Beyond the Hell Cliffs (40 page)

Chapter 37

“Goji!”
Higerth yelled, standing before the front gates of his barracks.  “Who is this foreigner you let cause mayhem in our village?”

Higerth wore the armor of the Royal Guard and was a fearsome looking and sounding Rathgar.  He wore no helmet and his grey hair was slicked back from his high fo
rehead.   He carried a large, heavy axe with a wide, single wing, resembling an executioner’s tool.  He walked at the front of his formation, unafraid.

Behind him, the remaining members of his guard stood ready to charge through the front doors.  There were more inside the Fire House that Raegith had imagined, by the size of who all was left.  Between the ones they burned in the tavern, the five at the prison, the
three they killed taking the barracks and the dozen they took by surprise upon returning to what they thought was an empty barracks, Higerth had lost a third of his unit.

“I am Grass-hair and Goji has no command over me.  This is my challenge.” Raegith stepped forward.  “I’m going to kill a lot of your men today, Captain.”

“You’re insane and I’m going to hang you on a pole by your eyeballs!”

“Oh, you’re mad at
me
?” Raegith asked.  “Well, that makes it easier, then.  How about I just challenge you?”

“What?”

“Have your men stand down, come up here in the courtyard and fight just me.  Do that, and win or lose, I’ll let your men go without killing them all.”

“I am a Captain of the Royal Guard!” Higerth bellowed.
  “These are all seasoned Citadel Guards, forged in battle against the men from the north!”

“I hate to break this to you, Captain, but those wars were all
fake,” Raegith said, laughing.  “You’ve all been fighting staged wars, set up to let you take a few villages before the men of Rellizbix ride in and drive you back past the Hell Cliffs.  I should know; I’m from the north myself.”

“
Heresy!  Bring me this fool’s head!” Higerth screamed, signaling his men to attack.

Raegith and Goji quickly fell back into the barracks as the wave of angry Rathgar followed them in through the doors.  What they found in the courtyard of their barracks was nothing short of a death trap.

Goji had managed to gather most of Kensei’s secret pupils and they were eager to exact their revenge on the guards who had violated their village for so long.  Thirteen Lokai men in black clothing with hoods unleashed a volley of bladed, metal stars into the first men through the door.  Not all of them died immediately, but their stumbling forms tripped and slowed those behind them as they all squeezed through the double doors.  The men were instantly bottlenecked in the exposed entrance.

Most of them did not have time to notice the small, blue-skinned girl with the dancing green hair standing in the middle of the courtyard as they stumbled over their
injured allies.  None of them had time to signal retreat before Beretta opened her palms before her and sent a wave of emerald flame cascading into the bulging group of Rathgar.

Men diving to the side of the fire found themselves face to face with the Helcats, wearing borrowed armor and weapons.  Helkree, holding a pair of hand axes,
cackled with bloodlust and glee as she buried one of them in the face of a screaming guard.  Magda joined Indie on the right side of the door, holding an iron shield in her steady arms.  She shrugged off blows from the charging men, keeping them from flanking the Infernal as she burned their comrades to ash.  Indie threw her hulking form behind Magda’s shield and together they pushed the flailing guards back into the flames.

The first rush lasted only moments before those who managed to escape ran fleeing back from the barrack doors.  Some did not stop once they reached the formation, casting aside their weapons and
retreating into the village.

From the roof of the building, Raegith laughed at the stunned guards below.  “What happened to your seasoned warriors forged in the fake battles of the north?”

“I will burn this entire village to the ground, then!” Higerth said.  “You can all sit inside there and watch as I destroy this village one building at a time!”

“Burn this village and you’ll have nowhere to go, Higerth,” Kensei said, approaching the formation.  Behind him, nearly every Lokai in the village followed, all holding farming tools, sticks, even kitchen knives.

“You’re not that stupid, old man,” Higerth growled.  “You think your farmers and merchants can defeat my men?”

“I think that we’re all in agreement that being killed by your men is preferable to living with them.  Rathgar men do not cook or hunt or farm, do they?  Rathgar men canno
t do anything but war.  How long after we’re all dead will you survive with none of our skills?”

“Looks like intimidation is no longer an option, Captain!”
Raegith yelled.  “You’ve still got one option left, though.  My offer is still on the table.”

“You’re a fool,” Higerth said.  “You want a duel, I’ll accept.  In fact, I’ll match your weapon of choice and humiliate you even further.”

“Excellent!  Lose the armor, then.  My weapon of choice is flesh and bone.”

“You are insane!” Higerth laughed.

“You keep saying that like it’s a weakness.  I’m waiting.”

Higerth passed his axe off to a guard while others helped him remove the bulky plate armor.  As the captain stripped down to
the cloth pants and tunic beneath, Goji approached Raegith.

“Higerth is the most brutal guard I have ever seen.  You are walking to your death, Grass-hair.”

Kimura turned to Goji.  “Fuck that guy!  Grass-hair is champion of the Pit.”

Raegith
and his allies filed out of the barracks and helped form a square around Raegith and Higerth.  Raegith stripped off his shirt and strode out into the square to face off against Higerth in open combat.  The Captain was not as muscular as Torga but was nearly as big.  He was also in good shape and took a fighter’s stance. 

The two circled each other.  Higerth took small, heavy steps and Raegith stayed on his toes, bouncing lightly with each step.

“You stupid shit!  Are you a fighter or a dance…” Higerth laughed.

Raegith cut him off with a lunge.  Higerth stopped in his tracks and braced for the attack, but it did not come. 
Raegith side-stepped as soon as his lunge landed and flanked him, throwing a rear cross into the big man’s unprotected ribs.  Higerth merely grunted and turned, swinging his big arm.

Raegith was out of his range in an instant, clearing the swing and driving in with a powerful sidekick to the stomach meant to buckle the man.  The kick landed squarely, but it did not even move Higerth.

The Captain laughed and slapped his solid midsection, shaking his head with a smile.  “That tickled.”

Raegith
snapped another kick up to his face and that moved him.  It was not as powerful as the sidekick, but it caught the Captain off guard.  Raegith charged in, throwing a flurry of quick punches at his face, but the Captain recovered quickly and pushed Raegith off. 

Then Raegith was on the defensive as the Captain threw well-aimed punches.  He was more skilled than Raegith had thought.  One of the blows caught Raegith and staggered him.  Higerth followed up, driving into him and putting him to the ground.  Raegith rolled with him, latching on to his arm as they toppled.

Raegith got a leg up over the top of Higerth and he pulled the big man’s arm up along his body.  He arched upwards, putting pressure on his arm and hyperextending it.  Higerth roared, but Raegith kicked him in the face with his heel and wrenched on his arm some more.  Higerth tried to curl his arm back inward, but as strong as his biceps were, he was fighting against Raegith’s entire body.  Raegith dug his forehead into the dirt for more leverage and thrust his hips against the Rathgar’s elbow.

His other foot slipped against the dirt and Higerth managed to roll the other way, taking the pressure off of his arm and pulling Raegith into him.  He rolled on top of the prince and rained blows down on him.  Raegith covered his face, but took several hits to the sides of his head.
  His vision blurred and he recognized the feeling of losing consciousness.  As Higerth pulled back for a harder punch, Raegith reached up and grabbed the back of his head.  His elbow knew exactly where to go even though Raegith could not focus on his target and he caught Higerth in the eye.

Raegith did not let the man
rise up.  He snaked his arm around his neck and locked his grip with his other hand.  He leaned back hard, wrapping his legs around Higerth’s midsection and putting his forearm right in the man’s throat.  Higerth panicked and tried to pull his head out of the lock, but Raegith held him.  The Captain threw punches into Raegith’s side, refusing to give up, but Raegith would not loosen his grip even as the blood came up in his mouth.

Finally the punches stopped and Higerth’s body slackened.  Raegith rolled over on top of the
man, blood dripping from his face and between his teeth.  The Captain tried to get air back into his lungs and weakly pushed at him.  Raegith brushed his waving arms to the side, popped his chin up and punched Higerth fiercely in the throat, collapsing his windpipe. 

The Captain gurgled and shook underneath Raegith as he sat there and watched him die.

“This is an honorable death, Captain.  It’s more than you deserve for turning on your own, but I am merciful.”

Raegith rose once the Captain’s body stilled and turned to the other guards who were unsheathing their weapons and inching forward.  The Helcats came forward to meet them and the whole square almost burst into battle.

“Is this what Rathgar honor is worth?” Raegith screamed at the group of guards.  They halted for a moment.  “Your Captain died to save the rest of you.  Take another step and that sacrifice is forfeit.”

“On my command!” one Guard said, raising his axe.

“No!”  The voice came from further back in the formation.

The men parted as a Rathgar in old, weathered armor stepped forth.  He unbuckled his helmet and pulled it off, revealing light blue hair in spikey waves.  He was older than the rest of the men and had thin stubble on his rugged face, but his teal eyes were still sharp.

“Get back in formation, Coda.  I won’t put up with your antics today.” the second-in-command growled.

“Fuck off, Roukas,” the old Rathgar said to the other.  “I do not lose my honor when the Empire loses its ruler.  I follow only the strong and worthy.”

“Coda, get back in formation… now!” Roukas yelled, but the old Rathgar did not change course.

Roukas lifted his axe and charged at Coda’s back.  Helkree stepped in and hooked the man’s weapon with the undercurve of her axe blade.  With her other axe, she sliced into the exposed area under his arm with a slash, kicked his knee out and chopped the man in the throat like it was a tree trunk.  It was over in an eye blink and she kicked the dying Rathgar over into the dirt.

“Next,” she said with a grin.

“Lay down your weapons, boys!” Coda yelled.  He turned to Raegith but made no threatening movements.  “Stranger, give them a moment!  They’re not used to this!”

A few men on the front line dropped their axes and spears.  Then others joined them.  In seconds almost every guard had dropped his weapon, leaving only a few still unsure or openly rebelling.
  Raegith called the Helcats forward and ordered the guards back.  The weapons were collected quickly, picked off the ground or stripped from undecided guards.  A crowd had gathered and the unarmed Rathgar were growing restless and worried.  The villagers were ready to avenge their pride at that point.

Then Kensei
came forward.  “What is happening here?”

“Master, Grass-hair has just defeated the entire guard,” Goji said, astonished.  “He has freed Shimada Village!”

“I see that, Goji,” Kensei said, guardedly.  “Now what will happen?  My people seek vengeance, for a lifetime of hardship under these men, Grass-hair.  Will you allow us this opportunity?  We deserve it more than you.”

“
I gave my word to the Captain,” Raegith replied.

“
The Captain is dead and his men are defenseless!”

“
And you would all lose your honor as Lokai for them?”  

Raegith stalked to where Kensei stood.  Goji started forward, coming between Raegith and his master.

“Easy, Grass-hair.”  His hand was sliding towards one of his hidden blades, but Raegith ignored him.

“I am
retaking your village from the Rathgar, delivering your people from servitude and the tortures they would eventually inflict upon you all.  I saved countless lives of your people with this fatal wager.  I think I have earned the right to keep my honor intact.”

“I see,” Kensei said.  “
So you send them away, to die in the dark or return from the Citadel with greater numbers.”

“
They won’t be returning,” Raegith said.

Under the guard of the Helcats and the entire village of Shimada, the remaining guards were marched to the prison where they detained, tortured and murdered the women who came to Shimada to form the first Imperial Female Brigade.  They were led into the yard of the prison and lined up as the spared prison guard still struggled in his shackles.  Once the Old Guard
was all in a place to witness, Raegith had the guard unshackled and brought forward to the middle of the yard.  Raegith stood before them all.