Mighty Hammer Down (44 page)

"Except maybe for that Mirra Odera of
yours," Battus said with a crooked grin.

Uritus sighed and drummed his fingers
on the table. "Yes, she is another complication. She is a perfect
candidate for the wife of the Emperor, but I don’t think she’d be
very interested if she was asked to be the wife of the Red Master
Mage. She is attracted to power though, so perhaps it won’t matter
either way."

Battus cleared his throat. "I think
you are too involved with that girl Uritus. She is not part of the
plan."

A flash of anger came to his eyes but
he controlled himself. "I decide what the plan is Battus. I am your
Emperor and the Red Master Mage. She will be in my life and that is
all there is to it. She does not stand in the way of the plan in
any way."

"Forgive me, Red Master," he said,
bowing his head.

"For now we must focus on taking power
away from the Nobles. The people are far too stupid to be allowed
to have any legitimate representation in the Empire. They simply do
not know what is best for them, so we must provide them with a
system where they have no control. It will not be accepted at
first, so we must implement these new ideas slowly. They will
eventually come to the realization that this new system is best for
mankind. They will let go of the old ways just like a snake
shedding its old skin."

"I’m still confused on what to do
about the Nobles, Red Master," Battus said as he scratched his
head.

"We will spread lies about them. We
will force them to demand more money from the people. We will
constantly remind the people that the Nobles cling to the old ways
and are only interested in helping the wealthy. If any of them
cause enough trouble, we will kill them and tell everyone that
rebel Vindyri were responsible. But these are only tricks to soften
the people. Once the five Legions are destroyed, the Mages will
easily take control and the Nobles can all be killed."

"Forgive me, Red Master, but aren’t
there more successful Medorans than needy ones? Won’t it be
difficult for the people to feel sympathy for the poor and disdain
for the rich when most of them are thriving?"

"Wealth is not the definition of
success. Equality is success. They will come to see that in time.
Until they do, we will pull at their heartstrings and make them
feel guilty. We will parade the poor people in front of them and
show them what inequality has done to Medora. We will constantly
show them how terrible it is to have success while others suffer.
We will show them how easy and proper it is to help the needy.
Then, when we are all on the same level, we will advance to the
greatest level of civilization. We will all become one, and as one
we shall bring our light to the rest of the world; from this land
to Bhoor-Rahn and beyond!"

Battus said nothing as Uritus resumed
his meal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How many of these things are there?"
Zidaoz asked.

"There are seven. Each of them is
under control now."

"How big did you say they
were?"

"They are about three times the size
of a man. But it’s not their size that is their greatest asset;
it’s the magic inside them."

Zidaoz straightened his beard and
scratched his cheek as he walked. "You’re positive that they are no
threat to us?"

The man stopped. "Of course I am sure.
How can you doubt me after all I have shown you?"

"I wouldn’t call it a doubt, my
friend, I just like to be sure of my safety. Where are
they?"

"We moved six of them from the south
side of the camp to the north side this morning. Tomorrow we will
take them farther north towards the main encampment near
Burnhamheade. It will probably take two days to get
there."

"So where is the seventh?"

The man smiled, showing his straight
white teeth. "Just beyond this hill. We wanted to show you one
before we took them to Burnhamheade. I must warn you though, the
smell is quite bad."

The Zidaoz sniffed at the air, hoping
to get a whiff of this smell before they got there. He was eager to
see this thing, but nervous at the same time. The Dirujen had
proven to be a valuable ally, but he was still being cautious;
especially in this situation. His thoughts were interrupted as a
horrible smell hit him like a hammer.

"You’re right, it’s awful," he said as
he covered his nose. "Why do they smell like that? It smells like
rotting meat."

"No one is sure of the reason for the
smell," the man said as they cleared the top of the
hill.

The sight hit the Zidaoz with the same
impact the smell did. His jaw open and shut several times but words
would not form in his mouth. At the bottom of the hill stood a
thing that did not seem real. Several Dirujen stood around it as it
calmly swayed back and forth. It towered over them, and made even
the nearby trees seem small. It was shaped somewhat like a man, but
its limbs were longer in comparison. Its arms nearly touched the
ground, but that was partly because of its hunched-over posture.
They approached it from the rear, and he could see that sharp,
armor-like bone jutted through the gray skin in places. Its
vertebrae formed a jagged line of exposed bone all the way down its
back, while its knees and elbows and other areas had bone that
looked more like plates of armor.

The Zidaoz suddenly felt very afraid.
"Is it safe? Can it harm us?"

"No Zidaoz. We have it under our
control. It can do nothing but stand there, even if we all walk
away from it. You need not worry."

Reluctantly he approached the beast.
When they finally came into its field of vision, the ground shook
from the low growl that came from the beast’s throat. Its long
fingers seemed more like claws than digits, and the beast snapped
their tips together several times rapidly, causing frightful
clicking sound.

"Do not be afraid of the clicking
Zidaoz. It makes that sound when it is frustrated. It cannot harm
you."

He slowly raised his head to see the
rest of the creature. Its head was large, and hung forward in front
of its frame; unlike a human’s head which sat above the shoulders.
The jaws snapped loudly several times in succession, causing thick
saliva to seep between its long razor-sharp teeth and drip in long,
messy strands to the ground. But the most terrifying thing, what
caught his soul in a trap that made him unable to move, were the
eyes. They were rather small and sunk deep in the head, causing the
area around them to be dark and shadowed. Where he thought there
should be color, like the brown or blue or green of a human eye, he
saw only white, but an odd white that shined like the eyes of a
wild animal in the dark. It looked at him with those soulless,
piercing eyes and filled him with horror. He found himself on the
ground, but he could not remember falling there.

The Dirujen helped him to his feet. "I
assure you Zidaoz, you are safe. It would have attacked you if it
could have. It is just not used to your presence. It will learn to
ignore you in time. This one is a male, but the rest are female.
The females are a little larger and they have black markings on the
back. Right now we are focusing most of our attention on training
the male. The females will follow and learn from the
male."

The Zidaoz found it hard to speak in
the vicinity of the creature. "What is it called again?"

"We call this beast a Thrahk. Its true
weapon is its magic. When it is angry, an opening appears in its
chest and a beam of energy is thrown from it. Anything that this
beam touches is destroyed. It will boil metal, and cook the meat
off of the bone before turning the bone to dust. These Thrahks will
make your army more powerful than you ever imagined."

"Can it speak? Does it
communicate?"

The Dirujen laughed a
short laugh. "No. It does not speak like we do, but it can
communicate to other Thrahks just like wolves or birds can
communicate with each other. They use the clicking sounds you
heard, along with other clicks it can make in its throat. In fact,
in our language, Thrahk means ‘
click
’. We are able to speak to it
in a way, but it’s not at all like you are thinking. We converse
more on the level of feelings than anything else. We have been
working with them and teaching them what we want them to do. For
instance, we don’t want them to attack this army, so we are trying
to teach them that they are supposed to attack people who face
them, and not the ones who stand next to them. It is difficult to
show them this, but we are working on it."

The Zidaoz still felt the cold fear
inside him as he stared at the creature’s horrible, empty eyes. Its
smell filled his nostrils and burned his lungs, making him cough.
"I do not want to be near this thing any longer. Come Lohken; let
us get to fresher air."

Lohken put his hands behind his back
and bowed his head slightly. They both walked a while through the
camp until they came back to the Zidaoz’s travel tent. Inside there
was still wet blood on the ground from the children he had slain
earlier in the day. The odd metallic smell of blood hung heavy in
the air, but he welcomed it as a pleasant change from the vile
smell of the Thrahk. He sat down on a lavish pile of pillows and
held out his hand to offer Lohken a seat in front of
him.

Lohken sat on the ground and tossed
his long hair over his shoulders. "What shall we do next
Zidaoz?"

"I think it is important for some of
the Dirujen to continue looking for animals that we can use in
battle, but it is time for the rest of us to move northward. Within
the next few days, this detachment must merge with the greater army
outside of the Vindyri capital. We must get the majority of the
killing done long before winter comes. This army cannot support
itself for very long, and soon the animals and vegetation will run
out. Our army is a very heavy hammer, and it takes time to swing
it. We must hit the enemy hard and be on our way home as soon as
possible."

"Yes of course. I believe the Thrahks
are nearly ready to serve us properly. They will be ready for
battle as soon as the army is."

"I hope so. We cannot have those
things turning on our men. They will be frightened enough just to
see them, let alone if one starts killing people on our side. We
must also find a way to hide them. We cannot afford to have any
enemy scouts see them and report it back to their leaders. They
must be kept a secret."

"We can keep them in large tents while
we are not moving, but I’m afraid that they will be easily spotted
as we move them. They are simply too tall to hide and there is no
way to move them other than making them walk."

"Then we must move them swiftly and at
night. Perhaps we cannot move this army at night, but we can
certainly move a small group of Dirujen and Thrahks in darkness.
Take your men and these beasts and go ahead of the rest of us. It
will be difficult for any scout to detect you."

Lohken nodded for his response. He
could see that this particular Dirujen was more intelligent than
the rest of them, and he understood why the man had become their
leader. He was strong-willed and dedicated to advancing his cause.
While he lacked the religious motivation necessary to be equal to
the Bhoors, his ideals certainly meshed well with the people of
Bhoor-Rahn, and so in some respects, the Zidaoz considered him an
equal. Of course, without accepting Rohni, the Dirujen were cursed
and would be punished for such a great sin. They had all
respectfully refused to hear the word of god, but they were too
important to discard for their lack of belief. He would use them in
this war, and then he would see to it that Rohni knew to punish
them for their sin. Until then, he smiled at the faces of the
faithless.

He smiled at him even as he sat before
him. "Will we be able to use these Thrahks for a long period of
time? I have more work for them to do if their service lasts longer
than this war does."

Lohken picked at some lint that clung
to the sleeve of his fine jacket. "Yes of course. As long as we
feed them and keep them alive, they are in our service until we set
them free or kill them. That is the case with all souls under our
control."

"Good. I do not wish to stop after
this battle in Vindyrion. The whole world must bow to Rohni." He
caught himself and added more: "The whole world with the exception
of the Dirujen of course."

Lohken said nothing as he stared into
his eyes.

Chapter 30

"Well?" Alana asked.

"Well what? You mean does it look like
it did in the dreams? Of course it does. I can’t believe you still
bother to ask me that."

"Just how often do you have these
dreams Master Rommus?"

Rommus scratched his head. "Not quite
every night, but close to it."

"So five or six since we were in
Burnhamheade?"

"I don’t know. I stopped counting them
a while ago. I figure that what’s really important must be here in
the real world, and the dreams are kind of like signs directing me.
I just try to find the things I see in them and see what happens
when I do."