Ashes of the Realm - Juliette's Dream Page 6

  The Zord circling high overhead couldn’t see what was happening in the forest. The females could hear the babies crying below and longed to throw themselves into their defense, but had learned that it was futile to try. They screamed to the babies below trying to calm their fears.

  As the archers arrived, Vring counted the Torg entering the forest from the clearings around it and knew they were going to run short on arrows. The last Zord warriors had arrived with their load of arrows and delivered them to the nesting ground before the Torg began massing, but he could see it was not near enough. He looked at Zreeg and said, “We must go back and bring the two-legs more small feathered sticks.

  Zreeg looked down as they circled the forest and said, “Lead the way.”

  The two Zord took off at high speed. Bleath watched them go and wondered where they were going. Then he heard the first bellows of the Torg below as they began massing to enter the forest, and turned his attention back to the forest. He decided at that moment that even if the effort by the two-legs to save the hatchlings failed, he would never attack them again. They were placing themselves in danger to save the eggs, and he knew he wouldn’t have done the same for them. They deserved respect for their bravery. The Torg would arrive at the nesting ground in six hours.

  Scotty looked from the blind on the tree and saw the other archers had followed their lead and had moved into the pathways below the giant trees. He had divided the archers into a hundred teams such that the best archers were evenly distributed. Half of the teams only had one pathway out into the forest. He had selected the most dangerous location for himself and Jingo. He looked out over the forest, waiting for what he knew was coming. The archers sat and rested as they listened to the volume of the newborns grow to the point of being almost painful. The leaders of the hundred teams sat against the trunk of the tree they were defending, watching Scotty.

  Scotty looked out over the hedges and short trees and saw the dust rising from the pathways leading to the nesting ground. The hours seemed to drag as the thousand waited for the Torg to arrive. Finally, he stood up and looked at the team leaders and held up ten fingers. Ten minutes until the Torg herds arrived. The team leaders ran to get their archers ready. The volume of the newborns was now being drowned out by the bellow of the approaching Torg. Then the ground started shaking and the archers took their guns off safe.

  Scotty came down the tree and joined Jingo on the ground. He looked at his friend and asked, “Has that war gland of yours kicked in yet?”

  Jingo smiled, “Nope, not yet! How about that adrenal thing you’ve got?”

  Scotty chuckled, “It kicked in on the warrior flying here and hasn’t turned off. Here they come.”

  The Torg could be felt as well as heard. The ground was trembling under their hooves and their roars grew louder by the second. Jingo leaned over and shouted over the roar, “It’s turned on now.”

  Scotty smiled as he saw the first Torg turn the corner of the pathway a hundred yards away and fired his first arrow. Jingo followed with two less than a second later as Scotty pulled the gun around and aimed for a Torg that had managed to get around the three that had fallen in front of it. Three more Torg hit the ground, and the stampeding herd rushed into the fallen animals in front and began tripping. Scotty and Jingo hit any animal that fell at the front of the charging mass, and the pathway had a mound of dead Torg four feet high extending from hedge row to hedge row. The charging Torg crashed into those in front, trampling hundreds of them as they stumbled and jumped to clear the dead and fallen Torg struggling to get up. Torg were being killed by the rushing mass as well as the arrows. Those that jumped over the barrier were hit and added their bodies to the growing mound. The barrier of dead Torg grew to six feet in less than a minute, and the charging herd continued to rush over those slowed or dead in front. The screams of the dying Torg mixed with the newborn Zord deafened the archers. The charging mass of Torg finally slowed down and stopped trampling those stopped at the wall of dead Torg. The Torg in front leaped and began climbing over the wall. Scotty hit the first to come over the top, and Jingo caught the second two before they could get their heads over the top. Scotty looked at the other two paths and saw Torg in the left pathway were less than fifty yards away. Scotty reached over and pulled Jingo’s vest. Jingo looked at him and Scotty pointed toward the archers on the left. Jingo looked and nodded. He ran over to the besieged archers and Torg began falling too fast to count. The dead Torg began forming a barrier eight feet high in less than thirty seconds and Jingo left and ran back to Scotty who had killed twenty more in his absence. Jingo took over firing as Scotty moved back and picked up four more quivers of arrows. He looked at the openings into the clearing and didn’t see any archers. They had to be holding the Torg off up the pathways. The noise was thunderous.

  After an hour the wall of dead Torg was fifteen feet high, and Scotty sent the archers up into the tree’s blind to fire on the Torg trying to climb the wall. Once they were in place, he and Jingo sprinted across to the tree just south of them. Scotty scrambled up the tree, knelt in the blind, and looked down on a vision from hell. The herd of Torg had charged into the wall and had pushed dead animals forward. The wall slowly moved and then toppled forward. Scotty began hitting the ones in the front ranks and Jingo added his fire. A mound of dead began piling up as Jingo hit them before they could pass. Scotty picked off the ones in back attempting to push the mound over. Three archers joined Scotty in the blind and the mound not only grew in height, but now width. Scotty saw that this mound was going nowhere and he scampered down the tree and motioned for Jingo to join him. Over the next five hours they supported the groups of archers wherever the Torg threatened a breakthrough.

  Jingo grabbed Scotty’s arm and pointed at the quivers behind the southern archers. There were only thirty five left and Scotty realized it was not going to be enough. He looked at Jingo, shrugged and hugged his friend. Jingo smiled and nodded. They grabbed a quiver and sprinted back to the northern line.

  Vring and Zreeg arrived at the community and Vring saw the young female that was the four armed two-leg’s mate. He thought to her, “We need all the arrows you have.”

  Jesa’s heart went into her throat and she yelled for Jing, who came rushing up, and Vring said, “We are going to need every arrow you can spare.”

  Samuel arrived and the two began yelling orders. Jesa came up and looked at Vring saying nothing. Vring stared at her and said, “I don’t know. We can’t see into the forest to know if he is still alive. I’m sorry.”

  Jesa nodded and said, “Please help him come back to me.”

  Vring stared at her and replied, “If I have to die trying, I will do my best to make that happen, little one.”

  Jesa ran forward and hugged the Zord’s front leg. Vring was touched by her emotions, and began to feel his heart beat increase. He looked at Zreeg and said, “I will carry the first load into the forest.”

  “Vring, how are you going to get these weapons to the nests? There is no room to fly and walking is certain death.”

  “There is a space between the lower branches and the smaller trees. I’m small enough to manage it. I’ve got to try.”

  “You’ll never make it. There are too many trees to dodge. Carrying the weapons will weigh you down.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  Zreeg just shook his head.

  Zreeg grabbed five hundred quivers in his front talons and Vring clutched an additional two hundred. They flapped, lifted slowly off the ground, and began their flight. The only thing that saved them was a southerly wind that allowed them to glide most of the distance.

  Scotty and Jingo heard the screams, ran toward one of the giant trees, and saw the first Torgs round the curve at its base. The eighty five archers sent to hold had been overrun and killed. Scotty hit the first three and Jingo killed the next eight. Ten other archers joined them and the Torg began running around the back of the trunk to avoid the mass of their dead. Now two hundr
ed archers joined the killing and Torg dead began filling the space around the trunk. Scotty looked at his quiver and saw he only had two bundles remaining. He looked around and saw the others were also running out. The Torg began pulling their dead away from the tree and Scotty knew they had failed. Once the mound was removed, they would be overwhelmed. Just as the first Torg came through the gap Scotty head a loud screech over head and saw Vring drop quivers full of arrows at their feet. Scotty smiled at Jingo and the killing began anew.

  With the weight removed, Vring flew out of the forest nimbly dodging the trees until he came out into a clearing and gained altitude. He flew directly to the central mountain next to their land and landed next to Zreeg just below the snow line. Bleath came flying in and demanded, “What are you doing?”

  “Our friends are close to being overrun. They are short of these weapons. I must take more.”

  Zreeg looked at Vring and saw he was weary, but kept his silence. Bleath said, “I forbid you to do so.”

  Vring looked at his father and said, “I gave an oath to the four armed two-leg’s mate that I would help him return or die trying. Would you have me dishonor my promise?”

  Bleath said nothing. Vring grabbed a load of quivers in his talons and looked at his father, “How can we not face the danger our friends are confronting? Even if I fail, the effort must be made.”

  Bleath looked at his only child and said, “You have earned my honor this day.”

  Vring felt his heart swell, then he lifted and glided toward the giant forest below.

  Scotty and the archers had filled all available space around the giant tree with dead Torg. It seemed the Torg knew that this was where the fight would be won or lost, and the massive herds began moving toward the tree. They started pulling dead bodies away from the trunk in earnest. Scotty looked up, saw Vring approaching with more arrows, and realized the small Zord was barely able to stay above the lower trees. Vring dropped his load and then it happened. His weak wing gave out and he fell out of the air into the trunk of the Ging being attacked by the Torg. Scotty yelled, “NO!”

  Jingo looked at him, then turned and saw what he was seeing. He saw Vring holding on to the trunk with his talons and saw the Zord was weak; he was starting to slip down the trunk. He saw Scotty grab four quivers and run toward the injured Zord. Jingo yelled at Scotty, but knew there was no stopping his friend. Jingo grabbed six quivers and ran after Scotty. The attacking Torg saw the injured Zord and began leaping up the mound of dead surrounding the trunk. Scotty arrived and scampered up the mound just as Vring fell from the trunk beside him. Scotty shot the first six Torg climbing the mound. The first had gotten within six feet of Vring when it suddenly stopped its climb, stared at the Zord with a dead expression, and fell back into other climbers with an arrow jutting out of its head. Ten Torg were knocked off the mound as the Torg fell back into the mass below. Jingo arrived right behind Scotty and they saw the thousands of Torg filling the three pathways leading to the tree’s base. The giant herds of Torg left the other trees to join in the attack where the Zord had fallen. The archers defending those trees sent half their number running to the new attack. They grabbed as many quivers as they could carry and ran to join their friends.

  Vring stared out into the thousands of bellowing Torg filling the pathways on each side of the tree, pulling at their dead to open the path. He looked out over the forest and saw the huge piles of their dead at the other trees surrounding the nesting ground. He could see the thousands of newborns still in their nests, instinctively refusing to leave without their parents. He looked at the two standing beside him fighting to save his life. He found an inner peace and knew that his family had found new friends that would make a difference, if not now, then later, in saving their babies. He watched it all and hoped to share his vision if he survived this fight. He forgot his wing, he forgot his suspicions of the two-legs, he marveled at their amazing skill with their weapons, and he knew if he survived he would have children of his own one day.

  Now there were four hundred archers on the mound, and the Torg were being killed a hundred yards from the tree. Two hundred archers began moving down the mound in each direction, killing anything that moved in front of them.

  No one had ever determined how the Torg communicate. They had to possess some means of communication; they attacked in teams and moved together in herds. However they did it, a message was sent and the thousands of Torg in the forest turned and fled. It had somehow gotten through their simple consciousness that nothing awaited them in this forest but death. The Zord flying high over head could hear the roar of the gigantic battle but were unable to see through the tress. Suddenly, they saw Torg running out of the forest into the wasteland bordering the forest.

  Teelee, circling high overhead, saw the Torg and wondered what was happening. Then she saw thousands run out of the forest. As she watched, the numbers escaping stunned her. The huge herds escaping approached a hundred thousand, and the mass continued to run out of the trees. Zreeg joined Telee circling the forest and as the roar of the Torg at the nesting ground faded, they could hear the yelps below. Telee felt her heart skip a beat as she heard the distinctive yelps of her six children. She screamed in answer and flew twists and turns as she celebrated her joy. Zreeg felt his love and joy for his mate and her newfound heart. Her joy overwhelmed him, and he joined her in an acrobatic flight demonstrating their love for each other.

  Scotty collapsed next to Vring and said, “We have got to quit meeting like this.”

  Vring lifted his wing and winced, “I will if you will.”

  Scotty looked at Vring and said, “If you had not arrived with more arrows, we would have all died. You saved us.”

  Jingo came around the giant tree’s trunk and fell flat on his back on top of a giant, dead Torg and said, “That’s it! I’m done! Someone wake me in two years and while you’re at it, have them bring me some new arms.” and fell dead asleep.

  Vring and Scotty looked at Jingo and Scotty smiled at his sleeping friend. “We would have failed without him. He made the difference.”

  Vring looked at Scotty, “He certainly carried more than his share of this load, but it was you that gave your warriors the heart to fight on.”

  Scotty lay down and stretched out, “If you say so, Vring. When help arrives, please have someone help me get up. I don’t think I can move my arms anymore.”

  Vring smiled, “So, I’m not the only one with bad limbs?”

  Scotty never heard him. Neither the yelps of the thousands of newborn Zord or the screams of their parents overhead could wake him.

  Vring looked at the surviving exhausted archers sitting in the nesting ground and counted seven hundred forty six. He felt a great loss for those that died. Not one Zord had been killed, though he had come close. Vring knew the two-legs were owed a blood debt. He turned and saw Bleath leading the community up the path toward him. The huge Zord had no trouble climbing the mounds choking the path. He saw the amazement of everyone as they witnessed the number of dead Torg surrounding the nesting ground. Joyous parents rushed forward to find their children, while Bleath stayed with Vring and looked at the two sleeping beside him. Bleath felt Vring’s feelings and said, “Show me what you saw, son.”

  Vring showed him.

  Chapter Five

  The archers had gathered at the edge of the nesting ground and ate as they mourned their lost friends and brothers. Many owed their lives to the brave archers that stood their ground, killing charging Torg until they were overrun. Scotty and Jingo had their arms in slings and winced every time they moved. Most of the archers were not going to lift anything larger than a grellup pod for weeks. The recoil from the bowguns left bruises on their shoulders. Lifting the weight of the guns for nine hours had been exhausting.

  Scotty looked at Jingo and said, “It looks like that war gland kept you going.”

  Jingo grimaced as he laughed and said, “Your adrenal thing-a-majig did the same. There’s no way I could have fire
d my bowguns that many times. How long did the fight last?”

  “The Zord say over nine hours. It seemed much longer,”

  “Tell me about it.”

  The archers looked out at the female Zord feeing their young with meat from the dead Torg, and they could hear their thoughts. The love of the mothers was clear and the joy of having babies, some for the first time, was overwhelming. The archers felt their hearts heal as they saw the joy their fight had brought to the Zord. An archer in back of the group said, “This was worth it.”

  Scotty stood and faced the group. Several had to help him stand. “Any species that can love like this deserves our help. I am so proud of having fought with you to save these children. You have proven your hearts this day.”

  Michael Blake said, “And you have shown us what a true heart really is. We won’t forget it.” The archers knew that even if they were not related by blood, they were now all brothers because of their shared ordeal.