The Destiny of Amalah (77 page)

Waldon hurried forward and grabbed Kalon by the chest. ‘IF YOU FIGHT YOU WILL DIE,’ he shouted. ‘Join us Kalon – JOIN US NOW!’

Kalon returned the request with a head butt and backhander to Waldon’s face and Waldon, who wasted no time in recovery, landed a right hook on Kalon’s jaw. The two men began to fight when Rakan got in between them and pushed them apart.

‘No Waldon! This will be my fight.’

‘Very well,’ Waldon replied shaking his head.

He looked at Kalon and then at Rakan and then returned back to the other four.

‘One last time Kalon – join us!’

‘No.’

‘Join us,’ Kenaz and Rufus shouted.

‘Never!’

‘Then we fight,’ Rakan said, as he rushed towards his brother again.

No one there knew how the fight was going to end and who would be left standing, not even Rakan and Kalon knew; they fought and they fought and even though each was weakened by the other, they fought some more. Rakan threw Kalon to the floor and Kalon reached for the sword that was nearby and picked it up. He rose to his feet once again and pointed the sword at Rakan. Rakan ran backwards and grabbed the sword that was on the ground and once again they fought with their swords and their fists to the end.

***

Ellora had reached the edge of the forest and her horse would go no further, she hastily got off him and ran into the dense forest. She had no idea where Kalon was but the sense of him was growing stronger and so she ran as fast as she could in the direction that her feelings took her; they grew stronger by the second and as they grew, she picked up her speed and continued to race towards him.

***

The two brothers parried swords once again and Kalon swung a left at Rakan’s face which hit him full on, Rakan raised his sword to attack Kalon and when Kalon raised his to block it, Rakan elbowed his brother in the face, Kalon turned his back on his brother to avoid another elbow and intended to swing full circle but Rakan was quick, he brought his foot down against his brother’s calf again bringing Kalon to his knees and from there he rammed his heavy boot into Kalon’s back which sent him forward.

Rakan came round to face his brother and he brought his boot into his brother’s chest a few times before he stepped back from him. Kalon was on his knees and his head was on the floor and it took him a few seconds to move. It was in those few seconds that Ellora saw the crowd of soldiers and ran to them and began to push through them.

Kalon lifted his head up off the floor and knelt upwards; he looked at Rakan but did not speak, for there were no words for him. Rakan was pointing his swords at Kalon and he stared at him.

‘I wish you had gone home,’ Rakan said ruefully.

Kalon simply laughed a small wry laugh and raised his eyebrow and then at that moment Ellora broke through the crowd of soldiers to see a bloodied and battered Kalon on his knees and Rakan standing over him with two swords, but before she could do anything, Rakan lunged forward and plunged both swords into Kalon; one went into his chest and the other went into his right side and Ellora screamed a deafening scream that startled Rakan and his friends.

‘Kalon,’ she screamed. ‘Kalon,’ she screamed again, as she ran towards him.

Rakan looked at Ellora and then back at Kalon who groaned in agony but still managed to look at his brother with contempt.

‘Now brother, she sees what you really are,’ Kalon said, through a choked voice.

Rakan pulled his swords from his brother’s body and stepped back and Kalon fell to the ground. Ellora was now by his side and she knelt beside him and cradled his head in her arms.

‘Kalon,’ she cried.

‘Ellora my love,’ he said weakly. ‘My love for you will never die,’ he said, before he closed his eyes and died in her arms and as he died, Ellora wept bitterly for Kalon.

‘Kalon, Kalon,’ she cried. ‘Don’t leave me please,’ she begged him. She held onto him even tighter and called his name repeatedly in between heart wrenching sobs.’ ‘
Kay-lon
,’ she cried.

Ellora was paralysed with grief and Rakan looked down on her and his dead brother and in that moment, he wished he could have taken it back – he truly did. Ellora was bent over Kalon crying and when she looked up she saw Rakan looking down at her.

‘You,’ she said hatefully. ‘You did this – to your own brother,’ she yelled. ‘How could you and how could you take him from me?’

She looked down at Kalon once again and then she was filled with rage. She gently placed Kalon on the ground and stood up. She took out her sword and ran towards Rakan; he was quite surprised by her action but he was ready for her. Some of his army rushed towards her but Rakan sent them flying back with his magic as Ellora continued to rush at Rakan.

‘I know you want my head,’ she said hatefully. ‘So you can have it,’ she said, as she swung her sword at Rakan, which he parried with his own bloodied sword.

The two of them engaged in a sword fight and once again, all of the army looked on. Ellora was a skilled swordswoman but she was not a warrior and she was no match for Rakan. Rakan moved swiftly and before long he was behind Ellora; he grabbed hold of her hand that was holding the sword and held it tight in his own so that she could not move and then he placed his other hand on her shoulder and she could not move from his grasp.

‘I know you want my head and with good reason but I could never let you do that to me nor will I take yours. I am sorry princess, truly sorry.’ He touched her hair and then placed his hand firmly over her forehead. ‘There has been enough death today,’ he whispered softly. ‘Sleep now,’ he said, as he pressed firmly against her forehead. The princess fell asleep and Rakan picked her up in his arms. ‘Luxor, Waldon, Kenaz come with me,’ Rakan said.

The three men followed him and they made their way out of the forest and found Ellora’s horse; they tracked the guard and found that there were six remaining. Rakan handed Ellora to Luxor, who held onto her and he killed five of the guard with fireballs from his hands. The one surviving guardsman ran for his life but stumbled and in an instant, Rakan was hovering over him.

‘Get up,’ Rakan commanded him. The guardsman rose to his feet and looked up at Rakan, he was truly scared of him and he could not hold his gaze for long, so he dropped his head down again. ‘Kalon is dead,’ Rakan told the guardsman. ‘The princess is in a deep sleep and you live, only to return them to the palace in Amalah.’

Waldon and Kenaz brought Ellora’s horse over to where Rakan and the guardsman were standing and remained there; they were joined by Luxor, who was carrying Ellora.

‘We will put you in Amalah and you will have safe passage all the way to the palace gates. Ensure she gets there guardsman or the life I give to you now will surely be revoked.’

‘Yes,’ the guardsman replied quietly.

‘Get on,’ Rakan said pulling the guardsman to the horse in a gruff manner.

The guardsman climbed on the horse and Rakan took Ellora from Luxor and handed her up to the guardsman, who took her and gently placed her in front of him.

‘You will arrive in Amalah in a few minutes, wait exactly where you are and then Kalon will appear on horseback. Take him and the princess to the palace. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

Rakan and Luxor stood next to each other and both of them touched the horse. Rakan closed his eyes and began an incantation and after a few minutes; the horse, the guardsman and the princess disappeared. Rakan then took a horse that belonged to one of the dead guard and made his way back to the forest, with Waldon, Kenaz and Luxor at his side. Waldon and Kenaz were silent, for seeing Kalon die like that hurt them more than they could have imagined, and at the same time, they wondered what was going through Rakan’s mind, however he was silent on those thoughts and only he knew.

When they arrived back at the clearing where the army was, Rakan took the horse to where Kalon was; he let go of the horse and knelt down beside Kalon, he took him in his arms and cradled him for a while, he stroked his hair and then kissed him on the forehead before he lifted his brother up and placed him on the horse. Rakan and Luxor performed the same ritual and sent Kalon and the horse to Amalah where the guard and Ellora were waiting.

Some of the soldiers were not satisfied that Rakan had let Ellora live, or that he had sent Kalon away and a few of them voiced their discontent in low murmurs, but one soldier openly challenged him.

‘Are you becoming weak sir?’ one asked Rakan.

‘Weak?’ an irked Rakan asked.

‘Letting the princess live,’ the soldier replied.

‘It shows you have gone soft,’ said another.

‘Really,’ said Rakan, raising his eyebrows.

He threw a fireball at the soldier who had called him weak and he disintegrated into thin air and then he pointed at the soldier who had called him soft.

‘You – come here,’ Rakan ordered.

The soldier complied and walked to Rakan who was in the centre. Rakan threw him a sword and looked at him.

‘So you think I am soft? Well let us test your theory,’ Rakan said calmly.

‘Uh-oh,’ Luxor said to Waldon and Kenaz.

‘If you can beat me with that sword while I am unarmed, then you can take my place as leader – if not – well.’

The man brandished the sword and went for Rakan, but he had not the skill or speed of Rakan and Rakan caught him by the arm that had the sword and delivered blows to the soldiers face and body before he removed the sword and threw the man to the floor with an expert move. The soldier landed on his back and could not get up. Rakan looked down at him and then plunged the sword into the body of the soldier until the hilt was touching his stomach and the blade was wedged in the ground.

‘Now, it will be a fair while before you die but in that time, I want you to think about the wisdom of you challenging me. Perhaps in your next life you won’t make the same mistake,’ Rakan said coldly.

The man groaned in agony and Rakan ignored him, as he gave his soldiers the order to move out; they moved immediately and they left the impaled soldier dying on the ground. The soldiers walked ahead and Waldon, Kenaz, Bryce and Rufus walked behind them. Luxor joined Rakan, who was still stood at the soldier’s body. Luxor patted his friend on the back and then looked down at the pinned soldier.

‘Does that hurt?’ he asked facetiously. He did not wait for an answer before he smiled and went on: ‘You know I think that might be one of those rare occasions where it is actually worse than it looks.’ Luxor smiled at the soldier and then led Rakan away to join the others.

Rakan’s army marched and the guardsman in Amalah waited for Kalon to appear. He did not have to wait long before a dead Kalon and the horse materialised before his very eyes. He dismounted from Ellora’s horse and ensured that she would remain on it before he went to the horse that was carrying Kalon. He steadied the horse before he joined it to Ellora’s and then he mounted again and rode the rest of the way to Amalah City with Ellora and Kalon. Sad thoughts raced through his mind as he rode and he thought of what he would say when he saw the guard commander and the Empress. He knew there were no words and he dreaded facing Garrick as he brought him the body of his youngest son.

The guardsman arrived at the palace in the early afternoon and when he dismounted his horse, he ran to the doors and called on the staff to fetch Garrick and the Empress urgently. The staff looked outside and saw the lifeless Kalon slumped over a horse and a sleeping Ellora slumped over hers. They drew sharp breaths in, horrified at what they saw, and they ran to find Garrick and Amara.

Minutes later Garrick came rushing out of the palace doors and when he did, the first thing he saw was his son Kalon, slumped over the horse. His eyes widened and he drew in his breath in shock and then he let out a pain filled scream.

‘Kalon!’ he said desperately, as he ran towards his son. ‘KALON!’ He shouted, as he reached him. ‘No, oh God no,’ he said his voice cracking with emotion. Garrick lifted up his son’s head and saw that Kalon was indeed dead. ‘No,’ he screamed, holding his son’s head. He lifted him from the horse and laid him on the ground and cradled his son in his arms and began to cry. ‘Kalon,’ he cried, holding tightly on to his son as he cried and felt a lump stick in his throat. ‘Why god? Why?’ Garrick asked desperately. ‘Please not my son, please bring him back,’ Garrick begged, in between sobs, but Kalon was not to return and the broken hearted Garrick could only hold onto his son’s body and weep for him.

The guardsman stood and watched over Garrick and Kalon, and wanted to weep himself, for he knew Kalon well but what was hard, was seeing Garrick suffer such a loss and openly grieve for his son and he pitied him so in those moments. He looked at princess Ellora who was still sleeping and he wondered when she would awake and just as he turned to look at Garrick and Kalon again Amara and Michael came hurrying out of the palace doors.

Amara saw Ellora slumped over her horse and thought the worst. She wanted to run to her sister but suddenly she felt paralysed with fear, her legs would not move and so she just looked at her sister, as her heart filled with sheer dread. The guardsman walked towards her and nodded his head.

‘Empress, Fear not, she is in a deep sleep only – Rakan did this.’

‘Oh thank god,’ Amara said, suddenly rushing to where Ellora was.