The Gift of Volkeye (50 page)

“Well, my first task is to take some of the weight off your shoulders. I have a couple of things up my sleeve, so when I’m finished with that army, the brute strength of both sides should be about even,” Zynathian answered, noticing his family’s worried expressions.

“Don’t think me helpless! None of your weapons or special talents are greater than
this!”
he said, pointing at his temple. “I’ll do my part, so don’t any of you worry. Once I’m finished, it’ll be up to you all to end the battle. And as for my other plans…that’s only for me to know.”

His tone was absolute, letting the family know that he wished to discuss it no further. Their individual tasks would be difficult enough, so the last thing Zynathian wanted was for them to be concerned with what he’d be doing.

Though their worry hadn’t abated, they didn’t pester him with questions. If need be, they could still track Zynathian with the
locator
he’d injected into his body. That gave them some peace of mind.

Zynathian spoke a final word to them all. “Everyone use your common sense, and be careful not to harm your allies. Stick to your tasks, and keep a clear head. We can win this battle!”

He started from the room, embarking upon the immense amount of work he had to do over the next three days. However, he stopped at the shield to the banquet hall, turning to face the crowd once more, smirking.

“In any instance during the battle, if some of you should find yourselves lying on your backs with a magnificently beautiful woman standing over you, let go of your fears and throw your guns aside,” Zynathian said with a deadpan expression.

…for Mother Nature is taking excellent care of you in the afterlife!”

At first it started with small snickers. Unable to believe the audacity of his humour, some of them tried to remain straight-faced. They failed miserably. By the time Zynathian started down the hallway, the entire room was roaring with laughter.

1

All his life, Zynathian Volkeye, the orphan, arrogant as he was, had only been concerned with the present—things that affected him or the ones he loved directly. He gave not an iota of thought for anything or anyone that came before him, because (in his mind) he was all that mattered. It was he that had the power to change the world; he, who was the greatest living mind in the universe; and he alone, who’d baffle the minds of men for eons. Of course he would...he knew
everything!
However, his cockiness led his judgment astray, for Zynathian did not know everything. In fact, there was one aspect of his studies that was severely lacking, and that aspect was History.

If Zynathian decided to do any research, he might’ve realized that he wasn’t the only one who mattered. There were other greats who came before him, and it was only because the deeds of these men had been so great, that he, himself, was alive in this age to be the
great-est
. One such man was he that led the largest slave uprising in history against the mine owners. They killed entire families in their sleep, escaping to their freedom, and shedding even more blood when their idiot masters dared give chase. The rebels, having fortified themselves in the trees, met their masters in the forest and slaughtered them from above.

The man who led this revolt was so highly regarded that the forest (from which they’d make history) had been named after him. Though there were none in existence now who knew this, “Saint Marcleese Forest” had stemmed from this man’s nickname;
Marcleese, the Saint.
However, his full name had been
Marcleese Nathaniel Volkeye.
It was a strangely auspicious thing that these very grounds from which Zynathian’s great grandfather had made himself known, should become his choice to make his own stand against evil. There’d been three Volkeyes before him, all of whom had helped to change the course of history. However, owing to his arrogance, this fact would escape him.

As Zynathian surveyed the treetops of Marcleese, he looked the Igloo soldiers over. They appeared to be calm, despite their worry. Some of them gnawed upon handfuls of chewing tobacco to pass the time. Others, Rosa Lee included, listened to music from small headpieces. Many checked and rechecked their weaponry hour after hour. And there were three who were reading books. However, they’d soon be forced to put them away, as dusk was approaching, and they couldn’t use flashlights in the darkness lest they’d alert Phyllamon to their presence.

Most of the fighters had been nodding on and off since their arrival late in the night. They got there at about two in the morning and had spent the next few hours setting up camp. Since, they’d slept in two or three hour spurts, waking each time with a start and grabbing hold of their weapons, expecting the enemy to be upon them.

Zynathian rode his hoverbike high up and woke a few branches full of sleeping young men. “Keep your eyes open now, boys…the time is near,” he warned.

Though he’d hardly had any sleep over last few days (because he was out here with his legion of Mechanicals, preparing), Zynathian was wide-awake. He whizzed amidst the trees, whistling to them all. “The moment of truth is but minutes away. Be alert, everyone!”

Zynathian brought a palm-sized receptor with him that he’d created at the same time he made Teshunua’s camera. It worked like his monitors, allowing him to receive images or videos sent to him from the camera. Jix had captured all the progress of Phyllamon’s army since they stepped foot outside the castle at dawn, flying high above and a bit behind. Hence, Zynathian’s knowledge of the enemy’s exact location. They were fifteen minutes away at most!

As the minutes passed and Zynathian felt bloodshed creeping nearer, he went down to the earth, flying by dozens of other hoverbikes that were hidden just within the first row of trees (a means of emergency escape if needed). He came upon Khyeryn, Teshunua, Lyn Sha, the Dickery boys, and one hundred or so other brave souls, who’d been elected to lead the first strike. They sat in a seven-foot trench, awaiting Zynathian’s signal. There were dozens more reserves some twenty feet behind, just within the trees. Zynathian nodded to them all, beyond proud at their courage.

Here, at the head of the forest, stood pile after pile of Maugrimm’s waste. Earlier in the day, Zynathian handed out small packets of a lotion-like solution to every soldier, which he had all of them rub deeply into the gloves they were wearing. He didn’t say what it was, except that it was a substance of his very own design, which was supposed to enable them to let go of Maugrimm’s sticky feces easily. They were relieved at this, for it wasn’t the fact that they had to hold large globs of Maugrimm’s feces that unnerved them…it was the surprise hidden within it that scared them!

There were at least fifty mounds, three feet high, of the
Shit Surprise
weapon that Zynathian and Asha had concocted. Also, there was two-dozen of their group armed with launchers built specifically for the firing of Maugrimm’s grapefruit sized feces, with a capacity for twenty shots apiece. Asha so very badly wanted to have the Mechs construct more of these, but before they knew it their time had run out, so they had to settle. They knew there was no way possible that they’d get to use all fifty mounds of Shit Surprise, but they figured it was better to have far too much of it than not enough.

Zynathian realized that it was time for him to retire to the hospital ship behind Marcleese forest, as to observe the battle from the monitor within. This was possible due to the many sets of cameras he’d stationed sporadically on the battlefield, some floating about midair, and others attached high up on the first row of trees. Once the battle started, all Zynathian needed to do was switch the channel from Jix’s point of view to these new cameras, and he’d be able to watch from the ship. There, he could think clearly and elope upon his own expedition when he sensed the time was right.

He was smart to not have revealed his plans to the family, as they would’ve followed and neglected their duties here on the battlefield. When the fight had ended, for better or worse, they’d use the tracker he injected inside himself to find him anyway…

…That is, if they’re still alive!

Zynathian looked above and found Asha, Sing, and Nicolas, hovering in midair on their pods, sniper rifles at the ready. “You all back up, just within the trees…you don’t want to be seen too early,” he yelled up to them. “I’m going back to the ship…I love you all. Good luck.”

He nodded to the others and was off, racing through the trees of Marcleese. As he reached the hospital ship, he jumped from his hover and ran inside, nearly scaring everyone to death.

“Oh my goodness! Has it started?” Annie asked, clutching her chest.

She and her mother, Samantha, were garbed in medical clothing that Zynathian provided, as were Reena and her fiancé, Lux. Zynathian looked further back and found Nigel laying out clean towels and blankets everywhere. He conversed with Khyetarah Vyx Mune and the other plants. Lead Mechs (Bazu, Marcia, and Fritz) were with them, joined by dozens of other Mechanicals, helping out. Everyone knew the moment was at hand.

“Any second now, Annie,” Zynathian answered, switching on a huge monitor on the wall. All but Zynathian went back to their stations, not wanting to witness anything that was about to happen onscreen. Zynathian heard Annie talking to Nicolas over the comlink on her wrist, assuring him to be careful. He smiled at the fact that not even warfare could put a damper on young love.

As Zynathian looked up and bore witness to the image on the screen, his heart skipped a beat.

They’re here!

“Everyone, are you seeing this?” he spoke into the comlink on his wrist. There was a zoo of frantic voices, which answered him all at once from its speaker.

“Yes!”

“Oh. My. God.”

“Prepare yourselves!” he heard Seth, the oldest Dickery boy, yell at his soldiers. “Shall we strike now, Zynathian?”

“No, no, no…not yet. All of you remain patient a few more minutes,” Zynathian answered.

“They seem to be having trouble walking! What’s this about?” Asha asked.

“Did you think I’d been slaving away out here these last few days to accomplish
nothing?
I told you I’d do my part, and this is my contribution…my trap!”

2

“Blast, what the hell is this?” Phyllamon asked, gesturing in frustration. His troops seemed to have come to a swamp of some sort, and they’d all sunk down to their knees in soggy earth.

“Master, we have no choice but to trudge through it. This muddy ground seems to stretch the entire length across our path!” Zu said, speaking into a small communications device, placed just beneath the armour plate on his chest. In his ear
piece, he heard Phyllamon sigh.

“What baffles me is the fact that this ground is soggy, but the temperature is below freezing! How did that happen? All our other footing today has been rock solid, Master!”

Phyllamon was also confused by this but had no answer for it. Murlach had a strong sense of foreboding but refused to speak up. He knew how important this offensive was and didn’t want to put a damper on their plans over his uncertainty. Still, he instinctively took the hovercar higher, silently analyzing this unnatural swamp.

It’s twenty degrees out right now, and the soldiers haven’t encountered one bit of unsure footing in the last twelve hours! Then suddenly the ground gets soggy, sinking them knee-deep for no reason! A coincidence?
Murlach frowned, keeping his thoughts to himself.

“What’s the matter, Murlach?” Phyllamon asked.

“Nothing, Master, I just…” He trailed off, not wanting to say anything just in case his instincts were wrong.

All the infantry had now made it into the swamp, trudging along through the heavy, thick earth, which clung to their legs (compliments of Maugrimm’s pee). The previous evening, Zynathian employed all of his Mechs to take the many barrels of Maugrimm’s urine (which he’d copied the compounds of and duplicated in massive quantities…several hundred thousand gallons worth!) and soil the earth with it. Now that Phyllamon’s soldiers were sunken in it, the time had come. Zynathian gave the order.

3

“Now, Bahzee!”

4

Bahzee (the only one whom Zynathian had discussed this method of attack with) was stationed about two hundred yards away from battleground, as she needed plenty of space. When she received Zynathian’s command, she took a burlap sack, filled with Shit Surprise, and swung it about her head, letting go with pinpoint accuracy.

5

As Murlach and Phyllamon saw the bag open in midair, letting go of dozens of orangish-brown balls, their jaws dropped. They felt the massive vibrations of the scattered explosions beneath them. Murlach backed up, as to get a better look. They found the troops engulfed in flames.

I knew it! The earth is soaked in something flammable!

Phyllamon had yet to speak a word, banging his fist upon the control board in frustration. Zynathian had anticipated them again!

Bahzee, as usual, had been spot on. When the balls of Maugrimm’s feces touched down, the walnut-sized detonators inside went off. Most of the troops, who were within a few feet of each blast, had their lives taken instantly, but others were bestowed with missing limbs. Those that died instantly had it easy, for the others now had to run through fifteen-foot-high flames…taller than all of them, except Zu!

Burning alive, the soldiers ran wildly about, desperately trying to find their way out of the pit of fire. As their charred, stinging flesh fell from their bodies, many of them lashed out with laser fire, hoping to be vanquished in a blaze of glory. However, instead of hitting the enemy, they only wound up killing each other faster.

6

“Oh my goodness, Zynathian…why didn’t you tell us?” Asha yelled over the noise. She hovered back and forth, seeing random laser fire spit out of the flames.

The beasts were desperate and trying to take as many with them as possible. However, it appeared that they were only hitting each other, as most of them simply went rigid, sunk into the fire, and failed to rise.

Asha ducked as a flurry of random shots soared by her pod. She began yelling into her wristband.

“You’ll dealt a serious blow to their numbers Zynathian…I don’t know that they’ll recover!”

The collective noise of laser fire and the cheering Igloo rebels was so deafening a sound that it drowned out everything else. Asha had to put her wrist to her ear to hear Zynathian’s reply.

7

“Don’t get cocky…I’m certain some them will make it through the flames!” he said, pausing a moment to see a very angry Zu trudging forward. If anyone was going to make it out of the pit, it would be him!

“Zu
will
get through…many others as well, so stay sharp, Asha! I have one other trick up my sleeve, and when that’s done, you’ll await my signal!”

8

Zynathian was right. They’d been too quick to start cheering, for no sooner than his transmission ending, did a massive body of burning creatures rush from the swamp of flames. Most of them dropped and began rolling around, extinguishing the fires. However, there were some that were in such frenzy that they didn’t realize they’d come out of the sea of fire. They ran aimlessly forward and sailed into the deep trench before them.