Ashes of the Realm - Juliette's Dream Read online

  Bleath listened to them and came forward, “We are taking you home. Our warriors have almost come to blows over who would be given the honor of flying you back to your communities. We have fashioned bindings you can slip your legs through to keep you from having to use your arms. We see that your arms are injured from the long use of your weapons. I will assist you to our warrior’s backs. I do not have the words to thank you for your sacrifice.” Bleath paused and the archers could feel his emotions. He took a deep breath and continued, “On the night of the next full moons we will come to speak with your leaders. Please be there to hear our words.”

  Scotty looked up at the giant Zord and said, “We will not miss the gathering.”

  A huge warrior walked up. Bleath lowered his front leg and Scotty sat on it as Bleath lifted him to Zreeg’s back. Scotty slipped his legs under the binding, then slipped his feet outside and hooked them in the binding. Cezee arrived and Jingo was lifted to his back. Bleath stayed and lifted every archer to the backs of the Zord Warriors. When the last had flown away, he listened to the thousands of newborns being fed by their mothers and was overcome by his emotions.

  Scotty sat on Zreeg and looked up at the stars filling the night sky. He leaned back, lay on the giant reptile’s shoulders, and felt the rhythmic motion of his wings. Zreeg said, “I owe you my life, white hair.”

  Scotty remained on his back and thought, “You owe me nothing, Zreeg. I would have been poorer in spirit if I hadn’t come to help you. Now I am stronger, and that is payment enough.”

  “I sense you mean what you say, but you have given me my mate back. Her tortured soul has returned and she is the beautiful one I remember. I will never forget your bravery and kindness. My back belongs to you for the rest of my life.”

  Scotty felt the emotions of the Zord and said, “My bowgun will always be available to defend your family, Zreeg.” The two flew in silence, feeling a bond that was forged out of great respect for each other. It would never be broken.

  Zreeg screamed, announcing his coming, and Scotty looked down and saw the fire in the clearing. Suddenly he heard the three horns start blowing and saw both communities come running toward the clearing. Zreeg circled and slowly descended to the ground. Scotty arrived and Samuel came running up. Zreeg said, “You will have to help him down. He cannot use his arms.”

  Samuel yelled for three young Humans and they ran forward and climbed the bindings. One carried a vine that was placed under Scotty’s arms and around his back, and two of them lowered him to the group waiting to receive him. Cegee landed right behind him and Jesa ran and climbed the vines before anyone could move. Jingo saw her coming and she threw her arms around his neck and started crying. He whispered, “I can’t use my arms to hold you, Jesa.”

  She looked at him and kissed him, “I don’t care. I need you in my arms.”

  Three youths climbed up and lowered Jingo to the ground. Scotty looked at Samuel and Jing, “We lost more than two hundred in the fight.” He saw their immediate sadness.

  Jing looked at Scotty and asked, “Were you able to save the Zord’s newborns?”

  Scotty gave a small smile and said, “The Torg did not get even one hatchling. We saved them all.”

  Samuel took a deep breath and asked, “How many Torg attacked?”

  Scotty said, “We estimated more than half a million.”

  Zreeg said, “There were at least that number, and probably more. My leader requests a meeting with you at the next full moons at midnight, if that is acceptable.”

  Jing looked up at the giant Zord and said, “We will welcome you to our communities.”

  Other giant warriors were landing and the community began welcoming home the brave archers that had been feared lost. Zreeg looked at Scotty and then lifted to make room for the returning archers.

  Jing asked, “What’s wrong with your arms?”

  “We fought the Torg for nine hours and I fired more than three thousand arrows. I think I pulled things that I didn’t know I had.”

  Two women came running up and escorted Scotty away. Samuel knew they would care for the injured warrior. Jingo was escorted away by Jesa and the two leaders knew he was in good hands.

  Samuel watched the Zord fly in with their cargo of weary archers and saw the Zord’s respect for the brave Humans and Cainth that had fought for them. They waited to get the names of the ones killed in the fighting, but they both felt a sense of pride of what their warriors had accomplished. The two stayed until the last one arrived and was cared for by the waiting communities. Jing looked at Samuel and said, “Half a million Torg. Our defenses have been greatly strengthened by what they endured.”

  Samuel shook his head, “I wish I could have witnessed it.”

  Jing got a far-a-way look in his eyes, “Just think about it; half a million Torg.”

  Jingo lay on the ground under one of the small trees next to the central clearing. Jesa was massaging oil from the halbeg tree on his four arms and he was in heaven. She continued to rub the oil on his lower right arm and asked, “Did you do as I asked and avoided taking dangerous risks?”

  “Uh oh,” Jingo thought. “I’m here, my love. I must have done something right.”

  Jesa looked at Jingo and continued to rub oil on his arms. “Thank the creator he listened to me,” she thought.

  The archers told the community of the fight and the bravery of those that were lost. The archers adopted their fallen comrades’ families and vowed to treat them as their own. No one believed the tale that was told. Everyone just knew the story was embellished as war tales often were. Some of the teenagers didn’t believe any of it, but kept their opinions to themselves. The archers slowly healed, and finally the time for the meeting arrived.

  Jing and Samuel were waiting at the fire and the two communities were sitting around them at the edge of the trees. Scotty, Jingo, and Jesa sat with Jesa’s parents and waited for the Zord’s arrival. Scotty looked up at the two full moons and the blanket of stars. He thought about how much had happened since the previous meeting and hoped the Zord would keep their word about no future attacks. As he stared at the stars, a huge number of them were blocked out. He turned to Jingo and said, “They’re here.”

  Bleath and the four elders came in together this time and landed beside the fire next to Jing and Samuel. Jing walked forward and said, “Welcome back to our community.”

  Bleath looked around at the gathered Humans and Cainth, then looked at Jing and Samuel. “We have come to give honor to those that came and fought for our children. What they did will never be forgotten by us. We could not see the fight taking place in the trees, but one of us was able to view a small portion of it at the end. We feel it is important that you bear witness to what your brave archers endured to save us.” Bleath looked out at the gathered communities and sent the vision Vring had given him.

  The community saw a view of trees that were dodged and flown around as the one viewing flew through the forest. The vision was as real as being there seeing it happen. Then the view shifted down and the pathways leading to the community were seen; they were choked with Torg. The view flew over trees where archers were firing at huge mounds of dead Torg. Then they saw Scotty and Jingo running forward and start firing at the giant ging where the Torg had broken through to its trunk and were charging around the giant tree. They watched as Scotty and Jingo held their ground in front of the mass of charging Torg as other archers joined them. The mound of dead animals surrounding the tree was high and getting higher. Then the view changed as the viewer flew into the forest.

  The view started again as the Zord flying through the trees approached the nesting ground again. They watched as hundreds of giant Torg pulled at the dead bodies around the giant tree. They saw as the flyer released the load of quivers and watched them fall to the gathered archers. Then the view changed as the giant tree rushed into view and came to a jarring halt.

  The community could see that the flyer had hit the tree and was hanging on. The
view below looked like a vision from hell as the Torg pulled bodies away from the tree. Then the community saw Scotty looking up at the downed flyer, reach down and grab four quivers of arrows, then run toward the tree. Jingo was right behind him, and the two of them climbed the mound toward the flyer. Then the view changed to the level of the two archers on top of the mound killing Torg at an unbelievable rate. They saw Scotty kill six Torg as they tried to attack the wounded Zord. They saw the jaws of a giant Torg come within six feet of the wounded Zord. They knew the Zord was now on top of the mound with the two archers. No one counted the number of arrows Scotty and Jingo fired on the mound, but many Torg came within an arm’s length of them before they fell back into the climbing mass. The view shifted to the pathways, and the Torg filled them as far as could be seen in both directions. Then the other archers arrived and the killing amazed the communities. When the four hundred archers came down the mound, one being led by Scotty and the other by Jingo, the dead Torg filled the pathways ten feet high. Then they saw the Torg turn and rush away from the archers advancing up the path. The view shifted to one high over the forest and the community watched as the Torg began running from the forest in hundreds, then thousands, and then hundreds of thousands. Even the archers that had been in the fight were shocked into silence.

  Jesa looked at Jingo and he could see she knew he had not heeded her advice to not take any risks. He lowered his head and said, “I’m sorry, Jesa.”

  She lifted his chin with two hands and looked into his eyes, “I’ll never be as proud of you as I am at this moment.” She had tears in her eyes as she held him tight. “You would not be here if you had followed my advice.” Jingo put his head on hers and said, “I love you.”

  She nodded and whispered, “I know.”

  The doubting teenagers felt their shame. They looked at the archers that faced the Torg herds and were silenced by the bravery they witnessed. They vowed to become just like the brave archers.

  The two communities were silent. The shock of what the archers had faced was overwhelming, and words could not describe what they had seen.

  Bleath looked out at the gathering and said, “We have looked at the memories of your archers who survived, and we are humbled by the price they paid for us. More than two hundred of them died fighting the charging herd as they were overrun. Not one of them ran to save themselves. One thing we have seen is that without the bravery of the one with white hair and the four armed archer with two weapons, the Torg would have taken our babies again. They supported their fellow warriors and turned the Torg away fifty six times.”

  The gathered community looked at the archers and they were all nodding. Everyone looked at Scotty and Jingo and Scotty said, “It was Jingo that made the difference.”

  Michael Blake stood and said, “Jingo did make a huge difference. But it was you he followed into the jaws of the herd. You didn’t hesitate, but came to save us no matter the odds. The Zord is right; the two of you are what saved us.”

  Bleath added, “And, as a result of your bravery, saved our newborns.” Bleath looked down at Samuel and Jing, “Your archers also saved my species from extinction.”

  Samuel said, “What!?”

  “Last cycle, not one newborn lived. The cycle before that, only two survived. Over the last hundred cycles, we have lost more to death each year than we could replace. We are down to only nine thousand and time is not on our side. The Torg herds have grown to the point where they could not be stopped. This cycle, more than fifteen thousand newborns are alive because of your brave warriors. This night under the twin moons, their skins are hard and they are now able to fly. This night all of our memories will be imprinted on them going all the way back to our ancestors that flew the smoky skies of our home world. Their parents will also imprint the vision I just shared with you. They will know they owe their lives to your gallant archers. Those fifteen thousand newborns will bring us back from extinction, and the food provided by your archers will feed us for more than ten cycles.”

  Jingo was shocked, “What food?”

  Bleath said, “Right now our warriors are flying the Torg you killed to the snow on our mountains. It will be preserved until we need it. We will not have to attack the Torg herds to feed ourselves and fewer of us will die. Our numbers will grow because of your kindness.”

  Bleath looked at Scotty and Jingo and said, “Please come forward.”

  The two looked at each other and walked in front of Bleath. Bleath said, “I thought my son was insane when he argued against attacking you. Now I know you are a blessing from the Air God. I have learned that your weapons are called bowguns.” Scotty and Jingo nodded. “We have changed the names of the three mountains next to our lands. The two mountains on each side of the center one will be called the two bows to honor this warrior that fought so bravely for us. One will be the left bow; the other the right bow.” Jingo swelled with pride at what he was told. Bleath turned to Scotty and said, “The center mountain will be called White Hair to honor you.”

  Scotty lowered his head and said, “I don’t deserve more than any of us.”

  “Yes you do, White Hair. It was you that opened your heart to my injured son and taught us how truly good your communities are. You risked your life then and countless other times defending our hatchings. None of this would have happened without your good heart.”

  Bleath looked out at the gathering and said, “We have also vowed that my warriors, our mothers, and our children will defend all of you until that mountain ceases to exist. It will be a constant reminder of our oath. We owe you our existence and we will never forget what you did this cycle.”

  The gathering rose and cheered the announcement and began hugging and congratulating the brave warriors that fought the Torg. Bleath raised his wings and the communities became quiet. “There is one more message that I promised to deliver.” The giant Zord looked at the archers that had gathered and were sitting in a group, “The warriors that carried you to our nesting ground and brought you home have asked me to tell you that they are sworn to you. They will be your mounts anytime you desire them. They will carry you wherever you choose to go, and will defend you against all enemies.” Bleath turned to Scotty and said, “My son and Zreeg have agreed that both of them will be your mounts. You have won their respect, and they vow to defend you.” Bleath looked up and said, “You are now Riders of the Zord, and we will never allow you to fall.”

  The celebration began in earnest and joy was the watchword. Jing looked up at Bleath and said, “You know if our archers can fly with you, we can stop many of the Torg from reaching your forest. They may be persuaded to stay away.”

  Bleath looked down at Jing and said, “Next year we will have to try and see. You should know that both of you have also been given a mount.” Two of the Elders stepped forward and one said, “I am Jing’s.”

  The other said, “I am Samuel’s.”

  Samuel looked up at Bleath and asked, “Is there a special reason why your birthing ground is located in that forest?”

  Bleath tilted his head and said, “It’s dark enough under the trees to protect our newborns’ skins and eyes.”

  “Well, if you look over the hill from our community, the ging trees are thick and it’s quite dark under them. If you would lay your eggs here, we would have more than three thousand archers to protect them. We have eliminated most of the Torg around here and few will come close to our community. Those giant herds will have nothing to feed on and they are too far away to come here.”

  Bleath looked at the four Elders, then looked back at Samuel, “We will do exactly that. I can see that my family is going to grow and prosper. Thank you for helping us.”

  The community continued to celebrate as Zord warriors descended to join in the festivities; many of them looking for their chosen rider. Soon the Zord began lifting with their riders and started circling high overhead, screaming their happiness.

  Jesa held on tight to Jingo as Cezee circled the community. The
beauty revealed from the two full moons shining on the forest below filled Jesa’s heart. She knew she would never forget this night. Jingo turned his head and said, “Jesa, will you do me the honor of becoming my Mate?”

  Jesa’s heart exploded and, holding on tightly, she scrambled around Jingo to face him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and then kissed him over and over. Cezee could feel their love; it was just like the feeling shared with his mate tending to their six new children. Cezee stayed aloft until Jesa stopped kissing Jingo and said, “Yes.”

  Chapter Six

  Twenty year old Scotty Robbins sat on the hill looking up at the stars. They were still amazing after all these years.

  “Why do you spend so many nights out on this hill, White Hair?”

  Scotty looked over at Vring sitting on the hill beside him and said, “I guess it’s because I know the history of many of them. There are others out there that are just like us staring at the majesty of the universe around us. They, too, are struggling to survive.” Scotty rolled over and looked at Vring and said, “Those stars were once all joined together in a community of millions of planets.” Scotty rolled back over on his back and said, “My home world is now gone from this universe with the Great Royal Family that ruled us with love, compassion, and wisdom. They once tried to make us more than we could be. Greed, ambition, and lust for power seduced many of us and we lost it all.”