Kingdom's Dawn (16 page)

“Leinad,” she half-whispered. Tears spilled from her eyes.

Leinad tilted his head her way. “Don't lose hope, Sunshine,” he said with difficulty, for he had.

“Get away, girl!” one of the overseers yelled. He grabbed her arm and pushed her back into the crowd.

“Learn from what you have seen,” Fairos said. “If you resist me or my men, you will be punished. Now get back to work!” He pompously turned and strode back to his castle.

With the prodding of the overseers and the castle guards, the solemn crowd moved back toward their work.

“Bind him and throw him into a brick cart,” Keston ordered.

Barak and another overseer loaded the horse-drawn cart with its battered cargo and left Fairos's estate for the Banteen Desert. Leinad caught a glimpse of Tess falling to her knees and sobbing just before the cart rounded a grove of trees and Fairos's estate vanished from view.

Leinad was an unwilling passenger on a journey to death … a death that was to come at the jaws of the Moshi Beast.

The journey into the Banteen Desert lasted for hours. The pain from the wounds on Leinad's back was almost more than he could bear. With each passing mile, the lush green landscape slowly gave way to dry, rocky desert.

They continued into the desert some distance before stopping. Barak and his man pounded four stakes into the sand. They stretched Leinad's arms and legs to tie them to the stakes, and he nearly passed out from the pain of reopening the gashes across his back. Leinad was faceup, his wounds pressed into the hot sand.

“Hurry it up, man,” Barak said.

The other overseer was nervously looking at the desert horizon. “What dose this Moshi Beast look like?” he asked with apprehension in his voice.

“I don't know. I just know that the last slave we left here started screamin' not long after we left him, and I didn't wait
around to see why. Later, I came back, and the only thing left was his bones.”

The man's eyes widened, and he quickly finished tying Leinad's leg down.

Barak checked that each leather strap was secure and leaned close to Leinad's face. Beads of sweat mixed with the dirt on his fat face to form dark streaks that ran down his neck. He smiled an evil smile, revealing black frames around each ragged tooth. The stench in his breath was enough to make Leinad cough.

“I wish I could kill you myself, slave, but knowing the torment you'll feel is satisfaction enough.”

He stood and kicked Leinad in the side. The pain churned Leinad's stomach, and he waited for it to subside, but it lingered long.

There were only a few more hours of daylight, and Leinad could not deny the fear and isolation that enveloped him as he saw Fairos's men mount their cart and return to the lush lands of the castle.

As they disappeared over the horizon, Leinad knew that he was facing his final few hours—maybe his final few moments. He pulled hard on the ties that bound him, but they were secure. After hours of pulling on his bindings, his only reward was a small crack in the soil surrounding each stake. He lay exhausted, trying to imagine what the Moshi Beast looked like. He wondered how long it would take for it to find him.

The end of the day approached and night fell. Leinad slept a few fitful moments, but his muscles ached from inactivity, and the chill night air made him miserable.

By the next afternoon, the sun was blistering hot, and there was still no sign of the Moshi Beast. Leinad's lips began to dry and crack. He thought he might die from the heat of the sun rather than by the teeth of the Moshi Beast.

As the hours passed, his fear subsided some, and he became weary of searching his surroundings for this dreaded creature. Leinad spotted two vultures circling high above him. The sun was still blistering hot, but a few clouds invaded the blue sky to give him occasional relief from the direct sunlight.

Off to his left he spotted movement, and his fear immediately returned. Leinad was relieved when he saw a small animal with brown fur emerge from behind a desert bush. It was the size of a large squirrel, but its tail was short. Black stripes zigzagged up and down from the front of its body to its tail on both sides. Its ears were large for the size of its head. The animal timidly made its way to Leinad and stood upon its hind legs to get a better view of this strange sight.

“Hello, little guy,” Leinad said gently so as not to frighten him.

The little critter twitched its nose to smell him.

“You haven't seen a mean ol' Moshi Beast around here, have you?” he asked, thankful for the company even if it was a rodent.

The little critter chirped as if to respond to Leinad's question. It moved closer to Leinad's left side, under his outstretched arm.

“No, I didn't think so. Well, I hope the Beast doesn't like furry little brown critters … for your sake.” He smiled at his
new little friend. Leinad could feel the moist nose of the critter as it sniffed him some more.

“If I were you—ouch!” Leinad yelled.

The critter chirped excitedly and ran a few paces away. “You bit me!” Leinad was bleeding from a pea-sized tear in his flesh.

The critter turned and ran off, chirping continuously.

“Some friend you are!” He wanted to coddle the new wound but was helpless to do so. Leinad could not remember ever being more miserable. The clouds in the sky above thickened to accompany his despair.

Moments later, he heard a faint, high-pitched sound. It grew louder with each passing second until Leinad recognized its source, and pure dread filled his heart. The sound of thousands of individual chirps grew steadily until he could hear no other sound.

The bright blue sky was completely gone now, obliterated by thick, dark clouds, and so was any fringe of hope Leinad ever had of living. The leading edge of a mass of brown chirping critters flowed toward Leinad like a wave rushing toward the waiting shoreline, anxious to crash upon its banks. The chirping was deafening.

The Moshi Beasts encircled Leinad. He yelled at them, and the beasts in front retreated slightly, but only temporarily. Leinad strained at the leather straps and stakes in near panic as he yelled again, but this time the Moshi Beasts did not yield in their approach.

He felt a small piece of flesh torn from his right thigh … then his left. He screamed as dozens of carnivorous teeth sank into his body at once.

All of a sudden, the sky exploded with sound as a lightning bolt ripped through the air, sending its thunder in all directions. The Moshi Beasts scurried for cover beneath bushes and rocks.

Leinad was thankful for the temporary reprieve, but he wondered how long it would last. He bled from two dozen bites all over his body. The thunder had silenced the Moshi Beasts, and the momentary silence was a relief.

A moment passed, and Leinad heard the first chirp, quickly followed by many more. As the Moshi Beasts regained their confidence, they once more surrounded Leinad.

Please … no … not again! My King … will You let me die this lonely death?

The beasts closed in again, slowly returning to their feast, but a few large raindrops pounded the dusty soil beside them and they hesitated.

Crack!
Another lightning bolt exploded just a few hundred paces away, and the rain increased in intensity. It was too much for the Moshi Beasts, and they scurried back en masse in the direction they had come from.

The rain now began to fall in sheets and soaked Leinad in an instant. The water ran down his body and into the
sores, painfully washing each one. He knew that the Moshi Beasts would return as soon as the storm passed. He opened his mouth to catch as much water to drink as possible. The cool, refreshing wash rejuvenated him, both inside and out. The provisional peace was enough, and he lay still, enjoying his final moments of respite.

When he had drunk enough, he slowly turned his head and looked at the stake holding his right arm. He saw a tiny rivulet of water flowing into the crack near its base, which had been formed by his earlier attempts to pull free. A sliver of hope softly landed in his mind.

He concentrated on that one stake. First he pulled toward him—then up—then down. With each movement, the soil loosened, and the crack grew bigger—and so did the river that flowed into it. He worked fervently to loosen the stake. But his arm grew fatigued, and he was forced to rest.

Leinad stopped only long enough to allow his arm time to recuperate. The crack was now the size of his finger … then his thumb. He strained at the stake to move it upward, but it did not give.

The rain lightened.

Again he pulled and widened the stake hole even more. He tried to lift the stake once more, and it moved! Leinad paused and garnered the strength for one last pull. He grunted and lifted with all his strength.

At last, the stake pulled free.

Leinad was expressly aware that the rain had stopped, and the clouds were beginning to dissipate. It took a monumental effort to reach for the strap that held his other arm. His muscles were stiff, and the sores on his back and sides resisted all movement. He loosened the strap and freed his arm, then worked on the straps that held his legs. Soon he was free and made an attempt to stand. He became dizzy and nearly fainted, but steadied himself until the blood returned to his head.