air. When the night was almost too quiet, it could only mean that the Night Creatures were out hunting. Of course, no one had actually ever seen one of these creatures, save when one encountered the species—in which case you were certain to die. It was said that when you meet the eyes of the creature, the creature lost all sense and attacked until its target was shredded to bits.
Blade took a tumble into the sands first, the back end of the guard's spear prodding him out into the night. Egalo next, and soon all five of them were on their knees in the sand with their hands bound behind them, but their legs were left free for running—to whatever use that might serve them in the night's sands. One of the men by the side of The Worm began knocking arrows and unleashing them towards the heels of the running slaves to keep them moving into the darkness, away from the light, away from safety.
One of the men that had ran up with Baradorn took an arrow to the heel and he screamed in agony, falling to the sand. Egalo turned and saw Baradorn turn back, but before he could kneel to tend to the man an arrow thudded inches from Baradorn's knelt body, he had to keep moving. They didn't make it far before the sound of snarls and barking had them backing up back towards the caves. The arrows thudded inches from their backs still. Blade turned to Egalo and Baradorn, "We can't just back up until our bodies our pierced like training targets! I'm not going to be a human flesh appetizer for those creatures."
Egalo had no time to respond, a creature was advancing towards him, his eyes were beginning to adjust, and he could see the figure growing large and more detailed as it neared him. He turned and ran just as dozens of creatures began trotting on all fours after the men.
"Run to the caves, they won't hit us!" Egalo shouted as he ran.
"You're crazy, they've already hit one of us!" Blade panted back to Egalo. They were a hundred yards from the cave.
"They can't hit us. Trust me."
The focus turned to sprinting. The flesh-eating night terrors were gaining on them, one of the slower guys lost pace and the sound of screams rang out in the night, giving Egalo chills as his legs carried him as fast as he could go.
He could hear The Worm screaming, "What're you doing? You can't come back. We'll shoot you down if you don't turn around!" The archer released two more volleys that landed harmlessly wide. He was trying to knock another arrow but Egalo was so close. He leapt into the cave mouth and two footed the archer, slamming him into the ground. He thrust the man's body in the air and hurled it out into the sand where dozens of dogs tore the flesh off the body in seconds. The Worm was nowhere in sight, but a couple of his companions stood unsure whether to run after what they just saw, or to try to take him down. Even Blade stood frozen. Egalo had just lifted and slammed a man two heads taller and twice as wide as him. Egalo approached the first guard. He recognized him from being on post while he dug holes. He knew him to be a fairly kind guard, but he refused to stand down so Egalo acted once again on instinct. The guard unsheathed his sword, furrowing his brows and pursing his lips and allowing his thick brown mustache to rest over his where his mouth should have been.
Egalo ducked the flail of the heavy sword and landed a kick in the back, and thrust a pump into his temple, crippling the man. He pushed the man as he fell, half his body landing outside the cave mouth. The flesh-eating creatures only gobbled the parts that landed in the sand. It clicked in his head; the creatures must stay in the sand. Egalo snagged the sword that lay on the ground. He had had enough. His brows furrowed; his fist clenched tight around the hilt. His hair was matted down to his eyebrows. A face of anger over took him, all that had been built up inside of him came spilling out, and likewise Blade and Baradorn followed suit, taking out the remaining couple of guards and stealing the metal blades. The rest of the guards fled back up into upper levels of the cave where the main camp resided.
Egalo turned on the night creatures and pointed the tip of the sword at the pack. There was a moment of tension. The creatures snarled like wild dogs, foaming at the mouth. Red eyes glowing in the dark, glaring back at Egalo.
"What are you doing? Egalo no! They will consume you whole and eat you alive! NOOOO!" Baradorn watched in horror as Egalo advanced out into the sands towards the pack. Baradorn watched in amazement as the pack of a dozen flesh-eating wolves waited anxiously, ready to feast. Four at once attacked from different sides. Egalo slayed the first one with a swipe of the sword, but one from the rear swiped his back, tearing his thin fabric shirt and leaving a mighty gash. Egalo kicked a wolf in the muzzle sending it sprawling in agony. The fourth wolf had taken a hold of his leg and had a portion of its razor sharp teeth ready to sink into his bone, but Egalo flung his foot and contorted his body, dropping the flat of the sword hard on its head, and slicing the blade through its skull once it was stunned. He returned to the night wolf that he had kicked in the muzzle and slammed its head against its fist as it leapt up to land its paws on his chest, slicing his chest open. Egalo screamed partly in agony and partly in rage. There was no stopping him—he was leaving this place; or accepting death on his attempt out.
Baradorn and Blade continued to look on astounded. They stepped forward hesitantly behind Egalo, but careful not to let their feet actually enter on the sand. The remaining night wolves showed the first sign of fear, backing away slowly from Egalo. There was nine of them left. The pack split in half and allowed a path through the center of them, almost ceremonially, where the head of the pack sat on its haunches at the end with blood and saliva painted over its fangs and razors for teeth. It lowered its head to Egalo. Baradorn and Blade tried to call Egalo back again but Egalo dropped the sword to the ground.
He approached the wolf at the end of the ceremonial tunnel they had formed. He placed his hand on top of the soft, fuzzy head of the night wolf. Its ears were taller than its head and poked straight up. The blue fur of the wolf blended into the night, and the fur began to stain red as pools of blood dripped from Egalo's chest onto the wolves' head as he stood over it, allowing its submission to him. Each wolf bowed its head low, and silence fell over the sands of the night. Up above, Lord Dagnar had walked forward to the ledge of the large cliff mouth that Egalo had once overlooked on his first days here, strung up and hung to dry out. Swarms of his men gathered along either side of him, staring on in part admiration, part awe, and part resentment. The Worm returned to the cave mouth down at the bottom where he had just fled from moments ago. This time he returned with a full militia, dressed in battle armor and equipped with battle axes, spears, and longswords. The Worm wore a dark scowl across his face as he stared down Egalo and his two friends and his new pack of night creatures that stood allegiantly by his side.
Lord Dagnar spoke from up above as shadows of flame licked up and danced around the cave walls behind him. "I admire you, Lord Egalo son of Elgamar. I have never witnessed something quite like that in my time in these sands. However, I cannot let you go. You are too valuable—and you don't quite understand yet. But I assure you, it is your best option to stay. You have a role to play in our history—in this. I can't let you leave, young boy. Our presence here is a secret, and because of that you cannot leave." He gestured to all of the land around where thousands of holes ranged across the Carnakanes before him.
"Yeah, you're right Dagnar. I have a role to play, and its right here. I'll die fighting. I will never be your slave again, not like this. And that cruel system of yours—the Worm, the guards, the tents out here in the middle of the sands—I won't submit to that again. You lose."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Egalo had a fire in his eyes. A fleeting thought crossed his mind of his life—all in less than a couple seconds. He was boy from a small town—a boy of Sunswood. He was a boy lost—thinking he left home for the impossible dream of being a Magi Knight. Here he was, facing his fate. Lord Dagnar continued to stare down upon the group for a minute that felt like years to Egalo. Blade couldn't contain himself. "Well you scared bastard, come down and face the great Egalo yourself!"
"Actually, slave, I'll just let my men do that for me. Good luck." Lord Dagnar turned and walked back towards the inner core of the mountain, and down below the army of men scraped their swords against the scabbards and rubbed the tips of their blades against the cold, hard stone of the cave. When the noise finally quieted, it was The Worm that spoke, "I gave you the chance to have the easy way out, and now here we are. You can't escape me—you can't escape this!"
"WAIT!" Egalo held out a palm with one hand and his other hand held the metal blade by his side. Blood was seeping from his scalp and running down his face into his eyes. "I want to duel against the Worm. Just him and I."
Men muttered under their breath excitedly, and a few nudged The Worm forward. He turned and spit at the feet of the men who egged him on. Before he had a chance to respond, a man stepped out into the clearing from inside the cave much to everyone's astonishment, "No, he battles me." Out stepped Lord Dagnar. Silence filled the empty night air. A wolf growled a low noise, and another bared his teeth and a few men winced at the sight.
"I battle the boy and the boy only." Dalian Dagnar unsheathed a fine, eloquent blade that seemed so fine and light that it appeared unused and untouched. His wore fine red silks and a gown that had fine designs and drawings on it.
Egalo ripped off the rag of a shirt that remained drenched by sweat and red ink to his skin. His body wept blood from his gashes.
"If I win, I walk free."
Dalian Dagnar nodded his head, "fair deal. I swear on it by the true gods of the south. Let the fate of the true gods rest on the rightful winner. Fight to the death, no intervention. If I win, your friends remain enslaved to my cause."
The two stepped out and did a slow dance, side stepping each other as they moved eerily around and around. Egalo's heart pounded out of his chest. The adrenaline of the day was wearing off and his thoughts began to take over, clouding his mind. The shouts from Baradorn and Blade were matched by deafening roars and taunts from Dagnar's men. It all made Egalo dizzy and sick. His vision blurred but it soon re-focused. It meant his life and his friend's freedom. His legs were noodles.
The bloodshed began by way of neither Egalo or Dagnar. One of the night wolves stood from its haunches and roared a deafening roar and began to advance on Dagnar. An arrow found its target into the wolves' neck and the rest of the pack stood and snarled. Arrows began raining down where the wolves had stood loyally by Egalo. Three more wolves dropped and the last five scurried off into the darkness, howling furiously. Egalo blocked it out, he had no need for them. This was the fight that mattered.
Dagnar made a quick advance and Egalo shuffled back too quickly and lost his footing, landing harshly on the sand. His back was in flames as the gashes from the claws of the night wolf meshed with the sediment. No time, he flung himself forward just as the first drive of the duel was hit by Dagnar, clashing with the cold metal of Egalo's stolen blade. The impact drove him back to the ground, but he swung his legs and swiped Dagnar's legs from under him. The two rose from the ground and their blades swirled and met in the middle, the two fighting for the stronger push but their blades kissed and whirled away. Reset, they circled again, dancing. Waiting for the other to make a move or miss a step. The men were jeering and screaming. It was deafening to the ears. Blade was screaming something to the degree of "smash him in the balls," but it was tuned out by deafening screams of death to the slave boy.
Egalo was fatigued, exhausted. He hadn't wielded a sword since his days training to be a Sunswood huntsman. That felt like ages ago, besides, his best competition was uninterested fellow knights-in-training who were forced to be in the force by choice of their parents. The two danced with swords for a few strides. A swipe from Egalo was wild and Dagnar evaded it, the weight of the heavy blade threw Egalo off balance and Dagnar nicked Egalo's leg with the finely crafted blade. Egalo staggered back, regaining his feet and setting up for another attack. The clash of metal rang out, metal on metal. Egalo held his own but Dagnar was gaining ground on Egalo. Egalo's back was now to The Worm and the army of men as he backed toward them. Men were reaching out hands to try and grab Egalo's hair or poke his body with their blades.
The sun had begun to rise from below the sand dunes up ahead. The shining of the sun on Egalo's blade blinded Dagnar temporarily. Egalo acted quickly, advancing with drive on drive and Dagnar just did enough to parry each stroke. Egalo got too confident however, and Dagnar parried one final parry and swung a leg into Egalo's ribs, crippling him. Lord Dagnar's men cheered him on—The Worm at the forefront with his ugly piggish face and one eye that remained from the incident that night by the tents.
Dagnar kicked Egalo's blade from him and landed another kick to his gut. Baradorn tried to run out, flailing and screaming, but Blade held him back with his massive hands as if he were a small child. Lord Dagnar looked up and saw his men staring curiously at someone standing in atop a sand dune in the distance, off behind Lord Dagnar. The sun shone brightly in their eyes, but they could make out a flapping red cloak in the morning wind as the sands twirled and danced along with the red fabric.
Lord Dagnar's jaw dropped and the duel was almost forgotten. Baradorn had been released by Blade in complete distraction. The Worm stood with one hand slowly moving towards his empty eye socket.
The Worm spoke the thoughts of all, "He lives. That's impossible."
Randor Redcloak stood, his allegiances unknown. Dalian Dagnar continued to hold his blade close to the throat of the defeated Egalo.
"You cheated death then, Randor Red Cloak? Your remains were buried." His face was squinted in the sun as sweat dripped profusely from his widow's peak of speckled grey and black shaved hair.
"Odder things have happened in the Carnakanes. You must have buried me with the valuable stones of Ehrtorin that you so desperately search for, because I am more alive than ever now." Randor stood with his hand to the hilt of his long thin sword that hung from his belt without a scabbard. A smug smile crept across his face.
"You choose odd timing to make an appearance, Randor Redcloak. I'll deal with you after I finish this." Dalian Dagnar turned away to finish off Egalo. At that moment, an arrow was released from the direction of Randor Redcloak's vicinity but instead of finding a home in the back of Dalian Dagnar, Baradorn, who had made a vicious run for Dagnar had gotten his body in the way, taking the arrow to his left arm. He toppled over on top of Dalian Dagnar and Dagnar's blade slammed point first into the sand inches from Egalo's leg. Arrows rained from up above by the cliff mouth towards Randor Red Cloak and sand flung from the palms of his hands deflected the trajectory of the arrows, kicking their flight midway to the spot that Randor stood. A couple arrows made it through but Randor was already sliding down the sand dune towards Dalian Dagnar and Egalo.
The Worm screamed the militia of men onwards, "Kill the traitors! Capture the Redcloak so that we may flay him and hang from the cave mouth for the rest of time!" The men screamed deafening cries and swarmed across the sand with axes, pikes, and jagged swords in hand. Dagnar stood and landed a crunching fist to the jaw of Baradorn and made for his sword. Egalo flung himself around and grabbed the hilt with his fingertips, pushing just out of range from Dagnar. The blade settled by the sprawled body of Baradorn who grabbed the fine sword, feeling its lightness and smooth handle as he stood with it and in the blink of an eye delivered a swipe through the thin air. The blade caught the arm of Dagnar as he tried to block the blow and his limb came off far easier than Egalo's eyes could believe. There was no time to wait.
"Run! Save yourselves while you can. Move north, I'll meet you there!"
Swarms of hundreds of men were pouring out of the caves like ants. Egalo, Blade, and Baradorn ran up the sand dune and over the crest of the hill. Egalo spared a quick glance behind him and burned in his head was the image of Dalian Dagnar drowning in brown sand with the stub of an arm reaching out for mercy before the swarm of men trampled his body. Randor fended off the first wave of pikes and flailing weapons but Egalo watched no further as the group of three sprinted with every last ounce of strength they had away from the giant rock that sat comfortably in the middle of the Carnakane desert sands—the home of mobster Dalian Dagnar and his plantation of hole-digging slaves.
The three eventually reached a point some hours later where the sun was at its highest point and their bodies could no longer continue on. Blade carried a semi-conscious Baradorn who still had an arrow in his arm. Egalo collapsed first under the shade of a giant blue rock boulder. The small bit of shade provided a place where the sand felt cool on the skin. The three didn't speak a word. Instead, they let their bodies saunter into restful sleep for the first time in many nights. And finally, whether Egalo realized it or not, he was finally free, and in more peril than he'd ever been.