Richard Tuttle - Winged Warrior

As Aakuta slowly swiveled his head, he saw a wide swath of soldiers moving cautiously through the jungle. They were making every effort to do so silently, and they had almost succeeded. Already they were far too close for Aakuta to make a run for it.

The soldiers were spread out in a long line, ten abreast. Aakuta could not see the mage. Aakuta had stopped in a small clearing to rest. Now he looked to each side of him for a place to hide. On his left was a tree with its roots exposed; the mound of soil that used to cover the roots was long gone. Aakuta crawled silently towards the tree.

As the sounds of the soldiers came closer, Aakuta wiggled his way under the tree. The underside of the tree was hollowed out, termites swarming in and out of the porous wood. Aakuta twitched as he pulled in his legs and shoved his head upward into the rotted tree. The termites swarmed all over his body, but the dark mage remained frozen.

Moments later, Aakuta heard a soldier pass nearby. The pursuers were moving slowly and methodically, hoping to catch Aakuta in a moment of laxness. Suddenly a voice softly intruded the quiet jungle air.

“Perhaps I was wrong,” the voice said. “I thought for sure that the old fool would go in the opposite direction of the supposed noise. Let’s head back towards the trail.”

“Do you think the others have caught up to him yet?” asked one of the soldiers as they gathered together not far from the tree.

“Not a chance,” replied the voice of the mage. “That old man is a wily one. Let the others run through the jungle searching for Aakuta. We will be the ones to find him. I think I am beginning to understand how he thinks. I am willing to bet that he did come this way, but something must have turned him back. We will return to the trail and head towards the beach for a thousand paces. Then we will slip into the jungle again and try this one more time. We will find him. I want to personally present his head to Vand.”

Aakuta shivered as he recognized the voice. It was the voice of Xavo, the mage who had beat him near the temple not long ago. Aakuta burned with fury at the thought of Xavo being the one to find him. As the group moved towards the trail, Aakuta slithered out from under the tree. He brushed off the termites and decided that he knew what he would do next. If he were going to die in a matter of hours when the potion wore off, he would at least have the pleasure of ridding the world of Xavo before he died.

Aakuta rose and saw Xavo forty paces away walking towards the trail. The ten soldiers were already another twenty paces in front of the mage. Aakuta moved as swiftly as he could without making any noise. He was within several paces of Xavo when he made a noise that attracted everyone. A branch snapped when he stepped on it. The soldiers turned around immediately and shouted with recognition.

Aakuta grinned menacingly when he saw the soldiers all in a knot. He swiftly cast the Chula spell of death. Several balls of light sped towards the soldiers. The balls flattened into discs as they traveled, and the discs sprouted sharp blades of light. Aakuta was aware of shouts coming from every direction as the blades of light ripped into the clump of soldiers. Body parts flew through the air in a bloody mist.

Xavo was taken by surprise by the attack. Although he thought he figured out how Aakuta thought, he was wrong. He was also slow to react. Aakuta tried to take advantage of that slowness, but Xavo managed to get off a fireball at Aakuta, hitting the dark mage in the chest. Pain ripped through Aakuta, and he fell to the ground from the force of the projectile. Aakuta’s robe was on fire, and he ripped at it, tossing shreds of burning fabric in every direction. Some of the nearby plants immediately ignited from the magical fire, sending smoke rapidly rising into the air. Xavo grinned and drew his knife to claim Aakuta’s head.

* * *

Santiock saw a brilliant light and instantly turned towards it. He saw a group of Motangan soldiers torn to shreds by a magical spell, and his mouth fell open in horror. He quickly scanned the jungle, alert for an attack. Not more than a hundred paces away, he saw the dark mage, and not far from him was Xavo, fire leaping from his fingertips. Santiock shouted for his men to follow him as he dashed towards the confrontation.

The foliage was dense, but Santiock rushed through it as he watched the fireball strike the dark mage. He saw Aakuta fall backwards, the magical fire igniting the brambles around him. He witnessed Xavo draw a knife and go down on top of Aakuta to sever the dark mage’s head.

When Santiock arrived, the fire was spreading rapidly, the magical flames igniting the moist jungle foliage. He looked down at Xavo hacking away at the corpse and made an instant decision. He reached down and grabbed Xavo’s feet and started pulling the mage free of the fire. Several other soldiers immediately leaped in to help, and Xavo was pulled clear of the fire. Santiock stared at the burning corpse of Aakuta as Xavo shoved everyone away and staggered to his feet.

“What have you done?” snarled Xavo. “I wanted his head. I almost had it cut off.”

“I will verify Aakuta’s death,” replied Santiock. “His head was not worth your life. Look. See how his body burns. No one can deny you the rewards that Vand will bestow upon you. It is better that you are alive to receive them.”

Xavo snarled an obscenity and pushed his way through the crowd of soldiers that were trying to extinguish the fire. Santiock shook his head in amazement at the mage’s lack of gratitude. He took one last glance at the burning corpse and followed Xavo out of the jungle.

* * *

Lady Mystic sat on the beach, her back to a slanting palm tree. She stared blankly out at the ocean swells as she thought about the mess that she had made of her life. Aakuta had been right about her father. Vand had totally rejected her as if her relationship meant nothing to him. All of her life she had looked up to her father, blind to what everyone else had been able to see. She recalled the taunts that the other children had thrown at her when she was little. They laughed when they told her how her father had had her mother executed. She had never believed the stories, until now. While everyone had sworn that it was the truth, she had steadfastly refused to believe that her father was capable of such an act. How wrong she had been.

It was all so clear now. Every slight and insult that her father had thrown her way came pouring back through her mind. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she saw what a fool she had been. Her whole life had been a sham, and now she had ruined Aakuta’s life as well. It was bad enough that she had betrayed him once, but the second betrayal would remove him forever from her life. She wished she had a chance to do it all over again. This time, she would actually help the elf king to escape.

Lady Mystic swallowed hard as she thought about Aakuta. He was the only person who had ever actually loved her, and she discarded him for her father. The Emperor’s daughter smashed her fist into the sand alongside her. The action did nothing to make her feel better.

Lady Mystic’s mind whirled with thoughts of Aakuta. She wanted to find him and help him in some way, but she knew that it was not to be. Thousands of soldiers and mages were already looking for the dark mage. She would not stand a chance of finding him alone. And even if she did find him, there was no way that Aakuta would forgive her a second time. She had had her second chance when she discovered that Aakuta was lucid, but she squandered that chance by betraying her lover one more time.

Lady Mystic started bawling loudly. She threw herself face first into the sand and ripped at her hair. That was when she heard the horns sounding the retreat. Lady Mystic sat up and listened carefully to the horns. There was no mistaking the sound of retreat echoing through the city. That sound could only mean one thing; Aakuta had been found.